Catch up~
I can't say much about gunner, I really can't. From something I saw frequently in the 3DS era and was awkward to fight for visual reasons just doesn't seem to exist now. :S
Robin had some great high/top level players representing them early on and pushed that character far, but it become very obvious mobility or better ranged tools were exceedingly difficult to compete with and players moved on. Trela was like the last high level Robin in the US, but has obtained more consistent and better results with other characters. Now with a few buffs in mind, but no one to represent them, they're in a tough spot to evaluate. Nairo's convinced this character is mid tier or high tier and is better "going in". Offense is the best defense sounds corny for a tactician, but considering the range/priority/power of their attacks, being reactive and aggressive in mid range kinda negates their aforementioned issues to some extent, if they can be successful at it that is. Anywho with jab being more consistent and the likelihood of getting tome drops to use (which are kinda like Brawl ZSS armor pieces in power) increasing a lot [item game play being more relevant], their opportunities to succeed is definitely better and generally underdeveloped. What I said about this character from the beginning was "overloaded with options", and while having some of the worst mobility specs in history attested to that is a bit jarring, an option-rich character succeeds when used by very smart players, even at national level (e.g. Sonic in Brawl with X / Espy, Reflex with Pokemon Trainer).
G&W is an amazing character suffering with dying at 60% syndrome. It's pretty unfortunate, save a moment in your prayers tonight for Poor Sad & Watch. Grab game (high damaging nair,
⑨ opportunities, up air at kill %), ground game (one of the best dash attacks in the game), traps (everything, that invincible up smash), amazing off stage and nigh ungimpable doesn't mean anything if you die at 1/3rd the percent you get your opponent to every stock. I think he's super glass cannon in terms of neutral/footsies vs not losing the stock first. However, at this point I don't know if there's much more we'll see from G&W in singles than what we already see in GimR; very few things haven't been implemented by him, to his credit [full hop stuff maybe and sh ad], so with the amount of success he has now, it could get worse as the tap of meta dries, and others characters continue flowing.
Olimar probably gives Diddy tons of trouble now. But I just haven't seen this since. With such a terrible match up with Sheik though it's hard for him to look solid although he probably goes even at worse with ZSS, Pikachu, Rosalina and I'm sure many other characters. That Fsmash buff that came with WiiU was essentially all he needed to cover up the heavily nerfed grab/pivot grab in most situations (i.e. exemplify his keep away/camping game). The buffed recovery/ledge mechanics also help one of his big weaknesses from Brawl. Better non-pikmin normals are appreciated. Essentially I feel as if all the character 'styles' he did well against in Brawl has persisted (so a majority of the cast, withstanding their buffed states) while the things he doesn't like have gotten worse (although MK/Marth/Falco's tools that allowed that have been nerfed, it now all exists in Sheik), which overall makes him fairer than before but still a top contender. However, Sheik. Did I mention Sheik? Hey Sheik.
INVALIDATION. Like holy moly, I don't think after the Diddy nerfs there are any top characters who are shut down like this. Definitely one of the most potent pocket characters. But as he is such a different playstyle to the rest of the cast it's hard to maintain him / his mindset while also having a strong alternative character that you won't feel more rewarded for advancing. Meh, ramblings of ramblings of an Olimar main. But Sheik......... Also Falco is pretty good in this match up still, lol smash attacks that can be reflected.
Samus is just too hard. I think she can do great things but not really any better than others. Is kinda a wifi god (imo, japanese samus' are like, impossible to hit), so the likelihood of helpful fixes is low. I think someone mentioned within the last few pages their thoughts on Samus, so you should go look for that I'd say. Single fix though? Make up-b kill off the top at SOME point. She's actually -almost- scary on Halberd, even if 90% at the top of the screen is sometimes not good enough. Has room to develop, will probably look good in low tier tournaments at some point.
Meta Knight has top tier things on a middle-tierish disposition. Range, frame data, damage and safety seem kinda on the low side, but then dash attack and dash grab exist, and those auto-combo into so so so so so many things that can kill, coupled with 5 lovely mid air jumps, nearly untouchable recovery, extensively dangerous at gimping/offstage and
"victory is my destiny" is essentially still
the greatest Smash truth ever. I compare him to Falcon a lot, so if you want a Falcon who can recover at the price of no jab, no walling, little range, then phone in now and get a tiny hurtbox free of charge! I like playing MK though, if I was to recommend someone a character who wants to learn/focus on their mid range game play, Meta Knight is
perfect (followed by Pit). Due to some of his deficiencies he may have polarizing match ups with all sorts of characters, while being able to go toe to toe with many top contenders even at this early stage where he still has room to grow. If I could trade something in his dash game for a buff to his forward tilt (or just buff ftilt anyway) he'd likely be a no-brainer top tier.
Itoi beating 6WX is really cool to hear about~ I hope future sets get recorded.
). He's not the fortress he was in Brawl but he can still wall characters out pretty well. He has an okay grab game (with killing throws from Blues), smashes with some of the best frame data, and the ability to rack of damage quickly. He can struggle to kill if people don't fall into his smashes though. His smashes being projectiles/reflectable gives them a clear counter but also a weakness involving clanking that, IIRC, most of his Pikmin attacks share, and one that I don't fully understand at the moment. I think he's strong but not overwhelming and will do better mixing in some aggression here and there. He would be easier to deal with on a general level if his model was bigger IMO. Also his new recovery is pretty bad.
