OK, got to mess with
more this weekend.
The Good
Stage Control/Presence: This guy is a pain to approach and fight. Between Hydrant, Trampolines, and Fruits, he can pester you no matter where he is on stage and force you to change up your gameplan of how you're going to approach him. If you're a character that relies on grounded approaches a lot, you're going to have to find a way to deal with his trampolines, hydrants, and bursts of water getting in your way while he is throwing stuff at you.
Fire Hydrant: Big aspect of stage control and more. It forces you to respect him when you're trying to juggle (unless you're got an Uair that goes through it anyway
), and he can also throw it down while high and use it to cover his landing, which is pretty effective when the water makes punishing him a bit complicated.
It negates some projectiles completely (I believe Fox's lasers and Sheik's needles can't send it flying), and for those it doesn't, it's still a shield and/or Pac Man can stand on it to avoid some fire.
It can also be used in a psuedo-counter fashion. If you throw it down and stay close to it while the opponent hits it with something that doesn't send it flying immediately, Pac Man can hit it right after to launch it at them for a free 13%.
Then there's launching it:
When it's launched with jab, you can set up a lingering hitbox to set up landing traps, cover your grabs, etc.
" " " " ftilt/dtilt/Fsmash/horizontal knockback, it's a projectile with good range that does 13%, nothing to laugh it.
" " " " Usmash, it goes in a high arc that I've yet to see anyone or myself take full advantage of, but it should serve for some basic option coverage.
Trampoline: This move makes rushing Pac Man down quite difficult, and near impossible when set up with the hydrant. The only way I know of to pass over this thing without being forced airborne is using Wario's bike and riding over it. With it forcing you to jump, Pac Man can take that into consideration and attempt to punish you accordingly, which is a big problem if you don't have a good airgame.
By nature, his Up B is unblockable and undodgeable if used on top of the opponent. Hopefully this gets more application in the future, but just know that standing on top of Pac Man is never safe.
If it's used on the ledge, choosing standard getup, ledge attack, and ledge roll will all get you launched into the air, so it's great at limited ledge options too.
Recovery: Unless you get read hard, you should always be coming back to the stage with him. Side B covers great distance and you get it back every time you are hit. Up B provides decent vertical coverage, and also makes him meteor proof in a sense.
His BF also slows his falling speed, so every time you launch Pac Man, he can come back with a least an orange ready, or something later depending on how far he got launched. Being able to special cancel, airdodge out (and stopdodge/roll/shield on the ground) of BF also makes it difficult to outright punish him for doing this.
Bonus Fruit: This move is dumb. They've all got a use, but the ones I use the most are
Orange: 8%, moves pretty quickly, and gimps
Apple: unique trajectory and does 9%
Melon: 12% and it's travel speed makes it good for setups and setups for edgeguards
Galaxian: I haven't been able to pull off many, but he can get some 30%+ combos from this thing
Bell: Can net early KOs if he catches you with it
Key: an essentially full-screen punish that does 15%, pierces, and has respectable knockback. IMO it's the reason you can't just sit back against him.
Although his grab is awful, his throw game is decent. Bthrow is the only one that's going to KO at reasonable %, but Dthrow does great damage and essentially combos into DA and keys at low %. I believe Fthrow combos in Key at low % too. His pummel is pretty good too, usually doing from 3-4%.
The Bad:
Overall, his melee range isn't that great.
His fruits can be caught and used against him. This shouldn't be happening too often, but it is something to note. They aren't that difficult to catch either if Pac Man is predictable in throwing them. While they are being held, Pac Man can't make another one, but whoever is holding also can't grab or use tilts.
All hydrant launches can be used against him too, so he's got to be wary. However, it's not hard to bait people with your hydrant, and then smack them with a Key or Orange for trying to launch it. Still, he can't just throw it out like crazy. Some Uairs can go right throw it too, so it isn't infallible in covering his landing.
Trampoline can backfire as well if not used wisely. While it only forces the opponent into the air, Pac Man will always go helpless whenever he hits it, leaving him vulnerable if he gets forced into it.
Oh, almost forgot: You're probably not going to land his smashes without good reads and/or bells. Key can KO, but it's going to take 130% before it starts doing so. If you can't net edgeguard KOs with him, opponents will be living for a while.
HIS GRAB: This is the only reason the character is not overpowered. This thing is so punishable on whiff that he can't reliably throw it out. If someone is battering his shield with attacks, unless they're very poorly spaced, shieldgrabbing is not an option. In general, it also means that putting up your shield when close to him is usually a safe thing to do (just not right on top of him). His grab will probably be the thing that holds him back the most.
Recovery issues: The third jump from his up B can be stolen, leaving him to fall to his death. His side B can also be cancelled by hitting the pellet.
Overall though, I'm still thinking mid high tier at worst.
I hate to say it, but his greatest potential is as a stalling/timeout character that focuses on abusing Trampoline, Hydrant, and BF to make the game not fun for the opponent to play. Trying to catch a Pac Man that is running away and using his specials properly (and possibly abusing Smash 4's rolls....) is very frustrating, and you have to keep the pressure up or he's going to keep getting keys.
If this character makes it far in tournaments, chats will be filled with ResidentSleepers for sure.
