Best kill move by character

[Matt11111]

When I play Smash 4 with my friend, he often asks me what a certain character's kill move is. I don't always know how to respond, but most of the time if I don't know, I decide to myself which of their smash attacks is the best. But is that really the best way to go? Can we dedicate this thread to compiling a list of each character's best kill move(s)?

Thanks.

 

[Lord Dio]

I don't think you can exactly say that some characters have a single move that's their "kill move". It usually depends on the player, and even then narrowing down the playstyle doesn't always help.

 

[Matt11111]

I don't think you can exactly say that some characters have a single move that's their "kill move". It usually depends on the player, and even then narrowing down the playstyle doesn't always help.

Right. There are a lot of factors that go into this. Play style, opponents, staleness of other moves, etc. I think I'm going to start thinking about what moves are best to use for the kill in different situations.

 

[Glunkus]

When talking about how to kill with a certain character, it's best to think less about what one specific move can kill and more about what that character must do to kill. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely moves that aren't good at killing, like Little Mac's DAir, but if I were to just say that Mario can kill with Up B, that wouldn't be very helpful. While it gets across the idea of what move finishes the string that takes a stock, it doesn't say anything about under what circumstances that move would kill. If you were to Up B a grounded opponent, it probably wouldn't kill them unless they were at an extremely high percent. Rather, Mario can kill by getting the opponent close to the top blast zone with UAir strings and then finishing with Up B, but simply saying that his Up B kills doesn't tell you that.

Most characters have several ways to kill anyway, and in a lot of cases they're equally useful. For example, let's talk about Pit. Pit's FTilt is one of his best kill moves, as it's long range and decent frame data make it pretty easy to land and even a viable option in the neutral. However, Pit can also get insane gimps with his neutral B or simply by going offstage with a FAir or BAir. Both options are somewhat situational, requiring the opponent to either be kind of close to the edge of the stage or trying to recover, but they are both extremely viable options. Which one is 'better' really depends on the matchup, the situation, and both player's playstyle. The same can be said for most characters.

tl;dr if you really want to make a list of every character's best kill options, you would likely end up having to include several moves for most characters, and if you want the list to be helpful to new players (which you should) then you would probably want a brief explanation for how to kill with each move.

 

[kendikong]

Most of the time it's going to be bair or one of the smashes.

 

[MarioManTAW]

From my experience, limited though it may be, here's a partial list of my thoughts (top row of characters). Each character's best options are marked with an asterisk (*).

: U-Smash, situational D-Smash (often a punish for either a roll or ledge option), Up-B near upper blastzone*, Fair spike offstage*, B-Throw
: U-Smash, Up-B sweetspot*, situational offstage Down-B (with mashing), B-Throw
: Situational U-Smash, Fair*, Bair, situational Side-B, Bob-omb from Down-B*, B-Throw
: Situational F-Smash*, Bair, Side-B (suicide or not)*, Situational Down-B*, U-Throw->Uair
: U-Smash*, Fair offstage, Bair offstage (stage spike), Uair, Situational Down-B
: U-Smash, Uair*, B-Throw
: Situational Smash attack*, Fair, Uair*, Up-B (car or hammer)*, B-Throw
: Bair, Charged Down-B*
: Offstage Bair, Uair*, Charged Neutral-B, Ding Dong (F-throw->Jump->U-throw->Jump->Uair)*
: Situational Smash attack, Dair spike offstage, U-throw->Uair (50-50 w/ airdodge read)*
: Situational F-Smash, Uair, Lucky Side-B (#9 or #6 offstage)*, Fully charged Down-B
: Smash attack*, KO Punch*, Side-B, Situational Up-B

I'll be back with more later.

 

[MarioManTAW]

2nd row:

: U-Smash*, situational F-Smash, Dair spike offstage, Down-B at high percents, U-Throw->Uair
: U-Smash, sweetspot Fair, sweetspot Bair, Uair*, Up-B*
: Situational U-Smash, offstage Bair, Down-B*
: U-Smash*, situational U-tilt, Fair, Bair*, Dair spike offstage, situational Neutral-B, Up-B (only with stage spike), Side-B (only with suicide)*
: Same as , but be more careful with the Dair spike
: Situational U-Smash, situational F-Smash, Bair, Fully charged Neutral-B*
: Situational U-Smash, Up-B*, Down-B spike
: U-Smash*, F-Smash, F-tilt, offstage Fair, offstage Bair, Side-B ( only)
: U-Smash, Uair*, Fair
: Situational U-Smash (best with platforms), F-Smash*, Charged Neutral-B*, situational Down-B
: Situational Smash attack*, Uair, Charged Neutral-B, Charged Side-B
: Situational Smash attack*, Uair*, Fair, Bair, Fully charged Neutral-B (all sword attacks should use the Levin sword)

 

[Matt11111]

I feel like I could write an entire book just about which kill moves are the best for each situation.

 

[Arrei]

: Everything.

No, but seriously. Ike chiefly relies on Bair, Uair, Fair, Ftilt, Utilt, and the occasional Usmash for his onstage kills. But Nair starts working in a pinch, Dthrow is his backup kill for much higher percent if he just can't land a kill move, Counter is a deadly edgeguard that frequently straight up kills at 100%+ instead of just gimping, Dair can't spike for beans but possesses enough raw knockback to kill ~120%, Dsmash is just as strong as Bair but a terrible move otherwise, Fsmash is Fsmash but good luck actually landing that bloody thing, and Eruption is a ferocious ledgeguard move.

 

[Matt11111]

: Everything.

No, but seriously. Ike chiefly relies on Bair, Uair, Fair, Ftilt, Utilt, and the occasional Usmash for his onstage kills. But Nair starts working in a pinch, Dthrow is his backup kill for much higher percent if he just can't land a kill move, Counter is a deadly edgeguard that frequently straight up kills at 100%+ instead of just gimping, Dair can't spike for beans but possesses enough raw knockback to kill ~120%, Dsmash is just as strong as Bair but a terrible move otherwise, Fsmash is Fsmash but good luck actually landing that bloody thing, and Eruption is a ferocious ledgeguard move.

Well said!

 

[MarioManTAW]

I feel like I could write an entire book just about which kill moves are the best for each situation.

I'm sure you could.

: Everything.

No, but seriously. Ike chiefly relies on Bair, Uair, Fair, Ftilt, Utilt, and the occasional Usmash for his onstage kills. But Nair starts working in a pinch, Dthrow is his backup kill for much higher percent if he just can't land a kill move, Counter is a deadly edgeguard that frequently straight up kills at 100%+ instead of just gimping, Dair can't spike for beans but possesses enough raw knockback to kill ~120%, Dsmash is just as strong as Bair but a terrible move otherwise, Fsmash is Fsmash but good luck actually landing that bloody thing, and Eruption is a ferocious ledgeguard move.

Thanks for your input! Nice to hear feedback from someone who mains these characters. I will edit my original post shortly.

3rd row:

: Smash attack, Uair, Neutral-B*
: Smash attack*, Bair, offstage Neutral-B, Down-B, Situational Side-B
: Situational Smash attack*, situational dash attack, Fair, Bair*, Uair*, offstage Neutral-B, situational Down-B, D-throw->Uair
: U-Smash*, D-Smash, offstage Fair, offstage Bair, Up-B*
: U-Smash, D-Smash*, Bair, Uair*, Dair spike offstage
: F-Smash*, D-Smash, Fair*, Dair spike offstage, Side-B spike offstage
: Smash attack*, offstage Fair, situational Down-B, U-Throw->Down-B*
: U-Smash*, Bair, Uair, situational Side-B*
: D-Smash*, offstage Fair*, offstage Bair, Neutral B (charged, with aura)*, situational Side-B
: D-Smash*, offstage Fair, offstage Bair, Down-B*
: Smash attack*, Fair*, Side-B

 

[FamilyTeam]

Really, if you want to know the KO move that a character is known for, it's usually not hard to find. For Mario, it's Up Smash, for Marcina, it's Side Smash, for Luigi, it might be his Up Special, and things like that.

 

[Fruitalicious]

I'm sure you could.

Thanks for your input! Nice to hear feedback from someone who mains these characters. I will edit my original post shortly.

3rd row:

: Smash attack, Uair, Neutral-B*
: Smash attack*, Bair, offstage Neutral-B, Down-B, Situational Side-B
: Situational Smash attack*, situational dash attack, Fair, Bair*, Uair*, offstage Neutral-B, situational Down-B, D-throw->Uair
: U-Smash*, D-Smash, offstage Fair, offstage Bair, Up-B*
: U-Smash, D-Smash*, Bair, Uair*, Dair spike offstage
: F-Smash*, D-Smash, Fair*, Dair spike offstage, Side-B spike offstage
: Smash attack*, offstage Fair, situational Down-B, U-Throw->Down-B*
: U-Smash*, Bair, Uair, situational Side-B*
: D-Smash*, offstage Fair*, offstage Bair, Neutral B (charged, with aura)*, situational Side-B
: D-Smash*, offstage Fair, offstage Bair, Down-B*
: Smash attack*, Fair*, Side-B

As Dedede, dthrow - uair isn't a true combo, and isn't even a 50/50 on all of the cast.
Nair can kill as dedede as well.
As for Smash Attacks, Fsmash and Dsmash are dedede's only reliable kill moves, relying on ledge traps and setups to execute. A down-b can be substited for smash attacks, as well. Offstage neutral B is only really good if your opponent is a literal potato, and Fair kills wayyyy later than Bair would.
To kill as dedede, spam bair and ledgetrap f/dsmash/downB

 

[FightingPorygonTeam]

I wish Pacman had a kill move. Instead everything is a kill setup.

 

[Bowserboy3]

With a topic like this, you sometimes have to consider how likely you are to land or even use said "best" kill moves.

For example, Marth's Fsmash when tippered is his best kill move, but it's quite tricky to land, and quite punishable if missed. As such, it is not used too much. So while it might be his most powerful kill move, is it really his best?

If you talk about things in a whole, such as general safety, likeliness of landing/using a move, things become a lot easier to pinpoint.

Taking this into account, Nair might be Marth's best kill move; at least, it's what I would consider one of Marth's best kill moves, and the move I get most of my KO's with. It kills incredibly early for how fast and safe the move is in a SHFF (what, 85% near the ledge? Yes please). Its a move used by Marth for spacing also, so it's used rather commonly, considering you can land it by accident.

Fair and Ftilt are other common examples, both used for spacing, and while still safe and powerful, are a little less in each department compared to Nair.

 

[Mythzotick]

:
Slash Claw/Bair - tied for fastest bair in the game (frame 4), great kill power, insane range, multi-hit, and a solid kill confirm from a metal blade item thrown. Generally considered to be Mega Man's #1 most reliable kill option.

Mega Upper/U-Tilt - comes out at frame 6 while being intangible from frames 5-7, 2nd strongest u-tilt in the game, and is also a solid kill confirm from either diagonal thrown metal blade, downwards thrown metal blade, or after a lemon jab lock.

Super Arm/B-Throw - tied for fastest grab coming out as soon as frame 6 if it's a standing grab, good range, and has decent kill power for a b-throw.

Spark Shot/U-Smash - comes out at frame 8, multi-hit, huge transcendent hit boxes that can even suck you in, and has decent kill power.

Leaf Shield/Down-B - fantastic at gimping characters that have bad recoveries; using the leaves to cause hit stun and then footstool your opponent.

Air Shooter/Uair - has a giant wind hit box that can led to extremely early kills "IF" the opponent jumps while being caught up in it.

 

[Arrei]

With a topic like this, you sometimes have to consider how likely you are to land or even use said "best" kill moves.

For example, Marth's Fsmash when tippered is his best kill move, but it's quite tricky to land, and quite punishable if missed. As such, it is not used too much. So while it might be his most powerful kill move, is it really his best?

I think all of that gets considered, yes. Bowser's Fsmash may be his most powerful attack, and one of the strongest Fsmashes in the game, but its unwieldiness means it can't even remotely be considered his "best" kill move. So instead we have to choose from Uair, which is a true kill combo out of Uthrow at certain percentages and remains lethal but can be difficult to land outside of this range, Bowser Bomb, which kills quite early, threatens shields and is quick enough to start on the ground but has horrible punish windows on whiff, Bair, which is terrifyingly powerful (strongest Bair in the game, if I'm not mistaken), fairly quick and has autocancel ability but horrendous landing lag if you miss the window, or Dtilt, which is great for poking but kills the latest of all of these.

Meanwhile his Usmash, Dsmash, Fair, Ftilt, Dair, and F/Bthrows in addition to Fsmash are all certainly capable of killing but have more downsides than the previous moves when it comes to killing with them, be they slow, incapable of killing before significantly higher percent, or extremely unsafe.

 

[Dilan Omer]

Side Smash (setup) Tippered Aerial
Up B (setup),Bair

 

[Mordecai Hazard]

Tipper
Finishing touch
Up-B
Neutral B *Fully charged*