Make Your Move 22: Moveset Design Contest - Top 50 released! New sets go in MYM23!

[plague126]

Oh, shoot i forgot stats

 

[plague126]

Ok i've now added stats

 

[plague126]

I'll edit in a playstyle when i get home

 

[Deleted member]

plague126 I'm glad to hear it, but please use the edit function. You just quadruple posted.

 

[plague126]

plague126 I'm glad to hear it, but please use the edit function. You just quadruple posted.

Alright, sorry for that, I’ll make sure to not do that in the future, I’m still new here

EDIT: Alright, playstyle added, and i think that’s it.

 

[Almand]

New and Improved Daisy, now even more New and Improved!

Updated Moves, Updated Descriptions, Balance Changes, more Technical Data, entirely new Animations and Attacks!
Check it out HERE!​

 

[Cookies N Milk]

So we will see the results on the 21st? As in we will see the ratings of the movesets here or the other websites?

 

[Deleted member]

Cookies N Milk The OP should explain the voting process, basically we all advertise to qualify to vote then the voters decide on the best sets, which is a long process. We'll keep everyone updated in the thread.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

Do they occasionally check the movesets for new additions? I sometimes add something to my moveset, is it alright if I repost the move set soon?

 

[plague126]

My final moveset of the contest...

Wobbler!

​

A Wobbler is the term for a TABS Unit, from Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, a game where you make units from many ages of history fight each other, from Stone Age, to Agriculture, to Ancient Greece, to Medieval Times, to Vikings, to Dynasties, to Renaissance, even to Pirates and Spooooookiness! And in its moveset, Wobbler will have the abilities of every unit from the game!


Stats
Height: Luigi's Height
Weight: Chrom's Weight
Jumps: 2 jumps, about as high as Inkling can jump
Fall Speed: Wario's Fall Speed
Ground Movement: Rosalina's walk speed and ROB's Dash Speed
Air Movement: Marth's air speed.

Intro: A light square appears on the ground, and the Wobbler is placed onto the stage.

Specials

Neutral Special: Arrow
Holding this down charges up the arrow from the bow you have selected

Note: All ranges are the same as Link’s Bow

Bow: The Wobbler shoots a simple arrow forward, working like Link's Bow, does 7-12% damage, and alright horizontal knockback.

Snake Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a snake, which can do two things. If it hits a foe, it will latch onto them and start biting them, dealing 3% a second, for 5 seconds if the foe doesnt do anything, basically working like a stronger Pikmin. If it hits the ground, it will slither back and forth at a rate of half a battlefield platform a second in an area around 1.5 battlefield platforms around where it lands, staying out for 15 seconds, biting at opponents in range, which is about a third of a battlefield platform around his head. The bite deals 5% damage, and alright knockback diagonally away.

Ice Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward an ice arrow, which if it hits, slows down an opponent for a time, stacking if more arrows hit, and even freezing if enough hit. The amount of arrows usually needed to freeze is around ten, although the arrows themselves only apply the slow effect, and deal no actual damage.

Firework Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a firework, pushing opponents back somewhat if it hits, or staying on the ground if it misses, and either way, it explodes after a period of time. The initial hit deals 1% and the explosion itself deals 8% damage and good upwards knockback.

Balloon Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a balloon arrow, which if it hits, makes opponent more floaty and light, and easier to KO, and deals 2% damage and no knockback. The opponent can have max 3 balloons on them at once, which effectively halves their weight.

Skeletal Bow: The Wobbler shoots a fire arrow forward, dealing burning damage to opponents, and if these opponents brush by non flaming opponents, the fire can spread to them too. The initial hit deals 2%, and the burning does 1.8% damage a second for 5 seconds.

Now, that’s what they do on their own...but they have many special interactions!

-Shooting a normal arrow at a firework arrow explodes the firework arrow early, though not increasing the damage.
-If a ground snake reaches a grounded firework, it swallows it, improving its speed to .75 battlefield platforms a second, the area it roams to 1.75 battlefield platforms, and its range to .5 battlefield platforms, but it loses 5 seconds of time on how long it can be out. It also instantly explodes upon either attacking or timing out. The explosion in either case deals 7% damage and slightly better knockback than the snake’s normal attack
-Ice arrows freeze grounded snakes, turning them into throwable items. They also do this to grounded fireworks, but these throwable items explode, dealing 8% damage and applying one stack of freezing, doing decent horizontal knockback.
-Ice arrows also freeze balloons, causing them to solidify and bonk the foe on the head for 4% damage, stunning them for a bit.
-Firework arrows push back slightly frozen foes more
-Firework arrows can push balloons around, lightly pulling opponents that way for a bit.
-Firework arrows instantly explode upon hitting flaming opponents, still dealing the same amount of damage and knockback.
-Balloons that hit grounded snakes will have the snake continue its behavior in the air, but slowed down to a speed of .33 battlefield platforms a second
-Balloon arrows have an increased effect on burning opponents, with 3 balloons cutting their weight by 2/3rds
-Fire arrows burn snakes, increasing its damage and speed by 1.5x, but making it die twice as fast.
-Fire arrows instantly melt frozen opponents, making them wet and slippery for 5 seconds
-Fire arrows instantly explode firework arrows for 1.5x their explosion damage and knockback.


And finally, shooting three fire arrows on the ground close enough to each other creates a fire trap that lasts for 5 seconds, dealing about 3% damage a second to opponents trapped in it. This fire also does not harm the Wobbler itself. In fact, this actually enhances, and interacts uniquely with the rest of the Wobbler's set, which will be elaborated on in the moves themselves.

But there’s one more part to this neutral special. While in the fire, each bow changes to a different ranged weapon!

Bow becomes Flintlock, where the Wobbler becomes the Flintlock, takes out two flintlock pistols and fires them forward one at a time, each shot dealing 5% damage, and flinching knockback, before dropping the guns.

Snake Bow becomes Blunderbuss, where the Wobbles becomes the Blunderbuss, and fires forward a cluster of bullets forward, dealing 16% damage and good horizontal knockback, but this move also has super armor against projectile moves that hit the barrel armor on the Wobbler’s body

Ice Bow becomes Captain’s Pistol, where the Wobbler becomes the Captain, before he fires a pirate pistol forwards, dealing about 15% damage and great horizontal knockback.

Firework Bow becomes Hwacha, where the Wobbler takes out a miniature Hwacha, which fires 6 arrows in an arc forwards the length of a Battlefield platform, but can be angled back to fire .75 platforms ahead, or forward to fire 1.25 platforms ahead, each arrow dealing 1.5% damage, and flinching opponents that it hits, usually trapping them in the later hits.

Balloon Bow becomes Musket, the Wobbler becoming a Musketeer and shooting a musketball forward, dealing 5%, and dealing small knocback, but also having the property of piercing through targets.

Skeleton Bow becomes Da Vinci Cannon, the Wobbler taking out a small cannon from the Da Vinci Tank, and shooting a cannonball forwards, with a bit of start lag, dealing 20% and decent knockback, but a bit of end lag as the Wobbler recovers from the recoil.

Side Special: Knockback

This is a six stage charge special, each stage after the first taking 2/3 of a second to reach after the next

Stage 1: Light a Candle: In which the Wobbler becomes the Candlehead and tosses a ball of light forward, knocking foes back and dealing .1% of damage but not interrupting attacks at all. This is a very good tool for gimping, not refreshing the foe’s recovery.

This interacts with the fire in two ways: If it passes through the fire, alomg with the normal effects, the foe is set on fire for 2 seconds. If this move is used in the fire however, there is a bit more start up, as the Wobbler tosses two balls of light together, enhancing the effect greatly, and dealing .2% instead.

Stage 2: Your Biggest Fan: The Wobbler dons the Fan Bearer’s clothes, and swings a fan up and down once, knocking foes back a bit less, but dealing 1% of damage and interrupting attacks.

Using this in the fire has the Wobbler swing the fan up and down three times, dealing 3% damage to foes, and dealing a bit more knockback than the normal Candlehead.

Stage 3: FUS RO DAH!: The Wobbler becomes a Shouter, and yells forward, doing great knockback, but no damage.

Using this in the fire has the Shouter punch forward twice before yelling, keeping away foes trying to rush in, and each punch dealing 2.5% damage and comboing into the shout.

Stage 4: The Bone Zone: The Wobbler becomes a Bone Mage, and lifts up its staff, sending a line of small bone spikes forwards, before a large bone spike shoots out from the ground, dealing 9% damage and great vertical knockback.

If the bone spike erupts in a fire, it turns the fire into an explosion the size of the bone spike, dealing 12% damage and really good vertical knockback.

Stage 5: Ballista: The Wobbler summons a Ballista, firing a ballista bolt forward, which takes 2 seconds to fire, but does 27% damage and amazing horizontal knockback.

If this move is used in the fire, the Ballista is not summoned at all, instead, a Bomb Cannon is summoned, taking about 1.5 seconds to fire, and firing a large bomb forward, dealing 30% damage and strong diagonal knockback, killing very early.

And if you get 3 1/3 seconds of uninterrupted charging...

Stage 6: Fear The Reaper: The Wobbler becomes the Reaper, pulling back for 1 second, before swinging its scythe forwards, dealing incredible damage and knockback. This scythe swing deals a staggering 40% damage, and gigantic horizontal knockback. This is very hard to actually hit, what with the tremendous startup, but if you do, oh boy will the foe hurt.

But if you’re in the fire. The move has a bit more start lag, but instead starts with the reaper stabbing its tentacles forward half a Battlefield Platform, dealing 10% damage, before it performs the slice, causing this move to deal a staggering 45% damage total if it connects, and incredible knockback horizontally, although it is very hard to get this to connect.

Up Special: Flight of the Valkyrie
The Wobbler becomes a Valkyrie, and sprouts wings, before flying diagonally upwards about 1.5 battlefield platforms upwards swinging two swords outwards at the end, dealing 10% damage and decent vertical diagonal knockback. This move is an okay recovery, although the angle of the sword swings at the end means that most gimp attempts are gonna need to hit early in the move to work.

Using this move in the fire changes it entirely, to Ching Shih’s Legacy. In the fire, the Wobbler becomes the Pirate Queen, and jumps up while spinning its swords, dealing 5% damage, and diagonal knockback. But that isn’t all this move does, no. Using this move also sends out 4 bombs to each side, spaced around .25 battlefield platforms apart, and staying on the ground for two seconds, before exploding, dealing 10% damage and strong vertical knockback.


Down Special: Bow Swap
Using this brings up a UI reminiscent of a faction tab in TABS, listing the 6 bows mentioned in Neutral Special, letting you swap to whatever bow you want to use, which is also shown on next to your icon on the bottom of the screen. In the fire the icons change to the moves that replace them.

Shield Special: Parrying 101

This move is a special kind of counter. This can only be activated by pressing B after parrying, dealing base damage of 10%, but up to 15% depending on how powerful the countered move is, also giving a bit of invincibility frames too, launching opponents a bit diagonally, actually working as a combo starter in most cases! In the fire, the Wobbler simply swings harder, dealing 20-30% damage, but not being a combo starter.

Standards

Jab: Tae! Kwon! Do!

The Wobbler appears in the attire of the blue unit in the pic, a Taekwondo, before performing a 3 hit jab combo. Hit 1 and Hit 2 are both a simple punch upwards, but the 3rd hit has the Wobbler jump up, and perform a strong kick. Hits 1 and 2 deal 4% each, but the kick deals a hefty 8% and decent upwards knockback. This is gonna mainly be used to either end combos, or kill at really high percents, but you don’t wanna throw this out too much, it has a decent amount of end lag, and is not safe on shield.

Using this in the fire has the Wobbler catch on fire when they jump in the air, swinging their legs around before performing the kick, adding 4% to the kick, and slightly more knockback.

Forward Tilt: En Garde!

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a fencer, as it jumps forward, stabbing with his rapier, before jumping backwards to its original position. The move has two hitboxes, the blade and the tip. The blade deals 7% damage and weak forwards knockback, good for starting combos at low percents, but otherwise not really that useful. The real star here is the tip, which deals 10% and decent diagonally forwards knockback, and the jump back will actually automatically dodge a lot of options if it gets shielded or misses.

The tip, if it passes through the fire, deals 15% damage in a small explosion that deals great horizontal knockback. If the jump passes through the fire, however, the jump back travels twice as far, helping avoid potential counter attacks.

Up Tilt: Use Your Head!

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a headbutter, performing a quick upwards sweeping headbutt, like a quicker version of Mario's headbutt, with its spiky helmet. The headbutt deals 9% damage and okay upwards knockback, good for countering opponents approaching from above, as well as starting some aerial combos, like Up Tilt into Up Air or Neutral Air. It also is usually safe on shield, which makes it a safe ground option.

In the fire, the move gains some start lag as the Wobbler rears its head back, and slams its head forward, dealing 10% if the head hits while swinging, but if it hits at the end, it deals a strong 15% damage and spiking knockback.

Down Tilt: Sword Swing

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a Squire, and performs a two handed swing across the ground with his longsword. The Swing does about 5%, and weak upwards knockback, and this comes out very quick, letting it start combos at later percents, and also making it another safe option on the ground if you wanna play it safe.

In the fire, the move becomes Good Knight! as the Wobbler becomes the valiant Knight, as it swings its sword along the ground hard, dealing 13% damage and decent diagonal knockback. It also holds a shield during this, which blocks projectiles much like Link or Hero.

Dash Attack: Barrow Run

The Wobbler appears in an afro and farmer clothes, as it pushes a wheelbarrow forward, continuing to push in that direction, and being able to turn, as long as you hold A, though the damage after the initial push is weak. The initial push deals 8% damage and good forwards knockback, while after it deals 5% and weak diagonal knockback upwards. This also has some pretty bad lag if it bumps a shield, so, try not to get into a wheelbarrow crash.

If this move passes over the fire, it transforms into Burning Barrow. The Wheelbarrow grows a dragon head, becoming the Wheelbarrow Dragon! This absorbs the fire, and spits it out ad a stream of fire, dealing the same damage of the fire for however long was left in the fire.


Smashes

Forward Smash: TIMBER!

The Wobbler appears as a miniature version of the Tree Giant, and lifts its tree up, before slamming it downwards, dealing heavy damage and knockback. The tree slam has some start lag, and deals 28-32%, and strong forwards knockback. This also has some pretty bad endlag, so not a good shield option, but this is one of the Wobbler’s best kill moves.

Landing this move in the fire trap not only adds about 4% damage to the move, but it also makes the tree explode in a burst of 5 burning splinters, spaced 15 degrees apart, flying forward and dealing 8% damage and small flinching knockback.

Up Smash: Samurai Flip

The Wobbler appears in samurai armor, holding a giant katana, holding it out in front of him, before doing a backflip, then stomping the ground. The sword hit combos into the legs hitting, and the stomp does damage as well. The sword hit does 7-10% and combos into the flip, which does 17-20% and pretty good upwards knockback. Not really a good KO option, but a surprisingly safe smash, because of the stomp at the end covering a lot of approaches, dealing 10-15% damage and decent horizontal knockback. In the fire, as the Wobbler stomps at the end, it swings its katana down, dealing 14% damage, and having another interesting property. Any projectile hit by this will be reflected, dealing 1.5 times the damage it would deal normally.

Down Smash: Fists of Frost

The Wobbler's chest expands, and snow appears over it, making it into a miniature version of the Ice Giant, as it punches to both sides of his body hard. Both punches do the same amount of damage, about 24-30%, and strong horizontal knockback. The start and end lag on it is enough that it isn’t a good option to throw out willy nilly, but it is a good option to punish aggressive opponents. In the fire, this move’s end lag is lessened a bit, and any foe hit by the punches gets exploded, increasing the damage to 30-36%, and increasing the knockback even more.


Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Epic Flail

The Wobbler appears in the attire of a Mace spinner, and spins around 3 times, holding a mace out to either side of him. Each spin does 5% damage, the third hit knocking opponents horizontally and a bit upwards, low enough that it can extend a combo at low to medium percents. An example at around medium percents would be, Up Tilt into Neutral Air into Forward Air. In the fire, the metal of the maces is heated up, each spin now doing 7% damage, and the hit at the end knocking opponents further away.

Forward Aerial: The Harvest

The Wobbler dons the clothes of a harvester, and pulls back a scythe, before swinging it vertically down in front of him. This deals 12% damage, and can spike at high enough percents, otherwise just deals mostly downward and somewhat horizontal knockback. Try not to land in the middle of this though, it has some pretty bad landing lag. Although despite the pullback, it usually goes fast enough to be a good finisher for combos. Using this move in the fire sends forwards a wave of fire about 1.5 battlefield platforms, dealing 9% damage and weak knockback.

Back Aerial: Too Regal to Zwei-Handle

The Wobbler appears in the kingly attire of the...King! It swings its powerful Zweihander behind him, dealing great damage, but a bit slow. Good for kills. It has a bit of start-up, but deals a hefty 15% damage, and great horizontal knockback, a good kill move, but also has some pretty bad landing lag. In the fire, however, this move visually doesnt change, but the move’s ending lag is lessened immensely if you land mid-swing, making this a way safer option.

Up Aerial: Foolish Flip

The Wobbler, feeling a bit silly, dons the attire of the Jester, and flips upwards, hitting units with the hidden blades on the bottom of his shoes. This move comes out fast, and does 6%, and is a very good move for comboing, as it has very little start and end lag. In the fire, the Wobbler flips upwards twice, dealing 6% damage with each flip, and still being able to start combos!

Down Aerial: Drop Anchors!

The Wobbler appears in the attire of one of the greatest pirates, Blackbeard! He holds both of his anchor hands below him, falling fast, and dealing large damage to all those he hits. The anchors deal 25% damage to all those hit, and spikes as well, but if you dont hit, the ending lag is really bad, enough that youll probably eat a hit.

Landing on a fire with this will make the fire explode outwards, .25 battlefield platforms wide and as tall as the wobbler, dealing 2% damage through small hits for one second, adding up to 12% at the end.

Grabs

Grab and Pummel: Ahab's Legacy

The Wobbler appears in the clothes of the Harpooner, and fires its harpoon gun forward, reeling in any foe it catches, and he pummels by stabbing the foe with a harpoon, dealing 2% damage in an average speed pummel. In the fire, this deals 2.5% damage.

Forward Throw: Bombs Away!

The Wobbler throws a bomb behind the opponent, and kicks the opponent onto it, as the bomb explodes, launching them away. The kick does 2% damage and the bomb explodes for 10% damage and great knockback diagonally forwards, working as an okay kill throw.

In the fire, the Wobbler tosses 2 bombs, and instead of kicking, slices down with a cutlass. This deals 5% damage, and the two bombs exploding deals 15%, making this an even better kill throw.

Back Throw: Catapult

The Wobbler visually doesn't change, but instead a catapult appears facing towards the Wobbler, as it tosses the foe in the catapult, before it launches the foe backwards, dealing 10% damage, and actually being able to set up a few combos at low percents too, such as, given the fact that this throw actually doesn't turn Wobbler around, means that you can usually hit the foe with a back air out of this.

In the fire, this becomes the Pumpkin Catapult, spiking foes at the ground for 15% damage, and doing less knockback than the normal Catapult, working way better for combos.

Up Throw: Up, Up, And Away

The Wobbler gains a beard, backpack, and glue on its hands, becoming the Ballooner! It grabs the opponent, and several balloons come out of the backpack, carrying the Wobbler and the foe offscreen, before they come crashing down on fire, exploding when they hit the ground, dealing a hefty 18% to the foe and amazing vertical knockback, a very good KO throw, but the Wobbler also takes 3% damage from this. In the fire, the Ballooner instead does a painful backbreaker when they fall, dealing 22.5% damage and even more knockback, but dealing 4.5% damage to the Ballooner.

Down Throw: Halberd Slam

The Wobbler appears in the outfit of the Halberd, as it slams down, what else, a halberd onto the foe's head. This deals 12% damage, and okat knockback upwards, a throw best used for starting combos at low percent, as most of your other combo starters need a decent bit of damage to be dealt already to work as combo starters.

In the fire, this move instead becomes Kamikaze! The Wobbler becomes the Bomb on a Stick, and slams down a...bomb on a stick, dealing 14% damage and great upwards knockback, working more as a KO throw than a combo throw.


Final Smash: The Most Accurate Battle

The Wobbler punches forwards, and any foes caught and are sent to a cutscene.

First, all the melee units in the game are seen rushing towards the foes, all of them attacking the foes in a big dust cloud of violence.

Then the foes look up, to see all the ranged units in the game firing at them, barraging them with projectiles

Finally, a mob of Cheerleaders are seen cheering four units: Mace Spinner, Lady Red Jade, Blackbeard, and the Da Vinci Tank. All four of them start spinning so fast they each become a tornado, that they then form a giant tornado out of, and rush towards the foe, dealing heavy damage before ending the Final Smash

This deals about 90 hits of about .7% or so, adding up to 65% at the end.


Alternate Colors
Red colors (Default, and a reference to the red team in TABS)
Blue colors (A reference to the blue team in TABS)
Purple colors (A mix of both blue and red, plus a reference to how the color of units turns purple when hit by the Scarecrow’s crows)
Yellow colors (A reference to the fact that units turn yellow when healed by the Priest/Healer)
Light Blue, almost a white color (A reference to the color units take on when they get frozen)
Black (A reference to the color units take on when they get charred by fire)
Dark Grey, with a pegleg and flames around its face (A reference to the infamous Naked Blackbeard bug, and for added effect, using down air only makes the anchors appear with this skin.)
and for the final skin, its an alt with its own name!
Stiffy (Yes, this is the actual freaking name of skeleton models in TABS.)


Taunts
Up Taunt: Pumps up its fists twice as the Cheerleader
Side Taunt: Yellls out a battle cry
Down Taunt: The Wobbler trembles as a blue skull appears over their head.


Victory Theme: The victory theme from the TABS Alpha


Victory Animations
Victory Pose #1: Sits on a throne dressed as The King, as its being fanned by Fan Bearers, and being healed by Healers
Victory Pose #2: Celebrates triumphantly, before looking offscreen, and quickly running away, as a stampede of TABS Units come in from the other side
Victory Pose #3: Does a fancy sword swing as the Squire, spins its spear as the Hoplite, and then rapidly swings its paintbrush as the Painter, before triumphantly lifting it in the air.

Classic Mode: Battle Throughout the Ages

Level 1: Velociraptors (To represent the Tribal Faction, specifically the Raptor units from it.
Level 2: Donnel (To represent the Farmer Faction, as Donnel is a farmer in Fire Emblem)
Level 3: King Harkinian and Roman Centurion (King Harkinian represents the Medieval Faction, specifically The King unit. The Roman Centurion represents the Ancient Faction, and its basic infantry units, the Shieldbearer, the Sarissa, and the Hoplite.)
Level 4: Lord Fredrik (To represent the Viking Faction, both in the general ice theming of both Tropical Freeze and the Viking Faction, and in the Jarl unit.)
Level 5: Kid Goku (To represent the Dynasty Faction, not only due to Goku being a very popular character in Japan, but also because Goku was inspired in part by Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and the Monkey King happens to be the boss of the Dynasty Faction.)
Level 6: Aurelia and Kaptain K Rool (Aurelia represents the Renaissance Faction, as her weapon, the ribauldequin, is a weapon first used in the Renaissance Era. Kaptain K Rool represents the Pirate Faction for several reasons: Not only is he well, a pirate, but him being a captain represents the Captain unit, and his trusty blunderbuss represents the Blunderbuss unit too.)
Level 7: Death (To represent the Spooky Faction, because not only is Death spooky, but the boss unit of the Spooky faction is the Reaper, who, like Death, is a spooky floating skeleton, and wield a scary scythe.


Stage: Battlefields of History

This is a traveling stage, much like Skyloft, travelling between 9 different (st)ages. Each one also has a battle going on in the background, and once it ends, the stage transitions.

While travelling between stages, the stage is a flat walk off stage, with grey floors covered in grids, looking almost like the training mode stage.

Stage 1: The Age of Stone and Dinosaurs
This stage is a flat land. On the left side is a wall of rocks about halfway up the screen, acting as a simple wall. On the other side of the screen is a cave, blocking the right side of the screen, with a hole half its size in it. Foes that get too close to it on the ground will get bitten by a bunch of raptors, dealing 8% of damage and knocking foes away, while getting too close to it in the air has a mammoth charge out, dealing 22% damage and great knockback. In the background, you can see Clubbers, Protectors, Spear Throwers, Stoners (Not the weed kind), and Raptors fighting Bone Mages, Chieftains, Raptor Riders, Cheerleaders, and Mammoths

Stage 2: The Age of Crops and Agriculture
The stage has two parts, on the left is a wooden bridge, that can be broken if enough damage is dealt. If this happens, the water acts a bit differently to normal water, causing foes to drown at twice the normal rate, due to its rapid currents. The right side has tall grass and crops, with a couple scarecrows in the background, partially obscuring any fighters inside it. There’s one more aspect about this though: If any particularly strong attack that hits the ground, or any move that creates a windbox, is used in the grass, 3 crows will be spooked and fly around, periodically homing in on the nearest foe, and if hitting them, causes them to glow purple for 2 seconds, and any knockback the foe takes during this time is increased by 1.2x the normal amount. In the background, you can see Halflings, Farmers, Hay Balers, and Potionsellers fighting Harvesters, Wheelbarrows, Scarecrows, and Wheelbarrow Dragons.

Stage 3: The Age of Swords and Kings
This is a flat walk off stage, with grass along the ground and a castle in the background. Periodically, a line of 5 arrows will rain down in a line along the stage, each dealing 1.4% damage and no knockback. Rarely, a boulder will be launched by a catapult, falling on a random part of the stage, dealing 20% damage and high knockback upwards. In the background, there are Bards, Squires, Archers, Priests, Jesters, Executioners, and Mace Spinners fighting Knights, Catapults, Vlads, Kings, Cavalries, and Tree Giants

Stage 4: The Age of Wisdom and Gods
The stage is mostly flat marble, with two staircases on the edges leading down, and pillars in the background, along with a statue of Medusa. Periodically, spears will be stabbed up from the staircases, dealing about 6% damage and weak knockback, Rarely, lightning, or a rain of arrows can strike the middle of the stage, the lightning dealing 10% and medium knockback, and the arrows dealing 13% damage and slightly more knockback. The background has Shield Bearers, Sarissas, Hoplites, Fan Bearers, and Teachers fighting Snake Archers, Ballistas, Minotaurs, Zeuses, and Artemises.

Stage 5: The Age of Ice and War
This is another flat walk off stage, with icy ground along the ground and in the background. Icy winds will be blowing around constantly, and will periodically increase in strength, pushing fighters around somewhat, and dealing small 0.1% damage per second for about 10 seconds. Periodically, double sided axes will fall down from the sky in random spots, dealing 15% damage and freezing any opponents that it hits. The background has Headbutters, Ice Archers, Brawlers, Berserkers, and Shouters, fighting Valkyries, Jarls, Longships, Ullrs, and Ice Giants.

Stage 6: The Age of Samurai and Ninjas
The stage is mostly flat, with bridges leading off the edges of the screen, with a temple and two bridges in the background, and a medium sized hole in the middle of the stage that does go to the blast zone. Periodically, arrows will rain from the top, dealing 15 hits of 1.5%. The edges of the screen both also periodically have things happen with them. On the left side, a line of 10 shurikens is tossed, each dealing 1.5% damage. On the right, a stream of fire shoots out, dealing 10% and decent knockback. In the background, you can see Samurai, Firework Archers, Monks, Chu Ko Nus, Taekwondos, Ninjas, and Dragons fighting Hwachas, Monkey Kings, Lady Red Jades, Shoguns, Samurai Giants, and Senseis.

Stage 7: The Age of Art and Inventions
This is another flat stage, on road, but at the edge of the screens are buildings, that block off the side blast zones, and have two small balconies that can fit one person. Periodically, Ballooner bodies will fall from the screen, dealing 9% damage and spiking knockback. Sometimes, from the sky rains small cannonballs as well, dealing around 8% damage and decent upwards knockback. Periodically, a musket may poke out of the windows, take aim at one fore, then fire, dealing 10% damage and putting foes into a crumple state. In the background, Painters, Ballooners, Fencers, and Balloon Archers are fighting Musketeers, Halberds, Jousters, and Da Vinci Tanks.

Stage 8: The Age of Sea and Guns
This state is a pirate ship with two small walls, that periodically will have a line of three clams climb over and across the stage, dealing 3 hits of 3% damage. The stage is also connected to an island in the back. Sometimes, bombs fall onto the ship, and explodes, dealing 7% damage. Periodically, crosshairs appear on screen, if it is normal, a cannonball shoots, dealing 10% damage and good knockback, if the crosshair has a bomb, a bomb shoots, dealing 20% and great knockback. In the background, Flintlocks, Bomb on a Sticks, Blunderbusses, Bomb Throwers, Harpooners, and CLAMS are fighting Cannons, Captains, Bomb Cannons, Pirate Queens, and Blackbeards.

Stage 9: The Age of Spooks and Scares.
The stage layout is similar to Stage 6, but the hole is patched up with a grate, and the walls are covered in spikes that damage anyone who touches them for 6% and alright knockback. Periodically, skeletons pop out from the grate and vines, forcing opponents to dash the other way for 2 seconds. In the background, Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Archers, Candleheads, and Vampires are fighting Pumpkin Catapults, Swordcasters, and Reapers

 

[Mamboo07]

My final moveset of the contest...

Wobbler!

​

A Wobbler is the term for a TABS Unit, from Totally Accurate Simulator, and in its moveset, will have the abilities of every unit from the game!


Stats
Height: Luigi's Height
Weight: Chrom's Weight
Jumps: 2 jumps, about as high as Inkling can jump
Fall Speed: Wario's Fall Speed
Ground Movement: Rosalina's walk speed and ROB's Dash Speed
Air Movement: Marth's air speed.

Standards

Jab: Tae! Kwon! Do!

The Wobbler appears in the attire of the blue unit in the pic, a Taekwondo, before performing a 3 hit jab combo. Hit 1 and Hit 2 are both a simple punch upwards, but the 3rd hit has the Wobbler jump up, and perform a strong kick.

Forward Tilt: En Garde!

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a fencer, as it jumps forward, stabbing with his rapier, before jumping backwards to its original position.

Up Tilt: Use Your Head!

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a headbutter, performing a quick upwards headbutt with its spiky helmet.

Down Tilt: Sword Swing

The Wobbler appears in the garb of a Squire, and performs a two handed swing across the ground with his longsword.

Dash Attack: Barrow Run

The Wobbler appears in an afro and farmer clothes, as it pushes a wheelbarrow forward, continuing to push in that direction, and being able to turn, as long as you hold A, though the damage after the initial push is weak.


Smashes

Forward Smash: TIMBER!

The Wobbler appears as a miniature version of the Tree Giant, and lifts its tree up, before slamming it downwards, dealing heavy damage and knockback.

Up Smash: Samurai Flip

The Wobbler appears in samurai armor, holding a giant katana, holding it out in front of him, before doing a backflip, then stomping the ground. The sword hit combos into the legs hitting, and the stomp does damage as well

Down Smash: Fists of Frost

The Wobbler's chest expands, and snow appears over it, making it into a miniature version of the Ice Giant, as it punches to both sides of his body hard.


Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Epic Flail

The Wobbler appears in the attire of a Mace spinner, and spins around 3 times, holding a mace out to either side of him.

Forward Aerial: The Harvest

The Wobbler dons the clothes of a harvester, and pulls back a scythe, before swinging it vertically down in front of him

Back Aerial: Too Regal to Zwei-Handle

The Wobbler appears in the kingly attire of the...King! It swings its powerful Zweihander behind him, dealing great damage, but a bit slow. Good for kills.

Up Aerial: Foolish Flip

The Wobbler, feeling a bit silly, dons the attire of the Jester, and flips upwards, hitting units with the hidden blades on the bottom of his shoes.

Down Aerial: Drop Anchors!

The Wobbler appears in the attire of one of the greatest pirates, Blackbeard! He holds both of his anchor hands below him, falling fast, and dealing large damage to all those he hits.

Grabs

Grab and Pummel: Ahab's Legacy

The Wobbler appears in the clothes of the Harpooner, and fires its harpoon gun forward, reeling in any foe it catches, and he pummels by stabbing the foe with a harpoon

Forward Throw: Bombs Away!

The Wobbler throws a bomb behind the opponent, and kicks the opponent onto it, as the bomb explodes, launching them away.

Back Throw: Catapult

The Wobbler visually doesn't change, but instead a catapult appears facing towards the Wobbler, as it tosses the foe in the catapult, before it launches the foe backwards.

Up Throw: Up, Up, And Away

The Wobbler gains a beard, backpack, and glue on its hands, becoming the Ballooner! It grabs the opponent, and several balloons come out of the backpack, carrying the Wobbler and the foe offscreen, before they come crashing down on fire, exploding when they hit the ground

Down Throw: Halberd Slam

The Wobbler appears in the outfit of the Halberd, as it slams down, what else, a halberd onto the foe's head.

Specials

Neutral Special: Bow
Holding this down brings up a wheel of 6 bows, a bit like Shulk's Monado Arts

Bow: The Wobbler shoots a simple arrow forward, working like Link's Bow

Snake Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a snake, which can do two things. If it hits a foe, it will latch onto them and start biting them, working like a stronger Pikmin. If it hits the ground, it will slither back and forth, biting at opponents in range.

Ice Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward an ice arrow, which if it hits, slows down an opponent for a time, stacking if more arrows hit, and even freezing if enough hit.

Firework Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a firework, pushing opponents back somewhat if it hits, or staying on the ground if it misses, and either way, it explodes after a period of time.

Balloon Bow: The Wobbler shoots forward a balloon arrow, which if it hits, makes opponent more floaty and light, and easier to KO

Skeletal Bow: The Wobbler shoots a fire arrow forward, dealing burning damage to opponents, and if these opponents brush by non flaming opponents, the fire can spread to them too.

Side Special: Knockback

This is a six stage charge special, each stage after the first taking 1 second to reach after the next

Stage 1: Light a Candle: In which the Wobbler becomes the Candlehead and tosses a ball of light forward, knocking foes back and dealing .1% of damage but not interrupting attacks at all

Stage 2: Your Biggest Fan: The Wobbler dons the Fan Bearer’s clothes, and swings a fan up and down once, knocking foes back a bit less, but dealing 1% of damage and interrupting attacks

Stage 3: FUS RO DAH!: The Wobbler becomes a Shouter, and yells forward, doing great knockback, but no damage.

Stage 4: The Bone Zone: The Wobbler becomes a Bone Mage, and lifts up its staff, sending a line of small bone spikes forwards, before a large bone spike shoots out from the ground, dealing great damage and vertical knockback

Stage 5: Ballista: The Wobbler summons a Ballista, which takes 3 seconds to fire, but does heavy damage and knockback

And if you get 5 seconds of uninterrupted charging...

Stage 6: Fear The Reaper: The Wobbler becomes the Reaper, swinging its scythe forwards, dealing incredible damage and knockback.

Up Special: Flight of the Valkyrie
The Wobbler becomes a Valkyrie, and sprouts wings, before flying diagonally upwards, swinging two swords outwards

Down Special: Counter 101
The Wobbler becomes The Teacher, holding its sword out, and if hit during this, parries before swinging its sword at the foe.

Final Smash: The Most Accurate Battle

The Wobbler punches forwards, and any foes caught and are sent to a cutscene.

First, all the melee units in the game are seen rushing towards the foes, all of them attacking the foes in a big dust cloud of violence.

Then the foes look up, to see all the ranged units in the game firing at them, barraging them with projectiles

Finally, a mob of Cheerleaders are seen cheering four units: Mace Spinner, Lady Red Jade, Blackbeard, and the Da Vinci Tank. All four of them start spinning so fast they each become a tornado, that they then form a giant tornado out of, and rush towards the foe, dealing heavy damage before ending the Final Smash

I love this!
(I would put Wobbler in my roster if I made a new Smash game.)

 

[plague126]

I love this!
(I would put Wobbler in my roster if I made a new Smash game.)

Thank you! I really liked making this too, and specifically the Neutral B, Side B, and Final Smash were fun to make imo

 

[Mamboo07]

Thank you! I really liked making this too, and specifically the Neutral B, Side B, and Final Smash were fun to make imo

I don't mind, also my idea for it's home stage would be going through different maps and having every single of the units fighting each other in the background and on stage. (just like Port Town Aero Drive and Skyloft.)

 

[plague126]

I don't mind, also my idea for it's home stage would be going through different maps and having every single of the units fighting each other in the background and on stage. (just like Port Town Aero Drive and Skyloft.)

I love that idea

 

[Altais]

V moveset complete. Admittedly, it was a little rushed, so there are bound to be some errors--and not just grammatical. As usual, I would benefit more from critical feedback.

Spoiler: Gif Overload

V Moveset​

- Index -
1). Summary
2). Specials
3). Jab & Dash
4). Tilts
5). Smashes
6). Aerials
7). Grab & Throws
8). Final Smash
9). Author’s Notes

1). Summary:​

​

V is a playable character and major protagonist in Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5—which I find to be an excellent series revival. Unlike Dante and Nero, whom are much more aggro and in-your-face, V calmly fights from a distance. Where he lacks in physical strength, he more than makes up for with wit and trickery. While Dante and Nero have their swords and guns, V has his familiars and his enchanted cane—the latter of which he uses only to finish off the enemy after his familiars have done sufficient damage. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing another action game from Capcom that focuses solely on this kind of tactical playstyle. Doesn’t have to be Devil May Cry—it could be anything. I know I got some of mine own ideas from watching the game.​

​

Playing as V is like playing a game of chess. V is the king, and Griffon (on the left) and Shadow (on the right) are the rook and knight. Since he’s not as mobile as the other pieces, you always want to keep the king safe, and use the king only when moving in for the kill. Losing the rook or knight won’t be the end, but if the king falls, it’s game over. When you attack the king head-on, he shields himself with the other pieces. Since V is virtually helpless without his familiars, the best way to defeat V is to knock out his familiars ASAP, then rush him down before he can resuscitate them. His familiar’s attacks have very wide range, deal a load of damage, and have high hitstun, but they have very low shield pressure. Ergo, like a clever chess player, you must predict when they will attack, then counter accordingly.​

​

For the most part, V does not fight directly. Instead he uses Griffon and Shadow to weaken the enemy, then move in for the kill. Griffon serves for V’s special attacks, while Shadow serves for V’s normal attacks (save for forward and down air). V is unique in that he can use both special and normal attacks simultaneously, allowing for insane combos. In Devil May Cry 5, Griffon and Shadow cannot kill demons; they can only inflict pain upon them. Only V can deal the finishing blow. To reflect upon this, in Smash Griffon and Shadow’s attacks deal loads of damage, but have very weak knockback. Once the enemy’s damage reaches 100%, V can kill them instantly with his cane. It is possible to kill an opponent without V’s cane, but only through clever ledge conditioning.​

​

Just above V’s damage %, Griffon and Shadow have their own horizontal health bars. Griffon’s bar is dark blue, and Shadow’s bar is bright pink. Both bars also have a thumbnail icon of Griffon and Shadow’s heads next to the bar. With both icons and colour, there is less confusion. Obviously, Griffon and Shadow’s health bars can be reduced by enemy attacks. If either get KO’ed, they’ll be reduced to a floating sphere of energy and ashes, and they won’t be able to use them until their health bars refill—which takes roughly ten seconds. However, this recovery speed can be doubled by having V stand next to the fallen familiar. To avoid confusion in multi-ditto matches, each familiar will be marked with “P1”, P2”, etc.​

​

V is roughly as tall as Ike. His walking speed is below average, roughly the same as Ike’s. His dash speed is above average; roughly as fast as Mewtow’s dash. When dashing, he rides Shadow instead of running himself. His fall speed is fairly high; roughly the same as Wolf’s. V is fairly fragile, and can be killed at 80% if the attack is strong enough. His dodge roll, which he does with Shadow’s help, is fairly quick, allowing him to punish attacks with enough endlag.​

​

V is unique among the Smash cast in that he has a myriad of idle animations, which begin shortly after he stops moving. And like Bayonetta, he has very long taunts. For his up-taunt, V pulls out his book and starts reciting poetry. For his side-taunt, he plays an invisible violin with his cane. For his down taunt, he directs an imaginary orchestra with an invisible baton. Since his familiars do most of the fighting, V is often idle. While performing his Taunts and idle poses, V can still command Griffon and Shadow to attack—and like Bayonetta, he can cancel the taunt at any time. Troll the opponent in style.​

​

​

​

2). Specials:​

​

• Neutral Special (Bullet/Blockade):​

A chargeable move. If the button is only tapped, Griffon will shoot a Bullet of electricity. If the button is tapped repeatedly, he will continue to shoot Bullets at roughly the same rate as Fox’s laser gun. Like Palutena’s Auto Reticle, the Bullets automatically target the enemy closest to Griffon. Enemies behind Griffon will not be targeted. The first bullet deals 4% damage—after which the amount will slowly decrease. The Bullets can be fired endlessly, so as a price, they are easy to DI out of. They travel slightly further than Palutena’s Auto Reticle projectiles, and slightly faster. They have low shield pressure, making them safe to block. They can also be reflected/absorbed. Very quick startup.​

​

If the Special Button is held, then after the first Bullet Griffon will perform Blockade. With a zapping sound, Griffon will encroach his body with dark blue electricity. Blockade had three levels of charge, each of which have a 1-second interval and can be recognised with the zapping sound, which (1) gets louder with each charge, and (2) is accompanied by a brighter hue of Griffon’s electrified body. The charge cannot be stored; once it begins, it must be released. A level-one charge will cause Griffon to unleash a single bluish-purple lightning bolt roughly the same height as Palutena’s up-smash. The bolt comes out instantly, dealing 8% damage. A level-two charge will make him unleash three lightning bolts, each of which deal 14% damage. A level-three charge will make him unleash five lightning bolts, each of which deal 20% damage. Each lightning bolt covers roughly the same horizontal distance as Palutena’s up-smash, and the bolts are separated by roughly ¾ that distance. The bolts come and go very fast, and their individual hitboxes do not stack on damage. This move has very low knockback, even at high percentages, but there is a paralysing effect that lasts longer with each charge. Quick startup after Bullet.​

​

The purpose of both Bullet and Blockade is not to kill the opponent, but to (1) rack up damage, and (2) condition the opponent. For example, while Griffon briefly staggers the enemy with Bullets, Shadow can follow-up with a tilt or Smash attack. And if Griffon paralyses the enemy with Blockade, V can quickly perform a dash-grab and a throw, which will instantly kill the opponent if their damage is ≥ 100%. While performing Bullet or Blockade, V can still command Shadow to perform normal attacks.​

​

• Side Special (Flank Attack/Round Robin):​

V commands Griffon to spiral forward in a straight line. Griffon flies forward at a slightly lower speed than Pit’s Power of Flight, and the same distance as Lucario’s 0% Extremespeed. Like Rosalina’s side-special, this move’s main purpose is to send Griffon away so he can target distant enemies. Any opponent he collides with will be knocked backward a short distance with high hitstun, allowing Shadow to follow up with an attack. Press side special again to return Griffon to V. Roughly the same startup at Meta Knight’s drill rush. Deals 9.5% damage.​

​

If the special button is held, be it when Griffon is sent away or returned, he will perform Round Robin. Griffon discharges a sphere of electricity around him, briefly paralysing the enemy. This move has three levels of charge, all of which have a one-second interval. When used immediately, the sphere is roughly as large as electrode. On the second level of charge, the sphere is 1.3 times the size. On the third level, the size is multiplied by 1.3 again. The longer the move is charged, the longer the paralysis duration. Level-one charge deals 4.5% damage, level-two deals 8.5%, and level-three deals 12.5%. Very low shield pressure.​

​

• Up Special (Hanging/Switchback):​

A non-offensive move. V grabs Griffon’s talons, and Griffon ascends a short distance. If Griffon is far away when this move is used, he will immediately warp to V. Afterward, the two slowly descend. While descending, the two can travel both forward and backward. This functions very similar to running and walking. If the left stick is gently pushed forward, V and Griffon will glide forward at roughly half the speed as Meta Knight’s Dash. If the player inputs the dash command with the left stick, they will shoot forward at roughly the same speed as Meta Knight’s Dash. If the left stick is gently pushed backward, with a flap of his wings Griffon will slowly move backward; roughly the same speed as the average tiptoe animation. If the player inputs the dash command with the left stick backwards, Griffon will quickly drag V backward a short distance; roughly the same distance as Bayonetta’s heel slide. During the move, Griffon can ascend two more times by inputting the up-special command again. After these have been used up, he can only move forward and backward. V can let go of Griffon by pressing either the normal attack button or the dodge button. After roughly three seconds of carrying V, Griffon will get tired and the two will fall. So act quickly.​

​

Recovery aside, this move’s main purpose is to both evade the enemy and do mixups.​

​

• Down Special (Double Check):​

A chargeable move. Griffon fires a lightning projectile on the ground, which then extends a v-shaped lightning bolt that deals multiple hits whilst pushing the enemy away. Soon after, the v-shape closes into a straight line. This move functions similarly to Palutena’s Auto Reticle, in that it locks on to the nearest enemy. For instance, if the enemy is 45 degrees of the lightning projectile when it hits the ground, the v-shape will face that direction, and when it closes into a line, the line will point at 45 degrees. There are three levels of charge, each of which only extend the duration of this move. On the first charge, the v-shape closes into a line once, then disappears. On the second charge, this process repeats once. On the third level of charge, the process repeats two times. This move deals 3.5% damage, with the hit rate being roughly the same as Pikachu’s pummel. Slightly slow startup. Very low shield pressure.​

​

Aside from building up damage, the purpose of this move is to get the enemy away from V. It can also be used as a ledge-guarding tool.​

​

​

​

3). Jab & Dash:​

​

• Jab (Shadow Combo A):​

A standard three-hit jab. Shadow warps part of its body into a large claw, slashing the opponent. If pressed again, Shadow will warp part of its body into a blade, following up with a second slash. For the final hit, Shadow projects several tentacles from its body, all of which merge into a spear, piercing the opponent. The first hit deals 4% damage, the second hit deals 2.5% damage, and the third hit deals 7.5%. All hits have fairly low knockback. Quick startup, low endlag. The first two hits can be cancelled into either f-tilt or a Smash attack. Low shield pressure.​

​

• Rapid Jab (Shadow Combo C):​

Transforming its head into a spiky whip, Shadow lashes wildly at the opponent. This move covers a wide range; roughly as much range as two of Robin’s wind jabs. The hit rate is roughly the same as Corrin’s rapid jab. Each hit deals 0.8% damage, while the final hit deals 4% damage. Like Robin’s wind jab, this move hits pretty clean, but if held too long, Shadow will start to be pushed back. So don’t get greedy. Quick startup, small amount of endlag. This move has just enough hitstun for Griffon to follow up with a special. As a price for its long reach, this move has very low shield pressure.​

​

• Dash Attack:​

An 7-hit move. While dashing, V comes to a stop, and Shadow emerges from underneath V in the form of a spinning blade, slashing the opponent repeatedly whilst carrying them away. The first 6 hits deal 0.6% damage, while the final hit deals 4% damage, pushing the enemy away a short distance. Quick startup, very little endlag. Very useful against shorter characters, as it covers the ground. Since V has a fairly fast dashing speed, this move is excellent for surprise attacks. Low shield pressure.​

​

​

​

4). Tilts:​

​

• Forward Tilt:​

A spacing tool. Shadow transforms its body into a maw of spikes and chomps down on the opponent. This move deals two hits, the second of which pushes the opponent away. The first hit deals 5% damage, while the second hit deals 6% damage. Quick startup, very little endlag. Covers roughly as much range as Piranha Plant’s upsmash; only the move is horizontal and not vertical. Low shield pressure.​

​

• Upward Tilt:​

Shadow projects a spear from its back that instantly jabs upward at a 45-degree angle. Covers roughly 1.3 times as much distance as Corrin’s f-smash. If u-tilt is pressed again, Shadow will follow up with another spear. Like Pikachu’s headbutt jab, this move can be performed an infinite number of times. Each hit deals 4% damage whilst pushing the enemy at 45 degrees. This move is most effective at low damage percentages. At higher percentages, it can be easily DI’d out of. Quick startup. Low shield pressure.​

​

• Downward Tilt:​

A get-away-from-me move. Shadow spin-jumps in a full circle whilst extending its tail into a scythe. Covers twice the distance as Mewtwo’s down-tilt. Any opponent hit by this move will be pushed well out of the radius. Slightly slow startup. The scythe at the end of the tail deals 12% damage, while the rest of the tail deals 8% damage. As a price for its long range, this move has very low shield pressure.​

​

​

​

5). Smashes:​

​

• Forward Smash (Skewer):​

Shadow transforms into a headless four-legged statue that is twice its height, then extends a long spike from its neck. Said spike covers slightly less distance than Palutena’s up-smash, and is horizontal instead of vertical. The spike lingers for half a second before Shadow reverts into its original stage. Like Corrin’s side special, any opponent hit by Skewer will be rendered immobile. The longer this move is charged, the longer the opponents stay shish-kebabbed. While shish-kebabbed, V can jump on Shadow and use the Skewer as a platform. He can then grab them—and if their damage is high enough, can instantly KO them. Deals 11.5% damage. Slightly slow startup, but very rewarding if it lands. Best used as a camping or ledge-guarding tool. Like Corrin’s f-smash, this move can be angled downward and upward.​

​

• Upward Smash (Arbiter):​

Transforming its tail into a long scythe, Shadow backflips, slashing in a large half-circle from the ground and up. Any enemy whom is hit is sent flying straight upwards with high hitstun. The longer this move is charged, the higher the hitstun. Deals 13% damage. This move covers roughly 1.3 times as much range as Shulk’s forward air. Slightly slow startup, but very low endlag. As a price for its long range, this move has very low shield pressure.​

​

Obviously, this move’s main purpose is to get the enemy in the air. Once they’re in the air, Griffon can follow up with a special. This move can also be used as a ledge-guarding tool.​

​

• Downward Smash (Hedgehog):​

Shadow’s body abruptly warps into a large spike ball, damaging any nearby opponent whilst pushing them away. This move functions very similarly to the Unira item; pulling opponents in whilst damaging them. Covers roughly twice the distance as Unira. Deals 14% damage, and has very high hitstun. Slightly slow startup. The longer this move is charged, the higher the hitstun. As a price for its wide range, it has very low shield pressure.​

​

This move’s main purpose is to trap the opponent so either Griffon can follow up with a Special, or so V can move in for the kill. This move is also an excellent ledge-guarding tool.​

​

​

​

6). Aerials:​

​

• Neutral Aerial (Bayonet):​

An 8-hit move. Shadow appears in front of V, transforming into a large spinning blade. The blade’s diameter a nearly twice V’s height, so it covers a lot of distance. As a price, however, it doesn’t cover V himself; only the area in front of V. So any opponent above, below, or behind him can knock him out of this move. Overall very similar to Pit’s n-air, only it is in front of V. The first seven hits deal 0.9% damage, while the final hit deals 5% damage whilst pushing the opponent away. Quick startup, a small amount of endlag. As a price for its long range, this move has very low shield pressure. After this move is used, Shadow will fall to the ground.​

​

• Forward Aerial (Horizontal Bayonet): A 4-hit move. V jabs the handle of his cane forward, and Shadow appears in front of the cane, transforming into a large spinning blade. Overall very similar to Pit’s f-air, only with larger range. The first three hits deal 3% damage, while the fourth hit deals 7% damage whilst launching the opponent a short distance. Quick startup, with a small amount of endlag. As a price for its long range, this move has very low shield pressure. After this move is used, Shadow will fall to the ground.​

​

• Backward Aerial (Reverse Checkmate): Similar to Shulk, V stabs his cane behind him. Covers roughly as mush distance as Robin’s back air, and hits straight instead of diagonal. Deals 11% damage. If the enemy’s damage is ≥ 100%, they will be instantly KO’ed (similar to Ridley’s down-special). Slightly slow startup, but rewarding if landed.​

​

• Upward Aerial (Rising Bayonet): A 6-hit move. V raises his cane upward, and Shadow appears above his cane, transforming into a large spinning blade. Overall very similar to Pit’s up-air, only with larger range. The first five hits deal 2% damage, while the sixth hit deals 6% damage. Not only does this move have high hitstun, it also has a vacuum effect that pulls the enemy downward. If their damage, is high enough, they will be knocked below V, after which V can follow up with Plunging Checkmate (see down-air). Quick startup, with a small amount of endlag. As a price for its long range, this move has very low shield pressure—though really, the only time the enemy will have to block this move is if it’s used under the stage. After this move is used, Shadow will fall to the ground.​

​

• Downward Aerial (Plunging Checkmate): A stall-then-fall. Like Scrooge McDuck, V mounts his cane like a pogo stick, then plunges downward. Falls roughly as fast as Bayonetta’s down-air. Any opponent he collides with will take 12% damage, and if their damage is ≥ 100%, they will be KO’ed on the spot (similar to Ridley’s down-special). Once V lands, he will struggle to pull his cane from the ground, briefly leaving him open. Quick startup. A very risky, but rewarding move.​

​

​

​

7). Grab & Throws:​

​

• Grab (Checkmate/Gambit):​

V reaches his cane hand in a hook-punch motion. Covers roughly as much distance as Ike’s grab. Quick startup, but noticeable endlag. Dash grab has the highest endlag, and pivot grab has the highest startup and least endlag. If the enemy’s damage is ≥ 100%, any one of V’s throws will kill them on the spot (similar to Ridley’s down-special).​

​

In the air, this move becomes Gambit. V throws his cane in a straight line, then in a puff of smoke warps to and grabs it. If the cane collides with an opponent, V will pull it out of them, dealing 5.3% damage. If the enemy’s damage percent is ≥ 100%, they will be instantly KO’ed. Gambit can also be used for recovery. It functions the same way as any other tether recovery, only difference being V teleports. Roughly as good as Zero Suit’s tether recovery.​

​

• Pummel:​

V stabs the opponent with his cane. Roughly the same rate as Link’s pummel. Deals 2% damage. This move can be extremely useful if the opponent’s damage is just under 100%, and you need that last bit of damage to finish them off.​

​

• Forward Throw:​

V stabs the opponent with his cane, then in a dramatic motion rips it out of them whilst stepping backward in a full circle. Deals 10% damage. By default, the opponent drops to the ground (similar to how they do with Ryu’s focus punch), giving V time to get away. But if the opponent’s damage is ≥ 100% after the end of this move, he/she will be instantly KO’ed.​

​

• Backward Throw:​

V jabs the top of his cane into the enemy like a hook, then with one hand raised the cane, whirls around, and slams the enemy onto the ground. Deals 12% damage. By default, the opponent bounces upward a short distance with high hitstun—after which V can follow up with a jab, f-tilt, or down-smash. But if the opponent’s damage is ≥ 100% after the end of this move, he/she will be instantly KO’ed.​

​

• Upward Throw:​

A two-hit move. V stabs the opponent with the end of this cane, quickly withdraws it, then sends the enemy straight upwards with the flip-kick. The cane deals 5% damage, while the flip-kick deals 8% damage. By default, the enemy flies straight upwards a short distance, after which Shadow can follow up with an up-smash, neutral air, or forward air. But if the opponent’s damage is ≥ 100%, then after the flip-kick he/she will be instantly KO’ed.​

​

• Downward Throw:​

V plunges his cane into the downed enemy, then in a dramatic motion rips it out of them. Deals 12% damage. By default, the enemy lies on the ground for a brief moment (similar to how Snake’s down-throw incapacitates the opponent), giving V time to either run away or follow up with a down-smash, down-tilt, forward tilt, or jab/rapid jab. But if the opponent’s damage is ≥ 100% after the end of this move, he/she will be instantly KO’ed.​

​

​

​

8). Final Smash (Nightmare & Royal Fork):​

​

V summons his third familiar, Nightmare, and his hair turns from black to white. Nightmare appears behind V, then performs an uppercut with its large, rocky hand. Covers a very wide range; almost as wide as the Smart Bomb explosion. If the blow connects, the opponent(s) will be taken into a modern downtown setting. Riding Nightmare’s back, V then commands Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare to gang up on the opponent(s). Griffon barrages the opponent(s) with his projectiles, Shadow ravages the opponent(s) with its melee attacks, and Nightmare blows up the opponent with its lasers. Nightmare then unleashes a giant purple laser on the opponents. Finally, V jumps from Nightmare’s back, then summons a barrage of magical swords which rain down on the opponents.​

​

Nightmare’s uppercut deals 25% damage; Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare’s attacks deal 15% damage, and Nightmare’s laser deals 40% damage. Finally, V’s magickal swords deal 5% damage. A total of 85%.​

​

Once the Final Smash is over, any opponent whose damage is ≥ 100% dies instantly. Otherwise, they are sent flying a short distance.​

​

​

​

9). Author’s Notes:​

​

• Ever since Devil May Cry 5 was revealed, I was obsessed with V. When I first saw his gameplay, I immediately wanted to write a moveset for him. Unlike Dante and Nero, whom were more in-your-face, V was all about tactics. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this moveset. Despite his tactical playstyle and steep learning curve, it was surprisingly easy for me to devise a moveset. It took me less than two hours to write it on paper, and less than a day to type it and fine tune it.​

​

• Since Griffon uses mostly projectiles, and Shadow uses mostly melee attacks, I decided right from the start that Griffon would be V’s specials, and Shadow would be his normal moves. Since, in his game, V has to get up close to finish the enemy, I decided his attacks would be his grabs. I remotely considered incorporating Nightmare into V’s moves, but in the end decided Nightmare was best as his Final Smash.​

​

• I really wanted to incorporate Royal Fork in V’s moveset, but couldn’t figure out how. Since I wanted V’s kill moves to be close-range, I thought killing instantly from afar would be overpowered. But then something clicked: I could use it for his Final Smash. Originally, his Final Smash left opponents in a dazed state (similar to how when their shields are broken), after which V could grab and kill them one by one. But in the end, I thought this was a bad idea, since other opponents could kill the dazed enemies as well. In the end, I decided to incorporate Royal Fork in his Final Smash. Since, like Checkmate, it is a finisher, I found it to be quite fitting.​

​

​

​

 

[BKupa666]

"This is what I do. I plant stories in ground, watch grow into truth!"

SKEKSIL,
THE CHAMBERLAIN
​

skekSil pretty indisputably is the most recognizable character from the Dark Crystal puppet-animated franchise, being one of the few recurring with key roles both in the eponymous 1982 film and Netflix prequel series Age of Resistance as the face of the Skeksis — a society of imperialist reptile-bird hybrids Jim Henson created after seeing an illustration of crocodiles wearing royal garb. Chamberlain, in particular, was a favorite of legendary puppeteer Frank Oz, who asked that the character's design reflect "a villain who would murder his own mother with a smile."

In-universe, the Skeksis represent the violent, ambitious halves of the urSkeks — enlightened beings banished to the planet Thra from their distant homeworld and later mistakenly split into two species — with each having their own peaceful, philosophical urRu Mystic counterpart. Though the Skeksis pledged to safeguard the titular crystal, Thra's core, they in reality siphoned off its energy to prolong their lifespans a thousand trine, corrupting the land with "darkening" in the process. And once the Crystal alone no longer could keep them strong, the Skeksis harnessed its power to drain "essence" from the planet's Gelfling inhabitants, who to that point had revered them as Lords. Said drainage and the ensuing fallout ultimately set the stage for the rest of the events of the Dark Crystal series and film.

Which is to say, everything that happens in the franchise can be traced back to skekSil and his musings about the Crystal's essence-draining potential. He then continues to spur on major plot points throughout with the (mostly) figurative bugs he places in different allies and enemies' ears. As Chamberlain within the Skeksis' Castle of the Crystal, skekSil acts as a scheming courtier to the Emperor skekSo, at first appearing to fit nicely within the Machiavellian mastermind mold popularized in politics-flavored medieval media. In a refreshing twist compared to others in that archetype, however, skekSil's most devious plots tend to come not from him playing borderline-omniscient 4D chess, but rather improvising after his initial plans slip through his claws. skekSil has a singular fixation on his "seat" at the Emperor's side and turns to desperate, even deadly measures to regain his status among the Skeksis once dismissed or banished.

Oh, and Chamberlain likes to whimper. With great and memetic regularity. MmmmmmMMMMMMMMmmmmm!

STATISTICS​

Size -----(o|n 8.5
Aerial Movement -----(o|n 5 / 1.05 units (40th, tied with Ridley, Rosalina and others)
Fall Speed -----(o|n 4 / 1.55 units (45th, tied with Mewtwo, Palutena and others)
Weight -----(o|n 4 / 92 units (45th, tied with Wolf, Villager and others)
Jumps -----(o|n 1.5 (comparable to Ryu)
Ground Movement -----(o|n 0.5 / 1.185 units (78th, between Incineroar and Robin)

skekSil isn't shy asserting his place on the map, clutching his hands together while leering around the stage, beaked mouth slightly agape. He stands about as wide and tall as Rosalina but with his hunched back, covered with a metal armor plate for battle, marking the peak of his hurtbox, while his front and head rest a little closer to earth. As with the rest of his race, Chamberlain's aristocratic robe cloaks a far wispier weight than one might expect, with his body having atrophied over the trine, a reality that does him no favors in the athletics department, either. He definitely won't be winning footraces any time soon, as he shuffles around the stage in a manner evocative of a life-sized puppet. skekSil's unwieldy combination of large size and light weight practically invites opponents to write him off as a glorified training room dummy. With the bag of tricks he's brought to Smash, however, Chamberlain certainly doesn't mind being underestimated — "Am used to it."

Unless otherwise stated, KO percentages are on Mario from the middle of Final Destination.

MECHANIC - SKEKSIS VITALITY
Next to skekSil's icon, players will notice a small meter, filled halfway at the start of each stock with what appears to be shiny blue liquid. This represents the Chamberlain's vitality, something he and the other Skeksis absolutely cannot take for granted, lest they become even more decrepit and eventually crumble into dust. Without player intervention, skekSil's vitality meter will decrease by one-tenth every six seconds, and in the process increase the multiplier for damage he suffers from enemy attacks by 0.1, as well as decrease his damage and knockback multiplier on physical attacks by 0.04. If you're following along, this leaves skekSil with a worst-case scenario of suffering 1.5 times the regular damage from opponents, and dealing 0.8 times his physical attacks’ regular damage and knockback following 30 seconds of inaction. Though slight statistical reductions aren't a death knell for Chamberlain, and he even can occasionally benefit from those tweaks, he very well could find himself in critical condition if he's not careful, factoring in his mediocre weight and large frame. Being the self-preservationist he is, skekSil is well-equipped to control how close he gets to reaching this crippled state, and when. But staving off the cruel joke that is death will require plan, yes?

SPECIALS​

DOWN SPECIAL - ESSENCE VIAL

skekSil extracts a glass vial of shiny blue liquid — identical to that within his vitality meter — and tilts his head back as he begins slurping it down. Tasty, tasty! A tap of the input has the Chamberlain take one gulp of the essence, over the same timeframe as Young Link’s taunt, while holding it down has him continue to take 30-frame swigs of the precious liquid. Each swig of essence heals skekSil of 3% and boosts his vitality by one-tenth. As you might have surmised, by increasing his vitality above the starting midway point, Chamberlain takes on several buffs, as he temporarily returns to a state more evocative of the Skeksis’ glory days as conquerors. With each of the five possible incremental increases to his meter, skekSil decreases the multiplier for damage he suffers from enemy attacks by 0.1, and increases the damage and knockback multiplier for his physical attacks by 0.04 — for a possible best-case scenario of him taking half damage from enemy attacks and dealing 1.2 times as much damage and knockback in return.

Beyond this, skekSil also takes on progressively stronger levels of Tough Guy armor, the higher his meter climbs above the halfway mark. With his meter six-tenths full, he gains the passive armor against attacks dealing up to 50 knockback units; by comparison, Bowser’s armor lets him tank up to 19 units, though his status as a superheavy reduces how many knockback units he experiences in being launched in comparison to the bony Chamberlain (who takes 60 units from Mario’s uncharged F-Smash at 0%). Each additional tenth of vitality will increase skekSil’s Tough Guy threshold by 50 knockback units, to a 250-unit maximum (as some benchmarks, Chamberlain would suffer 243 units on the receiving end of Falcon Punch at 100%, and 267 units from an uncharged Bowser F-Smash at that percentage). skekSil’s meter still drops a tenth every six seconds, however, so foresight is important for him in getting the most mileage out of his short surges in vitality.

This is especially true given that, contrary to what one might believe from his ravenous consumption, skekSil doesn’t have an endless supply of essence. Chamberlain starts each match with two swigs worth of the liquid in his vial, which are represented by a small visual of the vial next to his meter, bearing the number two. Once he’s consumed that essence, his vial won’t automatically refill itself until he loses a stock, upon which it still is the same paltry amount by default. Though skekSil certainly has options in terms of replenishing his essence for continued consumption throughout a match, he does start with the choice between immediately taking swigs of essence for a modest, short-lived buff, or storing it away in case his vitality starts ticking down before he can refill.

Chamberlain’s vial can hold up to however many swigs it will take him to max out his vitality meter (10 when it’s at rock bottom and none when it’s fully filled). skekSil can retain essence in his vial from stock to stock, though not past its capacity — in other words, if he gets KOed with his meter empty while holding 10 swigs, he'll respawn with stash cut down to five swigs. Still, this carryforward option creates additional choices for the player. Some might choose to drink all essence as soon as Chamberlain can acquire it, trying to make use of his statistical boosts and Tough Guy armor, but at the risk of losing them all with no easy way to gain them back if the foe keeps him in disadvantage. Others could instead opt to hoard essence, weakening skekSil as his meter dips below the halfway mark but converting some of his moves into better combo tools, and starting the next stock strong with the extra swigs. Using the input when skekSil's vial is empty causes him to whimper while trying to shake out a drop over the move’s regular duration.

NEUTRAL SPECIAL - DARK CRYSTAL

skekSil raises his arms, looks to the sky and lets out a shriek, seeking to put the series’ titular Dark Crystal, and some of the Skeksis technology harnessing its power, to good use. Three quarters of a second later, a translucent purple beam crackling with sporadic electricity descends down, two training stage squares wide and reaching from the top to the bottom blast zones. Friend Scientist must have fired up machine offscreen, yes? In any case, the crystal beam appears directly in front of Chamberlain by default, but during the startup, the player can direct the control stick for the beam to touch down up to eight training stage squares to either side. By default, the beam remains onstage for six seconds before it dissipates, though the player can repeat the input for it to go away early, upon which skekSil can bring the beam back down in the same spot or elsewhere. The beam must be present onstage for a two-second minimum before it can be called back up, however. After the beam has been onstage for a cumulative six seconds, whether in one fell swoop or multiple bursts, skekSil must wait an additional six seconds for the crystal to recharge before he can use the move again.

Opponents who make contact with the beam take 1% per half-second but no knockback or stun. They are, however, drained of their essence, as the Skeksis’ technology leeches off of them by way of the crystal. Each half-second a character remains in contact with the beam, Chamberlain’s vial fills up by one tenth. Foes shielding while inside a crystal beam aren’t drained of essence, but they risk filling skekSil’s vial to maximum capacity if he’s successful in breaking their shield while they’re there. Characters will still take damage if skekSil's vitality meter is fully filled, but this will not translate into essence for him until his meter dips below maximum capacity again. Chamberlain is vulnerable to his own beam, taking the gradual light damage, losing one tenth of his vitality and slightly decreasing his damage and knockback multipliers each half-second he remains in contact. This self-draining can, of course, be to his benefit if he'd rather enhance his combo possibilities without waiting for his meter to lower organically.

On its own, the beam does not pose a large threat, though it opens the door for skekSil to pressure opponents in any manner of ways. A beam sent down onto a smaller stage platform can effectively restrict its use, while a beam positioned offstage can pressure opponents to recover more quickly, and potentially recklessly, to avoid granting Chamberlain free essence. The beam also will dissipate foes' energy projectiles, though characters still can launch solid ones through unimpeded. Beam control (and not how the Skeksis' Gourmand does so) is crucial to skekSil, not just in terms of affecting how he navigates around the stage but also in his handling of his own essence. Keeping the beam down in one spot for the full six seconds could prolong the headache for foes and give Chamberlain more time to try draining them, but at the cost of a gulp of essence if he'd prefer not losing one-tenth of his vitality during the six-second recharge.

Once a crystal beam dissipates, it leaves behind a glowing purple crack one training stage square wide on the bottom-most platform through which it passed. Behold the power of the darkening! Turns out, rampant abuse of the Dark Crystal doesn’t bode all too well for the surrounding environment...at least for six seconds, after which the crack, too, goes away. Opponents who run over the crack take 5% and some immediate brief stun, and an additional 10% in poison damage over the next 10 seconds — encouragement for foes not to dash in the second a beam disappears and to leap over those patches of ground when they’re active. Chamberlain, on the other hand, not only isn’t impacted, but also can infuse a number of his other attacks — specifically his weapons-based ones — with the dark energy so they take on supplemental effects. The corresponding attacks will have these effects either as long as skekSil stands directly overtop the purple crack or if he touches one of his physical hitboxes to the energy, upon which his attacks will make use of the darkening for the next six seconds (no refreshing until that time's up, though). Multiple darkening cracks can be present onstage at a time, and skekSil even can summon, dissipate and re-summon his beam in several places to create them, though with the potential cost of being able to make good use of the beam itself.

SIDE SPECIAL - SKEKSIS SERVANTS
skekSil lifts his robe up slightly while turning to face the background, appearing to whisper to a hidden entity. As a Lord of the Crystal, Chamberlain calls on some among the creatures of Thra that the Skeksis have bent to their wills, with the specific minion depending on the special's charge. The player can tap the input or keep skekSil charging in his animation for up to 2.33 seconds or 140 frames, with a universal 20 frames of startup as skekSil whips his robe back to reveal his minion. To compare, it takes Pac-Man 2.66 seconds or 160 frames to generate a key, and though skekSil's minions are likely to have more longevity than a dinky arcade sprite, he also lacks the option to easily flee and cower behind a fire hydrant while charging. Chamberlain is unable to summon more than two minions at a time, although it's not like -all- of his minions will be in matches for the long haul. He also can knock minions around, albeit without causing damage, as a friendly fire rule remains in effect with a few key exceptions — more on that in a bit. Minions remain onstage up to 20 seconds if left untouched and vanish whenever Chamberlain loses a stock.

If the player taps the input or charges up to 79 frames, skekSil will summon a Gruenak slave, one of a mechanically-minded race that the Skeksis, save for Chamberlain, believed they had exterminated long ago. These Gruenaks are roughly comparable in size to Villager, hunched over slightly out of fear and making intermittent grunts on account of skekSil having sewn their mouths shut. Perfect for keeping secrets, yes? The slaves meander around the stage at Ganondorf's walk speed, with just 15 HP if the special is tapped, and up to 35 HP if held the full 80 frames, taking knockback akin to Villager at 25%. Being peaceful at heart, the Gruenaks are hardly aggressive minions, perhaps rather being very legitimately "promised" freedom in exchange for helping Chamberlain. In close quarters, Gruenaks will quickly swing a metal wrench-looking tool in a vertical arc to the ground, dealing 6% (plus a surplus 6% in shield damage) and below-average set knockback.

Alternatively, Gruenaks will perform a short-ranged hop, about one-third the distance of Diddy's monkey flip, clinging around opponents' necks or neck equivalents. There, they'll hamper the victim's jump height, ground and aerial movement by a quarter, and pound with their fists to deal semi-rapid hits of 3%. The lowest-HP slaves can be shaken or attacked off with a tad more difficulty than a Pikmin, and slightly more than that if their HP is charged up further. Gruenaks typically opt for the tool swing if an opponent is within a stage builder block on the ground or in the air, and their hop if their prospective victim is further away, within a platform, or is holding shield at close range (with their hop going through as a pseudo-grab). Unique to Gruenaks compared to skekSil's other two minions, the player can smash the control stick during the 20-frame startup for Chamberlain to shove the slave forward a platform and a half in summoning it, rather than letting it spawn right in front of him. Though foes can leap over the minion as it's being shoved, it can potentially catch foes at mid-range off guard, in such a way that letting the slave casually wander over would not.

With 80 to 139 frames of charge, skekSil will call upon a Silk Spitter, the muscle of the Arathim clan, who for a time served as Skeksis allies. These spider-like summons sit low to the ground, about as tall as Ivysaur but approximately 1.5 times as wide, and crawl creepily back and forth slightly faster than a Mecha Koopa. Silk Spitters can range from 45 HP to 65 HP, depending on charge time, and take knockback like Wario at 10%. The spidery minions have a passive hitbox on their scuttling legs at close range, dealing multiple rapid hits of 4% that can combo into each other against heavyweights or characters with low damage; if an opponent remains in contact with the legs for longer than a second, the Silk Spitter will bite them at point-blank range, dealing 9% and horizontal knockback that can KO late, around 175%.

Silk Spitters also will, true to their names, regurgitate venomous silk, spinning in a quick 360-degree circle to spew two stream-esque projectiles, one to either side. These are comparable in size and stun to a fully-charged ZSS laser, dealing 10% a pop and traveling about half of Battlefield horizontally. Silk Spitters will use this minion equivalent of a get-off-me attack if an opponent is within a platform on the ground or in the air, and against aerial opponents, even will perform a vertical leap up to Mario's first jump height to better aim their stunners.

At full charge, skekSil calls upon the Garthim, the Skeksis’ elite extermination force, composed of his prior two minions, with a Gruenak head grafted onto a modified Arathim body. Chamberlain jabs forward with one claw, rasping eagerly as he summons one of these charming fellows as his strongest minion. The monstrosities stand at Marth’s height and crouching Dedede’s width, scuttling back and forth the stage at Ganondorf’s walk speed by default. They will, however, pick up their pace to Wario’s dash speed and start directly moving in on foes within a platform and a half, in the air or on the ground. Garthim have 75 HP a pop and take knockback akin to Ganondorf at 10%, while also taking no knockback and half-damage from any attacks that hit them from behind, on their heavy shell.

In patrolling the stage, Garthim will perform one of two attacks. The first is a relatively quick one-two bludgeon with their claws; each hit reaches out half a platform and deals 9%, with the second dealing knockback that KOs around 145%. Opponents suffer a moderate amount of shieldstun tanking the second hit, upon which Garthim always will follow up with their second attack: a powerful claw snip with a good amount of end lag but just five startup frames. This pinch reaches out as far as an Ike F-Tilt, dealing 18% (plus an extra 30% in shield damage) and knockback KOing at 100%. Beyond the follow-up use — which will break their shield if a foe also tanks the one-two hits — Garthim also will use their claw snip about once every three moves by default, with the ratio increasing to favor the snip more as both the foe and minion take more damage (to the point where, if a foe is above 100% or the Garthim has below 10 HP, it only will use the snip).

Contributing to their tank-esque nature, Garthim also can reflect projectiles launched at them. Though Garthim tank weaker projectiles like any other attack, they'll laglessly curl into their protective shells to form a sphere approximately the size of a giant Kirby if struck with a projectile dealing 9% or more, bouncing it back at their assailant as they take the damage (or half-damage, if shot from behind). The Garthim remain in their ball shape for one second after a strong projectile impacts them. Though opponents can run up and deal further (half) damage at melee range, the minions take no knockback while hunkered down, and now will reflect any projectiles that hit their shells, not just strong ones. Foes also must be cautious in their onslaught; Garthim quickly reach a claw out a Battlefield platform toward the nearest opponent as they unfurl, with it functioning as their own pseudo shield grab against would-be attackers. If they catch a victim, they’ll pinch the poor sap once for 10% over a half-second before throwing them powerfully backward, dealing 13% more damage and knockback KOing at 80%. skekSil can put the pressure on opponents who stand between him and a Garthim by bouncing a strong projectile against it back at them. By forcing a Garthim to curl up from afar — which doesn't damage it, thanks to his friendly fire status — Chamberlain also can put foes in close proximity at risk to get grabbed, potentially held briefly under a crystal beam and hurled in his direction for a follow-up hit.

By default, all minions will turn around upon reaching a beam. If launched in, however, that minion will become stunned under the purple light, entering a pained-looking animation as the crystal energy begins to siphon away their essence. Unlike opponents, minions — those belonging to Chamberlain and other characters' sentient summons, too — lose 2 HP per half second, and must remain under the beam for a full second to fill skekSil's vial by one-tenth. If a minion's health reaches zero, they'll explode into a Bowser-sized blast of shiny liquid, which does no damage but will give Chamberlain a bonus one-tenth vitality boost if he touches it. Similarly to characters, minions will still lose HP and eventually explode when skekSil has full vitality, but he won't get their essence until his meter is back below maximum capacity. Multiple minions can be drained of essence at the same time, though if skekSil can get both a Gruenak and a Silk Spitter under his beam at once, its scientific component will fuse them into a Garthim, which pops out of the beam's other side unscathed. This holds true regardless of how low either previous minion's health is, meaning skekSil could try draining one close to death before throwing its counterpart under the beam to give the minion a second lease on life.

Foes almost invariably will want to try dispatching skekSil's minions with their own attacks rather than knocking them under the crystal beam. They can whittle down a minion's health this way, of course, but at the cost of lending skekSil some essence either from its draining or eventual explosion, or giving him a window to more easily create a Garthim. There is, however, a bit of counterplay foes can try to exploit with minions and the beam. If a minion has spent a second or longer under a beam and then is knocked back out, it'll take on a purple hue, becoming corrupted by darkening and starting to more aggressively target the nearest sentient being rather than patrolling the stage, be it an opponent, another minion, or even skekSil himself. The result is a need for skekSil to drain his minions without getting too greedy, for one. He could, for instance, try leaving a higher-HP minion under a beam to continually fill his vial, rather than one that's about to imminently die and produce less essence. In the process, though, he'd create an easy chance for his opponent to knock it out at him as an antagonistic force — a real danger, especially if it's a big meaty Garthim. Chamberlain also must drain with strategy and deliberation, as the time it takes for him to get essence from a minion is identical to that it takes for the beam to corrupt it. In other words, he can drain the same minion over multiple stretches, but it probably won't be effortless after it turns on him.

Chamberlain thankfully gains the ability to attack corrupted minions — which keep their new hue until they're KOed for good — and, whether offensively or defensively, can launch a corrupted minion back at an opponent as a hot potato of sorts, with it pressuring them as their new closest target. A minion draining under the beam also can serve as bait, drawing opponents in with the possibility of turning it against its master, only for him to snag the opponent in the beam too, or launch the minion out at them first. Beyond his beam, Chamberlain also can corrupt a given minion with his own attacks once they've been infused with darkening from the leftover stage cracks. Unlike his regular attacks, his infused ones deal damage to his minions, which become corrupted if those attacks lower their HP by more than one-third. Beyond setting a corrupted minion on his foes, Chamberlain also can straight up KO a hostile one this way, if summoning a beam or knocking it offstage is not possible at the time.

In terms of interactions, regular minions will not harm each other, and smaller minions will turn around upon contact with bigger ones in their movement patterns (the same holds true if two Garthim come in contact). How and when Gruenaks turn around can help in determining when they'll use their hopping attack, which in turn can make any victims vulnerable to a follow-up from the bigger minion nearby. When darkening enters the picture, corrupted Silk Spitters will drag targeted Gruenaks along the ground with their passive leg hitbox for up to a second (before their bite), dealing gradual damage but potentially putting the smallest minions back into range to hop out at a victim. Whether darkening-infused or not, Silk Spitters' webs also can force Garthim to curl up, reflecting the projectiles in the process (and dealing damage to the latter minion only when the former is corrupted). Garthim will straight up attack targeted Gruenaks and Silk Spitters, and though this will likely severely lower their HP if not outright KO them, skekSil can reap benefits from their bodies getting launched into a beam for him. Corrupted Gruenaks, too, can lightly knock the minions they're targeting into a beam, though they'll more often end up the cannon fodder themselves in these sorts of exchanges.

UP SPECIAL - PODLING PLATFORM

skekSil claps his claws together as an ornate gold carrying platform — the sort sultans typically are escorted around upon — with red cushioning rises up beneath him over 30 frames, hoisted up by pairs of the Skeksis' Podling slaves, one standing atop the other's shoulders on either side. Chamberlain's platform is as long as one of Battlefield's and, once fully lifted up, elevates him two training stage squares off the ground. The player can, however, repeat the input during the startup to halt the Podlings from lifting the platform all the way up, potentially resulting in just one Podling spawning on either side to hold it at a lower elevation.

Once the platform is out, the player can use Up Special and a directional input for skekSil to command the Podlings to move his platform accordingly; alternatively, the player can buffer the following directional inputs so they take place immediately after the 30-frame startup. Hitting the input and inputting left or right will prompt the slaves to frantically mutter in their high-pitched language before hobbling in that direction, with speed ranging from Incineroar to Marth's walk speed depending on whether the direction is tapped or smashed. The Podlings stop automatically at ledges and can turn around with an opposite directional input, albeit with 20 frames of lag, enough so that they cannot truly dash-dance with their platform. Up Special plus an up or down input will prompt the Podlings to raise or lower the platform, as is possible during the move's startup, with their lowest possible height being three-quarters of a training stage square. The top Podling in both pairs will hunch painfully over down to one training stage square, upon which they'll straight up vanish unless the platform is elevated back above that threshold.

And, if the player directs the control stick diagonally, the top Podling on one side will vanish as the bottom slave hunches over to hold the platform at a slant. Diagonally up-and-left or down-and-right will cause the right Podling to hunch over, while the inverse will prompt the left Podling to do the same. They can lower the platform anywhere from a mild 15 degrees to a steep 45-degree slope, again depending on whether the input is tapped or smashed. The Podlings will hold the platform diagonally indefinitely, even able to walk forward or backward while maintaining the slant, unless the player directs the control stick in the opposite direction, upon which they'll level out the platform again (with that top Podling reappearing). Repeating Up Special with the platform in motion, and with no directional input, will order the Podlings to hold it in place once again. And tapping the input twice causes the platform and Podlings to vanish entirely, with one second of cooldown before Chamberlain can call them back out. The platform and Podlings disappear automatically after 20 seconds, whether spent in use or inactive.

After the special's startup, and after inputting any directional command, skekSil is free to move around and attack atop the platform, or leap off (it's not drop-through) as the Podlings proceed with their given command. Chamberlain does not need to be riding the platform to give commands to the Podlings, and can give them at any point he's not in hitstun, including during attack animations or while charging a Smash attack. This leaves him able to be carried a set distance forward while attacking, hopping off as needed and then calling the Podlings over to him on the fly to keep going. To a more limited degree, if a foe lands on the platform with a laggy move, skekSil can order the Podlings to carry them away for some space, although never for a suicide KO on non-walkoffs, what with them stopping at ledges. Whether in motion or stationary, skekSil can increase utility for several of his standards with a slanted platform, or place the slant at the ledge to make get-up more irritating for opponents. The Podlings are non-solid, meaning characters can run underneath an elevated platform or a slant, but still tangible, with each side having 20 HP depletable by any character, including Chamberlain. With one side of Podlings killed off, skekSil cannot order that platform to be moved around anymore, and is only able to angle the one side with remaining Podlings. The platform will vanish automatically if both sides of Podlings are killed off.

Another key use Chamberlain can get out of his platform is in helping to influence his minions' movement patterns remotely. Whether Chamberlain summons a minion atop a platform or lets one wander up a slanted side, he can carry it around the stage as he desires, potentially guiding it onto an elevated stage platform from afar or holding it higher up so its attacks pose more of a threat to airborne opponents. That none of his minions wander off ledges is a great help to skekSil in flexibly navigating them around, potentially even to get them out of his face after they're corrupted. Whether corrupted or not, Chamberlain can have his Podlings carry an opponent or helpless minion underneath a beam to be drained, with the Podlings themselves not taking the damage, shielded underneath the platform. Even without a character or minion in tow, skekSil can order his Podlings to hold the platform at maximum height underneath a beam, letting him safely run underneath without taking any damage or losing any essence. This function would be an obvious one for him to capitalize on whenever possible, if opponents couldn't take advantage of it as well (though there's of course nothing stopping skekSil from using this apparent shelter as bait).

When used in midair, rather than gradually elevating skekSil as he claps, the Podlings only appear with their platform after the 30-frame startup, thrusting it the two training stage squares upward in one fell swoop to propel their master into the air. Chamberlain flies up about as high as Wario's corkscrew, with the player able to angle his ascent diagonally to either side during the startup. He has no special animation after being launched and does not enter helpless afterward, leaving him free to use aerials or his midair jump, if he's stll got it, at any point after leaving the platform. skekSil cannot influence or cancel his aerial momentum until he's reached the peak of his ascent or arc, leaving him rather vulnerable unless he's got sufficient active Tough Guy frames from essence consumption. The Podlings and platform will fall into the abyss at the speed of Sonic's spring after launching Chamberlain, leaving him unable to call them back until they've reached the blast zone and an additional second has passed. On solid ground, skekSil can have his slaves launch, rather than gradually elevate him with their platform if the player holds, rather than taps the input — a potentially punishable but situationally useful mix-up option Chamberlain can use to lunge at characters with an aerial.

GRAB-GAME​

GRAB-GAME - HANDCUFF CAPTURE
skekSil opens his beak menacingly while swiping an ancient-looking gold pair of handcuffs in front of him. He lunges slightly forward as he does so, giving himself an impressive grab range comparable to DK's, albeit with noticeably more end lag if he fumbles, more akin to Samus' tether, at frame 68 (with both stats increasing a slight bit from a dash). Should he snare a victim — character or minion — Chamberlain will utter "aaaaaaaagh!" in triumph as he closes one side of the handcuffs around their wrists or wrist equivalent. All in all, a rather risky grab for skekSil to mindlessly throw out, especially without any degree of essence armor, but one that also can net him some nice payoff.

If the player double-taps the pummel input, skekSil won't stop at grabbing just one victim, but rather will hold on while lunging out again, performing a second grab the same length as his initial one. He'll lunge forward by default, crossing up his first victim to do so, though the player also can direct the control stick backward immediately after the double-tap for Chamberlain to swipe in that direction instead. If he whiffs, his end lag likely will result in victim number one escaping before he retreats back to take hold of them again (if they're a character, as minions can't mash, and left un-thrown will be let go automatically after three seconds).

If skekSil captures a second character or minion, however, he'll slap the other side of the handcuffs closed around them. Minions will continue in their movement trajectories up to skekSil or his grabbed victim(s), turning around in their normal state or pausing a training stage square away, waiting in anticipation, if they're corrupted — both behaviors helpful to skekSil in having a minion close by to grab alongside his opponent, so long as they get in range before the character breaks out. If you're following, this leaves skekSil with three possible grab combinations...character-plus-character, character-plus-minion and minion-plus-minion. Chamberlain will deal below-average set knockback in throwing his own minions, with no damage, thanks to the friendly-fire rule in effect.

With two beings captured, the player can lightly tilt the control stick side to side for skekSil to move between them (a 15-frame process, so he can't just casually pummel both for easy damage), with smashed inputs leading to throws as usual. Characters caught in the handcuffs while Chamberlain is holding a second victim remain in their grabbed animation, able to mash free as usual, meaning he almost always will want to throw a first character victim before a second unless there's a distinct benefit to throwing the second one first. That benefit could be spacing or, if one of the beings skekSil captures is a corrupted minion, putting it closer to his opponent or another minion as its target over himself (a scenario a captured character can try turning against skekSil by mashing free and immediately running a distance away).

After skekSil throws one captured being, he'll release the second, leaving it chained via handcuffs to victim number one. The chain has 25 HP and left untouched will last for six seconds before it dissipates automatically. The two captured beings have one Battlefield platform of leeway in any direction before the chain runs taut, leaving some characters and minions with more pull than others. If both beings move in opposite directions, a 50-50 split between weight and movement speed determines who wins out, with the dominant one pulling the other around at half their regular movement speed (upgraded to 90 percent of movement speed if the submissive character stands still).

The half-weight, half-movement speed split remains constant if both characters enter the air, though if only one character is airborne, weight becomes the dominant factor — in other words, a heavy character on the ground can run to pull around a significantly lighter airborne character with minimal slowdown, while a featherweight is essentially anchored in place if a connected heavy character is airborne. The same general principle holds true if one character is launched, upon which it doesn't take much force to yank lighter characters or minions along behind heavier ones, but heavyweights aren't budged much unless the light character was dealt severe knockback. In either scenario, there are varying degrees of slowdown in how far the launched character travels, meaning skekSil generally gets the most use out of chaining characters when damage racking, rather than KOing, is his priority.

skekSil's larger minions naturally drag around the smaller ones as they continue moving around. Corrupted minions always will move inward at their increased speeds to attack their chained counterparts, while in their right state of mind, smaller minions will not resist as larger ones drag them around. Instead, they'll face backward and attack characters who come too close, creating a pretty good range of hitboxes for skekSil to work around. Characters can drag minions around too, with their varying weights coming into play, though the minions will always move inward to attack them (whether or not they're corrupted), leaving them with little choice but to keep moving or break the chain — launching the minion can cause the attacker, too, to be knocked back a short ways.

Regardless, the temporary tether can make dodging Chamberlain's crystal beam far more difficult for his foes, as the chain encumbers their defensive movements. Minions also can knock chained foes or other minions into the beam, in the best case scenarios letting skekSil drain two beings for the price of one. As slight balancing factors, the chain automatically dissipates on contact with the beam, and draining two minions at once can, of course, result in two corrupted minions coming after him. Chamberlain will not slap a second pair of handcuffs whenever he regrabs a chained character or minion (after the universal one-second timer ticks down) but rather will refresh the timer and HP on the grab victim's existing pair of cuffs.

In FFAs, skekSil can force any number of possible fun strategies by chaining two opponents together, requiring that they either cooperate in freeing themselves to retaliate against their captor or engage in a quickdraw type of reaction contest to see who can drag and/or launch the other first. Team battle handcuff applications can be equally compelling — just one variant could involve skekSil chaining a teammate to a foe and then launching the teammate so they can land the killing blow closer to the blast zone.

PUMMEL - ROUGH CUFFS
skekSil grips his chain right up close to where its handcuffs attach to his victim and shakes them vigorously, grinding the cuffs around their hands or hand equivalents. His shaking deals multiple rapid hits of 1%, at the approximate speed of Wolf's pummel — a benefit to Chamberlain both in terms of refreshing stale moves and in dealing at least a bit of pummel damage after he's transitioned from grabbing one victim to another.

Also of note, if skekSil performs three pummels in quick succession, the nearest minion on the same platform within one Final Destination length will begin to approach him and his victim(s), perceiving the jangling chain as a summons from their master. This effect buffs the movement speeds of minions traveling toward skekSil by one-quarter for as long as he's got at least one foe grabbed. Pummel also causes minions moving away from Chamberlain in their trajectories to turn around and start approaching at this slightly faster speed. And, as previously mentioned, though non-corrupted minions will organically turn and begin moving away upon reaching skekSil and his grabbed victim(s), pummel prompts them — like their corrupted counterparts — to sit and pause a training stage square away until their master releases his victim(s).

On the whole, this effect is most helpful to Chamberlain in scenarios where he wants to more expediently draw in a minion to chain to a lone grabbed being. If he had two victims captured and one mashes free, he also can try drawing in and chaining a minion, though he ought to ensure he doesn't fall victim to the sunk-cost fallacy in trying to salvage his grab. And, of course, skekSil doesn't even need to chain up the approaching minion for it to have value; simply moving the summons closer can better position it to follow up with its own attacks after skekSil has thrown his victim(s). If, for whatever reason, Chamberlain wants to perform multiple pummels without forcing a nearby minion to approach, the player can stagger the inputs slightly, rather than mashing them in quick succession.

FORWARD THROW - SHOVE
skekSil grips his victim in his claws briefly before roughly pushing them away, dealing 5% and forcing them back a below-average set horizontal distance that won't KO on non-walkoff stages. There's not all that much special about this throw — it can push foes into Chamberlain's crystal beam, and is a pretty effective way to get rid of minions Chamberlain has mistakenly grabbed. Its only real standout use is its cross-up property: skekSil will shove foes or minions clear through to the other side of other onstage entities. The cross-up property remaining in effect for as long as the victim remains in hitstun during the set knockback, meaning that foes or minions must be within about one-third of Battlefield to be passed through.

Though Chamberlain's mileage on this throw can depend pretty significantly on spacing, it can be an effective way to position a victim in relation to his minions onstage. As some examples, skekSil can send his victim to the shell side of an approaching Garthim, putting his opponent in a tougher spot as far as whittling down the beast's HP, or position them to be the closest target of a corrupted minion. With some combination of opponents and minions handcuffed together, he also can effectively swap the two detainees' positions onstage — helpful if he wants to back a foe up against the ledge or a beam. One strategy could involve cuffing together a light foe and a heavy Garthim, tossing the Garthim onto a slanted Podling platform and then quickly commanding the slaves to raise and carry away the platform, which in most cases will force the foe to vulnerably leap up to break their chain before they're dragged off.

BACK THROW - RELEASE
skekSil grabs his cutlass and uses it to roughly slide open his victim's cuffs, before turning around and snarling "Go!" as he casually tosses them backward. This is most comparable to a faster, weaker version of K. Rool's B-Throw, dealing 6% and knockback KOing around 165% at the ledge. More intriguing, however, is the effect on the subject not thrown. That foe or minion is automatically released from Chamberlain's grab, but with the handcuffs and chain still attached to their hands, the empty cuff dragging around a short distance behind them. There, it'll remain for the next six seconds or until the foe destroys it with attacks that touch the chain, akin to killing a Pikmin.

Though the chain deals no damage to its carrier, it will automatically link them to any foe or minion that makes contact with it or the empty cuff. Effectively, Chamberlain can make it risky for foes to turn their backs to minions, especially corrupted ones approaching at faster speeds, and temporarily removes their option to spam shorthop B-Air to kill minions, unless they want the hassle of un-chained themselves from the sentient summons. The gold standard, of course, is if skekSil can arrange for a chain-dragging foe to be sandwiched between two minions, or himself and a minion for added pressure. Having a minion drag a chain around can further frustrate foes, potentially snagging those who try casually rolling around a minion or rushing up to attack it as it's facing the opposite direction. Only one character or minion can drag around a chain at a time, with it vanishing if Chamberlain lands another grab while it's out, or if the subject enters the crystal beam.

DOWN THROW - PEEPER BEETLE

skekSil whimpers as he extracts a glass jar from his robes and shatters it over his victim's head, pushing them away a low set distance and dealing a paltry 4%...at least for now. Most unfortunately for the victim, Chamberlain's jar was one housing a peeper beetle — an alien scorpion-esque bug the Skeksis keep starved and ravenous for the "soft meats" of any among their rank declared in need of punishment. The beetle can be seen chattering and aesthetically scurrying across the victim's body over a period of time — a second longer than it takes for Mega Man's crash bomber to detonate — before it reaches their face. There, it visibly opens its jaws and chomps down on their eyeball or eye equivalent, dealing 15% and crumpling the foe, similarly to one struck by Ryu's down special.

The foe can't rid themselves of the beetle with attacks, and instead must shield, dodge or parry its bite. The beetle's bite deals an additional 20% in shield damage, meaning characters who casually hold out shield to absorb the damage risk having their shield broken (upon which, it's essence-draining time). Dodging the peeper beetle also is a challenge if Chamberlain has chained the victim to a minion, upon which they'll likely have to resign themselves to getting dragged briefly as they shield, unless they can quickly break the chain first. For some counterplay, the beetle carrier also can pass the beetle on to other characters or minions (but not skekSil) by coming in contact with them. When this happens, the beetle's bite timer does not reset, and the minion is likely to take the damage, unless the foe stupidly brushes up against them again within the pre-bite window. skekSil is generally best-suited applying pressure on a beetle victim as their timer ticks down, in the hopes of throwing off their timing and then initiating a tech-chase or jab lock combo out of their crumpled state.

Unlike with his other throws, Chamberlain will damage his own minions if he uses D-Throw on them and they do not brush up against another target before the peeper beetle bites. It's a rare day when he'll want to purposefully D-Throw a minion, given the damage that's likely to ensue. Nevertheless, a creative player could try having multiple minions pass the beetle around coming into contact with each other to keep foes on edge, or putting the beetle on a minion skeksil is about to drain as a temporary deterrent to foes knocking it out of the crystal beam.

UP THROW - ARMOR BURST

skekSil shrieks and tosses his victim lightly upward, dealing 5% as he turns to face the screen and hunches over slightly. If the player simply taps the throw input, Chamberlain will expand the weaponized protrusions contained in the Skeksis' battle armor on his back, automatically slicing the victim again to deal 6% and vertical knockback KOing around 155%. With a foe at low- to mid-damage, skekSil can pop them lightly up into the air, able to start a combo into U-Tilt or U-Air unless the victim air dodges with near-perfect reaction time.

The player does, however, have an alternate option — by holding the throw input, skekSil won't automatically expand his armor upon tossing his victim. Instead, he can delay the weapons bursting out for up to one second, charging their damage and knockback up to 7-14% and 145-115%. The protrusions strike in a good-sized arc shape above Chamberlain's head, able to catch throw victims either fastfalling down or using their second jump to time a descending aerial. Though a handful of characters can punish skekSil with an immediate stall-then-fall, he can work around this if he's got adequate Tough Guy armor from his essence, effectively using it and his U-Throw hitbox as a counter. Chamberlain is quite vulnerable if his victim can dodge off to the side to punish him as he's charging. The player can, however, input a dodge command to cancel him out of the charge, giving him the option of faking out his victim before punishing their air dodge. Used on a foe or minion chained to another subject, Chamberlain can forcibly bring about the chain's aerial dragging physics to varying extents, depending on how high his armor launches the victim.

When powered up by darkening via a crack from Neutral Special, skekSil's armor protrusions will crackle with purple energy upon bursting free. This deals no extra damage but modifies the throw's regular knockback into paralysis on the victim, comparable to Corrin's Neutral Special. If Chamberlain is able to land a grab overtop a crack or while carrying the energy, he can confirm U-Throw into U-Tilt or U-Smash, depending on the charge of the throw and, thus, the stun time. Inflicting this paralysis on one of two chained foes or minions is one of skekSil's easier ways to launch both at one time.

STANDARDS​

JAB - MESMERIZE
skekSil slashes with his left and then right claws, before whipping out a crystal pendant on a chain and dangling it rapidly from side to side. His first two hits are comparable to a weaker Bowser one-two punch jab, dealing 3% and 6%, with a hair less range but slightly better frame data. Hitbox one comes out between frames 5-6 (compared to 7-8 for Bowser) and 7-9 (compared to 9-11), with a first actionable frame of 24 (versus 26). Chamberlain can swipe away opponents at close-range in a pinch, or, though it's not a true combo, follow slash one up with a tilt, grab or even uncharged Smash if his foe doesn't react quickly enough (and if he's got sufficient essence armor, that can become easier said than done). skekSil holds his swinging pendant out, performing multiple light hits of 1% with slightly less range than Simon's multi-hitting whip jab, with his finishing strike upon release being a third claw strike, dealing 4% and diagonal knockback KOing at 190%.

Compared to many of Chamberlain's other attacks, the swinging crystal has a pretty small hitbox, limiting its use for damage-racking unless he can corner a foe against a crysteal beam or approaching minion. When it comes to minions, however, the hypnotic pendant has an additional perk: If skekSil swings the crystal around within a Battlefield platform of a minion on his level, he'll stun them in place for three seconds. Sleepy...sleepy... Chamberlain must face the minion for the hypnotism to work, and must dangle the crystal for 20 frames to stun a Gruenak, 40 frames to stun a Silk Spitter and a full second to stun a Garthim.

Minions won't perform any attacks while stunned, so while not ideal for offensive gameplay, skekSil can whip out his pendant in a pinch to stave off a corrupted subordinate for a time. More generally, stunned minions are easier for him either to launch into a crystal beam or summon a beam down on top of. And, if for whatever reason Chamberlain wants a particular minion of two handcuffed ones to drag the other around, stunning the desired summons into submission is the way to go. Just beware predictably swinging the crystal around too often, as skekSil's large frame leaves him a pretty vulnerable target. If it's a minion on a platform Chamberlain wants to hypnotize, however, he can direct Podlings to quickly carry him over and then away, rather than sitting stationary on a platform foes can more easily poke through.

If skekSil has imbued himself with darkening, the energy will manifest as a faint purple glow in his crystal pendant. Now, rather than dangling the miniature crystal to hypnotize just minions, he'll instantly emit a close-range purple spark as his third jab hit. This briefly puts characters in their shieldbreak state, comparable to Mewtwo's Disable, while stunning all minions identically, rather than requiring Chamberlain to hold out jab based on their relative strength. Rushing in on skekSil can prove a lot more harrowing when he's powered by darkening and can rapidly cycle through his jab hits to get to this stunning spark, or fastfall onto a crack before doing the same. Against a sufficiently stunned foe, Chamberlain can call down or walk-push his victim into a crystal beam to net himself some essence before landing a punishing blow.

DASH ATTACK - BESTIAL SNARL

skekSil freezes in place near-instantly and hunches over, waving his head slightly side to side while hissing, showcasing his species' more feral attributes. The player can briefly keep Chamberlain in this state by holding the input. Upon release, Chamberlain will growl animalistically, slashing his attacker for 9% and below-average set knockback. He remains able to perform this slash between frames 3 and 47, with him automatically performing the slash if the input is held any longer. What's more, during the 29-frame slash, the player can direct the control stick at one of three backward angles for skekSil to rapidly leap in that trajectory immediately after he strikes. Horizontally backward prompts Chamberlain to jump back approximately one-third of Battlefield, with a relatively low short-hop. Diagonally downward sets him back a training stage square, with him barely leaving the ground in the process, while diagonally upward has him leap up and back nearly a full Battlefield platform, with enough air to land on one from the main Battlefield stage below.

With his nontraditional dash attack, skekSil will find it a losing proposition shuffling after an opponent trying to land dash attack. Used with quick thinking out of his initial dash, however, Chamberlain can not only reset neutral with space between him and his foe, but control his spacing with relation to them and his other summons to gain the upper hand. His strike's low knockback means, from low to mid-damage levels, many opponents will be put into prone if they fail to tech the landing, opening the door for skekSil to move in with a jab lock combo if he's leapt back the bare minimum distance. Arranging for a slanted Podling platform to be positioned or moved nearby can help in more easily snagging a foe in prone this way, especially if the platform's slant is increased at the last instant to throw off the character's tech timing. If he needs more breathing room, Chamberlain also could instead perform a higher leap onto a Podling platform right as he's ordering it to move away from his opponent. Compared to timing dash attack against a slippery opponent, capable of defensive manuevers, Chamberlain can more easily slice away a corrupted minion, as a way to earn himself some breathing room and send the minion back, hot potato style, at a juicier target instead.

FORWARD TILT - KILLING BLOW
skekSil stabs his scimitar forward a short distance, more comparable to Incineroar's F-Tilt in terms of range and frame data than any actual Smash swordfighter standard (seriously, I looked, but like all of their F-Tilts are generic horizontal slashes). His scimitar comes with two hitboxes, the first and most prominent of which sits along the outermost two-thirds of the curved blade. Foes poked with this take 9% and horizontal knockback KOing around 145%, a decently workable melee tool for fending off close-ranged attackers, especially if they whiff a move or dodge or roll predictably. Given that skekSil's knockback goes down when he's at low essence, this is one of his handful of hitboxes that actually can see greater combo use when he's low on vitality.

The innermost hitbox, on the other hand, deals 7% and a moment of hitstun as the foe is gutted, leaving Chamberlain at a frame disadvantage if he does nothing but giving the player a roughly 25-frame window to repeat the input. Upon this, skekSil will twist the sword around inside his victim, dealing 11% and causing his victim to collapse into prone, similarly to if Ridley impaled them. skekSil has to be at near point-blank range to stab a victim this way, and can easily render himself a sitting duck if he becomes predictable in getting that close. If he ends up stabbing a foe's shield, though, he still can perform the second sword-twisting hit, with it dealing an added 10% in shield damage to really do a number on his opponent's anxiety. The player also can angle the tilt diagonally up or down, with the latter option being one of Chamberlain's better tools for two-framing a victim at the ledge.

With darkening, a bolt of purple lightning protrudes two training stage squares from skekSil's scimitar, most comparable to a slightly shorter Hero Zapple (the middle-charged version of Side Special). This naturally renders F-Tilt a far superior tool for poking and anti-air uses, and boosts its damage and knockback outputs to boot. The outer hitbox now deals 12% and KOs at 120%, while the first inner hitbox deals 9%, and the twisting follow-up now inflicts an extra 10% in poison damage over the next six seconds. Beyond the potential for a meaty 30% off a single tilt, the ranged bolt is helpful for Chamberlain in scenarios where he wants to corrupt a regular minion with a darkening attack. However, perhaps to the greatest extent of his various darkening attacks, he might consider using F-Tilt more sparingly if he'd rather not accidentally corrupt a minion he'd prefer to keep in its right mind.

DOWN TILT - SWIPE AND STOMP
skekSil swings his rarely-seen reptilian tail along the ground in front of him, akin to Mewtwo, albeit with a bit less range and without him spinning around as part of the animation. Unlike Mewtwo, however, Chamberlain's tail functions more akin to DK's D-Tilt, pushing foes back a smidge rather than popping them into the air. The swipe deals 6% and has a 40% chance of tripping characters at low to mid-percentages (up until about 65% on Mario), before the low set knockback starts to weakly launch them away — though this threshold climbs higher when skekSil is low on essence. Chamberlain's tail swipe on its own can be a great combo extender, linking fairly seamlessly into the first two hits of jab or F-Tilt's gutting hitbox. If a foe gets tripped up, he also can rush in with his handcuffs, or, if he's already got a character cuffed to another subject, try tripping them so they get dragged around for a bit. One relevant perk worth noting, with Tough Guy armor, skekSil can tank a foe's get-up attack from their tripped state, letting him land a better punish. Without the armor, he still can try "countering" that get-up attack with dash attack to get an edge, spacing-wise, though he's wide open to get grabbed if he misses.

skekSil has access to a second D-Tilt tool if, like with Ryu, the player firmly presses rather than taps A in performing the input. Rather than swipe his tail, Chamberlain will lean forward to stomp one clawed foot down with an open beak and a shrill cry. The animation resembles K. Rool's heavyweight stomp, but with a better first actionable frame of 34 rather than 43. skekSil's stomp carries two hitboxes — a hitbox directly over his foot dealing 8% and burying with the strength of WFT's third jab hit, and a weak shockwave hitbox dealing 5% and extending one training stage square away along the ground. While not as punishable as the Kremling King's counterpart, Chamberlain is prone to eat a shorthopped aerial to the face if he becomes too obvious trying to bury victims. His pitfall effect isn't strong enough to hold foes under a crystal beam for that long, either, though it generally will bide him enough time to call forward at least one summon before they escape. And skekSil's burying hitbox only is situationally a true combo out of his tail swipe, if he initiates the swipe close enough to his victim when they're at low to mid-percentages and they trip. In those scenarios, however, he's at liberty to pile on a little extra damage, whether that's a free jab or a riskier charged Smash.

UP TILT - ARMOR PROJECTILES
skekSil unveils his weaponized battle armor, this time as he bends forward with force to sling sharp blades from the protrusions. With a tap of the input, skekSil will toss two miniature silver blades in quick succession, with each being approximately the size of a Banjo egg and traveling in the same default trajectory as Simon's axe — an arc extending half of Battlefield horizontally and 4.5 training stage squares vertically. The blades each deal 4% and vertical knockback KOing off the screentop at 185%, falling the vertical height from the top Battlefield platform to the main stage before vanishing. Chamberlain throws his blades more quickly than Simon does with his axes, with the hitboxes coming out on frame 20 rather than 30 and a first actionable frame of 45 rather than 67. His blades also travel at a slightly faster speed, enough so that, in combination with their poor knockback, they tend to combo into each other on larger foes or those at low percentages.

If the player holds the input, Chamberlain will hurl a single larger ivory blade, nearly the size of Squirtle, along the same possible trajectories. This is a noticeably slower variant of the move, coming out on frame 37 and having a first actionable frame of 75. The blade definitely makes up for its sluggishness with power, however, dealing a mighty 21%, plus a handy 15% in extra shield damage, and knockback KOing off the screentop at 120%. With either type of blade, the player can angle skekSil's projectiles during the tilt's startup so they travel either in a higher arc, reaching 5.5 training stage squares vertically but just one-third of Battlefield horizontally, or a lower one, reaching 3.5 squares vertically and two-thirds of Battlefield horizontally. Raising and lowering a Podling platform, or having the slaves move the platform around as Chamberlain is tossing them, can open up further trajectory possibilities.

Regardless of which blades he's throwing, skekSil is unorthodox from an anti-air perspective. Though his projectiles definitely can make foes think twice about approaching, and shred mindless shorthop aerial rushdown attempts, they're quite difficult to use once a foe has gotten in his face on account of their startup, and aren't usable for juggling either. Rather, Chamberlain's blades are best-suited for peppering opponents throughout matches, including in reading air dodges or rolls (perhaps employed hastily while dodging minions), if a foe is hiding behind a crystal beam (through which the knives travel as solid projectiles) or vulnerable while recovering. The longevity of both blade types also can be prolonged with help from Garthim and their reflective shells. The heavier blades can prompt the burly minions to curl up as it's reflected back in an opposite arc, after which the Garthim will reflect both types of blades in its ball form (none of the blades damage the minion, thanks to the friendly-fire rule). Though not truly exploitable, due to Garthim unfurling after one second, Chamberlain can for a time turn the air thick with dangerous hitboxes, boxing in opponents for further exploitation.

When powered with darkening, both of skekSil's blade types will be coated in purple electricity as they travel in their arcs. The energy enlarges the blades' hitboxes by a hair and transforms their properties from dealing one single hit to dealing multiple light ones that ultimately amount to the blades' regular damage. These light hits stun foes and carry them along the blades' trajectory, dealing the regular knockback as they near the end of their arc rather than immediately. Because foes can DI out before the knockback with a moderate learning curve, skekSil might opt not to use U-Tilt atop a darkening crack, or otherwise refrain from powering up with the energy if he's going specifically for regular U-Tilt's damage and knockback. If he'd rather ensure distance between himself and a foe, however, or increase his odds of a gimp, strategically harnessing the energy can prove a worthy trade-off.

SMASHES​

FORWARD SMASH - TRIAL BY STONE

A large ceremonial sword, lengthier than skekSil's regular scimitar, appears in his claws as he gradually rears back, shrieking shrilly before slashing horizontally with the blade. Opponents sliced take 20-28%, with an added 20% in shield damage, and knockback KOing from 115-80%. The sword reaches out a mite further than Link's F-Smash, with similar startup but a bit more ending lag, with a first actionable frame of 60 vs. Link's 52. It's an effective, albeit punishable kill option for Chamberlain, rendered more potent by his ability to make its hitbox linger and expand slightly for a split second by slicing a minion, like when attacks strike Pac-Man's hydrant. skekSil also can finish the job shattering a shield, perhaps upon reading a roll or Wi-Fi tier "run up and shield in your foe's face" gambit, especially if he's successfully whittled it down with ranged options like U-Tilt blades or a Gruenak's wrench attack.

skekSil is far from an honorable swordsman (swords-Skeksis?), of course. The player can tap the control stick backward while he's charging for Chamberlain to let go of his sword as he's pulling it back, tossing it a short distance behind him as he suddenly stops his shriek and grins deviously. Inputting forward immediately after releasing the Smash also has skekSil hurl the sword in front of him with a bit more force rather than slicing it. His airborne sword is approximately the size of a thrown Killing Edge item, traveling at approximately that speed in diagonal arcs to the ground one to 1.5 Battlefield platforms behind or in front of him, and falling for up to two seconds before vanishing. The thrown sword deals a slightly lesser 15-21%, with 15% in extra shield damage, and knockback KOing from 130-95%.

skekSil's first actionable frame upon throwing his sword remains the same as when he slices it regularly, meaning, if he throws it down from a Podling platform, he can try rushing down and applying further pressure. Though the sword isn't excessively difficult to parry, the odds of it catching a foe flat-footed increases if they're preoccupied with other multiple hitboxes, like from a Silk Spitter's legs, or a movement deficiency, perhaps from a clinging Gruenak. Timed and spaced well, Chamberlain's thrown sword also can stage-spike recovering victims. Given the move's lag, and that he can't use F-Smash (or his other Smashes) again until his thrown sword vanishes, he generally can only throw one sword down offstage at an offstage foe. Even then, though, he can use the threat of the sword to condition opponents to air dodge into the ledge, and react accordingly.

Onstage, throwing the sword into a Garthim's shell, in particular, can create an immensely scary, albeit short-lived air zone in the immediate vicinity. skekSil doesn't necessarily even have to bounce the thrown sword off his minion's shell to reap a reward, as the shieldstun a foe will experience tanking the blade makes it distinctly likely the balled-up Garthim will land its claw grab. Meanwhile, if Chamberlain manages to slip the sword by an opponent — perhaps if they're shorthopping mindlessly — and into the shell, the foe must react with near perfect precision to dodge both the reflected sword and claw. In still other situations, skekSil can throw his sword directly at a Garthim shell and then leap over the rebound, letting it pass beneath him to slice opponents rushing in from behind

With the power of the darkening, skekSil's sword glows with purple light while charging, generating a vacuum effect as powerful as that on Ganondorf's U-Tilt. The suction reaches out along the ground a slightly shorter distance (two training stage squares compared to Ganondorf's three), but still can work wonders in triggering opponents' fight-or-flight instinct. A careless spot dodge or attempt to roll away generally will result in Chamberlain landing the ensuing Smash, especially if he opts to throw his sword for added range, while holding out shield can prove hazardous as well. He can, of course, have his charge interrupted via counterattacks, though with adequate levels of essence armor, this becomes more of a chore.

skekSil also can go for a mix-up by throwing his sword behind him and then dashing in to punish an overly defensive opponent with an a different option. His frame advantage in doing so varies on his opponent, though even if they normally would have an edge at close range, Tough Guy armor can help him get the upper hand regardless. And, though it's more telegraphed than if Chamberlain were to carry darkening away from a stage crack, he can try using the suction to pull a victim overtop the crack. If he's successful in doing so, the resulting moment of stun from the crack's hitbox will create a true combo into F-Smash itself.

DOWN SMASH - STROLLING SLASH
skekSil points his long ceremonial sword to the ground in front of him to charge. Upon release, he spins around in a circle while lifting the sword above his head, delivering an overhead slice to the ground. His slice deals 19-26%, plus 15% in extra shield damage, and knockback KOing from 125-90%. The blade reaches out slightly further than Robin's D-Smash, with a slightly more staggered startup (comparable to but faster than Dedede's F-Smash) and a first actionable frame of 57. It's a slightly weaker kill option compared to F-Smash, but on account of a momentarily lingering grounded hitbox, skekSil can time D-Smash to two-frame victims at the ledge.

The player also can hold the control stick to either side as skekSil is charging for him to walk in that direction at Incineroar's walk speed, dragging his sword on the ground in front of him to drive back opponents. In motion, the sword has a weak lingering hitbox, dealing periodic hits of 1% akin to Corrin's F-Smash. Chamberlain can turn around while walking and charging (once every 25 frames to prevent dash-dancing), letting him perform turnaround or fleeing D-Smash to an extent, though a limited one, on account of his slow movement speed. Foes can be dragged along with the weak sword hitbox, able to DI out without too much difficulty under ordinary circumstances, but almost guaranteed to get pulled along at least a platform or two if Chamberlain catches a foe when his damage and knockback multipliers are diminished due to his low essence.

The weak hits aren't a true combo into the main hit of D-Smash, but skekSil can attempt to land it out of the preceding hits by stopping his walk and continuing to charge, before cleaving down onto any unsafe defensive maneuvers his foe has made to get away. With help from a slanting Podling platform, he has options for walking onto a platform with D-Smash, continuing to charge the move as the slaves are ordered forward, before performing the Smash either in the air or after walking back down. Chamberlain will not walk off ledges while charging D-Smash, but rather walk in place while continuing to drag his sword against the ground. These light hits don't compose a large enough hitbox to two-frame, and a patient foe can use their ledge invincibility to retaliate, but used smartly, skekSil can use the initial hits to snag a victim recovering high or time the primary sword slice as they leap up for the KO.

Emboldened by darkening, Chamberlain will cast a ball of purple energy forward at the moment he slices down, ranging in size from Olimar's helmet to Kirby. The energy travels forward from one-third to two-thirds of Battlefield at the speed of K. Rool's cannonball, dealing multiple stunning hits that amount to 15-21% and knockback KOing around 165-130%. With this supplement, skekSil can momentarily turn being on the same level as him into quite the scary experience, as the energy can launch or inflict shieldstun even on those who dodge the sword hitbox. Reflective Garthim shells can, of course, render matters even more chaotic. Foes still can work around the projectile by short hopping over and punishing Chamberlain, so it can prove beneficial for him to D-Smash walk over a stage crack, suddenly pick up darkening energy and send out the projectile after his opponent already has locked themselves into a committal option.

UP SMASH - CEILING SKEWER
skekSil whips out his ceremonial sword one more time, holding it vertically at his side while eyeing beadily upward, before thrusting it into the air with a cry. The sword extends approximately as far above his head as Marth's U-Smash which, given skekSil's superior height, lends itself to a bit more vertical reach. The sword has a consistent hitbox along its length dealing 16-23%, plus 10% in shield damage, and vertical knockback KOing from 130-95%. Chamberlain's sword hitbox stays out from frames 13-18, with a first actionable frame of 69. Though he remains vulnerable from the side, his stab can serve as a nice, straightforward poking tool through platforms, sending victims skyward for him to try chasing down with aerial follow-ups. It's the weakest of skekSil's three Smashes in terms of KO potential but still can get the job done, especially if, say, a Silk Spitter's web projectile has a victim briefly stunned above him, and he can charge U-Smash for added oomph.

Between frames 38 and 63 of cooldown, the player can tap A for skekSil to perform a second sudden stab, with a slightly lesser 12-18%, 5% in extra shield damage and knockback KOing from 145-120%. This follow-up attack has the same end lag but comes out much faster, on frame 6, letting skekSil quickly lash back out at foes who suddenly drop their shield while sitting on a platform. Chamberlain can repeat this quick stab up to two additional times in a row if the player inputs A during the 25-frame end lag window. Once his initial strongest stab comes out, the player also can direct the control stick from side to side for skekSil to slowly strafe forward or backward while performing the stabs (with him moving one Battlefield platform if he strafes in one continuous direction for the three bonus stab-maximum).

With the proper reads on rolls, Chamberlain can stand under a platform and perform multiple stabs to corner a victim. Alternatively, he can continually take chunks out of a stationary victim's shield (which will break if they tank too many stabs). With a Podling platform in motion, he gains the ability to turtle up underneath it while walking forward and stabbing through, locking it off from foes who might otherwise want to land on top. The multiple stabs can't really be used for juggling unless skekSil has low essence or he's facing a lightly-damaged or heavyweight opponent. The lesser knockback compared to U-Smash's initial hit does, however, make subsequent aerials or U-Tilt blade-sniping easier.

A darkening-powered Chamberlain emits small purple bursts from the tip of his sword shortly after each stab he performs, lingering briefly to deal a set 5% and low vertical knockback. The bursts are approximately the size of a K. Rool cannonball and appear 25 frames after the last active frame of the preceding stab. The burst serves as a helpful anti-air hitbox defending skekSil just after he performs his initial strong stab, launching foes weakly up for a combo starter, while repeated bursts really amp up the danger for foes on platforms above him. Now, when Chamberlain stabs multiple times while strafing around, the staggered bursts help him cover more of the platform with hitboxes, posing an even greater threat to shields. The sword and burst hitboxes in tandem also make it far easier for skekSil to corner foes on platforms — they're generally forced to move or jump in one direction, as the bursts will nab and very possibly put them into prone if they just casually roll back and forth.

AERIALS​

NEUTRAL AIR - ARMOR AGGRESSION
skekSil turns to face the screen and shakes in place as his weaponized protrusions erupt out of his armor, causing them to scrabble the air around him. The miscellaneous pointy ends reach out about as far as Mewtwo's N-Air, over approximately the same timeframe, though they deal four, rather than six light hits. The first three hits, out between frames 8-25, deal 3% and light stun, while the final hit deals 4% and light knockback diagonally downward that can KO close to 200%.

Used out of a shorthop, Chamberlain can cover enemy rolls with his protrusions, as well as scrape at foes above him on a platform. With low essence and a midair jump in tow, skekSil also is able to string one, two or even three N-Airs together, a challenging feat outside of low percentages during regular play, though because N-Air isn't safe on shield at close range, he ought to mix up his timing to avoid becoming subject to a very possibly fatal aerial string in return. If foes get stupidly risky in going offstage to gimp skekSil, N-Air is a generally good move he can throw out while being thrust off his Podling platform, as a multi-hit move with the ability to stage spike his would-be attacker.

Chamberlain's armor protrusions glow with purple darkening energy when he's wielding the corruption, boosting their damage slightly to 3.5% on the light hits and 5% on the final one. The energy also adds a pinch more stun to each of the hits, decreasing the likelihood of smaller foes or those near the outer perimeter of the aerial's range slipping away. To skekSil's delight, the tweaked stun also turns N-Air into a potent drag-down tool, comparable to a Pikachu N-Air or a Joker U-Air, contrasting with regular vanilla N-Air (he'll typically fall beneath his opponent if he tries). If he can pull this off, Chamberlain has a small frame advantage, enough for true combos into his first two jab hits and D-Tilt hit one, plus the chance to grab his victim if they don't react immediately.

FORWARD AIR - CARVE
skekSil retrieves his scimitar and swipes it in a horizontal slash, not dissimilar to Greninja's F-Air but with a bit less base damage, at 12% compared to 14%, plus diagonal knockback that KOs Mario at the ledge around 90%. Chamberlain's slash actually comes out a hair faster than tongue-scarf boy's counterpart, between frames 12-15, rather than 16-17, and a first actionable frame of 35, rather than 55. Though F-Air works nicely as a surprise out of shorthop, or in reading a get-up option at the ledge, skekSil does not autocancel the move upon landing, which, combined with the mediocre range, makes it difficult to use in the ubiquitous "press F-Air mindlessly while approaching" fashion most of Ultimate's cast employs.

One trick he can perform, however, ensues if the player inputs A within the last 15 frames of cooldown. Chamberlain will follow up his horizontal slash with a vertical one, performing a sluggish flip as he holds his scimitar out around him. Visually, this most resembles Meta Knight's N-Air, with the hitbox coming out quickly but a first actionable frame of 56, compared to 44. skekSil's sword here deals a nice 14%, with 10% extra shield damage, and knockback KOing around 75% at the ledge. F-Air hit two is definitely a committal option to throw out; it can't combo from hit one and Chamberlain generally will need to full hop F-Air if he wants enough air time to use it. If he's conditioned his foe to dodge F-Air hit one, however, a well-timed vertical slash can work wonders as punishment for their air dodge. Of note, though, if skekSil lands on a foe attempting to shieldgrab below, his vertical slash will inflict a moment of shieldstun. If he has forward momentum or is directly overtop the shield, he'll also cross it up, able to follow up with a shorthopped N-Air or B-Air if his opponent drops shield suddenly or else able to dart a short distance away for breathing room.

When he's carrying darkening, skekSil's sword flashes purple during both hits of F-Air, granting an electric effect and boosting their range a hair, comparably to Robin using his Levin sword vs. his regular one. It's a rather straightforward tweak that can make F-Air more of a threat for approaching foes to respect out of a shorthop, though not an insurmountable one by any means. Like Robin against some constructs, Chamberlain can prolong the electric hitboxes of both F-Air hits by striking one of his minions, increasing the odds of nearby foes getting launched. In doing so, he's certain to corrupt any Gruenaks he's sent out, and, if he uses both hits, weaker Silk Spitters as well. Having a follow-up plan for not getting attacked by that minion is key, though skekSil at least has the silver lining of having gotten a headstart on lowering its HP — perhaps readying it to be converted into a tasty blast of essence, yes?

BACK AIR - SHANK
One of skekSil's ivory armor blades, as seen in his strong U-Tilt variant, protrudes out, pointed downward, as he leans backward for a moment. Visually, and speed-wise, this most resembles Bowser's old Melee/Brawl-era B-Air, but with a short extra bit disjointed range. The bulk of the blade's hitbox deals 9% and knockback KOing at the ledge around 100%. There's also a momentary strong spiking hitbox directly underneath Chamberlain's backside as the blade comes down, dealing 11% and knockback that can bounce foes off the stage for a screentop KO around 160%.

If skekSil shorthops B-Air and fastfalls to land midway through, his blade will embed in the ground, holding him a short distance off the ground on his back. He'll stay in this state for up to one second before dropping back down onto the ground; the player also can input shield for him to cancel out after 20 frames. They also can input A and either horizontal side for Chamberlain to perform a quick kick in that direction, dealing 10% and below-average horizontal knockback. It's a maneuver that somewhat resembles that from Corrin's side special, albeit taking skekSil a shorter half-Battlefield platform distance. Chamberlain can be highly punishable at the instant he sticks himself in the ground but is difficult to counterattack as he's kicking, especially if he's powered up with essence armor. As such, this application can be a helpful get-off-me option in close quarters and, if skekSil crosses up a shield at close range, he can quickly follow up with a regular B-Air. Embedding onto a Podling platform in motion and then kicking off can be a boon for Chamberlain in disorienting his opponent even further.

When skekSil's wielding darkening, a short-ranged bolt of purple lightning, as thin as a low-charge ROB laser, will extend one Olimar downward from his blade as he leans back. The regular slashing B-Air hitbox remains the same, while the regular spike hitbox is replaced with the bolt, which deals 7% and below-average set knockback. The spike hitbox, meanwhile, moves to the very tip of the bolt, with its properties much the same but with an added electric effect. Though this can make the spike timing more difficult, the slash and bolt meld together to cover a good amount of vertical space behind skekSil, turning B-Air into a better option to throw out in deterring approaches. Spaced properly, Chamberlain also can B-Air near the ledge so his bolt reaches down a short bit offstage, able to two-frame or even spike recovering opponents, though if he whiffs, he's generally granted his opponent free passage back onto the stage.

UP AIR - HELMET HEAD
skekSil extends his neck a bit as he swings his head from left to right, striking at foes while sheltered under his metal battle helmet. Lag and range-wise, Chamberlain's headbutt is comparable to WFT's U-Air, dealing 10% and vertical knockback that can KO from the top platform around 135%. More than a lot of skekSil's other attacks, U-Air's optimal use fluctuates most obviously based on the level of essence he has at any given time. With higher levels of essence, Chamberlain can instill fear in foes attempting to land, able to intercept a good number of weaker aerials with his Tough Guy armor and land U-Air as a vertical launcher. Low essence, on the other hand, turns U-Air into a great garden-variety juggling tool for use in damage racking. This is perhaps skekSil's best vertical-hitting attack, with less lag and better overall coverage than U-Tilt or U-Smash. As such, if opponents come to expect it from skekSil when coming in from above, he can subvert their expectations through empty hopping, with U-Airs thrown out in earnest as he sees fit.

DOWN AIR - STAB
skekSil lets out a maniacal laugh as he pokes his scimitar downward over 15 frames, centered underneath him, and holds it there through frame 67. His blade constitutes a lingering hitbox, not dissimilar to Young Link's D-Air, with a strong initial hitbox lasting through frame 20, dealing 19% and vertical KOing around 130%, and a subsequent weaker one dealing 13% and diagonal knockback KOing closer to 170%. Rather than a stall-then-fall, as one might expect for a character Chamberlain's size, he retains the ability to drift sideways or downward, encroaching on an opponent's air space from above and bouncing off of them (or their shields, for 5% extra shield damage) on hit.

Compared to B Button, The Character, skekSil is less efficient dropping down on victims with his slower fall speed. He is, however, surprisingly more effective at navigating sideways either to land both bouncing hits for a total 32% or just the lingering hitbox, on account of his better aerial movement. His capacity to spring that sort of damage on foes, especially when bolstered with essence armor, could be enough to scare some from pursuing skekSil too aggressively into the air, where he otherwise can be rather vulnerable. Chamberlain's D-Air comes with a first actionable frame of 80, making it far from his safest option, especially given his large hurtbox protruding to either side of his sword. Still, D-Air is deceptively fast enough that he can quickly yank his sword out of the ground and punish those who thoughtlessly rush in to retaliate.

With minions onstage, Chamberlain either can harmlessly bounce off the tops of his regular summons to flee in a given direction or take a chunk off the health of a corrupted minion that he deems no longer of use. Of note, skekSil can repeatedly shorthop D-Air to poke his scimitar's lingering hitbox through a Podling platform. This effectively creates a reverse U-Smash situation, where opponents turtling up underneath must either eat shield damage or leave their protective sanctuary. If Chamberlain manages to D-Air a foe through a Podling platform, and they miss a tech against the platform's underside, he can attempt to follow up with an additional D-Air as they bounce back up, or simply rush down to attempt a different option.

While wielding darkening, skekSil will create a purple energy shockwave to either side of his scimitar upon landing with D-Air onstage. The shockwaves reach out slightly farther to either side than Yoshi's Down Special stars, at two training stage squares to either side of Chamberlain. These grounded hitboxes deal a weak 5% but decently strong stun, comparable to ZSS' paralyzer charged two-thirds to capacity. Foes stunned near the energy's periphery can use a quick attack or evade if skekSil lands immediately with enhanced D-Air. If he times his landing near the end of the aerial's duration, however, he can true combo into jab, D-Tilt or a grab, with other options also accessible if he correctly reads his victim's reaction. Despite the risk, immediately landing with D-Air still can catch some foes offguard if used unpredictably, perhaps as Chamberlain is about to land from a shorthop, and can briefly hold a foe in place under a beam or in a minion's path.

FINAL SMASH​

FINAL SMASH - SKEKSIS SWARM

skekSil lets out an echoing whimper, rushing forward half of Final Destination's length while pointing forward with the ceremonial sword from his Smashes. Opponents he strikes are knocked into a cutscene, appearing in their shield-broken states in Castle of the Crystal's throne room. There, they're surrounded by Chamberlain and all of the other Skeksis from the Dark Crystal series, save for any who happen to be taking part in the match. The vulture-esque royals cackle and jeer as they swarm around the victim(s), ripping and tearing at their bodies and clothing as they take part in their species' banishment ritual. All in all, the victim(s) are dealt 50% over the course of numerous rapid hits, before they're returned to the stage and launched with force sufficient to KO around 55%. skekSil briefly straightens his robes upon returning to the stage, perhaps recalling the time his own peers subjected him to this treatment.

EXTRAS​

UP TAUNT - WHIMPER

skekSil puts one claw underneath his chin as he peers around the stage and lets out a whimper. There are about a dozen different whimper variations he'll use, each with its own inflection and length, making this a fantastic taunt to spam. MmmmmmMMMMMMMMmmmmm!

SIDE TAUNT - SKEKSIS SLANG
skekSil sweeps a loose-sleeved arm to the side, calling out to his opponent with disdain, "Keep your robes on, spithead!"

DOWN TAUNT - ROYAL COUP
skekSil extracts the Skeksis emperor's royal scepter and runs his claws across its length, while uttering, "It's time to make my move."

ENTRANCE - LORD'S ESCORT
An exotic-looking carriage, rolled along by giant pillbug-like Armaligs as the wheels, pulls onto the stage. skekSil hops out with a whimper and enters his idle stance, ready to quell the resistance.

VICTORY POSE #1 - ESSENCE EVERLASTING
skekSil downs a full vial of essence, giggling to himself briefly before opening his beak and sticking out his flailing tongue, letting out a pleased "Gaaaaaaah!" in experiencing the liquid's energizing effects.

VICTORY POSE #2 - SMARMY SKEKSIS
skekSil slashes here and there with his scimitar before turning and pointing it to the screen with a shriek, at the same time his armor protrusions all burst out for dramatic effect.

VICTORY POSE #3 - SPOT-STEALER
skekSil ambles over to glare into the camera at an uncomfortably close distance, hissing "You...took...my...seat!" at what presumably is the match's loser.

VICTORY THEME - DRAMATIC DARK CRYSTAL
skekSil uses an orchestrated snippet from the main Dark Crystal theme, a fittingly foreboding, mysterious tune, for his victory fanfare.

LOSS POSE - SNIVELING SKEKSIS
skekSil applauds in a moping fashion, turned to the side, with most of his robes visibly ragged in tatters around him.

LINK TO CHANGE LOG (last updated 2/17/2020):
1. Tweaked Dash Attack inputs, with hitbox triggered on command rather than via counter
2. Clarified Forward Smash sword uses when thrown against reflective Garthim shell
3. Implemented brand-new Down Air

"MmmmmmMMMMMMMMmmmmm!"

 

[UserShadow7989]

As we near the final day of this contest's submission period, I'd like to thank everyone who made it such a smashing success! With everyone working hard as they can to get in one last set, we're looking to have a very long list of excellent sets to read and vote on.

With that said, I'd like to make one last contribution to MYM 22's stellar line up: Introducing Bolt Witch Victoria!

 

[bubbyboytoo]

As MYM22 draws to a close, I arrive at long last with the questionable contribution of my very first Pokeset! While this isn't for the most popular 'mon out there, I hope you'll check it out regardless.

 

[PeridotGX]

Is it already the end of the contest? Time sure does fly. I'm here to post one last set, from a series I'm surprised I haven't made a moveset for yet. She's hardly the first character from her series I've had a concept for, but she's the first to make it past the specials. Without further adou...

(the link to the moveset is embedded in the image.)

Just as a heads up: This set was a bit rushed, I wouldn't reccomend reading in it's current state. Grovyle is the only one I'd reccomend.

 

[Altais]

Though I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted, at least I managed to get one moveset finished. That said, I guess I'll be saving the other movesets I was writing for next contest. Since I'm still on break, I'll have plenty of time to prepare.

 

[Bionichute]

Arina Makihara
The Romping Fiery Girl​

Arina is a character from the Sunsoft fighting game Waku Waku 7. She is one of the two main characters, sharing that title with Rai Bakuoh, who she is rivals with (and may have a crush on, though she would deny it). Arina is, for some reason, a half-human-half-rabbit girl, which is never commented on and just seems to be a common part of this world, judging by how her three besties are also half animal (well, two of them are, one might be an elf). Her main goal, like every other character in the game, is to gather the 7 Waku Waku Balls and have her wish granted. She starts the game off with the orange Waku Waku Ball.

Arina has a bit of a temper and is highly skilled in physical combat, skills she apparently learned in an extra credit course, but also acts a bit flirtatious while fighting, confidently showing off her body in a lot of moves. She acts tough when she needs to, but has a sensitive side, as shown by her planned wish to get the perfect boyfriend. Her reaction when she doesn't get a result she expected, however, is a lot less sensitive. Gameplay wise, Arina plays similar to a shotoclone, but with her own high energy spin on it, and a lot of additional inputs added to the standard shotoclone attacks.

Arina is also the only character who has an image song, which plays on her stage.

Stats
Weight - 96
Walk Speed - 1.47
Run Speed - 2.31
Air Speed - 1.155
Fall Speed - 1.3​

Arina's stats are somewhat of a mix between Wii Fit Trainer and Zero Suit Samus. She's squarely high-middleweight, but with ZSS' great ground speed. She falls into above average for air speed, however, and her fall speed matches WFT's, making her slightly floaty. This doesn't make her bad in the air, nowhere near it, but it might take some adjustment to go from her high speed on the ground to how she plays in the air.

Arina has a fairly standard humanoid build, mostly matching Wii Fit Trainer, but standing wide like ZSS does (though slightly wider thanks to her stance). It resembles the gif posted above. However, she is slightly shorter than either of them thanks to being younger. Arina has great jumps, as you would expect from a rabbit. These fall into the straight up good category of jumps, with her first jump being her best, and her second being significantly less good, but still not terrible. Animation wise, her first jump has her performing a flip, while her second jump has her performing a split jump to give her the extra boost.

Also, despite being a fighting game character, Arina does not have automatic turning or command inputs like Ryu or Terry.

Note: All KO calculations are based on Mario from the middle of Battlefield.

Specials
Neutral Special - Arina Beam​

​

Upon a quick press, Arina flings her arm in front of her, creating a yellow star that flies forward as a projectile. This is, ostensibly, Arina's Hadouken, though there is a lot more to it than you can see from just a quick button press. The star is comparable to the star the Star Rod shoots out, but pointier and roughly half the size, though the star does fly at roughly the same speed. Unlike the Star Rod, where the star will shoot wherever the animation for the tip of the rod goes, Arina Beam will always shoot down the middle of Arina's model (Or more accurate, on the line between two Grid Blocks). This should be obvious, but I feel it needs to be stated anyway for clarity.

While the Star Rod star travels a hefty 8 Grid Blocks, Arina Beam only flies a pitiful 1.5 Grid Blocks forward, an absolutely awful distance for a projectile. To make things worse, the star only deals 2% damage, and practically no knockback! Absolutely terrible for something with that small a range. However, the star DOES deal decent hitstun, which makes it good for openers. The attack has very little starting lag, making it great for combo potential. But obviously this isn't all there is to the attack. Arina Beam is actually a chargeable projectile, with four distinct levels of charge!

While charging, Arina will hover off the ground and hold her arm behind her as she prepares the star. Charging Arina Beam to full actually takes longer than it does in the original game, where it took less than one second to do. Here it takes roughly 1.2 seconds, or 80 frames, to fully charge. This is partly for balancing reasons, since being able to fully charge this that quickly is more of an issue in Smash than it is in a fast paced normal fighting game, and partly for legibility, as you can now fully make out the distinct charge levels of the Arina Beam. Speaking of, let's go over those right now.

The Arina Beam is split into four charges, represented by the color of the star. It goes in the order of yellow, green, blue, and pink, with pink obviously being the strongest. In addition to changing color, the star will grow larger, travel farther, and deal more damage. The downside to this is that you can only have one star on stage at a time, and the additional distance basically acts as ending lag preventing you from spamming the charged form. The normal ending lag is still all that's preventing you from moving, however. Charging to green takes 10 frames, blue takes 50, and pink takes the full 80. Arina is vulnerable during this, obviously, so it's obviously a bit difficult to get to pink consistently.

For the individual levels, the green star is slightly larger than the yellow star, but not quite as large as the Star Rod stars. It travels 3.5 Grid Blocks before vanishing, and does a still pretty bad 4% with barely any knockback. This still isn't really that great, but it's what you get for just holding the button a bit longer than you should. The green star deals slightly more knockback than the yellow star does, but in exchange for this is also has less hitstun. Overall, not great, but this is a more general projectile, thanks to its better range and higher power. Something to note about both yellow and green stars is that they disappear upon hit.

Blue is where the attack starts getting good, though the other two have their own uses. Blue stars are actually slightly larger than the Star Rod stars, more on the level of Warp Stars or Dedede's spit-up stars. These actually travel 8 Grid Blocks in distance, making this definitely superior in the range department. Interestingly, it still only deals 4%, but to make up for this it actually deals multiple hits, three hits to be exact. This totals up to 12%, a pretty good number for a projectile. The star will always deal 3 hits, unless the opponent is hit at literally the last few frames of the star's existence. This detail applies to the pink star as well. The third hit deals knockback, which still isn't great, only KOing in the late 100%s, but is far better than yellow or green's knockback. This still deals the same hitstun as green, which isn't that great, and also applies to the pink star.

Pink is the obvious best one, or it wouldn't be the one that requires the most time investment. The pink star is huge, being roughly twice as large as a Warp Star, meaning it takes up a LOT of space compared to the other ones. Pink travels a stupidly large distance, 12 Grid Blocks, almost the entire length of Battlefield's main platform, actually covering all of it if used from the edge due to Arina taking up some space. This is pretty insane, but in addition to this, while it still only deals 4%, the star now deals FIVE hits, which equals 20%! The attack's knockback has been upgraded too, KOing in the early 100%s now, roughly at 130% for most midweight characters. This still isn't powerful enough to justify attempting to spam it, but the damage and range are the actual selling points. In addition, unlike the other charges, this thing can chew through shields real easily.

Yellow and blue are the most useful of the four, yellow for being spammable and having high hitstun, and blue for just generally being the easier and more worthwhile to throw out than the other two. Green can be used as a general projectile, though obviously blue is better, this can still come in handy when you need something better than yellow out really quickly. Pink, however, is the hardest to get out, and despite being the strongest in almost every way, is mostly undone thanks to that charge time. It is still very satisfying to manage to pull off, though it will rarely ever KO. It's main use in a match is to punish shields, though this is a tactic that came be seen through fairly easily. Just think of pink as a novelty with some use.

And no, we're still not done! Arina can also use this attack mid-air, where it basically acts the same. The big thing is that this completely halts Arina's aerial movement while she charges, though she will drop like a stone the moment that the star is fired, with more noticeable ending lag.You can jump to recover once this ending lag is done with, but it's still a nuisance anywhere but above solid ground. This isn't something you want to use while off-stage, it's far from any form of recovery, but it is still useful since it allows you to cover the air better, as this is Arina's only projectile attack.

And finally, and most interestingly, Arina can change the direction that her stars fly in. Specifically, she can move them upwards or downwards in arcs. You can activate this by holding up or down when the star is fired, fairly simple. When angled, the star will go its usual distance forward, but also travel upwards or downwards as it does so. The distance traveled upwards/downwards depends on the charge of the star. Yellow stars will only travel 0.5 Grid blocks, green travels 1.5, blue 2, and pink 3 Grid Blocks. This is actually a gradual curve, as the star will only reach its maximum vertical distance at the end of its lifespan, though it will always be traveling in that direction, however slight. They will disappear if they hit solid ground, however. This makes basically every form of the star less predictable for the opponent, as they'll need to figure out the variables of where they are compared to where the star will be when it gets to them. A jump to avoid a projectile can turn to a successful bait in a second flat. They can even be used to edgeguard, by sending the stars off the stage!

Being Arina's only projectile, Arina Beam has a lot of utilities, things like damage, shield punishing, approaching, all of these are covered by this single move, making it a genuinely impressive bit of coverage that only enhances Arina's heavily melee focused gameplay.

When the move is used, Arina will have a 50/50 chance of shouting "Arina Beam!" or letting out a yell, similar to how Terry's voice clips work. This applies to the rest of her specials as well. When Arina attempts to shoot another star while one is already out, she will attempt to go into the charge animation, but instead fall to her knees as the standard Smash puff of failure appears. In the air, she'll curl inwards as she grits her teeth, her ears spiking upwards.

Side Special - Arina Tornado​

​

An important thing to note before we continue is that Arina, while she doesn't have command inputs like Ryu, Ken, or Terry, does have similar "held" inputs, in that holding the Special Attack button can slightly enhance the moves. I'll refer to these as "light" and "heavy" versions, respectively.

With a yell of the attack's name, Arina spins around and launches herself forward with a kick. She then kicks with her other leg, alternating between them as she flies forward, in a fairly unique version of the classic Tornado Kick. The starting lag is pretty negligible, but there is a decent amount of endlag. This applies to all versions of the move. Hitbox wise, the kick reaches out slightly farther than Ryu's Tornado Kick does, but only by a bit. The kick also only hits in front of Arina, leaving her pretty much defenseless from the back. As mentioned above, this attack has a light and heavy version. For the light version, Arina will only kick three times, including her starting kick, and only travel 3 Grid Blocks before the move ends. This is a pretty bad range, considering that even Ryu's light Tornado Kick goes forward 5 Grid Blocks.

The main difference here is damage. The first two kicks deal 4%, while the final kick, alongside dealing knockback, grants an additional 6%, totaling to 14% if you manage to land the whole combo. Tornado Kick, however, deals 10% with a single hit. Knockback wise, the Arina Tornado acts a bit opposite from the Tornado Kick. Aside from dealing more hits, the main knockback hitbox is at the end of the move, rather than the front, which applies to both versions of the move by the by. Anyway, despite this, they have similar knockback power, KOing at 160%, though due to only having one launching hitbox, light Arina Tornado is a lot more consistent about this.

Heavy Arina Tornado actually has a more noticeable effect than heavy Tornado Kick, as it will add an extra kick to the end of the attack. This also, obviously, increases its distance, boosting it to just barely 5 Grid Blocks worth of travel distance. This isn't a massive boost, but it is appreciated. Unlike heavy Tornado Kick, there's not actually a damage boost here, due to how the damage provided already stacks up, with the max total being boosted to 18%. The knockback still only KOs at 160%, the main difference her is just how much damage and distance it can go.

If you mash the button during either of these moves, you can actually add on a few extra kicks. 5 extra kicks for the light version, 7 extra for the heavy one. They behave the same as the rest of the non-finisher kicks, but Arina will drastically slow down her forward movement while performing them, since the extra kicks will always be applied to the end. While there is still bonus movement, it's very slight. Light will only get an extra Grid Block, while heavy will only get 1.5. The kicks are determined by the amount of button presses, and due to how the hold charge works, getting 7 button presses can be fairly difficult. A big downside here is that, if you whiff, you'll end up leaving yourself open for much longer, with it being worse every the more kicks you've inputted.

A major difference between Arina Tornado and Tornado Kick is Arina can't actually use this as a recovery tool. Well, she can, but it's not a great one. After the start of the move, Arina will basically start dropping instantly, still going the same distance she normally would, but dropping as she does so. This isn't a good thing off-stage, since you'll be dropping like a stone, and enter some bad landing lag if you do hit the ground. The heavy version obviously is better, but still bad. Even though this is bad off-stage, you can actually use this pretty well on-stage, as it can act as a semi-unreliable approach tool. Extra kicks cannot be used when the attack is performed in the air.

Finally, we come to the big "gimmick" of Arina's set is her ES moves. Similar to how Ryu and Terry can perform powered up versions of their specials by doing command inputs, Arina can access her ES moves by pressing both the standard and special attack buttons at the same time. Unlike command inputs, ES moves don't have light or heavy versions. You can tell an ES attack has started by Arina flashing for a second as she starts the attack. (Also, Neutral Special doesn't have one. Have you seen how complex that move is already?) For Arina Tornado, the ES version adds a tornado effect underneath her, and increases the kick count to 7, though the damage is slightly toned down than the normal versions. The first six kicks only deal 3%, while the final still does 6%, totaling 24%. For knockback, the move can KO at 140% now, making it more powerful than Ryu's command input Tornado kick.

Movement wise, the attack is buffed to 7 Grid Blocks, not as good as Tornado Kick, but still pretty good distance. Even better, ES Arina Tornado can ACTUALLY BE USED TO RECOVER! While the tornado effect was completely cosmetic in Waku Waku 7, in Smash the effect actually allows her to be carried by the wind, making it so that she doesn't fall while performing the attack! This turns it into a stellar recovery move, in addition to just being a good aerial attack now.

Up Special - Arina Crash​

Arina performs an upwards chop, which quickly raises her, and the opponent if she hit them, into the air. This is basically Arina's own version of the Dragon Punch, though there is a bit more to it than Ryu's uppercut. For the hitbox, the chop hits a bit farther than Ryu's arm does, and the hitbox for this move actually matches as well. This only gives her a slight bit of extra reach, though, so don't try to use it from TOO far away. There's also a bit of lag at the start, similar to Ryu's, and there's some end lag before Arina enters special fall. Generally, this is about what you might expect.

The difference between the light and heavy attacks is pretty simple, the amount of damage on the initial hit and how high the rise goes, but we'll still go over it in detail. Light Arina Crash only goes upwards about 3.5 Grid Blocks, slightly higher than what Ryu can reach. Also for a note on range that's relevant to all versions, similar to Ryu, Arina will always automatically move 1 Grid Block forward when she uses Arina Crash. It deals 11% on the initial hit, and can only KO at 190%. This is... pretty bad, considering that even a light Dragon Punch can KO at 160%, this is a full 30% higher and deals less damage. Well, it is the light version, it shouldn't be too powerful.

For the heavy Arina Crash, it deals 15% damage and travels upwards roughly 6 Grid Blocks, giving it a significant advantage over the Dragon Punch in terms of recovery. It can KO at 150%, which is better than the light version, but still not the best on a move that's otherwise very similar to the Dragon Punch. So, what exactly is the deal here? Well, we haven't gone over the attack's main feature: Additional hits! But I SHOULD mention before we move on that there is a secondary hitbox on both versions of the attack that deals 7% and deals much weaker knockback. This hitbox only becomes active after Arina is off the ground, similar to Ryu (again). Unlike in Waku Waku 7, this hit doesn't combo from the initial hit.

By pressing the button up to three times, Arina can perform three additional hits. The first one is an uppercut, the second is a diagonal kick, and the last is a Guile style flash kick. These extra hits only come into play at the top of the ascent, and are only registered at the end as well, meaning that you will really need to mash in order to get them all in. The initial hitbox and rising hitbox both directly combo into the first hit, and while they can all launch, the knockback will be cancelled if another hit is registered (EG. the first hit's knockback will cancel once the second hit is inputted).

Now, let's cover how these hits work. Each of these three hits has a unique hitbox attached to them, so we'll cover those as well. The uppercut deals 2% and KOs at 200% for light, 180% for heavy. This, as you might notice, is a lot worse than even the base damage. WHy is that? Because this is actually a combo starting attack! If you end the attack here, due to the low knockback, you can actually directly go into different aerials, or even grounded attacks if you manage to end it above a platform. The diagonal kick deals 3% and KOs at 160% for light, 130% for heavy and deals specifically diagonal knockback, making it great for situational kills. And finally, the flash kick will deal 5% KO at 140% for light, and 110% for heavy, but only deals directly upwards knockback. This makes the final hit stronger than even the Dragon Punch, which is pretty dang impressive all considered. It's worth noting that, due to how short the light version is, getting all three hits out for it is harder than it is for the heavy version, and even getting all three out for the heavy is difficult. The extra hits also boost the distance the attack travels as well, giving Arina roughly 0.8 extra Grid Blocks of height.

Finally, we have Arina Crash's ES version. This is a pretty simple upgrade. Upon use, Arina will perform the move like normal, but slightly faster and with all the additional attacks done automatically. This is actually pretty much similar damage and knockback wise to the heavy version of the attack, but the difference is that all five hitboxes connect to each other, meaning you can get some SUPER damage from this. The main downside is there's slightly more lag to the start, preventing it from being TOO easy to land, but while in the air Arina will pause during this lag, making it just as good for recovery.

Down Special - Arina Burst​

​

Arina spins around like a magical girl, a pillar of light covering her, before the attack ends in a burst of light as she thrusts her limbs out. This is an original move based on Arina's Super Mode animation, as well as something else we'll get to. This attack has a fairly fast starting animation, and mediocre-to-bad endlag. The pillar isn't actually a hitbox, but it covers Arina's model and a bit off to the sides, and reaches up 4 Grid Blocks, making it rather large to look at. While the pillar isn't a hitbox, the initial creation is, dealing 4% with weak knockback in all versions of the move. The flash at the end is also a hitbox, though it only reaches a radius of 2x2 Grid Blocks, dealing 10%/13% depending on the version, with stronger knockback than the initial hit, but only just enough to make the attack safe.

The most important thing to note about the attack is the invincibility frames it gives you. For both the light and heavy versions, the attack will grant you I-frames for basically the full middle of the move, starting at around frame 5 and lasting until the flash of light at the end. This plays into the main difference between the light and heavy version of the attack, that being the actual length of the attack. For light, the animation lasts roughly 45 frames, while heavy lasts for 60 frames. The flash happens at around frame 40/55, while there is lag after that period. So, it's a lot of invincibility frames. This is mainly because this is a direct reversal tool made to punish opponents for getting in close. The variant's differences basically come down to moves you want to block, or how you want to go back into the fight. The attack has bad endlag though, so savvy players can easily punish you if you misuse it.

If you press the special attack button near the end of the move, but before the flash, Arina will burst forward in a flame covered punch! This is based on Arina's HaraHara super move. This has very little, practically zero, starting lag (ironically enough), meaning that you can instantly punish an opponent who fell for your trap. There are light and heavy versions here too, the light version will only travel forward 3 Grid Blocks, while the heavy version will travel 5 Grid Blocks. Damage wise, this deals 10%/15% respectively, and can can KO at around 170%/150%. The major downside is that this move has even worse ending lag than the regular lag the move normally has, as Arina will quickly plant her feet on the ground and skid to a halt. This can make it very easy to be punished if you missed with it, so there's a bit of a double edged sword here.

Finally, the ES version of Arina Burst has the same length as the heavy version of the attack, but gains I-frames from frame 1 until basically frame 60. Instead of the simple flash of light at the end, Arina will burst into an aura of flame, complete with her eyes catching on fire. The actual hitbox size is identical to the regular ending hitbox, but deals 18% with knockback that can KO at 120%, if you manage to hit with it. This has almost a full second of start-up, remember? The attack also has more start-up than even the flaming punch does, as Arina will fall to the ground and need to take a breather for a second. You can't use the flaming punch out of this either, so it's either go big or go home. The main purpose here is the I-frames, as the amount this has makes this a practically invincible move - but using it too often is an absolutely bad idea, as not only will the opponent see through it, they can also punish you big time.

Also of note, the attack can be used while holding shield, but will always default to the light version in this case, and this can help you deal with shield pressure and such. It can also be used in the air, but nothing really changes, though Arina will hover while using the move, and obviously drops once endlag starts, so be careful with that. The flaming punch can potentially be used for recovery, but it puts you into special fall when used in the air. Overall, though, this is basically the ultimate reversal tool, something Arina will definitely need considering her heavy melee game.

Standards
Jab​

Arina performs a punch with the arm farthest away from the camera, then follows up with a punch with her other arm. This is based on her Light Punch animation, but in addition to the punches, there is now a third hit where she performs a fairly standard front kick. The first two hits are nearly identical, having equivalent range to them that you would expect from most melee based characters, roughly 0.4 Grid Blocks forward. This isn't that great, but these punches are actually very fast, with little endlag, and like several other Jabs in Ultimate, holding the standard attack button lets you throw them out rapidly without activating the final hit.

Both punches deal 3%, but don't deal any real knockback. They do, however, cause some decent hitstun, which is perfect for starting up an advantage state or a combo. The kick, however, has a bit more start-up time than the punches do, and reaches forward about 0.8 Grid Blocks. It deals 5% and diagonally upwards knockback, but it can't KO until the late 200%s. This hit is decent for moving into the air, and at lower percents it can even combo into Arina Crash. There's minor ending lag to the kick, though, so this only works early on in a stock. This is overall a fairly standard Jab, but it does what it needs to and provides some choice for how to take on enemies in different situations.

Forward Tilt​

Arina performs a side kick with the leg facing the screen, in an animation matching her Heavy Kick attack. The attack has a bit of start-up compared to most FTilts, but it isn't slow either. It also has a bit of ending lag, making it difficult to spam (There's another reason why that's difficult, but we'll get to that) The kick reaches out 0.8 Grid Blocks, giving it good range on par with some sword characters. The kick is decently strong, dealing 9% with knockback that can KO in the mid 200%s. Due to its range, this move is very good at shield poking, mostly brought down by the fact it isn't spammable like most of the best shield poking tools.

As for the reason why it isn't spammable, this is because the attack actually has a second hit! The animation for this second hit is exactly the same as the kicks on Arina Tornado, but only one is performed. It behaves exactly the same hitbox-wise, but has different damage. It deals 5% on hit, and for knockback, it deals directly backwards knockback (the opponent's backwards, that is) that can KO in the early 200%s. While this sounds like a good move for potential fast KOs, there is a bit of lag between the first kick and the second kick actually landing, thanks to the elaborate spinning animation. There's also a bit of ending lag, meaning a whiff can be easily punished. The recommended way to use this is as a "get away" tool, as it can knock opponents fairly far back even at low percents. This is generally less safe than Arina Burst is, but its also considerably faster, so there's a bit of a trade-off.

Up Tilt​

Arina performs a kick upwards, similar to Peach's FTilt, but without her leaning back. Basically, at the peak of the kick, her foot is directly above her head. This is based on her Light Kick animation, and actually fills a similar niche to it. The attack is the fastest attack in Arina's set, completing in only a handful of frames and just in general being VERY spammable. There's some minor endlag as Arina has to bring her leg back down, but this is about as fast as the actual attack animation. The attack has two different damage outputs, both depending on where Arina's leg is, so we'll cover the range first.

The maximum vertical range is, as stated before, just above Arina's head, so you can use previous descriptions to figure that out. The horizontal range of the attack is slightly less than FTilt, but only by a small amount, due to her not leaning into it like with FTilt. This range is roughly 0.7 Grid Blocks, to be more specific. The damage outputs depend on the position of Arina's kick, the first one being the first half, and the second taking place over the second half, switching out once Arina's foot reaches a full horizontal angle. The first half deals 3% with weak knockback that pops the opponent into the air. The hitstun on this is good enough that you can near directly transition into aerial game from it, making it a good combo starter.

The second half of the kick deals 6%, with more directly upwards knockback that deals less hitstun, but is still possible to combo into. The main asset of this hitbox is its high priority, with its main use being an anti-air move. It's good vertical range and aforementioned priority allow it to knock opponents that attempt to leap in to attack you away. It can technically KO, but not until very late percents, but this low knockback and high hitstun also means that this is a move that can combo into itself at low percents (Or at least, NEARLY combo into itself). This kick is one of Arina's staples, with a bit of utility behind it.

Down Tilt​

Arina performs a very fast, very short ranged crouching kick, similar to other crouching kicks in the game. This is based on her Light Crouching Kick animation, and is actually notably faster than it is in the original game. It has less frames of animation, and has a slightly longer reach to it than in the original as well. Said reach is around 1 Grid Block in length, around the same length as Ryu's light DTilt. Damage wise, this deals 8%, and very low knockback that won't KO for a long time, also like Ryu's. The overall speed of the attack is in between Ryu's two DTilts, not as lightning fast as his light version, not as slow as his heavy version.

While the attack is weak, it has a lot of general applications that you would expect from a basic foot poke. Most notable uses are shield poking and footsies. The attack has upwards diagonal knockback, again similar to Ryu, with high hit stun that can potentially combo into aerials, but only at lower percents. For shield poking, the attack is very good, as the hitbox gets smaller at Arina's foot, meaning that on wider characters she can punish them at low shield damage. This isn't an amazingly impressive move, but it does what it needs to do well.

Dash Attack​

From her dashing animation, Arina leaps into the air, curling into a ball as she does so, and then quickly stomps down on the ground with one of her feet. This is her pursuit attack animation, pursuit attacks in Waku Waku 7 being a move that allows you to attack downed opponents from anywhere on the stage. Before we get into anything involving downed opponents, we should cover the actual hitbox, which only covers Arina's stomp and nothing else. This might seem like its difficult to land, but it's actually only a bit less difficult than you're thinking. The hitbox covers Arina's stomping leg, but also a bit to the sides, in a V-shape that doesn't extend past Arina's model during the attack.

The stomp is relatively fast in order to make up for its weird hitbox. The initial leap gives some heavy starting lag, though the leap itself starts very fast, but the actual hitbox is thrust out very quickly, and disappears just as quickly. Missing with the attack will put Arina into an animation where she awkwardly wobbles on the foot she stomped with before returning to her normal stance. This gives the attack bad ending lag SPECIFICALLY on a whiff, as the end lag when hitting is much better than on a miss. Of course, with how weird of a move this is, there are multiple different facets to the attack that make whiffing it a bit harder.

As mentioned, the hitbox for the stomp comes out in a V-shape. The sides that hit outside of the leg are easier to land, but will only deal 7% with very minor knockback that won't KO until well past 300%. The part of the hitbox that covers the leg, however, is a sweetspot that deals 13% damage with knockback that can KO in the late 100%s, making it the more desirable outcome. Arina will actually avoid collision for this move, in a sense, as she will generally clip through characters when the attack lands. This is mostly just to make actually landing it clearer. When Arina actually hits an opponent, she will spring back into a ball, and then land a set distance of 1 Grid Block away.

As mentioned, the pursuit attacks are designed to attack downed opponents from anywhere on the stage. While Arina doesn't get the "anywhere on the stage" part, if she can manage to use the attack on an opponent who has been knocked into prone somehow, the stomp will deal 18% damage, though with no knockback and knocking the opponent out of prone once the attack is over. The attack will actually specifically focus on downed opponents, shortening the starting leap if required. This is only applied if Arina uses the move within 1 Grid Block of the downed opponent, however. Additional damage can be worth it, and the leap after the hit prevents this from being unsafe on hit. Arina has a few moves that can knock opponents into prone, meaning that taking advantage of this can be a massive boon in some cases. Also, opponents are locked into prone until they're hit if the "homing" is activated, but still have a chance to avoid it by dodge rolling.

Finally, the leap itself is another facet of the move. When not near a prone opponent, Arina will travel 1.5 Grid Blocks for the leap before she stomps. The leap actually gives her a speed boost, and obviously acts like a jump, letting her dodge attacks or projectiles if they go below her (The max height of the leap, in both cases, is 1 Grid Block high). This can be a useful maneuver on its own, but obviously isn't worth chancing the whiffed ending lag. If you want to use JUST the leap, then Arina will remain in it if the button is held. With this extended leap, Arina will travel an additional 1 Grid Block of distance before she lands, with minimal landing lag. If you let go of the button during this, Arina will perform the stomp, which gives you a chance to increase the distance or even fake out enemies. This can't be activated when near a prone opponent, however.

Grab Game
Grab & Pummel​

Arina's grab has her simply reach out with the arm farthest away from the camera. This is a pretty generic grab, on par with basically all similar grabs in terms of range and speed. When the opponent is grabbed, Arina will grab them by the chest, making sure that their head (or other similar appendage) is kept eye level to her. For her pummel, Arina will perform a quick double slap to the opponent's face (or other similar area), dealing 1.5% damage with each individual smack, meaning 3% with a single button press. This only looks more spammable than it actually is, with the average speed being equal to most slow pummels in the game. At most, you'll get 9% off of it in a good situation. Also, when an opponent breaks free from Arina's grasp, she'll be shocked by it, her ears popping up and jumping a bit off the ground as the opponent does their escape animation.

Forward Throw​

​

Arina pulls the opponent in, and then lets go of them, quickly turning around and thrusting her butt into them, launching the opponent while she laughs. This is based on her standard throw animation, affectionately referred to as the "Butt Springer". This is a pretty basic throw by all accounts, dealing 8% and having average knockback that KOs at around 180%, making it Arina's overall weakest throw. Like all weaker end throws, the main uses here come down simply to stage control and resetting neutral, but it can be used for combos. Notable combos include Arina Tornado and Arina Beam, but only at low and mid-range percents, respectively. The throw is fast, with low ending lag to it, meaning Arina won't be left defenseless when using it.

Back Throw​

Arina quickly throws the opponent over her head, tossing them behind her. This animation is based on her backwards throw. This is a fairly simple, but relatively powerful, throw. It deals 10%, and can KO at 160%, making it just a bit stronger than FThrow. Like FThrow, this can be used for combos at lower percents, in fact, they share the same combo potential. This is a bit harder to pull off due to the BThrow's higher knockback, but it can still be pulled off consistently. Also of note is that Arina ends the move facing backwards, which makes comboing much easier. This attack has a bit more ending lag than most of her throws, though it isn't the slowest. This can make it a bit harder to pull off in a more crowded match.

Up Throw​

Arina tosses the opponent up into the air (3 Grid Blocks high), and as they quickly start to fall back down, she tenses up, burning with fire for a moment, before delivering a split kick to the opponent as they fall back in range. As the opponent flies off, she quickly wipes off her brow with a sigh of relief. This attack isn't based on anything from the games, and is actually one of two original animations in the whole set. Anyway, this is Arina's de facto killing throw, being able to kill at 140%, and dealing 11% damage. There isn't much intricacy to this attack, and it has very low combo potential due to its launch angle (directly upwards), even at lower percents.

Arina's high damage output can easily lead her into this move, but her overall weak grab game can make this more of a difficult kill than you would expect. A major downside is that the attack, especially the start, is very slow. In more crowded matches and on the more awkward moving stages, the opponent can be knocked out of the kick's range. When this happens, instead of performing the kick, Arina will perform a pratfall onto her back, which has worse ending lag than when she manages to hit. Certain opponents that can deal damage to themselves can even take advantage of this. Overall, this is a powerful move, but one that definitely requires a bit of foresight to use effectively.

Down Throw​

Arina places her hands on the opponent's shoulders, then lifts herself up, pushing her feet into the opponent's face and slamming them down into the ground. This is based on Arina's command grab, called the Face Crusher. This is Arina's most powerful throw, dealing 13%, but dealing no knockback. This is because the opponent will be forced into prone as soon as the move ends. Once the opponent hits the ground, Arina will cheerily spring off of them for a brief amount of ending lag. The opponent will be locked into prone until just slightly after Arina becomes controllable again.

This basically functions as Arina's most reliable way of getting the foe into prone, readying them for her Dash Attack. This is an immensely tight time frame, however, but managing to pull it off can rack up a huge amount of damage. Keep in mind that neither of these moves can actually kill, you can't just spam these two moves and hope that you can get things done that way, you'll need to actually play the game in order to get kills.

Smashes
Up Smash​

For the charging animation, Arina squats down, and then rises up, performing an uppercut with the hand closest to the screen as she does. This is incredibly similar to Ryu's USmash, if you didn't notice that. There are obvious differences, the main one being the damage, which is a much more modest 12-18% when compared to Ryu's much more powerful uppercut. It's knockback is also lower, KOing at 140%, launching the opponent upwards. This follows a lot of the similar details to Ryu's as well, having a lack of forward range, and a near identical vertical hitbox, though it is slightly taller thanks to Arina's different build. It's slightly faster to compensate for its lower power, as well as something else.

This attack is based on Arina's crouching Heavy Punch animation, which is notable because said heavy punch has a follow up attack, which is a second uppercut with the opposite arm. This is present in this move as well, as I have been poorly hiding in the last sentence. This is a near identical attack to the first hit, but has a faster animation as Arina doesn't crouch, and it deals a set 8% no matter the charge of the initial hit. It also deals higher knockback, KOing at 130%. This is much more difficult to land unless you preempt it, due to how knockback inherently works in Smash. It's actually a true combo at lower percents, however, which makes it a good damage dealer when you get up close to opponents. In addition, the higher knockback of this second hit can be used to open into aerial combos.

Down Smash​

Arina places her hand to the ground for the charging animation, and then unleashes a sweeping kick, hitting all around her. While there are no full spinning kicks in Arina's original set, the starting animation and hitbox are based on her heavy crouching kick, which technically makes this half a new move animation. Anyway, this is what you would expect from a sweeping kick, similar to something like Mario's DSmash. The hitbox hits in front of Arina first, then behind her, and is a fairly fast move, with only minor ending lag. The two ends of the kick have similar hitboxes, reaching 0.9 Grid Blocks. The two hitboxes are slightly different, however.

The forward hit deals 9-14%, while the backwards hit deals a stronger 14-20%. Both deal slightly different knockback as well, though both knock the opponent horizontally away. For the forward hit, it can KO at 160%, making it significantly weaker. The backwards hit, however, can KO at 140%, making it significantly better at knocking opponents away. This is like a few other DSmashes, wher eits main use is based around knocking opponents away when you find yourself in an unfavorable position. Its speed and range make it particularly good at it, but its weaker stats make it more difficult to make use of KO-wise.

Forward Smash​

For the charge animation, Arina rears up like she's about to run, and then leaps forward awhile performing two vertical kicks midair. The kicks here are similar to her UTilt, but are slightly shallower. The move allows Arina to move forward 0.6 Grid Blocks in length before she lands back down, making this a good approaching attack, especially since it has good priority. The main downside is that there's a bit of start and end lag to it, though not enough to make it unusable. Both kicks behave differently, the first always dealing 3% with very little knockback, while the second deals 13-20% damage, and can KO at 140%, making it Arina's best killing move. Since the first hit will always combo into the second, this makes it the most consistent as well.

The attack has slightly odd knockback for an FSmash. It deals slightly upwards-diagonal knockback, similar to a Sakurai Angle but not quite. This can make it good to use at higher parts of a stage, but is overall just good anywhere. The jump isn't really a jump, as she still remains very close to the ground, as it basically exists to give her the forward movement. The leap can't go off the stage, and will actually cancel itself in order to make sure, as Arina will enter a flailing "almost falling" animation whenever the leap crosses a grabable ledge. Finally, when landing the second kick at low percents, the opponent will actually be knocked into a prone position, making for easy fodder for Arina's Dash Attack.

Aerials
Neutral Aerial​

Arina quickly swings her body around, thrusting her butt out in a lingering sex kick move, though obviously without the "kick" part of the attack. This is based on her air light kick animation, and is in fact a real move in Waku Waku 7. This has everything you'd expect from a basic sex kick, the initial animation deals a decent 12% with slightly above average strength sideways knockback, and after around the first 5 frames of being out, the hitbox will be reduced to 8% with slightly weaker knockback. This is noticeably stronger than some other sex kicks due to the much smaller range of Arina's butt, it may be big but it isn't enough to compare to a leg (i am so sorry for that). It also has slightly worse landing lag than most other sex kicks, as Arina will fall on her butt and have to quickly scramble to her feet. This isn't bad ending lag by any means, it just makes it slightly riskier. The start up is fast as well, making this easy to throw out.

Another difference this has from most other sex kicks is that this is actually a multi-hit move. By pressing the button after the initial hitbox, Arina will follow up by slapping her butt in a playful manner. This is also actually a move in Waku Waku 7. This acts as a completely separate hitbox, dealing 5% with actually very low knockback, allowing this attack to actually combo into itself. It can combo into itself because there's actually no limit to how many times Arina can do this while the attack is active, aside from the general time the hitbox is active. Theoretically, Arina can slap her butt an infinite amount of times. While this can rack up damage incredibly quickly, due to the attack's low hitstun and bad landing lag, this can be made into something very easy to punish if not used properly.

Down Aerial​

Arina performs the splits midair, and then quickly snaps her legs together directly beneath her. This attack is actually a command grab, and if you manage to hit with it, Arina will lock the opponents between her legs, and then spin as she slams the unfortunate(?) opponent into the ground. This is a very powerful move, dealing 18%(!) on contact with the ground, and KOing at 120%, making this, technically, one of Arina's best killing moves. The main issue comes in with the attack's odd speed, as the start of the move is actually significantly slower than the ending of it.

In more detail, while not "slow" by any means, the initial splits animation before the grab hitbox is activated is very telegraphed, something you don't want on a command grab. This can make the move harder to actually land, especially considering you can only grab airborne opponents with it (and you can't grab opponents out of an air dodge). Landing lag is mediocre, making this move not risky when it comes to potential punishing, but in the late game this can be a game changer. Also, the attack will automatically end if Arina goes 5.5 Grid Blocks without hitting the ground, and will put Arina into special fall, so don't do that. But if you want to try a suicide, be aware that this behaves like other command grabs in Smash Ultimate, where YOU will be the first to die if you go off-screen while using the move.

Up Aerial​

​

Arina performs a cheery looking uppercut for her forward-facing arm, more like she's pumping her fist in excitement than an actual attack (though this is still an intentional attack). This attack is based on her light air punch animation. The most notable part of this attack is how incredibly fast it is, with very little lag on either ends, making it one of the fastest Aerials in the game. In exchange for this lightning speed, the uppercut only deals 4% damage with incredibly weak upwards knockback. This might seem like an insanely low-powered move, but it isn't as bad as you might think. For one, the low knockback makes this great for combos, as you might expect, but there is a second facet of this move that makes it much more fun.

Much like NAir, this has a follow up hit, which consists of Arina performing a similar uppercut with her other arm. This is exactly the same move, but the hitbox is now on the other side of Arina. Also similar to NAir, this attack can be spammed, with Arina alternating each arm every time the move is inputted. She can spam these punches basically endlessly, until she hits the ground, obviously. In addition to being a good thing to throw out when you have someone coming in from behind, the low knockback makes this attack incredibly easy to combo into itself. Arina can easily rack up 12% damage at any point before 200%, and even more when used in conjunction with a combo.

Back Aerial​

Arina quickly spins to deliver a quick downwards punch. This is based on her air heavy punch animation, but is noticeably slower than it is in the original game thanks to her needing to spin around. This also equates to some fairly bad starting lag. The punch itself, while having very short range, only slightly better than NAir's range, is also fairly powerful. The punch has a weak spiking effect and downwards knockback, but deals 14% damage, making this a fairly good damage dealer. The angle of the punch makes it good off-stage, and while edge guarding. The main downside is that after performing the punch, Arina will have to spin back around, giving it bad ending lag. While this isn't her strongest Aerial, it's far easier to land consistently than DAir. Landing lag is also bad, as Arina will land on her face and quickly jump back up after a moment.

Like a lot of Arina's aerials for some reason, Arina's BAir has a follow up hit. It's the same, but with her other fist. This one only deals 7%, and doesn't have a spiking hitbox, making it much weaker than the first punch. While it can't combo from the first punch unless at very low percents, it can be used as a backup hit, as it comes out much faster thanks to the lesser lag. Most importantly is that this punch actually allows Arina to turn around mid-air, by holding the input on the second punch she can reduce the ending lag as well, simply transitioning into her standard falling animation. She can even perform moves out of it, potentially leading to cool looking combos!

Forward Aerial​

​

In what is probably Arina's simplest aerial, she simply performs a kick forward, in a position similar to a lot of NAir Sex Kicks. This isn't actually a Sex Kick despite the pose, however, as it comes out quickly as a single quick kick. This is based on Arina's air heavy kick, though it lingers less than it does in the original game. The kick has range equivalent to Arina's other horizontal kick moves, meaning that it has fairly decent reach for an Aerial. The kick deals 12% and has decent knockback, KOing at around 150%. While this isn't technically Arina's strongest aerial killing move, it is her easiest to perform, thanks to the attack's decent range and overall fast speed. It isn't the fastest of her aerials, but again, it's easy to land compared to her more close range faster aerials. It can be used for other things as well, like clanking as the move has decent priority, or shield poking if you wfeel like doing that from the air for some reason.

Final Smash
Arina Carnival Special!​

Arina burns with the power of the Smash Ball, not dissimilar to the power of the Waku Waku Balls! Upon activation, loud sirens will blare as a massive "WARNING" appears on the screen. Arina will shout the name of the move, and then burst forward (or whatever direction you're holding) in a fiery punch. The punch travels a similar distance to most of the other charge-ahead Final Smashes in Ultimate, but with the bonus of being able to go in any direction, as noted before. The fireball punch has the same specifications as it does in Down Special.

Like most other newcomer Final Smashes in Ultimate, a cutscene will be triggered upon hitting an opponent. Before we get into that, this attack is based both on Arina's Super and HaraHara moves, with both of them being combined, similar to Terry's Final Smash. Anyway, the cutscene will teleport Arina and the opponent to an orange void, much like Terry's grey void. Arina will then perform a ridiculous combo on the opponent, consisting of 5 punches, 5 kicks, a 6-hit version of Arina Crash, and then finally she smacks the opponent with both her hands, knocking them down to the ground. This is 17 hits, each dealing 5%, for a whopping 85%! While in the original game this is just a generic string of canned moves, the cinematic version here makes it a lot more exciting with multiple camera angles. This is normally where Arina Carnival would end, but the cutscene keeps going!

Instead of the opponent remaining on the ground after the final hit, they will instead bounce violently upwards. Arina will then land gracefully on the ground, before wiping her brow. The opponent is nowhere in sight, but Arina's bunny ears quickly perk up as she realizes something. She then quickly spins around, giving a powerful kick directly to the falling opponent's face! This deals 20%, and ends the Final Smash, launching the opponent in the process. In case you can't tell, this is basically a guaranteed kill, though with the downside of not being able to hit multiple opponents. This last hit is based on Arina's ending, and is shot in exactly the same way as her violent kick to Rai's face.

 

[FrozenRoy]

I had wanted to make a larger post here, because this truly is a heartfelt moment for me, but time currently does not permit me to get out these sets, half-finished but able to be edited during editing period, if I had typed out something longer. But it has truly, truly been a long road...almost a decade now. And you know what?

I made it.

These sets are currently "Dodongo'd": With plenty of filler inputs in them that exist to be replaced during our editing period. So, don't bother with them right now. There's lots of wonderful sets by wonderful people out to read! But I will make sure to keep you all tuned, because I WILL finish them.

Without further ado, sets #97, #98, #99 and #100. The four sets I always said I had to finish in my MYM Career...

 

[FrozenRoy]

"You don't understand anything and for your sake I hope you have not ruined everything!"

Nox​

Nox Theme 2 - Nox remonte le temps
Nox Theme 3 - Nox Reflexion​

Nox (Full Name: Noximilien) is the main villain of the first season of Wakfu, a French animated TV show by Ankama Animation based on the game Wakfu and part of its larger multimedia franchise that spans video games, TV shows, trading card games and the like. He also happens to be my personal favorite villain.

Nox began his life in an unassuming way, being nothing more than a Xelor watchmaker trying to make his way in life with his wife, three kids and a dog. While a skilled enough inventor, he was completely unassuming overall, with little amplitude for the natural time magic the Xelor people possess. His entire life is upended when his dog leads him to the Eliacube: An item of unimaginable power, beyond what someone like Nox can handle it. He begins to tinker with it slowly, and even in this early time its power is notable: Nox, who had little time ability at all, is able to use the Eliacube to freeze time and teleport with it in fairly short order. It also begins to afflict his mind, causing him to develop a deep obsession with this supremely powerful, completely mysterious object, causing him to distance himself from his family without even realizing it as he studies it more. Eventually, they leave him as he neglects himself further into his work. The result is his family perishing when one of Ogrest's rampages, a long backstory element to Wakfu that I won't explain since it is mostly meaningless to our story, to which he absolutely FREAKS OUT when he hears about, piercing through the insanity that has gripped him somewhat.

The Eliacube is incredibly powerful, and Nox is able to manipulate time, so he concocts a rather insane scheme that not even the God of Time has been able to accomplish: To reverse time back from before his family died, and before he was lost in the Eliacube, in order to save them. To this end he uses the Eliacube to drain people of their "Wakfu", essentially their life energy/soul, in order to use it as fuel. Nox spends the next 200 years absorbing wakfu, destroying entire countries in the process, in order to make his scheme come into fruition. The start of the Wakfu series begins as Nox is tracking down the ancient dragon Grougaloragan, who was taking care of Yugo for more reasons I don't need to get into now. Since Yugo is not in Nox's way for the first half of the series, Nox remains largely a background threat, appearing in some early episodes along with a midseason one but otherwise mostly staying silent. But when we start delving into Yugo's backstory, particularly their meeting with Grougaloragan, Nox's presence in the series rapidly spikes and how powerful he truly is gets shown, with him dispatching of Grougaloragan and setting his eye on the Sadida's World Tree, which would kill every Sadida in the world and cross over into wiping out an entire species (although given his plan is to reverse time, he doesn't feel it will be an issue) which includes one of our heroes.

Spoiler: Wakfu Season One Spoilers

What gets really surprising is when Nox attacks the Sadidas, starting off by sending one of his minions to kill Sadidas in secret and take over their bodies after sucking up their Wakfu. Using this, he has them create a portal from which he can send his personal clock-mech through, while stationing his army of machines and other weapons on the clear other side of the area. The end result is pulling the entire Sadida army entirely away from where he appears and his path to their precious tree, giving him a clear shot at it. Our heroes end up closer to it due to circumstance, but are unable to get as close as they would like thanks to Nox's minion running interference alongside other stuff, forcing them to catch up to him and deal with an even stronger minion of his, the mechanical Razortime.

And when Yugo and Adamai actually infiltrate Nox's clock, it actually doesn't go super great: Neither know exactly how to stop the Eliacube and Nox is incredibly powerful, leading into a brutal battle. Even when Yugo actually is able to tap into the Eliacube's power and boost himself up, he and Nox fight to at best a standstill, and a moment of distraction from Yugo is enough for Nox to teleport behind him and suck out his wakfu energy and kill him. Nox decides that this must finally, finally, be enough energy to go back in time...and so attempts it. Despite Grougaloragan stating this would have a good chance of unraveling the fabric of the universe, it actually works, and time begins to freely flow backwards, Nox elated for joy...

For 20 minutes. 200 years of gathering wakfu and countless deaths, 200 years of research and toil...for twenty miserable minutes of time reversal. It isn't even enough time for one of the main protagonist's, Sadlygrove, death to be reversed, much to the disappointment of Yugo. Nox completely breaks in the face of his success-turned-failure, ranting at the Eliacube that it told him he would succeed, breaking down from Yugo's frank assessment of how many people have died and suffered due to Nox being insane. He teleports away, with the last shot of the credits scee showing nothing but his ashes and armor atop of his family's grave, having either killed himself or simply allowed himself to die without the cube.

The worst part? Nobody knows why Nox ever did anything he did, as he only ever explained his plans to Grougaloragan (who died) and very vaguely to Yugo (and was so incoherent it was impossible for Yugo to understand). He goes down in history as nothing but a power hungry monster, stopped before his unknown plans could truly take effect.

As mentioned, Nox's primary power is time manipulation, in particular being able to completely freeze time. Since this is a type of magic, it CAN be broken, and multiple characters in fact manage to break through his spell and also move during his stopped time. Without sufficient power, however, this comes with a drawback of rapid aging after the time stop's effect ends, as seen with Yugo's father after Nox's first attack. Nox ends up healing said father due to his respect for essentially sacrificing himself for his kid. Nox also seems to be able to speed up or slow down time in chunks, although given a flatout time stop is stronger he tends to go with that. Aside from his time powers, his strongest ability is his ability to manipulate wakfu and energy, aided by the Eliacube: Nox can create a clock-hand shaped blade out of nothing but energy, generate powerful shields out of energy either as a static or more like an arm-shield, suck out energy from almost any living object in addition to sticking IN some energy to control things such as dead bodies, fire off energy blasts which explode or cut through objects, teleport freely (although this is likely a time-based ability), levitate freely with ease and more.

Finally, 200 years of research backed by the incredibly powerful Eliacube have given Nox a strong array of technological prowess, leading to the creation of powerful machines. This includes his clock-mech, a giant clock shaped mech with spider-legs that can move independantly of conscious orders from Nox and houses the Eliacube, is able to see through vast parts of the world and so on. Insect-like machines known as Noxins which can suck out wakfu rapidly, function as explosive bombs, or be used as simple portable wakfu generators for Nox to heal himself or for any other uses. Teleportation machines, enough to teleport his giant mech across unknown stretches of the world. And as seen in the finale of Season One, Razortime: A huge robot powered by time-frozen energy that can destroy objects utterly with its energy blasts, sometimes being said to "destroy time".

Between his awesome design, his long and intricate fights with cool power use, the excellent execution of a tragic villain who has sympathy yet is not excused of his actions and the season finale with him being one of my favorite media moments, Nox is (at the time of writing) my favorite villain. It makes him suitable to start off the chase to 100 sets as my 97th set.

Statistics​

Nox may stand imposing compared to various shorter characters of Wakfu, but he is no Ganondorf in the grand scheme of things. He is around Samus' size, but somewhat smaller. He floats very slightly off the ground normally: He will still be hit by any low attack, but it means his hurtbox is slightly taller than his actual size suggests. Nox is actually a lightweight, although not absurdly one: He is equal to Isabelle, Greninja and Young Link with 88 weight. His walk speed is very slow, as he levitates forward at a leisurely pace. His 0.780 walk speed puts him above Ganondorf (0.767) but far below Ken (0.825). His dash speed is better, but it is still mediocre overall, equal to Rosalina for 30th in run speed. He has very high traction, near the top in the game.

Aerially, Nox excels. He is an extremely slow-faller, for good and for ill: He is adept at weaving in and out of aerial combat due to this, his high air control and his great air speed (tied with Wario for 8th). But his 1.10 fall speed puts him below Daisy/Peach (1.19) and above only Jigglypuff (with a ludicrous 0.98) and means Nox dies off the top easier in addition to having other slowfaller issues like landing and some combos. Both of his jumps are good, but not great. He has a float that works the exact same as Peach and Daisy with the same stats, further exemplifying his strong aerial prowess.

Wakfu Gauge​

Nox's Wakfu Gauge, which appears next to his HUD and has the appearance of his wakfu gauge from the show, is extremely simple but vital to Nox's gameplan. Some of his attacks require Wakfu or have optional effects which require Wakfu, requiring either a % of his total gauge or a specific number. Nox's gauge has no upper limit to it. Nox can only gain gauge back by hitting with specific moves, which will drain Wakfu from the opponent and thus increase his gauge. Because his gauge allows him to do an incredible amount of stuff, managing it is vital to playing Nox and playing against him.

Nox begins each match with 100 Wakfu, but each subsequent stock he only begins with 50 Wakfu.

Specials​

Neutral Special: Time Stop​

Nox's signature move, his time stopping ability, is on his Neutral Special, being a non-storable charge. Nox makes his time stop hand animation from the show, with the index finger and thumb making overlapping circles with the rest of his fingers closed, but flairing outwards once he uses the ability. This attack has a minimum cost of 10 Wakfu. If you try to use it without having 10 Wakfu, then Nox's entire body will flicker blue like his failed time manipulation attempts in the show, with Nox looking surprised at this, for a brief period of vulnerability.

Every second that Nox charges adds a total of 10 Wakfu to the cost of using it, with this being done in alternating chunks of 2 Wakfu or 1 Wakfu cost for every 1/6th of a second (or 10 frames), except the 6th cost is a 2 to make it come to 10 instead of 9. Using the Time Stop with no charge gives Nox one second of stopped time, counting it AFTER his ending lag. Every second of charge time equates to an extra two seconds of stopped time, a 2-to-1 exchange. Note that this means the time stop can only occur in 10-frame chunks, stopping on the 9th frame gives no benefit and doesn't consume the extra Wakfu. The ending lag on this move is slightly long, although obviously you won't be punished if you get it off, and the starting lag is actually not that bad.

Opponents are completely vulnerable to Nox and his attacks during this time, although they won't be knocked around and will remain in one place, which can naturally mean some intense damage for Nox. They are knocked away at the end of the Time Stop, using the knockback properties of the last attack that hit them. Projectiles and any other objects Nox might have out under his control are stopped in place, their hitboxes being retained, but anyone who gets hit by these hitboxes once becomes immune to that same hitbox for the rest of the time stop's duration. So you can't just keep hitting opponents into the same projectile for massive damage or something. Naturally, being a time stop, that means that time is stopped: Background effects such as day-night systems stop in place, moving stage parts or obstacles stop in their current state, even the timer of the match remains frozen during the time stop!

While opponents are completely vulnerable to attack, they still have counterplay. Nox's Time Stop has grab difficulty to escape, although it will NOT tick down unless you mash (which is important). Their character model visibly struggles in place as they mash out. If they mash out, then they will pop out of the time stop, free to move inside of the stopped time. Their attacks will work like normal, not getting frozen in time or anything. Using this, opponents can defend themselves from Nox in stopped time, essentially allowing the match to continue as normal aside from the other time stopped elements, such as, say, Smashville's platform stuck in place, frozen projectiles as traps as mentioned, and so on.

This does not come without its own downsides. Opponents who break out of this effect get debuffed from the backlash of the spell, represented with them taking on a more damaged and "aged" look. This reduces their movement speed, both ground and air, to 0.8x of normal, in addition to reducing their attack damage to 0.8x of normal with a proportional decrease in hitstun and knockback. Their shield also regenerates 1.2x slower and goes down while being held out 1.2x faster. This lasts for the duration of the Time Stop, plus a duration after the Time Stop equal to the duration it had left on it, or in other words twice the remaining time stop duration. For example, let's say the opponent broke out with 5 seconds left on a time stop. They would be debuffed for that remaining 5 seconds, and then for 5 seconds after that, for a total of 10 seconds. So, opponents need to decide between taking free damage, or taking a long debuff that can potentially be worse for them. This also leads opponents to most desire to try and break free as late as possible, which can give Nox setup time, or allow Nox to bait opponents out by making them expect him to go in, break free, then punish their defensive option.

Nox cannot begin a Time Stop inside of a Time Stop, so you can't continually freeze an opponent hoping to stack debuffs or to chain time stops or something. Instead, pressing B during a Time Stop causes Nox to push forward an open palm in the direction of the nearest opponent, light blue energy crackling in the orb on his hand. After rather quick starting lag, it fires an orb, which proceeds to freeze in place, actually being affected by the time stop. Just like the Time Stop, this can be non-storably charged. By default, it deals amere 3% damage and light hitstun with insignificant knockback. It charges incrementally, but a second of full charge gives a total of 12% damage, and causes a (still brief) Paralyzer-esque stun rather than hitstun. If opponents do not take knockback before the Paralyzer effect ends, it does light knockback towards where it was fired.

Note that this projectile, being frozen and all, is a trap while the time stop is out, but then will fire forward (about 2 Battlefield Platforms) once it ends, and actually travels quite quickly. This move has two primary uses. The first is to set up traps and obstacles for a nopponent who decides to break out of your time stop. Sure, it is weak damage unless charged, but it is still damage and it still can get the opponent opened up with something more damaging. The other is that it is a low commitment way to set up attacks for an opponent to deal with when a time stop ends or to threaten them if they are trying to delay their escape to minimize debuff time. The starting lag is quick and the ending lag is very low, so Nox can fire off a lot of these in a small amount of time, so an opponent waiting until the end might end up stuck with a huge amount of projectiles to defend against. The fact that it fires directly at the foe allows Nox to vary the direction and timing a lot by simply adjusting where he is relative to his opponents. And since it fires quickly, he can let it fly and react quickly if the opponent just breaks free while he is in the middle of it.

The time stop itself, of course, has many uses. It can be used as a tool to force the opponent into a debuffed state that blunts their offensive and makes it more difficult to defend. It can offer free damage or kill potential on opponents, particularly those who have taken damage, since they do need to escape grab difficulty to do so and so even if they break out you can get some in. This is also excellent to do when opponents are recovering, as it can nerf their air speed to reduce their distance AND if the opponent just stays in place Nox can get free gimp potential, although opponents can also take the chance to try and get in too high or low of a position to be easily hit. Time stop also knocks opponents out of helpless and refreshes their 1 air dodge per air trip, so this can backfire tremendously in some situations.

There's one more thing to this attack, which is his Empowered Time Stop from his fight with Grougaloragran, activated by pressing B + A at the SAME TIME. This is not chargable and has significantly longer starting lag, with Nox bending down with his hands making a diamond shape, entire body glowing with light blue wakfu energy. His hands go to their normal time stop stance as waves of light blue energy ripple out from him, causing the normal time stop effect. While it has extremely long starting lag and costs a flat FIFTY Wakfu (quite an investment!), it has a pretty big bonus to it. Unlike the normal time stop, it CANNOT be broken out of, just like in the show! Nox has some brief ending lag where he taunts the opponent that they won't be able to break out of THIS spell, although much like the initial version there is little point to the ending lag.

The downsides to this move come from starting lag (easy to interrupt, unlike charging it it cannot be released early), a LARGE resource drain (50 Wakfu is half of your initial count alone!), and the fact it always has a static time stop time of 2 seconds after the ending lag is over. Considering the opponent can move away, simple things like travel time, and so on this can actually make it pretty hard to use. It is best used with the opponent off stage, but even then opponents can get themselves into a better position, maybe even recover! So it's costly and it can be tricky to use, but the benefits are pretty obvious given it's free damage, setup, or so on.

Side Special: Flight of the Noxin​

Nox points his hand straight up, summoning three of his "Noxin" to his side, small firefly-like creatures as pictured above. He then points forwards, sending them forward. The three Noxin function as a single unit, sharing damage, hurtbox size, take knockback, and so on, moving all at once. By default, they will travel one Battlefield Platform forward, then turn around and go back to where they started, repeating ad naseum. They have 9 HP, but they take half damage from any projectiles, with a little light blue Wakfu forcefield flickering around them when a projectile hits them. It is fairly low commitment to summon these, but they DO have more starting lag than ending lag, so it's a bit easier to just keep them from coming out.

The exact effect of the Noxin is dependant on if you tapped or held the Special button. The tapped version serve to harvest Wakfu, not having as bright and bulbous of firefly-like butts, but a noticeable stinger to them made to drain Wakfu. Upon contact with an opponent, the Noxin latch onto the opponent, stinging them for 9% damage. This is a grab that goes through shields, so be careful about that! The Noxin's initial hit deals hitstun and them exiting their stingers hits opponents away and lightly deals hitstun albeit no damage. This allows them to fly away freely without just getting hit. The Noxin from this travel at a fairly slow speed as they move their distance.

After hitting the opponent, their bulbs glow blue, filled with Wakfu from hitting the opponent. They now travel at 1.5x speed and will constantly follow Nox, seeking to land on him. When they make contact with him, they will attach to him, stabbing with their stingers and injecting the Wakfu into him. As you may have expected, this adds 9 Wakfu to his Wakfu gauge, equal to the damage that was dealt. This serves as one of Nox's primary way for refilling his Wakfu gauge, able to gain it in noticeable chunks with his space-controlling minions. After giving Wakfu to Nox, they will then return to where they started their patrol route, continuing it until they are either destroyed or gather more Wakfu, with the process repeating until they are destroyed.

Noxin are pretty easy to destroy, so Nox shouldn't expect them to live too long, but they also are easy to throw out and Nox has no limit on the number he can have out. At the same time, the fact they are easily destroyed makes it easy to just kill them and get to Nox if he is doing nothing but summoning Noxin all the time. It's still something excellent for Nox to do when he finds the time, for sure. The fact they act as a grab hitbox can be particularly potent, for example keeping a foe in place or shieldpushing them into it, or having opponents be more likely to take options aside from shielding which Nox can predict and punish.

If you hold down B, then Nox will summon a different variety of Noxin, with their bulbs already full of Wakfu energy. Three are summoned under the same rules as normal, so it's just visual that there's 3, they're really 1 unit. You might assume this costs Wakfu, but it actually doesn't: Presumably, Nox is summoning them from his clock-mech somewhere just like in the show, so he doesn't need to "feed" more wakfu into them. These Noxin follow the exact same pathing as the normal ones and will latch onto opponents with a grab hitbox, but they deal no damage, hitstun or any other effect when latching on. They keep the same 9 HP and half-projectile-damage properties from the original. They do, however, move faster than the normal Noxin, decently fast even.

Once latched onto an opponent, Noxin will explode after 2.5 seconds, with the warning of them gathering energy for the last half second of that. The explosion is fairly powerful, dealing 15% damage and killing off the top starting around 130%, so opponents are going to want to avoid the blast. There's a few ways to do so. The most obvious is to shield, dodge or otherwise avoid the blast, like most time bomb style effects. This leaves one vulnerable to Nox taking advantage of that, plus shield damage if you shield it, so it is an ideal point for Nox to pressure the foe. The Noxin also can be damaged like Pikmin and will harmlessly die if 9 HP damage is dealt to them, falling to the ground dead with Wakfu leaking out of them. If the foe doesn't mind going through the lag of an attack that can easily hit them, for example a neutral aerial, this is an effective way to remove Noxin from themselves, but this is also still punishable, sometimes even moreso than just dodging the blast depending on Nox's positioning and what have you.

Nox can also play with this effect in a few ways, a big one being the time stop, which obviously will not tick down during the time stop given they get frozen too. So, if the Noxin are set to detonate very soon, Nox could potentially hit and combo the opponent so they are still in hitstun when the explosion happens, making it inescapable. This can even potentially allow Nox to kill earlier, sending them flying off the top! You can also stop time sooner, before the opponent has as long to kill them, and with the potential to instead use the Noxin explosion to force them to do something soon after the time stop ends, which can be especially devilish with the Neutral Special blasts during a time stop.

Existing Noxin that are out when the time stop goes off will, of course, be stopped in place like normal. Due to being frozen in time, they won't latch onto opponents or anything, for good or for bad. Obviously, you lose out on potential damage from it, but you also can therefor use them as traps with an "activation timing" of when the time stop ends, which can let you do stuff like knock opponents into them with the time stop as it ends. They also make zones that are dangerous for an opponent to end near if they break out of the time stop, lest the Noxin hit them when it ends. It can all be rather tricky. Like normal, Nox can make more Noxin during the time stop, where they won't be affected during that particular time stop, adding in more mixups for the opponent and potentially creating quite a bother.

Up Special: Xelorportation​

With a light blue flicker, Nox's entire body disappears, with him almost no time later re-appearing in a teleportation style move. A tap moves Nox half a Zelda Up Special range, a smashed input the full Zelda Up Special of distance. Unlike Zelda's Up Special, Nox does not have a hitbox on either end of this teleport, which makes it a bit more vulnerable than the similar Zelda input. On the plus side, Nox actually lacks a hurtbox while disappeared! This is a fairly solid, if somewhat standard, teleport recovery move with low starting and ending lag, which can make it actually quite a useful movement tool. Much like other teleport recovers, it can be edge-canceled as well, but the low ending lag already means Nox gets less benefit from it than characters with more ending lag to cut off. If you hold down B, then Nox will be facing the opposite direction he started when he began the teleport. So if you began facing right, you will face left when you are done.

Nox is completely free to use any of his moves after teleporting, including his Up Special again, but this doesn't mean he can simply eternally recover or stall. Each teleportation costs 10 Wakfu, but on top of that, the cost increasingly stacks: For every time Nox uses his Up Special in a 5 second period, refreshing the timer when he uses it again within that period, the cost goes up by 10. So if you used it 4 times, it would go 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> 40. That's enough to completely drain your initial Wakfu reserves! So while Nox can pull off some pretty crazy juggles, off the top kills and so on, it is costly to attempt and can end up leaving him in a real bind if he has low Wakfu counts and needs to recover. It also means he can be susceptible to softer gimps. Keep knocking him off stage and he'll have to use increasingly costly teleports to get back on.

Nox can even teleport during an attack's starting lag or its actual duration! He can't do so during ending lag, however. If he attempts to teleport during ending lag OR without enough Wakfu, he will flicker blue akin to his Time Stop effect without wakfu, and take a bit of lag (added onto the normal ending lag if used on ending lag, so you can't cut down the ending lag with "lesser" attempted teleport ending lag). It also costs an additional 10 Wakfu flat to teleport, so the above 4-teleport sequence would be 20 -> 30 -> 40 -> 50 for example. This teleportation effect is incredibly fast and offers Nox a ton of trickery when it comes to his attacks, but it also is very easy to have it run out your Wakfu reserves if overused, so use it a bit considerately. Using it during an attack is as simple a inputting the teleport command during an attack. You can even turn around by holding down B: A funny trick is to teleport in place, dodge an attack with your brief non-existence, then turn around and smack the opponent!

Down Special: Time Reversal​

Nox's ultimate power, the one he has been building up to since the very start of the season: The power to reverse time! Nox's eyes narrow, with him thrusting his arms out to the side as he faces the camera, before bringing them in close and making an upside-down style version of his time stop effect. Just like his Neutral Special, this is a chargable Special, which will drain more and more of Nox's Wakfu the more it is charged. In fact, the attack fizzles out if Nox doesn't at least charge it some, with Nox entering brief ending lag, exiting the stance and talking about how it isn't time yet. Entering the stance is fairly fast.

The way that time travel siphons Wakfu is similar to the Time Stop. Alternating costs of 2 or 1 Wakfu in 10 frame increments, for a total of 10 Wakfu per second, and stopping on the 9th frame adds no benefit. Once the Special Button is released, Nox has some additional lag (the Wakfu is consumed BEFORE this lag, so you CAN be hit out of it and lose all Wakfu for nothing) before everything stops with a bizarre whirring noise. Everything then proceeds to begin going...backwards. How fast it goes backwards depends on how much there is to go, with longer time reversals being sped up more and more, and past a certain point (say, 10 seconds) it will skip over a portion visually to just get to the result. Nox goes back in time FROM WHEN HE BEGAN CHARGING equal to TWICE the amount of time he charged. So if he charged for 5 seconds, everything goes back in time 10 seconds from when this move began (15 seconds total).

Nox's time reversal is immense. EVERYTHING, from stage elements to the timer, is reversed except for the following as noted:

- The opponent's damage percentage is unaffected, however their stocks WILL return if you reversal their death away. So you can't go back in time to get 2 stocks for 1. Nox's IS affected, allowing him to use this to heal, and technically he can even undo deaths, although since time resumes as it was when it happened, you'll need to rewind past the knockback to truly get your stock back. Note that Nox CANNOT use his Down Special during respawn invincibility or for 3 seconds after it wears off, so this is nigh-impossible in a practical sense.

- Time Stops have their events reversed as if every action happened within the same frame/time, so you don't need to skip over the entire time skip's "time" to reverse it, just the frame the time skip went off and the frame it ended.

- Some of Nox's time-enhanced attacks have unique time reversal interaction.

Needless to say, this ability has immense value if used right, albeit it is VERY pricy and the charge time makes it difficult to use. You can reverse time to right before the opponent was about to be hit, then resume it so they geth it by it again, and since they didn't heal like you did, you've "double upped" on damage. You can use it as a heal to repair damage after the opponent especially pummels you, you can go back to before your opponent got put into a particularly complex setup to take advantage of it again, reset gimping chances and force opponents to recover again, you get the idea! The possibilities are quite varied.

Oh, one more thing. You can't use Down Special during a Time Stop. It requires too much concentration...and besides, that'd be a bit TOO easy, wouldn't it?

Spoiler: Wakfu Season One Ending Spoilers/Easter Egg

"Twenty minutes? All that wakfu spent for a jump of 20 minutes in time? 200 years of researching and collecting wakfu for 20 mere minutes?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Just like in the show, no matter how much Wakfu Nox collects, he is hard capped at 20 minutes of time travel. Not that this would ever be discovered naturally, seeing as it requires 20 minutes of charging. If Nox does go back in time 20 minutes, he will actually take additional ending lag, breaking down with the above quote as he begs the Eliacube to know why it won't just let him go back in time and finally see his family. A brutal easter egg.

Aerials​

Back Aerial: Backhand Shield​

Nox gathers wakfu energy in his arm, before robotically smashing it behind him, a clock-head shield popping out. The clock hands even move on it! It has a forcefield kinda sound when it comes out, as well. The shield retracts into his arm at the end of the move, making it Wakfu-neutral and does not require Wakfu to use. This move has pretty slow starting lag, but it has a lot of benefits in return. First off, the shield has Palutena-style trample priority, allowing Nox to flatout deny a large variety of attacks behind him. The hitbox itself is really strong. Hitting the top or bottom of the shield causes opponents to take 12% damage and knockback that is mostly horizontal and slightly angled the same way the shield is (so hitting the bottom makes it send the opponent sliiightly downwards). The middle is an extremely damaging sweetspot that deals 16% damage, but sends opponents at a more standard up and away angle, albeit with more force. The sweetspot kills at 113% and the sourspots kill at 150%, but the sourspots can kill earlier by gimping opponents with their angles.

The sweetspot of the shield also serves as a reflector, although given the high starting lag you won't exactly be using this on Mega Man Metal Blades or anything. The reflection sends projectiles at 1.5x the speed the exact same direction they came from, but without any power buff to them. Nox is completely free to use this on his own projectiles, which can have some seriously strong applications with moves like Nox's Forward Smash, especially a time-displaced Forward Smash. Nox can even reflect projectiles frozen in his Time Stop, be it his own or his opponents, if he so wishes!

This move is also notably strong with Nox's teleportation ability. You can be ambiguous with what direction Nox will face when he comes out of the teleport, and so what side he is going to trample over attacks with. Opponent trying to catch you out with an attack, or fired a projectile from far away? You can potentially teleport in its way and attack over it with your shield! You can also use it as a somewhat pricy retreating option, if your opponent has sniffed out this laggy attack and gotten ready to punish you, although do note that the teleport is hardly a get out of jail free card if they follow you. This is especially true since the attack has laggy ending lag, as well.

Neutral Aerial: 12-Hour Spin​

Nox extends both of his arms out to the side, venting out Wakfu as an energy blast that trails around him, ultimately looking akin to a much more mechanical and less graceful Lucario Neutral Aerial. This long-lasting hitbox deals 7.5% damage and moderate knockback around Nox, serving primarily as a get off me move with fairly fast start-up and somewhat low ending lag, although while it has long duration for catching people out, this also means it can be a lot more punishable.

Nox can hold A during this move to keep it going longer, for up to two more rotations, with each rotation causing the Wakfu that Nox is releasing to flair up and become stronger. The first extra rotation causes it to deal 10.5% damage and knockback to kill at 160%, but the second rotation is quite deadly, dealing 14.5% and enough knockback to kill at 100%! Of course, the hitbox has been out for quite a while, so the opponent shouldn't have much trouble dodging or whatnot (and there's a good chance you hit them earlier, too). Nox automatically stops after this rotation. Each rotation costs Wakfu, including the initial rotation: The first costs 3 Wakfu, the second 4 and the last 5, so a full rotation is 12 Wakfu. If Nox attempts to use this without any Wakfu, he still can, but it becomes a quick hand-only spin that deals 4.5% damage and lightly knocks foes away but without the speed to combo. It also visually looks closer to Ness' Neutral Aerial.

This move has a lot of versatility to it. You can extend it to catch people out, you can use it as a quick defensive tool, and you can combine it with your teleport for some really interesting plays, like forcing a foe to figure out if you will extend the attack as you teleport or instead end it with low ending lag and work from there or escape to safety. This move is also pretty good for covering ledge against recovering opponents and can be used against foes sitting on platforms fairly well. At rare percents, Neutral Aerial can potentially lead into a hit -> teleport -> hit into a later hit of NAir. This is pretty hard to do, and it definitely won't work at higher percents, but it can be a quirky self-combo sometimes.

It would also be remiss not to mention how damn well this move works with Nox's float! This is an excellent ledge coverage option, threatening aerials while floating in front of it, or simply covering it by twirling around with your Neutral Aerial in front of a ledge. Beware of attacks from below, where your hitboxes won't reach! You can use it akin to Peach's Neutral Aerial, a neutral tool that float lets you space away more, or you can become aggressive by floating forward with it, which could potentially do high shield damage, or float in and out in general. You can also both float AND Teleport WHILE using the Neutral Aerial, allowing you to change your floating elevation on a whim, if you don't mind the wakfu cost anyway.

Forward Aerial: Punishing Blow​

Nox pulls back his arm, balling his hand into a fist, before solidly punching downwards! Compared to moves like Mari or Donkey Kong's Forward Aerial, this is more of a straight punch than a "looping" punch. This move is a bit laggy to start up and Nox is left vulnerable when it ends, but it is less laggy than your average "laggy spike Forward Aerial" style move. This is partially because this move is rather weak for a spike. It deals 9% damage and the spike is more akin to a Ness Down Aerial, making it rather lacking as a killing option. This is only fair, though, considering Nox has plenty of ways to set this up. Stop time and send someone plunging down before they can escape the difficulty? Teleporting unexpectedly in front of them to slam them? Even just some moves we'll get to, like Nox's Forward Smash, can help set this move up!

Nox has generous autocancel frames with this attack, which can allow him to do some odd stuff with his teleport, like teleporting down after hitting an opponent but before your ending lag begins, which auto-cancels the move with minimal lag and allows Nox to combo off a ground spike. You can also teleport down as a mixup, making it look like you're going for a hit and then auto-canceling it instead. It even has some auto-cancel frames on the starting lag to facilitate this with starting lag teleports! Finally, this makes the move actually kind of interesting as a shorthop option, as it'll have quite little lag if you land it properly in this situation, although this isn't the most rewarding option.

Nox will siphon Wakfu out of the opponent when he hits them, as seen by light blue energy entering his body after the foe is launched away. Nox gains 5 Wakfu upon hitting the foe (half of the damage dealt, rounded up), so it is a nice little additional reward to hitting the move and helps reward you when you're going in for shorthops. Note that Nox's float can also be pretty scary when he is edgeguarding with a spike, especially mixed up with Neutral Aerial or Down Aerial!

Down Aerial: Rapid Kicks​

Nox rapidly kicks below him with small, short and fast kicks, for a total of four kicks in succession. Each of these kicks deals 2% damage each, for a total of 8% damage, and the knockback is extremely weak, largely keeping grounded foes in place and barely displacing aerial foes, the multiple hits make it more DI-able of course. These kicks are fast to come out with fairly average ending lag, and if you land during the attack or close to when it first ends you'll have extremely low landing lag, allowing this to be used as a combo starting tool. It is, however, punishable if shielded unless you land like this OR you cross up the opponent, or maybe shield poke a very weak shield from above. In the air, Down Aerial -> Fastfall Neutral Aerial is a combo you can perform, but you don't usually get much off this unless you land on the ground.

Like Neutral Aerual, Down Aerial is a long-lasting hitbox that offers up lots of use with your float and teleport. Since it is much better to land with than Neutral Aerial and it is safe when landed or crossed up, it is a strong tool to use at low elevation or shorthop floats, making it an approaching tool. You can cover the ledge from above rather than hovering in front of it, in exchange for a weaker hitbox if you catch the opponent out, and maybe catch opponents looking to come from below where Neutral Aerial lacks coverage. The knockback can end up "dragging" people along, so it can be used as a more aggressive spacing tool as well. When you cross opponents up, you have a few options to avoid their attacks, but I want to point out shorthopping and Back Aerialing can stuff out a lot of options if the opponent is aware they can't just grab you and try to get tricky.

Up Aerial: 3-to-9​

Nox summons his clock-hand sword, swinging it in a sweeping, long arc above him, starting in front of him and ending behind him. It ends up looking kind of like Nox is swinging from the 3 o'clock hand to the 9 o'clock hand on a clock, hence the name. The sword is rather long and this attack has very good disjointed range to it, along with pretty good power: 12% damage and upwards knockback that kills at 135%. The starting lag on this is solid, but it should be noted that the ending lag is kinda awkwardly long, so this is definitely a punishable attack.

This move has plenty of uses, a big one is that it is amazing for catching out people landing, since it covers the entire space above Nox for a fairly long time. This is especially true because Nox can float and teleport around, allowing him to follow how people are moving significantly better than the majority of the cast. Nox can also effectively use this as an off the top finisher, as the knockback might seem middling, but it allows this move to kill deceptively early if you send the opponent into the air. This can be especially deadly with a Time Stop, if the opponent is flung into the air or tries to escape you by going too high. Teleportation also allows you to use this as a very weird "aerial reversal". If the opponent is below you with decent spacing, throw out your Up Aerial. Make your opponent predict if you're going to teleport below them and hit them, teleport in a different direction as a feint, or fake teleporting at all so they use an incorrect move and you land safely or get other advantage. Floating also allows Nox to creep under a falling opponent and threaten quite a lot as a spooky anti-landing option. If you're close to the ground, you can also threaten to just land and use a grounded option. It is a lot of pressure.

Smashes​

Forward Smash: Time Cutter​

With a robotic stiffness, Nox points a single palm forward, blue energy gathering in the palm of his hand. The energy then shoots out as a thin, sharp looking wave of energy, which even has an audible slashing sharpness to it as it flies forward! This projectile goes a reasonable 1.5 Battlefield Platforms of distance, increasing up to 2.5 Battlefield Platforms of distance after 1 second of charge. These projectiles aren't exactly very strong, but they do slice through opponents and keep going, allowing you to hit multiple people with their hitbox that deals 11%-15.4% damage and will kill at around 140%-106%, with the knockback being a bit flat and shallow. This move is pretty fast for Nox, not taking too long to come out and having reasonably low ending lag, allowing Nox to throw these out fast. Each of these time slices takes 3 Wakfu to throw out.

If you tap A repeatedly, you can throw out more of these time slices in rapid succession, taking much less time to throw out than normal, allowing Nox to create some pretty deadly bullet hell. This is especially true as Nox can angle the shots up and down, including the initial shot, allowing him to hit at multiple angles, cover platforms/jumps, shoot down below from a platform or ledge, or so on. While this allows him to shoot out projectiles at a much faster rate than normal, each projectile causes him to take more ending lag when the move ends. This isn't too noticeable if you throw out just one extra, but if you reach the maximum of 5 total projectiles (after which Nox's power fizzles briefly, akin to earlier and forces him to end the move), Nox takes significant ending lag as he recovers from shooting off all that energy, leaving him extremely vulnerable. It is a trade off of instant power versus risk afterwards.

This can be added to with a special ability Forward Smash, and in fact all of Nox's Smashes, have: By inputting this move with B + A, it allows Nox to embue it with a special time effect! This costs an additional 5 Wakfu per shot, but it offers Nox a very unique option. When this happens, Nox won't actually fire out a projectile, but his palm will flare as if he did and the noise of a shot being made happens! What's going on? Well, Nox IS shooting off his projectiles...just not now. He's shooting them off to the future! 5 seconds after use, the projectile will fire off from where it was used, allowing Nox to set up future traps. This is particularly useful as shots after the first, as it allows you to cover the non-hitbox of this technique with a hitbox from the first projectile being fired. While by default they are sent 5 seconds into the future, charging this attack will cause it to be sent into the future, being sent 2 frames later for every 1 frame of charge, allowing Nox to set up a variety of traps with different timings and angles with only one move!

Particularly interesting is that these projectiles being sent into the future are fixed relative to Nox's time. What this means is that when you go back in time, they keep their current timer rather than going back in time too. So if you went back in time 5 seconds and the projectile was going to appear in 3 seconds, it will STILL appear 3 seconds from now, rather than 8 seconds from then. This gives Nox a unique opportunity to bring "back" setup he has into old situations. This can lead to flatout hitting or comboing the foe if the Forward Smash was just about to come out, can pressure foes in situations they used to be safe, give you defensive options where none existed before, and in general change entire states of battle that already "occured"! Just remember that each shot is taking 8 wakfu and is highly telegraphed, not to mention the fact the time reversal takes plenty of time and wakfu too. It can get pricy. When in a time stop, the timer on the projectile remains paused, so Nox can stop time shortly before a Forward Smash would pop out and use its inevitable return for a combo or what have you.

Something to note is that Back Aerial can be used to reflect it, INCLUDING when it is stopped in time if you time stop, which can allow you to reverse your setup while the opponent is helpless. The Forward Smash went behind them when time was stopped? Bang it with a Back Aerial, then combo off it! This also allows you to rather safely alter the trajectory of the projectile, since Back Aerial will cover your back so well. It also should be noted you can teleport between each shot, although this is kinda difficult with time-displaced shots as you need to re-input the Special Button multiple times. This can nonetheless allow you to dosome rather crazy setup if you're willing to invest the wakfu!

Down Smash: Clock Breaker​

Nox holds his hand out and summons his clock-hand sword into his hand. If Nox charges the attack, he will then slowly pull the sword back, with the sword moving in increments like a minute hand, Nox's body making ticking noises like a clock as it does so. Upon release, Nox raises the sword above his head and smashes it downwards in front of him! This is a somewhat laggy attack overall, both on the starting and ending lag, but it makes up for it by being one of Nox's strongest attacks, dealing 17.5%-24.5% damage and knockback that will kill at 95%-62% as well. Something to note is that this is, much like Mewtwo, a Down Smash that does NOT hit behind Nox by default. You actually can press back when you throw this move out to reverse it, not unlike some other attacks, but this does add additional starting lag of about 4 frames as Nox turns around. Fortunately, Nox has a lot of ways to hit his back anyway, such as Back Aerial and Neutral Aerial, so this isn't as much of a weakness as it might sound.

You're primarily gonna use this as a laggy punish tool and a killing move, sometimes being able to use it as a 50/50 combo finisher, get someone to be hit by a Forward Smash (perhaps one sent into the future) and get smacked into it, that kind of stuff. It is NOT a neutral tool or combo tool. Given this is a slower attack, it can benefit more than average by opponent being addled by breaking out of your time stop, so keep that in mind. If you hit from the middle of the blade or further, it is safe on shield: With some charge, it is safe on shield at almost all ranges. And, of course, a laggy killing move gets plenty of benefit from your Time Stop, which you can use as a "kill confirm" if the opponent isn't able to stop you.

If you really wanna hit with this move, though, try using the B + A version of it! This costs 8 wakfu, but it adds some additional effects, with Nox now moving with after-image effects akin to the GIF above as he charges. The entire area around him seems to distort as well, with a light blue clock-and-gear effect behind him to signal his time manipulation. This signals that Nox is slowing down time nearby! Absolutely everything in about a 1/3rd Smart Bomb blast radius around Nox slows to half speed, while Nox continues to move at normal speed. This includes his projectiles, the opponent, the opponents projectiles, stage hazards, moving stage, you get the idea. This allows some interesting applications, an obvious one being that an attacking foe is going to get slowed down. You can actually smash opponents using less laggy moves than this with it because they got slowed down!

This "slow down" effect remains even when time reversing, allowing you to kind of make a small "desynced" area in your time reversal, which is going to be slightly out of sync with the rest of the time reversal. While tricky, you can use it to "mix and match" combat elements to a degree, with the variable length of the time slow (since it continues to occur as you charge) working into this. Slow down the time reversal for a bit and maybe you, for example, had a Forward Smash projectile in that spot you wouldn't normally, and now everything changes! You can also use the time slow down on the area the Forward Smash WILL be, if it is time delayed. The slowed time will also slow the time of the "future" Forward Smash, so you can tinker with its exact timing in ways that might be hard to read with the foe. You look away a moment and it has just slipped away. Time is...funny like that.

Up Smash: Explosive Temperment​

Nox flicks both of his hands out briefly for a moment, before throwing them both up and releasing a large upwards blast of Wakfu that explodes upwards! This has quite a lot of upwards range and billows out to the sides of Nox, taking 5 Wakfu to use and dealing a fairly strong 16%-22.4% damage. The knockback is not as impressive, with it tied more into some strong base knockback and killing at 118%-82% overall. This move has slightly faster than average starting lag, but the ending lag is somewhat punishable, and the move has a somewhat long duration that makes it more punishable if Nox should happen to miss with it. If you do not have any wakfu, this attack is still usable, but changes properties: Nox instead thrusts both of his palms upwards in more of a melee, palm thrusting motion, with no pillar of energy. This attack is fast on both ends and the lack of energy duration makes it very hard to punish. However, it only deals 9%-12.6% damage and the knockback doesn't much combo nor really set up juggles as well, so it is mostly just useful as a pure anti-air.

In addition to being a strong anti-air coverage move, this move is excellent for launching opponents high into the air and thus ideal for starting juggle situations. Get those Up Aerials ready, prepare your Dash Attacks and Back Aerials to clash with the foe, and enjoy having a pretty dang nice advantage state if you hit this! It also serves as a faster if much weaker kill option by comparison to Down Smash, which is rather useful. This move counts as a disjointed hitbox and NOT a projectile, so it won't be frozen during a time stop, no matter how much you want a large pillar of wakfu energy that deals plenty of damage to smack the enemy into.

Pressing B + A to use this move allows Nox to spent an additional 3 wakfu for a total of 8, which will cause time to go faster around Nox in the reverse of his Down Smash! It has the same aura and clock 'n' gear look to it, except the clocks and gears turn really fast rather than slowly, and speeds up time around a 1/3rd Smart Bomb blast radius of Nox, causing everything to go faster. This can actually make it even better for catching out landings! It will make air dodges harder to time, messes up landing windows, and can cause people to accelerate into attack range.

On top of that, the area will remain sped up during things like time reversal in the same way as Down Smash, so you can desync it in the opposite way, speeding things up so that it goes further back or what have you. This can also cause delayed Forward Smashes to come out quicker if you get a delayed Forward Smash in range, or cause Noxin on the foe to explode unexpectedly early or travel faster. It is more niche than Down Smash's effect, but it still has a variety of uses.

Grab Game​

Grab: Wristwatch​

Nox swipes at the ground under him, almost as if trying to catch the foes by the ankle, making for a grab that actually is able to hit rather down, enabling him to catch out some crouching foes many people would miss. His grab isn't that special, with middling speed and slightly above average range, but it isn't bad either obviously. His dash grab has pretty poor ending lag, but it has some pretty good range, and Nox crouches down somewhat as he does the grab, so he can actually dodge some especially high attacks.

Don't forget that Nox can grab opponents during his time stop. They must escape the grab timer of the time stop before working on the grab difficulty of the actual grab, so you can get in more pummels or what have you. Throws who are thrown in a time stop will be left on the regrab timer for the rest of the time stop unless they break free, in which case it counts down as normal. So you will only get to grab opponents once if they do not break free. Opponents will not take knockback until normal, but if the throw would move the opponent as part of the animation, it will do so. This can be used for light repositioning in time stop.

Pummel: Feed the Cube​

Placing his palms around the side of the foe's head, Nox shocks the opponent for 1% damage, draining them of 2% Wakfu. On the slower end, but the addition to your Wakfu stores can't be understated: Maximizing the pummels you get in gives you that little additional wakfu sustain to help you pull off those crazy plays or just not lose too much pulling off more normal ones!

Down Throw: Nobody Turns Their Back on Me!​

Nox releases the opponent while disappearing in a flash, re-appearing behind them. His arms robotically move upwards, then around the foe's head, glowing a light blue just outside of their head (or closest thing to a head) as wakfu energy begins to be visibly sucked out of them (with an effect visually similar to Grougaloragan being drained by Nox's clock mech).

The damage of this move is highly variable. You see, the opponent can still break out of this throw, with the grab timer being carried over from the normal grab. Nox will continue draining opponent's wakfu for as long as they are held, dealing 1% damage and adding 3 wakfu to his meter at a rapid pace. At fresh percents, he might get 3%-4% off, but by the mid percents he is going to be dealing 9%-10% damage, and later on he can do looooots more. Opponents are automatically launched at 30% damage, although this won't happen until quite late. If Nox hits this maximum, he will blast the opponent away with a special hitbox that deals 10% more damage and kills at 165%, meaning it will usually land a kill given how late this takes. In all other instances, the foe breaking free leads to them struggling and Nox blasting them away in an explosion of wakfu that deals 4% damage. This knockback will reset neutral, with Nox having a small frame advantage.

While this move does deal plenty of damage late, it generally doesn't offer as much advantage as other throws when it comes to damage or killing. Instead, the main appeal of this move is that it provides massive wakfu generation, with mid-percents allowing you to get 20+ wakfu in a single move. This is a lot more than Nox can normally get so easily, but in return he has to give up other advanage state options in exchange for a simple neutral reset, and the damage doesn't really pile on until later.

If you're feeling dangerous and the opponent is approaching high health, you can intentionally try NOT to kill them and instead seek to land this throw when you can get the full 30% in. This will kill later than your other options, but in return you're getting a total of NINETY wakfu out of the deal! This is pretty risky given how long you'll need to keep opponents alive, but there is a way to lower the risk involved: Time Stop. Opponents won't be able to begin working on escaping grab difficulty until after they escape the time stop, so a sufficiently long time stop on a damaged foe can allow you to get the 30% damage version potentially much earlier, or suck up more wakfu in general than normal.

There are some obvious weaknesses and issues. First off, while it makes the 30% damage potential much less risky, it also is going to cost a good amount of wakfu to make it less risky. The opponent is going to need to be time-stopped long enough for you to get to them, grab them, and have enough time before they can escape to actually make a difference in how much you get out of the throw. This will usually cost at least 20 or 30 wakfu, meaning you're getting less reward than a raw 90 wakfu out of this since you had to spend resources to make it work. Lessening risk lessens the reward.

The other is comparing it to other options in your kit. For example, Mario at 115% can be drained of 30% if time stopped in a sufficiently close and long time stop. But the throw won't be enough to kill Mario, so you're getting 90 wakfu but Mario lives. OR you could use Down Smash and kill Mario, but you get 0 resources out of it. So, you need to make a choice: Is it worth keeping Mario alive and risking more damage or even death for more resources, or to just get the clean kill with no other benefits? This is just one example, but it gives you an idea into the kind of thought process that goes into Nox's time stop decisions.

Forward Throw: Vengeance of Igole​

Nox grabs the foe by the ankles, his eyes slanting into an angry look, before he forcefully throws the opponent forward! This throw deals some fierce damage, 12%, and will kill pretty early, around 115% if you're near a ledge and naturally later closer to the stage. As you most likely guessed, this is Nox's killing throw, and it is a pretty strong one at that! If you're looking to close out a stock, this is an excellent attack to do so.

Additionally, however, Nox is able to aim this throw by angling the control stick akin to an angled F-Tilt, except unlike that, Nox can angle in much smaller ways. Think like how Fire Fox is able to be angled in all kinds of ways with smaller control stick movements. If the downward angle causes the foe to hit the ground, they will bounce up for reduced knockback. At low percents, this actually does lead into a combo, although your back throw is much more suited to combos. If the foe doesn't hit the ground, such as near a ledge, they will take highly reduced knockback to keep from super early kills, but at the same time it puts them in a horrible position to recover from.

Something to remember, though, is the knockback direction someone goes when a time stop ends is the last knockback they took. You can use this to give highly variable knockback to the end of Nox's time stop combos or attacks, the most obvious being throwing someone down off a ledge at the end of a damaging combo to kill them despite the Forward Throw's reduced knockback. You can also just plain use this to throw opponents into stuff you set up in a time stop, of course.

You can also use this variable range to throw opponents into, for example, time-stopped projectiles or Forward smashes about to come out and any other number of tricks. Teleporting after the foe for aggression even without true combos can be an option, too. It also can just throw the opponent away if you want to make time for something, of course.

Up Throw: Temporal Overwrite​

Nox thrusts his palm into the foe's chest, lifting them up and sending them upwards with a blast of wakfu for 8% damage and strong base knockback, although thanks to poor scaling it won't kill until 190%. While not a killing option (look to Forward Throw for that!), it is really good at getting the foe high into the air and that is a premium advantage state for Nox. Get that float ready to catch opponents coming down, throw out Up Aerials to get them in place, or utilize the fact they're far from you to start up your Time Stop or go back in time. The high base knockback makes it pretty useful for getting time to at least do a short version of those. It is also a pretty good time to place out your Noxin, which can be making a return trip as the opponent falls and give them some pressure in addition to what you can naturally exert.

This move does not cost wakfu at a base, as the expenditure is too small for it to even make a dent in his reserves. But you can apply additional effects by either tapping or holding A while throwing the opponent, with each one applying a different effect. Nox will let wakfu flow into the opponent when he palm thrusts into them, dealing an additional 3% damage and embuing them with temporal magic before they get launched for the same knockback as normal. Whether you tap or hold A determines if you will apply a time slow or a time speeding effect! These are indicated by the opponent glowing with similar effects as Nox during his Down Smash and Up Smash, complete with the slower or faster clocks and gears in the background of the foe!

Now, this won't directly speed up or slow the foe, nor does it affect any other characters. So you don't have to worry about slowing yourself down or anything like that. But it WILL speed up or slow down other things, in the same vein as Down Smash or Up Smash, speeding them up or slowing them by half. This includes, for example, Nox's own projectiles, which are now able to slow to a crawl and cause some serious delayed pressure to an opponent. Likewise, a faster projectile getting in close to the foe now requires much quicker reactions to shield or dodge. The radius is the same as Down Smash and Up Smash, 1/3rd of a Smart Bomb blast radius. Consider that this also applies to the opponent's projectiles and constructs, for better or for worse, you can definitely mess around with their setup, but a smart opponent can take advantage of this too. Imagine a Charge Shot combo ripping out faster due to sped up time or being slowed down as Samus walks forward behind it like a wall or what have you.

Awareness should also be kept that the time effects will alter your time reversal in the same vein as your Down Smash and Up Smash, the upside being that it is much easier to do it for longer than your smashes, but of course your opponent is in charge of where they go and not you. Consider trying to bully foes into areas you want to have desynced time before reversing time, and of course it can be pretty hard to stay away from all the areas of interest regardless. If they really don't want you to time-manipulate a section, use that to their advantage by attacking where they want to go. The art of the temporal cold war, if you will.

This effect costs 5 Wakfu and lasts for slightly over 5 seconds, giving Nox a reasonable amount of time to utilize it, but it isn't a huge window or anything. It also isn't something you just want to do willy-nilly: It is an effect that changes things up, not a straight buff. Something to consider is that if you use this on a foe who is time stopped, it will apply even while they are time stopped: This can allow you to create "zones" of sped up or slowed down time for your time stop setup or to change the timing of how they need to avoid setup near the end of a time stop and mess with them, and general shenanigans. Don't underestimate a solid 8% damage and a juggle with lots of frame advantage when it comes to the plain version, however.

Back Throw: Pressed For Time​

Nox slams his palm into the opponent while shocking them with a light amount of wakfu, dealing 3% damage to them as he turns around, slamming the foe into the ground for 4% damage. The knockback on this attack is extremely low, making it a good combo starter well into the later percents, good for getting Nox some damage in and thus overall his highest damage throw. Some examples of moves that combo out of his include his Dash Attack and Back Aerial, which will be good even later for their trample priority to turn this into a 50/50 move, an Up Aerial or Up Smash (sadly, the Up Smash stops comboing before it will kill, but it can be 50/50'd later), a Neutral Aerial (which at some percents can lead into NAir -> Teleport > NAir) and so on. There isn't a ton to say about this throw, so.

Standards​

Jab: Clock Smasher​

The first two hits of Nox's jab are nothing to write home about, a straight punch followed by a more slight-uppercut punch that each deal 2% damage. Both of these hits can jab-lock foes, and Nox will gain 1 wakfu for each hit of them, giving you a bit of minor reward into these always linking jabs. They come out pretty fast and their ending lag is on the faster end of jabs, so Nox has some pretty quick defensive options, although it should be noted their actual range is poor. The move can end in two different ways, depending on if the third hit has A tapped or held.

Tapping A causes Nox to shove both of his palms forward with a small spark of wakfu, too little to actually impact his meter, which deals 5% damage and pushes opponents away with solid knockback to get the foe off of Nox. It doesn't really lead into anything directly, but from around 30%-60% damage it will cause a tech situations, with fastfallers being generally more susceptible. This generally has a bit too much ending lag to be safe on shield, but unless the opponent acts fast they don't get a punish off it, because it is only slightly unsafe. This third hit always links from the first two hits and delivers a full 5 wakfu to Nox's meter, so he can get a safe 7 wakfu by just performing this jab combo. It is generally a safe, fast move to throw out for a bit of quick damage and some meter.

If you hold down A, Nox will instead summon his clock-hand sword, slashing it diagonally down in front of him. This attack is laggier to start out, but it deals a pretty fierce 12% that means the jab combo does a total of 16%, and it will kill at 133%, serving as a bit of an alternative killing option off a fast move. Nox steps forward to slash with the sword, which gives it extra range, but the attack is too laggy to directly combo out of a Jab 2. Opponents do need to shield or dodge on prediction rather than reaction, however, which is important to keep in mind.

This attack is not safe on shield, but it can be a bit of a shield mixup between it and the tapped Jab 3. If you try to put your shield down and go to punish the tapped Jab 3, the later hit of the held Jab 3 will hit you and you will take damage. If you instead hold your shield down, you will miss the punish chance on the tapped Jab 3, and thus Nox gets some timing advantage. This can be additionally mixed up with the fact you can teleport between jab hits, so you can really make the third hit of your Jab ambiguous, including teleporting in place to slightly delay it or to dodge the opponent and smash them with the held Jab 3. It isn't an intense mindgame, but it can be quite rewarding.

Forward Tilt: Energy Barrier​

Nox leans his body back, before taking a step forward and thrusting a single palm forward to strike. The step forward gives this move impressive range, at the same time the starting lag is somewhat on the longer end with the step back. The strike itself deals 8% damage and solid knockback, which will get Nox some valuable space even at lower percents. This move is safe on shield at most ranges, pushing opponents away and either giving Nox a small frame advantage or, if he landed it up close, leaving him roughly frame neutral. The ending lag on this is not too bad, although it isn't especially fast either. This is Nox's primary grounded neutral tool thanks to its range and safety, just don't expect to lead much of anything from it. It also gives Nox some wakfu if he hits it on the opponent. It is only 2 wakfu, but given how much of a neutral tool it is for him, that adds up.

By pressing A (akin to Link's Forward Smash), Nox will charge a second hit, which shoots out like a curved "wall" of wakfu energy that flies forward! It kind of looks like a forward parenthesis, is 3/4ths the height of Nox and deals 7% damage when it strikes the opponent. It provides a strong hitstun with blue-electric effects. This means that even though the knockback is not particularly made for combos, it is still pretty useful as a combo starter due to this. It fires off pretty quickly after the first hit, but the ending lag is on the long side, so constantly throwing it out after the Forward Tilt WILL get you punished. It costs 4 wakfu to summon this projectile.

This barrier will go through any weak projectiles, which deal 8.5% or less damage, and eat them up. So Nox can use this as a measure to counter things such as Wolf blaster, but it'll get smashed through by anything hard. The projectile itself travels SLOWLY. Despite only going about 1.66 Battlefield Platforms it lasts for a good 3.5 seconds, making it a very good projectile for Nox to play around with at a base. It also makes it a prime projectile for him to catch in his time stop: The enhanced hitstun makes it a solid trap when frozen to extend combos and its slow speed can make it an awkward "slightly moving piece" for the foe to deal with when it comes to other frozen timestop setups.

Up Tilt: Gear Crush​

Nox holds his hands out to each side, palms up, and then claps them above him. As he does so, gears made of pure wakfu energy (visually similar to the clock-gear shields he uses in the series) appear above them left and right. These gears have a fairly large size and follow the motion of his arms, crashing together and grinding into each other at the end of the move. This attack produces 4 different hitboxes: Nox's arms going up, Nox's arms clapping, the gears going up and the gears finishing against each other. The gears are only made if Nox has at least 5 wakfu and cost 5 wakfu, but just like Up Smash this move is usuable for just the clap if you lack enough wakfu. The starting lag of this move is slightly long and the ending lag has a slight delay on it as the gears disappear. When the gears are not used, it has slightly reduced starting and ending lag.

The arm and arm-clapping hitboxes are very hard to hit with if the gears are part of the attack. The arms themselves swinning upwards do 4% damage and very weak upwards knockback. For the most part, this hitbox is unsafe unless you combo them into the clap (possible at low percents or if you hit closer), the gears out, or the opponent is at high damage percents. The clap deals 7% damage and moderate upwards knockback. It can be a combo starter at low percents into an Up Aerial, at mid percents with a teleport-Up Aerial and serves as a very late 50/50 finisher with teleport-Up Aerial, but it has a pretty small hitbox, making it rather unreliable. Hitting with the arm hitbox does not provide Nox with any wakfu gain, but the clap sweetspot will give Nox 3 wakfu.

The gears themselves have two hitboxes. As the gears spin upwards, they deal multiple hits of 1%. If you get hit from the very start and stay in it until the end, that is 4 hits of 1%, followed by an upwards launching hit of 5%. This weak hit can lead into a few combos (mostly at lower mid percents), but for the most part it leads into frame traps (Up Aerial, Neutral Aerial both good for this), 50/50s (Up smash can be very good for this) or what have you. Unless the foe is hit really close to the middle, they won't be getting hit by the sweetspot if they are caught in the gears, but this hitbox definitely has its uses.

The sweetspot is when the gears first meet and clash, being a rather brief hitbox, but it is incredibly powerful. Getting crunched by this hitbox deals 14% damage and high knockback that kills opponents off the top at 108%! Since this hitbox only comes out slightly before the ending lag, it is a fair deal laggier than the rest of the attack, and as mentioned hitting with the start of it will usually be an issue for hitting with the rest. It is still quicker than, say, Down Smash for sure, so it can serve as a quickie finisher. You can also use time stop or time reversal to set this up a lot easier, especially on opponents who jump into juuust the wrong space as the time stop goes off. Of course, a time stop can just as easily lead into a Down Smash kill, but sometimes you won't have time for that! This can also be used as a stylish anti-air, since the spinning gears hitbox will at least cover a good deal of range and be a solid hitbox if you miss the timing. It is more specific than, for example, Up Smash, but it can be highly rewarding.

Something to remember is that both Up Smash and Up Tilt here require wakfu for the best versions of themselves. If he lets himself get low on wakfu, that can be an issue for him when it comes to anti-airs. Opponents can be more aggressive in the air if he is near the end of the rope on his powerful resource, and he will likely look out or be more careful for these approaches if he gets low.

Down Tilt: Stealing Swipe​

Nox, crouching down, performs a swift sweep with one of his arms, poking forward. This hitbox is your prime combo starter from your standards, dealing 5.5% damage and lightly popping opponents upwards and very slightly towards Nox. This move is pretty fast to come out and the ending lag isn't too bad either. It is NOT safe on shield in most instances, but it CAN shield poke, which obviously DOES make it safe on shield. Hitting this move causes Nox to gain 2 wakfu.

The main appeal of this move, as mentioned, is combos. Nox gets a lot off of this move. He can combo into almost all of his aerials, although the slower Forward Aerial and Back Aerial can become 50/50s later. This can lead into Back Aerial's sweetspot, for example. This combos into Up Tilt's sweetspot, but only at low percents, usually around 20% on people. It combos into Up Smash for a long time and later becomes a 50/50. The best move it will combo into at any percent, needing jumps/double jumps at times, is the Up Aerial. This can lead into some kills later on, especiall with a Down Tilt on high platforms, in addition to being a generally strong damage option that sets up Nox's juggling game. Other options can lead to more damage or other options, though. For example, Nox can combo a jab into this at a lot of lower percents, which he can use to gain him some quick wakfu. Dash Attack can be a combo at lower percents, as well. Forward Smashes at various elevations work into follow-ups, you get the idea. Experiment and find out what works!

Dash Attack: Time Crash​

Nox summons his shield on his arm, placing it in front of him and pushing off with his feet, rushing forward with a shield charge! This move has two hitboxes, a sweetspot when Nox first begins the charge and the rest of the hitbox for the rest of the attack. All parts of the attack contain trample priority that make them excellent at catching aerial landings, or allowing Nox to play aggressively. Nox's teleport is ESPECIALLY strong on this move due to this, especially since Nox will continue the move in the air. You can teleport to reverse it, teleport in place to delay it, teleport into the air to catch people performing aerials or onto higher platforms, you get the idea. This is a versatile attack, with a lot of uses, even if it is a somewhat laggy attack on both ends.

The first hitbox of this attack deals 14% damage and kills at around 118%, making it a pretty strong move that can work as a finisher. It isn't as strong as Nox's other options, but the fact it has trample priority makes it easier to hit with as well. The hitbox sends opponents fairly high, so there aren't any follow-up options even at low percents, but it sets up edgeguards fairly well before killing percents. The rest of the hitbox deals 10% and won't kill at 165%, but it has a much lower angle. This can actually make it more ideal for edgeguarding some characters, for example Donkey Kong, and means that Nox forces the opponent to tech or enter prone from around 30% or less depending on the character. This still does not lead into any combos, but it is a solid hit nonetheless.

This will generally be one of your main tools against landing opponents, as mentioned. This is your aggressive grounded option, while Back Aerial serves as anaggressive aerial option. Up Smash and Up Aerial, on the other hand, are safer options with more range, but they don't clank out attacks and can be more predictable. Up Tilt is a safe option with a strong sweetspot, but unless you hit the sweetspot it offers the lowest reward. And you should mix in teleports with this, of course.

Final Smash: Time Slips Away​

Nox does a pose similar to his time stop pose, Nox shoots out a pulse stops at the first person hit. If it misses, then naturally the Final Smash ends, while conneting leads into a cinematic. Nox's giant clock mech appears in the background, the giant clock hands on it spinning rapidly. The clock hands stop at 3 and 9 O'Clock, summoning two huge, spiked appendages that point at the foe, who has been paralyzed by Nox's pulse. The clock begins to rapidly drain the foe of their energy, dealing a total of 45% damage. If the opponent is not at 90% or higher, the Final Smash ends with an explosion of wakfu and Nox letting out a surprised "What?!", which deals 10% additional damage and lightly knocks opponents away with no reasonable kill power. Nox gains 45 wakfu from this Final Smash.

If the foe is at 90% or higher, however, Nox will slant his eyes and order the pulse strengthened, the opponent's vitality fading. The opponent goes through a special KO animation, their limbs going limp as the life is fully drained from them. This KOs the opponent much like Ridley and K. Rool's Final Smash, but it also does provide an additional benefit. Instead of 45 wakfu, Nox gains wakfu equal to the amount of damage the foe had when they were KO'd, likely filling his tank up massively! Hope the opponent better be prepared!

Playstyle: Poor Madman​

 

[FrozenRoy]

"I never liked violence, but seeing idiots tear each other apart fascinates me.

Compared to intellect, strength is nothing."
Quilby​

Quilby (also sometimes spelled "Qilby", but back when I watched everyone spelled it as Quilby, so I'm going with that since I'm used to it) is a character from the French animated series Wakfu and an Eliatrope, an ancient race that the main character Yugo also hails from. The Eliatrope were once a strong and prosperous race, but were attacked by an evil machine-alien race known as the Mechasms, which drove the Eliatrope from their planet (and caused them to develop space-flight) due to their invasion and led the few remaining Eliatrope to travel the Krosmoz, with most of them hiding in a pocket dimension while a few members stayed out of it, such as the ancient dragon Grougaloragan, along with Yugo and landed on the World of Twelve (which is where the series takes place).

Yugo, Grougaloragan and Quilby are all members of "The Council of Six", six Eliatrope-Dragon pairs blessed with resurrective immortality, allowing them to live a new life albeit without their memories (although some personality traits seem to remain reasonably consistent). According to Quilby, he ruled as the King of the Eliatropes on this council, with Yugo as his wise council at this time, but was eventually sealed inside of the Eliacube thanks to the Mechasms' deception, only being freed when Yugo attempts to use the Eliacube to learn about the Eliatropes after he acquired it by defeating Nox at the end of Season One. He even lost his arm in their deadly assault! Alongside other plot, Quilby asks a request of Yugo, given his own frail state: To find the dragon egg of his sister, Shinonome, who is trapped on a far away island so that they can reunite.

It all sounds well and good, but people paying attention to the LOOOOOOOOOOOOORE instantly noticed something off, because Quilby's information contradicts known canonical info, in particular the fact we know Yugo was the King of the Eliatropes in the past...

And that's because, while it isn't obvious at first, Quilby isn't just a doddering expositing old man: He's the main villain of the 2nd season! Quilby heads to Mount Zinit, a large mountain in the World of Twelve which had been seen/mentioned before. It turns out this is more than it seemed, as Quilby shows that the inside is actually a massive spaceship, and explains that Mount Zinit was how the Eliatropes moved after the Mechasms attacked...and, more precisely, how QUILBY moved afterwards, exploring the Krosmos, and that it is time for Adamai and the Eliatropes to do so again. The only problem is that Mount Zinit requires great energy to launch, enough that it would require draining most of the planet of wakfu (wakfu essentially being life/soul energy in this series) and...well, as he put it, it won't DESTROY the planet, it'll just leave it...you know...ravaged. The ship itself contains preserved specimen of species that Quilby had visited and done this to before, like a twisted meuseum.

Needless to say, our little heroic dragon Adamai is not in favor of "what if we screwed over the planet I grew up on to go to space", which Quilby anticipated given that he knows Adamai pretty well. Quilby has taken the Eliacube at this point and merges with it, showing his mastery over the ancient Eliatrope device and his far greater wakfu manipulation than Nox, along with his mastery over Eliatrope portal powers far beyond that of main protagonist Yugo. Quilby ultimately makes short work of Adamai (and the newly reborn baby Grougaloragan, who is also there), stealing his soul with a single swing of his wakfu energy-scythe.

This is all actually a part of Quilby's plan as well, as he uses Adamai as a bargaining chip with the Shushu "god" Rushu (Shushus are basically demons), offering up Adamai to Rushu and as such a way for the Shushu to enter the World of Twelve via his portal powers. In return, Anathar assumes Adamai's great draconic power combined with his own demonic powers: This is because Quilby desires this power to fight Phaeris, another of the Council of Six and an extremely powerful dragon who protects Shinonome's dragon-egg on the island. This is, in fact, the true reason Quilby sent Yugo there, hoping that Yugo might fight Phaeris but also seeking to gather them all there at once.

See, Quilby (and Shinonome) is different from the rest of the Council of Six: While he resurrects after each death, he keeps his memories. All of them, etched into his mind crystal clear. Over the course of his very, very long life this began to take a toll on his mind, especially as he was confined to the Eliatropes' home planet as they have not developed space travel and showed no interest in it. Quilby, eventually desperate for releasefrom the planet, managed to steal the heart of Orgonax, one of the young members of the Mechasm and causing them to attack the Eliatrope people. Because of this attack, the Eliatrope developed space travel, allowing him to escape the planet as he desired, and sailing the Krosmos on the Zinit...albeit with him and his people under constant attack by the Mechasm, who caused great suffering.

Once this treachery was revealed, Quilby was struck down by Phaeris and Yugo, with Phaeris ripping off his arm and Yugo casting him to the "Blank Dimension" inside of the Eliacube: A dimension of pure white in a sort of semi-stasis where one does not need to eat or drink, nor dies of natural causes. For Quilby, who already suffered from a long life he could not forget and of "boredom", there was no purer hell to him, as he stayed there for an unknown but veeery long amount of time until Yugo released him unknowingly as mentioned at the start of Season Two.

Quilby, who already was losing his grip, is rendered...less than sane by all of this, but he also has a crippling anxiety over lonliness, with his entire evil plot not just being about getting the Eliatrope to sail the Krosmos once more, but for him to gather Adamai, Yugi, Phaeris, Grougaloragan and the remaining Eliatropes to sail it with him and his sister, even though they pretty much all hate his guts and want nothing to do with him, which he has difficulty understanding. It all is played in an actually rather tragic way, although it is also sharply contrasted by how Nox was in season one. For example, Nox was genuinely repentant of his horrible actions, while Quilby makes no such apology for his arguably greater sins.

In the end, Quilby is betrayed by his sister Shinonome, who simply feels that this madness must stop, extending her energy out in an explosion that severs the Eliacube from him, leaving Quilby nothing but a one-armed man with little power. Quilby, unwilling to repent, is sent back to the Blank Dimension by Yugo...to live out the rest of his life in a world of nothingness, only a scant few flower petals from the Eliatrope's pocket dimension for a semblance of life, alone. Given the horrifying nature of his punishment, it's hard not to feel sorry for him, even if he is a horrible person.

In terms of power, Quilby is a master manipulator of wakfu when paired with the Eliacube, which he is for most of the series once he becomes a villain. He can manipulate it into the form of weapons, almost always a scythe, in addition to firing off great blasts of energy either as lasers, explosive spheres, or rains of spikes. His most powerful ability, however, is that he can create portals which he can freely move through, and at a far greater rate than our hero Yugo. While Yugo usually makes only 2 or 3 portals at once, Quilby is able to make dozens of portals or to juggle people in the air with a single blast sent through innumerable portals, giving him crazy range. His replacement arm is made entirely out of wakfu and so can be manipulated as well, allowing him to suck out the life energy of others, or to manipulate its size and shape very freely. He is also a fairly strong strategist, with his plan working pretty flawlessly even up to the end, as he only particularly loses because his sister "betrays" him. His visual design once he obtains the Eliacube has a "grim reaper" style aesthetic.

Quilby is perfect for my lead up to 100 sets, as he is my second favorite villain at my time of writing this, trailing only Nox from the same series. He gets some really sick looking fight scenes and has a strong, striking design, and I find his characterization impressive too: The show never treats him as in the right and has him justifably suffer for his evil actions, not to mention he is rather a jerk, yet nonetheless allows the audience to engender sympathy for him given the extisential dread of his situation and the way he is obviously emotionally unstable from it, not to mention contrasting him with Nox (who also was a tragic villain) in many ways. An exquisite villain and an excellent choice for Set #98.

Statistics​

Quilby has a rather tall, somewhat lanky build to him. He is slightly taller than Samus, but not as wide and more slim. He is not particularly heavy, nor is he particularly light: His 95 weight essentially puts him at the exact mid-point of the game. His walk speed is a slow and sadistic walk with a big grin on his face, with the speed of Mii Swordfighter (50th). He also has a special walk animation if you do as slow of a walk as possible, where he drags his scythe against the ground like near the end of his second fight with Yugo. His run speed, on the other hand, is a very fast and kind of crazed run that puts him on par with Roy and Chrom at 12th. He has somewhat loose traction, but nothing special.

Aerially, Quilby is noticeably floaty, but he has a very high air speed that keeps him traveling forwards. Tied with Roy and Chrom yet again, he has the 4th highest air speed, letting him traverse the stage very quickly. But with Toon Link/Ivysaur level fall speed (56th), he stays in the air a pretty long time rather than playing more of a fastfall or shorthop game. His first jump is very high and his second jump is high but not as comparitively high, he additionally has a wall jump.

Specials​

"What chance do you think you have against me, when I have the Eliacube?!"​

Neutral Special: Eliatrope Portals​

Quilby summons a portal in front of him, sticking out a single hand and doing so rather casually. This process is not too long overall, but it does lack any kind of hitbox, so do be aware you're fairly vulnerable during it. One portal by itself does absolutely nothing, with characters just passing through it without issue. The portals are fairly small, but they will take in things larger than themselves as long as the object's hurtbox or physical self passes through. So Quilby can travel right through portals despite them being smaller than him, or Ganondorf, and so on. Quilby can place the portals in any "direction" by moving the control stick when placing one, with the portal being placed accordingly, so moving up places it above him, down places it below him, up-forward places it upwards and in front of him, you get the idea. Portals last for a very long time, 30 seconds each, and cannot be damaged/destroyed, nor can they be Pocketed, Reflected, and so on. Quilby can use his Neutral Special right in front of a portal in order to close it, as long as nothing is traveling through it.

Once you create a second portal, the portals will "connect". Entering one portal now causes you to exit from the other, keeping the direction you would go logically. Enter a portal from the left and you'll exit the next portal from the right. Enter from the right and enter the next portal from the left. Attacks will enter the portals in the same way, INCLUDING physical attacks, so feel free to slice that scythe right through a portal and hit clear across the stage! Quilby can place an unlimited amount of portals, allowing him to create extremely intricate portal networks. Portals connect to each other in order of creation and loop to the first portal at the end of the network. So let us say you have 3 portals. Portal 1 travels to Portal 2. Portal 2 travels to Portal 3. And Portal 3 travels back to Portal 1. Four portals? Portal 1 travels to Portal 2. Portal 2 travels to Portal 3. Portal 3 travels to Portal 4. And Portal 4 travels back to Portal 1. Easy and simple to understand, but the depth is immense in how you set it up. Closing a portal causes it to be removed from the rotation. So if you closed Portal 3, Portal 4 would take its place and it functions the same as the normal 3-portal version.

Portals are the cornerstone of Quilby's playstyle, so you'll want to get used to them. And there's more to get into! Quilby can actually "create" a portal during an attack and launch the attack into it without having one present, by pressing B during the attack's start-up. This adds a small bit of starting lag, but in return Quilby can suddenly strike from anywhere with surprising ease! The only attack Quilby cannot do this with is his throws, although he can do it with his grab. So, how does Quilby decide which portal to use? Well, it depends on his "Active" portal.

By default, the first portal Quilby creates is his "Active" portal. But by holding down B, entering a thinking stance with him slouched over, Quilby can change his active portal by moving the control stick. Right moves it forward (Portal 1 -> Portal 2), left moves it backwards (Portal 3 -> Portal 2). You can loop around as well, so if you have 4 portals, you can go left to go from Portal 1 to Portal 4. Let go of B and you'll select the current portal as your active portal. Quilby fires attacks with this alternative method into his active portal, and his active portal is also used in other aspects, for example it can be utilized in his Up SPecial. A blue arrow points to Quilby's arrow from above, so everyone knows which portal is Quilby's. Oh, and I'll add in a note here: Quilby's alternate costumes change the color of his wakfu effects, including his arm, portal colors, arrow color and so on. So even with multiple Quilby, you just need to remember the color.

Side Special: Reaper's Calling​

Quilby leans his arm back with dramatic exaggeration, before making a fierce throwing motion and sending his scythe out flying! He'll make a new energy scythe to replace it during the ending lag, so there's no worries about being left without your primary offense! This move has two hitboxes to it. At very close ranges, when Quilby first throws the scythe, it travels faster than the vast majority of its normal distance, dealing significantly higher damage: 17% damage that will kill at 98%, which would be pretty crazy for a projectile, but this only lasts for the first 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform of distance, so it is essentially a melee-range sweetspot. Once it gets past that distance, it does a much more managable 12% damage, and will only begin killing at around 145%. This move's distance is very close to Link's Boomerang, including being able to be tilted or smashed for less or more range. The scythe spins VERTICALLY, which given its size means it actually has quite a large hitbox while it is out. The knockback of the sourspot is at a low angle, which can enable Quilby to combo if he is nearby, while the sweetspot is highly vertical and will usually kill off the top if it hits.

When it hits the end of its range, it will stop in place, dealing 5 hits of 1% damage as it does so before returning back towards Quilby at its normal speed and 12% damage. Quilby is free to move far before this time period (in fact, his ending lag ends before the scythe even reaches is maximum distance: He can move a bit after Link's boomerange in terms of comparitive range), and can avoid catching the scythe again. If he does, the scythe will travel the same distance as it originally did before stopping and aiming back at Quilby again. This continues until Quilby grabs it OR Quilby uses Side Special again, as he can only have one out so using it again will cause the last one to disappear in a fizzle of wakfu energy. Note that this does not use any "realistic" physics, the scythe will simply try to go right at Quilby's current position. The scythe will bounce off of the ground or walls, but it will disappear if it bounces a lot of times in quick succession, to prevent a scenario of bouncing it against two walls forever or whatever.

You can imagine how useful this is with Quilby's portal network: Its simple tracking allows Quilby to manipulate it through portals as he desires simply via repositioning, being a kind of constant tracking and trailing hitbox for him to utilize as he wills. It also can simply be a good trailing hitbox for when he is being aggressive with them, covering some weaknesses. Outside of portals, this move's starting lag (it is 3 frames laggier than Link's boomerang, which already takes until Frame 27!) makes it not very useful at anything but mid or higher ranges, although if you are risky you can do shorthop Side Special for a pretty strong hitbox that is actually safe on shield, as the opponent needs to be careful of you shorthopping backwards and Side Specialing. The ending lag is not too bad, but do note you'll still get punished pretty easily if the opponent just jumps over the scythe and hits you. The multi-hit spin at the end of the hitbox makes this move grind against shields fairly well, and will catch out foes who spot dodge-it in addition to aerial denial.

This is the scythe's use as a projectile, but it has another vital use. Quilby will go through a 9 frame "scythe catching" animation when he grabs the scythe, which in neutral is just 9 frames of vulnerability. Unlike Link, however (who also has a 9 frame catching animation), Quilby will ALSO go through the catching motion if he is in the middle of an attack or lag! This, essentially, allows Quilby to perform extremely sick lag cancels if he can time it juuuuuust right with overlapping a scythe, be it returning or, say, falling into one below him during an aerial! This is a powerful combo extender given just how low in lag the catching animation is, allowing Quilby his most potent combo chains, although it isn't necessarily easy to pull off! Quilby can also use this for attack fake-outs, looking like he'll use something laggy or powerful, then having the scythe return to him to cancel out of it and grab the foe or what have you. Or he can release it to catch out opponents who went in to stop it or dropped shield to hit him during the cancel or whatever, then cancel the lag and now he's in even MORE advantage! Options are plentiful.

By holding down B, Quilby will use his other free hand to open a portal directly in front of himself, throwing the scythe into it. This causes the scythe to travel through it and appear out of Quilby's selected portal! Not only does this allow Quilby quite a lot of positioning, such as tossing the scythe far away for it to try and return to him, but it will have the initial and powerful hitbox when it first comes out too! This is an alternate, more potentially viable way to hit with the strong hitbox, and if the portal is higher in the air this can cause some incredibly early kills off the top if you can hit the foe! With proper portal placement, you can even use this to send it into a dizzying array of portals from just the first one. Of course, do remember this means Quilby will have NO hitbox covering himself for this move (well, unless the portal is close enough to cover him), which makes it quite the punishable action. Don't do it with the foe nearby.

Up Special: Over Here!​

Quilby snaps his fingers, causing a portal to appear above him, and does a light and lazy floating jump into it. This is your fairly standard teleport recovery, with a second portal appearing 1.1x the distance of Palutena's teleport away, with Quilby floating down out of it with low ending lag. This teleport recovery has NO hitbox, so it can be pretty easily gimped if Quilby isn't careful. On the other hand, it has pretty low lag on both sides, which allows Quilby to use it as a movement option that can mix people up pretty hard, and means gimping usually comes from punishing the lack of hitbox.

By holding down B, Quilby will go into a slightly longer starting lag, before leaping into the portal with more enthusiasm. This is a "perfect" recovery, in that it causes Quilby to appear at his selected portal, with his position oriented to match where you come out of the portal normally (this includes his leaping). This also has no hitbox and he always has to come out of his selected portal, so this is incredibly punishable, but Quilby can make opponents have to try to cover the ledge and his selected portal at once, or at least get less of a punish. He can also use it for very large scale travel, like having a portal all the way on the other side of the stage and teleporting to it after launching the foe away. While the starting lag is a bit higher, the ending lag is still low, so take advantage of that!

Down Special: Tearing Each Other Apart​

Quilby chuckles a little, bringing his arms in front of himself, before throwing his arms out wide, cackling even louder! If Quilby is not attacked, then he will return to his normal stance with an INCREDIBLY deadpan look, like the opponent is both boring and disappointing him. Attacking him during this time, however, is not what the opponent will want to do, for this move is a counter! It actually has TWO different counter windows. The first only lasts for 5 frames, 1/4th of the 20 frame counter duration of this move (Marth's counter is 21 frames for reference), while the second counter window is he remaining 15 frames. The lag is similar to Marth's, but with a bit less ending lag, as well. At least, on whiff: On hit, this attack actually has pretty low ending lag!

We'll go into the latter part of the Counter first. If Quilby would be hit, then he will swirls his arms like he was making a circle, creating a portal in front of him (or wherever else he is being attacked from), along with a second portal behind the foe! The end result is the foe being hit by their OWN ATTACK as if it hit them from behind, launching them with the force of their own attack! This, essentially, allows Quilby to work off of the foe's own attack thanks to his low on-hit ending lag. Foe's throwing out a combo move? Now it's YOUR combo! You can also, of course, counter a killing move to send the foe flying, although it is worth noting that since this move doesn't get any multiplies it is worse at that than an average counter. Projectiles will go through the portal and appear behind the foe, being just as counterable! Depending on how close the foe is, they'll either have a chance to dodge, or just get smacked by their own projectile.

If you get hit early, though, then Quilby will perform a somewhat different counter animation, with a single hand opening a portal in front of him, leading to the same "getting hit by your own attack" style of animation. But his second hand will proceed to open a SECOND portal in front of the opponent, of which they get sent flying into, and end up flying out of your selected portal! This, naturally, has a ton of applications. Launch the opponent higher up when countering a kill move for early killing power! If you countered a combo move, you could potentially hit them at an angle better for comboing, and of course this is very good with projectiles, where you can throw them into a portal network when the foe could otherwise easily dodge a countered projectile.

A few notes, though. First off, any downwards knockback is HEAVILY cut if you hit with this, by about 80%. This means you can't just make a downwards facing portal near a ledge and kill people easily, they'll essentially always be able to recover. The tech window is also doubled, making stage spikes a lot harder to pull off. So, cheese isn't as much of a factor here.

Smashes​

Forward Smash: Krosmic Dance​

Quilby's Forward Smash is a bit of a complex move, owing largely to its large number of follow-up attack options, so let's take it one at a time. The first hit of this attack is very simple, being a move that is pretty fast for an F-Smash as Quilby raises up his scythe with one arm and slams it in front of him that leaves a visible (but purely cosmetic) scratch in the stage briefly. Opponents who are hit take 6%-8.4% damage. The knockback leaves opponents purely in place, with Quilby having a few plus frames when accounting for this move's moderate ending lag, which can allow Quilby to combo into his jab, or do a following mix-up with Grab vs. another F-Smash vs. an aerial. The damage is obviously pathetic, but keeping your opponent in place when you have projectiles around can be very good, and you can do mixup shenanigans. Note that aerial opponents are dragged down to the scythe's ground level and then held in place, even against ledges, which can allow Quilby to "drag down" opponents by attacking through portals, but it won't spike.

Pressing B during the start-up lag will cause Quilby to open a portal under where his scythe stabs, causing it to stab through the portal. The hitbox itself is actually unaffected since this is when the scythe comes down, allowing him to attack while poking through the portal. The portal opening up on the ground can also cause opponents moving over it to be sucked up, especially as the portal appears before the attack comes down, so a shielding foe could have a portal open up under them, start dropping through it and get poked by the hit. While this has some niches uses, it really isn't all that useful overall since the portal appears in such a specific location and the attack on its own does so little, with Quilby not really able to follow them easily.

Of course, if that was all this attack did, it'd be pretty pathetic. Quilby, however, has a lot of follow-up options! He has up to FOUR follow-up options by pressing A, akin to Link's Forward Smash, OR he can hold down A to cut straight to a single hit follow-up attack at any point in the attack chain. Or he can choose not to press A and just end the attack after that attack, which leads to its own options. For simplicity's sake, let's go over the held-A finisher first since it can be used at any point.

Quilby's held-A finisher for Forward Smash has him lean his scythe back, eyes glinting ominously as he holds it with both hands, before it grows to about 1.5x its normal size and performs a sick horizontal slash! This deals 12%-16.8% damage, but the knockback is higher than you might expect from that damage, being able to kill at 110%-80%. The primary purpose of this finisher is the higher damage/knockback option compared to others, in addition it will always combo out of the first hit, meaning you can always at least get a reliable 18%-25.2% damage out of this if you want to cash out or the opponent is in a spot where other follow-up options are not feasible. It also is, in general, your strongest killing option out of the Krosmic Dance. You could use B to open up a portal with this hit, as well as with ANY of the Krosmic Dance follow-ups, although this is only useful for some of them. The Held-A finisher is a reasonably useful one, anyway: The range as it swings through the portal Quilby creates in front of it is not great, only getting the blade itself through, but it is powerful and low commitment. Quilby could even use the first hit of Krosmic Dance or other low ending lag attacks as a feint, with opponents near a selected portal needing to predict if you'll stop there or go for the Held-A follow-up.

The first followup option for Krosmic Dance has Quilby take a step forward, spinning his scythe vertically for five hits of 1%-1.4% damage and light Sakurai Angle knockback. This will essentially always combo out of the first hit of the Forward Smash, allowing you to then go into the held-A finisher with an extra 5% damage. The knockback angle means it'll always combo into it on the ground unless the opponent is at high percents (which might allow them to DI out), but in the air the knockback will likely push them away too much if they DI properly for a direct Forward Smash follow-up.

Interestingly, opening up a portal on this hit of the Krosmic Dance will have Quilby open the portal around his hand, aligned so the portal is facing the screen: This causes the scythe to spin vertically around the selected portal with the middle of the portal being the "center", giving him 360 coverage of the entire portal! This has the same range as the normal spin, giving it some good defensive ability, especially since hitting multiple directions out of a portal is actually kind of rare from these attacks. The downside is that hitting with it really isn't very rewarding, as Quilby can't really follow-up from what will likely be a large distance. In addition, the hit is gated behind the first hit of Forward Smash, so it isn't an on delivery "get away from my portal" attack.

Something worth noting is that the ending lag is quite low on this follow-up variant. If Quilby wishes, he could end the attacks here to use this as a fairly high damage combo starter, going into his aerials or normals instead. As mentioned, this will pretty much never happen if attacking through a portal though. This is likely to be more rewarding damage-wise at lower percents than the held-A finisher, but of course it won't be as useful at higher percents, and the Held-A finisher is also better for things such as edgeguard launching. However, for edgeguard launching, you might instead fo with his second follow-up...

The second follow-up has Quilby take another step forward, spinning into a swing the entire time. This actually begins with a hitbox behind Quilby that deals 5%-7% and light semi-spike angle knockback that'll cause a stage bounce and send the opponent into the air. The front deals 7%-9.8% damage and slightly higher semi-spike angle knockback, which will bounce opponents off the ground even higher if they have room. The knockback scaling is EXTREMELY low, so you get a very consistent amount of knockback. On ledges, platforms or the like, you'll likely end up sending the opponent off it and under you. The knockback is not strong enough to be a direct killer, but this is the best ledge guard starting option with its okay ending lag (more than the first follow-up, but a bit less than the base attack) and the angle. This attack will combo out of the first two hits most of the time (DI on the spinning follow-up can avoid this), but it will not combo into the Held-A follow-up very easily.

This move has very low range if used with your selected portal via B, and while the semi-spike angle can be nice, the knockback is not strong enough to reasonably get kills, especially given the portal setup requirements, and for the most part this follow-up is not useful to use with an on-demand portal.

The stage spike angle is actually somewhat low, but not TOO low, with it primarily being low at the start and traveling upwards. Think of it like a low slope. This can make it a good angle to hit opponents into portals you might not be able to normally out of this, if you're looking to instead position opponents through portals into lingering projectiles or a better stage spot. Aside from that, it will combo into your third OR fourth follow-up, depending on the timing. Most commonly, you will either end at the first follow-up or use this as a transition to the third/fourth hit rather than this on its own, but at the ledge it can be a rather useful tool on its own. It has mediocre ending lag.

The third follow-up features Quilby rushing forward at extremely fast speeds, his scythe dragging behind him as the actual hitbox. The scythe hitbox deals 4% damage and knocks opponents straight down into untechable prone, which allows Quilby to end this attack with the foe in prone, which is a very good situation for him. Ending on this will deal a base of 6% + 5% + 5%/7% + 4% = 20%/22% damage without charge, which is quite potent for an attack that finishes with a prone! Note that, since the attack trails behind Quilby you can't hit someone off stage with it (Quilby won't go off ledges), UNLESS you used a portal to get air time as the attack will continue into the air. If you do, the spike isn't too strong, but it could still work to send people flying to their death. If you press B to open a portal for Quilby to travel through, then Quilby will enter it close to the start of the attack, and this is one of the ways Quilby could in theory hit someone in the air as well. Note that even if Quilby ends up in the air, he will continue the attack AND he will be allowed to do the fourth follow-up if he so desires! It also allows Quilby to potentially escape situations where Krosmic Dance was a mistake by ske-daddling through his portal and out of there with a smile, so foes need to be aware of that.

In addition, Quilby CANNOT get the fourth follow-up hit of his Forward Smash on the foe if he hits with the third follow-up. Quilby, essentially, has two options on how to follow-up with this third hit. First, he can use it as soon as possible, to hit the foe for 4% and prone them. Or, he can delay the follow-up slightly. If he does, then he will end up UNDER the opponent. The distance Quilby travels will pretty much always allow him to be uner the foe, where he can then use his fourth follow-up to snag the opponent out of the air instead. Essentially, depending on his timing, Quilby can choose to end with the third OR the fourth hit. Note that characters who are particularly floaty (like Jigglypuff) might be able to escape the prone-hit timing with DI and damage, while big body characters (like Bowser) are harder to get under for the final follow-up. This hit cannot combo into a held-A finisher, either.

This move has rather low ending lag, so Quilby gets plenty of freedom in his prone options when he does land it. How you set up your portals and if your Side Special scythe is out change a lot about how Quilby's prone game is played. Portals near to the foe can deliver projectiles and attacks to the foe, but the opponent can go through the portal as well which means they will potentially be extra safe if you predict incorrectly. Or maybe the portal leads close to where they would roll to if they went the other way, in which case Quilby can potentially cover both roll options and leave the foe with only timing and getup attack mixups. Portals from above can safely deliver attacks without the foe being able to go through them, and your scythe can not only cover their options to get out of prone but ALSO be used as an attack cancel or feint. The foe could, however, also wait for the scythe to return or time a roll very well and if you're preparing an attack or waiting use the scythe-catching frames to escape to safety instead.

Finally, Quilby has his fourth follow-up. If you use the fourth follow-up, you cannot use the held-A finisher: Remember that. The fourth finisher has Quilby leap into the air, cackling and doing a single spin, before slamming his scythe down along with himself. This does pretty sweet damage, 6%-8.4% damage, with knockback that will deposit opponents in front of Quilby a small distance and on the ground, opening them up to a combo continuation. While it doesn't open up as many combos as the first follow-up, the high damage makes it an incredibly good combo starter, doing 6% + 5% + 5%/7% + 6% damage for a total of 22%/24% damage that you'll get more out of with a combo. Something to note is that this move tends to mostly combo once you get out of low percents, so it can be beneficial nonetheless to go for the first follow-up. You MUST miss with the third follow-up to hit this, but the consistent knockback of the second follow-up means this is more repeatable than one might think. The ending lag is rather mediocre for a combo starter, which is one reason you don't get great combos off of it.

Since Quilby jumps up for this, it does allow him to travel vertical portals that his other attacks simply don't allow in this chain, which can have some rather niche yet interesting uses, like tracking down an opponent who escapes earlier attacks or snagging opponents waiting in a portal above to punish you for a Forward Smash or what have you. If Quilby uses B to open up a portal, it will cause Quilby to jump through it and out of the "front" of the portal, with his body oriented properly (IE he'll be horizontal if it faces right), before crashing down through it as per the normal attack. Quilby can use this to hop up and snag opponents out of his portal, albeit this is not easy at all given it is the end of a series of lengthy follow-ups. Quilby could also use this when, say, a portal is under a platform, allowing him to hop onto the platform and stay there instead of returning, which could catch people ala sharking, but again this isn't all too viable given the lag of going through the previous attacks.

In general, there's four main ways to go with Forward Smash. You can stop at the first two hits, primarily as a low damage combo starter and being the least risky option as you will likely get a combo even if the opponent escapes some of the multihits, and an 11% damage combo starter isn't bad (plus it isn't all that laggy). You can go first two hits -> Held A finisher, which deals a solid 23% damage and spaces the opponent a good distance away, which is excellent if Quilby instead wants to do things like set up portals/projectiles or wants space, and is a consistent edge guard starter. This, however, sacrifices damage potential found in the other options. You can end on the third follow-up for a prone situation and usually 22% damage, which gives Quilby potentially extremely valuable follow-ups but is not assured damage like his combo starters in return. Finally, Quilby can end on the fourth hit for what will usually be 24% damage (the most in the move) AND a combo, which will do less damage than a combo with the first two hits until late but in return has higher damage and thanks to the travel will reposition the foe which can be portal-relevant. It and the third follow-up can be avoided more (with attributes such as fall speed/size and proper DI), as well.

Up Smash: Disappearing Honorably​

Quilby's arm enlongates into an almost V-like shape, palm held upwards, as a glowing ball of energy forms in a floating position above his wakfu arm, Quilby's expression dismissive. Once the move is released, the ball splits into 5 needle-like spikes of pure Wakfu energy, which fan out above Quilby. One goes straight up, then two more at about a 30 degree angle relative to the middle needle, and two more at a 60 degree angle relative to the middle needle. It looks kind of like a fan, basically. There's two hitboxes at play here. The first is a VERY BRIEF sweetspot right when the projectiles all come out. If you are directly above Quilby, you will get hit for 20%-28% damage from it (with the visual of all the needles impacting the foe) and strong knockback that kills at 85%-48%. This sweetspot only exists for 1 frame and the foe needs to be directly above Quilby, but the kill power and high damage certainly makes up for it. The spikes for the rest of the duration are hitboxes that deal 4%-5.4% damage individually, with light upwards knockback. Early on, it is possible to get hit by two or even three of these at once, which will combine the damage but not the knockback, so keep that in mind. Quilby's starting lag on this attack is somewhat long, but the ending lag is reasonably short, so he can follow up on close range needle-spike strikes.

Quilby can angle this attack with traditional "left/right" angling, but he can ALSO quickly flick down after releasing the move for a downward angle. Angling to the left/right causes the spikes to curve in that direction when released, then fly forward as normal, allowing ihm to essentially fire the spread with the middle centered at a 45 degree diagonal angle. Pressing down instead has the most dramatic effect, as after going up a good distance (enough that if released at the bottom of Battlefield, it will clear the top platform by about a Ganondorf), the spikes will suddenly turn around, causing them to fly downwards at the same angle as they were flying. So a 30 degree rightswards spike continues going to the right, just now it is going down instead of up, and the middle needle of course goes straight down. This allows Quilby to be highly flexible to how he releases this move.

This is particularly important when considering his portal network, as the spread-fire of this attack allows Quilby to fire off a lot of projectiles for his portals at once and create an extremely chaotic enviroment. A bit of a "flash set-up" if you will. The down angle is noticeable with this, as it allows Quilby to cause his projectiles to change direction part-way through, but not simply reverse so they go back through his portal networks. A sudden swerve of spikes can really trick up an opponent's dodging or shielding, causing them to enter unexpected portals and create new paths. It also is just generally really good stage control, allowing you to cover tons of useful angles from the bottom of Battlefield for example. The spikes on this do not run a set distance, but instead on a timer, disappearing after 10 seconds. They also disappear if they hit the stage or an opponent (or their shield) as well.

If you press B to open a portal for this move, Quilby will open the portal directly where he releases the projectiles. This causes the sweetspot to appear at your active portal, in addition to firing all of the projectiles out of the "front" of it. In addition to being a potentially sudden trick with the sweetspot, this allows Quilby to fire off his projectiles from odd angles he can't normally do so, allowing him coverage and portal options he normally couldn't use, like setting up a downwards-facing portal higher in the sky and causing it to spray downwards to cover the stage, or to the sides to cover a lot of vertical space instead. The portal Quilby opens up and uses to send the projectiles through disappears of course, like all of his portals for these kind of additions, so do note that if the middle spike re-enters the portal via a down angle it will use the portal's normal rules.

While this offers many advantages, some disadvantages to this move include the fact the spikes are not really all that powerful and so hitting with just a stray spike from a portal isn't much unless Quilby is able to push it as an advantage, and the fact that this move is not all that great of an anti-air like many Up Smashes are. Unless you hit with the very specific window, you're going to deal 4%-12% damage (depending on how close the foe is) and knockback that can only be combo'd out of if the opponent is close to you (although you can get aggressive either way). This is worth keeping in mind in the middle of a fight.

Down Smash: Eliatrope's Mastery​

Quilby shows off the mastery of the Eliatrope people with this Down Smash, which has some very different moving parts depending on what side you're on! For his charge, Quilby crosses his wakfu arm in front of his chest as he faces the camera, while his other arm reaches out behind him in a grasping motion and the wavy appearance of a portal. Note that the charge is very soon into Quilby's starting lag, meaning that there's a noticeable delay between releasing the charge and the move coming out due to lag. Upon release, Quilby flings his wakfu arm in front of himself, stretching it an incredibly long distance while the portal materializes in front of his other hand, causing tons of small projectiles to spew out of it! Before we get to the actual hitbox knowledge, I'll note that this move has somewhat long starting lag and a quite long duration, but the ending lag is actually extremely short, so the ideal punish is to jump over Quilby and smack him from above during the attack or it's startup. Note that the arm is intangable past the length it would normally reach out, so this attack cannot be challenged directly except up close.

The hitbox on the arm, which stretches very far (if used from the edge of one Battlefield Platform, it will reach a bit of the ways into the next for a range idea), deals a single reasonably powerful hit that deals 15%-21% damage, although it won't start killing until 110%-80% at the ledge, which given the range is perfectly fine. In addition to being a secondary kill attack, it can be a solid spacer, although it is kind of slow to be a "get off of me" move, something Quilby can struggle with in general. Probably one of the strongest uses of this attack is its unique way of handling shields. First off, it deals REALLY high shieldstun and shieldpush, with the opponent being pushed the full length of the arm and unable to move for a decent time after. This gives Quilby free time to do whatever he wants, although he is too laggy to reasonably combo without prior setup due to the large distance. In addition, this move deals very low shield DAMAGE, and in fact has a 0.7x shield modifier (meaning it only does 70% of its normal damage) that makes it poor at actually dealing shield damage. The shield push is also interesting in that it will NOT cause ledge slip, opponents instead being carried off of the ledge, still in their shield. The opponent will only exit it and begin dropping normally once the shieldstun ends, so Quilby can space opponents off stage or platforms while still shielding, which offers some weird advantages.

Since the arm can, naturally, go through portals though, you can do all kinds of wild things with the range and shield push abilities. Quilby can push foes through a portal that goes down and is above him to slam them in shield in front of him and allow himself to follow-up. This can lead to a grab, OR with prior setup can lead to Quilby pulling off some shield break setups, such as a returning scythe being perfectly timed to hit the shielding opponent and cancel his lag and then using a suitably strong attack. Quilby can push opponents into projectiles or a portal with bad positioning, while remaining entirely safe himself due to the range and with priority to throw a projectile through the portal. He can even have a portal that leads to BEHIND himself, causing their shield to get buffeted by the back half of this attack!

A perfect transition into the back part of this attack! The portal spews out very small projectiles, which do not travel far horizontally at all (half a Battlefield Platform), but cover a large amount of vertical space, about one Ganondorf above and below Quilby total. This is a multi-hit whose damage depends pretty heavily on how close the opponent is. Far away, they will likely break out after taking around 6%-8.4% damage. The middle part of the hitbox, the most common to hit with really, will deal around 18%-25.2% damage overall. If the opponent got hit point blank and constantly DI'd INTO the attack for some god-forsaken reason, the maximum damage possible is 30%-42%, but as established you'd need to be totally stupid to actually get hit by that. Must be taking shots not meant for you! There's no big finishing attack, but each hit pushes the opponent out somewhat, so the end result is usually the opponent being spaced about half a Battlefield Platform away and behind Quilby and him having slight frame advantage.

While the front part of the hitbox is excellent horizontal coverage, the back half instead provides great vertical coverage, albeit vertical coverage that is entirely behind Quilby. The multi-hit damage is pretty good at chewing through shields and can shield poke fairly easily, but the actual shield push is very weak, which can actually allow Quilby to get shield punished if the foe shields at close range. The wide vertical range can allow different parts of the hitbox to spew from different portals at the same time, allowing Quilby to create temporary bullet hell from multiple positions, although this really is not a projectile set-up move seeing how they expire after half a Battlefiel Platform of range.

If the front hitbox of the move pushes the foe into a portal that can push the opponent into the back half of the move, the shield push from the arm will overpower the multi-hit and cause the opponent to be pushed deeper into the attack, which is good for damage but worrisome if the foe is pushed too close that they can punish. This can lead to fairly intense shield break setups, especially when considering how shield poking works. That is to say, it ONLY works if it ONLY connects with the exposed foe, and doesn't hit their shield at all. So while Quilby's arm is hitting the opponent, his attacks CANNOT shield poke the foe! Instead, it hits their shield. So parts of the attack that would normally shield poke are instead dealing shield damage, adding to it. Note that you can never get the full 30% back hit damage of the back hit since you cannot push a foe through the portal the instant the attack starts.

Now then, how does this move work with Quilby's on-demand portal ability? Well, Quilby opens a portal both directly in front of his arm AND directly in front of the projectile-creating portal! The end result is that projectiles spew out of the back of the portal while the arm flies out of the front, allowing Quilby to hit both sides of the portal. Since attacks most commonly come out of the "front" of the portal, the opponent might stay behind a portal to be able to fly through it to get to the other side while avoiding attacks. Quilby's Down Smash proves an excellent counter to this thanks to the back hit. In addition, it provides pretty strong on-demand coverage, and you can do some weird stuff like a downwards-facing arm to keep a shielding foe directly in place for a long duration, or having the back of the hitbox facing upwards to turn it into crazy landing coverage. Experiment and see how things work out for you!

Standards​

Forward Tilt: Impending Disaster​

Quilby pulls his scythe back before proceeding to thrust his scythe forward, a very quick action which has no associated hitbox with it, before pulling it back quickly. This ripping potion has two hitboxes attached to it: The scythe head, which deals 9% damage and good hitstun that brings opponents in nice and close to Quilby. This will pretty much always lead into a combo, or he can instead go for a grab. Shielding opponents will be dragged in as well, but Quilby does not have enough shieldstun for this to be safe, so you'll be punished if the opponent shields it. The exception would be if you have a scythe flying to return to you, which can make this move into a grab combo on shield or safety into a safe attack on shield if it hits them. While primarily a combo starter, it also can be used as a niche combo extender if the percents match up to get the opponent into the sweetspot range. The handle only deals 6% damage, but pushes opponents away with enough knockback for Quilby to get some breathing room, essentially being a pure spacer with little additional reward. This move is actually fairly fast on both ends given the potential range, but it makes sense given that only the scythe-head is all that rewarding to land.

This move is especially nice for poking through Quilby's portals, as it allows Quilby to drag opponents through them and get them ready for a Quilby qombo. It also greatly expands the areas Quilby can be a melee threat in general, forcing opponents to respect disjointed pressure from the other side of the portal in addition to Quilby himself rushing through. Proper portal placement can also work wonders when considering Quilby can press B to open up a portal and send the scythe through right at the handle through his selected portal. Not only does this allow Quilby to snag opponents from far away without always needing specific starting position (in exchange for specific ending position), Quilby can also use this for more consistent combo extension, hitting opponents into a good range to the portal then Forward Tilting into it to drag them right back to Quilby's feet!

Quilby can hold down A to charge this move, with a maximum charge duration of 1 second just like smashes. This does not increase the damage of the attack or anything, but does increase the range by up to a maximum of 2x normal, the scythe growing as charge continues! This is a laggy option, but can allow Quilby to snag people from pretty ludicroously far away, especially combined with his usual portal shenanigans. It also does increase the size of the handle hitbox, giving him pretty good horizontal coverage, even if the move itself is rather weak.

Down Tilt: Energy Swipe​

Quilby brings his clawed wakfu arm close to the ground, before swiping it directly upwards in front of him starting from there, complete with blue wakfu sparks flying out of it. A "wave" of blue Wakfu appears at the tips of Quilby's claws like a shield, with a shape like a forward-facing parenthesis. The swipe itself is the most damaging hitbox, dealing 8% damage and light knockback. This is a pretty solid combo ending option, with knockback that sets up tech situations at low percents, beyond that it serves as a generally useful spacer that allows Quilby to either go for more aggressive options or enough time for a little setup. The wave itself deals only 7% damage and light Sakurai Angle knockback away from Quilby, with rather high hitstun, better for keeping opponents close to the ground and a more "true" spacer. It also gives some more horizontal range, allowing Quilby to be a bit more open with his combo strings if he doesn't mind hitting the "sourspot" and will pretty much always true combo out of the first follow-up of Krosmic Dance if needed.. This move is pretty fast to start off, with the ending lag being passable and nothing all that special to talk about in any way.

The wave is more than just a hitbox, but also serves as a reflector to both the foe and Quilby's own projectiles as long as they deal 9% or less damage. It reflects from any direction, naturally. Quilby can use this to aide in his approach of characters who spam weaker projectiles, such as Wolf's Blaster, but means he has to deal with stronger projectiles like Charge Shots and Lloid Missiles on his own. While Quilby cannot reflect his scythe with this attack, it does allow him to get more use out of things like his Up Smash projectile (along with some others we'll get to), and it means Quilby can actually affect his setup then grab the scythe to get a lag decrease.

Just like Forward Tilt, Down Tilt is chargable. This turns the wave from more than just a brief stationary hitbox into a true projectile, traveling up to 2.5 Battlefield Platforms after the full second of charge. The wave retains its projectile reflection ability the entire time and travels at a slightly slow (but not THAT slow) speed, which makes it very good for Quilby to approach behind if he so desires. Do note, however, that the wave only vertically comes to a bit above Quilby's mid torso, leaving his head and upper body susceptible to projectiles that could go over it or shorthops. This projectile can go through Quilby's portal and will actually flash a bright blue when it does, indicating a few things. First off, the wave's duration is refreshed, so it can keep going for quite some time with proper setup.

In addition, however, the attack gets powered up, dealing an additional 1% damage, reflecting projectiles up to 1% stronger and getting more knockback. This can happen up to 8 times, causing the attack to deal 15% damage, reflect projectiles of up to 17% damage and deal enough knockback to kill at 130%. This is not at all easy to do, but Quilby can make quite the potent projectile if he has a portal network. It should also be noted that until it has gone a through, Quilby can actually reflect his wave with another one of the waves, and if he sends multiple waves into portals they can hit each other in how they intersect and end up bouncing each other around. Note that the wave disappears when hitting any foe (or a shield) or the ground, so an opponent can always just shield and take it if Quilby is not in position to capitalize on it despite complex setups.

When you send this move through a portal with B, the portal will open up to only send the wave through, giving Quilby an attack both for close range combo and portal combat, which especially given the wave covers good vertical space is very protective for the portal's front. If he charged the attack, it will send the wave through as a portal, giving it one power-up level and allowing Quilby quick access to sending out a simple projectile where you want. It also serves as a good way to counter people throwing projectiles through your selected portal to catch you for using it, forcing them to deal with a potential projectile and reflector. Do note that this makes the move even more susceptible to jump-ins and this move still lacks any coverage behind or directly above Quilby, so it is no omni-tool, just a solid Down Tilt with a potentially potent projectile to play with.

Up Tilt: Arm Crusher​

Quilby performs a quick slash above him with his clawed Wakfu arm, blue slash streaks trailing behind him as he does so. Quick and easy to use, this move serves as Quilby's primary combo extender and a good combo starter as well, dealing 6% damage and light upwards knockback. At low percents it can chain itself once (or twice on big bodies/heavy fastfallers) for some easy damage. This leads very easily from the first follow-up of Forward Smash for a combo, and it leads into most of your aerials to continue a combo. You can also go for an Up Smash but the low reward of the non-sweetspot makes it almost never worth it. While this does hit in front of Quilby the hitbox in front is rather small, so you'll usually want the opponent to be at least somewhat in the air to hit them better. This move is fast on both ends, which makes it a reasonably anti-air too, although if the opponent uses a good air it'll probably be a trade.

Finishing off Quilby's trio of charged Tilts, Up tilt changes the most dramatically with charge, Quilby balling his arm into a fist as Wakfu energy surges through it, enhancing the power and range of the attack in exchange for lag. The attack's damage is increased to 10%-17% depending on charge, with the range going from "pretty much normal" to "half the arm pokes through the bottom Battlefield Platforms easily" depending on level. It will kill at 180%-100%. In addition to this, the attack gains trample priority if performed with at least half of the charge done, making it excellent at challenging aerial approaches that Quilby can struggle with. The downside is lag: Quilby needs to charge the move for it to be effective, making it slower, and the attack itself has noticable starting lag when the charged variant is used. This means you need to use it as a landing catcher or a hard prediction, otherwise it'll likely just whiff.

A traveling scythe can alleviate this and actually create quite a bind for the opponent, as it is rather ambiguous a lot of the time if Quilby will opt to release the charged attack to try and strike directly and cancel out partway through, or instead wait for the scythe to reach him and cancel out at that point by grabbing it, which will give him a punish off of the opponent's landing option if they opted to avoid the Up Tilt's attack. Projectiles from different attacks can also cover the starting lag and allow Quilby to more consistently get off a charged variant.

The portal on this allows Quilby to swipe out of the front of his selected portal, OR if he charges it he can swing his arm through it. The swipe really isn't all that useful out of the portal, as Quilby likely cannot take advantage of the combo properties of it easily, but the charged arm can be useful thanks to its trample properties. Excellent if someone is going to be attacking through your portals! Still, this is easy to see coming, so it is probably one of your less useful portal options overall.

Jab: Smug Superiority​

Quilby points a single finger forward with a supremely smug grin on his face, firing out a laser from it. This laser is about the same size as the spikes from Quilby's Up Smash, dealing 4% damage and extremely light hitstun and knockback. This is a very fast and non-commital attack, but because of that the reward is very small, and it is pretty casual to shield. It also deprives Quilby of a standard get away jab, which can be a bit of a bother for him, and he'll usually want to use Down Tilt as a replacement for example. This can be used at just outside of close ranges to push opponents back some, though, where you'll usually combo 2 or 3 shots into each other for scratch damage. Too close, though, and they can shield before the hit comes out and punish you.

If Quilby holds down A, he can fire the shots off at a faster rate than normal, allowing him to spam it more and also making it safer at closer ranges due to less downtime. Quilby can ALSO angle it in any direction during this time, Quilby swiveling his finger to shoot in the desired direction, which gives Quilby a simple tool to throw out small projectiles for his portals. The ease of which they are fired is balanced out by their weakness, primarily serving to give Quilby some small damage while he is zipping around or more things to worry about, although if he is very close to the opponent he CAN confirm off of this. In exchange for the faster fire and potential setup, the jab has somewhat long ending lag for a jab when ended this way, so be wary of punishment. The projectiles on this attack work on a timer, akin to Up Smash's projectiles, but of only 6 seconds, which is still plenty enough to play around with. And remember how your Down Tilt can become a reflector-projectile? You can have a loooooot of fun by firing at it while it travels with this attack, creating a bunch of small projectiles which can play at angles that then work into more craziness with portal setup!

Speaking of portals, portal creation on this move is a bit unique, with the portal being made a Battlefield Platform ahead of where Quilby fires the shot. This has a few options to it. First off, it means the laser can hit the foe before it reaches the portal, the portal remaining open for about 15 frames before closing. This can allow Quilby to push opponents into the portal for positioning if the opponent gets hit by a laser or two, for example, and opponents might need to worry about going through the portal while approaching through the barrage. Quilby can also open up portals for each shot, if he so desires, although this requires QUITE fast fingers, allowing him to fire off shots at different angles to travel through portals at that angle, which has plenty of utility. Quilby can also mix opponents up on if he will use a portal at all, risking getting hit (albeit for low damage) if guessing wrong, so there's a minor element of mindgames here, something Quilby's always prepared to win compared to the idiots he's fighting.

Dash Attack: Maniacal Malice​

Quilby rushes forward, planting firmly on one foot before leaping forward with a maniacal slasher smile on his face as he takes a wide, striking swing of his scythe! Wakfu blue energy trails the scythe as he swings, giving it a rather dramatic appearance. Laggy to come out, this attack packs a PUNCH if you get hit by it, dealing a pretty crunching 15% and killing as early as 92%, making it one of Quilby's better killing moves. The ending lag is, perhaps surprisingly, actually not that bad, with Quilby righting himself as he lands pretty casually. This attack cannot really cross-up effectively despite the movement, which makes it very difficult to make safe on shield despite the low ending lag. Absolute max range spacing CAN make it safe, but with the high starting lag and moement this is just very hard to practically achieve. Quilby CAN cross up at very close ranges, but this will usually be susceptible to being interrupted during the starting lag instead. This makes the attack primarily used as a powerful punish, especially for a kill or if the opponent is far away. For example, if the opponent starts landing with an attack expecting a charged Up Tilt, you can use this to catch the landing. Similarly, this move is excellent if the opponent is overwhelmed by projectiles and you're staying more at range, allowing you to swoop in and take advantage of smaller hits!

Quilby's portal use of this can become VERY tricky, with Quilby opening the portal right in front of him before the attack comes out, which can allow him to "dodge" interruptions by going through the portal instead, which quite quickly closes behind him. This also means that Quilby will lunge forward out of the portal, allowing him to lunge out suddenly from his selected portal. Quilby's orientation is the same as the portal's, so he will rush downwards if the portal is downwards-facing for example, allowing Quilby to do stuff like threaten a recovering opponent with either a normal dash attack to cover getup and getup attack or a downwards-facing portal dash attack to cover ledge, getup jump and jump + attack. Note that the move's knockback keeps its normal direction.

The portal doesn't end there, though. As Quilby's ending lag finishes, Quilby opens a portal from which to regain his footing, causing him to portal back to his ORIGINAL location as the ending lag ends! This allows Quilby to do some kinda crazy jumping shenanigans given this move's low ending lag, slashing like a phantom out of a portal and disappearing as fast as he arrived and mixing it up with his Up Special which would keep him there as an example. If his scythe is flying out, he can grab it before entering the portal to cancel out of it instead, perhaps causing the opponent to commit to a poor option or allowing him to use it as a two-pronged approach at his selected portal. Alternately, he could grab the scythe before entering the first portal to fake opponents out of the laggier start-up at all and cause them to make a poor choice. You also could enter the portal right when your scythe is about to boomerang to make that the scythe's "return point", with Quilby popping back up where he started to utilize the new point more effectively. There's a lot of possibilities out of this, so don't forego them in favor of bare crude force just because of this move's killing power.

Aerials​

Back Aerial: Rejection Kick​

Quilby performs a pair of quick kicks behind him with a grin, with different feet for each kick and little downtime between them! This attack is lower ranged than Quilby's many scythe attacks, but serves strong usage as combo food for him, with the first kick dealing 4% damage and the second one dealing 5% for a total of 9% damage. This attack comes out fast and has low ending lag, with the knockback being reasonably low and allowing Quilby to continue a combo until later percents. At pretty high percents, it instead serves as a fast and consistent combo ender due to knockback scaling. The fact it is a dual kick means Quilby can in theory kick through a portal while fastfalling in order to have the second kick under it, but the timing window is kind of tight due to how fast the kicks come out relative to each other. That also means that while this move can be a 1-move frame trap, it is not as good at it as some other multi-kick style moves.

This move is very strong when it comes to cross-ups and Quilby's neutral play in general. With low lag, it is a quick-twitch move to use in neutral, which can contrast with his rangier Forward Aerial in how he approaches neutral. He can make it ambiguous if he will land before the second hit comes out or will let it go out, which can make trying to reply to it different, and it is absolutely safe if Quilby lands behind the opponent, which also allows for on-shield mixups with his also-comboing Neutral Aerial. Hitting a grounded foe will lead into either a Forward Tilt, Grab, Neutral Aerial or Forward Smash depending on the foe's percentage and positioning. As percents rise, you might not get a combo if you hit with the edge of the range though.

Quilby can choose to either only portal one kick into his selected portal or two when using the B-portal method, needing to hit B when the first kick is done but the second is not out in order to kick through the selected portal with the second kick. Quilby can also do the second kick through a portal even if the first was a normal kick. While Quilby gets low reward for hitting someone with this kick, the fact he can get two hitboxes through along with the ambiguity of which he will send allows him some tricky play. Back Aerial also appreciates playing close to the portal, as in some situations Quilby can play with hitting the foe either with the kick or FROM a portal along with dual hits to get some pretty intense pressure!

Forward Aerial: Underhanded Tactics​

Quilby grips his scythe in an underhand grip, so that the scythe's tip is pointed upwards, and performs an upwards swing from below with it! It has quite a powerful look to it, despite Quilby using only one hand for the forceful strike. This attack has two hitboxes to it, with the head of the scythe being a very powerful sweetspot that deals 16% damage and will kill at 97%, making it Quilby's primarily killing and "hard read" aerial in that regard. The rest of the scythe is a sourspot that only deals 11% damage that kills at 145%, knocking opponents away in a manner sufficient for a combo ending attack but not all that much else. Given this move's hearty starting lag, the main use of this move is as a hard prediction killer, particularly if the opppnent is planning to air dodge your Neutral Aerial or Up Aerial. This move's ending lag is also on the poor end, with Quilby having a kind of airy follow-through to it, so it is not a particularly safe move.

The landing lag, on the other hand, is actually rather short! Because of that, this move can actually serve as one of Quilby's better pacers in neutral, with either an instant shorthop, an instant full hop or a delayed full hop attack all being functional for Quilby to land with low lag and still get the attack out. This does risk staling the move when it comes time to kill, but it is a pretty powerful neutral option for that same reason, being quite frightening as the opponent approaches high percents due to its kill power! Still need to be careful since it isn't fast to come out, of course, but this is nonetheless a potent tool.

Another possible way to go about using it as a mix-up is with your first follow-up from Forward Smash. Normally, you would go into a move like Up Tilt, Neutral Aerial, Back Aerial or Up Aerial when it comes to comboing, but Quilby can instead jump and use Forward Aerial (likely drifting back slightly for the sweetspot) to strike at the foe. This can be dodged via air dodge, but an opponent suspecting a normal combo can easily get caught out by it and possibly lead to a fairly early kill. Quilby can also choose to empty jump and fastfall, which can lead to catching the air dodge with, depending on the dodge type and timing, an aerial to get the combo anyway, a grab, or another Forward Smash to start the situation over again.

This is a particularly strong move to utilize scythe cancels with! The long start-up can make canceling valuable when a read goes wrong, while the kind of read you get off of it means you can get some kind of punish if you cancel during start-up. Alternately, it can be used to MUCH more safely throw out this move as a hard read, then use a scythe cancel to avoid the punishing ending lag if you should predict incorrectly. Fastfalling can make it ambiguous if you will grab a scythe or instead drop down under the scythe and instead take the normal low ending lag. And outside of scythe cancels, the opponent can be put in a serious bin should a scythe be approacing from them behind, as Quilby can use this as a situational frame trap where they will either be hit by Forward Aerial or the returning scythe or have to use a punishable directional air dodge while Quilby then grabs the scythe for low lag in return.

Using this with a selected portal causes the portal to appear about halway through the scythe's handle, causing the scythe head and that half of the handle to swing through while the front half of the handle remains with Quilby. This can allow Quilby to fish for a fairly strong or killing blow out of his portal while not remaining defenseless and is a pretty strong option to provide a strong poke. At the same time, it IS still rather predictable starting lag, so you should be careful. Of course, you can land with your small landing lag, which can lead into Quilby's empty jumps being a way to bait out the opponent's reactions just for being in hittable range near his selected portal, leading to Quilby then using something like Down Smash, Down Tilt, Jab or especially Forward Tilt to either hit them right out of their defensive option or to then force another poor situation from the foe.

Neutral Aerial: Spinning Slash​

Quilby spins his scythe in front of him with a vertical spin, dealing multiple hits of damage with very low launching that makes it Quilby's main aerial combo starter, a good combo extender, a grounded combo starter, basically this is the main combo tool from which Quilby's other combo tools flow out of. The total multi-hit part deals a total of 5.8% damage, with a weak launching hit on the final strike that deals 3% damage for a total of 8.8% damage. The knockback is still quite weak, allowing Quilby to follow up with another Neutral Aerial, a Back Aerial or an Up Aerial depending on where the foe was hit (IE if they were behind him, you'll probably go into Back Aerial). Quilby can land with this attack to go into a grounded attack instead, such as Up Tilt, although this is limited, it isn't like Quilby can go into it forever since they'll get knocked out/SDI out. This is also your go-to combo move after a first follow-up Forward Smash and it CAN work out of a fourth follow-up Forward Smash. However, Back Aerial is the more consistent starter out of fourth follow-up because of being faster. Neutral Aerial itself is reasonably fast on both ends, but not thaaaaat fast so don't expect it to be a blazing speed move.

When it comes to Quilby's portal, this one is a bit of an oddity. Rather than putting the attack into the portal, Quilby opens up a portal and pokes his body through it, leaving it at the location of his selected portal while his arm pokes through, spinning the scythe as per normal! This, essentially, allows Quilby to "remove" his hurtbox from that area briefly while keeping the hitbox there, making it an extremely useful tool if the foe keeps challenging your aerial attacks, for example if they keep challenging Back Aerial. Quilby falls back through the portal during the move's ending lag, causing him to re-appear at the original location. The fall takes a moment longer than his usual, especially with his arm still in the portal, adding just a touch to Quilby's ending lag, which can affect your combos situationally, and increases your potential to get punished if baited out. So, do be careful that you'll be punished in the ending lag still. Quilby CAN mix this up by catching a scythe while on the other side of the portal, which will cause him to retract his arm through the portal to catch it, closing the portal and ending the attack as per normal. While this IS very safe, it requires setup and means Quilby will get no combos off of his Neutral Aerial's hit, so it is a bit of a cowardly option.

Down Aerial: Meteor Strike​

Raising both of his arms up high, Quilby smashes them down for a mighty spiking blow! This is a potent spiking attack that deals 13% damage and high downwards knockback, making it an extremely effective killing move when it comes to the ledge even if it is no Ganondorf stomp. The lag on this is a bit off from normal, as while it is laggy at the start you would expect a laggier start from this kind of power. Instead, this attack actually has pretty long ending lag, which means Quilby is at great risk whenever he misses this attack. The primary usage of this move is to kill off stage, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have other uses! While this move has high ending lag, the power of the attack leads to the potential to actually follow up on the foe if you spike them onto the stage ala a Yoshi Forward Aerial, albeit more limited due to the lag. This move is a bit slow to weave into combos, but there are times you might be able to land it out of a grounded Neutral Aerial with a shorthop, although this is pretty niche.

A spike has some pretty obvious potential uses when combined with Quilby's portals, since you can potentially spike someone into a downwards-aimed portal for some early kills. While this is true, it should be noted foes can just as easily spike Quilby into his own portals to kill HIM very easily, with his middle weight making him mediocre at survival. So it is a pretty risky strategy, especially combined with this move not being the safest. Spiking opponents through portals in general, though, gives Quilby a direct and straight knockback angle to send opponents into his scythe or other setup, especially as hitting opponents DOWNWARDS through a portal is not terribly easy to do. You can smash an opponent into the stage for easier stage spike combos through a portal, as well.

When you add Quilby's B-press portal to the mix, things get really tricky! Rather than opening the portal right under him, Quilby opens the portal in the direction he is currently moving. So if he's just falling down, it'll open right under him. If he jumps forward and up with momentum, the portal will open up and above him so that he will go through it, and so on. The distance from Quilby is such that with a normal fall, he will fall into a portal right under him right when the attacks. With a fast fall, his body will be completely through by the time the attack goes off. If he jumps, he will be almost full jump height through when he launches the attack if he used it at the start of the jump. If he fails to meet the portal by the time the attack ends, it will close.

This is important because Quilby will pop out of the portal moving, but with his orientation the same as the portal's! So, if Quilby exits into a forward-facing portal while moving up and forwards, he will now be moving forwards and downwards with the attack. In addition, his body will be horizontal. The knockback is converted to spike foes "below" Quilby, so in this case foes would be spiked "behind" Quilby. Since Quilby's momentum is retained as per normal, when you use the attack and the momentum you have matters, as you can potentially end up far from the portal to avoid spiking the foe through the portal you just came out of, or alternately stay close so that you DO spike opponents through it!

Considering the straight "downwards" knockback of the attack, this attack has all kinds of nutty options to it. For example, if you come out of a downwards-facing portal with downwards momentum (which will send you "up"), you can "spike" opponents straight upwards as your body is oriented downwards, with the end result of being an actual solid off the top kill move! This also allows Quilby to do all kinds of funky directions for batting opponents around his portals by performing the direct knockback in different directions.

During the ending lag of this attack, Quilby will open up another portal just in front of him, going through it with his momentum during ending lag to end up back where he started, which can indeed be interrupted with the scythe ala Dash Attack or Neutral Aerial, although Down Aerial has some unique abilities for this because of how the momentum retention works. Depending on the setup, you could potentially hit opponents so that your portal network drops them off back where you started, allowing you to do spike-on-the-stage combos with no stage!

Up Aerial: Ceiling Crasher​

Quilby points his arm upwards, thrusting it forward with wakfu-extension akin to his Down Smash, claws glinting menacingly and a grin on his face! This attack has two hitboxes, with the majority of the arm being a single hit hitbox that deals 6% damage and pretty weak knockback, keeping opponents in place and potentially allowing Quilby to continue a combo. The clawed hand itself is a sweetspot that deals 11% damage and fairly solid upwards knockback. It'll only kill at around 140%, but Quilby can pretty easily get people higher in the air and turn this into a move that kills surprisingly early, being an alternative to the riskier Forward Aerial and Down Aerial that requires harder work to get to. The arm travels shockingly fast, so this move is not nearly as duration-punishable as you might think. The starting lag and ending lag are both mediocre, with the starting lag being a touch on the longer side of mediocre and the ending lag a touch on the shorter end. The arm's full length reaches 1.3 Ganondorfs before the move ends.

This attack is a flexible tool, depending on what Quilby is looking for. If you're going for a combo, aim to hit with the arm hitbox: The arm's hitbox is actually wider than the clawed hand's hitbox due to the surging energy as the arm expands, so hitting with the "edge" when it comes to combo attacks is the best course of action. If you want to kill or continue a landing situation, you instead want to hit with the more direct clawed hand hitbox, the higher up you hit with it the better when it comes to killing. Like with Quilby's other arm attacks, only the length his arm normally exists on is a hurtbox, so Quilby can challenge a lot of aerial attacks with this because of that, making shorthop Up Aerial a reasonable anti-air given his Up Smash's issues and charged Up Tilt's lag. But this move still is not that fast as an anti-air and it doesn't give a ton of advantage if you hit with it, so keep that in mind. If you aim it through a portal, you get a nifty hitbox with some range that is hard to deal with on the foe's end, and the clawed hand is a nice hitbox hit with if you're not planning to go through the platform. Another thing is that this move is excellent to cover yourself if you are falling THROUGH a portal, as it can keep the hitbox out for the foe to deal with while you pass through the portal. Up Aerial -> Up Aerial ladders are possible if Quilby catches a scythe with the right timing, potentially allowing him an early kill if he hits with the claw both times.

Sending this move through a portal with your B button option is pretty much what you'd expect, with the arm almost entirely being sent through the portal as Quilby opens it in front of said arm, allowing him to strike through his selected portal at will with a hitbox that cannot be challenged by attacks, making it fairly useful. This is especially true since Quilby doesn't get to follow-up easily from these kind of "direct portal" uses, so the 11% damage clawed hitbox is better to hit with than some of your other options. The knockback remains upwards.

Grab Game​

Grab: Madman's Grip​

Quilby holds out his palm, fingers ready to grab, and his arms extend outwards for a grab! Their range is positively tether grab-esque, with the kind of ending lag you would expect from it too, although it is actually somewhat fast to start up. When the grab ends without grabbing a foe, it will retract for the ending lag, Quilby looking angry as his hand balls into a fist for ending lag. Note that, much like tether grabs, Quilby's arm actually is NOT a hurtbox outside of its normal size around his shoulder, with attacks simply passing through the ethereal matter making it up.

Quilby can hold down A or the grab button to keep extending his arm, for essentially as long as he wants, although note that ONLY the hand is a grab hitbox! A large one, but still. Not only that, but Quilby can use the control stick to choose the direction his arm will expand. The further Quilby goes, the more ending lag he takes from the retraction. This DOES cap after a point, but rest assured the cap leaves Quilby open for any punishment even Ganondorf might desire. He CAN, however, extend his arm as long as he wants, and even have it go back on itself, although it can't go directly backwards. You need to make a triangle, a square, a circle, that kind of double backing. In addition, the arm can only enter a portal once, and will otherwise ignore it past that point. This means Quilby can loop around his portals once, but afterwards can even overlap an opening or take paths portals normally avoid.

While large arm extension is normally not a great idea, an opponent caught worrying about your portal network or projectiles flying around will also have to worry about a grab hitbox, which is particularly notable since shielding is such a good projectile counter. Sending it upwards slightly, for example, allows Quilby to cover shorthops against projectiles such as his boomerang. Add in your portals and you can do all kinds of tricks...

Adding to that is that Quilby can do Shield + B + A or Grab + B in order to open up a portal through which his arm travels, allowing him to grab from his active portal! Risky? Certainly, you aren't making a hitbox in front of you after all. But on the flipside, Quilby can now grab from two angles, which even without extension allows Quilby to grab from multiple angles which can be dangerous, like shielding with a portal to your back. Quilby can also extend the hitbox out like normal, allowing him a new multitude of paths!

Pummel: Devil's Squeeze​

Quilby squeezes the opponent in the grasp of his Wakfu arm, cackling loudly and vile-y. Each squeeze deals 3%, but is rather slow, Quilby taking in the time to enjoy the moment. What does it matter to an immortal like him, after all?

Up Throw: Air Raid​

Quilby tosses the opponent very lightly into the air for 3% damage, opening up a multitude of portals around the foe (nine, to be specific, the same amount as in the GIF). Quilby then fires a single, small laser through this miniature portal network, leaning back in place with a sadistic grin to enjoy the foe. Despite only being a single "projectile" that deals 0.5%, it travels around this mini-portal network RAPIDLY, striking the opponent 18 times for a total of 9% damage. This does not cause Quilby's entire stock of stale moves to refresh, since it is still "one" attack. The portals end with an explosion of energy, destroying all of them and launching opponents upwards a moderate amount, dealing a pretty grand total of 16% damage! The upwards knockback is too far upwards for Quilby to follow, but the damage on this throw is quite high. This is rather important, as Quilby does not have a combo throw, making this his highest consistent source of damage out of a throw.

This throw takes a long time to complete despite the laser passing through incredibly quickly. This can be useful for Quilby: The portals won't block other projectiles from coming in, so if Quilby has other stronger options out, they can come by and smash opponents caught in the throw for high damage, primarily his scythe or a charged Down Tilt projectile. Note that the laser does NOT count as a true projectile but is just part of the throw, so Down Tilt won't reflect it to send a 0.5% damage projectile flying. The portals disappear if the throw is interrupted by the foe being attacked.

Another way to interrupt it, though, is for Quilby to catch his scythe during the throw. If he does, then the portals will disappear after three more hits of the laser, leaving the foe free with very little hitstun. Quilby can, however, use this time to get off an attack, making it a psuedo-combo throw for him with setup. Up Tilt is the easiest follow-up option, but one of particular note is Forward Aerial, which is a 50/50 out of this attack on if Quilby delays the attack to catch an air dodge or not. This allows Quilby to get a potentially early kill as well, which can be pretty useful as Quilby's "kill throw" is unreliable.

Down Throw: Honorable Execution​

Quilby contemptuously tosses the opponent to the ground, firmly planting his foot down on the foe and leaving them stuck under him: If their model permits, he will step on their stomach specifically. Quilby proceeds to grip his scythe with two hands, eyes glowing brightly with energy as he surges it into the scythe, preparing a killing blow! This takes time to charge, which is not irrelevant: Similar to Kirby's throws from Melee, the foe actually CAN escape this throw with grab difficulty. The grab difficulty carries over from before the throw, so if the opponent has already mashed that counts towards this. Because of this, it is best to use this throw without any prior pummeling. It also means this throw is impractical to land at low percents. If the foe escapes, Quilby will step back with a look of over-the-top shock as they struggle out of his grip, with the end result being roughly frame neutral.

If Quilby gets this attack off, the result is absolutely devastating as Quilby slices his scythe at the foe's head (if possible), dealing a crunchy 20% damage and sending them flying with tremendous knockback that kills at 95% at ledge, although opponents could possibly escape before then so a "true" kill percent is closer to 110% (still at ledge). But escaping in the 95% range DOES require great button mashing skills, so. This is obviously great damage and is a top tier kill throw, so it is well worth going for it if you think you can get it off, albeit risky as the foe escaping leaves you with nothing but a neutral reset, but if you have projectiles incoming or whatnot you can get something off of an escape as well making it less risky.

If Quilby catches his scythe while the foe is under his foot, he will cancel out of the attack and take his foot off of the foe, leaving them in prone and Quilby with a frame advantage. An opponent wildly trying to escape might even input an option that Quilby gets to easily read, but most likely it is simply a prone situation with Quilby having advantage, which when you have ranged options, multihits and portals like Quilby is pretty valuable.

If Quilby DOES get the attack off, he gets more than just the attack's damage and knockback! The opponent's entire outline fizzles and sparks with a wakfu blue, before an outline of the foe leaps out of them and enters Quilby's scythe, indicating he's drained them of a hefty amount of wakfu. This grants Quilby's next attack a power boost of 1.3x damage, although the knockback only goes up as if the damage had been increased by 1.1x. This is most useful with Quilby's projectiles, as the power boost is used up on Quilby's next damaging attack regardless of if it hits, but is retained for however long the attack stays out.

In particular, Quilby's Side Special scythe and Down Tilt projectile are potent for this. The Down Tilt projectile's reflection ability is also increased by 1.3x, and both of the numbers scale as the Down Tilt gets stronger, so at full power it can reflect most projectiles of note and does TREMENDOUS damage, forcing opponents to do SOMETHING to deal with it, for example tanking it with a shield which Quilby can potentially exploit. Or even just take the hit while it is early in! The scythe has the potential to stay around a VERY long time even without portals and keep the power buff on, in addition to the fact it can potentially hit more than once and thus get "more" use out of the power boost. You aren't going to get this boost often given how unreliable Down Throw is, but it is well worth keeping in mind how to use it when you do!

Forward Throw: Wakfu Barrage​

Quilby tosses the opponent outwards at a pretty standard diagonal angle and moderate knockback, dealing 4% damage, as Quilby charges up a spherical blast of wakfu in his wakfu armed hand! Quilby then proceeds to fire off five orbs of wakfu energy: One aimed directly at the foe, two above and two below. Quilby shoots them in the order of: Direct -> below -> above -> below -> above, which means they all have somewhat different timings, with the first above/below shots being at a 45 degree angle and the last two being at a 70 degree angle. If Quilby holds up/down during the throw, he can choose to perform the shots in any order he wishes, but he always does two below and two above, so even if you hold up past the first two shots to make them both above, the last two will always be below. Tilting it up/down gets the 45 degree angle and smashing the 70 degree, but two are always 45 degree and two are always 70 degree. Nonetheless, it allows Quilby to fire them in any configeration he wishes. Each of these deal 5% damage upon impact and normal diagonal knockback, with the direct sphere almost always hitting the opponent from the throw, meaning this is a neat enough 9% damage throw.

While this deals solid damage, it doesn't do all that much direct since Quilby cannot follow-up. Most commonly, the big reason you'll want to throw this attack out is the spheres: They pressure the foe's location due to their varied timing and direction, which can limit their mobility briefly, and it can serve to set up projectiles out of a throw, with somewhat different angling that lets Quilby hit portals he might not otherwise be able to easily get to. The varied timings add to this, as it can allow them to enter your portal network at different times, especially since Quilby can choose the ordering and thus timings. Quilby can also do things like bounce it off of Down Tilts while throwing them at the foe for some shenanigans, or he can cancel out at any point with a scythe grab if he wants to be able to instead get to a foe hit by this quicker, but it still won't allow combos so this is usually not ideal. Overall, this is much more of a utility throw, but the damage is still decent and it does space the foe away.

Back Throw: Dismissive Toss​

Quilby rolls his eyes as he lightly holds the opponent up with his Wakfu arm, clearly unimpressed by their lackluster fighting ability. Sighing, Quilby opens up a portal behind him, tossing the opponent into it for a weak 5% damage and quickly getting back to his fighting stance. Without any other portals on the field, the opponent re-appears 1 Battlefield Platform behind Quilby, being unceremoniously dumped off at their target location, the same vertical level as when they were grabbed. No knockback is actually applied (that's what the portal distance is, after all!), but it should be noted this CAN send opponents off-stage or platform ledges, meaning it can be a very good edgeguard starter, especially if you grab someone after recovering who was edgeguarding you. While the damage is low, it is fixed and consistent spacin that always gives Quilby breathing room and which he can use to consistently place foes a specific area behind him for setups he has to hit the foe.

This is only if Quilby does not have an active portal! If he does, then the portal will instead send the opponent to his selected active portal, like a reverse variant of his Up Special. Note that with no knockback, Quilby can't exactly cheese kills with this in a reasonable way, since they just end up in place and free to move. As a just-in-case measure, opponents will NOT be KO'd if they happen to overlap a blast zone from this, similar to how using some moves in a blast zone won't kill you off the top in various Smash games. Quilby doesn't have any way to really place portals in this way, but if anyone should happen to find one it just plain won't work. Screw you, exploits.

The usages of this throw should be obvious: Total on demand spacing to a specific spot Quilby wants. If Quilby knows he has a scythe, Up Smash lasers or what have you coming through a portal, then all he has to do is use Back Throw and put them in place to get smashed. Or maybe the portal is somewhere Quilby wants the opponent, like just off stage of where he is and thus allows him to begin an instant edge guard, or above him in a landing-catch scenario. The only limits to the usage are what spaces can be useful to Quilby, although do note the throw is essentially frame neutral for you.

Final Smash: Planetary Destruction​

Energy surges in Quilby's Wakfu arm as he points it forward, blasting wakfu energy out 1.5 Battlefield Platforms, with the laser curving upwards for the last half of it. Enemies hit by this seamlessly transition into a cinematic as they are impacted into a small planetoid (like poor Yugo in that GIF), Quilby opening up a ridiculous number of portals (like in his NSpec GIF) and firing off a ton of lasers and energy blasts at the opponent, with damage totaling 20% during this time. To finish the attack, though...

Quilby's arm grows to absolutely massive proportions, reaching behind the foe to grab the planet before flinging it at them with mammoth force! This deals 30% damage and strong downwards-forwards knockback from where foes were impacted, which could result in some super early kills near a ledge. The planet not only hits in the cinematic, but actually shoots down as a projectile that appears where the laser's path ended with the same damage and knockback properties as the last cinematic hit. Fortunately this is too large to interact with Quilby's portals, but it does mean people outside the cinematic should be careful until it leaves the screen or impacts the stage, as once it hits stage or whatnot it breaks up and disappears.

Playstyle: Immortal Traveler​

 

[FrozenRoy]

Scorching, Troublesome Divine Flame

Utsuho Reiuji​

Utsuho Boss Fight​

Solar Songs of Mystic Wisdom ~ Utsuho Playlist​

Utsuho Reiuji is my favorite Touhou character and that will probably never change! She is the final boss of the 11th Touhou game, Subterranean Animism, and a rather tough one. Utsuho was once little more than a hell raven, who are little more than basic enemies in the game, albeit tougher ones who appear during Stage 6 (Utsuho's stage). She would probably have been little more than a first or second stage boss, were it not for the goddesses of the mountain: Kanako Moriya and Suwako Moriya. Seeking to solidify their place in Touhou after Mountain of Faith's plot, they plotted to use the power of the Yatagarasu to create nuclear energy in their continuing bid to be known in Gensokyo as gods of technology. The Yatagarasu, divine bird of the sun, contained the power of divine flame and the sun. So the Moriya gods instructed Utsuho to devour part of its corpse/body (or possibly spirit) in order to gain its powers in order to fulfill the wishes of both the world above and below and to help out her master Satori Komeiji in running hell. These goddesses chose Utsuho as their ideal vessel in part because she is...not the brightest, making her easy to control and ironically making the power easier to control.

This doesn't quite work out the way they hoped, as Utsuho does take in the power well enough, but she kinda goes...crazy with it, as it is too much for her to handle at first, that and a little misintepretation of what Kanako/Suwako actually meant. Utsuho instead decides that she is going to scorch the world above to death to conquer it, expanding hell in the process. Her best friend, Rin Kaenbyou, sees this as a major problem but also doesn't want to get Utsuho in trouble with Satori, and is not powerful enough to stop Utsuho on her own. This leads Rin to be the one to actually start the "incident" of Subterranean Animism, driving spirits from hell to the surface so that problem solvers like Reimu and Marisa will dive into hell to check it out and (with a touch of of direction from Rin) stop Utsuho before she goes along with her JRPG-level final boss plan.

This works out pretty well, with our hero of choice tearing their way through hell rather effortlessly...just kidding, Subterranean Animism is one of the harder Touhou games, there's gonna be a lot of dying and effort. With SUBSTANTIAL effort, you can get to Utusho and (violently) bring her to her senses. Unlike the rest of the game, Utsuho has very straightforward patterns. Do not mistake this for being EASY: Utsuho will be hurling full on mini-suns at you with some incredibly large (although somewhat deceptively small) hitboxes as you along with sprays of deadly normal bullets as she flies around. She isn't easy! Getting beaten brings Utsuho back to her senses, and like most Touhou baddies she ends up in a quasi-helpful role after being defeated.

She re-appears in various media afterwards, with the most prominent being Touhou Hisoutensoku, which was the next fighter after Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, the last of the traditional Touhou fighters and came only 2 games after Subterranean Animism (Undefined Fantastic Object was in-between). This shows Utsuho post-SA, where she has indeed begun to work with the Moriya gods and the above ground kappa on a nuclear reactor to bring free power to Gensokyo. She also has been using her heating of the underground hell to keep fresh hot springs warm for everyone, how nice! That actually is what causes UFO's plot, but I digress. Subterranean Animism probably best shows how Utsuho can be both a brilliant genius and a total klutz: She understands the theory behind nuclear fusion and is able to detect the presence of Sanae disrupting the temperature...and also forgets Sanae is the priestess of the goddesses she is working for, who one of the goddessess is briefly and forgets what they were talking about after the fight for a bit. Poor birdy!

I will also take note of Utsuho's fighting style in that game, which is that she is the big ol' heavyweight of the game: She has a huge, imposing hurtbox, her moves hit the hardest of anyone in the game (although Suika comes close), she has strong and huge projectile hitboxes, but at the same time she is really slow and has the worst dash in the game for attacking out of. She also was my main, since Utsuho is my favorite Touhou character AND she is incredibly satisfying to use!

Utsuho's general powerset is defined by the Yatagarasu's power: Nuclear fusion. The control rod on her arm (which is removable!) allows her to regulate nuclear power, while she can generate it herself via the Yatagarasu's power. The most dangerous way she can use this power is to quite literally create miniature suns, then hurl them at her opponents with the same devastating power as one would expect from THROWING AROUND SUNS. Don't ask how Reimu and Marisa don't burn to death or just have All Of The Cancer. Utsuho can use this power in many other ways: Smaller heat bullets, shooting out heat lasers from her arm cannon, using stuff like the suns to create mass and therefor have gravitational effects, have her projectiles orbit her like a star, and other such abilities. While her power lacks many of the utilities of other higher power level Touhou characters, it is near the top in terms of raw destructive force, so Utsuho is a force to be reckoned with! To show how much of a force to be reckoned with they are, each of her spellcards has the sound of nuclear warning klaxons blaring as it begins, adding to the intensity and menace of her fight.

Appearance-wise, Utsuho has plenty of references to Chernoboyl and other nuclear facts along with the Yatagarasu. Simply the fact she is a raven may be a reference to the Black Bird of Chernoboyl, a large bird in cryptozoology that supposedly appeared in the Chernoboyl area afte its nuclear failure and is said to herald misfortune, while the cat photo that appears on the nuclear symbol during Utsuho's spell cards may be a reference to the Pripyat cats, a group of irradiated wildcats who moved into the abandoned city of Pripyat after the Chernoboyl disaster. Her arm cannon is meant to represent the Yatagarasu's third leg, which it traditionally has in mythology. Utsuho has an arm cannon rather than a true third leg to avoid indecency, or in other word **** jokes, according to ZUN. The concrete and material surrounding her right foot represents the "Elephant's Foot", a mass of cooled radiactive material and glass in the actual Chernoboyl. Other unique facets of her appearance include the orbitting atoms around her left foot and her cape, which rests atop her wings and while white on the outside possesses the starry patterns of a galaxy inside: The fighting games show this pattern to be constantly moving, which also occurs in Smash Ultimate. She is often drawn as one of the more rare large breasted characters in Touhou fandom. Because she houses the spirit of a divine being inside of her, she is sometimes classified as a goddess herself.

She has the nickname "Okuu" thanks to Rin (who also has the nickname "Orin") calling her such in SA's extra stage, and is a name joke because the character for Utsuho can also mean "Sky" and be pronounced like "Kuu" as a compound word. Many specifies to Utsuho are a bit variable, but her personality in SA is almost like a parody of a JRPG style villain and rather over the top: After she gets better, though, she's generally seen as kinda warm, kind, wants to help out Satori and birdbrained, but there's lots of common other ways to take her character, a pretty common one being to make Utsuho smarter than she seems but not smart in a common sense way. It also can be seen to make Utsuho much more of a serious disposition and character, which actually is supported by some in universe material and works well with stuff such as her Hisoutensoku animations.

She's cute, she's cool, she has awesome powers and is my favorite character from one of my favorite franchises, so she is well deserving of her spot in my road to 100 sets...but there is one above her in the race for 100.

Statistics​

Utsuho is a tall and imposing figure, just like in the Touhou fighters. Her frame is akin to Ganondorf in terms of height and size: The wings to her sides are for the most part not hurtboxes, but they are close to her body, giving her more of a width than Ganondorf as well. She is also a true super heavyweight, with 120 weight that puts her just above Ganondorf but noticeably below King Dedede. Fitting this mold further, she is not very fast: Her walk speed is a slow yet confident float forward, you can even see her smirking if you pause the game, that is as fast as Bowser at 67th. Her dash speed is not much better, being tied with Bowser Jr. at 61st. She has traction that puts her tops in the game, able to stop and start easily.

Aerially, Utsuho is a slow faller with slow air speed but excellent aerial control. Her fall speed is equal to Samus/Dark Samus (63rd), while her air speed is equal to Diddy and Link (68th). Utsuho has a very high first jump, a very strong second jump, and on top of that she has additional mid-air jumps. Her total of 5 possible jumps may put her below a character like Kirby with six, but each of her additional midair jumps has more height than you'd expect from extra midair jumps, even the last one. So she can go very high and recover very far! She can also perform a wall jump, which could have additional gameplay value.

An additional note about Utsuho: She has poor rolls, speaking in terms of invulnerability. Her rolls go very far, like Samus and Dark Samus', but their invincibility frames are only okay. This is also true for her tech rolls, trip rolls and so on. It can make it a bit awkward for her in tech situations or the like, but on the plus side she gets a lot of distance from them, which can actually be very useful on roll-ins.

Specials​

Neutral Special: Subterranean Sun​

Utsuho's most important move is her final Spell Card from Subterranean Animism and a powerful projectile, Subterranean Sun! Utsuho points a single finger to the sky (see her statistics image for an idea of what this looks like) as the atoms around her feet orbit at an increased speed. A miniature sun appears above the tips of her finger, growing as she charges it. This move is a storable charge in the same vein as Samus' Charge Shot, although it takes 1.2x as long to charge as Samus' equivalent move. When canceled, Utsuho grasps the sun in the palm of her hand and saves it for later. By default, the projectile will be fired forward, but Utsuho can fire it in essentially any direction with control stick movements akin to Fox's Fire Fox. Utsuho fires it by pointing her finger in the chosen direction, with a little grin on her face.

The size and power of this miniature sun depends a lot on its charge level and it only does 5% with minimum charge, but full charge is a pretty potent 22% damage move. At full charge it will kill at 140%, making it more of a high damaging move than a kill move. At minimum charge the sun is quite small, 1.3x the size of a Pokeball, while at full charge it is the size of Samus' fully charged Charge Shot, making it pretty meaty. Another thing about this move is its range, which actually is not that great and is fixed at 1 Battlefield Platform, which it travels very quickly at early levels and very slowly at maximum charge, which given its size can make it a big pain to deal with at high charge. It does not disappear when it hits an opponent, but will disappear when it hits terrain and opponents hit by it are immune to damage from it for 1.5 seconds. Minimum charge mini-suns stay out for 5 seconds and maximum charge mini-suns stay out for 8 seconds. Utsuho cannot be damaged by mini-suns, but also cannot pass through them, essentially serving as solid terrain for her: She can even stand on top of them! it also means she can be kinda hit against them like walls, so be on your guard with that.

In addition to being a powerful stationary trap, this move has a gravitational pull to it from the sun's mass, an effect it has in various Touhou spell cards (including the actual Subterranean Sun card) as well. In addition to a very small pull against very close opponents, it more importantly has a strong pull on projectiles, which will orbit the sun as a (vertical) circle. The pull extends further than the orbit itself, as it will pull projectiles from up to one Battlefield Platform away (in any direction) but they will only enter orbit once they get within half a Battlefield Platform of the sun. This does NOT change ownership of the projectile, so opponents can make use of this as well as Utsuho, with projectiles making a single rotation around the sun at the speed they were travelling when caught inside of the sun unless otherwise stated. The projectile is then flung from the sun's orbit at the same direction it was travelling to begin with. If the sun expires before a projectile completes its orbit, it is flung in the direction it is currently travelling. Projectiles retain their hitbox during this time and the sun when fired at ground level floats high enough that most projectiles will not hit the ground while orbitting it. Utsuho additionally has some other specific interactions with this gravity.

Utsuho can only have one mini-sun from Neutral Special out. When the sun is out, Utsuho instead can use Neutral Special to manipulate the sun. Pressing B causes the sun's gravity to reverse: By default, the sun sends projectiles the same horizontal direction the projectile was traveling. For example, let's say a projectile comes from the sun's left, and is traveling right. It will circle the sun clockwise. If it came from the opposite direction, it would orbit the sun counter-clockwise. Utsuho CAN charge up her next Subterranean Sun if she so desires by pressing both B and A at the same time, but she cannot release a Subterranean Sun until the one she has out disappears, and of course given the long charge time she is wasting valuable time she could be using her sun on charging, so it IS a trade-off.

Pressing B reverses this, so the projectile in the first scenario would move counter-clockwise and the second scenario would move clockwise. The projectiles don't behave with inertia in this regard, not unlike in Touhou games, so they just begin moving in the other direction with no speed loss, so Utsuho can make a direction move the other direction in a snap. This is an excellent way to catch opponents off guard who are being too predictable, or to set up different projectile patterns. Reversing the gravitational pull is done with a quick motion from Utsuho's free hand, pointing her finger up and moving it in a circle. The fire on the surface of the sun also changes when gravity is reversed, as a visual indicator. Utsuho can reverse gravity as much as she wants while the sun is alive, so she isn't limited at all when it comes to this. Projectiles that would be flung from the sun's orbit will be flung from its orbit when they normally would, so you can't just keep flipping directions so they never complete a rotation and so don't escape.

If you hold down B, on the other hand, Utsuho will raise her hand with an open palm, before closing it into a fist with a spark of solar energy. This takes a moment to occur, unlike the gravity reversal which is faster, although I wouldn't call it "laggy". Makes it easier to defend against, though. The sun explodes when Utsuho finishes closing her palm in a fiery conflagration that is 1.2x the normal size of the sun itself. It also deals 1.2x the damage of whatever charge level the sun had, so it'll be substantially more powerful at full charge (killing around 100%) than with a little, tiny sun. Projectiles that were caught in the sun's orbit are ejected violently from the sun's orbit, traveling 1.2x their current projectile speed in a direction based on its orientation to the sun. This is really simple, it just shoots it away from it. So if it is right above the sun, it'll go straight up. If it is at a direct diagonal angle, it goes at a direct diagonal angle, and so on. It basically just ejects it straight outwards from the sun.

Remember that the ownership of projectiles does not change inside of Utsuho's orbit. If you're not careful, blowing up the sun can cause a painful projectile to be sent right into your little birdbrain and out of the game. The projectile's power is boosted by 1.2x as well (1.2x to damage, but the damage boost does affect knockback), so make sure to be careful about your solar destruction. It can also create a high pressure situation for the opponent with a variety of projectiles covering the space incredibly quickly around the area. Finally, you could try to actually hit with the sun's hitbox, especially if you hit the opponent into the sun, and it can be used to try and snag people staying just outside of its range.

Utsuho can use this to turn projectiles into temporary traps, to potentially alter their trajectory with an expiring sun, or to do other weird things. Starting and ending lag scales with charge time, so this move becomes a stronger commitment the stronger it becomes, with it particularly having kinda bad ending lag when fully charged, so be aware of that.

There is one other, last and important thing about this move. When fully charged, Utsuho's body will glow a pulsating yellow, in addition to sparks of energy ocassionally flying around her body, indicating the nuclear fusion that has just taken place. This isn't just for show. While you can use Neutral Special's charge in the way I described, Utsuho additionally has a full set of Fusion Charged Specials used by inputting B + A or B + A + a direction. Using these powerful specials depletes the Neutral Special charge, but they have quite a lot of power behind them. Note that you can use B + A to charge up a Neutral Special to gain access to Fusion Specials while the Sun is out, in exchange for cutting the time you have to use the Sun itself thanks to taking the time to charge. It is up to you on how best to use the charge from this move. These moves will be detailed in their own section after the Specials section.

Side Special: Melting Pummel Kick​

Pins down the enemy and stomps her with her left foot, infused with fission energy. The move is a kind of throw, so can't be blocked; the enemy is at Okuu's mercy.​

Utsuho pulls in her cement-covered foot, then launches forward, that same leg burning with nuclear energy. When she reaches an opponent, she hooks the foot around them, pinning them to the ground with a shaking THUD and 4% damage. Utsuho then points her arm cannon at the opponent, blasting them for repeated, small blasts that leave nuclear hitsparks flying off. This leaves a total of 6% damage. The final hit depends on if Utsuho tapped or held the Special Button during the start of the move. If Utsuho held the button, then she performs a powerful launching kick with her concrete foot, sending opponents flying away for 8% damage and knockback that kills at 110%! This deals impressive damage along with knockback, although it obviously has no follow-up potential. If you tapped the button, then Utsuho instead spins off the opponent while kicking with her normal foot. This spaces her about half a Utsuho away from the foe (facing them), deals 2% damage and leaves the opponent in a prone state. You lose the powerful launching hit along with 6% damage, but the opponent is left in a prone state with some frame advantage on Utsuho's side. The fact it is ambiguous until Utsuho kicks the opponent also means you can mix the opponent up, like having a slower reaction if they were trying to DI the knockback properly (or accidentally buffering a direction while DIing).

In the air, this attack changes up some. Utsuho travels the same distance, which is about 1.1x Fox Illusion for those curious, while descending at half her fall speed for the attack. If she catches an opponent, then they burn for 1% damage up to four times (if caught in the first 1/4th of the move) until Utsuho either lands on the ground or reaches the maximum distance. If Utsuho lands against the ground, she'll smash the foe into it with a fiercer crush than the grounded version, dealing 5%-8% damage depending on when in attack she slams the foe against the ground. The later into the move, the more damaging it is. The attack then continues as normal, with the same damage and effects as normal. In completely ideal conditions, this adds 8% damage to the move.

If Utsuho instead reaches the maximum horizontal distance without hitting the ground, she will kick the opponent upwards at the end of its distance, dealing 7% damage and popping herself up 1 Ganondorf of height. The knockback of the opponent is fixed and dependant on if Utsuho tapped or held as per normal. The tapped version deals 0.7x Ganondorf's height of knockback and leaves the opponent closer to Utsuho, which can create combo chances. The held version deals 1.3x Ganondorf's height of knockback at an angle that places opponent's further away. This is more ideal if, say, you're launching off the stage and knocking opponents off stage, for stage spikes or for breathing room when recovering. Utsuho can use this move once in the air without entering helpless, but the second time will cause her to enter helpless.

If she slams an opponent into her Subterranean Sun, then they will take the same damage as if they were launched into the sun normally, and Utsuho will pop off of it a Ganondorf in height, which can provide some excellent damage in the right situation. Feel free to land on the ground and kick them right into the sun for ULTIMATE damage, though, or maybe prone them near it for some serious prone abuse! If Utsuho runs into the sun without the foe, she will bounce off of it the same distance, and with slightly awkward ending lag.

Speaking of Lag, Utsuho's lag is dependant on if the move was started on the ground or in the air. On the ground, the move has surprisingly low starting lag, to the point you can mix it into combos, or use it as shield pressure. This is really important for a reason I hadn't discussed yet: Just like in Hisoutensoku, this move is a command grab! Not only useful as a mobility and damage tool, this gives Utsuho a fairly strong anti-shield option, which is quite helpful! The ending lag isn't too bad if Utsuho hits, but a whiff ends with her completely overselling the swing and falling flat on her back before getting up with what amounts to AWFUL ending lag, so do NOT miss this attack! On the flipside, the starting lag of the aerial version is a bit on the long side, with Utsuho needing to flap her wings and orient herself for a moment before launching herself. In return, the ending lag is rather short, and it actually leaves her flying forward at a somewhat higher speed than normal (which slows down as per normal) for a bit after her ending lag is over, which helps enable its use as a mobility tool. Choosing between which version to use is pretty important. Also, be careful of the longer starting lag when recovering, lest you be sent into the abyss.

Down Special: Hell Geyser​

Creates a nuclear reaction underground and shoots the energy diagonally upwards at the enemy. Can also shoot towards the enemy from the back, so it's quite easy to try to use this skill in chains.​

Her fury might not be fatal, but it doesn't mean her geyser lacks power! Slamming her arm cannon against the ground, Utsuho gathers nuclear energy in the ground, which bursts forward at a 40~ degree diagonal angle forwards. This deals 9% damage and knocks opponents at around the same angle as the energy itself, with knockback that is actually rather low. The knockback angle is pretty solid for hitting people into your Subterranean Sun, it should be noted. The knockback can be good for combos if you hit it close or at lower percents, If you smash the control stick instead, then the Hell Geyser will appear with the spike pointed TOWARDS Utsuho, with it starting at a range the "opposite" of normal (so imagine it starting where the energy spike normally ends and going inwards). The range, by the way, ends up hitting a maximum of around a Battlefield Platform. This is a really good combo extender, as you can potentially have this pop up behind the opponent, hitting them back towards you for a combo continuation. It isn't as good of a combo starter as the normal version, unless you hit with the very base of the hitbox or so.

This can be further emphasized by holding down the Special button! If you do this, then instead of appearing where it normally would, it will appear on the ground close to the nearest opponent, prioritizing grounded enemies before aerial enemies (and not counting minions, etc). Tilting or smashing the button will still change what direction the spike shoots out at, which can add new layers of complexity to the move. Smacking the opponent back to Utsuho is one of the best combo extenders that Utsuho has, allowing her to bounce the foe right back to her to continue a combo. But hitting the opponent away not only can be easier, but it can push opponents further if you want more space (for example, to charge your Neutral Special), or you can change their knockback angle to a lower one in order to better hit opponents into your setup and lingering hitboxes.

Note that this appears on the ground close to the nearest opponent, and will actually change elevation to a certain degree to try and be close to opponents, specifically it will go up to a little higher than the moving Smashville platform, allowing Utsuho to spring this up on platforms as a tool as well. If the platform is too far up, it'll appear on the lowest and nearest ground, and if the opponent is off-stage it'll appear near the ledge, which can make it into a tricky ledge tool. Not only can the normal versions cover ledge, but you can cover ledge with it in 4 different ways if you properly space yourself away from it! Note that the horizontal range on this is limitless, so Utsuho can use this to poke at campers who are staying far away from her, making it a quirky little anti-camping tool. She can also use it to camp herself, although it is rather predictable, with the starting lag being more moderate but the ending lag is pretty soft. In free-for-alls, be aware that this tracks the nearest opponent, which means you can do some pretty odd stuff when you've got two opponents nearby and a partner to pick up on what you're doing!

You might be wondering how this attack works in the air, given that Utsuho can't exactly slam the ground if there's no ground around. The answer is that much like the DK Slap, Utsuho's Down Special changes in the air, instead being an attack based on one of her down-hits from Hisoutensoku. Utsuho raises her arm cannon up, then slams it down with force, her cape billowing as her wings spread out wide! This attack has quite a laggy windup, but the damage it deals is immense (16.5% damage) and it is an extremely strong spike, so you shouldn't dismiss it out of hand. It severely stops Utsuho's momentum, much like Lucario's Down Aerial, which can have some bizarre applications at times. Do note that this move ALSO has pretty bad ending lag, so if you go for this risky attack and miss there's a good chance it is you who's gonna be sent straight to hell!

Up Special: Shooting Star​

Moves diagonally upwards and leaves a trail of energy balls behind her. They begin moving outwards after a short time delay. She has no idea she's attacking, she just thinks she's moving.​

Utsuho's entire body glows with a bright yellow-orange nuclear glow, the Yatagarasu's Eye on her chest glowing a bright red, before she rockets off at incredible speeds! This move is a lot closer to Extremespeed than, say, Fire Fox with Utsuho able to be controlled with more of a smooth curve. She can even take stronger turns than Lucario, although she naturally doesn't have an Aura boost. Utsuho will leave projectiles around her as she travels, small circular yellow bullets with an orange border that are about 2/3rds the size of a Jigglypuff. The bullets are made at the tip of Utsuho's wings, with one on each wing, so the angle they shoot off depends on Utsuho's direction. Moving left/right for example would mean her body is horizontal, sending the bullets up and down. Going straight up or down sends them left and right, with diagonals sending them out on appropriate diagonals. Bullets are made roughly every 1/4th of Utsuho's distance, meaning she makes four pairs under a normal flight, and fly out the equivalent of 2 Battlefield Platforms in their chosen direction. They also fire off on a delay, taking about 12 frames to actually fire after being made.

The projectiles themselves are rather weak, dealing 5% damage and only a minor amount of hitstun, but Utsuho gets to make a lot of them at once along with this being attached to a mobility option, making this move a fairly useful generator of simple projectiles, which can even orbit around Utsuho's sun and become some fairly solid stage control in the process. Utsuho herself is a hitbox that deals 8% damage and moderate knockback up and away from her, having little purpose aside from protecting her body. The attack's range is essentially body range and the bullet's coverage is limited, so you need to be careful about being gimped by disjointed hitboxes or simply traded with. Ganondorf will always take 8% damage in order to stomp you, after all. This move's starting lag is not horrible, but it isn't super fast, although it could still be used as a mobility option if Utsuho desires. The ending lag is fairly short and Utsuho does NOT enter helpless after it ends, and in fact retains momentum from the Up Special that allows her to use it as an aerial approach/booster, although she cannot use Up Special again until the usual get hit or land requirements of a helpless-inducing Up Special. This move also has next to no landing lag, so Utsuho could hop around if she wants to do that, and can land to try and take advantage of the set projectiles.

If Utsuho gets close to her Subterranean Sun's orbit with this move, she will be able to join its orbit! If she uses the control stick to follow the clockwise/counter clockwise then she will follow it and increase to 1.2x her normal and already fast speed, while not using up any of the distance! This can allow Utsuho to pull some movement tricks, like dodging an attack only to swing back around the sun and hit the foe or to traverse stagr sides quickly. Utsuho can only do one orbit with it pausing her distance and will break free if she performs any other movements, but this means Utsuho can "slingshot" out of the sun which is quite useful!

Utsuho will also continue to shoot out projectiles during this time, essentially increasing her projectile pairs by up to 4, but note that half of them will end up aimed at the sun and crashing into it for essentially no usefulness. In addition, these bullets will not orbit the Subterranean Sun, which can both be good as it allows Utsuho to shoot out projectiles while orbitting and bad because of the fact it means Utsuho doesn't get to do orbit setup while orbitting. Utsuho also could shoot out her sun and then loop around it to recover better if she had to...but with your multiple midair jumps, this Up Special AND your Fusion Up Special something would need to go INCREDIBLY wrong for this to ever matter.

Fusion Specials​

Don't forget, these Specials can only be used when you have a fully charged Neutral Special, and completely deplete the charge! Utsuho won't be throwing them around at will, that's for sure. They are performed by pressing B + A + the appropriate direction (left/right for Side Fusion Special, Down for Down Fusion Special, Up for Up Fusion Special and no direction for Neutral Fusion Special.​

Side Fusion Special: Blazing Star "Fixed Star"​

Throws a ring of nuclear energy at the opponent. The energy ring moves backwards after a while, and hits the enemy a second time.​

Utsuho raises her non-arm cannon hand upwards, finger pointing up, as a HUGE wheel of minature suns is summoned above her! This wheel is quite large, easily smacking through most bottom playforms at ground level, with the circle of its donut-esque shape being about the size of a 3/4ths charged Charge Shot. Utsuho then flings it forward, with it being angle-able. By default it flies straight forward, angling it down sends it at a downwards angle akin to the above image, and angling it upwards is the same but upwards angled. The wheel travels quite fast, think max Charge Shot speed, and it deals tremendous damage! Getting smashed by this deals a meaty 22% damage and will send you flying out of the stage pretty early, being a killing move starting at 88%.

This is a pretty devastating blow, but it isn't over there! When the ring reaches its maximum distance, about 2/3rds of Battlefield, it'll reverse itself and come flying back to where it was thrown! It will go the opposite direction it was sent out, so if you threw it downwards it'll come back upwards, and goes to where Utsuho released the attack + an additional 3/4ths of a Battlefield Platform behind it. The knockback will also be reversed, sending the foe towards where it was sent originally, which can lead to some quirky gameplay. Once you get hit by the Fixed Star, you can't be hit again for the rest of its duration, so you can't hit someone twice for a ludicrious 44% damage. It also should be noted this Fixed Star is too much for your Subterranean Sun to actually affect, so it won't loop or curve or otherwise interact with your sun if you should happen to have both out at once (which already is unlikely). If the Fixed Star hits solid stage or your Subterranean Sun, it will rebound back instead off just disappearing then.

This is your most "free damage" Fusion Special, as Utsuho has pretty low starting lag on this attack, which even makes it some prime combo-ender fodder, in particular as long as the opponent isn't too close you can combo it off of Hell Geyser combo extensions for a slick 22%. A word of nuclear warning: If the opponent shields the attack, they become immune to it for the rest of its duration, even if it'll cost them some strong shield damage. This attack is also easier to perfect shield than you might think. The ending lag isn't too bad, though, so it is still fairly free to throw out. For a shielding opponent, you can go for a Melting Pummel Kick to command grab them right through it and gain advantage! Or, you know, a normal grab.

Down Fusion Special: Ground Melt​

Sears the ground using her control rod. The actual heat wave has no hitbox, but the ground explodes in this attack.​

Utsuho points her arm cannon forward and a thin, bright red laser shoots out of it, pointed diagonally down and forwards. This laser is NOT a hitbox and has infinite vertical range. If you use it on the ground, it will travel about half of a Battlefield forward. At the height of two jumps upwards, the laser will cover the entire stage of Final Destination, and actually slightly over. The higher you go, the more the range will increase, although do be careful that you might sacrifice some CLOSE horizontal range as the laser is still moving forward while traveling downwards. Moving off stage can help you maximize the horizontal range due to this.

Mere moments after the laser touches solid ground, a wall, and so on, explosions erupt over the area the laser covered! This process is not slow and explosions will begin firing before the laser finishes its path even when used at ground level. Note that explosions won't appear in the air at all, it is only when the laser touches something solid, like ground! Enemies don't count either. Each of these explosions deals a fairly meaty 16% damage and knockback that sends opponents flying upwards if hit, which'll kill at around 115%. The main draw of this attack is its potential massive coverage rather than its damage, but it still has plenty of power behind it!

Do NOT shield this attack! It has strong shield pushback and one explosion will push you into the other, and if you were near the edge of an explosion towards the next explosion, you might be hit into a THIRD explosion. Your shield will be wrecked or broken, you can get shieldpoked, you will be left in a negative frame situation, it is never beneficial to shield a Ground Melt. You'll have to resort to other defensive options, like air dodges, rolls, or jumping over them, although the explosions do have some amount of vertical range.

Something to note is the laser will not go through platforms, which can be good or it can be bad. You can potentially cover every single platform on a stage like Battlefield and leave the opponent confined to the main stage, but opponents can also use it as cover to cower under
like fearful guard dogs. Pay attention to the stage situation before just firing off shots. By adjusting your own vertical height, you will change the angle the laser flies at, so you can shoot it "under" a platform in some situations for a surprise strike in what we call "thinking with your brain"!

This move comes out decently fast and the laser travels at quite high speeds, so it isn't too punishable. If you used it and got it to a high range, Utsuho will have time to move while explosions are still coming out, which can make for a bizarre "approach" option or more commonly to cut off stage behind the opponent. The ending lag is also low enough that Utsuho can get use out of any opponent who shields it and punish it. Perhaps they were expecting you to fire off a fixed Star instead? What idiots!

Up Fusion Special: Crow Sign "Yatagarasu Dive"​

A fusion reaction occurs within Okuu, and a silhouette in the shape of a brilliantly shining bird attacks the enemy. A skill that shows the true spirit of the hell crow.​

Okuu gracefully frontflips into the air 1.2x the distance Incineroar rises during his Up Special, her feet acting as a kicking hitbox as she ascends. The feet hit twice, each time for 5%: Once at the start of this attack and once halfway through. Getting hit by either of these kicks will cause the foe to be true combo'd into the attack's main hitbox, and the first kick will true combo into the second kick. Once Utsuho reaches the apex of her flip, her entire body lights up with bright yellow, sunny energy as she does her best Souther impression! This blazing dive (which goes about as far as Incineroar's dive) deals 20% damage and is a POWERFUL spike, extremely good for killing opponents even at very low percents! It won't be as effective on stage, of course, but you're still getting a heap of damage out of this attack, so that isn't a big deal.

Utsuho doesn't enter helpless upon using Yatagarasu Dive and is free to use her default Up Special alongside it, so having a Neutral Special charge can be helpful just for recovering. Combined with Utsuho's crazy jumps, it also means Utsuho can make some VERY risky plays with Yatagarasu Dive, as she can potentially recover from very far out! Your opponent will be in an extraordinarily good position to edgeguard you, though, so remember that just because you can doesn't mean you should. It is still quite risky, especially since Yatagarasu Dive actually has quite a bit of ending lag, making it unsafe if you don't hit with it.

On the plus side, the starting lag on this attack is quick, which means Utsuho can actually combo into it quite a bit, with the combo paths usually being rather different from Fixed Star as Yatagarasu Dive has melee range. You can totally combo it from a Hell Gesyer with appropriate spacing, though. This will provide more damage than a Fixed Star combo (30% usually, 25% for the rare air combos w/ one kick), but in return you won't be getting any killing power unless you are right near a ledge. Fixed Star also is better for clearing out minions, 2v2 or FFA situations, or to throw out as a neutral tool.

Neutral Fusion Special: Abyss Nova​

A nuclear chain reaction occurs within Okuu and destroys everything in sight once critical mass is reached. The explosion has a large hitbox and can not be blocked. An intensely hot skill, even for her.​

Utsuho's riskiest main set option, with the force of more than just one nuclear bomb! Utsuho arches her back out and lets out a yell, as red and yellow energy begins to visibly swirl and collect from around Utsuho after activation. After that, nothing seems to happen quickly, with the fight continuing as normal. Utsuho will glow a brighter and brighter yellow as time goes on, gathering more and more energy, during which time she is unable to use her Neutral Special or any of her Fusion Specials (she hasn't "expended" the NSpec charge yet!). After TEN SECONDS, Utsuho's wings will flair out as warning klaxons blare out, before she juts her arms to the side and her entire body begins to spark wildly with energy, the eye of the Yatagarasu on her chest shining brightly as energy violently explodes out of her!

Left un-interrupted, this hitbox is MASSIVE. If Utsuho stands in the center of Battlefield, it will cover every single platform and only barely avoid the ledges. It is grotesquely strong, dealing a hilariously strong 40% damage and enough knockback that it is basically a one-hit KO on all but some really heavy foes! It is completely unshieldable, blasting right through them and damaging foes with intense nuclear force. It even lingers fairly long, so dodging it is tricky! How does one overcome such overwhelming power?!

The charging period is the key here, for both Utsuho and the foe. First off, while the hitbox is large, it can definitely be jumped away from or dodged with extremely precise timing, especially given there is a moment before Utsuho actually fires the attack off where she is posing. Of course, Utsuho is free to hit you while it is charging, and with enough hitstun there is no escaping this attack if she hits you when it is about to release. Utsuho will cancel out of any and all actions, including hitstun, to fire off Abyss Nova when it is ready.

The other is that the opponent can hit Utsuho to reduce or completely nullify the attack. Hitting Utsuho while Abyss Nova is preparing interferes with the nuclear chain reaction that is going on inside of her body. In laymen's terms, it reduces the power of the hitbox by the amount of damage dealt to our poor little birdbrain. So if you hit her with a 10% damage move, it now only deals 30%, with a subsequent reduction in knockback as well. It also reduces the range, making the explosion less violent and large. If the damage on the hitbox gets below 25%, then the attack will no longer go right through shields, so keep in mind that becomes a more viable defensive option...although you could potentially get shield break setups with it. And if utsuho is dealt 40% or more damage while Abyss Nova is about to go off, she not only has Abyss Nova canceled, but the attack that sent her over the 40% threshold deals an additional 1.3x damage and hitstun as she lets out a cry of shock, the nuclear process totally disrupted!

So, the foe can heavily reduce or nullify Abyss Nova entirely. But in return, doing so will almost always mean approaching Utsuho, which given she is preparing a massive, un-shieldable hitbox best dodged by getting away from her is a huge risk. Go in and have her defend well and you'll be down a stock. The entire situation is ultra-high-risk and ultra-high-reward for both Utsuho and the opponent!

Smashes​

Forward Smash: Atomic Sign "Cold Fusion"​

Okuu grasps her hand in front of her, creating a small miniature sun inside of her grasp as she glares forward, before flinging it forward with an overly dramatic wave forward of her arm! The sun starts off rather small, and not befitting of the powerful animation at all, dealing a meager 4%-5.6% damage to anyone it hits. This is only the beginning, though, so do not underestimate the full might of the Yatagarasu! After traveling half of a Battlefield Platform, the tiny sun doubles from half of a Jigglypuff in size to a full Jigglypuff in size, along with doubling its damage to 8%-11.2% damage. The knockback increases from "not even worth noting down" to "a kind of decent spacer" as well, which still isn't too great. Another half of a Battlefield Platform and it AGAIN doubles, now twice Jigglypuff's size and dealing 16%-22.4% damage and knockback that kills at 120%-90%! This is not a hugely powerful move, but the move does have pretty strong range, giving Utsuho lots of time to play against it as well as the sun moves at a rather slow pace.

This continues for another half of a Battlefield Platform, before the sun goes through one last transformation. For a brief moment, the sun expands to FOUR TIMES Jigglypuff's size, and the damage is doubled yet again! For that brief moment, the sun deals 32%-44.8% damage and flatout kills at 60%-30%! This is ludicrously strong, of course, but this sun exists for only a moment before it flickers and dies, forcing Utsuho to hit the foe into an incredinly specific 2 frame window or so, enhanced by the fact the foe can very easily see it coming and so has time to prepare for it. You can also consider this a reward for how the start of the attack is so weak, as well. This attack's lag is fairly average on both ends, with the start being laggier and the ending lag being somewhat less laggy, so in theory you can get a powerful attack for less lag than Utsuho normally has to deal with. If you have range on the foe, it can be pretty good to throw out as a lingering hitbox in general, although foes generally do not want to give Utsuho a great amount of space.

This move can be VERY powerful when combined with Utsuho's Subterranean Sun, which will allow this to orbit and still build up power. However, while in orbit, the big 32% hitbox will not come out, nor will a 32% hitbox enter the sun's orbit, as its gravitational pull in that brief moment of existence is too large to be drawn into the Subterranean Sun's. A sun which is caught in the Subterranean Sun's orbit WILL increase to the full 32% power sun as it flings away, though, and will actually continue for half of a Battlefield Platform: This is the only way Utsuho really has to get it as a hitbox for more than an instant and thus can be incredibly powerful as a tool. This also is very important because it allows the energy inside of the sun to grow once more...

Yep, that's right. It doesn't get a range boost this time, but for ONE FRAME at the end of its range, it explodes in a nuclear inferno that deals a hilariously huge 64%-89.6% damage and knockback that for all intents and purposes is a OHKO barring some pretty out there cirumstances. This is essentially impossible to hit in any kind of a normal match, requiring you to build up a projectile for quite a while (but not TOO long since the 32% fizzles out), have it orbit a construct you need to charge for a long time to work well, have it orbit that entire construct without hitting anything or getting interfered with, travel more distance and then explode in a single frame that Utsuho has to have the foe near to get hit. But it's a super flashy option Utsuho can go for, especially in more casual settings, and maybe if the opponent just forgets about the sun after dodging it they could potentially get hit by it.

Leaving aside sun interactions, the attack can also play well off of your Fixed Star or Ground Melt options, with Fixed Star knocking away opponents shorthopping over it with a hugely punishing hitbox that will rebound back to them and cover the space if they took a different option or dodged it. Or if the opponent simply shields the projectile, since it is normally rather free in the early stages, Utsuho could decide to fire off a Ground Melt and absolutely melt the opponent's shielding aspirations, which also means shorthopping after a Forward Smash is usually the best option for Utsuho if she has her Fusion Specials on deck as it threatens both a reasonable Ground Melt and to fire a downwards-angled Fixed Star which can put opponents in a big bind.

Up Smash: Flare Up​

Shoots nuclear radiation around which then ascends in a helix and burns enemies. At high levels, Okuu herself also becomes a hitbox.​

Utsuho lets a loud yell rip from her mouth as her back arches up, as if she was a DBZ character ready to go all out, and miniature suns fly up around her! These miniature suns twirl around her with crescent energy trails, functioning as disjointed hitboxes rather than true projectiles ala Bayonetta's bullet arts, and deal multiple hits that add up to 8%-11.2% as they ascend, with the final hitbox dealing 10%-14% damage as it reaches the top and explodes. This hitbox hits all around Utsuho and travles up quickly, serving as both her primary anti-air and primary "get off me" move thanks to this combination of coverage and fast start-up. The damage is pretty solid if you land with it early and lackluster if you only hit with the anti-air hitbox, but the knockback is quite weak and only kills at 165%-140%. While this move's fast disjointed range makes it an excellent coverage move, this move does have a noticeable downside: Ending lag. This attack is VERY poor on shield as the multi-hit does little shieldstun and this move has high ending lag, leaving Utsuho very punishable if she gets baited into using this option a lot.

This is noticeable since, as we've seen and will see, Utsuho is simply a rather sluggish character when it comes to frame data, so she'll want to lean on a great reversal a lot, making it even easier to bait out from the birdbrain. Try to remain steadfast and use your reversal more when you NEED to, and also consider your Fusion status: If you have Fusion Specials available, the addition of Yatagarasu Dive gives you an actually pretty good reversal out of shield! Speaking of Fusion Specials...

If Utsuho's Fusion Specials are on top with her Neutral Special charged, her entire body will glow a dangerously vibrant red when she uses this move, with the nuclear overload turning her entire body into a hitbox! This is actually not that easy to hit with, because the vast majority of the time you will instead hit the opponent with the swirling suns. If the opponent DOES get impacted with the body hitbox, they will find it deals 16%-22.4% damage and kills at 130%-95%. This is a bit less damage than the full brunt of a normal Up Smash, but the knockback is a lot higher and it doesn't require only an early hit as the normal full damage version does. This can be useful due to the swift starting lag of this attack compared to Utsuho's other options, but the limited availability and low range tends to relegate it to a backup plan at best.

Down Smash: Light Energy "High-Tension Blade"​

Creates a blade-like energy beam from Okuu's control rod. Limited range, but if used at close range, the move covers quite a large area. She sometime[sic] uses this as a big flashlight... seriously now?​

Okuu's entire body flashes yellow a brief moment before rushing forward, traveling up to one Battlefield Platform of distance. When Utsuho reaches a point where her maximum attack range would hit the foe OR she reaches her maximum distance, at which point she points her arm cannon forward and begins unloading laser shots of pure nuclear energy! This energy "blade" of lasers deals rapid hits that even at far ranges will get a lot of hits off! The total amount of damage you'll get usually equals 18%-25.2% damage, but if you use this at very close ranges you can get two more hits off for 27%-37.8% damage! The knockback is not awful, but it is nothing to talk home about, killing at around 130%. The intense range on this attack is the main draw, as the energy "blade" itself goes a full Battlefield Platform when Utsuho fires it off! Compared with Utsuho's rush and she can cover a lot of space, excellent if the foe is pinned down by her aerials or instead trying to keep their distance because of her extremely sluggish movement. Utsuho moves forward very fast for this move, so she can use it as a ranged punish tool akin to a Dash Attack, and the large distance of the attack means she could even trade with projectiles!

When Utsuho is blasting away at the foe, she begins to move away from the foe rapidly, going twice the distance she travels (up to two Battlefield Platforms). Utsuho's body actually becomes a hitbox during this time, from both the force of the strike and the nuclear energy surging within her. This hitbox deals a higher 20%-28% damage than the long range (but much lower than close range), with the knockback being significantly higher, allowing Okuu to kill at 100%-65%! This is a pretty strong hitbox, but unlike the blade part of the attack it has pretty pitiful range, and it is a lot more difficult to utilize easily. It does mean that just baiting the attack and rolling behind is not the best idea, as it will trigger the attack and proceed to have Utsuho bump backwards to hit them. This also provides Utsuho with a "both sides" hitting Down Smash, albeit a rather wonky one.

If Utsuho desires, she can press A at any point to trigger the attack early, blasting away at nothing and pushing herself back. This might seem strange, but it has a lot of strategic advantages, like faking out an opponent who has prepared for your automatic assault or using it to get out the back hit earlier. It also means Utsuho can further use this for some movement shenanigans, as she can more accurately control when she fires off her shots. Note that Okuu has no way to avoid going backwards, so she needs to be aware of that, but that how far she goes backwards DOES depend on when you started blasting, so Utsuho can stop early in the move to only move back a little for example. Utsuho WILL go off ledges and platforms when moving backwards, so using this move with your back to the ledge can be a seriously suicidal option. Although Utsuho's excellent recovery means you probably won't die, it is prime gimping range if you don't hit the foe.

It would be an error of me not to discuss this move's lag, which is rather important, as it is not a particularly fast move. The start-up is on the laggier side of average, but the ending lag is actually quite bad, although when she reaches higher distances traveled she will regain control after about 1.4 Battlefield Platforms of distance. Utsuho continues her momentum into her ending lag, which degrades into her normal momentum. She can move against it to degrade it faster, or turn around and move TOWARDS it to keep it and use it for movement, for example if an opponent is behind her. Manipulating this with adjustment of when Utsuho fires off the move can give her some options when it comes to flinging off platforms as well, approaching opponents behind her or other somewhat niche uses. Just remember the high ending lag means lots of punishment potential, and that this isn't the fastest move anyway!

Aerial Smashes​

Utsuho is, in fact, in possession of Aerial Smashes! These are used exactly like you'd expect, smashing the control stick + a direction just like on the ground! Tilting + A is your normal aerials.​

Side Aerial Smash: Dawn's Break​

Utsuho's entire body glows a bright yellow, overlapped visually with a nuclear bird ain to her Yatagarasu Dive, as she rushes head first towards her foes, arm spread! This rushing strike sends Utsuho traveling about a Battlefield Platform. Utsuho continues to lose vertical momentum during the starting and ending lag of this attack, but not during the rush itself, so while this can be used to recovery horizontally you still lose ground over time. The actual rush itself is a strong hitbox that deals 19%-26.6% and fairly strong knockback, killing at 120%-95%. That might not SOUND strong, but do consider that as an aerial, it is significantly easier to use closer to a blast zone, so killing more at 70% by hitting a foe closer to the ledge or off stage is entirely reasonable even without charge! Utsuho can use this to the left or right, which gives our little birdie some very interesting options when it comes to changing their aerial direction with a powerful hitbox!

Lag-wise, this move is somewhat high on the starting end, not awful but it is nothing quick at all. And the ending lag is pretty plain genuinely bad, making it far worse as a pure mobility option than your Melting Pummel Kick, although the two attacks varying timings + Melting Pummel Kick being a Command Grab can give Utsuho some impressive mixing potential between the two. Dangerous for Okuu given the lag, sure, but definitely rewarding! This move is fast enough it CAN be used as a combo finisher, but it requires some specific combos to do so due to the lag, and Utsuho is no combo queen, so don't rely on it too much. Utsuho can absolutely cross up shields if this move is used close enough to them, but since it requires getting close that opens up the option to get smacked out of it instead. When you don't have your Fusion Specials ready, this can make a solid alternative to Fixed Star when it comes to shorthopping after a Forward Smash, covering both shorthop angles and the opponent rolling. If Utsuho has her Abyss Nova on, then flying towards opponents with the correct timing and a Side Aerial Smash can be incredibly intimidating, as opponents need to keep quite a good distance away to avoid the upcoming tremendous blast and the fact she can do stuff like cross-up shields allows her to also utiliz it while blunting an opponent's offensive or a planned shield grab!

If Utsuho hits a solid with this move, for example a wall/the ledge/Utsuho's sun, then she will bang into it almost comically, like a bird flying STRAIGHT into a window. This causes her to tumble for even longer ending lag for normal, dropping down, and serving basically as a downside. Aside from characterization, this also prevents any wonky stuff Utsuho might be able to do like using this repeatedly against a wall or covering the ledge with this for a long time/using it as a ledge snapping tool. Be careful with your sun around, Okuu!

Down Aerial Smash: Elephant's Foot​

Utsuho's wings flair out wide as she pulls her concrete foot in, energy visibly building up around Utsuho and the Yatagarasu's eye glowing a bright red a bird-like Yagararsu symbol appears on Utsuho's foot! Utsuho will stall in place as she charges this move, but because of that she can only hold the charge for up to 2 seconds (powering up stops at 1 second like normal) before automatically releasing the move, preventing her from just casually stalling. When the move is released, Utsuho PLUMMETS to the ground, foot extended in front of her and burning with white-hot flames as she does so! Utsuho comes down incredibly fast, landing with a pretty crushing hitbox which creates waves of flames outwards from her sheer impact! This move has a lot of hitboxes in there, but first I'll get to the lag, which is to say this move is INCREDIBLY laggy to start up! This makes it pretty hard to hit with without any help, even with the very fast plummet. One thing to note is that Utsuho actually has extremely LOW ending lag when she hits the ground, unusual for a stall than fall, which can allow Okuu to do a little bouncing from place to place when she can avoid the high starting lag. Note that Utsuho does NOT plummet straight down during this attack, but at a slight forwards angle.

The first hitbox is brief but when Utsuho first falls with her foot kicking out is an INCREDIBLY powerful spike that deals 24%-33.6% damage, with the killing power of a very slightly stronger Ganondorf stomp. While very good, the hitbox is only out for a very brief time and is attached to an incredibly laggy stall than fall and with short range due to its brief existence. If you manage to land this attack in a killing situation, it was probably a hard read that if it was off stage carried a good risk of death if you messed it up, so the reward reflects that. The actual falling hitbox sends opponents upwards and away from Utsuho for most of it, dealing 21%-29.4% damage and quite strong knockback that kills off the top at 99%-66%, making it an incredibly potent killing move, ESPECIALLY if you hit with it from higher up. That's the power of a heavyweight Touhou character! The crunching blow when Utsuho lands is another difficult to hit yet potent addition to this move's arsenal: The fact the fall doesn't spike and the fall sweetspot is so strong means the only way to hit with the landing hitbox is to hit a grounded foe who doesn't get hit by the rest of the attack. This is NOT easy! Dealing 23%-32.2% damage, this move is a potent killing move that sends foes flying off the top around 78%-54%, which makes it one of Utsuho's best killing moves in terms of raw power, especially as it does not have a Fusion requirement. Of course, it is still attached to an incredibly laggy move and rather specific to hit with, making it a challenge to land! Finally, when Utsuho hits the ground, it creates a ground-level wave of fire akin to Dedede stars from his Up Special, which travel half of a Battlefield Platform to each side of her. These flames deal 7%-9.8% damage and lightly push foes away, essentially serving as safety on top of the low ending lag.

The sheer strength behind this absolute unit of a move is held back by the sluggishness it takes to achieve it, but Utsuho can help herself out in a few ways. A big one is to simply have some lingering projectiles out to provide pressure for you, which is simple to see coming but at least reasonably effective. Utsuho's Forward Smash is a good choice for this, as is her Up Aerial Smash, and if you've got Fusion power the return of a Fixed Star can put opponents in a big bind when two powerful hitboxes threaten to collide with them! Combining this with an Abyss Nova can actually be rather frightening in some situations, because Utsuho can traverse a great vertical distance to reach foes and it prevents a lot of easy defensive options from it, forcing the foe to flee, which with proper setup can be difficult! The gravitational pull of a sun on the foe can provide a light help, as well. Since the ending lag on this attack is low, Utsuho can also throw it out in general to try and catch out a sleeping foe or a foe who might be near a ledge soon, since it is actually somewhat difficult to punish unless the opponent is quite ready (usually with a move back and short-hop aerial).

If Utsuho plummets into a Subterranean Sun with this attack, she will slam into it with incredible force and spike the solar energy she was gathering her foot into said sun, causing two reactions as she lands on it for the same normal low ending lag (or bounces off of it if she hits the side). First, the same fire wave shoots out of Utsuho's foot, but does not remain confined to the ground and takes on the wispy energy of solar clouds, flying out one Battlefield Platform to the left/right of where Utsuho lands, with the damage boosted to 11%-15.4% damage as well, although the knockback still won't KO until 210%-190%. This gives Utsuho some increased range on it. The clouds move rather slowly in comparison to the normally fast fire waves as well, so Utsuho could use them as lingering hitboxes or cover.

The other interaction is that all of the energy being shoved into the sun with so much force causes a solar flare on the other side of the sun! On the opposite side of where Utsuho impacted the sun, a great spike of energy flares out with great force, with the exact size being determined by how far Utsuho fell. It is as tall as the distance Utsuho fell, but capped at 3 Ganondorfs of height to prevent TOO stupid of shenanigans. The spike itself deals 13%-18.2% damage and predominately forward knockback that is slightly upwards. The low angle can make it good for hitting foes near the ledge, but also means it will never really combo directly into the sun itself and thus not be super free large damage. The amount of range it covers is nonetheless quite large, especially when combined with the amount of hitboxes from the cloud and drop as well, so you can get plenty of coverage if the all-in power drop doesn't work out or even as a main strategy, especially depending on sun placement!

Up Aerial Smash: Shooting Sun​

Pointing a single, fortunately not middle, finger to the sky, Utsuho creates a blazing sun above her fingertip! The sun proceeds to hang in place for as long as Utsuho holds the charge, with Utsuho being able to move freely and falling as per normal (although she still holds her finger up. Utsuho's number one!). The sun itself is a rapid hitbox while charging not unlike Corrin's F-Smash, dealing rapid hits of 0.8% damage to anyone it touches. The sun is about 1.2x the size of a Jigglypuff without feet. The damage is fairly easy to DI out of, so don't expect this to rack up much, but it is a temporary trap that Utsuho can set up nonetheless. This small, blazing sun is unaffected by your Subterranean Sun's gravity while charging, Utsuho's power rooting it in place. There is not a lot of starting lag to Utsuho creating the sun, but there is some additional starting lag when the attack is released as Utsuho flicks her finger and arm forward. The ending lag is not all that bad, but it is still a bit slower than one might hope. Does Okuu think holding that pose will make her cooler or something...? Oh, and if Utsuho is hit while charging this move, the sun loses nuclear cohesion and evaporates effortlessly. Utsuho can use her Special Attacks (and Fusion Specials) and grab while charging the sun, but she cannot use any of her other attacks. If she released the A button during any of these attacks and does not hold it again before she is out of ending lag, she will attempt to use Up Smash on the first possible frame, allowing easy buffering.

When released, the sun rises a very small distance (about 0.3 Ganondorfs) before plummeting downwards at a sharp 40 degree forwards angle. The sun is a hitbox during this time that deals 12%-16.8% damage and a moderately powerful down-and-forwards spike that can be a solid killing move but is nowhere near as powerful as Utsuho's Down Aerial Smash. When the sun impacts solid ground, it explodes into a pillar of flame that goes up 2x the distance of Ness' PK Fire and 1.3x the width. Rather than a multi-hit, this is a single strike hitbox that deals 16%-22.4% damage and upwards knockback that will start to kill at around 115%-82%. This isn't anything super strong in Utsuho's arsenal of powerful attacks, but it is reasonably strong and actually a lot easier to hit with than some of the stronger options, especially since the pillar sticks around for 0.5 seconds before vanishing. While this move does also cover above Utsuho on use and rises somewhat, this isn't a great anti-air, but fortunately Utsuho has a really good Up Aerial for that! The sun moves pretty fast which combined with the ending lag makes it difficult for Utsuho to follow, but this also can be used to cover attacks as expected.

This move can be used in two ways with the Subterranean Sun. First off if Utsuho places the Up Aerial Smash close enough to the Subterranean Sun, it will impact the sun when launched and cause it to release its fire piller on the sun. In addition to the potential to have the fire pillar moving due to being on the sun, the fire pillar will be able to siphon off the power of the sun and last for longer than normal, now sticking around for 2 seconds instead of 0.5 seconds: This gives Utsuho a lot more ability to use it as a trap if she so desires, and in general is strong stage control. If the Subterranean Sun impacts the small blazing sun before it has been released, it will instantly cause the fire pillar to occur, with Utsuho being released from any lag commitment and able to use her moves again, which Utsuho can use for some tricky play as it gets the pillar out without lag and thus can lead to combos or surprise aggression!

The other is that, if the tiny blazing sun is caught inside of the Subterranean Sun's orbit, it will cause the pillar to be launched in the direction of the orbit, allowing Utsuho to position it differently. It also will launch once its orbit runs out rather than Utsuho's release, and Utsuho in fact will go through drastically shorter ending lag if she launches the blazing sun directly into a Subterranean Sun's orbit, allowing her to utilize it more effectively and provide more trickery on the lag Utsuho will have when the attack is released. With her ability to manipulate the Subterranean Sun's orbit or even blow it up, Utsuho has finer control over the situation than her dimly running into walls might lead you to think! The pillar does still only last for 0.5 seconds when in orbit, though.

Standards​

Forward Tilt: Laser Cannon​

Utsuho points her arm cannon to the sky briefly before pointing it forward, her other hand gripping the cannon and letting loose a laser of nuclear energy! This laser counts as a projectile, but it is a single solid object that flies forward, think like the Zero Laser or whatnot. This is one of Utsuho's most valuable base neutral tools, as it covers an extremely large distance (1.5 Battlefield Platforms) for a normal while dealing strong damage (12%) and moderate knockback (kills at 160%). If the opponent is not in Utsuho's face, going for a Forward Tilt is generally going to be a reliable option for her! She can't use it if the foe is too close to her, however: With fairly long starting AND ending lag for a tilt, this move is largely safe by virtue of its high range, and is pretty punishable if baited out by the opponent. While the starting lag is long, it is NOT too long for use as a combo ender, and a Hell Geyser into a Laser Cannon combos shockingly well at a variety of percents, being Utsuho's most consistent options out of a non-inwards Hell Geyser. This move is also one of Utsuho's single best prone coverage options, although note it will go over the heads of those with somewhat low prones.

Being a projectile has goods and bads for Utsuho. On the bad end, it allows it to be Pocketed and reflected, which can give Utsuho fits in some specific matchups. villager doesn't even need to go through the lag Utsuho does, that's a total cheat ability! On the plus side, though, it allows Utsuho to curve the laser into her sun's orbit, which can lead to being able to knock opponents out of the sky or go for an opponent's ankles or swoop down in ways she couldn't do if it was a more normal attack.

In addition to the above, Utsuho can angle this attack up or down. Angling downwards is not usually useful, causing Utsuho to shoot into the ground at a 45 degree angle, which if used on normal ground just means sacrificng range! If utsuho uses it near the ledge or edge of a platform, however, the the shot will clear it and go straight through the air for its normal range at that downwards 45 degree angle! This is pretty deadly to opponents who are recovering low, although with proper timing it is usually possible to grab the ledge and i-frame through it, but if the opponent is NOT close to the ledge it becomes a challenge to get through to it. While it is very good in those situations, do note that it doesn't really cover most ledge options well and is punishable, being mostly there to keep opponents FROM the ledge rather than when they are ON the ledge. Utsuho can also use this to snipe at main stages from platforms, with the laser even moving along with her on moving platforms like Smashville or Town and City!

The up-angled variant, however, actually gets a pretty fair amount of use, as the upwards 45 degree angle is REALLY nice for sniping out aerial foes! This is particularly noticeable because the easiest way to get around Utsuho's Forward Tilt is to simply jump over it, as it won't linger long enough to catch it. But if Utsuho goes for an up angled Forward Tilt, it'll usually catch out any opponent who is going for a full hop in. And when the opponent is deciding to always short-hop to avoid both of Utsuho's options, that is when Utsuho can start mixing in different options and reads, like Fixed Star at shorthop height, Side Aerial Smash, Dash Attack and Neutral Aerial. This conditioning is a vital part of Utsuho's playstyle, so get to work on reading the opponent as good as a science textbook!

Down Tilt: Crow's Feet​

Utsuho lifts her concrete foot upwards with a big ol' grin on her face, before slamming it down with quite the mighty force! A slow attack to start, this 11-frame startup attack crunches opponents for a clean 13% (the same as Bowser's base Forward Tilt) and pretty strong knockback that can kill at around 145%! The ending lag for it is not awful, but not fast either, with the biggest issue being the fact this attack has pretty poor range. It only really hits directly in front of Utsuho, making it quite lacking in reach when you consider the arsenal of other tools that Utsuho has available to her. One way to alleviate this is the additional hitbox Utsuho creates when using this attack, as the power she imparts with this stomp is enough to shake the ground in front of her with 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform range! Enemies who get shook by this take a meager 3% damage, but enter prone when they are hit, giving Utsuho a method to get foes into prone without the use of Melting Pummel Kick, although this is a more niche way to do so.

While incredibly short on range, this attack is MORE than safe on shield, dealing a bonus 1.2x shield damage and massive shieldstun. This attack actually combos into a Melting Pummel Kick if the opponent is hit while in shield, making it positively frightening to get hit by in shield, so you reeeeally want to outrange it instead of meeting it head on. Her power is just too overwhelming for that! But what if you want to make it a bit more overwhelming? Well, Okuu's got you covered!

Okuu can hold down A for up to half a second to charge this attack, increasing the power to 17% if held all the way and letting it kill at 115%, both of which are more than adequate for a tilt (it's practically becoming a mini-smash in power!). Utsuho's grin gets wider as she charges and flames start to burst out of her foot like little jets as she gets close to full charge, adding quite the layer of intimidation. The shield damage bonus is buffed tremendously with time, dealing a total of 2x bonus shield damage, so Utsuho can get serious shield break pressure with this! In fact, she has more than just a shield break. If Utsuho hits a shield with the fully charged version of this attack and does NOT break the shield (if it would break their shield, the shield break just happens as normal), she instead gets a Guard Break, akin to when guard orbs get broken in the Touhou fighters. With a shattering noise, the opponent reels back 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform and is forced out of shield, taking 1.5x their shieldstun as hitstun instead!

This deals no damage, but it leaves the opponent up for all kinds of options Utsuho might have on tap! If she has Fusion Specials, she can go into Fixed Star for damage and early kill power, or she can instead go into Yatagarasu Dive for the highest damage output (30%) from an easily linkable attacks. She could throw out her sun in order to do the same damage as Fixed Star, but exchange killing power for the SUbterranean Sun setup as well. Without a Fusion Special on deck, Utsuho instead might decide to go for a Down Smash for easy damage at all ranges, or a more aggressive shorthop Side Aerial Smash that allows Utsuho to press forward after hit as well. Or she could start a combo with something like inwards-Hell Geyser instead that might lead to more damage. She also could instead get up really close and play a waiting game, hoping to catch a panic shield with another Down Tilt, which will probably break the shield outright. But this is very risky as it foregoes certain and high damage for a shield break setup.

While powerful, do remember the 30 frame charge means you're hitting with the equivalent of a 41-frame move that has extremely low range. If the opponent's only option is to shield when they have that kind of warning, you've either got some incredibly good and likely hard fought setup working like high projectile/sun pressure or your opponent is just plain playing poorly. It's not easy to do.

Dash Attack: Flight of the Hell Raven​

Dashing forward with fluttering wings, Okuu kicks off with one of her feet and gracefully begins frontflipping into the air, the same as her C-dashing normal in Hisoutensoku! Okuu flips twice as she goes through the air, once as she goes airborne and once again in the air, with each hit dealing 6% and practically non-existant knockback. The first hit will always link into the second hit, so that's a fairly consistent 12% damage. Okuu ends up at roughly her full hop height off the ground and one Battlefield Platform forward and is completely able to go off the stage and platforms with this move, dragging the opponent with her if she hit them. This move comes out reasonably fast and has low ending lag, making it one of Utsuho's rare quick attacks, which can make it a somewhat weird anti-air as well, although the way it works makes it somewhat poorly suited to the "ranged punish" aspect of many Dash Attacks. Instead, it is highly recommended to use Down Smash for those situations!

This is also, somewhat rare for Utsuho, a combo starter move and is the primary way Utsuho gets ground-to-air combos. Neutral Aerial is a consistent follow-up at any percent that she can use, only being a 2-hit combo in most cases but a powerful one. Which hit Utsuho hits with depends on where Utsuho hit the foe, as unless they SDI very well they'll end up in roughly the same position as when they were hit when it comes to how close they were to Utsuho. At low percents, this combos into a Side Aerial Smash as the most damaging finisher unless the opponent is hit very close to Utsuho's body (in which case it usually won't work). Neutral Aerial and Up Aerial or rarely Down Aerial are all follow-up options, but less consistent. Up Aerial doesn't work if opponents properly SDI down, Down Aerial doesn't work if opponents properly SDI up and Neutral Aerial only works if the opponent is hit close to Utsuho's body. When you're in doubt of how the foe DI'd and how close they are to you, just use a Neutral Aerial. At VERY SPECIFIC percents, usually in the 20%-30% range depending on fall speed and body size, Utsuho can lead Dash Attack into Yatagarasu Dive as a true combo, which can get some cheesy early kills thanks to Yatagarasu Dive's high spiking power. This is pretty gimmicky though as the percentage band is very narrow and it requires a Fusion Special plus landing Dash Attack at that percent close enough when facing a ledge to be in killing range. It also is pretty risky, as Yatagarasu Diving off the stage if you mess it up, they are out of percent range and so air dodge it or you pre-buffer it likely means a very hard time getting back to stage!

While this move's rather unique travel type makes it a solid anti-air and gives it good range, it also has pretty low range on the GROUND since only the first kick can really hit. So unless the opponent is inside of that much smaller kick range, Utsuho will soar right over the opponent's head and probably be open to getting punished despite the low ending lag thanks to the travel duration. It also means that this isn't very safe to just throw out to fish for combos like a Sheik type, you WILL get punished if you spam this move despite the mobility and lag due to travel time.

Up Tilt: Hook Kick​

Bringing her foot behind her, Utsuho goes for an overhead kick that ends with her slamming her concrete foot down in front of her with a serious THUD, a move that gives serious range above Utsuho while hitting both behind (at the start) and in front of (at the end) Utsuho. The hitbox deals 9% damage all the way through, but the knockback differs depending on where the foe was hit. First off, the back hit just launches opponents upwards and really has no practical uses to Utsuho's kit aside from the fact it provides her a potential back hit and coverage. You never really want to INTENTIONALLY hit with it over the other options. Hitting airborne opponents at any point past that will cause them to be sharply spiked in front of Utsuho, almost always depositing them directly in front of Utsuho. If you use this attack riiiiiight at the ledge, though, this can serve as a stylish Captain Falcon Up Tilt style coup de grace on recovering opponents, although the knockback is only about 2/3rds as powerful. Finally, grounded opponents are hit a small distance forward, being kept relatively close to Utsuho. This move is slightly laggy on both ends, but it is nothing too major overall. Still, keep in mind you won't be winning any speed races when it comes to aerial challenges.

Both the airborne and grounded hits of Up tilt can combo into the inwards-Hell Geyser, but the grounded version only combos later on when opponents can't just shield it, while airborne opponents will get stage bounced out of range of the Hell Gesyer when they get to high percents, so they are nontheless imperfect combo tools. One great use of Up Tilt is simply to snatch airborne opponents and plummet them into a direct combat situation with Utsuho where she has the advantage. Opponents keep jumping over Forward Tilts? Up Tilt is a low commitment way to catch them out, especially compared to something like Fixed Star or Aerial Side Smash. If they move around projectiles predictably, you can use this to catch them out of the air and either smash them into the very projectile they wished to avoid or start a combo. Very situationally, Up Tilt could be used to catch people jumping out of a Ground Melt, but the lag of Ground Melt makes this usually impractical.

If the grounded hit hits a shield, this move can put pressure on the opponent with a Melting Pummel Kick, but will NOT combo. At minimum, they can spot dodge or roll away, and some characters will have additional options available depending on their out of shield game. However, said options need to be picked almost instantly, otherwise they won't happen fast enough to avoid the Melting Pummel Kick! This can put opponents in a real bind, especially if Okuu shows she is enough of a brave bird to go for it despite the non-safety and challenge the opponents head on! Once you get the opponent all revved up to defend against this tight window, they'll start predicting you'll be using it and you can have a field day mixing up options like Forward Tilt (a very safe mixup) or Down Smash (an example of a more risky but rewarding mixup) in order to catch out the options they are using to avoid the Melting Pummel Kick. The end result is oodles of heavyweight shield pressure without any "true" shield strings or combo danger behind it!

Speaking of shields, Up Tilt can be used as an alternative out of shield option to Up Smash. The reward is usually a lot less, ESPECIALLY against foes attacking from behind, and the attack is slower to come out than the Up Smash, but in return you get punished significantly less hard if you get baited. The range is also not as good as Up Smash. When you need a "safer" reversal, go for an Up Tilt, but be aware of its limitations as an out of shield reversal option!

Jab; Head Trauma​

Okuu's Jab begis with her performing a pretty simple punch forward, a low-range option that deals 2% damage and mostly exists to go into the rest of her 3-hit combo. The second hit causes Utsuho to perform a quick knee forward with her concrete clad foot, dealing 3% damage and knockback that largely keeps opponents in place. This, again, exists mostly to lead into the 3rd hit of the jab combo. Utsuho could try ending there and going back to a Jab 1 to get some more damage in, but this is NOT a true string and is begging for Okuu to get shield grabbed, and it + her grab are a bit laggy to get grab mixups out of this jab style, especially compared to her faster friends. Finally, her last hit of the jab causes her to perform a great overhead slam on the opponent, dealing a meaty 7.5% damage as she crushes the foe for a total of 12.5% damage out of her jab combo! While this is not a particularly fast jab, the average speed of the starting lag means it does serve the purpose Utsuho would most want out of her jab, being a quick option she can throw out at low risk when pesky ninjas and space animals are getting aggressive with their faster attacks!

The ending lag of the first two hits are rather low. Because of this, you will usually want to end on them if you whiff the attack, as the third hit does have somewhat noticeable ending lag for a jab. This jab combo is also pretty much never safe on shield. The last hit, technically, can be safe on shield if Utsuho hits with the edge of her overhead smash. However, said hitbox has more range than the first or second hits, and those hits do not do enough shield push to push opponents into it. Because of this, the safe spot can never realistically hit a shield when the jab combo hits on shield, and if you whiff Jab 1 and 2 when the opponent is that close you are probably in trouble anyway.

The knockback of the third hit is extremely low to the ground and primarily horizontal. This won't cause techs, but it DOES allow Utsuho some follow-up options off of it. At very low percents, an inwards-Hell Gesyer will combo out of Jab 3, giving Utsuho a simple damaging combo at starter percents with Utsuho then able to go into a Forward Aerial to finish it off. Past very low percents, however, this is instead simply an aggressive tool that can be responded too, although the opponent needing to be aware with defensive options does allow Utsuho some limited bait options with Forward Tilt and means you can still catch people out despite it not being true. Forward Tilt is your other big combo option out of this, usually able to hit at mid percents in order to push foes away and get some solid damage in. However, at low percents it is not true due to hitstun and at higher percents the angle the opponent is forced out causes it to not combo as long as they DI upwards. The end result is that at high percents, this is basically a pure spacer.

If you have a Fusion Special, keep Fixed Star in mind for this simple Jab, as it can actually catch opponents doing stuff like air dodging an expected inwards-Hell Gesyer surprisingly easy, although it is not fast enough to ever true combo out of this attack. Even if the foe avoids the attack, it will likely be through dodging rather than shielding, giving Utsuho the chance to go in and go ham as the Fixed Star returns back to where it was sent out.

Aerials​

Forward Aerial: Cannon Spiker​

Okuu swings her arm cannon forward with pretty solid force, the cannon itself aimed sliiightly downwards in addition to the forward swing. This attack has two hitboxes, one closer to Okuu and on the inner part of her arm cannon and the outer half of her arm cannon. The inner part of her arm cannon is a sweetspot that deals increased damage, 15.5% to be exact, and kills at a fairly early 105%. Considering that Okuu can actually use this as a combo ender compared to a lot of her laggier options that is actually pretty good, although it does mean this move tends to be rather staled. The tipper sourspot instead deals only 10.5% damage and the knockback is not nearly as powerful, but it is a semi-spiking hitbox that sends opponents at a low and forward angle. If Utsuho hits this while she is close to the ground with the foe, it will lead into a combo, most of the time this will be a short if highly damaging (the heavyweight combo special!) 2-hit combo with Forward Tilt. In certain situations, especially if Utsuho lands it VERY close to the ground, she can however lead this into an inwards-Hell Geyser, which leads to Okuu's most damaging combo string of Forward Aerial -> Hell Geyser -> Dash Attack -> Forward Aerial. This is not simple to accomplish, but it is her most damaging option that isn't crazy to pull off. With a Fusion Special on deck, she can instead go for Forward Aerial -> Hell Gesyer -> Yatagarasu Dive for LOTS of damage situationally and if the opponent is at pretty specific low percents (20%-30% d epending on character) get Forward Aerial -> Hell Gesyer -> Dash Attack -> Yatagarasu Dive! This is a devastating combo.

The starting lag on this attack is not all that great, but it is at least low enough to use it as a combo ender. Still, the speed does leave a good deal to be desired, and the higher ending lag means that Okuu can be punished pretty easily if she misses this attack. The landing lag on this attack makes it safer, but compared to a lot of Smash Ultimate character's very low landing lags it is still rather sluggish. If Okuu lands the close body hitbox on a shielding foe, this attack can combo into a Melting Pummel Kick on shield, which is a very risky option for Okuu but can be one of her more potent neutral tools. It being very risky because Okuu needs to be riiight in the foe's face for the combo to work. If Okuu can cross the opponent up, this significantly increases the ability for her to get a Melting Pummel Kick combo off because she gets to turn around easily with the Side Special compared to the foe. This move in general is one of her more solid neutral tools that aren't just all about range, but it is not a particularly fast neutral tool and still requires good spacing, particularly against fast and tricky foes! Oh, and another thing to note, the semi-spike knockback on the sweetspot can be very useful for catching opponents who jump over a Subterranean Sun and either will get hit into a projectile orbitting the sun or into the sun itself!

Up Aerial: Graceful Flipkick​

Utsuho gracefully flips upwards, leading the front-flipping flipkick of hers with her concrete foot, for a classic flip kick to strike down her foes! Or, well, to strike them up, anyway. This attack is fairly quick to come out, making it a solid juggling option and a way to smack foes above her easily enough. The juggling part of this attack is certainly lessened compared to combo-centric charactrs, however, because the ending lago n this attack is kinda long, which limits how long Okuu can juggle the foe vs. playing to catch their landing. The kick itself deals 8% damage to opponents it hits and light upwards knockback, at low/low-mid percents this chains into itself a single time. Beyond that, Utsuho needs to play more of a prediction game with further hits, or throw in additional options like Up Aerial Smash or a jump plus a different aerial. Do remember that Utsuho has plenty of extra jumps, so she can definitely afford to use one up to go hard on an opponent she's put in a bad spot!

Just like her flipkick attack from the fighters, Utsuho's aerial momentum is greatly enhanced during this attack, with Utsuho actually flapping her wings a noticeable amount during the flip portion of the flip kick. This starts 2 frames before the attack comes out and continues until 2 frames before the ending lag finishes. Considering her aerial potential, Utsuho's slow air speed can sometimes be a hindrance, so sometimes using this increased aerial momentum for better speed and control is itself a good reward. This is especially true when you consider some of Utsuho's other moves. Melting Pummel Kick, Shooting Star and Down Smash for example all give Utsuho additional momentum to retain when the attacks are doing. By using Up Aerial during that time, Utsuho can proceed to increased THAT aerial momentum as well, turning her into quite the little aerial monster! Combined with Utsuho's multiple jumps, she can use this attack to get very in your face and aggressive in the air, a stark contrast to how slowly she normally needs to move around! Note that since the additional aerial momentum ends when Up Aerial does, Utsuho cannot Up Aerial repeatedly to gain aerial momentum forever, although if she has enhanced aerial momentum Up Aerialing repeatedly can potentially allow her to keep it longer than intended depending on her movements in relation to the momentum (IE moving against the momentum will naturally decrease it and thus not allow this).

Back Aerial: Flurry of Flames​

Utsuho performs a sweeping swing of her arm cannon behind her, twisting her body around to do so, as flaming energy spews from it, leaving a bright and fiery trail as Utsuho swings downwards from an upwards start. This move has about average lag to come out, with the damage bein a low-for-Utsuho 10% that only kills at around 200%. The ending lag is also rather average, making this a coverage move for Utsuho that isn't particularly slow nor fast to use. It covers Utsuho's entire back, which is important for her because of the fact that Down Smash is rather difficult to use in that regard and Up Tilt is also not that great. While Back Aerial keeps Utsuho from having any fast options at her back, the damage is still solid and the knockback can be useful to begin a ledge guard or be safe on shield if Utsuho hits a shield with it and then jumps before hitting the ground. It also is useful when actually GUARDING the ledge, as the good vertical coverage allows Utsuho to cover 2-3 ledge options at once depending onwhere she positions herself. For example, positioning herself right up against the ledge can cover hanging (by hitting with the tail end of the downwards hitbox), ledge jump (hitting with the start of the upwards hitbox) and regular getup (hitting with the rest of the hitbox).

Utsuho twists her body around for this attack, but returns to her normal position during the move's ending lag. If Utsuho lands during the twist, however, she will instead remain facing her back, which allows Utsuho to do a little mental play with the direction she'll face for cross-ups. This isn't a huge deal, but Back Aerial is a useful enough cross-up attack that can be situationally safe on shield (hitting at higher range) despite mediocre landing lag, so it is worth noting for those situations.

Down Aerial: Surface Melter​

Utsuho's wings flair out wildly to the sides as she points her arm cannon at a 45 degree downwards-and-forwards angle, a confident, even smug smile on her face as energy collects in the arm cannon before firing downwards! This is a solid laser strike akin to Utsuho's Forward Tilt, but it deals in multiple hits rather than a single solid chunk, dealing 4 hits of 3% damage each that reaches a total of 12%. The final hit sends opponents at an upwards and forwards angle, the knockback is mediocre but that is more than made up by this move's incredible 1.5 Battlefield Platforms of horizontal reach with the vertical reach to match! The lag on both ends of this attack are lower than you would imagine, moreso the ending lag, but a huge part of this is because of the fact this move has a long and punishable duration, making it a more risky attack than "just" the starting and ending lag would lead you to believe!

This move also affects Utsuho's momentum in a way like Up Aerial but somewhat different, befitting similar momentum mechanics in Utsuho's Hisoutensoku set actually, as it increases the natural momentum Utsuho had when she used it until the end of it, which allows Utsuho to perform swooping and sweeping air raids with her laser cannon! The exception to this is downwards momentum, where the blasting of the arm cannon instead causes any downwards momentum to be heavily dulled. This can allow Utsuho to, for example, essentially be sliding left or right without much or any vertical momentum while firing off her laser, which is useful when the laser is at a good vertical position to sweep the stage. Up SPecial's momentum can be especially usefol for these purposes because of the fact Utsuho can go in any direction, allowing Utsuho to build-a-speed for her to then start raining fiery demise from above with!

Something worth noting is that both Down Aerial and Utsuho's Down Aerial Smash are rather poor landing options, as while Down Aerial Smash is very safe when it DOES land the very high starting lag makes it extrmeely easy to see coming, especially since using it in a landing situation is predictable. Similarly, Down Aerial's fixed diagonal angle makes it pretty poor for Utsuho trying to cover a landing. Combine that with slow fall speed, low air speed and a large hurtbox and Utsuho has one of the most common weaknesses known to heavyweight kind: landing. Utsuho's Neutral Aerial can alleviate this, but it is nonetheless a noticeable weakness in her game, forcing her to rely on things like jump mixups, momentum changing with attacks like Up Aerial and Down Aerial, and raining down attacks like Up Aerial Smash and Down Aerial to try and bully space. Up Special can actually serve a pretty interesting use in these situations, as the low landing lag yet quick travel speed can cause Utsuho to try and fly herself to the ground dramatically and around opponents. No easy task, of course, but it is one way Utsuho can try and land. Fusion Specials, in turn, can help Utsuho out tremendously: Ground Melt in particular thrives from being used higher up and can allow her to cover landings easily, but the downside is this uses up an otherwise valuable resource on "just" landing. Her Aerial Down Special should also be noted as it IS an attack Utsuho can use to hit under her, so it isn't like she is completely helpless to foes under her...but at the same time it is a laggy spiking attack that really is not suited to being a consistent landing option.

Neutral Aerial: The Eye of Yatagarasu​

The Yatagarasu's eye on Utsuho's chest glows brightly as Utsuho calls upon its power, opening her arms wide and having bright red energy the same color as the eye spill out of it, forming a sphere that temporarily overlaps Utsuho. Said sphere is red in color with a large, black middle that gives it a very similar look to the Yatagarasu's eye on Utsuho's chest. It also looks very similar to the "bubble danmaku" that Utsuho and many other Touhou characters use! This move is somewhat quick to come out, and deals 9% damage with radial knockback around Utsuho, enough to be considered a solid enough attack to get opponent's off of her. The knockback is low, but not low enough to be common combo fodder, making it a bit awkward, and the initial range is quite low, which are both flaws for this attack. The ending lag is also kind of high as well, which makes it a bit of an unsafe move overall.

One reason the ending lag is long is that the attack doesn't end there! After a few moments, Utsuho will point a finger forward and send out the energy as a sphere of pure Yatagarasu power that travels forwards two Battlefield Platforms! This actually is not limited to just going forward, as Utsuho can hold the control stick in any direction during this move to instead fling the Yatagarasu's "eye" in that chosen direction, with Utsuho's finger pointing the appropriate direction in the process. This, thus, is another way that Utsuho can try to help with her landings, by firing off these projectile orbs downwards to help out in addition to the all-around-me attack of the base Neutral Aerial. The orb deals the same damage and knockback as the initial hit, but the fact that it is disjointed from Utsuho allows it to be used in some simple follow-ups, nothing compared to many of her more powerful projectiles though.

While not as powerful, this DOES give Utsuho a consistent projectile option in the air that isn't the more involved and risky Up Aerial Smash, and gives Utsuho some more standard fodder to get orbitting her Subterranean Sun compared to more specialized options like Forward Smash or Forward Tilt, which can be pretty valuable. Utsuho can also use this as a less commital option when she has, say, a Fixed Star out in order to pressure opponents but with a faster-if-weaker option, which she does appreciate.

Finally, Utsuho can land during the Neutral Aerial, but before the projectile actually comes out. If she does this the attack will auto-cancel, causing her to land with normal landing lag. This gives Utsuho some specific heights she can fall down to land with it for less landing lag for landings, but more importantly does allow Utsuho some more neutral options. Out of a short hop, Utsuho can decide to either fire off the projectile and THEN land by falling normally, or she can fast fall to cancel the projectile launch and get lower landing lag. Note that this move DOES have landing lag when landed after the projectile and that it is rather meh. This is NOT an offensive option for the most part, as Neutral Aerial doesn't lead into anything and has low range that makes it unsafe on shield, so Utsuho won't be running in and doing Neutral Aerial mixups in the foe's face any time soon. Instead this is more about the defensive, approach breaking game, as Utsuho can choose to fire off the projectile or land and react to the opponent expecting a projectile for a punish. This can actually be particularly great if you have an Abyss Nova out, as foes are PARTICULARLY incentivized to approach quickly while she has one prepped so they can reduce its power or fizzle it out entirely, exactly the situation Utsuho would want to use this kind of approach-breaking mindgame in!

Grab Game​

Grab: Hellfire Grasp​

Okuu pulls her free hand back rather far, before giving it a large grasp forward as she takes a step forward! Okuu puts a lot of eagerness into this large grab, which gives it top tier range when combined with her step, but it also means she oversells the follow-through and struggles to regain her footing. On top of that, the starting lag of it is rather poor, meaning Okuu is denied even a fast shield grab! All the more incentive to use Up Smash and all the more reason fo the foe to bait it out instead.

Pummel: Using Your Head​

Okuu leans her head back, before slamming it into the opponent's at high, crushing speeds! This deals 3.3% damage and is a rather slow pummel, with Okuu looking almost comically in pain after each strike. Turns out headbutts are pretty painful, even for a birdbrain!

Forward Throw: Hell's Warlord​

Utsuho lifts the opponent up, allowing her cape to billow dramatically and wings to flair out, before slamming the foe into the ground and rocketing forward at very fast speeds, wings flapping in overdrive! The opponent takes multiple hits that total 6% before Utsuho finishes her Battlefield Platform of forward travel (grinding in place if she reaches a ledge or platform's edge) and tosses the opponent forwards for 4% damage and low, shallow knockback. At low percents this creates a tech situation that Utsuho can take plenty of advantage of with a Subterranean Sun, properly placed projectiles like Forward Smash or Up Aerial Smash, or simply using her incredibly useful Forward Tilt. At higher percents the opponent can jump to escape the tech situation, but losing your double jump with Utsuho still being able to get aggressive can be worse than just taking the tech.

Utsuho's ability to drag foes along makes it good for getting opponents through Utsuho's setup, while the low angle makes it Utsuho's best option to begin ledge guarding an opponent: Similarly, the movement is also very good for getting opponents closer to the ledge for this exact purpose! Aside from that, this is a reasonably damaging throw, but for the most part it is here for some simple utility. Something to note is that since you can grab with Up Aerial Smash up, this attack can be solid to run the opponent into where an Up Aerial Smash will go and toss them forward, as this throw's low ending lag makes it easy for Utsuho to follow-up wth an Up Aerial Smash release.

Up Throw: Starfall​

Hugging the foe close to her body, Okuu takes to the skies, flying right off the top blast zone like Kirby and Meta Knight! Utsuho's ascend and descend are, naturally, quite rapid, with Utsuho able to direct herself left or right about half a Battlefield Platform in total, although she is not allowed to pass over ledges or platform edges, so Okuucides are not really an option! When Utsuho lands, she slams the opponent HARD into the ground that she lands on, dealing 12% damage and pitfalling the opponent! Utsuho then pops to her feet next to the opponent, ready to strike.

This throw can be compared to K. Rool's pitfall throw, except that Utsuho has more ending lag, which makes it even more difficult for Utsuho to get a true attack off of the pitfall. This is perfectly fair because of the abundance of ways for Utsuho to instead turn the pitfall into setup odder: For example, she can time a Forward Smash to expand right before reaching where an opponent will be pitfalled, dealing the 16% damage hitbox or even with god tier timing the 32% damage hitbox! If Utsuho has an Up Aerial Smash ready, she can release it to get very aggressive on the pitfalled foe, while Neutral Aerial potentially hits an escapee from the pitfall while launching off a projectile. And something like Fixed Star has obvious power with the pitfall, being large and difficult to avoid when you already need to escape quickly just to react to it, and so on.

Since Utsuho can control the direction she falls to a degree, she could potentially to use this to drop a foe right on top of a Subterranean Sun, or even something like a Fixed Star. She won't get the 12% damage and pitfall from the slame, of course, but this can be a cool way to get a strong 22% damage out of a throw, and a particularly early kill with Fixed Star! It also should be noted that even a small Abyss Nova can be totally deadly if Utsuho can grab with the right timing: Get an opponent grabbed with Abyss Nova at juuuust the timer so it goes off when Utsuho is above or just below the top blast zone to send them flying off the top for a super early kill! This is not super practical for many reasons, for example Abyss Nova's long timer and the fact a low damage means low grab difficulty which makes timing windows even tougher, but that doesn't mean it isn't cool!

Down Throw: Large Smash Brothers Collider​

Lifting her arm cannon upwards, Utsuho grabs the foe and...stuffs them right inside of it! Wow, that's sure a tight fit! Especially large characters, like Bowser or King K. Rool, will actually have part of them sticking out of the cannon, either flailing their legs if they are a comical charactr such as Bowser (who is probably having a Superstar Saga PTSD) or being kept still in the case of a more serious villain like Ridley. Once stuffed inside of her arm cannon, Utsuho enters a psuedo-Cargo Throw state, where she can throw the foe but cannot move and is selecting directions rather than individual throws. The throw, no matter what direction Utsuho picks, deals 7% damage and knockback straight in the direction of Utsuho's choice! Utsuho has a grab difficulty timer before the opponent will struggle free of their confinement, the same as a Cargo Throw.

This move has incredible utility for Utsuho, whose projectile spacing is a critical part of her grab. Toss people directly into the sun! Throw off a Fixed Star, maybe even behind herself, and then proceed to shoot opponents right into it! Up Aerial Smashes, for example, are another way that Utsuho can go. Shooting the foe against the ground allows Utsuho to stage spike them, reducing the knockback they take, which can allow Utsuho to throw an opponent directly downwards to reduce their knockback and get an Up Aerial combo at low to low-mid percents, or down-diagonal to instead try to go for options like Forward Tilt or particularly an inwards-Hell Geyser, which lasts until mid percentages begin to get higher. Note that this throw is controlled like Fire Fox, so there are a multitude of in-between angles that Utsuho can decide to throw at!

Overall, Down Throw serves as a supreme spacer for Utsuho to utilize, but she doesn't need to use it for that, with combo options also available out of it for her, limited though they may be. As a small note, this throw's precise spacing also makes it extraordinarily useful in team battles.

Back Throw: Nuclear Force​

Utsuho raises the opponent in her hand as the eye of Yatagarasu in her chest shines a bright red, nuclear energy trailing up her arm and dealing multiple hits that equal 4% damage. Smirking, Utsuho turns around and smashes the opponent hard into the ground as their body continues to glow red and spark yellow with nuclear energy, dealing 7% more damage for a total of 11% damage. This fierce slam has plenty of power behind it, killing opponents at 120% near the ledge for a fairly strong kill throw. The opponent continues to spark and glow for 2.5 seconds, as well. Obviously the primary use of this throw is as a KO throw, killing opponents fairly early, without a ton of immediate other application.

The effect on the opponent is more for show, but only if they get hit by another attack using nuclear energy (which most of Utsuho's do, so). If they are flung into Utsuho's Subterranean Sun, the chain reaction is particularly strong, with the energy blowing out of the foe in a magnificent explosion that deals an additional 10% damage and sends opponents careening off the top as early as 80%! This does give Utsuho a particularly early kill throw, but it is more situational and dependant on Utsuho's sun getting out plus positioning.

Other hits instead trigger a smaller explosion, increasing the damage of that blow by 1.2x with knockback being increased as if the damage had been increased by 1.1x. This is a minor scratch for most moves, but some moves can make pretty big use of it, like Fixed Star getting a pretty clean +5% damage and becoming an even earlier potential kill than the sun! The big reward, however, would be Utsuho's Abyss Nova: Landing this throw when Abyss Nova would go off within that time could potentially lead to a pretty huge buff that will allow Utsuho to push it over the top in these instances.

Opponents will want to consider getting very aggressive to stop the Abyss Nova if this situation occurs, or they will want to focus on running away. This debuff goes away if the foe is hit by ANY move using her nuclear energy, so pairing it with Abyss Nova leads to the tricky situation of only being able to use moves like Up Aerial or Aerial Down Special if you want to keep the buff up. Then again, simply using it as a threat to land other power nuclear moves is itself a pretty good reward. You also could use it to help buff a smaller Abyss Nova: If the Abyss Nova would get buffed into its "ignore shields" range by this it will ignore shields, I should note.

Final Smash: Fusion Sign "Uncontrollable Giga Flare"​

Utsuho's Final Smash is based on two attacks of hers: Nuclear Heat "Uncontrollable Drive" and Explosion Sign "Giga Flare" (which, by the way, can go up to Peta Flare levels!). Seeing as it is a Fusion of her two techniques, they are thus: Fusion Sign "Uncontrollable Giga Flare"!

The attack starts with warning klaxons blaring out loudly, nuclear hazard symbols lightly filling the back of the screen as Utsuho rushes forward the a full two Battlefield Platforms! Anyone caught in this activation hitbox is brought into the main cinematic attack in the same style as villains like K. Rool and Ridley, bringing them to the same underground sun chamber Utsuho is fought in Subterranean Animism, complete with the nuclear hazard symbol in the background that shows ZUN's cat. Utsuho proceeds to rapidly ram into the opponent 5 times, dealing 3% damage each time like how the attack does 15 hits in chunks of 3 in Hisoutensoku. This, naturally, is not where the attack ends: 15% damage would be a pretty lame Final Smash, after all!

Utsuho, with the last diving strike, turns around and begins to charge her arm cannon, a moderately sized sun forming in front of it. When she fires, an absolutely TREMENDOUS torrent of nuclear energy bursts forth from it, searing the opponent over and over again with raw strength! This attack deals multiple and rapid hits that total 20%, before finally launching the opponent upwards with a stronger blast of 25% damage that sends everyone back to the main screen! Utsuho flies dramatically in to her original position (like the end of the first GIF), while foes take high upwards knockback that will likely score a kill.

If Utsuho misses anyone with the initial dive, then one of two things will happen. If Utsuho is on the ground, she will faceplant directly into said ground, skidding for a bit before righting herself for some humorous ending lag. And if she is in the air, she will tumble for a bit as she struggles to regain her positioning, flapping her wings rapidly and looking a bit dizzy. Guess our litle raven got taken for a ride, huh? Try not to miss, for Okuu's sake.

Playstyle: Heavyweight Hell Raven​

Extras​

Alt. Costumes​

 

[FrozenRoy]

A sword is not strength
A sword is not skill
A sword is not fellowship
— Creed of the Craftknights

Pratty​

Pratty is the main character of my favorite game ever, although Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter is looking like some serious competition, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story. She is the daughter of the legendary Craftlord Shintetsu, who died prior to the game's start, and someone who Pratty greatly looks up to, although her mother Amariss also figures into the plot some and is pretty on top of things.

Weapon Mechanics​

Before we get to Pratty's statistics, we need to discuss her primary mechanic, as said mechanic is able to adjust Pratty's stats and thus would be confusing to explain without getting to it.

Pratty uses all five of the primary weapons from her home game: Swords, Axes, Spears, Knuckles and Drills. She is not, however, a 5-in-1 weapon switch character, at least not entirely. Pratty's moves essentially fall into three categories: Non-weapon using, where the weapon doesn't matter. Moves which always use the same weapon. And moves which use Pratty's active weapon, which is the last weapon Pratty used. Pratty's active weapon is the one she runs around with on her model, which seamlessly switches in and out as needed just like in Swordcraft Story, and also is indicated by a small icon next to Pratty's HUD using the icons for each weapon from her game. Her inactive weapons are shown in smaller icons around the active one, in the order of: Sword -> Axe -> Spear -> Knuckle -> Drill, from left to right. All of Pratty's standards along with her aerials depend on her active weapon, while most other attacks use a set weapon.

To explain, allow me to use an example. Pratty's Side Special always uses a drill, so even if your active weapon is a sword, it'll use a drill. After using Side Special, your active weapon becomes your drill. If you then use your Jab, it will be your Drill Jab. This can lead to some really deep decisions when it comes to combo chains and general playstyle, as which moves you choose to use can alter what you do even mid-combo, sometimes you'll even want to just switch weapons mid-combo with a move as much as hitting with it! While attacking is the main way to swap weapons, there is oooone other way to do so.

Each of Pratty's weapons is based on an actual weapon from the game, and for the most part I tried to choose weapons you break and use from other characters, although the nature of the weapon balance makes this more difficult. Your sword is Sanary's Sword, your axe is Kenon's Axe, your spear is Ureksa's Spear, your knuckles are Razzy's Knuckles and your drill is Ariel's Drill. You can click icons of these weapons on character select to choose which to start with, akin to Pokemon Trainer and his Pokemon, but the order is still always Sword -> Axe -> Spear -> Knuckle -> Drill.

Just like in the games, each of these weapon's has an attribute, although Kenon's Axe has been changed from being non-elemental in the game as there are no other named axes to choose from. Sanary's Sword is fire, Kenon's Axe is water, Ureksa's Spear is Wind, Razzy's Knuckles are Electric and, well, Ariel's Drill is also electric because there are only 4 elements in the game but 5 weapons. I would have kept Kenon's Axe non-elemental and used a water drill to alleviate this, but that requires using a non-character weapon for the drill which feels worse than an elemental overlap.

Steel Statistics - Sword​

Because Pratty's different weapons offer her different statistics, but the sword is the "default" for her, we will begin by talking about her Sword statistics and then compare her other statistics to it. Essentially a walking armory, Pratty's large amount of weapons bely a larger weight than you'd expect (as the stairs can attest), making her a weight 106 character who is tied with Snake and R.O.B. as the 17th/18th heaviest character in the game. Her dash speed is fairly solid, but it is not impressive, equal to Young Link at 36th. Still on the higher end, anyway. Her walk speed is quite fast though, 1.5 which puts her barely below Greninja's 1.502, Greninja being 4th in walk speed. Her size can be thought of as the height of Luigi with the width of Mario: While she dashes around, she lowers her head and zooms around head-first in an animation directly taken from her home game, which makes her hurtbox a little wider and a little less tall while dashing, not enough to usually matter but who knows in some niche case it could. Pratty's dodges are also taken animation-wise from her backstep in the game, although increases in range to be more suitable for a Smash Ultimate dodge. Fairly high traction.

Pratty's fall speed is pretty average and tied with Lucina/Marth/Shulk/Inkling for 41st-44th, with similar ranking of gravity. Her sword air speed is a bit above average, but not much noticeable, equal to Shulk at 31st. Her jumps are a bit above average and she has slightly above average aerial control. Pratty can perform a wall jump while her weapon is Sanary's Sword.

As an extra note, Sanary's Blade is a bit of a broadsword, but not as much as Ike. It is still a bit on the larger end of swords, giving it above average sword range.

Axe Statistics​

Pratty's Axe statistics defer from the Sword statistics in the following ways:

- Pratty is significantly heavier while wielding her axe, with a weight of 114, between Piranha Plant (112) and Incineroar (116), This makes her the 8th heaviest character.

- The axe is a shorter range weapon, and while it still has some noticeable disjoint, it'll pretty easily get stuffed by a true swordie such as Marth and other characters with reasonable range.

- Pratty slows down tremendously while wielding the heavy Kenon's Axe, with a dash speed equal to Ike (67th) and walk speed equal to Robin (58th). Don't use this form for moving around quickly.

- Pratty's fall speed increases tremendously, with fall speed equal to Simon/Richter/Greninja for an 8th place tie. Not only does this allow Pratty to do some fast landing and surprising quick aerials, but Pratty additionally gains a fast fall increase equal to Link, a 90% increase when fastfalling. Given her extremely high base fast fall speed, this allows her to drop incredibly fast and sometimes incredibly suddenly.

- Pratty's jumps become below average in height.

- Pratty cannot wall jump while wielding her axe.

Spear Statistics​

- Pratty's ground dash speed is slightly reduced while wielding Ureksa's Spear, going down to Samus/Dark Samus speed (45th). Her walk speed goes down to Pit/Dark Pit in a 20th tie.

- The Neo Ureksa Spear is Pratty's longest reaching weapon, able to poke out opponents from afar, and outrange swordies. Some of the attacks have downright Corrin-esque range, or Corrin F-Smash-esque anyway.

- Pratty's air speed is somewhat increased, going up to Mii Brawler speed (25th). Her fall speed drops dramatically, with her 1.27 being between Yoshi and Mr. Game & Watch for 72nd.

- Pratty's traction is reduced to be fairly low.

- Pratty cannot wall jump with a spear out, but she gains a small third jump which she can use, with a little burst of air pushing her upwards. Ureksa's Spear is wind element, after all.

Knuckle Statistics​

- Pratty becomes much lighter when wielding her knuckles, becoming a lightweight with 88 weight (tied with Greninja, Young Link and Isabelle for 56th).

- Razzy's Knuckles are not disjointed and the attacks don't even count as disjointed attacks, making them by far the lowest range weapons in Pratty's kit. You'll need to get up close and personal.

- Pratty is at her fastest when using Razzy's Knuckles. Her 2.4 Dash Speed with them on puts her just below Fox and barely out of the top 5. Her walk speed becomes 1.6, barely putting her in an indisputed 1st place in walk speed.

- Her air speed similarly boosts up, becoming equal to Roy and Chrom at 4th. Her fall speed also becomes fast, equal to Mii Brawler (5th), allowing for quick aerials and movement.

- Pratty's jumps become slightly better.

- Pratty can still wall jump with her knuckles and actually gets slightly more height than with Sanary's Sword. She also gets a fairly low crawl which has good speed.

Drill Statistics​

- Pratty gets a small weight buff, going up to 108 weight (tied with Samus, Bowser Jr and Dark Samus for 9th).

- Ariel's Drill has the 2nd shortest range of Pratty's weapons, although unlike the knuckles it actually does count as a disjoint, but it is for all intents and purposes a close range melee weapon.

- Pratty becomes somewhat slower on the ground, with her dash speed being reduced to Lucario (40th) and walk speed to Toon Link (14th).

- Pratty can perform a wall cling while using the drill, but not a wall jump.

Specials​

Neutral Special ~ Sugar​

Sugar is here and she's ready to help! You'll see a little portrait of Sugar next to Pratty's HUD, which shows if Sugar is "Ready" or not, with her serving as a bit of an assist character. And Sugar isn't limited to just one spell! She has four different spells, depending on how you input this Neutral Special. Before we get to that, here's some things that are the same for Sugar no matter what you choose.

First off, there is a small "casting time" before Sugar will appear, during which you get to select the move you want to use. Pratty will hold one arm out and call out Sugar's name (or, sometimes, her full name Sugarette), and Sugar will appear! Her exact orientation compared to Pratty depends on the move used. Sugar will appear either with an affirmative quote ("Okay!", "Got it!"), something a bit more excited ("I thought you'd never ask!")...or sometimes something a bit flirty, because that's just a Sugar way of rolling (For example, "Want me to kiss your wounds away?" when casting Healing Spell). Pratty will visibly blush when Sugar chooses one of the flirty lines. Pratty has extremely low ending lag after Sugar comes out, being able to move nigh-instantly.

Secondly, Sugar enters 6 seconds of cooldown after the move ends, no matter which attack was selected. Her portrait will have a little red X square over it while she is on cooldown, not unlike the games themselves when you ran out of your per-battle spells or ran out of 1 specific spell. Attempting to use Sugar during this time has no effect.

Thirdly, Sugar stays out for a while actually casting the spell, and can be hit. Her hurtbox is similarly sized to Pratty's. Dealing 12% or more damage to Sugar with hitstun will cause Sugar to retreat, canceling the spell and putting her on a 12 second cooldown. So don't just throw Sugar out without thinking, or you can be punished pretty hard.

Now then, on to Sugar's actual attacks! The inputs are no direction input, up, down, and left/right.

No Direction ~ Healing Spell​

This one will cause Sugar to appear above Pratty, much like when using buff spells in the games. and begins to cast a spell. Pratty's body begins to take on a light blue glow and blue sparkles begin to flow into her across the 2.5 second cast time, with Pratty free to move as she is in all of the spells. This is one of the spells opponents will most want to interrupt, which fortunately for them is not TOO hard, so Pratty will want to play a little protect the Sugar (Which, hey, Sugar is ALL for!). When Sugar finishes casting, the sparkles will finish collecting and "burst" around Pratty, leaving her with a sparkly aura for the next 7 seconds.

This has two effects. First, it heals Pratty for 7% damage, offering her that extra little sustainability that most characters lack. On top of that, Pratty's weapons gain a healing effect during the 7 seconds of sparkly goodness! Hitting with any of Pratty's attacks causes her to heal for 1/3rd of the damage dealt, which can allow Pratty to get some pretty noticeable damage swings off. Don't count her out, even when she's on the ropes!

Up ~ Enchant Aqua​

Sugar will also appear above Pratty for this buffing move, with water swirling around Pratty like a whirlpool as she poses with her weapon. Each weapon gets a different pose: Sanary's Blade is an up-and-forward dramatic point with the blade, Kenon's Axe has her firmly planting the axe in the ground for a cool look, Ureksa's Spear has her holding it on her shoulders in a "I'm so cool I don't care" look (that Pratty is struggling not to kinda laugh during), for Razzy's Knuckles she bangs them together in front of her, and Ariel's Drill has her pointing the drill above her and turning it on. These poses only last briefly, before Pratty is free to move, essentially being pretty ending lag that she always takes. It takes 1.5 seconds for the enchantment to finish casting, and just to be clear again, Pratty doesn't pose that entire time, just for her normal brief ending lag.

Upon completing the spell, the water swirls and collects around Pratty's weapon, which glows a vivid ocean blue color for 10 seconds. This indicates the weapon has been buffed with aquatic power, which largely provides move-by-move-basis buffs. One universal buff is that Pratty's attacks deal 1.2x their normal shield damage when they have Enchant Aqua on them, which can do some serious shield harm.

Down ~ Aqua Tornado​

Aqua Tornado is Sugar's main attack from the games! Sugar appears in front of Pratty, with this move having very quick cast time, like a somewhat fast Down Smash. A pair of watery tornados springs up to the sides of Sugar, slightly wider than Pratty and tall enough to baaaaaarely poke the bottom of one of the lower Battlefield Platforms. Each one is about one Sugar-width to each side of Sugar, and Pratty can move freely in them. In fact, if Pratty doesn't move, the tornado behind Sugar will cover Pratty, which makes this a kind of neat "get off of me" move. There's also the tornado in front of Sugar, which will be fairly far from Pratty, making this a solid ranged move.

The tornado continues for 1.5 seconds, Sugar there and vulnerable all the while: One weakness of this attack is that Sugar has no hitboxes overlapping herself, so there's plenty of room for someone to jump between the tornados and smack Sugar to end the attack prematurely plus send Sugar on longer cooldown. On the other hand, this allows Pratty to use these tornados as traps, combo extenders, and so on since she is free to move, so it offers a lot of benefit to Pratty too.

As for the tornado's hitbox itself, it will deal 3 hits of 3% damage, before launching foes straight up for 9% damage and moderate knockback that won't kill until quite late (230%). Opponents will also be launched for the damage and knockback if the tornado's duration ends with them in it. It is a solid damaging option, even if it lacks in killing potential, and Pratty can wait above a tornado for a foe to pop out for an easy combo.

Left/Right ~ Chain Spark​

Using Sugar's primary alternate element, every Guardian Beast gets all other elements eventually but each one has a primary second type they get faster and for Sugar that is Electricity, Sugar appears to the left or right of Pratty depending on what direction you input. She charges electricity in her hand for 1 second, before firing it straight forward in a crackling line as a very fast hitbox! She does a pretty cool finger pointing animation to shoot it out. While it takes a while to come out, it travels its 2/3rds Battlefield distance quite quickly, and the attack lasts only briefly. It is as much a threat to move out of that horizontal plane and thus control the foe's spacing as it is a strong attack.

The zig-zagging electricity deals three hits of 4% damage for a total of 12% damage and essentially no knockback, leaving opponents in place with high hitstun, making it a premium combo starter. It leaves Sugar less vulnerable than Aqua Tornado and is generally the more aggressive option, setting up an offensive rather than defending you.

Sugar has a lot of different options, buffing, healing, defensive and offensive spells. Use them wisely given the cooldown cost of utilizing Sugar!

Side Special ~ Sweet Drill Rush​

Based on the standard special weapon attack of Swordcraft drill weapons, Pratty pulls back her arm and begins revving up her drill, seamlessly switching to the drill if it is not her active weapon. This is a non-storable charge move. Without any charge, Pratty will simply thrust the drill forward, with it causing her to drive and rush forward about half a Battlefield Platform as it drills and sparks. This deals 4 hits of 1% damage each (if you hit at the start of the move), followed by a final hit of 4% damage that lightly knocks opponents away, enough that Pratty can start a combo until higher mid percents. The starting lag on this move isn't the best, but the ending lag is actually very low, so Pratty gets to do a lot when she uses this for movement!

Charging it increases the speed Pratty travels, the distance, and the damage that Pratty deals. Up until max charge, Pratty can deal up to 8% damage in multihits (8 hits of 1%), followed by a final hit of 8% damage that still launches the opponent fairly close to Pratty and so allows some follow-ups. If you release just before max charge, you will travel fairly quickly about 1.3 Battlefield Platforms as well, making this much more of an approach and movement option. Pratty's descent is slowed slightly when charging Side Special, so you can combine this with your Up Special as a recovery tool.

Charging it to max changes this move's properties a good deal, and can be better or worse depending on the situation. First, the attack is now one big hitbox, dealing 12% damage to anyone Pratty passes through as she travels with large sparks flying out of the drill! This IS less damage than the default move, but only if you hit at the very start of the hitbox and got all the multihits, otherwise it is close and can even be better. Pratty now travels 2/3rds of Battlefield and moves at lightning-quick speeds, significantly faster than the partially charged version, allowing Pratty quite the approaching option! This move also deals quite a lot of shield damage, in fact it deals 2x shield damage (24%) on hit, with the loud sound of electricity crackling and a light shattering noise when it hits a shield. The knockback no longer is a combo-starter for the most part, but it will kill at around 145%. It takes 2/3rds of a second to fully charge Side Special.

Trying to shield the fully charged version is a total mistake, and Pratty actually has small frame advantage even with the non-charged version on shield. One fun thing to do is set up a Chain Spark after hitting the shield, forcing the opponent to react quickly to an oncoming hitbox while leaving you in a position to take advantage of their responses, and can be considered one of the standard follow-ups to a fully charged Side Special.

Enchant Aqua doesn't really affect the non-fully-charged versions beyond the standard shield damage buff, but the fully charged version will cause not only a burst of electricity when hitting the foe, but also water to erupt like hitsparks. The effect of these two combined is for the opponent to get shocked horribly, taking 4% damage and being stuck in place for quite a good deal of hitstun before they actually take the Side Special's knockback. long enough that Pratty will definitely recover by then. This gives Pratty plenty of chance to combo the opponent, prepare a Sugar ability with the foe having little time to disrupt it, set up a gimping situation if they will fly off stage, and you get the idea. It is good!

Up Special ~ Rising Knuckle​

Pratty bends down with Razzy's Knuckles, before leaping upwards with a sparking, rising uppercut, a big ol' grin on her face! A classically Shoryuken-inspired attack, Pratty has intangability frames from Frame 2 to Frame 6, allowing her to use it as a classic reversal attack. This attack comes out kinda slow for a shoryuken, but it has reasonable damage, dealing 11% damage but keeping opponents rather close. Pratty is free to jump after the attack ends and with the opponent being kept close this can lead into a combo in general. The ending lag is rather low, so it also means Pratty isn't especially punishable when recovering or using this as a tool. The height is nice for landing on platforms with low landing lag, although it is kinda low for a recovery, so keep that in mind when playing Pratty. Fortunately, Side Special into this allows you to cover a lot more ground!

This move, much like Side Special, has a non-storable charge that takes 2/3rds of a second to perform. If you fully charge it, however, Pratty will spark electricity out of her knuckles, punching forward with the hand she doesn't normally lead with. Striking the opponent with this deals 5% damage, shocking them in place and setting them up for Pratty's next attack, which is a crunchingly powerful leaping uppercut that deals 15% damage and significantly higher knockback than the base version! Not only does this deal significant damage, but it will begin killing around 105%, making it a reasonably strong KO option for Pratty. It also sends Pratty up 1.3x the normal distance for recovering. In return, though, it puts Pratty into helpless at the end, making her more vulnerable. Especially if you whiff the attack, since Pratty will still perform the laggier, stronger uppercut if she whiffs the initial blow. So, be careful!

B + A Special ~ Weapon Switch​

As you may have guessed from this Special's name, it is done by pressing B and A at the same time. This is the one alternative way that Pratty has to freely switch weapons without attacking! Press B + A and Pratty will switch to the next weapon in her cycle (Sword -> Axe -> Spear -> Knuckle -> Drill -> Sword) with very little lag. This can allow Pratty to function as a more "true" weapon switch set, but the nature of how her attacks swap weapons mean that she is still far from a traditional or realistic weapon swap set. Most commonly, this is for using combos with your next weapon in line, such as using a set-up sword attack into Weapon Switch into a powerful axe finisher.

An additional cost to switching weapons is it puts the weapon switched out from on an 8 second "cooldown", during which you cannot switch to it. Perhaps she's making sure the weapon's durability isn't broken? This is shown by the weapon icon of the weapon that was switched out becoming grey and lifeless. Pratty cannot use attacks which always use that weapon as well, with the exception of Up Special, which will have her perform an uppercut without the knuckles on that lacks invincibility frames, cannot be charged and deals half damage. It does mean you keep your recovery, though.

You can consider this a bit of a "cheat" ability, allowing you to swap weapons with unprecedented ease compared to the rest of the set. The weapon switch is almost lagless, much like the games where switching weapons took little time. But you'll be putting the weapon on cooldown and if you swap rapidly you'll be in trouble with many attacks off the table and only one choice for a while for example. Tradeoffs!

Down Special ~ Switching Attacks​

Pratty's Down Special depends on her active weapon, but in a different way than the rest of her attacks: Rather than utilizing her active weapon, it switches to Pratty's NEXT weapon while performing an attack, essentially giving Pratty an attacking way to swap between her weapons and allow them to flow into each other some more. Fittingly, many of these attacks work into her combo game to allow them to flow into her overall game and help everything work together, be it as combo starters, extenders or enders. Each attack has properties, so we'll be going over them individually. One note with all of them, however, is that this will put the weapon you switched FROM on an increased 12 second cooldown timer, the same as the Weapon Switch. Now then, on to the attacks!

Sword ~ Prominence Blaze​

Pratty spins Sanary's Blade in her hand, pulling it back and pointing it forward rather stylishly, a pulse of flame shooting out as a thin line! This travels about one Battlefield Platform of distance straight forward, thin like a lower powered R.O.B. laser, igniting any opponent it hits for 4% damage at a base. On top of that, the opponent is kept in a Paralyzer-style effect as the flame ignites around them like an inferno, with fiery effects consuming them compared to the electrical effects of a paralyzer, their body writhing a little compared to the static stiffness of being paralyzed. The exact effectiveness and power of this strike depends on how much you've softened the opponent up: Every strike that you landed in the last 6 seconds on that opponent powers up the raging inferno once it ignites them, dealing 1% damage over the course of the burn for each hit and increasing the paralyzer timer. Hitting the opponent with no prior hits doesn't cause enough paralyzer for anything, while 3 prior hits gives you a fairly sizable advantage. 6, where the paralyzer effect caps in terms of effectiveness (the damage caps at 12 hits as a safety measure for 12% maximum added damage or 16% total), gives Pratty free range to use just about any attack on the foe and probably charge up Smash Attacks pretty far as well! Only hits that occured during the last 6 seconds and which Pratty (or Sugar) delivered to the opponent.

This move has fairly low ending lag, making it moderately safe when throwing out. Something to note is that the move deals pathetic shieldstun and almost no shield damage at a base. However, for each hit the opponent has taken in the last 6 seconds (same method as the paralyzing part), the shieldstun and shield damage grows with the +1% damage the hits contribute here being expended as a small, fiery explosion if it hits a shield. Two hits allow it to be safe on shield from further distances and four hits are safe on shield at any distance. Six hits allow Pratty a free shield grab on a foe who is hit by this at any distance as well, which can make it pretty solid as an anti-shielding option but obviously is pretty heavily setup required.

This move is primarily used as a combo extender. The fact it gets stronger with prior hits is an obvious reasons for this, but it also has starting lag that is on the higher end between Pratty's flourish and the moment it takes for the pulse to come out. Using this in neutral is generally not recommended, as it isn't all that hard to dodge if you don't hit into it. The fact it counts based on number of hits for its effect also means it flows very nicely from the Drill attacks you will be switching out of, which frequently involve multi-hit attacks that will rack up the hit count pretty well. Down Tilt in particular will often combo right into this attack, making it one of Pratty's stronger combo options with drill form. Sometimes, you can also get a no charge or low charge Side Special in, leading to Down Tilt -> Side Special -> Down Special ~ Prominence Blaze -> Combo.

When combined with Sugar's Enchant Aqua, the flame is sent out with a mix of water and explodes into a burst of sweltering hot steam as it impacts the opponent! This creates a heated cloud of steam around the opponent about 1/4th the size of a Smart Bomb explosion, which deals extremely fast and constant hits of 1% damage with no flinching. Over the course of its duration, it deals a solid 15% damage, although it is not too difficult to get out of since it doesn't deal any hitstun. The fact it doesn't deal any hitstun, though, also allows it to rack damage on an opponent under the fiery paralysis without knocking them out of it. An opponent with a full 6-hit stun time will take the full 15% damage (barely) and one with a 3-hit stun takes 7.5% of it. This definitely encourages Pratty to wait a bit before smacking opponents with this, since she gets additional free damage out of it. This explosion also occurs if the opponent is hit while shielding, forcing them to either get out of the steam quickly (which can be difficult if Pratty is aggressing their shield) or let it eat at their shield the entire time, or try to fight inside of it by dropping shield and taking some free damage. The steam cloud is NOT created if the attack whiffs entirely. While this offers Pratty some pretty intense damage potential, it is also highly unreliable. Hitting TWELVE hits beforehand can give you 31% total damage plus a combo continuation, but it also requires hitting an opponent with twelve hits in under six seconds followed by hitting them with this specific move enchanted with a specific buff. If you pull that off, you deserve a big reward!

Axe ~ Aqua Edge​

Pratty, gripping Kenon's Axe tightly, performs an inwards swing that looks more like she is trying to throw the axe than perform any kind of strong attack...because, in a sense, she is! As she swings, a quivering, watery copy of Kenon's Axe flings "out" of the axe horiontally, spinning like a boomerang! The slash itself is a weak hitbox that only deals 6% damage, usually pushing opponents into the path of the watery axe rushing at them, with it comboing flatout until around 60% on most characters. The watery axe itself deals 14% damage and pretty solid knockback, although hardly one of your strongest axe options, killing at 120%. Considering it is a projectile that travels 1.35 Battlefield Platforms, that's pretty good! It moves fairly slow as it travels straight forward, and will boomerang back to its origin point after traveling its maximum distance, disappearing and melting into water once it gets back to its original spot.

This move is generally used as more of a combo ender tool, thanks to the long range and start-up being fast. The ending lag from Pratty singing the axe, however, is on the long end, which combined with the high knockback of the watery axe naturally means that it is a bad combo extender or the like. It is also quite usable as a neutral tool, since it gives a fairly meaty hitbox (and basically Pratty's only true "projectile", albeit one she really can't use often) with a pretty quick start-up. Your sword hitboxes provide various ways not only to combo into the hit normally, but some of them will also combo into this on shield, which can be a pretty strong tactic.

This attack gets a fair deal stronger when Enchant Aqua is on you against defenses. When this attack hits an opponent, including their shield, the burst of water collects into two much smaller axes, which shoot slightly up and to the left and right of the impact (one each), before falling down until they either hit the ground, an opponent or fall 2 Ganondorfs of height. Each of these "mini-axes" deals 7% damage and knock opponent up with light-moderate knockback. Opponents directly hit by this axe will be sent flying before the mini-axes have much of a chance to hit them, so it is rather useless on hit. On shield, though, the two mini-axes will be cutting off two routes of escape for the opponent, leaving them with reduced options. They could jump straight-up, but that's more predictable than a normal jump, staying in shield offers risks of being grabbed or taking one of the high powered axe attacks, and of course spot dodges or rolls can be red pretty easily in this kind of situation. While not impossible to get out of, it is a pretty large advantage state for Pratty.

The axe will also "splash" into the two mini-axes when it reaches the end of its rebound range if it was fired with Enchant Aqua on, which can add that little extra touch of spatial control. The watery axe appears more solid with Enchant Aqua on than the wavering version normally seen, which makes it easy to tell the difference visually.

Spear ~ Winds of Change​

Pratty spins Ureksa's spear in front of her vertically, causing a cylinder of wind to whirl out of it from the elemental wind power contained within! This attack actually has a dependant part of it on if you tilt or smash the control stick, which is unique to Pratty's switching attacks. If Pratty tilts the button, then the whirlwind will have an INWARDS hitbox and pull to it, while smashing it creates an OUTWARDS hitbox and push to it. Whatever the case, the attack deals 10 hits of 1% damage each, which either draw the foe in or push them out depending on how Pratty input the attack. When the attack ends, a final gust of wind deals 3% damage and knockback + hitstun that firmly keeps the opponent in place, in addition to giving Pratty a few frames of advantage. This move has pretty low lag on both ends, so Pratty can use it as a supremely nice spacing tool to go from her Axe, which can tend to hit foes into far ranges where this can suck them back in for example.

Pratty can press B at any point to end this attack early, going right into the 3% damage final hit. Not only does it make this attack incredibly difficult to punish (although the nature of it being a switching attack stops spamming), but it allows Pratty to stop the attack at any point in positioning the foe, giving her absolutely pinpoint precise control of where she wants the foe in relation to her! She can drag the opponent close to go for stuff like a grab, or go into the midranges for the natural spear attacks she'll be using, or other stuff like a good spot to rush into the opponent for Side Special. This kind of control is an invaluable tool when Pratty is dealing with multiple weapons, ranges and opponent types, and this spear change is one of her strongest options for pure spacing. It deals a pretty nice sum of damage, too!

The horizontal range of this move means it can be quite nice if you have a Chain Spark about to fire off, particularly in the inwards push variant, which means placing a Chain Spark and approaching with your axe is more frightening than you might think, as it also threatens to go into this spear move and drag them into the Chain Spark while being kept in all of its hits for oodles of damage!

Knuckles ~ Ribbon of Fate​

Pratty swipes her hand forward horizontally, the ribbon tied around that one of her knuckles unfurling as she does so and sparkling with electricity. As the ribbon reaches its maximum distance of about one Battlefield Platform, Pratty curls her fingers and pulls tightly, causing the ribbon to whip back to her quickly and wrap itself around her knuckles again. This produces two hitboxes, the first being the electrical sparks as the ribbon unfurls, which deal three hits of 3% and push enemies away at a decent rate. The final hitbox is a grab hitbox located at the tip of the ribbon, which will coil around opponents with an electrically-clinging shock of 8% damage, with the opponent being spun and reeled right in front of Pratty (fixed knockback) after connecting. While the two hitboxes CAN combo, it is very difficult to do so as the multihit will usually push opponents past the rather specific sweetspot (or at low percents sometimes undershoot). It is easier to combo it against shields, as the shield-push on the multihits is a bit more forgiving for this combo. The starting lag on this attack is okay, allowing you to weave it into a combo, but the slight duration in addition to ending lag makes it punishable if whiffed. The multi-hit hitbox also usually is not safe at close ranges, although hitting from around the midpoint on will make it safe.

The primary usage of this move is as a combo extender, particularly off of the long ranged attacks of Ureksa's Spears, which can leave opponents perfectly spaced for the grab hitbox of this attack which reels them in for a Knuckles combo. This also makes it a danger to opponents who are shielding Pratty's spear moves and get forced back, as Pratty can use this to whip at them and suddenly pull them in for a close range combo at a range she normally couldn't grab at. While it is risky, particularly to jump-ins, Pratty can also use this as a way to start an aggressive assault against opponents, reeling them in. While the multihit part of the attack does not lead into any combos, Pratty does get enough time to rush in if she wishes, or she could go for a move like Side Special if she so desires. While it is difficult to do, the niche situations where you can get the multihit into grab hitbox can provide up to 17% damage while starting a combo, making it a situationally potent combo starter.

When combined with Enchant Aqua, both of these hitboxes gain additional yet different properties. The multihit part of the attack gains 1.3x hitstun, which will allow Pratty to combo off of the attack compared to normal as long as the damage percents aren't too high. This most commonly will lead into a Jab or sometimes a grab, but other fast options are available as well. The grab, on the other hand, briefly coats the opponent in dripping water in addition to buffing the hitbox to 11% damage, causing Pratty's next electric attack within a pretty brief window (1 second) to deal 1.3x hitstun, allowing Pratty to perform more intricate combos than normally possible.

Drill ~ Shield Cracker​

Ariel's Drill revs up in Pratty's hand as she shoves it forward, snagging anyone in front of her in a painful looking multihit as she drills into them with electrical hitsparks! This attack is a multihit that tacks on the damage quickly, dealing a total of 18% damage over 9 hits. Opponents this flatout hits are liable to potentially escape, especially as damage is tacked on, but opponents in shield get a small amount of inwards shield push, which keeps them inevitably trapped for the entire duration. This makes this move great at chewing through a shield, dealing roughly half of a shield's health in damage. Keep in mind that this move comes out FAST, so you can actually combo it against shields situationally, especially with your very fast Knuckle based attacks to lead into it! This is good because your knuckle moveset is generally kinda weak to shield, so this is important to keep in mind for the foe, although it of course requires you to sacrifice your knuckls moveset for a cooldown period in return. Ending lag is average. The knockback of this move is not easy to follow-up on, but Pratty does have a potentially extremely high damage follow-up option in her kit: If the opponent is hit close to Pratty, she can proceed to use this again to hit the foe with the Sword's switch attack, which given the multi-hit nature of this attack will get the full paralyzer effect on the foe! This is not easy to do, since it requires point blank range on a switch attack and it will cost temporary use of both drill and knuckle movesets. But it is also Pratty's most powerful combo starter in her set if she can pull it off!

Something else to note is that as a drill move, the range on it is pretty low, so you need to be fairly close when it comes to shield damage. Speaking of shield damage, though, this move is reeeeeeally good against shields when you have Enchant Aqua on you, as this move carries a higher 1.4x modifier on shield damage will cause this move to deal well over half a shield's health! The water and electricity will spark violently during this move to show that off, too. That's spooky enough to cause plenty of alarm in the opponent, especially when you add in the ability to combo into this on a shield, which can lead to shield breaks or putting the foe's shield so low they can't realistically use it for a while with you right up close and personal to take advantage of that. Not only that, but the fear of shielding when you have Enchant Aqua on can make it harder for foes to deal with your knuckle attacks, which can allow Pratty to go to town on the foe if the foe is too focused avoiding shield damage!

Smashes​

Forward Smash: Blazing Broadsword​

Gripping Sanary's Blade strongly, Pratty performs a pair of down-to-up diagonal slashes, first from the right and then the left. Each of these strikes is only one handed, but Pratty grips the sword tightly with both hands for the final, horizontal cut! Each slice Pratty throws out causes a searing wave of fire to be released with each slash, which travels about 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform in front of the blade itself. This gives the move quite tremendous range, even if the hitbox on the fire is not as potent as the blade itself. This attack is slightly faster than average, impressive considering the move's range and solid power, but the ending lag is pretty punishable if Pratty whiffs with this.

The blade itself deals a pair of 4%-5.6% damage strikes, while the final and more powerful horizontal slash deals 12%-16.8% damage and knockback that will kill at around 115%-80%, making it a pretty strong attack overall! The fire itself deals 2%-2.8% for the first two hits, with the stronger slash creating fire that deals 6%-8.4% damage and mediocre-poor knockback that kills at 230%-180%. The first two hits of both combo into the last hit of their respective one, so getting hit by one of the fire means you get the other two tacked on, for 20%-28% damage with the blade and 10%-14% damage with the flame. Thanks to the long range of this attack, it is pretty excellent for catching out rolls or things like prone options. At the same time, Pratty is easily punishable if the opponent gets behind her or above her, making it an at least somewhat risky option.

When Enchant Aqua is on, the flames will burst into steam as they fly forwards, which provides two changes. First off, the damage is now increased to be 3%-4.2% damage on the first two hits and 8%-11.2% damage on the final hit, adding a total of 4% damage to the non-charged version of the move if only the fire hits. This is a nice, if small, buff. The other main thing is this alters the knockback of the flames, the blowback from the steam pushing the opponent closer as they hit, which allows the flames to now potentially pull the foe into the main blade's hitbox! Considering the last hit has significantly superior knockback this is actually a nice boon, with the extended range from the steam being pretty useful, although people closer to the edge of the fire-steam will not be dragged in enough to be hit.

It should also be noted that while this move is unsafe on shield, it DOES do quite a lot of shield damage if you hit it with Enchant Aqua on. Obviously if you get a shield break being unsafe on shield isn't an issue, so an opponent with a somewhat damaged shield is definitely in more of a bind in these situations!

Down Smash: Cyclone Cut​

Gripping Ureksa's spear tightly, Pratty performs an almost impossibly fast spin around her, visually looking like the Up attack with spears in Swordcraft Story. This attack has two hitboxes to it, one on the inner part of the hitbox and one on the rest. The inner hit is the weaker of the hitbox damage-wise, dealing only 11%-15.4% damage, but the knockback is higher than the rest of the attack, shooting opponents straight up with knockback that kills at 160%-125% and is good at setting up landing scenarios (which is excellent for the long ranged Ureksa's Spear). The rest of the spear, which makes up most of the hitbox, deals four hits of 4%-5.6% damage as a mutli-hit hitbox that pushes opponents away on the ground, with the final hit having weak knockback that doesn't really launch but is a solid spacer. In addition, there is a small windbox (1/4th of a Battlefield Platform) just beyond the tip of the spear that pushes opponents away fairly weakly, which also helps allow Pratty some strong spacing chances.

The starting lag of this attack is fast, befitting its nature as a move to get breathing room, but the ending lag is kind of on the poor side, which makes it punishable. It isn't SUPER punishable, but you'll still eat crow if you whiff with it. It also should be noted that while this move has GREAT horizontal range the vertical range is non-existent, so this attack is quite vulnerable to jump-ins. This move can be pretty good for covering the ledge thanks to its wide range and linger, covering ledge getup, ledge roll and so on at the same time, but be aware it loses to ledge jump and you will get actively punished BY a ledge jump.

With Enchant Aqua on, water is sprayed out of the spear as well as wind generation, greatly enhancing the power of the windbox the spear generates and turning it into a waterbox. This is very good for keeping opponents away, especially those trying to stay around to punish, and can allow Pratty to disrupt recoveries a lot more than the base version of this attack can. It should also be noted that using this attack in the center of an Aqua Tornado will take up all the ground space pretty effectively, forcing opponents into the air, although if you always go for this you're begging to get punished with an aerial. Note that when Ureksa's Spear is unavailabl you're also gonna lose access to this move, something important to keep in mind when people are attacking you.

Up Smash: Annihilation Axe​

Lodging Kenon's Axe firmly on the ground in front of her, Pratty heaves the mighty axe above her head as it rips through the earth, sending sprays of rock forward from the force as the axe swings through the air, before it crashes mightily behind her! This attack has a multitude of hitboxes worth talking about, but we'll talk about the big girl axe strike first, which crushes anyone it hits for 23.5%-32.9% damage and knockback that kills at an incredibly early 80%-45%! The other two hitboxes are at the start and end of the move. The rocks in front of Pratty spray in front of her a small distance, and about a half a Ganondorf vertically, dealing multiple hits that total 7%-9.8% damage and give Pratty some protection from punishment from the front. Finally, the axe landing so hard on the back end actually causes a small earthshaking hitbox on the ground behind her, popping opponents up for high set knockback and 10%-14% damage! This hitbox is not at all easy to hit with, but the earthshaking can actually shield poke opponents and will do so if the back half of the axe is shielded, and forces aerial punishes from the back. The range is quite small, only about 1/4th of a Battlefield Platform.

While this does provide solid range and an incredibly potent killing hitbox, this move is held back by incredibly bad lag on both ends of it, making it difficult to hit with. The most common way you'll be doing it is if someone does a very poor air dodge, which if you had read (perhaps having conditioned them to land with air dodges, even against your other weapons?) can smash them as they come out of it and right off the top. You can also potentially use Chain Spark or Aqua Tornado to help set the opponent up to get smashed by this hefty strike! It should also be noted this attack covers a lot of prime aerial real estate if you use it in the middle of an Aqua Tornado. If the opponent is conditioned to jump in an Aqua Tornado due to your Down Smash, you can potentially swat them right out of the sky with this incredibly powerful hitbox!

The Enchant Aqua effect on this attack does not affect the main attack itself much, although note that the shield damage increase is pretty noticeable on such a hefty attack. Instead. Enchant Aqua primarily affects the rest of this attack and adds a new hitbox. Water will bubble and shoot out of the area Pratty's axe started, causing the rocks from that attack to spray forward a full Battlefield Platform, with the same damage as before, giving this move some rather impressive range and making it an interesting move to use at the midrange. A torrent, almost like a waterfall, of water trails the axe as it swings. This is a multi-hit hitbox that deals 6% if all of its hits connect and mostly serves to linger and catch out people air dodging through the swing, as it'll never connect if the swing itself lands. Finally, the earthshaking hitbox will cause the water to explode upwards as a spray that quickly evaporates, dealing half knockback and damage as the earthshaking hitbox will catch out short-hops and makes challenging this move from behind tricky if you don't interrupt the starting lag. Just remember that this is QUITE the laggy attack, so that's pretty easy, you can't count on just having coverage to keep you safe!

Standards​

Jab​

Sword ~ Sword Story​

Pratty's Sword Jab is based on her sword jab combo from the game, a fairly straightforward horizontal slash followed by a quick overhead slam and finally more of a diagonal cutting horizontal slash! The first hit deals 3%, the second hit deals 4% and the last hit deals 5% for a total of 12% damage if every hit connects. The first hit primarily exists to lead into the rest of the hits and has little value on its own, you could go for a grab 50/50 but while Pratty's grab it has pretty low range so that's generally rather risky. The second hit keeps opponents on the ground and has some value when it comes to that, it can combo into Pratty's Sword Down Tilt at low percents in fact. Throwing out your Aqua Edge on this attack is a solid pressure tool as well, leading into Pratty's axe game more easily, and a weapon switch can be fast enough to still get aggressive with the opponent as well.

Finally, the third hit will launch people at a low enough angle to get opponents into tech situations at low percents, which Pratty can follow up with stuff like Side Special, Sword Dash Attack, Forward Smash and maybe even Up Smash! As percents get higher this turns into more of a pure launcher, with Pratty able to chase after it with aerials but not getting much in the way of pure combos. Starting at around 65%+ on most characters, the second hit of the jab will begin to launch opponents for a tech situation like the third hit was unless you use the third hit, often making it a better option for Pratty to use. Finally, the third hit of jab kills at around 175%.

Axe ~ Glancing Crush​

Pratty reels her axe in, before swinging it forward at quite fast speeds! This deals 10% damage to any foe unlucky enough to be in Pratty's way and knockback that kills at 165%, making it a powerful single-hit jab like Ganondorf's. This move comes out on frame 6, in fact, making it one frame faster than Ganondorf's. At low damage percents, this spaces opponents perfectly into your spear switch attack, so you can get damage and whatever spear spacing you desire at those lower damage levels. This move's ending lag is also on the lower end, making it a staple of Pratty's axe moveset for being a fast spacing option when many of her attacks are slow with an axe. The axe swing has a slight down-to-up bent to it that makes the hitbox slightly up-hitting and so it can hit jumpers, but it only goes up a little so it is very unreliable for that. Still, it can be useful on such a prominent axe neutral tool.

Pratty has extremely small super armor on this attack starting from Frame 3 until 2 frames after the ending lag begins, allowing her to tank attacks that deal 3% or less. This doesn't really do much at all, but the super armor IS doubled against projectiles, as if the axe swing was batting them away! 6% still isn't a lot, but it can allow Pratty to fight through some weaker projectiles in this slower form. This is mostly useful, however, when Enchant Aqua is on! The water covering Kenon's Axe surges during the starting lag of this move, which doubles the amount of super armor on this attack! At 6% super armor Pratty can power through some weaker jabs and tilts, for example Mario's Jab and Up Tilt, and with that doubling to 12% armor vs projectiles it can make approaching behind projectiles a lot more difficult for the foe, or help Pratty fight through the inevitable Wolf blaster spam.

Spear ~ Breezy Tap​

Pratty's Spear Jab is one of her most simple moves, simply jabbing forward and somewhat down with the back handle of her spear (so the pointed part is pointed away). This only deals 3% damage and it has lower range than you'd expect for a spear move (but still more than knuckle/drill jab), but it has incredibly low lag on both ends, serving primarily as a way to get opponents out of Pratty's face quickly. This can combo into itself 2-3 times regardless of percents on the foe, and then Pratty will have enough frame advantage on the last hit to use her Spear F-Tilt on the foe. This won't combo, but forces them to either shield or dodge, both of which are good for Pratty. Plus once opponents are conditions to instantly defend themselves off of the jab, you can start to mix it up and get more off of the opponent, such as your grab, Knuckle Down Special, and Forward Smash.

The spear-tip end of the spear is actually a hitbox that deals 5% damage and light pushing knockback away from Pratty. This has a very specific and small hitbox up and behind Pratty, but it means Pratty is actually also defending against shorthop aerials from the back, which is useful. Against particularly tall opponents, it might also hit them on the ground for some additional coverage.

Knuckles ~ Thunder Rush​

Pratty's Knuckle Jab is based on the main Swordcraft Story jab combo, but features a variety of finishers depending on how you wish to end it. Pressing A causes Pratty to perform a single, straight punch forward with an electric crackle, dealing a meager 0.6% damage. Pratty can repeat this up to 5 times by rapidly pressing A, for a total of 3% damage over these EXTREMELY rapid strikes, Pratty pushing herself forward slightly with each hit. Pratty can choose to end the jab there, or at any point, to end up roughly frame neutral with the opponent at knuckles range, which can be extremely dangerous for them given Pratty's quick options, and this jab itself even comes out VERY fast. Throwing up a shield is perfectly possible, but it will lose out to Pratty's grab, so the foe needs to be aware of that. This jab has pretty low ending lag as well, making it rather safe to throw out as a check to the opponent. Note, however, that this jab has INCREDIBLY low range, which can give some serious isues.

Holding A at any point allows Pratty to directly transition into her jab finisher, with Pratty actually having three different jab finisher options: Just holding down A, or holding down A + up or down for an up or down variation. Note that you need to hold down A directly out of jab or else you'll end up with an Up Tilt or Down Tilt or something. The standard Jab finisher has Pratty pull back before delivering a stronger straight-jab that will hit people at most percents and no matter where in the combo you end, dealing an additional 4% damage and light knockback that pushes foes forward on the ground. This leads into combos at low percents, the biggest one being into her Knuckles Down Tilt Sweetspot, and at mid percents can get some less valuable combos (like tipper Knuckles Forward Tilt), at high percents it will lead into a tech situation but this is only situationally useful thanks to the down-jab.

The down-angled jab has Pratty instead perform a sharp, diagonally downwards jab in front of her that deals only 2% damage, but will trip opponents 100%. This attack has lower range than any of the other jab finishers, which means the opponent can actually be pushed out of range of it hitting by the other jab hits. If you want to be assured of this hit, you'll usually want to finish the jab earlier, which makes it more likely to not get the foe pushed out. A single jab into a down jab finisher will almost always work, if you don't mind leaving a little damage on the floor. With Pratty's high speed with Knuckles on in addition to her access to Side Special at most times, prone tends to be a pretty good spot for the foe to be in. The hitbox can't really shieldpoke, since it will hit the foe's shield before getting low enough to poke most of the time.

The up Jab option gives Pratty an uppercut blow that will send opponents highly up with only a bit of forward direction. This deals the most damage of any of the finishers, adding 7.5% damage to the foe and having enough knockback to kill at 225%. Pratty doesn't generally want foes in the air while in knuckles form, but this can be useful if you're planning on switching weapons or are more interested in catching a landing which Pratty can do okay in knuckles form. This is also the ONLY jab finisher which can be safe on shield, usually being safe on shield if the foe was pushed away some first before this variant of the jab finisher, whereas all other jab variations are at least theoretically punishable (jab with no finisher is fast enough a foe might not be able to hit it since they'd have to input it predictively early compared to al lother options).

Drill ~ Stopper Rotor​

Pratty's jab is her simplest of all of the options, starting with Pratty simply leaning her hand back with Ariel's Drill before quickly and lightly stabbing it forward. This single hit jab deals a single hit of 5% damage with knockback that spaces foes away a decent chunk (albeit with low scaling), but does not launch opponents and keeps them on the ground. This CAN cause ledge slip on the appropriate platforms, which can be fairly useful for Pratty's drill attacks, and it also ensures that outside of those scenarios Pratty can potentially set up with a 50/50 with Sword Down Special. Without prior hits, though, this is a rather weak technique. Other common uses of this move include as a niche combo ender, where slower moves would not connect with the opponent, and as a simple spacer when Pratty wants some breathing room as it has low commitment ending lag as well.

Curiously against aerial opponents, this attack is a weak spike, although the move only has any vertical range near the base of the drill where the drill is at its chunkiest. Since this is so close to Pratty it is not really possible to use this as a gimping tool, but aerial opponents will need to make a rather quick tech not to enter prone. Given the speed of this attack to come out this is extremely difficult, but at the same time it is quite difficult to land due to its small hitbox. Using Enchant Aqua can help with this, as Pratty will rev the drill up faster for one rotation with it on. This isn't enough to power up the move, but it is enough to splash the water around the drill up juuust a little and with force, causing a very slight extension on the vertical range of the hitbox. It isn't much, but what would you expect from a basic jab?

Forward Tilt​

Sword ~ Raging Slash​

Pratty takes a spinning step forward, two-handing Sanary's large blade and swinging it from above for a powerful strike, flame blazing out of the sword! While laggy to start, this sword strike packs quite a punch, dealing 12% damage to anyone struck by the blade in addition to knockback that kills at around 145%. The flame that trails this slash is more than just cosmetic, as it shoots out as a wave out from where Pratty slashed. The distance it travels is small, but it covers the top of Pratty down to the front of where the sword hits the ground/ledge, so it gives Pratty a lot of frontal coverage (to Sugar's disappointment, most likely) against opponents. Getting hit by the wave deals 7% damage and knockback that gets foes out of Pratty's face but ultimately doesn't lead into anything. The ending lag for this is a touch above average, but nothing major.

This move primarily serves as a neutral tool that covers a lot of space at the cost of being laggier than Pratty's other sword options, good to throw out when near the edge of Pratty's sword range but risky at close range. This is Pratty's best combo ender on the ground with a sword as well, and the range of the flame wave can actually allow Pratty to end some combos that other attacks don't really have the ability to do. Something to note is that the fire wave counts as a disjointed hitbox akin to Bayonetta's bullet arts, not a projectile, so you cannot reflect it at Pratty or anything.

Axe ~ Brutish Smash​

Pratty heaves Kenon's Axe above her head with both hands, before bringing it down with a mighty, crushing blow! This massive blow deals 14% damage to anyone unlucky enough to be destroyed by it, killing at 120%. This overhead swing has some vertical coverage as well, which can help Pratty out, but the fact this attack is rather slow on both ends makes it unreliable at best as a true anti-air. While laggy, this attack IS safe on shield as long as you hit with the axe head/space properly. Visually, this attack is based on Pratty's basic axe attack in the game. For the most part, this attack is exactly what it looks like, a strong-but-laggy tilt to smash foes with.

If Pratty doesn't mind some additional lag, she can charge this attack for more power! The charge is faster than a smash attack, half a second, going up to 20% damage that will kill at 80% if it hits an opponent! This is, naturally, extremely powerful. It kills at the same percent as your Up Smash! It also stands to reason that this level of charge time makes the attack difficult to land, although if you only partially charge that will help out. Pratty braces herself while she charges, planting her feet firmly, and gains super armor while she is charging and when she first releases the attack. The super armor increases as she charges, with 5% super armor on frame 1 (meaning charging for a single frame in some situations can get you a super armor punish) and having 20% super armor on the last frame of charging power. This can potentially allow Pratty to use this attack as a counter-strike of sorts, a more plausible way to land the stronger blows.

With Enchant Aqua on, the water will seep from the axe's blade and cover Pratty's body in addition to the axe while she charges, before flowing back into the axe when she releases. This gives Pratty the 20% super armor throughout the entire charge period, adding significent power to this move as Pratty can charge it for only a single frame to get serious counter-hit pressure on the foe. And the fact people will need to respect this will open up Pratty's other options. like shorthop Axe Neutral Aerial, your Axe Jab (great if they start spamming a sub-6% fast option!) or even a Forward Smash in some situations!

Spear ~ Murderous Thrust​

Pulling Ureksa's Spear in, Pratty gives it a powerful outward thrust while stepping forward, giving this move crazy good reach! The handle is a sourspot while the spear's tip is a sweetspot, with the tip dealing 11% damage that won't kill until around 165%. The handle does 8% damage and light forwards knockback that begins launching at around 60%+, enough to cause tech situations until around 105%+ at which point they are launched too high. The spear tip is always safe on shield and the handle is safe at around 1/3rds through the handle (the far 1/3rd) and beyond, but unsafe at closer ranges. The lag on both ends of this move is somewhat on the higher end, but it makes up for it with the range that allows it to challenge anyone short of the Belmonts, forcing opponents to be careful or get poked out pretty hard.

Pratty can aim this Forward Tilt up or down, which gives it even better options for Pratty! Aiming upwards gives you a 40 degree angle, give or take a few degrees, that is pretty good at catching out the height of shorthops along with fullhops starting to drop, so feel free to throw it in against anyone who tries jumping every time they see a Spear F-Tilt coming. It also is just a pretty good anti-air in general, although it won't cover directly above Pratty of course. Tilting downwards is a downwards 40 degree angle, which is very useful near ledges or the edge of platforms to snag hits at people recovering. While spearing the ground is normally not too useful, it should be noted that it can 2-frame opponents with the tipper hitbox.

With Enchant Aqua on, water will spray out of the handle of the spear as it thrusts forward, empowered by the wind. This affects the first 2/3rds of the spear's handle, giving very slight vertical reach but mostly boosting the damage to 10% and increasing the move's launch power. This makes it no longer cause tech situations, but it does make it become safe on shield and thus make the entire attack's length safe against shield, which is usually a worthwhile trade-off.

Knuckles ~ Thundercrack Clash​

Pratty pulls her fist back and then swiftly swings it for a straight forward punch, moving forward with a rushing step as she does so. The first hitbox is the vast majority of it, which deals 5.5% damage and very lightly knocks opponents forwards. Thanks to this move's low ending lag, this is an excellent combo starter at pretty much all percents, and it actually will combo into it's own sweetspot a lot of the time. You can get a grab until later percents, you can get a jab, you can potentially get a Down Tilt sweetspot at some specific percents, and opponents without quick fingers can also get caught out by your Forward Smash or Up Smash if you're looking for a push away. The sweetspot is at the very tip of the knuckles, which surge with electricity, and deals 10% damage to the opponent along with solid knockback that forces a kill at around 185%. Not the strongest kill move, but it has its uses, and it is in general an excellent combo finisher thanks to Forward Tilt having quite low starting lag. The ending lag is also pretty low, making this move pretty difficult to deal with on whiff.

This attack is, however, always unsafe on shield, even if you hit the sweetspot. You'll get punished more if you hit the sourspot, but an opponent would have to have some really bad out of shield options to not punish you for hitting with the sweetspot. This is largely thanks to the movement forward, which means Pratty can't really space this move to be safe, especially since when using knuckles spacing yourself at max range means you only have so many options and thus is very predictable. The plus side is that compared to all of Pratty's low ranged Knuckle options, Forward Tilt here actually has at least "okay" range, allowing Pratty to push forward at ranges usually safer for foes when she has her knuckles out. This is especially true since whiff-punishing it isn't super easy. A Pratty who gets very used to this attack can be easily punished by an opponent shielding it, but conditioning an opponent to expect it can lead to Pratty transitioning into her drill (especially with her Down Special) or her quick grab.

Drill ~ Twin's Drill​

Pratty thrusts Ariel's Drill forward, drilling it with a fast rotation speed for added damage! This is one of Pratty's primary moes with drill form and the damage output is a good reason why, dealing 6 hits of 2% damage for a total of 12% damage. The exact knockback of the attack depends on where on the drill the last hit struck, with the tip being a sweetspot that kills at 135% and the base instead pushes opponents away lightly which keeps them close. The ending lag on this is somewhat awkward for combos, but until unrealistically high percents Pratty can always get a jab off of this at minimum. She could go for another Forward Tilt, which can be avoided but is difficult to avoid and allows her to get good mixes out of this attack. Note that the Forward Tilt will push opponents out to the sweetspot if they DI away enough, so you'll probably only get one extra Forward Tilt before they either DI out of the attack or into the sweetspot. A Side Special can be held to cover spot dodges and rolls away if the opponent is predicting you Forward Tilt, with Forward Smash being a harder spot dodge read and Down Special being untrue but potentially quite deadly since the six hits gives you maximum power. You'll get punished fairly hard if they just shield, though. Starting lag is about average.

With a Chain Spark prepared, this attack is a lead in to one of Pratty's most damaging combo chains, as Forward Tilt can easily keep opponents in place for long enough to get hit by a Chain Spark. The opponent, kept in place, will usually be kept in place long enough to get a properly spaced Down Tilt, which will lead into a Sword Down Special, which leads into either more comboing OR something like Forward Smash as a finisher. While quite damaging, this technique is quite hard to setup given Chain Spark's 1 second delay and the more sluggish movement of Pratty with her drill out. It also sacrifices the drill momentarily to the Down Special. Finally, this combo can run into troubles at higher percents, particularly against small and floaty foes who can DI out of it more effectively.

This move, it should be noted, tends to chew shields up and spit them out. Not only do opponents get held in place pretty casually for the full duratioon, but this move deals increased shieldstun and 1.5x shield damage (for 18% total), which can FURTHER be boosted by the 1.2x bonus of Enchant Aqua! The 1.2x on Enchant Aqua is a boost to what the attack normally does and not the base value, so it actually multiplies the 18% total not the 12% base. This is one reason foes might not just want to shield on your mixups and also makes it excellent to poke out since it is fairly safe otherwise as well. Do note this attack has faily low range, though.

Down Tilt​

Sword ~ Firehound Blade​

Pratty leans Sanary's Blade back before stabbing it forward, a fairly far reaching strike that evokes the down strike with sword weapons in Swordcraft Story. This is a rather quick action that has excellent horizontal range to it, dealing 7% damage and pushing opponents away with moderate knockback. Enemies who are close by can get tagged by a second Down Tilt until later percentages, with Sword Forward Tilt and Side Special as some non-gauranteed options, although Forward Tilt actually DOES combo into the fire part of the attack from mid percents into high percents as well. If you're willing to use a switch attack, Aqua Edge will force opponents to either take the hit or shield in most situations, which is good pressure for Pratty off of a neutral tool. In some situations they can roll or spot dodge, but both of these can be read and punished accordingly. And as opponents reach high percents, this attack instead begins to launch opponents, which will make them tech if they don't want to enter prone.

With low lag on both ends and excellent range, this is Pratty's primary neutral tool when it comes to her sword moveset, with Forward Tilt being more of a neutral tool at the edge of ranges or used when a foe is conditioned. The optimal way to avoid this Down Tilt is to jump and attack with good timing, which will go over the blade's lackluster VERTICAL reach and allow the foe to hit Pratty. But if Pratty goes for a Forward Tilt, there is a very good chance for Pratty to catch out the opponent's shorthop, be it with the fire wave or if they got close with the blade itself! This is generally one of the basics of playing Sword Pratty neutral.

Axe ~ Double Edge Sweep​

Pratty performs a strong, two-handed sweep downwards with Kenon's Axe, with the sweep being aimed downwards to strike there. This attack has three hitboxes, but they act more like two hitboxes. Allow me to explain. The middle of the axe's head, where the blades all meet (the axe is being swung horizontally), deals vertical and very slightly inwards knockback alongside 10% damage. This knockback is actually rather light despite the high damage, meaning Pratty gets a pretty crushing combo off of it if she can land it. The sides of the axe both deal 10% damage as well, but their knockback instead pushes opponents either outwards or inwards (depending on if Pratty hit with the ouwards or inwards part of the axe). The inwards hit is a combo starter into your Grab, Jab or Down Smash, while the outwards hit is a combo starter into Spear Down Special and until the later end of mid percents your Axe Dash Attack. This attack is not fast on start-up, being a laggy strike befitting the heavy axe, but the ending lag is actually rather low.

This is primarily a high power combo starter. The low hitbox can function as a shield poke, which is good when Pratty can deal some serious damage to shields (especially with axes and drills!), and it is safe on shield everywhere except very close up as well. The move does not linger a ton like a multi-hit, but the slow and sweeping swing actually does have 4 active frames, which means Pratty can use this to better catch out spot dodges and rolls than other attack. The best defense against this is to jump as the hitbox is rather low to the ground.

Up Tilt​

She punches upwards with Razzy's Knuckles to begin a combob! Low damage.

Dash Attack​

Sword ~ Blaze Barrier​

Sanary's Blade scrapes against the ground as Pratty performs a quick, one-handed and upwards swing of it, a barrier of flames erupting in a crescent shape that follows the blade! The sword strike here only deals 7% damage, with upwards and lightly inwards knockback that can lead into an aerial combo at low percents but launches a bit high for combo starters past that. The barrier of flames is the main hitbox on this attack, dealing multiple strikes that equal a total of 10% damage and knockback that depends on if the foe is on the ground or in the air. Grounded opponents are not launched but simply knocked back slightly, which can allow Pratty to get a follow-up option, such as a Side Special, Sword Down Tilt, a hard read Forward Smash or launch off an Aqua Edge which even if shielded gives Pratty intense pressure. Aerial opponents are launched up and away with moderate knockback. The starting lag on this attack is on the lower end, with the ending lag being about average, quick enough to get early combos as mentioned but not much more.

With Enchant Aqua on, the flame barrier will explode into a blast of hot steam at the end of the move and deal an additional 3% damage. Grounded opponents are held in place by the blast but take more hitstun than the normal final hit, which will allow Pratty to get off more sick combos than she normally might. Aerial opponents get launched with MUCH more force from the blast, turning this into a legitimate kill move at around 130%!

Axe ~ Gothic Crush​

Pratty leaps through the air as she holds Kenon's Axe with a single hand, gripping it with both as she reaches the apex of the jump and crashing down with tremendous, double-handed force! Pratty leaps high enough that she can actually avoid a decent amount of low hitting atacks with it, such as Down Tilts, which can allow Pratty to dodge some attacks and smash the unsuspecting foe with a sick dodging strike! In fact, while powerful, this attack has pretty fast start-up and the quick lunge actually goes a pretty solid distance (2/3rds of a Battlefield Platform) and speed. This makes it a pretty good punish attack against opponents who might feel safe from slower axe attacks, making it a fairly important attack for Pratty when she's got her axe out. The ending lag, however, is pretty atrocious. It is very unsafe on shield and you're gonna get pretty heavily punished if you whiff it, so be careful about the opponent baiting this out.

The attack has two hitboxes. One at the apex of the leap, when Pratty begins to crash down, and one when Pratty actually crashes down. The attack from the leap is a fairly strong spike, dealing 13% damage and sending aerial opponents flying downwards. Grounded opponents get launched upwards, albeit with less power thanks to it starting as a spike, and will be killed at 135%. For the most part, though, this hitbox is too high up to actually hit a grounded opponent. Instead, the vast majority of the time a grounded opponent will get pounded by the grounded slam, which deals a pretty strong 16% damage and will send opponents flying off the top of the stage at 100%! Considering the move is a fairly fast (if risky) punish option, that is quite the meaty hitbox! Pratty won't go off ledges with this attack, but the axe sticks into the ground enough to potentially 2-frame recovering opponents, which is pretty valuable. It can also in general cover the ledge fine, with the leap covering ledge jump while the slam instead covers things like still hanging or just getting up (and low-hitting ledge attacks). It isn't the BEST option, but opponents do need to keep aware of it and you can surprise people a lot!

Knuckles ~ Razzy Upper​

Pratty rushes forward, arms in front of her defensively and Razzy's Knuckles covering her face, the spitting image of a peek-a-boo boxer rushing in for the strike! This defensive posture is for more than just show: Between that and digging her feet in as she rushes forward, Pratty can power through any attack that deals 12% or less (and doesn't have some kind of anti-defensive capability, like Aurelia), pretty akin to the way Palutena can use trample priority to get past attacks. When Pratty either reaches an opponent or the end of the 2/3rds of a Battlefield lunging-rush, she performs a rather powerful uppercut strike, with a thunderous sound effect and lightning effects that send opponents flying for 13% damage and knockback that will kill at 115% or so!

This is one of Pratty's strongest attacks with her knuckles on, which is compounded by how this attack is pretty good at catching landing opponents, covering for Pratty's aerial weakness with knuckles out as well! The move pays for this with plenty of lag as Pratty dips down for the vicious uppercut, not to mention some bad ending lag with Pratty holding the pose for a moment uneasily thanks to the force behind it. So, while it covers up plenty of weakness for Pratty, it also is easy to see coming and has a lot of punish potential. The knockback is largely horizontal, so Pratty can try to set up for the foe to get popped up and then have to deal with Dash Attack landing again, while mixing in other attacks to make it less predictable. It is also one of her better punish options in knuckles for opponents doing laggy attacks far away and can be used to charge in through weaker attacks in neutral if the opponent is throwing out the same attack predictably.

Aerials​

Neutral Aerial​

Spins Kenon's Axe around her for 3 hits of 4% damage, a surprisingly good combo starter for an axe move.

Forward Aerial​

Slams Sanary's Blade in front of her like the aerial sword attack from the game, spikes at the hilt.

Up Aerial​

Spears straight up with Ureksa's Spear, has extremely high vertical range but a narrow hitbox, excellent upwards finisher.

Back Aerial​

Stabs behind her with the spear for high range, solid damage, bad ending lag.

Down Aerial​

Smacks the opponent hard from above with Kenon's Axe.

Grab Game​

Grab: Rose's Embrace​

Pratty swipes forward with Razzy's Knuckles, performing an extremely swift grab that is among the fastest in the game. Unfortunately this also has one of the lowest ranges in the game, making it difficult to grab unless you get quite close and requiring Pratty to move in to snag shielding opponents. Low starting and ending lag make it difficult to punish and her dash grab gets a rather nice range boost while still being a fast dash grab. Her pivot grab is fast and low range.

Pratty retains access to her grab even when her knuckles are on cooldown, but the loss of the knuckles means that it is easiest to escape Pratty's grip and thus foes only need to escape at 0.7x grab difficulty. She also cannot use her pummel or charged pummel.

Pummel: Face Time​

Pratty pops the opponent in the face for a meager 0.3% damage, with the next pummel being a body blow for 0.3% damage. Pratty alternates these animations for each pummel, but they have the exact same frame data. This pummel is extraordinarily fast, Lucario-esque, so Pratty can tack on damage even in spots a lot of pummels couldn't, but the damage output is a bit lower in ideal grab difficulty situations.

Charged Pummel​

Rears up her knuckles, then smashes the foe right in the jaw, sending them flying PAINFULLY.

Forward Throw​

Takes out Ureksa's Spear and stabs them with it, then raises the spear up and flings them forward off of it. Pretty cool.

Back Throw​

Stab them with Sanary's Blade, then fling them behind you for high and toasty damage!

Up Throw​

Dripps into their chest with Ariel's Drill, electric sparks flying out, and sends them upwards with good damage.

Down Throw​

Slams the opponent into the ground and cuts them right in the midsection with Kenon's Axe. Brutal damage and forces the opponent into a tech situation.

Final Smash​

Pratty summons Sugar and uses their super attack from the game, with Sugar flooding the stage for 45% damage and making everyone wet. As Sugar intended!

Playstyle: Craftlord of Iron​

 

[ForwardArrow]

Master Xehanort

Master Xehanort is the main antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, at least up until his arc is wrapped up in Kingdom Hearts 3 considering it looks disturbingly likely more games are going to come out. An older man rather notoriously obsessed with the concept of darkness, Xehanort found himself reaching his old age without really seeing all darkness had to offer. His plan was ultimately to acquire the X-Blade, the tool to "unlocking" Kingdom Hearts and causing the same event that created the Kingdom Hearts universe to happen again out of sheer curiosity. This kind of scientific curiosity is, while a perfectly fine villain motive, not the reason Xehanort is famous.

No Master Xehanort is known for his plans which are, to put it bluntly, completely ridiculous. In his introductory plan in Birth by Sleep, he kept things mostly under control. His body was getting old, so he needed the darkness inside Terra's heart to overtake him, something he was able to accomplish by virtue of the fact that Terra is not a smart man. Meanwhile he made Ventus fight an evil dark clone of himself to try to make the two form the X-Blade by clashing light and darkness. It didn't work because he specifically needed SEVEN lights and THIRTEEN darknesses because it turns out the X-Blade has a surprisingly annoying crafting recipe that would haunt Master Xehanort for years to come. He came out of Birth By Sleep with a new, younger body to work with, but no X-Blade, proving himself a solid manipulator and evil scientist who happened to lack the necessary information to accomplish his goal.

Anyway, then he got that information, and his solution was... well. There's like an entire genre of youtube videos that are people trying to summarize the plot of Kingdom Hearts. This is the part of the summary where they usually go kind of insane. So Xehanort, in his new body, has amnesia, but he and a bunch of other people who end up studying darkness get interested in it, which results in Xehanort in Terra's body eventually getting split into his Heartless(Ansem) and his Nobody(Xemnas). Meanwhile, one of them also time travels to the past to find Xehanort's younger self, known as Young Xehanort, and gets him to join his evil plan. Young Xehanort proceeds to time travel all across the Kingdom Hearts continuity to assemble a team of 13 different Xehanorts(of which he already had a few, but needed to hit the magic number 13), including the Xehanort posessing Terra's body before he split himself, a bunch of former Organization XIII members who are, in Xigbar's words, "already half-Xehanort", which is pretty nuts.

This new organization of 13 Xehanorts is called True Organization XIII. And with it assembled, he can start his keyblade war by clashing with 7 light-oriented heroes on the protagonist side, and basically win regardless of which side triumphs in combat. The heroes do end up beating all his Xehanorts, but becuase the game was rigged from the start he's able to get the X-Blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts, raining darkness down upon the world. But through the combined efforts of all the major protagonists he's eventually brought to his knees, and, for some ungodly reason, has a completely different motive now about wanting to prevent people from abusing the powers of light and darkness and keep the world in balance by being a strong leader. Considering all the evil he's done up until this point of basically causing every bad thing that happens in KH's world, it is kind of stupid when the combination of this motive and his old friend Eraqus' ghost showing up are enough for him to be considered redeemed and given a peaceful trip to the afterlife. But then again, Kingdom Hearts is completely stupid.

Despite everything I've said, I actually do kind of like Master Xehanort as a character. His plans do suffer from a bit of a case of "this sounds smarter on paper than it actually is when you think about it for five seconds" and he messes with some other villain arcs in unfortunate ways... but that doesn't mean he's not fun, is the thing. He's flashy, over the top, hammy as hell, and honestly I kind of appreciate how ludicrously ambitious his plans are. They're not necessarily the smartest or the most sensible, but you gotta appreciate someone creating a whole thirteen copies of himself through increasingly nonsensical means to meet the quota for a sword whose name is actually just a pun. Its the kind of crazy stuff you only really see with a franchise like Kingdom Hearts, and while I don't think its very good, I honestly kind of respect and enjoy it regardless.

Stats​

Compared to his fellow villains on the Smash roster, Xehanort is not quite as imposing in terms of size or weight. He's rather hunched over which actually makes him a tiny bit shorter than Marth, though he'd stand a bit taller than him if he bothered to straighten his back. His weight clocks in at 90, giving him below average durability. This is partially mitigated by his excellent jumps, both among the best in the game, and both a high top air speed(1.23, the fifth best in the game) and good aerial acceleration to further improve his movement through the air. His floatiness is a blessing and a curse however, while it keeps him in the air even longer this does mean Xehanort is fairly easy to juggle and KO off the top blast zone in combination with his low weight. His ground movement is fairly underwhelming, clocking in at a 1.62 run speed that only barely puts him in 50th place, one of the slower characters on the ground.

As an aside, Xehanort has a somewhat fancy roll animation, as he slides into the background holding out the X-Blade in front of him as a large keyhole appears in the air before him. He warps through the keyhole, appearing on the other side. This is also used for his air dodge. Xehanort's roll and air dodge frame data is about average for the cast so this isn't really a big effect on gameplay, it mostly is just there to look flashy on this fairly over the top villain. He won't bother to use it on his spot dodge or an air dodge in place, instead just swinging out of the way into the background with a cocky smirk on his face.

Specials​

Neutral Special - Organization XIII
With a slightly delayed snap of his fingers, Xehanort causes a shadow to materialize behind him. This shadow is a vague immitation of one of the members of Organization XIII, but for this version of the move at least he will just summon a cloaked figure, in the standard Organization XIII robes. It will simply follow Xehanort around the stage, trailing about a Kirby width behind him at all times as it perfectly follows his movements. This is a representation of one of the many incarnations of Xehanort that have been merged into Master Xehanort, called into the battle to help him through the X-Blade. It does take a fairly hefty 28 frames to summon one, so you're going to need a bit of space, and you can only have one out at a time. That said, it does stick around indefinitely until you choose to use it, so once you've dealt with the lag you can keep it as long as you want. For the sake of simplicity, we'll call this being a Nobody, given that's what the members of Organization XIII are.

This Nobody serves a fairly useful function, however. If you input a follow up after any of your Standards/Smashes/Aerials, the Nobody will use its own attack to follow it up. This adds a set 5 frames of ending lag to whatever attack Xehanort was performing and uses up your Nobody, but in exchange the Nobody will perform its follow up over top of the original's ending lag, which will cover it up and frequently not just combo out of the current move more easily, but link into another attack better as well. This improves basically every aspect of Xehanort's offensive game, allowing him to pile on bigger combos, cover greater areas of space, or rip through shields and dodges, depending on the move. The downside is that the actual Nobody attacks are either very weak or highly situational, so its not a full on double attacking mechanic.

The Nobody will vanish if Xehanort takes 30% while its out, as its form melts away into nothing. This basically means that while you can keep your setup around as long as you want, a good combo from the foe will take it away from you again. The good news is that while 28 frames of start lag does make the Nobody a bit annoying to summon, the ending lag is only 15 frames, so the window is not that hard to find if you knock the opponent away or get out of their range. Also the Nobody is totally intangible and does not interact with anything when not attacking, even fading through solid objects.

Now for something a bit more exciting, Xehanort has a visible meter next to his stock, the heart-shaped moon of Kingdom Hearts next to him. As Xehanort takes and recieves damage, the moon will grow darker, until at full charge it has become a dark purple shade and appears to be visibly dripping darkness. This means if Xehanort holds down Neutral Special, he will activate a vastly more powerful version of this move. Xehanort will raise both his arms to the sky as in the background of the stage, 13 pillars rise up as the background of the stage distorts and becomes partially consumed by a grey whirling void. Even the stage and platforms themselves become a greyer shade, as the full presense of Xehanort's power begins to overwhelm it. Atop each pillar sits a cloaked figure, as Master Xehanort calls forth the full might of Organization XIII. From there, each member will teleport in when Xehanort calls them to attack, warping off the throne and appearing right at Xehanort's side when you use a follow up.

So what does this all do? Xehanort is now given THIRTEEN charges of his Neutral Special to use, and yes it still takes 30% to deplete one of them and they stick around indefinitely. This means unlike your basic Neutral Special, you can now spam follow ups on basically all your attacks, throwing out clone after clone to create ridiculous combo strings no reasonable character would have access to and putting immense pressure on the opponent to just try and survive your onslaught. This is powerful enough that in the two stock or three stock matches it can STILL end the game if Xehanort gets it once, provided he's playing particularly well. With that said, there are a couple caveats. While some follow ups you can invest multiple organization members into, you can't just say, use the Forward Tilt follow up twice after one Forward Tilt by expending multiple clones on it without having Xehanort perform another Forward Tilt himself. Organization XIII will also vanish when you get KO'd, so you can lose your enormous buff to a deadly combo or a stray powerful hit if you're careless. But the bigger caveat is how you charge it.

This move charges similarly to Little Mac's KO punch, as Xehanort dealing or taking damage further darkens Kingdom Hearts. The problem is how much, Xehanort needs to either take 500% or deal 450% to fully darken it, with the meter effectively increasing by 10% for every 50% Xehanort takes or 45% he deals. Technically if a stock lasts well into the 200%'s for both players, or one somehow sticks around to 300%, this might become accessible, but that's an incredibly rare circumstance. This is compounded by the fact that when Xehanort dies, the whole meter just gets reset back to the start. So on paper, you don't have access to this absolutely terrifying move under any remotely normal circumstances. That said, Xehanort derives power for the X-Blade by clashing light and darkness, which speeds up the process of activating this move. We'll get to exactly how shortly.

If you hold Neutral Special for half a second while the meter is only half full, Xehanort will instead summon in 3 Nobodies behind him, chuckling while he snaps his finger as a large spark of darkness forms this time. Each of these nobodies look like specific incarnations Xehanort used to conduct his plans throughout the series: Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort specifically. This is a slightly easier to use variation of the 13 version, giving Xehanort access to the power of having multiple Nobodies out at once for some of the more elaborate play patterns it allows. That said, while this does let you play with the great power that summoning the whole Organization XIII offers to a limited extent, its not nearly as overwhelmingly strong as the real thing, as with less than a quarter of the uses its easy to blow them on nothing and doesn't turn you into a threat that can easily put away an entire match. That, and the lag is slightly greater than it is for the version that summons all 13 nobodies, funnily enough. That said, having this option is pretty important, given Xehanort has to seriously work for the stronger version of this move and sometimes the foe just won't let him get that far, so having a backup way to use your flashier tools is nice.

In a non-1v1 match, the visual flash of summoning 13 organization members is toned down significantly, as it appears visually similar to the 3 summon version instead. The only difference is Xehanort's own animation of raising his hands to the sky, and an aura of darkness flaring off Xehanort's body after its done. After one of the three Nobodies behind Xehanort is used, another one will form out of the dark aura surrounding him to take its place. This is mostly just to prevent too much visual clutter onscreen, as having one character able to change the entire background and visuals of the stage is a bit much for a non-1v1 situation.

Side Special - Taking the Light
Light shines off the X-Blade as Master Xehanort points it in front of him, in a move that has average starting lag and punishable ending lag if you whiff as it takes a bit for the glow to fade from Xehanort's weapon. There's a small circle of light that forms beyond the X-Blade's tip, which also serves as a hitbox to this move, but it functions a bit differently from the blade hitbox. If you hit with the X-Blade itself, you'll deal 12% and diagonally mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 175%, which isn't great for the lag invested. That said, the blade is held out for 10 frames and loses none of its power during that time, which can make it good for catching out dodges and walling off players in the air, where that KO percentage will drop much lower given the foe is much closer to the blast zone.

Hitting with the circle of light, however, is the more exciting part of this move. If the foe touches it, they will be stunned briefly as light drains out of their body, pulled into the X-Blade and leaving them a hollow husk of their former self. This leaves that foe in Anti-Form, a black shadow with red eyes in the same shape as the opponent was before, and largely with the same capabilities they had before. This form lasts a whopping 20 seconds, during which the foe is subject to a few minor status changes as listed below:

- Players in Anti-Form actually has slightly less start lag on their attacks, albeit not by much. Specifically, for every 8 frames of startup lag one of their attacks have, one of them is removed. Attacks that come out on Frame 7 or faster come out at the same speed as ever, so it does not help those moves directly. Still, this lets the foe throw out attacks with a bit more speed and safety than they had before, encouraging opponents to be a bit more aggressive while the form lasts.

-Players in Anti-Form take 1% more from attacks across the board. This includes from hits from a multi-hit attack, and also the additional hits your Nobodies add to your combos, so that 1% will actually add up a fair bit more than you might think.

-Shields deplete passively 1.65x as fast and take 1.3x as much damage from all sources, making shielding suddenly become a very risky prospect. With Nobody assistance, Xehanort can break shields with disturbing ease while the foe is in Anti-Form.

-Dodges have 3 frames more ending lag across the board. This makes punishing dodges easier for Xehanort, yet again making the foe's defensive options less and less effective.

To reclaim their light from Xehanort, foes have to deal him 40%. Between the effects of this move and the condition for eliminating Nobodies, Xehanort can very strongly push the foe towards aggression with this move, as their defensive options are suddenly left with worryingly little safety. It should be acknowledged that the decrease in lag, while small, absolutely can end up making the difference between failure and success in neutral, so they're not just hurt by this move when you pull it off. Also, you don't get much of an advantage state out of taking light from the opponent, you're both left in frame neutral after the X-Blade has absorbed the light out of the foe. It does deal the foe 8%, so its a bit less powerful than the actual blade itself as a hitbox.

Now, with a light based weapon and the foe's body completely consumed by darkness, this is where Xehanort's "clash light and dark" mechanic kicks in. Foes attacks dealt to Xehanort fill the meter twice as much as they otherwise would, which is to say Xehanort still needs to take 250% for the meter to be filled. Given Anti-Form expires after the foe deals 40%, "forcing" them to attack you is not a very attractive or viable way to make your way to summoning the whole Organization. However, Xehanort's light based attacks, of which a good portion of his set is comprised, will cause him to gain five times as much meter as he usually would. While yes, dealing the foe 90% before they deal you 40% when their starting lag is reduced is a bit of a tall task, with their defensive options nerfed and the fact that the meter can be filled the rest of the way by their own damage to Xehanort and small amounts from any blows traded before or after, the threat of summoning all of Organization XIII is very real while the foe is under the effects of this move. This leaves them with a bit of a conundrum, they're encouraged to go aggressive by several effects of Xehanort's moveset, but if they screw up, the punishment will be incredibly severe.

As an aside, draining the light out of the foe will power up the X-Blade when the move is subsequently used. The ring of light does nothing to foes in Anti-Form, as they have no more light to drain, but the actual hitbox deals an additional 5% now, and with the accompanying knockback buff it becomes a formidable kill move. This can actually stack in matches with more than 2 players if you can get multiple foes into Anti-Form, though doing that is placing quite a target on your back. Also keep in mind that for how powerful this move is both in terms of potential results and psychologically, you do have to hit with the light ring, a hitbox only about half Kirby's size, on a move that is not especially fast and exceptionally punishable if you whiff it entirely. Take care when plunging the foe into darkness.

Up Special - Kingdom Hearts
The image of Kingdom Hearts appears in the sky behind Master Xehanort, its power called forth into the world of Smash by the X-Blade. It initially appears a distance of 3 Ganondorf heights above Xehanort, but he rises up to the same height as it over the course of this move's 33 frame startup lag. You can angle this move to have Kingdom Hearts appear a battlefield platform to the left or right to give you access to a noticeably better horizontal recovery. The downside is, unfortunately, that Xehanort has no hitbox to defend himself with during the rising of this move, making it very easy to gimp. That said, he is blessed with super armor for the first 15 frames of his rise into the air, making this move considerably less painful. As a recovery, this is pretty good distance-wise, and you can easily cancel out of it at any point after the super armor fades with only 3 frames of lag, which can allow you to punish people who accidentally hit you before the super armor expired.

The meat of this move, however, happens once Xehanort reaches the maximum height. Pointing the X-Blade at an angle 70 degrees below himself, he gathers light energy in it before he fires a light laser downwards at the angle with infinite range. This has another 30 frames of lag added before he can fire the beam off, making it a total of 63 frames of start lag to worry about. You CAN cancel the attack at this point to have Xehanort simply release the light stored up in a blast surrounding the X-Blade as he holds it out in front of himself, dealing 10%-18% and mostly upward knockback that KOs at 200%-95%, depending on how much of the start lag he went through before cancelling. The animation of discharging the light from the X-Blade is actually pretty fast, only 7 frames, and lingers long enough it can sometimes catch spot dodges. Master Xehanort does go into helpless afterwards, however, so this is more of an emergency defensive tool than the primary point of this move.

The infinite range beam of light Xehanort fires is actually quite powerful, dealing 20% and straight upwards knockback that KOs at 90%. When the beam hits the ground, however, the energy fans out in a wave around the beam, which is a hitbox about the size of the one Pikachu's Thunder creates when it collides with him. This impact wave actually deals even more damage and knockback, specifically 23% and diagonal but mostly upward knockback that KOs at 80%. Xehanort will gradually sweep the beam forward until you cancel out of the input or the attack ends, moving it from a 70 degree angle below Xehanort to a 25 degree angle below Xehanort, allowing him to sweep it across the stage. This is a VERY slow sweep however, taking a full five seconds to perform unless you cancel out and go into helpless. All cancels with this move can be done by pressing any other input, just for the record. As a final note, the beam's damage increases by 1% for each second its been firing, and 2% on the light wave hitbox, with a knockback increase to match, so if you hit later on in the move its even more powerful! On the whole though, this light beam covers a positively gigantic area of space with its sweep, and has incredible power, but the incredibly slow speed of the sweep and how much lag it has to come out does not make it easy to use.

It is, however, more viable than you think it is, as long as you have a Nobody on you. While Master Xehanort is busy firing the light laser, he will deploy one of his Nobodies to fight for him. While you can usually cancel out of this move with any other input, if you press Up B a second time while the light laser is sweeping down, the Nobody will appear slightly in front of the laser, and can now move and act like Master Xehanort himself would. This effectively creates a doppelganger of yourself than can fight in your place while you fire the beam, with a copy of your entire moveset barring the Specials. That said, it has the noticeable defect of having noticeably laggier dodges and an extremely fragile shield that can only take a third as much damage as normal, so it can really only go on the offensive. This is not helped by its paltry 10 stamina, making it pretty easy to get rid of the Nobody fighting in Xehanort's place. That said, if you play it right, despite its crippled defenses and lack of your powerful tools in the Specials, you can get one of two good results out of this. Either you can pressure the foe into your light beam and make the usually hard to hit move suddenly much more practical, or you can use the light beam's massive stage presence to just scare the foe into getting comboed by Xehanort's own moveset.

In regards to a foe in Anti-Form, given how Nobodies do not reap any extra power dealing damage to a foe wallowing in darkness, using a Nobody to fight in Xehanort's place is not a great way to rack up meter. The light beam is a VERY powerful hit though, and at low percentages given Xehanort won't stop sweeping it across the stage, good use of your on-stage Nobody means you might be able to hit the foe into it twice, getting you already about halfway to your full meter and piling tons of damage on the foe. Its a little predictable to go for, however, which isn't great when the Nobody is so easy to kill if it messes up and the laser sweep is so unbelievably predictable.

Now the real fun of this move kicks in when Xehanort has multiple Nobodies. You see, if one of your Nobodies dies, Xehanort will immediately send the next one in to fight instead, meaning the sheer fragility of the Nobodies is no longer the issue it once was, though there is a 10 frame period of lag as the new Nobody appears right in front of the beam once again. In addition, the Nobody fighting in place of Xehanort can actually still use the follow ups Xehanort has access to with multiple nobodies out by expending them just as usual, meaning you can now start pulling Xehanort's flashier combos and have a giant death laser out at the same time. While you'll run out pretty fast with 3 given they're used up on either one follow up or after taking a single notable hit, its a devastatingly powerful play off a half meter if used right. If you have 13, well, you have plenty to spare on this move, and good luck to the opponent surviving the kind of nonsense you can now throw out.

Any Nobody Xehanort had out during this move disappears once Xehanort completes the sweep or cancels out of the move. You cancel out of it with a Nobody out by pressing B, given the specials are currently not usable for anything else.

Down Special - Stopza
Xehanort holds out a hand as an orb of darkness appears from it, with a transparent clock rapidly spinning its minute hand around in a complete circle over the animation. If the foe strikes Xehanort during this time, Xehanort will release a large circular wave from around his body covered in clock symbols, which will interrupt the foe's attack and then suspend them in time as it collides with them. The wave has pretty generous range, stretching out over 1.4 battlefield platform widths around Xehanort, allowing him to counter some very long range hitboxes and even the occasional projectile fired pretty close. Grabs will go right through this counter though, as they usually do. Rather than Marth's counter window of Frame 6-27, Xehanort's is actually less generous, but it does start earlier, going from Frame 4-16. After that, you get 44 frames of ending lag if you didn't hit the counter window, so try not to whiff this. Its pretty bad if you do.

If you do connect with this counter, the foe is simply frozen in time for a period depending on a couple factors. How long the foe is frozen scales positively with their percentage, but actually scales negatively with how strong the attack that hit you was. The move is it at its most powerful if the foe hits you with an attack that deals 5% or less, and diminishes in stun duration for stronger attacks. With the foe at 0%, you'd actually be up at a 50 frame advantage for an attack that deals 5% or less, 25 frames at an attack that deals 10%, and frame neutral at 25% or higher. At 80%, you'd be at a 2 second advantage(!) over a foe that hit you with an attack dealing 5% or less, a full second advantage over one that hit you with an attack that deals 10%, a 25 frame advantage over a foe that hit you with an attack that deals 25%, and you'd get a couple frames of advantage over a Warlock Punch. Essentially, the move's power minimizes at frame neutral, and maximizes at 3 seconds of stun(achievable on a foe at 130% who hit you with a move that deals 5% or less, and at much higher percents on foes that hit you with stronger attacks than that).

This attack deals no damage, but it does have a nice side effect if you get the foe past 1.5 seconds worth of stun time. See, normally the foe will just appear frozen in place, but for the duration of the stun before it ticks down to 1.5 seconds left, the foe's body will be turned to a duller, grey color. During this period of the stun, outside attacks will actually not knock the foe out of their stun, which allows for Xehanort to pile on additional damage before he begins his combo. While you might think that this kind of stun duration only coming up at high percents means this probably doesn't matter too much to Xehanort, the extra damage this lets you build adds a layer of additional terror to landing this counter. Not only do you get to take the opponent's stock, but potentially you'll get a bunch of meter out of it if the foe is in anti-form, where they're strongly pushed to play more aggressive because of how that form's mechanics work. Given you can probably throw a pretty devastating combo at them afterwards too, it might be all you need to suddenly have the foe staring down the full might of Organization XIII.

This move has another function if you tilt down B rather than smash it, where instead a bubble of energy with a clock manifested on it will appear in Xehanort's hand, before he puts it away, a small clock now next to his portrait. This clock will also appear there if Xehanort whiffs the counter but is not hit during the move's ending lag, but if you're specifically to store away Stopza's power, the tilted version is probably the safer way to go. The stored Stopza stays around for 20 seconds and you can only hold one at a time, but the creation of one via the tilted version is pretty quick, only taking 25 frames to do. Using this move again with one stored just refreshes its duration.

The stored Stopza comes into play if you have a Nobody summoned, as it gives you a new follow up option to all your attacks. If you press B instead of A to use the second hit, Xehanort will instead freeze the Nobody in time when it comes out, frozen in place and unaffected by everything going on in the match. Pressing B during any move or tilting Down Special while not using an attack will undo the effects of Stopza on the Nobody, causing it to then perform its follow up as a manually activated trap. This opens up tons of new applications for all Xehanort's Nobody-based follow ups, and vastly expands Xehanort's pool of potential combos and setups by storing one away. To say nothing of the raw power of using a Nobody suspended in time to supplement Xehanort's combos while he has 3 or even 13 Nobodies out to support him. This is a very powerful technique, and not one to be taken lightly, but you don't have a massive window to use the time suspended Nobody. They'll just break out and do their attack after 6 seconds, so use it while it counts.

If Up Special is active, pressing B is now another input that doesn't cancel out of it, as it will instead be dedicated to activating a delayed Nobody. That said, this really puts the foe between a rock and a have place as there are now two on stage "traps" for them to worry about, one of which is very, very powerful and the other can be activated at any time to support a Nobody pressuring the foe into this. Scary stuff!

Standards​

Jab - Encroaching Darkness
Putting one hand forward in front of himself, Xehanort fires a glowing purple orb from his hand, which travels a bit slower than Xehanort's own dash speed and deals 6% and very small upwards knockback. This comes out a little faster than Ganondorf's Jab, actually, but does have a concerning amount of ending lag that will absolutely get you punished by an opponent in close range. For what its worth, the ending lag can be circumvented a little by just spamming this move, as repeating it gives you quite a bit less ending lag than when you end it. The purple orb will travel forward about 3 battlefield platforms of length, and after its first battlefield platform of travel it will start homing in on foes who come within half a battlefield platform length of it, albeit pretty weakly. It picks up a considerable amount of speed during the last battlefield platform of its range too, accelerating to be going nearly twice as fast by the end of the range. This can make dodging it a bit trickier due to the less consistent speed and homing properties.

While the ending lag makes it a bit harder to capitalize on in this regard as Xehanort might like, this move has a pretty obvious application for Xehanort's approach and combo games. Because it travels so slowly, Xehanort can have it at his back while he runs in towards the foe, and then not only does the foe have a projectile to worry about once Xehanort gets close, its a projectile that gets faster and homes in after a bit to make it harder to defend against. Xehanort can also hit the opponent into the dark orb to extend a combo, resetting the foe with the orb's weak knockback and hitstun from something that would normally put the foe out of his reach. Its admittedly a bit predictable even if it does make Xehanort's approach more impressive, and creates the unfortunate problem that Xehanort's Jab is kind of garbage up close, leaving him with fewer fast close range options than he'd probably like. As a final note, given this is a darkness-based attack, it doesn't give more meter on foes in anti-form, but you can use it to increase the number of light-based hits you land anyway so its not like it doesn't serve a function for building that up.

There's an alternate version of this move you can get by holding A rather than just tapping it, which instead has Xehanort, with a bit more starting lag, fire 5 small darts of darkness that travel about 0.8x as fast as Fox's laser and go 4 battlefield platforms instead of 3. This has considerably more start lag than the other version, and the darts each deal a hit of 2.6% and flinching, conveniently adding up to 13%. The ending lag is the same as the other variation, and the 5 hits together actually add up to quite a bit of shield stun or hitstun. This is a lot less good for combos/approaches than the other version, but it does more damage, is better against shields and rolls(by virtue of covering more space) even if its worse against spot dodges, and is less punishable if used up close as its not actually punishable on hit at close range, instead leaving Xehanort with a notable frame advantage.

The nice thing about these two variations is you can weave them together, as firing another dark orb or barrage of darts will not send Xehanort into the ending lag of the move. This actually allows Xehanort access to some minor bullet hell, as you can rapidly switch between two projectiles of different speeds to mess with the opponents defensive options and cover the holes that the other projectiles have. It doesn't make Xehanort an amazing camper, even used in conjunction its not that hard to shield through or weave around the projectiles, but using them together with the right timing can make the subsequent approach on the foe considerably more advantageous. And given the damage of the projectiles is respectable, sometimes you just get to use it to put yourself at a decent percent advantage if you time around the opponent's defenses right.

The ending lag of this move can be covered by a Nobody, who can fire out an additional projectile during the ending lag by using them to follow up once Xehanort actually starts to pull his arm back from firing out orbs/darts. If used after the dark orb, the Nobody will fire a triad of darts, one going up at a slight angle and one going down at a slight angle. Each of these only deals 1% and a flinch, and they travel the same speed and distance as Master Xehanort's own darts, while being about half as long and extremely thin. At certain ranges, the fact that the higher and lower flying darts exists actually allows Xehanort to shield poke foes out of their shield if they're using that to defend against this move, possibly letting the dark orb Xehanort fired beforehand catch up afterwards and nail the foe, a pretty effective combination! The damage is pretty minimal, however, especially if you hit with only 1 or 2 of the darts. The Nobody has about as much starting lag as the tapped version of this move.

If you fire it out when it was proceeded by a barrage of darts, the Nobody will take as much lag as the barrage of darts to fire 3 half-sized dark orbs, each of which deal 1.3% and a flinch, enough to add up to 4% (its technically 1.33% on each orb to make it add up more cleanly). These are fired level with Xehanort, at a slightly higher angle, and then at a 35 degree angle above him, which gives this a unique niche among Xehanort's Jab options of covering considerable airspace. Usually, just kind of approaching the air above the projectiles would work against Xehanort, but when there's 2 of the projectiles going at an upwards angle, that becomes less practical. These also have the same movement properties of the dark orb Xehanort fires, making it a bit trickier to avoid them and providing a larger area of coverage through which Xehanort can approach the foe and/or combo them off. While the higher starting lag might sound like an issue, this means they're fired a lot closer to the point Xehanort himself comes out of lag than he'd otherwise be able to access, which is quite nice... especially if you actually hit with the darts before them. That means Xehanort's at an advantage state before you factor in the orbs taking up airspace that's he also got to approach through, making it fairly scary to get hit by the darts while Xehanort has a Nobody out given he can convert into close range very nicely off it.

The applications of using this with Down Special are probably pretty obvious. Delaying either projectile gives Xehanort a wider range of options in how he plays with them and makes it much easier to follow them up than it would usually be. Suddenly flood the air around yourself with projectiles while fighting the opponent up off the ground, poke the opponent with a flinch from across the stage to reset yourself to an advantage or extend a combo, or just use them for even greater approach coverage potential.

Forward Tilt - X-Combo
Master Xehanort stabs forward with the X-Blade, dealing a hit of 4% and extremely weak horizontal knockback that comes out on Frame 8. This has good range as Xehanort reaches forward quite a bit for the stab, and between that and its respectable speed its an acceptable neutral option that can start some combos if you land it, given the ending lag isn't too bad. That said, you do have a fairly important option that makes this move a bit better, it has two subsequent follow ups that are both accessible whether or not you have a Nobody on you, the Nobody specifically allowing you to access a final one after you land the third hit. Just ending after the first hit has some utility though, given the ending lag is short enough to allow you to go into your aerials or Down Tilt out of this, with Down Tilt being a true combo(but maybe not as great of one as you'd hope for reasons we'll get to).

The second hit has Xehanort lunge forward a short distance, hopping slightly off the ground and swinging his keyblade in an upward arc as he goes. This combos out of the first hit until some pretty high percents, dealing 3% and knocking the foe upward and forward a very short distance. If you want to go into most of your combos out of this move, this is the hit you want to stop on, as it can confirm into aerial follow ups that are generally better than Down Tilt. That said it does stop true comboing out of the first hit after a while, around 80% on Mario so the combo does at least last to pretty high percentages, but it does mean at high percents Forward Tilt's payoff becomes a lot less impressive.

The third hit follow up has Xehanort slam his keyblade back down to the ground, sliding forward slightly as he does so. This deals 5% and knockback at a low diagonal that KOs at 165%, though the first two hits will stop comboing into this move at 65% so unless you have an outside source to knock the foe back into this move you probably won't succeed at pulling that kill off. This has a bit more ending lag than the first 2 hits, and arguably less payoff than the second hit if you combo into something more damaging with it, but it does guaruntee you some space and can lead into the fourth hit of this move if you have a Nobody around. There's also an additional general utility to this move in that each hit will drag the opponent forward a decent distance, leaving Xehanort and the foe 0.6 battlefield platforms away from their starting position by the time they take the final hit. This third hit can mean the difference between a foe being dragged into a time delayed duplicate or not, or in the case of if you have your Up Special active, this can drag the opponent right into the path of the beam for a massive final hit.

The fourth hit, only accessible with a Nobody, has the Nobody fly forth from behind Xehanort and catch up to the foe after they've flown forth about a battlefield platform's distance away(closer if the foe has taken fairly little knockback, under 1.5 battlefield platforms worth if this move wasn't involved) and stabbing them with their keyblade, dealing an additional 4% and knockback that KOs at 185%. Unlike the first 3 hits, you can angle this one, with upwards sending the foe at a high diagonal angle with the final hit, forwards sending the foe directly horizontally, and downward actually sending the foe at an angle 20 degrees below the horizontal. The low angle provided by the downward version actually can gimp opponents pretty hard under the right circumstances, but given you can only link into this until about 65% you probably won't end up knocking the foe far below level with the stage. Note that if you use this follow up without hitting a foe beforehand, the Nobody will just home in on the nearest foe, and if there's no foe within a battlefield platform for it to home in on, it will just rush a battlefield platform forward and disappear.

There is a particular scenario that the downwards hit offers that is pretty powerful, which is using Up Special to ledgeguard after the foe has been knocked below the stage. This is something the foe can weave around normally given the sheer predictability of the Up Special by default, but it is awkward coming from an angle below the stage. That awkwardness is massively compounded if you can send out an additional Nobody to pursue the foe while Up Special is being fired off, giving the foe two threats to deal with while trying to recover low from the stage, which is a devastating scenario no foe wants to be in. This does, however, require you either activate the 3 or 13 Nobody setup, or specifically hit with the trap version of this move while having another Nobody prepared. The horizontal variant of this allows Xehanort to abuse his Jab projectiles on a recovering foe to frustrate their recovery, an option that's also a bit less predictable than the Up Special. The upwards variant might seem the least powerful on paper, but Xehanort can certainly give a foe high in the air some serious trouble under the right circumstances.

On a shielding foe, the hits actually do still deal just enough shield stun to link into each other, and enough shield push to keep sending the foe forward, so you can still drag them around in shield. In fact, the fourth hit deals another 0.5 battlefield platforms of push, sending the foe possibly right into a beam if you've got Up Special up. Since this is a chain of hits that'll lock the foe in shield stun, it can eat up their shield alarmingly fast in Anti-Form, and given the nature of this attack as a follow up move it already is pretty good at catching out dodges. One thing to look out for though is that the third hit actually deals very minimal shield push even if the shield stun is above average, and if you end on that hit rather than having access to the fourth to shove the foe out of your face you will probably get punished for it badly.

The delayed version of this hit already serves an important function in allowing you to access the threatening Up Special scenario without needing 2 or more Nobodies out, but it is a bit awkward to set up. When not in the context of being used as a follow up to the third hit, this hit actually has a fair bit of start up lag so the foe can pretty easily dodge get out of the way. That said, having a trap that can go into three different angles of knockback that can also fly a full battlefield platform from its initial position gives Xehanort a LOT of potential combos or pressure out of this. Leaving this out in the middle of the stage can make all the Jab projectile pressure way more terrifying to deal with, and you can mix up the foe at the ledge by not going for the standard Up Special combo, but rather leaving the Nobody on the ledge to activate while you go down and try to gimp the foe personally. Its a powerful delayed hitbox to have access to, but keep in mind you have to go through a full three part combo to use it, which is sometimes pretty inconvenient.

Up Tilt - Burning Light
Xehanort sweeps his sword above him in an arc overhead, in a motion with worse than average lag for a tilt due to Xehanort sweeping the blade a bit slowly. It does, however, at least cover a fairly sizeable area, and is followed up by a second, faster sweep of the blade, which has a thin wave of light eminating beyond it on this second swing. The first hit deals 5% and knocks the foe very slightly upward and the second hit deals 6% on the blade and 8% on the light wave. The blade deals upward knockback that KOs at 255% on the second hit, while the light wave will deal some elongated hitstun to the foe before they take knockback that KOs at 200%. The ending lag is pretty brief, making it easy to go into combos off this move at lower percents, but the knockback on the blade hit has high enough base knockback that combos stop being possible off it pretty early, around 25%. The light hit's knockback is more scaling oriented, so it takes a bit longer to stop comboing, especially when you factor in the added hitstun it deals to let Xehanort get into position a bit more easily.

Hitting with the stronger light hit of this move is a bit dependant on the spacing of the foe when you land the first hit, as its knockback is a set short distance up. Therefore, you'll get the stronger second hit if you land the part of the hitbox closer to the edge, and the weaker one if you hit up close, meaning you'll want to be spaced a bit further away from the foe with this move. The double hit of this move makes it okay for catching spot dodges and it hits far enough to both sides of Xehanort that you can sometimes use it to catch out a foe while battling over neutral because of this. That said, it also means Xehanort's Up Tilt is not only laggier than average, it has longer duration so you can take a surprisingly big punish off of a whiff on this move.

The follow up on this move has a Nobody rise up behind Xehanort and then fly forward at a downward diagonal angle, keyblade stabbed out in front of them. This only deals 3% and very weak forward diagonally downward knockback, and will always confirm out of the light hit due to the elongated hitstun. This leaves the opponent in front of you to allow for combos into Forward Tilt or Fair, and can come pretty close to confirming into Side Special on occasion. The ability to transition an anti-air into a grounded combo like this is a unique ability that this follow up lets you access, and can guaruntee piling on quite a bit more damage than the your aerial follow ups would offer.

The time delayed version of this move seems pretty weak, as Xehanort has a lot of tools that he can suspend with Stopza that are on paper more powerful edgeguards than this. That said, this does at least cover a big area, as while this isn't usually terrible relevant the Nobody will travel down a length of nearly 1.5 battlefield platforms at a 45 degree angle. This makes it a pretty useful thing to use alongside Up Special to just deny another huge swath of space, making a Nobody-based gimping attempt work far better when a fairly fast to come out move that pushes them further to the blast zone exists as something Xehanort can throw out mid combo. You could even use it while the foe is landing a lethal blow on the Nobody to smack them into the light beam to get some massive damage and possibly a kill in return.

Down Tilt - Succumb
With a surprising amount of force behind it, Xehanort stabs very low to the ground with the X-Blade, light sparking at the tip. This move comes out at an incredible Frame 3, has pretty respectable range, and is so low to the ground it will poke through a shield on a pretty minimal amount of damage. If the foe happens to be in anti-form, even just briefly pulling out their shield for an attack Xehanort never goes for might be enough that the poke will go under it with the subsequent shield depletion at near the attack's max range, and it will usually just go through it regardless of where you hit once the foe is at higher percents. The actual damage is also pretty good, dealing 10% and weakly popping the foe up for the majority of the move's range, and an improved 13% and 50 degree diagonal upward knockback that's quite strong at base but doesn't KO until very late at the sparking tip.

While this seems like a stellar tool for winning neutral for Xehanort and even starting combos, there's just one problem. The ending lag on this move is a huge pain to deal with, actually leaving Xehanort at a slight frame disadvantage until about 40%, and only being frame neutral or barely frame positive for a while longer, at which point the knockback gets to be enough it'll never combo into anything of value without support. That said, its not enough of a frame disadvantage you'll reasonably be punished on hit, and can let you chip in damage while basically staying in your neutral game with decent efficiency, so its not a bad neutral tool, just not something that will outright win it for you and is punishable if you screw it up. Obviously, using Jab projectiles of the either delayed or just slow moving dark orb variety can set up into this move fairly well, as well as any Nobodies you have lying around that can combo into this. If the main Xehanort is currently using Up Special, this move is a bit scarier as the ending lag problem isn't as big of a deal if you just pop the opponent into the all powerful death laser.

The tipper hitbox leaves Xehanort at a bit of an advantage, though the angle and distance it knocks the foe means its not going to be an exceptional reward for landing this either. Given Xehanort's quite good air game, this does at least convert well into an aerial assault/approach, or can possibly just be used as space to set up either a Nobody or a Nobody delay to open up Xehanort's options more once the foe is back down to earth with him. Its not a strong reward for winning neutral, but that's not really what this move is meant to do, given its easier to win neutral with this move than a lot of Xehanort's options.

When activating the follow up, it will have the Nobody appear directly behind the opponent and slam their keyblade down in a motion similar to Ike's Forward Smash. This deals 14% and very powerful diagonal knockback for a Nobody attack, KOing at 130%. It actually takes quite a bit for this attack to start up, nearly as long as the Forward Smash in question, which isn't great as the added ending lag means the foe could technically punish Xehanort on hit at low percents. If the foe does that though, they will almost certainly get hit by the Nobody's attack, which is probably worth whatever small damage the foe did to you with their faster move. If the foe reacts by getting out of the way, that frequently puts Xehanort in a better spot than he'd be in if he connected with this move in its base version anyway. Its not a great follow up, but given it is pretty powerful and is fired off a bit after Xehanort comes out of lag, it can lead into some good read situations.

The nice thing about this move is the Nobody will follow the foe while they're taking knockback from this move. This means at higher percents or if you hit with the tip, they'll still come out and prepare to hit the foe, giving them something to immediately dodge while Xehanort gets back on his feet. In particular with the tip, if you actually hit this hitbox it can be devastating since the foe is much closer to the top blast zone now than they otherwise would be. And if you don't hit with it, forcing the foe to account for the delayed strike gives them more problems when Xehanort closes in to continue his assault, letting him make an advantageous state where he'd usually just get the space and neutral reset. The fact that this is never a guarunteed follow up is a little frustrating, but you can make it into one if you make some clever plays with a delayed Nobody and the added pressure makes landing this move a bigger reward than it otherwise would be.

This is obviously a pretty good hitbox to freeze with Stopza, just because its big and powerful by the standards of Nobody attacks and makes a great thing to knock the opponent into for a finisher, or to send them flying back into an aerial Xehanort to go back into a combo. Attacks that deal larger knockback actually do inflict increased hitstun for combos, and that's actually usable when said knockback comes from a trap, after all. There isn't much complexity to using it as a delayed hitbox other than that the opponent will see it coming due to its sizeable starting lag, though you can sometimes set it up in interesting places given the Nobody will be frozen where the foe's knockback ends, leading into an early kill if you then combo the foe into it.

Dash Attack - Keyblade Storm
From the ground below Xehanort during his dash, several black keyblades rise out of the ground, with Xehanort hopping on top of them and riding them forward. Xehanort will fly forward a little over a battlefield platform riding these, and on contact the keyblades deal 6 hits that add up to 15%, with the final hit actually dealing quite weak horizontal knockback. Xehanort sails a bit over ground level during this move, flying over his projectiles from Jab while moving at a pace a bit faster than his dash, and the fairly sizeable mass of keyblades(a fair bit wider than but a bit shorter than Wario) allows him to plow through most grounded attacks with this. The unfortunate part here is the starting lag and fairly commital duration, the move taking 17 frames to come out, but fortunately you go right into the ending lag once you hit a foe as the keyblades all skewer the foe and then disappear.

The weak knockback, multihit for additional hitstun, and actually rather short ending lag as the keyblades sink back into the ground with Xehanort stepping off or he just casually hops off upon hitting a foe means this move is absolutely ripe to start a combo. Piling on 15% with a combo starter is also more than you'd usually get and can lead to some very high damage combos... just keep in mind, this move is pretty predictable and foes can just take to the air to knock you back down. Projectile coverage with Jab makes this approach a lot scarier, but that is admittedly pretty predictable... but if you have say, a delayed Nobody around, a lot of that predictability is gone as you can spring that at any point during your attack. And high damage off a single combo makes this quite scary if you go for it while the foe is Anti-Form, as you can pretty easily build up a ton of meter off whatever combo you get off this and defensive options for dealing with the approach are noticeably nerfed. As a final note, Xehanort will keep travelling through the air with this move,

Xehanort actually has TWO kinds of Nobody follow up to this move, one of which is activated by tapping A, and one of which is activated by holding A. The "follow ups" are actually activated during the attack's duration this time, and both of them have a Nobody fly out riding on a pair of flying keyblades from behind Xehanort. If you tap A, it will just have the Nobody fly forward at a high upwards angle, dealing 5 hits of 1% that drag the opponent along up into the air, leaving them about 1.45 Ganondorf heights above where Xehanort was when he initiated the move. Holding A will instead have the Nobody loop back around behind Xehanort for the same hitbox, but instead dumping the foe off about a battlefield platform behind where Xehanort initiated the move about a Kirby height above the ground.

As far as the power of these hits goes on their own, these are consolation prizes. Basically it just allows you some additional coverage both in terms of timing and in terms of space in the air that, while not as powerful of a hitbox, at least makes sure you got a little extra damage on the foe and if used near the end of the move still puts Xehanort at a great position to set up a Nobody or a time delay due to the space he's gained. There's a lot of situations where this move becomes more than that, but it does require prior setup. Those dragging hitboxes that take the opponent specifically where you want them to be are a lot more alarming if that place has a time delayed Nobody ready to strike right there. In addition, if you do have at least two Nobodies on you, having a hitbox that drags people around with its knockback is actually extremely strong. If you use Up Special, these dragging hitboxes can easily pull the foe right into the path of the Up Special beam, and while this does mean you have to use Dash Attack's follow up during an Up Special and expend a clone, its a pretty powerful effect to have access to, especially since the multi-hit of the dash attack can also leave the foe stuck in the path of the beam even if you can't scoop it back into it with a separate Nobody.

For some similar reasons to why its good with multiple Nobodies or with other time delayed attacks, the dash attack itself is fantastic to time delay, as the multi-hit drag can pull the opponent into all sorts of combos and setups. One thing to keep in mind however is that this does get worse when the foe is at higher percentages, as they'll be able to DI out of the drag earlier and earlier. This means using this to set up for KOs can be a bit trickier than it at first sounds, and on top of that you do have to go through a high starting lag, high duration move to get these Nobodies out, so the reward had better be powerful. None-the-less, the lag investment in creating this "trap" is quite worth it, as being able to both reposition the foe and subject them to an abnormal amount of hitstun simultaneously can allow for some pretty absurd potential combos.

Smashes​

Forward Smash - Wheeling Slash
Lunging forward and gripping the X-Blade at an angle behind him, Xehanort swings it forward in a massive semi-circle. Light flares all around the blade, scattering off in wavy streaks when this attack hits the foe as they explode with light. This deals an insane 26%-38% and diagonal upward knockback that KOs at 60%-20%, but as you might expect it is very, very laggy. The move comes out on Frame 39, so actually landing it is really difficult, and as a side note the hitbox above Xehanort during the first part of the swing is a bit weaker too, only dealing 21%-29% and purely vertical knockback that KOs at 85%-50%. Still quite strong, mind you, but less absurd than the frontal hitbox, and also doesn't produce the visual of the foe exploding with light.

This move does outrange Ganondorf and Dedede's FSmashes by virtue of having Xehanort jump forward during the starting lag, but this does create a bit of a blindspot up close, so Xehanort to not have the foe right in his face if he goes for this move. Unfortunately, one other thing it exceeds those two in is ending lag, as Xehanort needs to get his bearings after performing a move that acrobatic. He's rather old and his age does catch up to him a bit during this ending lag, so it takes him even longer than you'd think to get back to a steady stance. If you whiff with this, you're going to be brutally punished, and its really hard not to whiff with given the starting lag, making this move come across as kind of obviously garbage.

Except its not, for a couple reasons. For one, the follow up for this move is a bit unique, it actually comes out BEFORE the move. Specifically, if you press the A button again during the attack's starting lag, one of the Nobodies will appear next to where Xehanort will slam his blade down, specifically taking the form of Young Xehanort(or using the pre-existing Young Xehanort Nobody if you activated that variation of Neutral Special). Young Xehanort will then create a sphere of time magic, indicated by a clock on it, that will stun the opponent in place if they're hit by it, the sphere being fairly big and dealing 1% and 30 frames worth of stun. The key thing is, Young Xehanort is spawned on frame 15 of this attack's starting lag, so now instead of the horrific 39 frames of starting lag, you only have to deal with what really isn't all that bad of lag for a Smash Attack. Obviously, its not that fast and the ending lag is still utterly brutal, but for the kind of power you're commanding its kind of scary it comes out even that fast.

While Young Xehanort will always spawn 6 frames into the starting lag of Xehanort's Forward Smash if you tap the A button within the first 5 frames, you can actually spawn him later into the lag by pressing the follow up further in as he will stun the foe 10 frames after he's been input. This actually gives you a bit of a timing mixup the opponent has to worry about, letting you catch dodges with this more effectively than you might think. This stun doesn't go through shields, but it does inflict enough shield stun that the foe has very little time to react to the blade actually coming down and might tick their shield down to a break in Anti-Form, or result in a shield break if the foe times their shield drop poorly(provided its not somehow healthy enough to tank this massive hit). Even with this move's hideous ending lag, you're still at a massive advantage off a shield break. Of course if their shield is healthy enough, you're going to regret the decision to use this move.

If being able to use this kind of power off 15 frames of startup isn't good enough for you at face value, because the ending lag is too terrible, keep in mind the rest of Xehanort's moveset. He has slow projectiles and delayed hitboxes to set this up, and some very powerful combo tools that can lead into this move if he has another Nobody prepped. Keep in mind you either need 3+ Nobodies or a very careful plan to actually confirm or near confirm into this Forward Smash, but the fact that its even possible to occasionally true combo into a hitbox THIS powerful is something that should put the fear of god into your opponents. Should you get out the full 13 Nobodies, with the kind of resources you have to blow, the setup isn't even hard anymore, which is one of the many reasons why taking multiple stocks off that is perfectly feasible.

Young Xehanort is amazing suspended as a trap, because a trap you can spring at any time that stuns the foe for 30 frames is absolutely stupid good. It true combos into anything in your set that's not Forward Smash, the hitbox is reasonably large, and in general its great for just setting up some insane combos on the opponent. Its not even slow to come out. You do have to go through this move's hideous lag to use it though, so unlike with the other delayed Nobody attacks you absolutely cannot just weeve pulling this out casually into fighting the opponent. You need to set it deliberately while the foe is far, far away from you, but hey, if you get that distance, its a terrifying threat for the foe to deal with.

Up Smash - Kingdom Ray
Pointing his the X-Blade skyward, Master Xehanort fires a vibrant beam of white light upwards, travelling up nearly as far as Palutena's Up Smash. The light even shines down in rays on both sides of Xehanort, giving this move some actual horizontal coverage as well, making it downright amazing in that regard. What's not amazing on this move is the lag, the start lag is not particularly fast and the ending lag is very long as the beam dies away before Xehanort puts back his keyblade. The good news is for the first 10 frames of the beam dying away it acts as a sourspot that deals 6%-8% and weak upwards knockback, but it does lose the coverage on Xehanort's sides and is punishable on hit up close, so its not really the best consolation prize, but given there is a follow up hit if you have a Nobody getting the consolation hit can sometimes be quite worth it. And the long duration means this move is pretty good at catching air dodges, especially since the starting lag is, while not great, serviceable.

How powerful this move is depends on how close the opponent is to Xehanort, because conversely to what you'd expect for this kind of massive range move, its considerably more effective at close range. Hitting the actual blade of the sword the beam is fired from deals 18%-25% and upwards knockback that KOs at 105%-70%, and right past that the damage decreases to 14%-20% and upwards knockback that KOs at 130%-100%. It further diminishes until you reach the end of the hitbox, which only deals 9%-13% and upwards knockback that KOs at 200%-150%. Hitting with the light beams stretching off to the sides deals the same damage and knockback as the strongest hit that's not on the X-Blade itself. For what its worth, the weaker hits aren't AS big of a loss compared to the base hit given they hit the foe considerably higher up in the air, so the KO percentage decrease is smaller than it looks.

This move's massive range has a pretty solid purpose for Xehanort in conjunction with his ability to delay his Nobody hitboxes. The Up Smash just serves as a massive wall of space that is very easy to smack the opponent into, so while its a bit harder to combo into with his own moves thanks to the lag, its actually a very easy move to combo into with the help of a time delayed Nobody. It is really easy to say, use Dash Attack or Forward Tilt's delayed hitbox to land this, and even Down Tilt's can work despite not really coming across as a combo move. Using this to cut off a huge swath of space during Up Special is also pretty powerful, especially considering its lingering nature. Just know if you whiff with both you're definently getting that Nobody destroyed given the ending lag, and on that note you better get the timing for delayed hitbox combos down for this move.

The follow up to this move is another quite flashy one, as the Nobody using it takes the form of Ansem with his guardian at his side. The Ansem Nobody raises his arms into the air as his guardian stretches upward rapidly, rising higher and higher into the air. By default, it will go up a little over a Ganondorf height before slamming its hands together for a hit that deals 11%-15% and upwards knockback that KOs at 150%-115%. The thing about the guardian is that if there is a foe directly above it, it will rapidly stretch upwards to meet them, taking longer to go up the higher up the foe is. It doesn't go up QUITE fast enough to true combo out of Up Smash at high percentages, but its actually not that far off from doing so, meaning against a foe with poor timing the two hits can connect into one another and convert this into a noticeably earlier kill move. At lower percentages, this just means Up Smash can pile on a ton of damage and get the foe extremely high in the air, giving Xehanort plenty of setup time, and on some opponents depending on gravity this can lead into early kills at 70%-80% off Up Smash, just keep in mind its not going to work on every opponent.

This also makes it much more rewarding to hit with this move's sourspot, as because the sourspot comes out later it will actually confirm into the guardian's attack rather than just providing another layer of pressure to give Xehanort a bigger advantage state. This can make timing the move as a combo ender a lot more comfortable or make it much worse for an opponent who gets caught out of a dodge.

Used as a delayed hitbox, this is a potentially amazing delayed hitbox to have with its potentially infinite upwards range. If Xehanort manages to pressure a foe to a position high above the ground with this, you can kind of build your own Up Smash into Ansem follow up that ACTUALLY true combos to kill early on everyone. While its not as powerful as a true "sectioning off" of the stage like the original hit of Up Smash, you can still use this to zone the foe out from an entire column of the stage, possibly keeping them trapped near the ledge where one wrong move can lead into Xehanort using the powerful combination of Up Special and a Nobody against an offstage opponent. While a bit trickier to combo into that many of the follow ups, it has the actual highest KO potential if you get a foe reasonably high in the air.

Down Smash - Brilliant Beacon
Master Xehanort traces the X-Blade along the floor around him, in a move that only deals 6%-8% and low knockback that pops the opponent slightly up and forward from the direction the blade was spinning(so behind Xehanort it knocks the foe slightly further back). Xehanort's cape billows a bit after the spin, and the X-Blade glows increasingly brightly as he performs it. The real power of this move's hitbox starts when Xehanort has mostly finishes his spin as two light beams rise up and spin around him, quickly reaching their full height of about 1.6x Ganondorf's height after they're halfway through their first spin, starting out only a Kirby height. It should be noted they're only hitboxes for the portion of the spin where at least part of the beam is out of the background, so this attack does have some blindspots in terms of time coverage, but the beams fortunately are at least partly on the fighting plane for a large enough portion of the attack that this ends up covering a decently large portion of the attack's whole duration. The beams will make two orbits around Xehanort before disappearing, and travel out to a maximum distance of about 1.5x the distance of Xehanort's blade, while becoming a hitbox on the main plane 0.8x the distance of Xehanort's blade out from him.

The light beams deal 13%-18%, and mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 170%-135%. While this is pretty weak for a smash, and the starting lag is on the somewhat higher end, there are some good points. This move has a pretty long duration and even if hitboxes aren't active for all of it, they still give it good enough coverage that it can catch out dodges and kind of "protect" Xehanort until the end lag starts. If you hit with the very end of the hitbox's duration, you can actually score a combo off it at low percents, because the final hit takes place so close to lag's end. Now is this easy to set up? No, but it can work if you catch out a roll or dodge at the right time, or if you use a lingering hitbox to combo into it. Xehanort has no trouble setting up one of those, given his nobodies that he can place around stage via Down Special and activate while this move is out.

The end result of this move is actually even better if you charged it more, as the light beams will actually keep spinning up until the actual end of the end lag after about 10 frames of charge up front, and keep increasing beyond that. With a fully charged Down Smash, you'll have the hitbox continue to linger about half a second after Xehanort comes entirely out of lag, which giving you yet another lingering hitbox you can throw out on stage for one thing, albeit at the cost of tons of lag. This also means you could potentially combo the foe into this attack an even larger number of times due to the increased duration and pile on over 50% off one move, but that requires some very specific use of both Xehanort's own kit and your delayed hitboxes, so its a bit of a challenge to make work. That said, it could be a way to spontaneously burst your way up to full meter against an anti-form foe.

The foe is left with a glowing aura of light after being hit by this attack, which lasts for only 2.5 seconds. This brief glowing aura is actually an indicator for where this attack's follow up will activate, albeit if it hits multiple foes it will target the closest of them. When the follow up is pressed, a Nobody will appear in the form of Xemnas, and raise both hands at his sides as dark energy forms around them, before slamming them together in a manuever that is very laggy, taking 1.2 seconds. Considering that Xemnas' lag is thankfully disjointed from Xehanort's, this isn't really the worst problem to have, but it does telegraph what Xemnas is about to do a lot. And this is in some ways Master Xehanort's most powerful follow up, but one that there's a lot of room to play around at least.

Once Xemnas has finished his lag, he will summon a massive dome of lasers around the opponent, about the size of Giga Bowser. This dome has 50 lasers in it in total, and is distributed through the foreground/background around the opponent, the lasers only being hitboxes right when they hit the opponent in the foreground obviously. Each laser does a highly underwhelming 0.3% and no flinch on hit, and ten of them are fired at the opponent per second as long as they remain within the laser dome. Essentially, it just adds up to the foe taking 3% per second as long as they stay within the very large AoE of this attack, which isn't really that much to write home about. That said, foes will take 5 hits of the lasers at once if they just try to run out of the sides, albeit decreased by 1 hit per second as more and more lasers are fired off at the foe and the edges become sparser with lasers. Eventually, the dome will have few enough lasers in it the foe can just run out the sides without bumping into any, or easily jump/crouch around them, usually when only 10-20 lasers are left. If the dome forms in the air, it will be oval shaped and the opponent will take about as many hits if they go through the bottom or top of the dome without dodging as they would the sides, but usually 1-2 less as the lasers there are less densely clustered.

Now this might all sound like a mediocre damage over time effect, but it does get a lot scarier as the attack goes on. You see, after 10 lasers hit the opponent, the damage subsequent lasers do is increased by 0.1%, and this will increase every 10 lasers that hit the opponent to cause the damage potential on this move to skyrocket. Not only that, but every 25 lasers that hit the foe will cause a mini-stun for 12 frames, giving Xehanort a pretty big advantage over the foe to narrowly go for a Young Xehanort boosted FSmash to give the foe only a little time to dodge, or just go for a combo starter if you want some more guarunteed output. It sadly is pretty hard to get two mini-stuns out of this move, however, as any lasers shielded/dodged won't count for the damage increase or the mini-stun effect. This kind of encourages foes to dodge/shield a bit more recklessly in this zone however so they can at least avoid a laser or five if they're struggling to escape... and careless use of their defensive options gives Xehanort a bigger chance to go for shield pokes/breaks and dodge punishes.

You can add even more Nobodies to this move by tapping A repeatedly for this follow up, with each tap past the first summoning another Nobody to assist Xemnas in creating the dome. This adds 10 lasers to it and causes it to continue firing for 1 more second, which with even one Nobody allows you to go for more mini-stuns quite easily, increases the damage if the foe tries to go out the side considerably, and greatly raises the damage potential of this manuever. Obviously, if you get a full organization and invest 6 or 7 of them into this move, this becomes a ridiculously overpowered zone control tool, as the opponent's damage just skyrockets when they're in the zone after a while... and on top of that, the mini stuns actually get more frequent past a point. If the lasers are dealing over 1% to the foe, the mini-stuns will happen after 15 hits rather than 25, which makes escaping the laser dome go from "somewhat annoying" to "extremely difficult if Xehanort is there to pressure the foe". Obviously, that requires the foe to be in the laser dome for a full 7 seconds, but once you get it the foe will likely not really be able to fight back against Xehanort anymore unless you knock them around too carelessly, netting you the stock.

Having a massive dome/oval of the stage sectioned off is actually quite powerful for Xehanort's other tools too. If you put it near the edge of the stage it will strongly encourage the foe to either try to fight past Xehanort under considerably more difficult conditions... or to back off the edge, letting Xehanort go for an Up Special edgeguard, leading to a bit of a win-win scenario. Xehanort's Up Special generally combines well with this move as the massive laser can block the opponent off from getting out of the laser dome, and while that might be a bit predictable on its own if you factor in a delayed Nobody attack or using another Nobody with the Up Special, it can actually keep the foe locked in to take massive damage quite nicely. If this is out at the same time as the Up Special, for that matter, the mini-stun can lead right into the opponent getting smacked into the extremely powerful beam. Xehanort can also kind of "drag" the foe back into this move with Forward Tilt or a function of the Nair that we'll get into soon enough. Either way, there's a lot of tools you can use to keep the opponent in there and let the damage pile up, albeit some of the stronger ones are either laggy or resource intensive. It is worth mentioning sometimes just throwing this move out can make the whole prospect of "definitively winning neutral with Xehanort" a lot easier as you can more easily land your actual combo starters when the foe is frantically trying to not get mini-stunned or take too much damage from the lasers.

Given this is already a long lasting hitbox, delaying it has less massive implications for how this move applies than it otherwise would. It basically just means you make the same danger zone you otherwise would, but at a time more specifically convenient to you now that you can activate it whenever. Being able to suddenly spawn a dome in at any moment is a reasonably scary ability to have, even if it doesn't necessarily open up combo opportunities that other moves do, considering how terrifying it makes traversing the stage. It should be noted that if a foe is not covered in light from the initial Down Smash hit, the dome of lasers Xemnas creates will just be spawned around the point Xehanort used the Down Smash in the first place. Hitting with a Down Smash before pulling out the delayed version, however, can make it lock onto the opponent's position again via the light source, which is a useful little trick to know if you've got one prepared on stage. Note that if there's already a laser dome out, a new one will cause the old one to end and all the accumulated damage stacking and added Nobodies will not be factored into the new one. So keep that in mind.

If multiple foes are inside a laser dome, the lasers will divide themselves up between the different targets in that dome, splitting up the damage output and making this move generally much less threatening to each individual opponent. This can kind of make grouping up to fight against this move a valid combat tactic, and considering that's how Sora and Riku stopped it in their fight against Xemnas, it only makes sense really.

Aerials​

Neutral Aerial - Light of the X-Blade
Light surrounds the X-Blade as Master Xehanort holds it upwards and backwards a bit, as the light also covers Master Xehanort's body. This move comes out quite fast, activating on Frame 5, and deals 9% when it first comes out as well as mostly upward knockback that won't KO at a reasonable percentage unless the foe is really high up in the air. The light lingers on Xehanort's body and blade for a bit, diminishing in power to only deal 5% and extremely weak upwards knockback afterwards. It lingers for a bit before Xehanort has very little ending lag as his sword is not even that far from its default position during this move's animation anyway.

Now this move sounds pretty great for how fast it is, but there are a few problems with it. For one, the duration being a bit long combined with the tiny range compared to Xehanort's other moves makes it pretty unsafe to use, and the move doesn't combo into anything if you hit with the initial hit. Hitting with the late hit is considerably harder, as if you hit early into the duration but past the initial, stronger hitbox, you're liable to get yourself punished on hit. The move has pretty great landing lag though, making it a good option out of a short hop, albeit it can still be tricky to not specifically hit with the initial hitbox when the hitbox size is a bit bigger when it first comes out, which doesn't combo into all the potential things the latter hitbox can like Up Tilt. So there's a bit of finesse to using this move, but it can be one of Xehanort's best combo starters if used properly, and serves the backup function of a move to reset when the foe is in advantage state but accidentally gives you a small window to claw your way back in.

The follow up to this move makes hitting with the more combo-capable weaker hit a lot easier, as you can activate it a few frames into the move's duration rather than just afterwards. The Nobody will fly a short distance in front of Xehanort and a dark aura will surround their body as they hold their keyblade in front of themselves, as darkness leaking off them drags in nearby opponents with a suction effect that gets stronger the closer they are to the Nobody, though it will pull in slightly from a range a little shorter than Dedede's Neutral Special, albeit not with the same strength. If the foe comes into contact with the Nobody, they take 5% and are knocked slightly backwards, either into the combo hitbox of the Nair or into range that you're in a good position to land Bair even if it doesn't true combo into it later on in the Nair's duration. Just keep in mind if you use this to set up a very late Nair hit, its not quite as good as it otherwise would be due to the additional 5 frames of ending lag you take.

This follow up actually has a secondary property of pulling projectiles in with the suction hitbox, redirecting them from their path. This allows you to redirect dark orbs, or even darts fired by a delayed Nobody, up into the air, usually give Xehanort an additional source of anti-dodge pressure or combo potential. If the dark projectiles actually come into contact with the Nobody, they'll be trapped in place there and if a foe is also pulled in they'll take a multi-hit of all the projectiles before getting knocked backwards, actually allowing this to potentially confirm into something like Bair due to the increased hitstun, and also piles on quite a bit of damage(albeit sadly not the kind that builds a lot of meter against an anti-form foe). This does sacrifice the projectiles, but if you use it while the projectiles are far enough away you can instead just redirect them as they don't get pulled all the way to the Nobody, so there's quite a few tricks you can do with this.

As far as delaying hitboxes goes, the Nair Nobody hitbox is exceptionally useful when delayed. Its not a particularly powerful payoff on its own merits, being a weak hitbox that can combo into some upward angled things, but is hardly exceptional for combo potential compared to some of the other options. The thing that makes it so good, however, is that it allows you to actually use this to mess with a foe's spacing. Pulling a foe just out of reach of one of your attacks into one, redirecting your Jab projectiles to mess with your ability to dodge, or making moves that wouldn't normally combo together actually connect by pulling the opponent right back in are just a few of the many uses setting up a delayed Nair has. Its even pretty easy to set up, so this may be one of Xehanort's most common delayed hitboxes to drop out on stage.

Forward Aerial - Ladder to the Kingdom
Xehanort performs a simple, arcing slash from bottom to top in front of him, dealing 8% and knockback at an angle slightly above horizontal that won't kill at any reasonable percent. This move comes pretty fast and has good coverage in front of Xehanort, but the ending lag is high enough that comboing off it is unfortunately kind of awkward, you need to predict the opponent's reactions/dodges a bit for it to link into itself or Nair. Xehanort can't really create a massive amount of advantage off winning neutral with this if he doesn't have a Nobody out, which is a bit of a shame as like Down Tilt it is one of his best tools to do so, and Down Tilt doesn't really provide much of a reward either. That said, if you do have a Nobody out, this move is a fair bit more dangerous for reasons we'll get into, and if the foe misreads you trying to use one of Fair or DTilt to win neutral they could easily end up taking a far more crucial hit.

This move has a bit of an interesting follow up, although its quite simple at first. By default, the Nobody will appear a distance of half a battlefield platform in front of Xehanort, able to come out as soon as Xehanort starts swinging the blade. They will swing their blade back at the foe to knock them right back once the foe takes the hit from Xehanort, sending them at the same angle upward but back towards Xehanort. This hit deals 4% and allows for an incredibly easy Uair confirmation up until around 70%. This is a much better combo confirm than this move would usually have, getting Xehanort a solid amount of damage off winning neutral with a tool that's pretty easy to win neutral with, certainly a useful trick to have. Of course if you're just summoning Nobodies and spamming this you're not going to win through that alone, the move is not THAT fast. For what its worth, the follow up on this move will work until like 250%.

If you have additional nobodies out, you can actually press A a second and third time to use up another one with each press to further extend this move. With a second press another Nobody will move itself slightly above and behind Xehanort and hit the foe back in the opposite direction horizontally but still upward, dealing 5% this time. The first follow up does stop linking into this one a bit earlier than the first hit stops linking into the first follow up, but you can still do this until about 160%. Sometimes, this can mean you land on a platform below and kill confirm with Up Smash, a quite powerful option to have out of Fair. The third hit will have the final Nobody appear a bit above the first one and instead swing its keyblade in a downward arc with considerable force. This deals 6% and spikes the opponent pretty hard, KOing foes pretty early if you land it off stage(60% or so, and some characters earlier if they can't recover vertically well). Being able to spike with this fast Fair is frankly a terrifying option, the damage is considerable, and used above the stage the foe will be juggled between Nobodies long enough this will confirm into most of your set. Sure, you can't confirm FSmash off it(unless you have a fourth Nobody prepared so Young Xehanort can catch the foe out, requiring your insanely expensive full organization summon), but there's still some pretty intense setups you can get off this move. This combo stops working around 100%, for what its worth.

Using Stopza on your Nobodies here has a bit of versatility, as your one stored Stopza charge can be used on any number of the Nobodies that come out here. That said, once you've frozen a Nobody in place rather than having it immediately attack, you've made it so subsequent follow ups will likely not hit. This means say, freezing the first Nobody you throw out by pressing B and then using the next two follow ups by pressing A is not recommended. That said, you can do an unfrozen follow up to get all the advantage it has and then freeze the next one, allowing you to use all the added hitstun and damage of the first and second follow ups and then leave the third one in the air to spike the foe later for some devastating subsequent combos. One of the nice things about this move is that it comes out fast AND the follow up hit comes out fast when Xehanort unfreezes it, so its both easy to combo opponents into and not punishing to go into, and you can create some absolutely devastating combos using a delayed double or triple Nobody on this move(with a projectile hitting the foe as well you might actually be able to confirm a Forward Smash, which is kind of horrifying), but that does require you either have the full organization or the triple Nobody summon, both of which are hefty investments on Xehanort's part, especially into something that could possibly just disappear without the foe ever running into it.

Back Aerial - Holy Impale
Pulling the blade back in for a moment, Xehanort thrusts the X-Blade behind him with a great deal of force, in a move with pretty large starting lag that makes it difficult to throw out casually. The power on this move fortunately makes it worth it, as it deals 14% and has knockback that KOs from center stage at 130%. On an aerial, that's pretty strong stuff, only helped by this move having pretty big range as Xehanort moves himself backwards to use it. This can help a tiny bit with horizontal recovery, though its pretty situational that this will actually be the difference between getting back to the stage or not and doing so is fairly predictable. There's plenty of useful delayed hitboxes in your set that make this move easier to land, and that's really the main context you should be using it in, as its pretty easy for opponents to just weave around this in the air or punish you for going for it. That said, if the foe's already exhausted their air dodge, landing this on a read is not THAT difficult and can lead to some early kills on a read. Basically, while its not a safe move, Xehanort has the tools to make good use of it. This move does have decently long ending lag though, albeit the landing lag is actually not too bad even if using this move out of a short hop is sadly not really possible.

The follow up on this move is one that's never going to connect out of the main hit, and just has the Nobody follow Xehanort's motion except moving even further forward with their own keyblade by a small amount. This deals 11% and backwards knockback that KOs at 190%, and as such isn't nearly the KO move the initial hit is. With that said, the foe has only one dodge in the air and while Ultimate air dodges are directional, air dodging in place has by far the least ending lag and is as such the safest one to go for. This makes an in place air dodge a lot more hazardous to go for, and can either be used to punish that and still get a kill off stage... or just bait the foe into higher lag air dodges that you can more easily punish when they go wrong simply by having a Nobody out. It also does make the situations where you use this move above the ground pretty terrifying, as Xehanort going into the landing lag of this move will make the pressure provided by the second hit a lot more powerful to follow up on. So while it lacks Xehanort's usual extended combo utility, what it does do is just make the Bair a significantly scarier move to try and weave around.

Using the Nobody as a delayed hitbox is pretty simple. Its a hitbox that uses a single Nobody, has KO power, mostly horizontal knockback to make comboing into moves across the stage with the high knockback easier, and can be placed in the air. If you position this off stage you can possibly use this to shunt the foe off the blast zone at not especially high percents, or you can hit the opponent into it from across the stage and then use this move to knock it back to you for a fairly flashy combo into Up Smash and occasionally Forward Smash with very particular positioning. There's enough of a vertical component to the knockback that you'd need to use this below the ledge to knock the opponent into FSmash on a flat stage, or with very particular positioning in regards to a platform on a stage with those. Even then you'll probably need Young Xehanort's help to pull it off. If you use it in mid Down Smash you can potentially combo the Down Smash into this and then right back into itself, which is a neat little trick that piles on quite a bit of damage.

Up Aerial - Spinning Blade
In a swift upwards motion, Xehanort spins most of a full circle around himself, only not covering about 90 degrees below himself in a move that actually comes out quite fast, at only Frame 6. The good range, speed and coverage are complimented by respectable damage, as the move deals 9% and upwards knockback that kills at 200%. The ending lag and knockback are both too great for this move to really go into another aerial, sadly, and makes this move slightly punishable on whiff. Its more good for combo endings and juggles than it is a great KO or combo continuer. That said, helping juggles is pretty nice for Xehanort, especially considering he has both the aerial delayed hitboxes and Up Smash to support them and while its not as a "true" a source of combos, if you keep up the advantage they provide on a foe in anti-form its a great backup strategy to build meter.

The follow up to this is simple, a Nobody jumps up after the foe and does their own spinnning slash, boosting about a Ganondorf height into the air. This deals another 6% and upwards knockback that KOs at 225%. It does stop comboing at high percents, and it doesn't have a ton of great follow ups... but you can fast fall Up Smash close to the ground and give the foe a very small window to dodge it, or use a second jump to pursue with another Uair. This is only situationally a useful 50/50, but it can let you just squeeze a little bit of extra damage off your Uair if you play it right, which really is what this follow up is useful for, just providing a little more damage and messing with dodges that Uair wouldn't otherwise have. The delayed version of this is quite good for keeping the opponent in the air for aerial combo strings, not really having that many flashy applications but just being a solid, aerial combo/pressure enabler.

Down Aerial - Light Array
Xehanort pulls the X-Blade back behind him as he faces downward, light energy flashing off it before he thrusts it down and several beams of light shoot off the blade around Xehanort. They fan out off the blade to about the length of Marth's sword from the blade, making a tree-like shape out of light beams. This creates a massive hitbox, but the starting lag on this move is pretty high, making it rather unsafe to throw out at close range. That said, this move is easier to use than a lot of moves with this much lag due to its sheer range, including large amounts of coverage on both sides. This allows it to function in a similar role to Up Smash of serving as something to combo into with your delayed hitboxes, as its sheer size makes it fairly easy to catch opponents in it. Its also not half bad to throw out if you have space from the foe, as the light beams can poke at them while they lack options to hit you from that far away. The ending lag on this move is average, so whiffing is a lot less painful than it is with say, Forward Smash, but you still can get punished hard on a whiff if the foe is close and sometimes even if you're a bit careless poking at the foe.

The X-blade itself deals 17% and is a pretty strong spike, not quite Ganondorf Dair levels but still killing off stage at early percents. The light beams deal a much less impressive 8% and diagonal upwards knockback in the horizontal direction they're facing that KOs very late. The beams coming out of the bottom of the blade will actually knock the foe straight up and have slightly more knockback than the ones on the sides, allowing this move to potentially combo into Uair or Nair at medium percents. You're not really using this move for raw power or combo potential most of the time, but the fact that it has some decent properties for both of those things depending on where the move hits means it can help with getting in a foe's head to zone them to a more ideal area of the stage.

The follow up hit to this has the Nobody descend down below Xehanort with its keyblade stabbing below it, falling to the stage a little slower than Sonic does in his Dair. The Nobody deals 6% and mostly upward diagonal knockback on contact with the foe, actually leading into Xehanort's aerials quite well due to the Nobody being desynced from Xehanort's lag. This makes it a better combo starter than the original move and will catch out opponents who tried to avoid it in place by doding or shielding... except its actually a little better than even that. After the Nobody lands on the ground, its keyblade will crack and shatter as it disappears, creating an explosion of darkness around it that deals 9% and upwards knockback that KOs at 175%, 10 frames after it hits the ground. This creates a multi-layered frame trap of sorts, as even if the foe avoids the first 2 hits there's still a third one coming that starts after Xehanort is already out of his ending lag, putting a lot of pressure on opponents that don't move out of the way. While it doesn't increase the moves power outright when it doesn't combo out of it(except at very low percentages with the bottom hitbox), it makes it much harder to shield/dodge around and creates a much greater amount of pressure over the horizontal area below Xehanort, greatly improving this move's zoning ability by the simple presense of having a Nobody out.

The double hitboxes this move produces are tricky to combo off twice on a delayed version, you need some pretty specific spacing/timing to do so. That said, its a Nobody move that covers a wide area of space so its a pretty useful tool for spacial control even if you don't pull that off. If you can get the first hit to combo to Xehanort and then back into the second hit though, that will both pile on a fair bit of damage and serve as a pretty unique sort of combo opportunity you don't quite get from the single hit combo resets of your other delayed hitboxes.

Grab Game​

Grab - Clutches of Darkness
Xehanort reaches forward, darkness surrounding his hand as grabs onto the opponent. If the opponent is the same size as Master Xehanort or smaller, he'll lift them up by the neck with darkness pouring out of his hand, but if the foe happens to be too big to do that on, they'll instead just be levitated into the air with darkness surrounding their neck and pouring off their body while Xehanort simply watches. He has an amused smirk on his face either way. This is a bit of a short range grab and has a tiny bit worse than average lag for a grab too, so on the whole Xehanort struggles a bit more to land grabs than most characters do. Given Xehanort being able to capitalize hard off wins in neutral is pretty reliant on either a pretty good read or having a Nobody out in some form, not having access to the best grab for combo setups is a bit of a letdown. But Xehanort is a master schemer, he shouldn't have to take the easy way out.

Pummel - DARKNESS
Darkness flows from Xehanort's hand or the ring around their neck into the opponent's body, causing them to briefly flinch and sometimes flash into Anti-Form for a couple frames, albeit this is just an aesthetic touch as Xehanort corrupts their essense. This deals 2.5% per hit in a moderate speed pummel, giving it above average damage output. If the foe is already in Anti-Form, Xehanort will instead siphon darkness off their body, dealing damage at the same rate, but giving a slightly different animation. This animation also justifies why this pummel will actually get the buff to meter production while the foe is in Anti-Form that Xehanort's light based attacks do. Given he's directly siphoning power off the opponent this proves an adequate substitute to clashing light and darkness for powering Xehanort's plans.

Forward Throw - Light Barrage
Master Xehanort appears behind the opponent in an instant as a slash of light appears through their body, sending them flying forward with 7% and low horizontal knockback that will only KO around 300%. The throw can end here if you want it too, and considering Xehanort is positioned forward a bit while using this throw its actually a pretty decent combo starter into Forward Tilt... albeit it actually won't work at 0% as Xehanort will be too far in front of the foe, needing to do it between the 30%-60% range on a middleweight. It does however combo at lower percents if you're near a ledge as Xehanort will not go off the edge when moving forward with this move, instead stopping in front of the opponent with a slash mark stilll appearing over them if necessary.

This move has a follow up Xehanort can use if he doesn't want to just go for a regular combo off it, where he can press any cardinal direction during the ending lag of the throw to instead have himself leap to the opponent's position in the air. This leap will stop working at about 120% on middleweights, at which point the throw knocks them a bit too far for Xehanort to make the jump, lower on lightweights and higher on heavyweights. Once he gets there, he'll stab the X-Blade into the opponent for another 5% and set knockback of 0.6 units in the chosen direction, which Xehanort isn't really qualified to combo off especially because the ending lag of this version is a bit longer as Xehanort needs a bit more time to get back to his default pose from this position. That said, it turns what was a solid combo tool into instead an excellent spacing tool, allowing you to get the foe that much better positioned for your time suspended Nobody attacks.

You can also expend a Nobody by pressing any cardinal direction again during the ending lag of the second hit, which will cause it to just repeat Xehanort's attack in a new direction. This can be done up to twice after this move, and by the time the second Nobody's attacking the opponent you'll already be out of your ending lag to start capitalizing on this, making this a brutally powerful throw if you have two Nobodies out for all sorts of crazy stuff. Unfortunately you can't suspend this particular Nobody attack in time, its a contingency of this particular throw rather than a normal follow up, but this already allows for some VERY powerful and specific repositioning, basically lining the foe up perfectly with whatever trap you have lying in wait for them, AND at a frame advantage. The one Nobody follow up is also good for repositioning opponents near the edge for ledgeguard scenarios, setting up combos from angles the FThrow couldn't usually and at a greater variety of percentages, and of course the usual spacing into delayed hitboxes/traps nonsense. Its a very versatile throw, but it doesn't cover the unique niches Xehanort's other throws do.

Down Throw - The Recusant's Sigil
A considerable overflow of darkness bursts out of the point Xehanort is grabbing the foe from, before forming into a red X-symbol on their body. It then flashes into a glowing light as the foe is released from Xehanort's grip in frame neutral with him, dealing 6%. This is pretty underwhelming as far as immediate impact goes, and the sigil on the opponent's body will sadly not last long either, only lasting for 6 seconds. Going into neutral isn't necessarily the worst for Xehanort though, as he has some pretty strong neutral tools like DTilt and Fair, its just once he uses them he's not really putting himself at much of an advantage.

As you might expect, the point of this move is the effect the Recusant's Sigil has on the opponent while its on them, which is thankfully quite strong and warrants using this otherwise weak throw out of a mediocre grab and then some. The Recusant's Sigil allows Xehanort to "track" opponents, which has an effect both on Xehanort's Nobody follow ups and projectiles. For your Nobody follow ups, it will actually cause them to slide a short distance towards the foe when performing their attack if the foe would otherwise be out of range, essentially giving them extra reach in all 8 cardinal directions. This causes some follow ups to combo together for longer, makes tools like the Up Smash follow up easier to hit with, and makes all your delayed Nobody attacks have a much larger potential area of effect, in general extending Xehanort's combo game quite a bit. Even Xemnas' laser dome will slide towards opponents within about half a battlefield platform range to surroudn them, albeit it moves slower than the other Nobodies at a bit slower than Incineroar's Dash Speed, who traverse the distance very quickly, so its possible for the foe to run away from it... though it now zones the foe off a larger area of the stage and is harder to escape all the lasers if they do get caught in it.

Projectiles home in too now, with the orbs homing in considerably more powerfully than they used to and starting to accelerate once they start homing in on opponent's rather than at the end of their range, making them require a shield or dodge much more frequently than they used too. The darts home in a bit more weakly, but this still means just jumping over them is still no longer an easy solution to that problem. Combined with the delayed Nair, Jab's follow up, or a delayed Jab follow up, you can create some pretty complex to avoid projectile combos, though the window to pull it off is a bit tricky.

The big payoff to this move, however, is that it now adds another follow up to Xehanort's attacks. By pressing a grab input after performing an attack, Xehanort will detonate the Recusant Sigil as it flashes red and sends the opponent sliding right at Xehanort, traveling a maximum of a battlefield platform in his direction though stopping right in front of him otherwise, with a bit of hitstun as well. Xehanort can do this out of any attack and do it in combination with either of his other follow ups(creating a delayed Nobody or just using a regular one). This opens up true combos between hits that would otherwise never have them(like the two Up Smash hits), lets Xehanort drag foes all over the stage for use with delayed Nobodies/Xemnas. Pulling the foe back towards you while Up Special is out is also REALLY strong, as it lets you reset a combo or hit you did not aimed toward the beam into one that now DOES combo into your beam, or if the beam just passed over the Nobody outright drag the foe right back into it for massive damage and knockback. There's even the rather intimidating prospect of actually comboing people with the Down Tilt now, due to the additional hitstun, making that move terrifying given how hard it is to shield.

Of course, while this stuff is all powerful, you have a rather small window to use it, which in combination with delayed Nobody stuff can be a challenge given those also have a low duration. The most powerful option this move has is also locked behind actually hitting with something first, and while 6 seconds is a good time frame for you to get at least one hit in, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a particularly optimal combo and sometimes you're just going to get to get pushed to disadvantage when this leaves the foe in neutral. Use this move wisely, as the rewards are not the easiest to reap.

Up Throw - Expanding Darkness
Raising the foe up into the air Xehanort has the darkness leaking off the foe crush in on them and send them flying upwards for 8% and upwards knockback that KOs at 200%. This doesn't true combo into any of Xehanort's upwards options, but its pretty easy to 50/50 them with short hop Uair/Up Tilt or full hop Uair/Up Smash depending on percent. You can definently push a decent amount of advantage off this move, especially off if you go into Up Tilt with a Nobody up as you can keep a combo/advantage state for quite a while based off that, but it is a bit situational and not as powerful as FThrow given you don't get anything guarunteed.

That said, this move does have a decent side benefit of the darkness collecting on the foe's body, before starting to swell up and leak ominous purple energy out of it. After 5 seconds, the energy will explode, dealing 6% and upwards knockback that kills at 220%, on the whole, not very impressive. That said, this isn't really a move you use for its raw damage or kill power. Like the Down Throw, this is a combo extender, and while throwing one hit into the middle of a combo isn't a huge deal, it can at least reset combos, and combined with using duplicates to already allow longer ones you can allow for seriously nasty combo strings with this. You can also pop the foe into the air with specific positioning in combination with Forward Tilt, or use Xehanort's various tools to juggle the foe towards the top of the screen(Up Smash/Uair/Up Smash follow up) to have the explosion just kill the foe due to their proximity to the top blast zone.

This hit is also really good for adding pressure on the opponent's defenses. If the foe doesn't want to be hit by it and lose neutral, they have to shield or dodge it. Xehanort can guaruntee a Down Tilt hit off a shield attempt because of how low it pokes, meaning as long as he's in close range when it goes off he will basically always reap some damage on the opponent. If the foe is in anti-form, the nerfed shields/dodges make this especially painful to deal with... and one thing that is worth noting is that it can make Up Special and Forward Smash easier to use than you'd think considering their lag. This combined with Xemnas and a delayed Nobody you can throw out at any time is, while very difficult to setup, the kind of ridiculous external pressure that makes landing those otherwise insanely laggy moves actually feasible, even without Nobody assistance. This is to say nothing of if Xehanort has a Nobody on his person and wants to fish for an FSmash kill, but needs assurence it won't fail.

This doesn't provide the same kind of absurd combo potential upgrade that Down Throw does. That said, there are definently situations where going for this move is better. Particular setups that lead into this version more comfortably, or if you don't have a setup of any sort and want into the lead while also adding a timed threat rather than just going right into a combo. Its also the case that the choice between which move to use might just depend on which the individual Xehanort player is more comfortable with, as both of them encourage different patterns.

Back Throw - The Final Key
The darkness continuing to surround the opponent's neck, Xehanort has them float backward, released from his grip if he was holding them by the neck. He then slashes the X-blade through the opponent's back, with a glass shattering sound playing after the slash hits the opponent as tiny, crystalline shards fly out of their body. This deals 12%, and knockback that KOs at from the ledge at 140%, wholely underwhelming for Master Xehanort's KO throw and especially off a poor grab. There is, at the very least, some additional utility here as landing higher knockback moves out of a grab is not necessarily something you can never combo off with as many delayed tricks as Xehanort has. Its not some super easy setup, but if you Back Throw the foe into something that'll send them back towards Xehanort, following up with a Bair is quite a lot of damage to get off a simple throw like this.

The animation for this throw being based on Xehanort killing Kairi is like that for a little more than just that good ol' villainous flavor, though. If you kill a foe with this move, Xehanort will acquire the light and darkness in their heart to empower himself and further his plans, meaning a KO with this represents a whopping 40% of your meter being filled. That's the kind of progress you'd usually only get on a decently sized combo string in Anti-Form, and you don't even need the foe in Anti-Form to get it! Nabbing that extra 40% of your meter early on in a 3 stock match can have a massive snowball effect, immediately giving yourself access to the Xehanort triad and making it so much easier to reach the full Organization XIII. So while its far from your best KO move, Xehanort's powerful damage racking potential and the extra incentive you get if you pull it off make it worth going for as a KO move, at least some percentage of the time.

Finally, if used in a match where Xehanort has 2 or more opponents, he will smirk before using this as he declares to the uncaptured opponent "You require motivation!" A truly heartless move if the characters involved are two that care about each other, though sometimes you just try to motivate Ganondorf by killing Olimar and it probably doesn't work.

Final Smash - 10,000 Heartless ​

Rising up high into the sky, Master Xehanort laughs maniacally as thousands upon thousands of heartless flood onto the stage. They assemble into a tornado below Xehanort that towers up 4 Ganondorf heights into the air, while being twice as wide as Bowser. This tornado deals 40% on contact and knockback that KOs at 50%, but also shoots off smaller streams of heartless, traveling in a squiggly line that will home in on foes that come within a battlefield platform of them. These streams of heartless are only as thick as Kirby, but are about a battlefield platform in length uncurved(they'll usually be bent at an angle). These deal 25% and knockback that KOs at 80%, and the tornado will fire out one of them per second, totaling to three on each side over the move's 6 second duration. They are fired out at the same vertical height as the nearest opponent, or out of the top of the tornado if the foe is above the top of it. Xehanort will be hidden inside the top of the vortex of Heartless, invulnerable the entire time. Its a powerful if predictable final smash, but if you use it at the right time you might be able to completely wipe out all the opposing lights and finally plunge all of Smash Brothers into Darkness.

 

[Katapultar]

Looks who's come back to see her sister!

Also this guy.






These sets are currently undergoing modifications. We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

 

[IvanQuote]

Robin (Iconoclasts)​

​

Born on an artificial planet and living under the thumb of an oppressive religious military regime, our protagonist, Robin, lives a peaceful life in Settlement 17. Following her father’s untimely death, she decided to take up his wrench and be a mechanic to help the people. Unfortunately, she lives in a society where one’s professions are set in stone, meticulously regulated, and treated almost as clockwork. Rebelling against the One Concern, Robin’s actions as an illegal mechanic unintentionally shape the lives of all she comes across. Through a complex series of events, she becomes an Iconoclast, chipping away at the One Concern’s religious authority whether she intends to or not. In her homegame, Iconoclasts, Robin utilizes many tools she gathers along the way in her journeys, including multiple firearms and her trusty wrench of course. With these tools, she manages her ways around enemies and solves puzzles with the power of electricity. In Smash, these shocking puzzle-solving skills give rise to the form of using the varied tools at her disposal to control both the field of play and the foe's dwindling number of escape routes.

​

Statistics:​

Despite being a teenage girl, Robin is a skilled mechanic who doesn’t tire from turning cantankerous nuts. With a build akin to that of the Other Robin, she lands at the higher end if midweights alongside Mario. Her ground movement consists of a dignified stroll matching Lucas’s gait and a plucky skip falling behind anyone with higher running speed than Mii Gunner. This makes her ground movement a bit sluggish compared to the rest of the cast. Fortunately, her air speed fares a bit better. Her legs push her up in a powerful manner like Lucario, floats down gracefully like Isabelle, and can weave through the air at an above average pace like Shulk. Her traction is below average, so she has to worry about being pushed back while shielding and stopping on a dime. In order to improve her mobility even further, she can crawl and wall jump.​

Jab/Neutral Air/Pummel: Galvanize

Before we start with the usual primary moves, we have to talk about Robin’s Jab, Neutral Air, and Pummel attacks. For her Jab, Robin spins her trusty wrench in front of her with the torque of an air turbine. It resembles Pit’s Angel Ring from Brawl. Like with Meta Knight, this is a multi-jab that lacks any standard attacks preceding it. It must also go through at least one spin cycle with a tap of the A button. The multiple hits on this loop are great at trapping opponents, but the damage leaves much to be desired (0.7% per hit). In addition, the wrench spin only covers what is in front of her; if you hit her from above or behind, she is totally defenseless. The final hit of the flurry attack is a downwards wrench whack (7%). It is moderately strong for a finishing jab hit, killing at 180%, but suffers from noticeable end lag. Along with the commitment of the rapid jab, this is not a move that is safe to throw out on a whim. Despite this, the jab alongside the nair are the most important moves in Robin’s kit.

Robin’s Neutral Air is very similar to her jab. She spins her wrench in a circle in front of herself, hitting multiple times (1.8% per hit, max 6.4%, Final hit 6%). The multiple hits of this move help to keep the opponent trapped and rack up damage. The final hit knocks the foe away in the direction Robin is facing, so at low percentages she can chain this once or twice. At mid percentages her movement speed is not enough to carry her out further. Due to it lasting as long as a single jab A Press and featuring a large, disjointed hitbox in front of Robin, it can be a good means of approaching and spacing the opponent. One important thing to keep in mind is that while the ending lag for this move is not all that bad, the same cannot be said of the landing lag. If you land in the middle of using this move, Robin will cosmetically drop her wrench and scramble to pick it back up. This leaves Robin very vulnerable to counterattacks should you not time the attack properly. This move can be completed if you use it as a rising shorthop attack thanks to her high jump and low falling speed, but using it any time other than the moment you leave the ground is asking for a dropped wrench. If you panic and use this in a rush as you are falling, then you may as well have punished yourself more than performing no action. Use this move in calculated manners.

After grabbing an opponent, with her tool clamped onto the opponent’s shoulder, Robin violently wrenches their joint. Ouch! Despite how painful this looks, it only does an average 2%. Robin is quick at repeatedly dislocating the opponent’s shoulder however, so this pummel can be used very quickly in succession to pile on the damage in between throws. This sounds good and all up front, but I'm sure you are wondering why these seemingly average moves are at the very top of Robin's move list? The answer has to do with the central gimmick of her set: Galvanizing.

The secret function of these moves is that whenever you them, they charge your Galvanize meter. This is a very simple cyan-colored bar that will appear above Robin's head after using any of these moves and is permanently attached to her HUD. After roughly 2 seconds of the flurry attack, 3 nairs, or 6 pummels, the Galvanize meter will be fully charged and Robin will start glowing blue with electricity, henceforth called the Galvanized State. The meter will slowly drain whether or not you are Galvanized. If you aren’t, then the meter will be fully drained after 18 seconds. In the Galvanized state, it will drop at double speed naturally (9 seconds), and certain moves will reduce the duration further in chunks. The meter will only fill once by use of these moves; the jab and nair do not even need to connect, and doing so will not increase the charge speed. This meter is the backbone of the entire set and gives Robin several game changing properties. Most will be discussed later with how they affect each move, but in general all of Robin’s attacks gain a 1.1x damage multiplier and electrical properties. To specify, these attacks will have 1.5x the amount of freeze frames and will cause more hitstun than usual. This will supplement Robin’s slower moveset to allow her to pull off more deadly combos.

In Galvanized State, the jab changes slightly. The flurry attack is no longer accessible and instead only the Jab Finisher will activate. To reiterate, the wrench strike does 7%, kills horizontally at 180%, and has poor end lag. The end lag is not as much of a big deal now since you are not committed to the flurry attack beforehand. This move now functions along the lines of Ganondorf’s jab as a mid-ranged launching tool. It is also important to distinguish that this attack is a Wrench Attack. The meaning will become clearer later on in the set, but Wrench Attacks will become integral tools when in the Galvanized state. Any time a Wrench Attack in this state, the Galvanize meter will drop by 0.5 seconds. If you want to conserve your meter, it is important to know which attacks will make it run out faster. Neutral Air is a special exception to this rule. While still technically a Wrench Attack, using this move will briefly halt the drain of the meter until you reach the FAF. Due to this move’s horrible landing lag, this technique cannot be spammed. If you want to conserve your meter for a tiny bit of time however, intermittent use of this move will help you out.

Specials:​

Down B: Electrode

As a mechanic, Robin knows her way around all sorts of machines and electrical gadgets. Often found sprinkled throughout the lands she explores, Electrodes act as locks for many doors. Using her Galvanized Wrench, she can electrify them to progress forward. For her Down Special, Robin plucks one such electrode and plants it on the ground in front of her at the same speed as Pac-Man planting a hydrant. The object is around the size of Squirtle, is immovable, and offers slightly less movement resistance than the Villager’s Tree. On its own, the electrode will not do much at all. It will block any projectiles that hit it, but after suffering 15% it will shatter. Against electrical attacks it is resilient and will only suffer a quarter of the damage from one such attack. If an electrode is destroyed, there will be a 4 second cooldown timer before Robin can set up another one. If Robin attempts to plant an electrode before the cooldown has finished or if she attempts to use this move in the air, she will simply shrug with a question mark thought bubble above her head. She can set up an electrode to replace the current one, but the old one will disappear. On a particularly large stage or a custom stage that makes some areas untouchable, this is a foolproof way to get rid of an electrode you can no longer reach. If you attempt this though, know that Robin will have more lag than usual in planting an Electrode.

The main purpose of the electrode becomes clear once you enter Galvanized State. If you are within 1/3 FD of the electrode while Galvanized, an electric current will connect Robin and the electrode. The current is a blue, razor-thin line of crackling electricity that connects from the center of the electrode to the center of Robin (right below her chest). The line passes through any and all terrain as long as Robin is in the aforementioned radius of the electrode. If the opponent is inside this line at any time, they will be dealt flinchless damage over time (0.6% per 1/3 second). While the damage is slight, it will quickly rack up on the opponent if they stay inside the current. With the line, you can play mindgames to influence your opponent. After all, constant damage is sure to put opponents on edge and cause them to make erratic movements. Regardless, two main actions the opponent can take while the current is out are to either aim for the electrode to destroy it or to knock you further back to break the current. Should they rush towards you, ready your moves to space them out. If they go for the electrode, you may follow them as their attention is diverted.

This may seem like an overexaggerated reaction for effective peanuts worth of damage, but the electrode has a deadly effect to it. If you use an aforementioned Wrench Attack while Galvanized and connected to the electrode, the power behind the move will travel along the current like a surge of electricity. In other words, the hitbox extends along both the current and to the electrode. Visually, during the Wrench Attack’s active hitbox, the electrode will wildly spark in a manner similar to Pikachu’s Nair and the current will shine a brighter cyan hue. Using this property, you can attack foes from farther away and set up nasty combos in spite of Robin’s lower speed. One thing to note is that while the electrode takes on the move’s full damage and knockback, the hitbox along the current is substantially weaker at half damage and 2/3 knockback. Once again, the Nair is a slight exception to this rule. While the electrode still takes the full damage and knockback, the current simply deals twice the damage as normal while still causing no flinch (1.2% per 1/3 second).

Let’s use Robin’s Galvanized Jab as an example of how this move could work. Imagine on Battlefield the electrode is set at the 1/3 point and Robin is at the 2/3 point. When the opponent is between the two, they decide to run towards the electrode and try to take it out. Robin then uses her jab while facing away from the opponent. Since the opponent is in the current, they will be weakly knocked back towards Robin. Robin’s frame data is not the best, but the electric attack properties increase the hitstun suffered on the opponent so she can follow up by doing a dash attack, or less consistently moving towards them to hit them with a tilt. Alternatively, she can immediately follow up with another jab to weakly knock them back towards her again. With the opponent closer, she can potentially grab them or use a tilt to continue the chain off attacks. Let’s take another instance and say that Robin is on the rightmost platform instead and the opponent tries to jump into and attack her from the middle of BF. When they cross the current line, Robin uses her jab to hit them towards her again, turns around to hit them directly with an Up Tilt to launch them up, jumps above them to use a back aerial (Wrench Attack) when the current passes through them, then ends the combo by getting leverage on the top platform to hit them directly with a shorthop back air.

The electrode and current form the cornerstone of Robin’s moveset, allowing her to transcend her mediocre movement and frame data to form a wall of attacks against the opponent and control the stage. While they don’t have too many applications to warrant explanation elsewhere, both the Ledge Attack and the Prone Get-Up Attack are considered wrench attacks. Depending on where the Electrode is at the time, this serves as a good way to assist Robin to get out of a disadvantageous position. This move does have several limitations you need to watch out for. First of all, the effectiveness of this move is heavily stage dependent. On small stages, stages with platforms and especially stages with moving platforms, Robin shines on these stages because the current can go in many different angles to block off and hit the opponent. On flat stages, large stages, or scrolling stages, Robin’s main gimmick falls off hard. In addition, while Robin can set up an electrode relatively quickly assuming it is not destroyed, she can only do so when grounded. When coupled with her floatiness, the opponent can halt trivialize her by juggling her and preventing her from landing. Even if she does land, setting up an electrode predictably can allow the opponent to do a hard punish while she is still. Last and most importantly, the electrode is a glorified paperweight without the Galvanized State. If Robin is in disadvantage, it is difficult to spare enough time to Galvanize, much less stay in the state with an unbroken electrode on screen simultaneously. While the Wrench Attacks and currents make a deadly combination together, each Wrench Attack will bite 0.5 seconds off of the remaining timer for this state. The attacks need to be used with purpose and precision in order to be effective, otherwise the electrode will become a mere paperweight again.


Neutral B: Roller Bomb/Heavy Missile

While sneaking through the Shard Desert, Robin manage to procure an explosive gun from One Concern. This weapon is stronger than her standard stun gun and shoots round bombs that roll around the terrain and cause massive damage to anyone caught in the blast. Robin’s Neutral B uses this exact gun. Upon pressing the button, Robin shoots out a small metal sphere the size of Samus’ Morph Bomb. The shooting trajectory for this move can be compared most to Mii Gunner’s Neutral Special 3, Grenade launcher. It flies forward in a shallow arc and lands about 1/3 FD later. The bomb is relatively light and decelerates slowly as it rolls on the ground. If stages have slopes, then the bomb will roll until it stops on flat ground. One can also pick up the bomb and toss it around to get it into a more advantageous position. With a repeat input, you can manually detonate the bomb. In these regards it is very similar to Link’s Remote Bomb. There are a number of differences between the two explosives however. The Roller Bomb is smaller than the Bomb Rune and therefore packs less of a punch (6%, kills at 190%) and has a smaller explosive radius akin to the Younger Link’s bombs. The bomb also cannot be picked up and tossed about like a baseball. It will explode on contact with an opponent. If not ran into or manually detonated, the bomb will explode after 10 seconds. Since the opponent cannot knock this explosive sphere away, they will be forced to respect and avoid the projectile. If Robin touches it again after shooting, it will not explode, but she still will take damage if she is in range of when it detonates. As far as the bomb physics, it rolls farther than the Bomb Rune as mentioned earlier but absolutely will not bounce.

Despite not being able to influence the bomb’s movement after shooting, Robin is much more versatile in deciding the initial trajectory of the explosive. Robin can aim the bomb in any of the 8 cardinal directions. Some special directions to mention are straight up and down. The Upwards bomb travels a distance of 1/3 FD to reach its apex while downwards places the bomb straight under Robin. Assuming that you are not standing on any slope, the bomb will stop dead once it hits the ground. This will allow Robin to control the bomb’s location with precision. The bomb’s precise location will be important later, so keep these two tools in mind. The downwards angled bombs when shot while grounded will place the bomb on the terrain immediately like the downwards shot. The bomb will roll slowly instead of staying static. Under most conditions it will move a scant ¼ FD before stopping. This helps cover the area straight in front of or behind Robin. By mixing up the straight shot with the grounded shot, you can catch the opponent if they decide to move into the other’s trajectory. For example, if they are approaching and try to space you out with shorthopped aerials, it is a good opportunity to nail them with a straight shot. To avoid this, they may full hop to avoid the bomb then fast fall and nail you on the way down. At this point, if you happened to angle your bomb downwards instead, the timing would make them land on that bomb instead. While most of these angles are dedicated to covering the ground, angling the bomb upwards will shoot the bomb in a high arc. The bomb will now move in an arc more similar to the Belmont Axe. This leaves a giant blind spot right in front of and above Robin, but it is great for anti-air for jump happy opponents. With all of these angles, you can leave your opponent guessing where you’ll shoot the bomb and whether you intend to use it as a simple bomb or a mine.

Alternatively when holding B for for this move, instead of shooting a Roller Bomb from her gun, Robin will shoot a missile. This projectile is oblong and can best be compared to a Capsule item in terms of size and shape. To clarify, this is not a charged move; the difference between shooting a bomb and a missile is the difference between Ryu's Light and Heavy tilt attacks. When shot, the Missile stalls in place for half a second before rapidly accelerating forward, similar to Samus’ Super Missile. At max speed, the missile moves at Sheik's dash speed. This means that while the missile can move quite fast, select characters still have a means of outrunning it. This doesn't matter much in the long run though, since the missile has a whopping range of 2 FD, or until it hits the blast zone. This may make it seem like an oppressive camping tool, but there are several factors holding this move back. First of all, it is weaker than the Roller Bomb (2%), kills at no reasonable percentage, and has a smaller blast radius, making you only able to hit one target. Pressing B while it’s out detonates it similar to the bomb, but this admittedly doesn’t do a whole lot since the dinky blast radius makes direct hits pretty much mandatory. On this note, you can only have one bomb or one missile out, not both. The detonation trigger also means it’s not spammable, since you would need roughly 3 inputs to send out 2 missiles. They need to be used sparingly as a means of breaking up the opposition's attack progression. The missile has several more practical uses in Robin's kit other than pure damage, but those functions will be mentioned in the following special move.

When Robin is Galvanized, the bombs become another deadly tool in her kit. When she shoots a bomb in this state, the bomb will be Galvanized too. Crackling with cyan sparks, the bomb gains a damage boost (11%). While the knockback itself or explosive radius doesn’t change, the damage property of the move changes from Flame to Paralyze. In other words, you now have an explosive mine that can stun people like ZSS Down Smash. The normal mine is more of an annoyance or camping tool for Robin rather than a strict combo tool. The Galvanized Bomb on the other hand can be a straight death sentence for anyone caught in it, leaving them vulnerable to a killing blow from Robin. They are slightly less effective as a mine due to only lasting 4 seconds before exploding, but this little sphere is something any enemy of Robin should respect and from which keep a wide berth. The opponent can mentally think of this bomb in the same regards as C4 or a Motion Sensor Bomb; it can make them avoid entire platforms or quadrants of the stage while present. Aim this bomb well to influence where your opponent goes.

The stage control doesn’t end with the Galvanized Bomb itself. Due to holding an electric charge, the bomb can also connect a current between itself and an electrode. The current is more tenuous between the bomb and electrode however, so it will only materialize if they are within ¼ FD distance of each other. Otherwise, the properties are the same: the opponent takes minor damage over time if they are inside the current, the hitbox of the explosion is extended to the electrode, and the hitbox along the current will be weaker. Now instead of being a small floor space the opponent will want to avoid, it becomes a wall that could potentially stun the opponent. If you combine this with your own electrode interactions, you can potentially control most of the stage and hit opponents no matter where they go. Alternatively, this could push them to the edge of the stage to avoid the electrode, forcing them into a disadvantageous situation. Even with the current hotbox’s lesser stun time and Robin’s middling movement speed, you can easily follow up if you manage to merely overlap your current with the stunned opponent and swing your wrench. If the opponent gets hit by the electrode hitbox instead, you can circumvent the current overlap and nail them with your own wrench attack on the electrode if you are connected to it. Since it is in the opponent’s best interest to try to destroy the electrode, remember to use the manual detonation feature on your bomb to turn the electrode into a trap.

When Galvanized, the missile can be just as intimidating as the bomb, if not even more so. Like the bomb, the missile gains both damage (6%) and a paralyzing attribute. Unlike the bomb, the Galvanized Missile has an enormous current length from the Electrode. The longest maximum current length of any part of Robin's moveset, the Galvanized Missile can form a current from as far as 3/4 FD away from the Electrode. Recall that you can manually detonate the missile, a seemingly useless function at first. In Galvanized state, this effectively translates to setting up a moving barrier that the opponent will be forced to avoid lest they be stunned. If an opponent attempts to recover high or is trying to land, the missile and current place an enormous amount of pressure on them. Timing the detonation just as they cross the line will leave them open to a good bludgeoning. Even if they manage to evade the deadly current, you can predict the area in which they will jump or air dodge and meet them there anyway. A pressured opponent will surely wish to instinctively air dodge past the current, which makes them ripe for the picking from their lapse in safety. Indeed, while the bomb makes the ground a dangerous place to reside, the missile threatens the sky for similar effect. In either case, Robin can capitalize off of this lapse in safety.

This move does have one reliable counter to balance it out. Like most bombs and explosions Smash 4 onward, the Roller Bomb and Heavy Missile in both forms can be considered projectiles when they explode. This means they are susceptible to both absorption and reflection. This applies to the extended hitboxes too. One special caveat is if you reflect the Galvanized explosion while it is connected to the electrode, it will overload and automatically destroy the electrode. This makes opponents with reflectors a big issue for Robin. Try to time your manual detonation well or make use of physical attacks and throws to punish opponents why get shine-happy. Also, like Galvanized Wrench Attacks, simply shooting out a Galvanized Bombs and Missiles take a chunk out of the Galvanized Meter. The loss is actually triple that of a Wrench attack (1.5 seconds) so spamming is discouraged for this move. Aim the charges well to catch opponents in your electrical trap.


Side B: Usurper Switch

Upon sneaking into One Concern’s Western building of operations, Robin manages to procure her most powerful gun, the Usurper. The high damage and penetration on this thing are amazing on its own, but when charged it allows the user to switch places with the object or creature in front of them in a blink of an eye. In Smash, the Side Special allows Robin to use the charged Usurper shot. When the input is pressed, a glowing arrow is shot from the gun with the length of 1/3 FD. When I say shot by the way, I mean the whole arrow length materializes instantly from the gun, no travel time required. If the opponent is anywhere between Robin and the endpoint of the arrow, time freezes for 1/3 of a second followed by a flash along the transfer line. After that time, Robin and the opponent will be standing in opposite places. Despite the gunshot appearing to take up the entire height of Robin’s body, the activation line is actually deceptively thin (1-unit height). In addition, this technically acts as a recovery for Robin in that she can only use it once before touching the ground. Even on the ground, this move has a cooldown timer every time it is used to prevent spamming. If you attempt to use this move 3 seconds after the previous use, the shot will just come up blank. To add onto that, while the move comes out really quickly and you act with very little lag should you land the teleport, whiffing the move will lead to a lot of punishable lag. The move also fails against shielding opponents, so timing is everything. Since the hitbox is only open for a couple frames, you have to be precise whenever you use this move.

Swapping places with your opponent has a variety of different uses to assist Robin. First and foremost is positioning. Should you find yourself backed into a corner, you can use this move to quickly turn the tables by backing your enemy into there instead. This also makes it easier to sneak your Electrode maneuvers onto your opponent when they least expect it. Going more into how the switch affects your opponent, if the opponent’s start and end points are both on the ground, the opponent will continue performing whichever action they had started if any. For example, if King Dedede is facing left towards Robin, uses a forward smash but not before Robin hits him with a Usurper Switch, King Dedede will follow through with his forward smash unimpeded after he warps. If he is charging the move, he still has the option to continue charging it. In the scenario mentioned above however, Dedede will still be facing left after warping, so the attack will whiff completely with Robin on the other side of him. This is the main point of this move, to get out of the way of devastating attacks and punish the opponent while they are reeling. This move will require a healthy dose of prediction however; the opponent will receive no lag or stun from this move. If the opponent is just standing around doing nothing, they will be able to act immediately following the switch. They are even able to buffer inputs while the teleport animation occurs, so you may well end up in a worse position as a result. Alternatively, if the opponent predicts that you will use this if you see them charging a Smash Attack, they could intentionally reverse the move so it ends up hitting you after the switch anyway. This move is meant to force you and your opponents to play mindgames with each other, so think very carefully when and how you use this move. When you add the bombs into the mix, the mindgames become more plentiful and weighed more in Robin’s favor.

While the Usurper Switch ignores most constructs like Gunmen and puppet attackers such as Luma, it will interact with Robin's personal Electrode. By switching places with the Electrode, Robin can have much greater versatility in moving the thing into just the right position for ideal combos. Or you can be a jackass by repeatedly targeting the Electrode and stall the match out with the glorified switching cutscene 1/3 second at a time. I don't think I have to go into detail how vulnerable this will leave you and what better things you could be doing with this time though, so I digress. Moving around the Electrode serves more than just its purpose to aid Robin in combos; recall how it is able to block projectiles. If you are in a bind or are not certain you can swap with the opponent safely, you can quickly swap to put the Electrode between you and whatever certain death is barreling towards you. This will naturally severely damage or destroy the Electrode, but it is certainly better than literally biting the bullet. Even if the opponent is not about to use a projectile, you can use this swap to get out of harm's way and further baffle your foe with the options available to you. For example, if K Rool is about to Down Smash you, attempting to swap with him will either have the beam sail right under him as he hops up or will place you on the other side of him, yet equally close to his devistating hitbox. By switching with the Electrode, you can get safely away from his massive gut and punish him in return. Similarly, this move allows Robin better recovery options in certain situations. If you have the Electrode on the edge, a situation that the opponent will want to stay very far away from due to Galvanized mechanics, a recovering Robin can swap with the Electrode to get her feet directly on the ground and avoiding ledge grabs entirely. This brings up how the Electrode acts in the air, which is to say it just falls. If you say swap from the air onto a platform the Electrode is on, it will fall at the speed any normal item falls. This does not give it any hitbox, and it will fall until it hits the ground harmlessly or until it hits the lower blast zone tragically. The Electrode still functions as normal as it is falling, so you can technically use the electric current offstage. The issue with this is that you can realistically get one attack in before the current reaches its maximum distance, and organizing all this while trying to hit an offstage opponent is likely more trouble than it is worth. Plus it guarantees that you destroy an Electrode, which has many better uses onstage.

Another unique property for this move is that it acts as a very unique reflector. If any projectile is between the two characters when the switch occurs, the projectile will change ownership to Robin coupled with a 1.2x power boost. For example, if Samus blasts a charge shot right before you nab her with the Usurper Shot, the two characters will swap places, and Samus, still reeling in endlag, will be hit by her own blast. The projectile does not necessarily need to be in a straight line between the two characters; no matter the vertical placement of the projectile, so long as it is between the two characters horizontally speaking, it will change ownership. To give an exaggerated, yet useless example of how this works, if Pikachu uses a Thunder Jolt and it travels around to the underside of the stage, if Robin swaps with the Thunder Jolt being directly below her, the Jolt will become her projectile after the switch. This is useful for catching lobbed projectiles like the Belmont Axe. Visually speaking, during the stopped time period while the switch is occurring, each projectile that changes ownership will have a blue flash over them. Due to the risks associated with this move, the reflector portion of this should not be used to cover weak, quick projectiles. It should be used to cover killing or trapping projectiles such as Charge Shot or Arc Fire. Using it against Buster Pellets or Lasers is an effort in futility. Also, while the move can catch projectiles with odd trajectories, linear projectiles are the ones that are easiest to land their mark after reflecting. Shortrange projectiles, such as Timber, are also not good candidates to be reflected; they will likely not reach the opponent after switching, and switching at the range at which they will land leaves Robin with mere frames to predict the opponent’s move. Speaking of, this only works if the projectile is out. If you switch during the opponent’s starting lag, they will end up firing the projectile after the switch. While this is still a good trade off as many projectile moves come with hefty end lags to take advantage of, it requires you to take more risks to land a deadly counter. When projectiles are involved, use the Usurper to play chicken with the opponent.

Bringing back the missile once again, using the Usurper Switch on the missile allows Robin to swap places with it. If you shoot the missile on level ground, you will be at the exact correct height to switch with the missile when on the same level ground. It’s much more precise, however, trying to switch with a missile shot from the air. Attempting to line yourself up to switch with a capsule-sized target is so risky that it's probably not worth it. Rather the main purpose for this maneuver is to allow Robin to circumvent her middling ground speed and quickly warp into her opponent’s face. The missile itself will explode when it hits a physical object, like a character or Timber tree, or if it gets hit by a fire or explosive elemental projectile. There is a slight difference between these two situations however; the missile explodes immediately when hit by a solid object, but it will short out for a second and then explode when hit with a fire move. It will completely stop in its tracks when this occurs, granting you the perfect opportunity to swap places with it. If it was hit by some lingering fire move such as PK Fire or Arcfire, you don't need to worry about getting stuck in it after warping. The Usurper's change in projectile ownership protects you from this. As for other projectiles, such as physical or electrically charged ones, the missile will sail right on through. If an opponent is being particularly campy, you can sail right on through and approach quickly. One last thing to note is that if you switch with an undamaged and Ungalvanized missile, it will not be destroyed after the switch and will continue sailing in the direction it was originally. As the missile produces only very mild knockback, this could be a good means of extending some combos when not Galvanized. For example, if you warp into an opponent's face and perform a jab or forward tilt at low percentages, both of which feature hefty cooldown, the missile will sail past Robin and nail the opponent to inflict more flinch on them. This buys Robin enough time to recover from her own lag and follow up when she would not normally be able to otherwise. Even still, switching with a Galvanized Missile still has its uses. Against an opponent who has a reflector, you can switch with the missile just before contact to punish them with a grab instead. Use the Usurper Switch to sail past up to the competition and diminish Robin's own weaknesses.


Up B: Bolt Swing/Electric Ride

Using her wrench for more than just attacking, Robin can use it to provide leverage for platforming. Whether it is swinging off of cantankerous floating nuts or zooming along electrical wires, Robin is equipped to wander the surface of her world. In Smash Bros, this manifests in the form of an admittedly lackluster recovery. Grabbing ahold of a midair bolt that suddenly materializes, she quickly flips herself upwards. It has 3 trajectories: straight up, 60* left, or 60* right. While quick, it is basically a glorified triple jump, rising about 5 units vertically and 2/3 of that angled. The move has no hitbox, making Robin vulnerable. While she can certainly attack or air dodge after using this move, her poor frame data still leaves her vulnerable on rising. Her low falling speed does her many favors, but at the end of the day this recovery is simple and linear.

Everything said above applies to the non-galvanized version of the move. Much like everything else in her kit, the recovery becomes much more powerful when Galvanized. If you hold B for the move, instead of swinging immediately off of the bolt, Robin hangs off of the bolt for a moment. Hanging on the bolt, she starts charging, electricity swirling around her. From this point, you tap a direction to make an electrical wire extend out of the bolt. The wire will extend for 4 units before stopping at another bolt. From this point you can extend another wire in any other non-parallel direction. Once you make 2 wires or let go of the button, Robin will blast off along the wire hanging on dearly to her wrench as the connection point. She moves as quickly as Wario’s Bike, zipping from point to point in a blaze of sparks. Robin’s body becomes a powerful hitbox not unlike PK Thunder 2. Coming into contact with Robin will result in a deadly blow causing 19% and killing at around 70%. The exact killing strength for this move varies since the move launches in a variety of different angles congruent in the direction Robin was moving at the time. If the move is angled downwards, this indeed means that Robin can spike the opponent. There are several flaws in preventing easy kills with this method, but there are a couple other points to touch on first. Once Robin reaches the end of her rope, she will fly off in the same direction she traveled on the wire for around 5 units before normal fall speed kicks in. While her body still has a hitbox off the wire, the attack is much weaker (9%, kill at around 200%). After the hitbox wears off, Robin will fall into freefall. You must weigh the charged and uncharged recoveries to determine if you want to plow through opposition on your way back to the stage or if you want to maneuver more quickly and provide any form of follow up attack.

To get the obvious comparison out of the way, this charged move is much like Pikachu’s Quick Attack if it were fused with Pac-Man’s Power Pellet. Robin remains stationary for a moment to plan out her route before blasting off. Setting up a wire takes about 20 frames, so the opponent can see where you will go and move accordingly. Granted, Robin’s dash is super quick, making it difficult to react to all the same, but opponents can easily counter Robin by attacking her when she is vulnerable hanging around. If you care to punish their folly, you can throw off the opponent’s timing by only placing down a single wire to blast off faster. It should be noted if you let go of the special button before a wire reaches its given destination, Robin will still only start the dash once the path is complete. Using a single wire is normally a safer option anyway; as Robin zips along a wire, her Galvanized Meter will decrease rapidly. Each wire length will remove 1/3 of the meter in transit, or 3 seconds. If you have less than the required amount of meter needed for this a trip, Robin will lose the hitbox entirely and sluggishly travel along the wire at half speed at the moment the meter is fully emptied. Once she reaches the end of the wire, she will use whatever charge she has left to leap off the wire with the lesser hitbox as normal, but she is a sitting duck completely committed to the wire until she reaches the end. This gives the opponent plenty of time to retaliate, prepare, or edgeguard. If you get knocked off the wire in this state, since your meter will be empty, you will be forced to use the uncharged Up Special to recover. Due to this, the double wire is a maneuver that should only be done soon after you fill the Galvanized Meter.

As an offensive tool, the charged move is a powerful finisher. Due to the lengthy start up and telegraphed direction, you cannot exactly combo into it like a reliable kill move. After knocking the opponent into the air and applying Electrode pressure, you can use this to zip up and catch their landing. Due to the armor, the enemy cannot hope to challenge it and must dodge. Do note that the speed of the move makes it vulnerable to air dodges and Robin isn’t one to be able to capitalize of air dodge lag after this move. More reasonable ways to follow into this move are through edgeguarding or capitalizing on Galvanized Roller Bombs. The roller bomb method is obvious; hit them while they are stunned. For edgeguarding, the safest bet is to zoom horizontally off stage and then diagonally up towards back to land. This will cover high recoveries and some at ledge recoveries. To get those who recover low, you can aim diagonally down and straight up, but it requires a bit more finesse getting back to the ledge. Additionally, high recoveries can fly over this and potentially counter edgeguard. For a real reckless way to kill, just send the wire at 2 downwards angles. Robin will be sent flying downwards at the end for a self-destruct, but it is a stylish way to disrespect the opponent, no? For the last discussion topic for this move, we will discuss the grounded version’s limitations. When standing, you cannot angle this move downwards or diagonally downwards. This leaves you with 5 movement directions to blast along. This is a safety measure however. If you draw Robin’s path in such a way that it leads into a wall or floor before completion, Robin will crash, take 5%, and fall prone. This can lead to the opponent taking advantage of your blunder should you misaim. Off stage, this also forces Robin to be careful, as crashing into the side or underside of a stage will bounce Robin off and eave her reeling. She is not in freefall, so she is free to try again, but this leaves the opponent with even more prep time to knock Robin to her doom.

Standards:​

Forward Tilt: Wallop

​

Proving she can fight without relying on the tools on her belt, Robin dekes the nearest bystander with a mean hook (12%). While it doesn’t back as much utility due to not being able to interact with the Electrodes, this punch is still a powerful forward tilt in its own right. Launching horizontally, the punch will kill at 151%. Since Robin is so reliant on her Galvanized State to be an oppressive force on the battlefield, her wrench attacks are designed around being able to work well in either state. That said, this move is slow in startup and would definitely appreciate Galvanized Stun Traps and Hitstun. It is not quite as sluggish as Olimar’s megaton punch, but she goes through a similar wind up with her attack. To put it bluntly, this move has no place in combos: it launches too far to follow up with and is generally too slow to end combos. This move is used as a solo maneuver to mix up and knock opponents away. Compared to Robin’s other far launching attacks, this one is arguably the safest due to not having as proportionately high endlag compared to the startup. If you miss and the opponent is too slow to punish, you can quickly shield or jump away. It is better to dodge and regroup on a whiff because most of the rest of Robin’s moves come with similar frame data issues. Clobber your opposition with this fist to show them the real guns that turn the wrench.

Up Tilt: Tune Up

Robin takes her trusty wrench and flicks it upwards in an uppercutting motion (11%, kill at 190%). This covers the areas both in front of her and above her. This move is the bread to starting most of her combos. Since Robin maneuvers better in the air, this is a quick move to knock opponents to where Robin can juggle them best. With the range of a short sword, the wrench catches opponents who don’t space themselves far away enough from Robin. The disjoint also makes it satisfying to catch and repeatedly juggle those who attempt to land. The move has moderate initial knockback and low knockback growth to begin combos at most percentages. This does unfortunately mean that Robin cannot start off with cheap Smash 4 Mario Uppercut juggles; she actually has to earn her combos. Out of Galvanized State, many combos would have tight windows for activation due to Robin’s universal speed. At lower mid percentages, Robin can follow up with a forward air or reverse back air for a simple 2 hit chain. Nair is not true by any means, but at mid percentages you can full hop into one to force them to dodge or take more damage. This is a good opportunity to charge up the Galvanized Meter. Once percentages start to reach higher numbers, combos become more and more tenuous. Along with the aforementioned nair to catch fast fallers, the uair is the other go-to attack.


Down Tilt: Twisted Ankle

Crouching low to the ground, Robin sticks out her wrench and twists it about an imaginary bolt (2, 6%, KO at 189%). This move has a small sweetspot at the head of the wrench; hitting someone with this will trip them as Robin clamps onto and twists their ankle. Hitting anywhere closer along the handle will provide weak horizontal knockback (5%, KO at 235%). If you are not Galvanized, tripping the opponent followed by a jab flurry will be useful. For those with short ranged get up attacks or those who don’t roll away from Robin, following up with jab can catch most of the unmentioned get-up options while charging your meter. If you predict they will roll away, you can always attempt to follow up with a dash attack or bomb. Even still, charging up the Galvanized Meter is by far the best option. When Galvanized, this attack will be based off of the sweetspot in damage and knockback. To this end, the electric current, being the incorporeal force that it is, will not cause any tripping here; Robin has plenty of ways to incapacitate foes from a distance anyhoo. Speaking of the current, this move fulfills a similar purpose to the final jab hit: it launches horizontally and succeeds in launching grounded foes between Robin and the Electrode towards Robin. While these moves appear very similar in terms of launch statistics, the jab is more likely to be stale than the Down Tilt thanks to all the Galvanizing you will be doing. As such, you can use this move if you would like to launch the opponent further than the Jab under most circumstances. This especially works well to launch the opponent in front of Robin just in time for a Smash attack or forward tilt to be conservative. With great utility normally and Galvanized, this move is sure to give Robin opportunities to expand her combo damage ranges.


Dash Attack: Combat Roll

Breaking from her running stride, Robin leaps forwards and performs a somersault on the spot (10%, KO at 196%). Robin bursts forwards a bit when using this, so it is a good means of closing the gap between you and the foe when they least expect it. The foe is launched at a shallow 30* angle, one that Robin unfortunately has difficulties following up with. If they are not knocked off stage by this maneuver, launching a quick bomb under them will stifle their landing options. Basically, the main point for this move is to be a quick “get off me” option with little combo potential. If you knock the opponent towards an elevated electrode, that can provide potential follow ups, but this makes it heavily dependent on the stage and electrode positioning. Apart from the quick little caveat of knocking opponents away, the little burst at the beginning makes Robin able to perform a DACUS with good results. If one attempts to dodge the roll by leaping over it instinctively, canceling with an up smash can prove to be a powerful punish.

Smash Attacks:​

Up Smash: Stun Gun Blast

Charging her trusty stun gun to its maximum capacity, Robin takes aim upwards and fires a crescent of orange glowing energy above her (23%). Ironically, this attack neither is a projectile nor has stunning properties. It is much like Snake’s forward smash in that regard. Similar to that RPG, the Stun Gun Blast is absorbable from moves such as PSI Magnet or Oil Bucket, so be careful around characters with those moves. Regardless, the attack hitbox is a large crescent above Robin that almost looks like a parasol. If you imagine the hitbox as a rectangle, it is 1.5 Units tall and 2 Units wide. Unlike the game of origin, the blast doesn’t really travel any distance either. It appears above Robin, lingers for a bit, and then dissipates. This Up Smash is extremely strong, killing as early as 62%. This is not only Robin’s strongest Smash Attack, but also her strongest kill move in general. Any landing opponents need to be wary of this attack. There are several downsides to this move apart from the aforementioned absorption weakness. This attack is also one of Robin’s slowest, suffering from noticeable starting lag and positively dreadful endlag. Coupled with this is that it has a penchant for missing ducking or shorter opponents; unlike say Lucas’ Up Smash, this move starts above Robin’s head and not from the ground up. Accounting for both of these, using this move in a repeated or predictable manner will make it easy for the opponent to dodge and retaliate with ease. As for chasing landing opponents, Robin’s mobility is mediocre on the ground, making it difficult to catch those with good air mobility. DACUS and a well timed Galvanized Missile help wonders in this regard, but it is a commitment to predicting the opponent since you will not be able to change directions after execution.


Forward Smash: Overscrew

In a manner more akin to a greatly exaggerated final jab hit, Robin holds her wrench overhead and slams it down into the ground with a hefty impact (25%). This axe-like hit is sure to leave an indent in your opponent, launching them at a 45* angle and killing around 73%. You know the drill by now: this is a very laggy attack that is used as a solo kill move or risky prediction tool no matter how much you would want to scream “DORIYAH!” Use it with caution to send anyone in front of you into next week. The most important thing here is that it is indeed a wrench attack. Differing from all the other wrench attacks in Robin’s kit, this one is absurdly strong and, despite the power downgrade, makes the electric current a fearsome killing tool. If the combos weren’t enough to make your rival fear the Electrode, this move certainly will. On a flat plane, using this attack at the maximum distance away from the Electrode will extend this hitbox to 1/3 FD. With the danger of this move always impending, your opponent will be forced to respect the electric current. If they get any ideas to destroy the Electrode directly, recall that the Electrode gains the full power of whichever wrench attack Robin uses. Given the extended charging mechanics in Ultimate, stalling on when you release the charge will force the opponent to play chicken with you and the Electrode. If the Electrode is on a platform, it gets even trickier as the opponent would be forced to time when and where they land as they pass through the current. Use this move sparingly at pivotal moments during your brief Galvanized time to wipe the foe off the map.


Down Smash: Piston Punch

A strange machine with a nut pops out of the ground right next to Robin. Taken over by her instincts as a mechanic, she is compelled to start cranking it. As Robin charges this Smash Attack, she begins to start wrenching the machine faster and faster. Once she stops, 2 pistons shoot up from the ground on either side of Robin, and just as quickly retreat (19%). The pistons are rectangular mechanical boxes as tall as Robin and 0.75 Units wide. The pistons are also the actual parts causing the damage; despite the fact that the wrench is used to pull these things out of the ground, due to not directly causing any damage, this attack is not considered a wrench attack. This can be seen as a counterpart to the Up Smash, covering the areas directly to the side of Robin that misses otherwise. On the same token, this is hot or miss against falling opponents due to not covering the area directly above Robin. It is also nowhere as strong as the Up Smash, killing at 91%. Regarding tech chase situations, such as following a tripping Down Tilt, it can be used to catch standard get ups or rolling towards or behind Robin. While still laggy following the move’s completion, this attack is also Robin’s fastest Smash attack. In situations where you would want to punish the opponent, this move would be a good way to launch your opponents skywards and remain relatively safe. Speaking of safety, the pistons themselves have surprisingly high priority. They are capable of beating many attacks and, more importantly, most projectiles. These pistons in a pinch are able to beat out projectiles and keep Robin safe in her little safe space. Some projectiles that go through multiple opponents, such as Thoron, are able to harm her still. At the same time, using this in retaliation against quick, weak projectiles is just asking to get punished afterwards. Alongside the Usurper Switch, the Down Smash is able to assist Robin against those who might get too projectile happy.

Aerials:​

Forward Air: Specs Kick

Proving that her upper body isn't all that she had toned, Robin sticks her leg out and kicks diagonally downwards. This is by far her fastest aerial and fastest attack in general. Fitting to its name, this move has two damage thresholds: a stronger initial hit (9%) and a weaker lingering hit (6%). Unfortunately, the speed has to come at an expense of power; this is by far her weakest aerial. The initial hit kills at around 246%, and the lingering hitbox does not kill at any reasonable percentage. The angle is a shallow 10* upwards, which is good for leading into a chain of itself via shorthopping. Unlike all her other aerials, this one doesn’t have bad landing lag; making it a useful option for both the above tactic and landing against pushy opponents. In addition, the initial hit synergizes well with back air and can be used to chase airborne opponents at low percentages. With an Electrode resting on a platform, the two moves together can result in Robin knocking the hapless opponent back and forth at mid percentages. Since Robin lacks many quick moves, this becomes an invaluable tool if Robin is being heavily pressured by the opponent.


Back Air: Twisting Nut

Robin twists around and performs a horizontal swipe with the wrench behind her (13%). If Up Tilt is the bread to starting most of her combos, Back Air is the butter. The wrench packs a satisfying punch that can kill at around 148% with a 30* angle. While this may seem like high knockback to combo well with, recall that when the Galvanized Move is extended along the electric current, the move has a decrease in power. When used along the electric current, the knockback becomes absolutely perfect for combos. By using back air away from your opponent, the electrical current will send them towards you. Similar to combos where Luma hits foes back towards Rosalina, you could constantly juggle foes between yourself and the Electrode with alternating fair and bair. When you wish to end your chains or if your Galvanized Meter is running low, hitting someone directly with the back air will end the combo with a bang. Like many of Robin’s other moves, it is relatively slow, so its combo use is best used alongside the extra hitstun granted in Galvanized form. In being both a combo move and a single strike knockout, bair provides a big list of utilities Robin can add to her toolbelt.


Up Air: Arc Wielding

Robin waves her wrench above her, covering a small 30* arc (11%). This move is very similar to Robin's Up Tilt; the wrench hit goes above Robin for a mid-ranged attack that is able to juggle falling opponents with ease. When hitting directly, this move is a great killing blow off the top at above 161%. Due to having higher knockback than the Up Tilt, this means that reliably hitting into itself repeatedly ends starting around mid percentages. Despite this, the move is a great means of juggling opponents to keep them airborne. Since they are similar, the Up Tilt and Up Air work well in tandem. On fast fallers, you can probably get around one good hit in; Up Air is more effective when combating floatier characters like Robin herself. When coupled with the Electrode, the range at which Robin can keep foes suspended increases greatly. The lesser knockback even covers juggling at mid-range percentages. Utilize the electric current to build up damage, then go in for the kill after Galvanized State goes away. With the use of Galvanized Missiles, you can mix up the opponent as they sail ever higher into the air and make your victory assured. This is a simple yet highly utilized move to help Robin a true threat in the air.


Down Air: Block Breaker

Even if she is weaponless, Robin is able to combat foes with the unyielding power of gravity. In the motion of a stall and fall, Robin descends rapidly to stomp on the opponent with both feet (16%). This move goes straight downwards with little to no horizontal influence. Similar to Greninja, this spike allows Robin to pogo off of her opponent and meteor them into the void. Just be careful not to miss; unlike everyone's favorite ninja frog, Robin is not quite as good in the jumping, air speed, or especially recovery department. At best, you will suffer harsh landing lag upon slamming into the ground. At worst, the cold void of the lower blastline awaits. Due to the sheer risk of this move, it should be used off stage very sparingly. Onstage, grounded opponents will be launched upwards. Since Robin rises along with them, she can follow up with practically any aerial sans dair at medium percentages. In particular, it could provide a safe opportunity to charge the Galvanized Meter. This is a risky move to try to land with however due to the aforementioned landing lag. Launching a Roller Bomb below you or using a landing fair would be safer options.

Grab and Throws:​

Robin reaches out far with her wrench in hopes of catching the opponent. Since she is not grappling them, her grab range is above average. Like Yoshi, it is like a Tether Grab without the accompanying Zair or Tether Recovery. Unfortunately, this grab comes with the same lag issues these types do. Since Robin’s kit relies on a ton of proper positioning and spacing, utilize this cleverly when your opponent is backed into a corner. As one of the coveted ways to attain Galvanized State, grabbing into pummeling can really help you turn the tides of the match. Also, it should be noted that while these attacks physically use the wrench to grab and throw opponents, in terms of Galvanized Electrode integration they are not considered wrench attacks. This doesn’t really matter in 1v1, but when you are throwing opponents in FFA, others in your electric current will not be launched by your throws.


Forward Throw: Up 'n Over

Leapfrogging over the opponent, Robin hoists the wrench overhead and slams it into the ground in front of her, opponent in tow (18%). In terms of sheer power, this is her strongest throw. Lacking much utility, this singular impact serves one purpose only: to kill. When used facing a nearby edge, toss the opponent off into oblivion. If they don’t get blown away entirely, likely to happen below 147%, then shift gears into edgeguarding mode. Additionally, since this move knocks the opponent farthest away for any throw, use the time they spend getting back to you wisely to Galvanize and carefully place electrodes. If you attained Galvanized State through pummeling, then this throw is not the best as any time the opponent spends floundering offstage is time that your meter will drain to nothing. This is the shallowest of Robin’s throws, but it succeeds in its simplicity.


Back Throw: About Face

Robin simply spins around and tosses the opponent behind her with the power of centripetal force (7%). This throw is weak and doesn’t serve as a good killing throw, sending foes fatally offscreen at over 300%. This move seeks to assist Robin in her positioning. While her vertical throws assist in direct combos better, this move works well to toss the opponent closer to keenly positioned Electrodes or Bombs. In some ways, it can be considered a safer, less rewarding counterpart to the Usurper Switch. In tossing the opponent behind you and towards an Electrode, you can follow up with a Galvanized Up Tilt at lower percentages when they would be closer to the ground. A mix of shorthopped G-Up Air and G-Back Air are more accurate at higher percentages. If you are truly backed up to the edge, tossing the opponent off the edge will give you the slightest moment of respite to recollect yourself. Just accept the fact that this move will most likely not be a fatal edgeguarding tool due to Robin’s lack of easy spikes.


Up Throw: Pipe Burst

Robin simply spins around and, in a motion similar to Up Tilt, flings the opponent upwards (14%). This throw is one of average power, and it uses its mediocrity to its advantage. At lower percentages, it could lead into a couple juggles courtesy of everyone's favorite move, Up Tilt. Getting the opponent caught in the jab had dual benefits as well, but it is not quite as safe to pull off. At medium percentages, jumping up and following with one of several aerials is a great idea as well. Alternatively, if you predict your foe's DI well, angling a Roller Bomb upwards can give them an unpleasant blast. Finally, it can be a kill move at higher percentages, above 172% for most characters. Has a bit of everything from the other throws in terms of function, although not to quite the same effectiveness. Still, Robin thrives in the air, so make good use of this throw in order to have an alternate means of getting them there.

Down Throw: Taser Discharge

Robin takes out her stun gun once again and quickly fires 10 normal shots into the opponent (multiple hits, max 16%). This move ends up sending the foe out at a very low angle, most likely knocking them prone on impact with the ground. This is certainly not a kill throw, killing at even higher percentages than the back throw. Regardless, this is yet another tool for tech chase situations. Similar to down tilt, good follow ups include Roller Bombs, Dash Attack, Shorthop Fair, or Jab. Jab naturally has the added benefit of building up the Galvanized Meter, so that is a highly coveted retaliation. Alternatively, if the opponent decides to roll away, that can give Robin enough time to plant an Electrode if need be. This throw is a good utility for racking damage up onto an opponent, setting the stage for Robin, or even making a kill set up if Galvanized Roller Bombs are active. The Usurper Switch can disoriend the opponent with most get up options as well, leaving you able to hit them further as they gather their bearings. This is especially useful against opponents who have single-direction get up attacks. Treat this as a mix up to the Down Tilt and be creative with the possibilities.

Final Smash (Seeds of Isilugar):​

Spoiler: Disturbing Image

In a manner similar to her grab, Robin lunges out with her wrench in an attempt to grapple the opponent. Since this is a grab, it will easily affect any poor soul who attempts to shield this gruesome fate. Once she has a hold of an opponent, she will pull out a seed that looks similar to a Deku Seed and jam it into the opponent’s chest or midsection (10%). At this point, they will kneel over in pain as multiple tree branches painfully erupt from the victim’s back while dripping with a white blood-like liquid and seemingly bloom with organ-like fruit (35%). After this horrifying display of uncharacteristic gore, the branches fall off of the foe, the opponent goes prone, and the fight continues as normal. If the opponent is in the air when grabbed, they will instead go into freefall state. An added 45% is nothing to sneeze at and will make the opponent much easier to KO, but there is no real knockback associated with this move. Added to this is the lack of range compared to many other final smashes. The opponent must be careful where they run though, since getting caught offstage can signal an early death. There is an alternate ending to this move that is even more horrifying however. If the opponent is above 100% by the time the branches tear out of their flesh, after a moment of stillness, they will instead explode into an entire tree dripping with ivory blood and bearing fruit to their various organs. Naturally, this is an instant KO. The tree, which is quite large at roughly 9 Units tall, will remain for the rest of the match, slowly dripping ivory blood in the background. It serves no purpose in combat, but will be a constant reminder of the gruesome end your foe had recently faced. It will disappear if and only if another Ivory Tree is formed by Robin's Final Smash.

Gameplay:​

Robin is a normal human sized character with the power and frame data of a heavyweight. Her wrench packs a powerful punch and can send people flying with ease. It also helps to space herself out from the opposition with mid-ranged gameplay. However, it is difficult to work around the simple fact that she is very slow. Her attack speed is very laggy and requires a lot of patience in order to not get bodied after every move you make. Her predictable recovery makes matters worse. The Galvanized State is what saves this set however. With added hitstun on all of her attacks, Electrode interactions to control the stage, Stunning Bombs and Missiles to open up the opponent to killing blows, Usurper Switch to gain and regain stage control, and a tricky combo game, Robin truly begins to shine. Make sure to have your Galvanized state up as much as you are possibly able to, and carefully regulate your wrench attacks, Electrode positioning, and Bomb locations. When Galvanized, Robin’s kit becomes one that allows her to control where the foe will go and slowly tangle them in a web of constant damage from all fronts. When on the advantage, she becomes a monster that your opponent will have to regulate every chance they get. Make sure she does not fall into disadvantage though, as the tables will stack against her very quickly.

Palette Swap

(Standard) Blonde Hair, Orange and Black Vest, Brown Pants, Black Leggings

(Mina) Black Hair, Green and Orange Vest, Green Pants, Black Leggings

(Royal) White Hair, White Vest, White Pants, White Leggings

(Chrome) Brown Hair, White Vest, Beige Pants, Purple Leggings

(Elro) Blonde Hair, Brown and White Vest, Blue Pants, No Leggings

(Black) Dark Grey Hair, Black and Purple Vest, Beige Pants, Black Leggings

(Ferrier Shockwood) Purple Hair, Blue and Cyan Vest, Black Pants, Cyan Leggings

(Mendeleev) Fiery Red Hair, Purple and Black Vest, Fiery Red Pants, Black Leggings

Taunt:​

Taunt 1: She flexes her bicep menacingly. Her arms are pretty toned.
Taunt 2: She sits down in a stereotypical meditation position.
Taunt 3: She crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently.

Misc:​

Victory Pose 1: Robin jumps down from the sky and lands squatting above the field of view, wrench over her shoulder. This replicates the release trailer.

Victory Pose 2: Robin runs over to pick up her stun gun (which is lying on the floor for some reason) and rests pointing upwards on her shoulder.

Victory Pose 3: Robin confidently flexes her arms and then poses with her hands on her hips.

Victory Music: A fast paced remix of the Blockrock melody

Entrance Animation: Robin hops up through a manhole in the floor and lands with a triumphant pose placing her hands on her hips.

Kirby Hat: Kirby gains Robin’s odd wrench-shaped hair style. He is unable to Galvanize his Bombs.

Punch Out Title: The Sunflower Mechanic

Series symbol: The outline of a triangle; the symbol of One Concern

​

Classic Mode:​

The Classic Mode run is based on the events of the Iconoclasts game, mainly the major battles. Spoilers ahead.

Spoiler: The Fall of One Concern

Fight 1: Aban Hawkins on Spirit Train, Ally White FE!Robin (General Chrome) – Song: Machines

Fight 2: American ROB on Great Bay, Ally Green ZSS (Agent White) – Song: Whiteout

Fight 3: Metal Chrom on Mario Bros BF (Silver Watchman) – Song: Jet Black

Fight 4: Giant Blue RAY on Summit Omega, Ally White FE!Robin (Omega Controller) – Song: Omega Wheel

Fight 5: GUN Soldier Team on Shadow Moses Island BF, Ally Green ZSS (One Concern West) – Song: Psychopomp

Fight 6: Giant Palutena and Giant White Incineroar on Midgar Omega, Ally Green ZSS and White FE!Robin (Mother) – Song: Mother

Minigame

Final Battle: ???, Ally White FE!Robin (Look forward to a certain boss set in MYM 23) – Song: Moonlight

Change Log:
1-24-20 - General formatting, Added links to previous sets and songs in Classic Mode
1-25-20 - Finished Forward Aerial and Forward Smash
1-27-20 - Finished Down Aerial, added several images, added Dash Attack KO percentage, Up Tilt Launch Power increased (280% -> 192%)
1-28-20 - Final Smash now sends the opponent into freefall in the air, Forward Throw Launch Power increased (160% -> 147%), Finished Up and Down Throws, Added victory animation flavor, slightly altered KO values all around, Added Disturbing Images
2-16-20 - Added several gifs
2-21-20 - Made it easier to achieve Galvanized state (Jab: 3 sec -> 2 sec, Nair: 4 ->3), Pummel now fills Galvanized Meter: 1/6 meter per pummel, Decreased Galvanized meter drainage speed (12 sec Ungalvanized -> 18 sec Ungalvanized, 6 sec Galvanized -> 9 sec Galvanized), Decreased Galvanized Wrench Attack cost (1 sec -> 0.5 sec), Decreased Galvanized Bomb Cost (2 sec -> 1.5 sec), Decreased Galvanized Up Special Cost (5 Sec -> 3 sec), Strengthened Down Tilt's Knockback (209% -> 189% Sweet, 255% -> 235% Sour) had Galvanized current thereof use both knockback and damage from sweetspot and altered function compared to Jab, Strengthened Roller Bomb Knockback (220% -> 200%), Usurper Shot now swaps with Electrode, Reduced Electrode Cooldown Timer (5 sec -> 4 sec), Misc Writing alterations
3-18-20 - Fixed initial description, Added Missile functionality to Neutral Special (wip), Strengthened Roller Bomb (5% -> 6%, 200% KO -> 190%), Removed Broken image link

 

[Professor Lexicovermis]

Thank you for your patience! We are ready to serve you now...

(Click above, or here if the image isn't working!)​

 

[FrozenRoy]

After a small delay, Make Your Move 22's submission period is offically over! Thank you for all who posted sets! Reading and editing period begins!​

Given that this contest was pretty chunky (over 80 sets!) and some of them were looooooong, reading + editing period is going to be extra long this contest, with 1 month of time! So, it'll be over February 22nd. Voting period will then go a standard 2 weeks, meaning it will end on March 7th. Given what I said, do note that we got a lot to go through, so use reading period to actually READ, folks!

Also remember you need 10 comments to vote as a minimum. Me and Smash Daddy will be your vote gurus for this contest, so keep that in mind. I'll also be handing out reading lists to all who want it, although they will kinda be in flux for a while. See you all later!

 

[plague126]

I’ll do comments on the movesets i’ve read

Daisy: I really liked this one! I’ve played a couple of the Mario sports games, and I really liked the personality in this, and something like this just...fits Daisy in my opinion. Daisy is a tomboy, and recently, has been mostly part of the sports games anyway, so, at least for me personally, that’s what represents her. And the set really represents that well. Especially with the Up Specials, they work very well, and fit the sports theme (Plus I always liked the Olympic Games).

Springtrap: This one was just...brilliant. The Illustrap mechanic worked really well, and perfectly emulated FNAF 3’s ventilation errors and just...general creepiness. I really liked the Phantoms being part of the throws, too, and the way they were used fit what they did in FNAF 3 too. And finally just...the general feel of his attacks perfectly encapsulated the slasher nature of him. He’s slow. He’s methodical. He’s cunning. And he’s just...unsettling. And you nailed that feeling.

Hugo: Alright so, i really like heavyweight characters, and well...Hugo is an amazing example of one. All of his hits have oomph to them. I also really like the super combo mechanic, it makes him distinct, and really feels like a fighting game. The gifs also help me visualize moves, which i do have trouble doing sometimes. The supers are also great, i really like them, and while they are powerful, you gotta deal a lot of damage, so, tradeoff. I have a bit of a gripe with hammer mountain though, it does feel a bit too complex, with the skipping and ex'ing some moves, but i struggle with complexity sometimes, so that could be me. Hammer Mountain i can at least tell takes time to master, but is powerful when used well. Honestly thats the best part of this set. Every move has a purpose and its made clear what purpose each move has. And finally, that FS is painful, girder to the back, ouch.

Alex: Once again, the gifs really help me visualize stuff. Alex feels like a different approach to a strong character, but one i like as well, his hits have a different oomph than Hugo's which i really like. Power Bomb doing more damage from behind is also a nice touch. I honestly also really like the different approach to grabs here, Alex is still a grapple character, but in a way that just feels distinct from Hugo, and i like it. Alex also feels a bit more combo oriented, and while i personally like single strong hits, Alex's moves are done in a way that i can almost see some basic combos. I also really like Alex's grab being different from the back, it's unique, and fits Alex. I also like the injuring mechanic too. And finally, i like that he still does two flash chops if he misses the final smash, i havent seen that done before and i like the idea!

Black Polnareff: I haven’t read or watched JoJo yet, but Black Polnareff seems interesting! I really like the learning mechanic with the perfect shield too, it feels unique and fitting to him, even though I’ve again, never watched JoJo. I also really like the armor mechanic, trading defense for speed and movement, depending on the playstyle you need. Neutral Special is also complex, but simple, and really easy to understand, and each input has it’s own use. I also really like being able to move while Chariot Spin is out, it adds a lot of versatility to the set. And the learning counter helps the learning mechanic in a way that feels really cool to use. I also really like the idea of an aggressively used counter. And the use against projectiles is cool too. I also very much like the fact that most of the moves are aggressive, but there are a few safe options.


Kyoko Sakura: Now, I also don't know anything about PMMM (aside from Mami uh...."losing her head"), but Kyoko was really cool! From the personality in the bio, the moveset just really feels like it portrays the cynical personality well, especially with the taunts. Changing the impact point of the neutral special also is an interesting mechanic too, it varies how to use it right, and gives some more strategy to the move, which also is added to by it working a different purpose in the air. I also liked the multiple options out of Impale, it feels like a more fleshed out version of Corrin's Side Special. And the many ways the spear is used is also really creative. I also like the multiple uses of the barrier, both the reducing damage and knockback of moves that break through, and catching the opponent if they hit it are super cool. The different hits in Chain Dance are also very clearly written with a purpose, and just easy to imagine how they work. Overall, this is just a really creative set!

Hol Horse: Holy bullets! This moveset is indeed complex, but i honestly really like it! It’s complex, but simple enough that i can keep track of it all. Boingo and his box seem like a cool mechanic, and a fitting way to include him in this moveset. The Neutral Special honestly seems really fun to use, and has even given me some moveset ideas, plus, it has some unique properties that set it out from other projectiles (namely the cannot be perfect shielded and possible unblockable nature.) Up special is also interesting, what with the many different angles, and i like the touch of being able to tell what direction the bullet will go if you pay attention. Side Special is also a good and fitting trap move, and its interactions with Up Special both make sense and work well. Predictions are also a very interesting mechanic, both defensively and offensively. I like defensive predictions working good the better you can read your opponent’s strategy, its tricky to master but a reliable tool when you do. And offensive predictions just add to the versatility of all his moves. That’s what I love about this moveset, in all honesty, all of Hol Horse’s moves have a ton of versatility, and yet, aren’t too complex. Forward Smash is also delightfully creepy, for some reason i just really like the animation of it.


Mina Aquila: This looks like an interesting OC set! I've always thought that plant powers are really interesting to work with, and you used them really well! Ginny looks like an interesting addition too, it works well, and fits the plant theme. The Neutral Special's different petals also are interesting, the red explosive ones seem useful for a risky aggressive strategy, the basic petals seem like just a basic projectile tool, and the pink petals seem useful for getting in grabs and improving throws, or for improving Mina's air game. The Side Special is also interesting, both for its angles, and for its interactions with petals, which I could see leading to some really powerful attacks if stored up enough with strategy. Down Special also seems good for giving throwing items, but its two interactions with Ginny are very interesting, and the laser seems like itd be very shameful to get hit by and i love it. I also like the Up Special's interactions with petals, and honestly this set has a lot of moves that will take lots of planning to do, but are amazing if you pull them off. The image of Mina and Ginny just bouncing the foe back and forth with Jab is amusing to me, also. Honestly, what this set excels at is interaction, both with petals and with Ginny, as well as the fruit too, each one felt unique and interesting. The smashes all having good range is also something I like, I like smashes that have a general theme. Also the easter egg on up smash is something i really like, heh.

Rudy The Clown: Woah, I can say that this is a moveset I wasn’t expecting to see but I am not complaining, I vaguely remember this guy, and he looks very interesting! First things first, love the hand Neutral Special, all I remembered about him was his grab and hands, and you integrated that well. I also like Side Special and its interesting combination of a minion set and Pac-Man’s Neutral Special, and the being able to grab the minions is a nice touch, and I can also see the possible traps this can set up for. Side Special's minions also really work well, each one has different uses depending on how you throw it, and it gives Rudy more options to do stuff. I also like how each music box for the Down Special has its own use. Yellow is good for adding damage to combos, Blue is good for setting up combos, Green adds versatility to his set, Red gives range for attacks, and Grey just buffs his attacks, which i could see helping score kills. I also like the possible mindgame potential of Forward Smash. The debris effect for Down Smash also intrigues me, it seems like it could catch opponents off guard. Up Smash's use with Clowing Around is also another aspect that works well. Also I love the reference to Wario’s old Forward Smash in Forward Tilt. Honestly I really like the references to Wario in general here. And also, the grab animation and pummel couldnt be anything else, amazing. And fittingly, Rudy has a versatile and great grab game. I also really like how hands being off interacts with the Forward Air too.

Vulture: Now, Spider-Man Homecoming was my first ever Marvel movie (And luckily Spider-Man appears to be back in the MCU thanks to Tom Holland), so I loved that you based Vulture off of that, and you portrayed his personality from the film well in this moveset. From what I can tell, the specials seem to be the real star of this moveset. Neutral Special is a very versatile move, it can be used for recovery, to dodge attacks easier, improve Vulture's grab game even (which Down Air also helps with), and to enhance Vulture's air game (who woulda thought, a Vulture does good in the air). Side Special is also interesting, not only can the explosion from killing the drone work at pressuring the opponent, but the drone's main use of adding even more versatility to Vulture's already great movement option of Neutral Special is what I really like, Vulture seems like a very mobile character. Down Special also seems to add another aspect to Vulture's playstyle, namely taking away and controlling the opponent's ledge options, and having stuff in place to punish options. As well as helping movement as well. Up Special is espeically interesting. Another good recovery move, as well as a good damage dealer, that if you know what you're doing is easier to target. As well, using Neutral Special with this can get you a different kind of hitbox, one you have even more control over. And it can also help get drones into position, just adding to the theme of control this moveset has, which i love. I also like that the pummel can continue after the foe escapes, it's a nice touch, and really unique.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Springtrap (2.0)

You've commandeered quite the presence in the Discord chat Zoey, and that has certainly gotten my attention! (At least in the Movesetting threads, the only threads I look at unless someone mentions me in the Smash Ultimate or Not Movesetting threads) It sounds like you're here to stay, and even Springtrap has gotten quite a bit of attention in the Collaborative Story Mode/MYM22 SM thread. Combined with your dedication to revamp Springtrap, I thought that you absolutely deserved a comment.

Springtrap is a good set for your first time. You've got some basic details fleshed out in the moves, and an awareness of animations, visual and audio cues for your main mechanic to add more life to the set. I also liked [Error] being highlighted and in a different colour to make it stand out, an easy way to find where it's used in the set. It is all the more commendable when you consider that Springtrap is a very difficult character to pull off, as unlike some more obvious characters (Banjo and Kazooie, for instance) you have to make up many of the moves.

You also have an illusion mechanic to stay faithful to the source material (very good choice). Funny enough, I misinterpreted as being an actual illusion mechanic where you could send out a fake Springtrap to do a fake non-hitbox attack on your moves to bait out a reaction with the real Springtrap (just me jumping to conclusions). Turns out it's actually buff! That was a good call on your part - illusion-based mindgames, for one, are really, really tricky to pull off to competitive satisfaction, like needing to have deep knowledge on how the fake move being assumed to be the real one would get the foe to react so you can bait them into your real attack. People actually did this kind of stuff back in MYM10 (Gengar and Pennywise, the top 2 placing sets among others), but absolutely not executed in a way that would be acceptable to us nowadays.

I found some of Springtrap's attack descriptions to be pretty funny and lively, like his U-tilt (it’s shockingly fast (these animatronics always have very fast, jumpy head movements, and Springtrap can still be a speedy fella if he wants to be). It’s almost as if he’s using you as a kickball or something, toying with you...) and even N-air, something I just want to point out to give them more credit. I do wonder if some of his regular animations could be more inhuman compared to the normal comparisons like F-air (though I do like the D-air body shifting bit), but that's partly me thinking it's normal for him to move unnaturally, despite the fact that he's probably perfectly capable of regular movement if he's a human soul.

If you want to take the next step in movesetting, I would suggest going for playstyle. What are Springtrap's strengths and weaknesses as a fighter? A fighter's stats tend to play a big role in this (especially in more extreme cases like heavyweights), for instance, and are almost like a Special in themselves for their importance. Let's take a look at Springtrap's stats to see what I mean:

https://ultimateframedata.com/stats.php (got this link here for reference)

• From what I gather, Springtrap's best stat is his decent dashing speed. This would make him fine at chasing/pressuring opponents and even spacing himself as a substitute for rolling in competitive matches, like Joker players who run back and reverse into F-tilt for protection. His walking speed is pretty poor however, which I think is fitting for his character, though gameplay-wise it would force him to dash to get around and keeps him frome easily closing in for something like a F-tilt, something you could do with a fighter with good walking speeds like Marth. Meanwhile, his air speed is very low and his fall speed is very high, which would make him very easy to combo, though the high fall speed would make him harder to launch vertically compared to a fighter with lower falling speed/gravity. This combination of stats would make it harder for Springtrap to land as well as recover, as air speed and fall speed do play a role in a fighter's recovery (think Jigglypuff VS Belmonts or something among those lines). And let's not forget his Incineroar build.
• With these stats, we have something of an identity of Springtrap from his stats: he's a pretty clunky fighter whose mobility is not his most redeeming factor. I'm not sure if this was your intention, as I kind of get the impression that you were going for a more "realistic" take on his stats, which is perfectly fine. To compensate for his stats, Springtrap could make up for this with good frame data/potentially tricky attacks, and/or having strong Specials or a really strong recovery (which he seems to have, given Pikachu's Quick Attack is really powerful) given he does always come back. Robin, for instance, is deliberately given a memetically slow dashing speed to balance out his projectile game, as would be the case with Ganondorf's movement due to his raw power. Between squishy wizards and overpowered old men, MYM has done plenty of sets for fighters with poor stats but powerful attacks!
• To balance out Springtrap, I think that giving some of his melee attacks - especially his aerials - really fast wind-up would be a cool and fitting touch - making the animation so the attacks sort of comes out of nowhere as his limb(s) sort of "spring forth" (ha). This would give the set a good jumpscare factor while balancing out Springtrap to be a legitimate threat. Fun fact: as mentioned in this ProGuides video (largely relevant for competitive play, but still an excellent source for movesetting) one thing that Mr. Game and Watch annoying to fight is the nature of his animations, and how the way his attacks are animated makes it seem like they come out of nowhere.
• As an example of where you could apply the fast wind-up, you could easily make D-air come out really fast for a spike (and potentially give it invincibility during the move, something you could do for moves with bad end lag, possibly giving Springtrap a bit of an unstoppable feel because I still have plague's Jason conversation on the brain) as a way to threaten opponents who would challenge you from below to exploit how easy you are to juggle. This would also make Springtrap downright terrifying when he's above you offstage! Naturally high end lag would make the move easy to bait out, and also risky to throw out offstage, especially really deep where you might fall to your death instead of getting that really early KO.

• Funny enough, the Neutral Special feels like it's Springtrap's actual Jab. With clarification, this move could have a lot more utility than it shows. For instance, the first two hits having the potential to Jab lock opponents (land one hit, then follow up with something like a grab or smash attack based on the foe's reaction like if they shielded). The fact that it's a Special also means you get to use it in the air, and likely drag opponents offstage or down into the ground for a smooth landing or potentially Jab lock out of the second hit. This is assuming that the Special does not alter or stop your aerial momentum like Marth/Roy's Dancing Blade. Another cool thing you could do with the nature of this Special is to point out the fact that it can be B-reversed: this would play really well into giving Springtrap a safer landing in the right situation, and possibly being a low-committal move as being a Jab it would naturally have pretty low end lag if you just did Jab 1. Furthermore, the fact that Springtrap can turn around mid-jab means that he can B-reverse towards an opponent to approach and hit them.
• The knife throw doesn't appear to play off the Jab factor once, but it could make foes who were out of the attack's range wary. The first two Jab hits could be used to bait a reaction from the foe if they avoided the knife.

I might have gotten very complex in places, and certainly haven't touched upon every move in the set, but I think you have a general idea: the ability to understand the implications of even your most basic attacks and how they work mechanically (input-wise too, like how Up Specials and U-Smashes can be used out of shield). Needless to say, there's a ton to learn. Make Your Move is pretty challenging! Clarification is the key (or at least a key). If you went over a basic use for the move's attacks, even without drastically altering their current properties, I think that Springtrap would be improved significantly as a set. We would be willing to work you through with some of the moves if you wanted this.

Hope this comment helped you. As I've generally said to newcomers in the past, I'm looking forward to seeing what character you tackle next!

 

[Cookies N Milk]

I know this a little hard to ask, but is anyone willing to comment on my Conker moveset? Only one person has commented on it and it would be nice if I got more a little more feedback. The moveset is on page 4, it feels weird reposting it after submissions are over.

EDIT: I’ll rate some movesets

Daisy: I really liked this moveset, it might be my favorite in this contest. It represents her well and it’s not a lazy echo fighter. She is a Tomboy, so the moveset makes sense to me. Unfortunately it is not gonna happen for ultimate but perhaps they might make her a unique character and not an echo fighter in smash 6?

Springtrap: I think it could be a good horror rep. I think it represents how creepy and unsettling he is. Even though a fnaf rep is unlikely, it is nice to see people are trying to make it happen. I think a Freddy Mii costume is more likely gonna happen though.

 

[FrozenRoy]

Darling Dahlia (Slime Witch Dahlia U UserShadow7989 )

Dahlia is a set with a lot of ideas, which is where it excels. The idea of slime minions who you can stretch and deform for different attack ranges, then harden to make craftable terrain, is a very strong one and combined with lots of ways to move the slime around, launch them, pop them, that kind of thing. I like the way the slime become actual minions as well, although it did feel perhaps somewhat weak. The Up Special adds some dimensions to your standard free flight Up Special that make it more than that. Afterwards, you get to do stuff like modify it with different slime types with the Bomb and Plasma slime, plus Dahlia can enter a slime form that allows her limited manipulation of herself.

The smashes are also pretty strong, I thought the Forward Smash was the particular standout here, the pillar's way of interacting with the slimes is pretty cool and the hitboxes have their own neat stuff, I like the way the directions change with charge, how it can work with elevation and thus the slime models, and so on. The Down Smash with its slime walls is cool, especially thanks to the different Slime types, but it feels like the walls are too weak, mostly because they only last for a single second! It feels like the use of the walls is too limited with such a short time span, especially for Plasma Slime walls.

That was one general issue I had with this set, which is that it feels underpowered. This somewhat plays into another issue I had, which is that the tools feel like they mostly exist to give her more tools, rather than having an actual overall plan or what to do with them. Too often, it feels like the goal of the tools is just to get tools and now you have tools so you can...maybe do something but it isn't clear what? Maybe some of this is writing, but it felt like Dahlia played it too safe in a lot of areas, and that it really wanted to do MORE with its standards and so on. Not even necessarily interactions (though those are options), but more melee, more SOMETHING. This set felt too often like it was on the pulse of something great and ended up just something good.

Some examples of thought include: Can F-Tilt hit opponents into slime walls and can she get stuff off of it? That could be fun. Slime Form sometimes feels rather weak and has some odd stuff, Down Smash granting tough guy while in slime form even though slime form grants her tough guy armor ALREADY was a particular example. Her Jab 3 not even linking had some serious Feels Bad Man on it. In general, Dahlia felt a bit lacking in damage potential and the ability to abuse her setup much, especially considering Smash Ultimate's power. I would try to buff her up some, not even in terms of numbers but in terms of giving her more off her setups, maybe stronger or longer combos, some kind of kill confirm, maybe even making her utility more deadly? I don't know what to suggest exactly, but this set felt like it could be so much more.

Neville Chamberlain (skekSil the Chamberlain BKupa666 )

There was probably some question in mind as to if Vulture was a true Kupa return to form or more of a high end flash in the pan, given Kingpin and Kritter from all sounds were more "solid but not exciting" sets. I think skekSil here should answer that question pretty definitively: Kupa is back and he isn't going anywhere (hopefully).

skekSil here instantly starts off with a fun mechanic and some pretty strong mechanics, I think the Vitality/Essence mechanic is pretty swanky, they haven't been done much but meters like this where it is more of a sliding scale are an area of gameplay I've always wanted to explore more. It also is used in a rather fascinating way, essentially a scale of how much armor the Chamberlain has and how much extra damage he either takes or mitigates, in addition to how much extra damage he eithe deals or loses. It is simple, but that simplicity if part of what makes it so good and helps with the depth, at least to me. Considering the meter will be constantly changing, the fact it is more of a simple and automatic boost helps make it so both players can play around it better. Despite that, it adds a lot of depth to it, like an ebb and flow to the match. skekSil is going to want to go in when he has the meter high, focus on getting it up when it is low, and on top fo that we get to his vial, which adds a lot.

Because I quite like how the vial has a bit of a push and pull to it. The way that you can store it for later adds long term strategy questions to him. You can gulp up the essence you have quickly, getting to your buffs faster but making it much harder to recover from a low meter situations. You can save it for later for safety, but then you'll end up getting weaker without dipping into it and have a less strong advantage state. You can try to moderate and keep yourself in the middle, which allows you to avoid getting low while keeping some in reserve, but of course if you do that you aren't hitting that power high that lets you tank Falcon Punches like nothing. And because of all of this, a move that is basically drinking to manipulate a meter becomes so much more, genuine depth here, I quite like it.

That continues with his minion special and his beam special! The beam special I felt was a particular highlight of the set, I particularly like how many ways this move gave the opponent to interact it and create some super tense scenarios. Making skekSil able to be harmed by the beam not only sounds show accurate, but it adds to the fact that he has to make sure it doesn't backfire on him and that the opponent can bully him into a disadvantageous situation. At the same time, trying to smack skekSil into it leaves the opponent wide open for skekSil to use his tricks to put the opponent in a bind instead! Similarly, interrupting skekSil's minion slurping gives the foe an advantage by corrupting it, which not only is cool flavor but again adds reason for the foe to try and mess with your setup in a way that can backfire. It almost feels like he is drawing them into a trap! This also plays quite well into skekSil's mechanic and playstyle, as it encourages the foe to be aggressive to stop skekSil from revitalizing and in turn skekSil can turn that around plus it means he doesn't have to approach as much in a weakened state. And of course it can go horribly wrong for him.

Similarly, the minions are all pretty fun. Just the way that even something as simple as the way the Gruenaks hop is nice, but the passive hitbox use of the Arathim Silk Spitter has obvious uses, the highlight is defnitely the Garthim though. I particularly like how the reflective nature it has against projectiles is use, the changing AI behavoir and the two-attack hit it has. The way that it also works with Silk Spitters adding in some inter-minion gameplay is fun as well. Also, fusing minions together into a body horror puppety mess that is the Garthim is pretty fun flavor.

This will take me to something I didn't really like, which is the Up Special platform. I don't know how this move got added, but it feels like it got put in for the flavor of skekSil sitting on the throne (especially given the intro) and then kind of forced in to try and be useful rather than something organically interesting to the gameplay. This isn't the biggest deal but the explanation of how you could move the platform around felt like it really dragged as well. After that, it doesn't get much mention (even on aerials, the natural place a platform like this would be useful) and when it does it often felt kinda forced, like sure you can walk on it during the Down Smash charge but how often is that niche of a niche going to even apply? It just didn't feel worth it to me in the end.

We get to some pretty good stuff after that, I thought the smashes were a strong highlight, Forward Smash in particular added multiple twists to the standard "heavy smash finisher" that felt fitting for skekSil and added depth to the move where you can instead go for a sneaky and risky option to it. It doesn't really go into it, but this also should be reflectable by Garthim, right? Which definitely can put opponents in a bind, particularly when handcuffs get involved. I also thought that in general skekSil's use of follow-up attacks were good subtle characterization. Of course the sneaky schemer's attacks aren't what they seem at first glance! I also enjoyed Up smash both for nice playstyle but the flavor, because skekSil stabbing and poking upwards while the opponent needs to desperately roll or move to avoid it feels fitting to the character just from this set alone. This set really just has strong character all over, without having ever watched Dark Crystal or knowing much outside what chat talked about I instantly feel like I know what kind of character skekSil is and how it ties into his gameplay, and that is a strong thing to have.

For some more moves I enjoyed: Up Throw was a fun charge throw variation thanks to skekSil's armor, Forward Aerial felt like a very good use of a 1-2 attack that gave skekSil more depth as an air dodge baiter and tricky kill move, Back Aerial was one of the few moves that felt like it would really utilize the platform and has fun applications outside of that, Forward Tilt's close-range sweetspot and the way it interacted with the darkened cracks felt like a fun twist in wanting skekSil to get up close, the Peeper Beetle is a reasonably standard Gooey Bomb but with some different uses thanks to having the ability to put it on minions, Forward Throw was just a solid move to use with the minions.

And now I'll use that to segway into some of the issues I had with this set outside the Up Special. The most obvious is Dash Attack, which feels really out of place on the input, you don't normally hit Dash Attack and expect a laggy counter with no hitbox of its own. I do like "counter style" moves on stuff like Dash Attack, but there's so many other ways to do it. An attack that powers up or changes when hit, super armor, trample priority, and so on. Just make it actually DO something aside from being a counter. Having a non-Special or even smash counter on top of that feels weird because skekSil already has potentially large armor, which he can use to make a bunch of his attacks psuedo-counters to begin with. Sure, it lets him do so even when he is low, but it really isn't worth it. Down Aerial felt really phone in and like a nothing move and Up Aerial was fairly meh. Back Throw also felt a little meh to me, I do like it leaving the handcuffs behind but it essentially has no other uses. The melee could have more to it as well, sometimes it kinda ends up vague or doesn't feel like the move works "into" what skekSil is doing, and there's definitely some balance concerns. Largely that if skekSil gets behind, it can be very hard for him to get back and he might just be too easy to kill when that happens.

But the best parts of skekSil far outweight the good and ended up making a set I was really excited to read all throughout. This one is definitely a contender and I would recommend it all around. It also definitely showed more of an "MYM" touch compared to Vulture which felt much more "Smash-y", seeing you do two different styles so nicely bodes well for the future!

 

[Cookies N Milk]

Here are my thoughts on some of the movesets. I won't be going over every single aspect about a moveset, just a simple idea. I might update with some more Movesets.


Daisy:
I really liked this moveset, it might be my favorite in this contest. It represents her well and it’s not a lazy echo fighter. She is a Tomboy, so the moveset makes sense to me. Unfortunately it is not gonna happen for ultimate but perhaps they might make her a unique character and not an echo fighter in smash 6? I really like the idea of the "impatience" which she will get more powerful as the stock goes on, but she will be weaker if she loses a stock. The idea of both a ground Up-Special and a air Up-Special is good and only 2 other characters have it. (Donkey Kong, Bowser) I really liked how you described EVERYTHING about the moveset, I can predict of how she will play if this Daisy got in. The gifs or images are really good to describe or give a picture of how a move works.

Wobbler:
I like how the wobbler changes its appearance with every move, but how does the side special work? Do I hold it down and releasing it, depending how long I held it down, it will activate a variety of different attacks? Also I feel like his down B should be Shield + B similar to inklings ink refill. You can press shield them B and you can change your arrows. I think it was a pretty good moveset and I enjoyed reading it, especially how the arrows could interact with each other.

Goomba:
I like the idea of another common enemy as a fighter, like with Piranha Plant. I think this is a unique fighter, because he can summon other Goomba, which only one other fighter can do. (Olimar) A lot of his moves aren't exactly unique, just simple kicks and headbutts. I feel like the Micro-Goombas should've been his down special instead of the boots. They could act similar to Pikmin, which they will attach to the opponent and will slow them down instead of damaging them. Overhaul I did like this moveset and I think it will get good results.

Springtrap:
I think this could be a good horror rep, even I think a FNAF rep is extremely unlikely, as we're more likely gonna get a Freddy Mii costume instead. I have mixed feelings about the "ERROR" effect. How would it work when there are multiple people in the match? Will it effect everybody else and wonder if i'm on a team with somebody else? What will the hallucination be doing? I don't this will be really useful, as in you can kinda tell which one is real by seeing which one has "human movements" and not programmed. I think experienced players like in tournaments will have zero effect against the hallucinations. I however do the like the idea of it changing or making his specials, grabs, and smash attacks more powerful, which gives him better moveset potential. As for the moves themselves, their all simple moves, which isn't exactly bad. Just simple punches, headbutts, kicks, etc. But the more unique ones are where he will use a knife or will call in the phantoms to his aid when it comes to grabs.



​

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Ethan Nestor/Wobbler

You asked for some feedback, so here you go! While there are two sets here, this technically counts as one comment, as what I address can be applied to both of them. I understand that you've been doing quite a bit of setreading since you posted these sets (which is really, really good, by the way), so I'm sure you've grasped ideas of what can make a set appealing. I'll see if I can point out a bit of that to you in this comment.

A cool addition to both sets would be an intro - I know nothing about either character, though I must say I am intrigued by Ethan Nestor from what you've brought up in the Collaborative Story Mode thread and the MYM 22 SM document. While you can get away with not doing an intro on a really well-known character (like Darth Vader or some character associated with Smash), it's generally best to play by the assumption that the reader doesn't know who the character is. It's also fun to read these intros, even if they have no real bearing on the set's quality. Also, could you post an image for Ethan if possible?

Onto the move aesthetics. It's good that you've got images for Wobbler (that must be have been pretty fun). While Ethan does stuff on Youtube, you could always put links to the videos to the source material of each move (potentially with a timestamp if he does it in a certain part of the video, especially a long one). Without too much of a background on Ethan and what he does in his videos (though I'm intrigued by his former gymnastics thingy), there's not as much of a context for his moves as there could be, which can make them come across as being random and like I'm being left out of a joke or reference that you might understand. It's not a huge deal to the set or anything, just something that would get cleared with an intro and some clarification.

Improvement to both sets would come in two things: clarification, adding details to the moves like damage percent, knockback, whether it combos or kills (or just gets the opponent out of your face among other things), whether it's safe on shields and potentially other factors like duration aaaaaaaaaand possibly hitbox size and how much area it covers depending on whether it's relevant. This is the kind of stuff you would have seen in the sets you've read.

Ah, good, Ethan has a playstyle section. This one's a good start for early in your career, with self-awareness of some terminology like short-hopping and shield pressure. Also interesting that his Final Smash is mentioned here. Reading that, it's actually a cool concept that I think should have been on a Special instead (it really doesn't sound very satisfying or powerful as a Final Smash, which should have a more instant and rewarding effect), though I can understand if you might find it difficult to find something more dramatic flavour-wise (he could just do something meta like a Youtube playthrough of the opponent's game or Smash Bros World of Light if they don't have a game, but he gets them killed on accident to deal them really high knockback). The delayed kill mechanic could work by hitting the opponent with a semi-difficult-to-land-move, but how long it takes for them to get killed depends on Ethan's percent: 60 minutes if he was at 0%, but it ticks down the higher his percent it, taking maybe 45 seconds if he was at 50%, 25 seconds at 100% and a mere 10 seconds if he somehow got to 200% in the context of Ultimate. That could work nicely with his defensive playstyle, counter move and strong recovery, though I'm not entirely sure whether it would fit his character as a base concept.

While you've got an idea of how Ethan's regular moves play into his game and a use for them, it would be convenient if these uses were addressed in the moves themselves instead of scrolling back to them. And, if possible, even pointing out how these moves help with this specific part of his playstyle in some elaboration. For instance, how do Jab, F-tilt and Dash Attack apply great shield pressure against opponents? (by being safe on hit, of course (or at least with the right amount of spacing), and Dash Attack crossing up opponents so you retreat past them) Also, while you might not be comfortable with balancing or incorporating damage percents yet (though your set reading may have helped with this since), this would help to flesh out the set, especially on the Down Special as that racks up damage over time, the implications of which could be fun to explore in Ethan's defensive game. Him doing defensive seems pretty founded in him inherently using props and therefore having disjointed hitboxes in his set.

To flesh out the set further, I would also suggest knockback angles (even something as simple as upwards, horizontal, or just not mentioning it if the knockback was diagonal or not super important, as people would generally assume that the knockback is diagonal if it knockback angle is not specifically mentioned. For more fun, some basic ideas on combos and moves working from other moves, like say an U-tilt into F-air among those lines.

Let's talk about Wobbler a bit. I like what I see in those chargable, variable Neutral and Side Specials, as those types of moves are very fun to see in movesets. Just one problem: I want to know more about them, and their implications on the set! How fast does the snake from the snake bow move? At what distance interval does it turn around? How long does it stay out for? Does it bite opponents who touch its head straight away? How much damage does the bite deal? Does it deal any hitstun? (that could mean the difference between the foe being left open to an attack, though it would depend on the end lag of the bow hit and how far the actual projectile goes before it turns into a snake and so on) Seriously man, you could be onto something good! The other arrows are of similar intrigue; flame arrow could even set fire to the stage or your other constructs to burn opponents. This is the sort of thing that would really get a boost from having more detail, similar to what I mentioned in my Springtrap comment on my previous post on this page.

Quick note on Side Special: one second is a biiiit too long to wait between charges, though I can understand this mistake - I was guilty of doing the same thing on my first set way back in MYM5, thinking that seconds were a lot faster than they actually were. As a reference, here is a list of frame data and for the charge time for Pac-Man's fruits (which take 20 frames to cycle between them on average, or 1/3rd of a second):

https://ultimateframedata.com/pac_man.php

Comparing Ethan and Wobbler, I would say that had more of a grasp on playstyle, but Wobbler had some more creative and potential moves. It would be very interesting if you could combine the best of these traits into a future set, which I would be interested to see for next contest after you have done the reading you've done. Specifically, as the one guy who made Jason Voorhees and is still proud of that set (in a weird sort of way), I would be pretty hyped to see a Jason from you! Especially given our discussion in the discord and throwing out revival-based ideas.

In any case, I hope this comment has helped you to point out some things you could expand upon. It might take some time and experience, but if you could expand on these in your future endeavors than that would be great.

 

[BKupa666]

KIRA:
Unless I missed something, it appears I'm the first to comment on Kira? A little surprising, but hey, it means I get to be the first to officially say, man, oh man, is this set the bomb (smirk). The thought you put in in painstakingly describing aspects of how Kira moves and attacks is quite apparent, down to more minute aspects like how Killer Queen behaves when being shield poked. This deserves praise when, IMO, a common pitfall with multi-character sets is difficulty visualizing how everything fits together. In any case, while Kira's obvious archetype is glass cannon, I found myself most intrigued looking at him through the lens of a fear-based playstyle. That he can place a bomb on a foe over the course of a regular attack can turn regular melee combat into a harrowing experience, while the prospect of an invisible bomb placed on the ground also is small comfort. Though the one-bomb limitation requires strategic play on Kira's part, I like the multitude of options he has to follow up on opponents who get frightened into making dumb plays as well - shielding carelessly to avoid a bomb leading to FSmash putting an even more dangerous bomb on their shield itself, for instance, or baiting out an air dodge with FThrow before punishing with DAir. And the stage control tools fit nicely into this style as well, with Kira able to sandwich himself and his opponent between his SHA, a slow-moving bubble and bombs to make his different possible reads more easy to pull off. (Making DI out of UThrow predictable this way was a highlight, as was using DSmash to cover different defensive or getup options).

As far as the Killer Queen mechanic goes, I like the give-and-take, with Kira able to benefit from sending his Stand a distance away - to milk his grounded attacks for all they're worth in midair, for example - but at the potential cost of having to wait for Killer Queen to return before proceeding with other moves. This, in general, I found more compelling compared to the startup frame perks. Prolonging Killer Queen's time onstage to get those frame buffs, at the expense of being a far larger target for stray attacks, lends to great layered gameplay, though I feel this might be neutered somewhat when it's more of a choice between decent and really great attack speed for Kira, as opposed to average vs. great. I can see not wanting to saddle him with sluggish attacks when his glass cannon nature already straddles such a fine line, though. Beyond that, the self-damage aspect did come off as a little punishing at times, specifically with Up Special, where Kira is poised to eat at least 15% in extra damage every time he gets launched offstage. When his onstage game can be so oppressive with the proper setup, however, that potential for things to snowball hard against him is almost a needed counterbalance. For the most part, I'm content with how Kira handles his myriad moving parts, especially given the inherent challenge of balancing a glass cannon where the glass isn't just generically them being light or a massive target. All this to say, your years of experience with these contests have manifested in formidable skills, especially compared to when you and I both were active at the same time. Given some of your other concepts shared in Discord, I'm definitely eager to see where you go from here.

 

[Kholdstare]

KIRA:
Unless I missed something, it appears I'm the first to comment on Kira? A little surprising, but hey, it means I get to be the first to officially say, man, oh man, is this set the bomb (smirk). The thought you put in in painstakingly describing aspects of how Kira moves and attacks is quite apparent, down to more minute aspects like how Killer Queen behaves when being shield poked. This deserves praise when, IMO, a common pitfall with multi-character sets is difficulty visualizing how everything fits together. In any case, while Kira's obvious archetype is glass cannon, I found myself most intrigued looking at him through the lens of a fear-based playstyle. That he can place a bomb on a foe over the course of a regular attack can turn regular melee combat into a harrowing experience, while the prospect of an invisible bomb placed on the ground also is small comfort. Though the one-bomb limitation requires strategic play on Kira's part, I like the multitude of options he has to follow up on opponents who get frightened into making dumb plays as well - shielding carelessly to avoid a bomb leading to FSmash putting an even more dangerous bomb on their shield itself, for instance, or baiting out an air dodge with FThrow before punishing with DAir. And the stage control tools fit nicely into this style as well, with Kira able to sandwich himself and his opponent between his SHA, a slow-moving bubble and bombs to make his different possible reads more easy to pull off. (Making DI out of UThrow predictable this way was a highlight, as was using DSmash to cover different defensive or getup options).

As far as the Killer Queen mechanic goes, I like the give-and-take, with Kira able to benefit from sending his Stand a distance away - to milk his grounded attacks for all they're worth in midair, for example - but at the potential cost of having to wait for Killer Queen to return before proceeding with other moves. This, in general, I found more compelling compared to the startup frame perks. Prolonging Killer Queen's time onstage to get those frame buffs, at the expense of being a far larger target for stray attacks, lends to great layered gameplay, though I feel this might be neutered somewhat when it's more of a choice between decent and really great attack speed for Kira, as opposed to average vs. great. I can see not wanting to saddle him with sluggish attacks when his glass cannon nature already straddles such a fine line, though. Beyond that, the self-damage aspect did come off as a little punishing at times, specifically with Up Special, where Kira is poised to eat at least 15% in extra damage every time he gets launched offstage. When his onstage game can be so oppressive with the proper setup, however, that potential for things to snowball hard against him is almost a needed counterbalance. For the most part, I'm content with how Kira handles his myriad moving parts, especially given the inherent challenge of balancing a glass cannon where the glass isn't just generically them being light or a massive target. All this to say, your years of experience with these contests have manifested in formidable skills, especially compared to when you and I both were active at the same time. Given some of your other concepts shared in Discord, I'm definitely eager to see where you go from here.

I'm really thrilled you read and commented on Kira! I appreciated the bomb pun too, lol. Detail on the attack appearance was very important to me due to love of the character and my intent on translating him into Smash/MYM, so thank you for recognizing that! Visuals I think are extremely important to people experiencing a set for the first time to get the right impression. I'm stoked that you appreciate the fear and dread aspect of his playstyle as to me that is a tangible experience when playing a character that's "put on a clock" so to speak; think of a tense moment between two characters at a high percentage. That same fear and dread is present in JoJo's as well through many of the fights (This must be the work of an enemy stand!) and the whole premise of a murder mystery in Part 4. I tried to make Kira in such a way that a dumb mistake by either him or his opponent could spell doom, so you have to play both careful and aggressive with is a very precarious tightrope to walk but very satisfying. The moves you listed were pretty fun to come up with too - I've grown fond of aerials more than anything these days.

I think it's cool and interesting you enjoyed the long-distance Stand play as it was added late in the moveset's development considering Kira's Stand is actually short-ranged in canon. Close Range Stands can still be used but their effectiveness drops off significantly out of their range, as Star Platinum could bring back things to Jotaro's cell at the start of Part 3 but couldn't fight outside of that range. Startup frames are definitely something I could tweak to balance out some moves, and maybe lower some percents (including self damage) to help smooth out Kira's polar balance. I'm really happy you enjoyed the moveset, especially as you're someone I look up to and consider a much more competent writer and player than myself all through MYM's history (especially this contest!) and your work with King K. Rool.

 

[FrozenRoy]

The Nurse Will See You Now (Dragonmaid Nasary Katapultar )

Oh boy, this set was a DOOZY of a read. I'll get to that later, but get the emergency food ready before eating this one folks: It is loooooong.

Okay, so, I think Nasary's innate concept might end up kinda controversial, but it is hella cool. Basically, Nasary builds a dragon meter (with really fun stylization on it!) that allows her to utilize her dragon form...via healing! Not just herself, like Aromage Rosemary or the more ancient Divinity of Pride, but rather by healing the foe. This plays into Nasary having a rather unique playstyle based around either gimping or her large scale dragon attacks, both of which can do a huge number on the foe even at extremely low percents, so she feels like an odd character who either wants the opponent at low or high percents but struggles at the mid percent. The fact she gains "healing" potential off the foe's shield regeneration or regenerating dodges is perhaps somewhat out there logic, but I could accept it and it adds quite the different dynamic to how her meter works.

Nasary's Specials are for the most part really interesting and you already edited out the major issue I had with the Dragon Up Special, the plummet warp, so I don't even have the complaint I wanted to! The bed is one of the more unique "hit around a construct" style constructs I can remember in quite a while, with a focus on proning and sleeping foes in addition to using it as a hittable rolling crate style construct. Nasary can get further trick with it, with my personal favorite being the Forward Smash windboxes that give Nasary a specific but powerful shield break or shieldpoke setup utilizing her windboxes and the opponent's shields. Stuff like it getting thrown upwards by the quake, but only being a hitbox while moving and allowing you to keep "ownership" of it if the foe hits it was rather cool as well, and I thought the way that Nasary can utilize it with her Side Special was clever, making use of the Side Special's "long range" in a way not normal. It certainly feels like it has more depth to it than the bog standard boulder, and I appreciated the somewhat less physics-based approach to it. You've always had a knack for these kind of "objects" that are non-standard, like a bed or Yui's amp or what have you, and I definitely felt it showed here.

The syringes from the Neutral Special had a ton of depth and lovely playstyle to them, and I particularly liked the way the different volume of goop inside mattered and how sticking it in the foe works. Making the opponent both want to shield and scared to shield due to a syringe popping out of them if it got stuck in is interesting, plus I quite like the way the sleep works. It kind of reminds me of how I had Haunter's sleep effects work in MYM20, but more direct rather than Haunter's buffed state with the foe drowsy. And we get some classic Katapultar item play with how popped-out syringes become items Nasary can work into her gameplay, complete with the dragon form having an ultra-strong item toss! I also will point out here I like that Nasary adds in a bunch of little touches that show the dragons as being rather inhuman in a fittingly Dragonmaid-esque way, in this case the fact that Nasary can use little drops of blood as healing fluid or to make people drowsy. It stays consistent too, like with Nasary having healing saliva.

In fact, I am going to use that as a launching point to gush about this set's characterization, because it NAILS what a Dragonmaid set should feel like, and so much of it feels like what Nasary would naturally be as a character if, say, there was a Yugioh Dragonmaid anime. The Dragon Down Special feels like an obvious one, the healing beam that is so strong it ends up blowing people away and probably causing home feels perfect for some kind of gag in a show like this to show off a dragon's tremendous power. Tons of little animations, like Nasary's special and cozy animation upon getting into the bed, how her crouch subtly changes if a prone foe is under her (which is more likely to happen as Nasary has a lot of tech/prone stuff in her set!), and especially the Down Smash where Nasary seems like she is doing a little child scaring tactic while she ACTUALLY becomes scary with her tail! You mentioned you would have changed things up if you knew more about Nasary's role in the afterwords, but I actually felt what you have in here showed it off well regardless, and added bits of flavor. There's more to it as well, every little twirl feels elegantly described, the impact feels natural, it is all great stuff. It feels like MYM has been doing stronger animations since MYM20 or MYM21 and this definitely is one that it felt like a true highlight, reminding me of Sylvia from last contest as being excellent there. Oh, and I love some of the move names, which make clever Yu-Gi-Oh references or otherwise are character-fitting: Forward Smash being a reference to A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon particularly tickled me.

That aside done with, let me get back to the set, although given how long Nasary is I certainly can't go over every move or I WILL be here all day. Dragon Down Special is not only strong character, but the effect is pretty interesting, a move that HEALS the foe for a lot but also deals tremendous KNOCKBACK, so it is a great killing move but it will give the opponent a big advantage if it doesn't knock the foe out. You've cleverly added a few other downsides to the move, particularly making it truly bad against shields as the foe can heal it up, so that Nasary doesn't just save it up for a kill and then throw it out without worry about the healing, as it has other ways to backfire. Side Special is actually one of my favorite moves in the entire set, because I love how Nasary can use it against shields and in turn how it as a shield option plays SO WELL into Nasary's game, which includes plenty of moves weaker against shields (particularly in Nasary's human form) and her syringes specifically being something where shielding can be effective, in addition to her bedplay (ahem). Nasary can send her bed flying forward and threaten to Side Special it at various points to stop early and throw out her huge, transcendant tail for example, and shielding a syringe if she decides to Side Special after it puts you in a bad spot. At the same time, predictability will kill you and get you stuffed out, leaving opponents with good counterplay to it.

Both of Nasary's Up Specials are pretty fun, I wouldn't have thought of the idea of a "bandage" Up Special but using it as a tether recovery ends up making a lot of sense, and the idea of utilizing these special healing bandages to make sure your healing-meter gets use in situations it wouldn't felt clever, and it can combine with one of your later throws to get some big healing meter swings. The Dragon Up Special is a pretty solid aerial finisher and has good finisher usage that gets added committal from it being a meter-burning recovery that leaves her in helpless. The bandage does also get a bit of additional use later, although one of them is a bit I am iffier on.

With the Specials out of the way, I am going to talk about a lot of the rest of the moves in a bit more bulk. The Jab was a move I enjoyed a lot and reminded me a lot of the situations Balrog could put the opponent into with his buffalo charge moves. All the jab permutations have reasons to exist and strengths and weaknesses, letting Nasary play a dangerous yet potentially quite rewarding game with an opponent shielding her jabs as long as she's got some meter to burn. All of the Smashes felt quite good, with Forward Smash being a highlight to me. It plays into her healing-gimping game well, it has stuff like the bed interaction I quite enjoy and a lot of ways to use its hitboxes that allow the player to be inventive, between the multiple body hitboxes and the way she can have pushing or pulling wind with different timing that just gives a lot of experimentation freedom. Up Special's fireball offers a quirky little fireball that reminds me of Dhalsim (funny enough, her FAir also reminds me of Dhalsim!) and gives her some different ways to play out situations with an opponent heading into the air, not to mention being a potent additional tool in her edgeguarding arsenal. Down Smash had some fun to it as well, I already mentioned I quite enjoyed the way it works with the bed, but it has four hitboxes with solid uses, like the hanging tail that gives her more of a downward edgeguard option that also has an option to get opponents close up and personal for a combo instead.

Nasary's Down Aerial was pretty fun with its "double dip" spike that lets you spike INTO a spike at specific low percentages and ranges, ending up being a strong early kill, and the use of an Up Aerial that is kind of like, as you say, a "sweeping tilt" works well into her playstyle. Neutral Aerial's mix of a Ness-style NAir with a sex kick also leads to some interesting situations and gives Nasary some more weakness with shield safety while giving her unique timings for combos and cross-ups. Forward Aerial as an interesting gimping tool that gets WORSE with time, encouraging Nasary to go for it after healing the foe or aggressively early and instead focus on dragon kills later. It all works together nicely.

I've gone over a lot and there's way more to go over and that brings me to something that I felt was a genuine issue: The set's length. I don't mean because I don't like reading a big set, I wouldn't be so excited for Nasary if I wasn't and I've made some long stuff here. But Nasary is literally half the size of a novel and sometimes it hurts being able to keep track of everythin Nasary can do and truly piece it together. Put simply, the length makes actually puzzling out the set too difficult, and at times the set is just too dense to properly wrap your head around all the implications, a case where adding more is actually harming the overall. I would argue this can also apply to the set itself, as some of these effects can be kind of complex and yet are ultimately pretty minor, adding more the player needs to keep track of and learn for too little gain.

For a specific example, I felt like the Up Smash fireball item did add some real gameplay value to the set, but not enough to justify even more added on to an already rather intense move, especially because ultimately it doesn't even come up much in the set, and Nasary did already have her syringes for item play as well. It also maybe makes it too easy for some of the fireball + fireball huge hitboxes anyway, so it is also somewhat of a balance concern. I don't know if others will feel this way, but I think removing it actively would improve the set just by making one less thing for both a reader and player to keep track of. I also thought the Down Aerial bounce upon hitting specifically with a sourspot halfway through was really specific and did not really add much, especially because Side Special already provides this kind of to begin with, and the down aerial already has enough going for it that it feels like a last paragraph kinda nothing addition. It also somewhat interferes with gameplay.

The other concern I have is balance in a few spots, as Nasary can be quite a swing set with some eye-popping numbers, although especially given what some Smash Ultimate characters can do I don't think this was a HUGE concern at least in terms of game balance. I do think Dragon Down Aerial is too powerful and not in a way that just can be harmful to the game's balance, but I specifically feel it is too good of an option out of Nasary's Side Special and that it crowds out her other options too much. Given I really like the Side Special, I feel this is kind of a disappointment. I wish it was tuned down, either in overall power or specifically out of Side Special (such as changing frame data to make it less tight) so that Nasary was more encouraged to use other Side Special options. It is also just generally strong. Similarly, Nasary's Up Special plummet is hugely powerful and while I do love me some super powerful options (see the unfinished Utsuho's Abyss Nova attack!) I think it might be somewhat excessive and need some down-tuning. I did also wonder if she was weak enough against shield for her playstyle to work as wanted at some points, although ultimately the requirement of meter in multiple places and awkwardness of some aerial spacing means I think it works nicely, and while the Up Throw's 0% psuedo-"easter egg" feels like it is probably fine, I do think it could be too much if she can remotely consistently get the 2-stock option, and I would definitely listen to what other people thought about it. Something I will say about the balance: I commend how much you put into balancing the bed! It was a tricky move with some real pitfalls that I feel you deftly avoided.

Ultimately, Nasary is a set with some definite worries, but nothing that sparked me to think they rose to be major, and in turn nothing that dampened my love for her tight melee game, her unique gameplay stemming from her healing-meter and cool dragon transformations, a layered and faceted edgeguarding and gimping game that played very well in the space it had, and characterization as sparkling as her card art! This is a definite favorite from me, Kat, and was well worth the LOTS of time I spent reading it.