A mighty evil has befallen Lady Zelda+. The mighty creators have destroyed her Usmash:
Lowered the hit boxes far below Battlefield platform height. Effects:
- Shield poking is non-existant
- Warioware and Battlefield are no longer solid counterpick stages
- Her offensive use of Usmash has nearly been eliminated
- No platform ****
- It's been reduced to "wait for him to jump over top you then press C-stick up"
They added invulnerability to her body, head and arms because without it, nearly every Dair, Nair and Fair could go right through the move. The invulnerability is now a problem because she can be hit by one of Peach's bombs and take no damage if she is Usmashing.
Here are the solutions they are discussing:
1) Remove invulnerability from body and chest. Leave it on Head and Arms.
2) Give her heavy armor instead
3) Put invulnerability on her whole body but just for frames 6 & 7
Problems with these:
1) This is the exact same move that is crap right now except they made her even more vulnerable. This is further nerfing a move that just got a major nerf. It is crap and is not acceptable. THIS IS THE CHOICE THEY ARE FAVORING RIGHT NOW
2) This is the solution the backroom chose the first time around. She would be taking damage like crazy or being knocked out of Usmash constantly. Again, this is crap and is not acceptable.
3) This was suggested to "reward timing." What it does is nothing. There is a 1 frame window to power shield, so why would I chance trying to hit the 1/30th of a second window that is the window they want to give Usmash. There would be no invulnerability either so it would FURTHER nerf the move. This is extreme crap and should never be brought up again.
WE MUST STAND UP AS ZELDAS AND FIGHT FOR OUR HEART AND SOUL, USMASH!
Here is a more detailed history of this move:
- Raw version from vBrawl was too powerful and was nerfed in power
- Next version was comboed into everything and was given a slight boost to power
- Next version killed everyone at 80% so I believe an angle change and knockback change was made
- 5.0 version had knockback figured out and the complaints for the move stopped
THEN CAME THE HELL THAT WAS GSH & NEAR-GOLD SERIES
- GSH brought the current Usmash into play
- The hitboxes were lowered so it could not hit SSE Jungle level platforms and no invulnerability was placed on there
- After I personally played with this set, I discovered Zelda had no defense in the air. Nearly every dair, some nairs, and some fairs were going right through Usmash knocking her out of the move. FF Nair from Fox could go through the move.
- After talking with the designer, Cape, he put the invulnerability frames in because he didn't want to put the vertical range back. It was his idea to lower the hitboxes because he felt Usmash was overpowered. In his words "once you get in the air above Zelda, you are dead"
- Now, the invulnerability frames are a problem since Peach's bombs won't harm her. I have played a match where a Ganon punch went right through her. Falco's lasers can be shot through her. THIS IS A PROBLEM.
I am proposing we revert back to the 5.0 Usmash on these grounds:
1) The range nerf was a product of one person having a hatred for the move. The nerf was decided on by that person, and it was not a group decision. Now that there is a backroom, 5.0 Usmash should be voted on to be put back as the move was never over powered to begin with.
2) Battlefield and Warioware were her best stages. She lacks counterpick stages because the edges are funky and destroy her recovery if you shoot for the edge. The platforms were able to be Usmashed limiting an opponent's ability to approach playing into her defense game, and the stages were small enough to force action from a projectile spammer.
Now, her best stages are PS2 and FD. Both of these are projectile spammer dreams which is her biggest weakness. They limit approach options, but she has to stay on the same plane and fight them. There is no options for offensive game, and she gets destroyed.
3) There is no shield poke game anymore. The hitboxes are so low that they hit the meat of the shield. Before, a player could tilt the shield up to protect against a poke. Now, they just have to shield. It is no longer an option to try and shield poke with this move further deteriorating her offensive options which were limited to being with.
4) LESS MOVES CAN GO THROUGH IT NOW. Yeah, the point of the nerf was so when you got above Zelda, you wouldn't die. Now, only TLink's dair (in my testing) is capable of getting through a correctly read Zelda Usmash. Before, a lot more moves were capable of getting through.
With the hitboxes lower, it creates an orb of TP around her. It is very difficult to punish the move from the side other than shield grab. The hitboxes protect her from the side.
This was the only buff part of the nerf. Unfortunately, it already had a good base of moves that it defended against and didn't need this.
5) Zelda was a middle of the road character in 5.0. She got lower when this move was altered. She is not an overpowering character nor does she rely so heavily on this move that it is her character. But, her game is based around a great defensive move set and enough power to make up for offensive combo heavy opponents. It works and balances her out. This move change lessened her ability to stand up to the rest of the cast. Taking away counterpick stages gives her far less options than she ever had before.
6) The move is now 1-dimensional. Zelda must set this move up to use it offensively. With the shield pokes before, it was a move you could lead into or pressure them when they were on a platform.
Now, the only thing it is good for is retaliating against an aerial attack. Offensively, dtilt needs to combo into it for it to be useful.
7) Me and other Zeldas are completely unhappy with the move. This was the be all move in regular brawl, but it has taken such a change from its original form that it is nearly another tool in her case.
With that said, vBrawl Zeldas are going to have problems switching over when the move they have relied on so much in vBrawl is no longer anything other than a 1-dimensional defensive move.
8) She was one of the few balanced characters in 5.0. She required you pick up a secondary to face her weaker match-ups. Now, she is nothing more than a secondary as she is fading behind all the other characters. All the bad characters I keep hearing about ways to catch them up to the rest of the pack, but Zelda is being pushed to the back of the bus for no reason at all. She was quietly sitting in the middle with her seat belt on and simply asking for someone to fix her reflector.
9) 5.0 Usmash was neither overpowered or broken. It did not warrant change. It is broken now, and it requires change. We should return to the form it used to be. This is a form already researched, tried, tested, and approved. Why wouldn't it be the ideal change?
10) Several other moves hit through platforms. DDD's Utilt kills insanely low (better than our Usmash) and hits right through Battlefield platforms. It even shield pokes if the shield is worn down from below. And somehow our move's ability to hit platforms was removed but his remained. DDD is a far better character, I will admit, and he still has this ability. He's not alone in this ability (being a better character and still hitting platforms with moves), and I call shenanigans.
We Zeldas should not take this. We aren't going to take this. We will not take this. We want our Usmash back.
For all those who are with me, start posting. Let your voice be heard. The backroom has dismissed any reasoning on my end despite the fact that THE BACKROOM HAS NO ONE WITH ANY CREDIBILITY FOR PLAYING ZELDA AND THEY ARE DECIDING THESE CHANGES WITHOUT CONSULTING ANYONE FROM THE ZELDA COMMUNITY!!!!
ZELDAS UNITE!!!
:bandit:
