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Official Competitive Character Impressions 2.0

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  • Total voters
    585

Wigglerman

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
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Maine
This discussion about Kazuya is sort of pointless and slightly amusing imo.

He will never be fully tapped nor is there any reason to invest the time and energy that's needed to do so.

Never fully tapped? Sure, it's unlikely. But no reason for anyone not to invest in him? I wouldn't go that far. If anything I'd love more people to try to push him to see how far he CAN go. If he's got so much potential to unlock I'd like to see him someday at the highest peak he can be. And if someone did get to that point I doubt their investment would be 'wasted'.
 

StrangeKitten

Smash Lord
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Messages
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Battle Royal Dome
Why would Kazuya never be fully tapped? We can't predict the future. We don't know if there will be a next Smash game (it's very likely but it's not confirmed), and if there is, will it replace Ultimate or will Ultimate be in a Melee situation where people love to play it even though it's outdated? And if someone likes Kazuya, that's reason enough to invest the time and energy to learn and push him.
 

Minordeth

Smash Ace
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
921
I mean, Dabuz put Kazuya in mid tier, so it doesn't seem that far out there to place Kazuya in mid tier? So far the character seems to be "potential" and not really showing it. I'm not convinced he's high tier yet but I'm also not convinced he's not. So far none of the FGC characters have impressed me nearly as much as Smash 4 Ryu though.
Just to let you know, he revised his opinion as of his 3/14 stream where he went over the VODs from Collision.

To summarize what he said on stream:
  • Kazuya is top tier, despite a few bad matchups

  • However, he doesn't think people will "really push [him] ever"

  • Beyond not dropping combos, he envisions better Kazuya play revolving around using his "other invincible options" to space and counter-poke, as players seem to forget he has other invincible moves besides EWGF and crouch dash.

  • "Kazuya players have really bad recovery habits"

  • He thinks that Riddles' Kazuya is fundamentals based, rather than very optimized. He hasn't really spent hours in the lab tightening things up.

  • "If you aren't platform camping Kazuya, you are losing."

Other Dabuz takes from the same stream:

Steve is potentially the best character in the game - long term
Sora, when optimized is potentially top tier, with oppressive, but safe, ledge trapping


This discussion about Kazuya is sort of pointless and slightly amusing imo.

He will never be fully tapped nor is there any reason to invest the time and energy that's needed to do so.
yup.

tbh most of the more complex characters aren’t going to be anywhere close to optimized in a game with 80 MUs.

Kazuya has stupid buttons and real keep away play in this game is limited.
 

Emblem Lord

The Legendary Lord
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Never fully tapped? Sure, it's unlikely. But no reason for anyone not to invest in him? I wouldn't go that far. If anything I'd love more people to try to push him to see how far he CAN go. If he's got so much potential to unlock I'd like to see him someday at the highest peak he can be. And if someone did get to that point I doubt their investment would be 'wasted'.
If their joy is derived solely from pushing a complex character to their limits, then surely those folks would do well to play Kazuya. Unlocking that full potential would bring them great happiness I am sure.

The question I present is that what is the goal for MOST competitive players? To tap potential or to win efficiently while still enjoying the game? There are only, but so many hours in the day to train, study matches, practice combos, lab situations, figure out tech and figure out counter play.

Kazuya's very high skill floor requires so much more investment then literally every other character in the game. So much is required before you can even ACTUALLY play the character seriously. He is the same way in Tekken of course, but in Tekken even easy characters require some serious time in the lab. Smash is a very different beast. It has some of the most lopsided power level vs time invested scaling in all of fighting games.

You could put a month of serious training in with Palutena and be a regional threat. With Kazuya you would just be getting competent. There is no comparison there. And even if you did master him, well to what end? I do not foresee Kazuya ever being a top 5 character in a weighted meta where you will see mainly top tiers. Match-ups matter and he doesn't dumpster any top tier. He probably beats Fox and MAYBE Wolf, but that's about it.

Do not misunderstand me. A characters competitive viability and value is not the barometer for a character's overall worth. Kazuya is fun and interesting. He plays completely different then any other character. He offers a wholly unique experience.

Play the character if you like complex characters or if you love Kazuya. Not because you think he will decimate tournaments at his full capabilities.
 
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KirbySquad101

Smash Ace
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Messages
927
OrionStats update
I know a large part of it is owed to Marss' absence, but yeesh, aside from Pichu, I don't think I've ever seen a character's results tank as hard as ZSS's has currently.
 

Cheryl~

Smash Journeyman
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Jun 27, 2018
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450
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I know a large part of it is owed to Marss' absence, but yeesh, aside from Pichu, I don't think I've ever seen a character's results tank as hard as ZSS's has currently.
It's interesting though. Marss is indeed the main provider of ZSS results, but she's always had a solid cast of mains over in Japan with players like shky, Choco, and Kuro all adding to her results along with Marss, at least pre-quarantine. Has the lack of big tournaments in Japan added to this big decline in ZSS results, or has the meta simply caught up to her and her playerbase cannot keep up? (or in Marss' case, decided to become a content creator :p)
 

Linkmain-maybe

Smash Ace
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690
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SW-1042-6735-2236
This discussion about Kazuya is sort of pointless and slightly amusing imo.

He will never be fully tapped nor is there any reason to invest the time and energy that's needed to do so.
Yea, just use Terry IMO. Better comeback mechanic, easier to learn and master (not easy, EASIER), faster, frame 3 jumpsquat, better ledge trapping, etc…
 

Hippieslayer

Smash Ace
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Aug 12, 2008
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Azeroth
Why would Kazuya never be fully tapped? We can't predict the future. We don't know if there will be a next Smash game (it's very likely but it's not confirmed), and if there is, will it replace Ultimate or will Ultimate be in a Melee situation where people love to play it even though it's outdated? And if someone likes Kazuya, that's reason enough to invest the time and energy to learn and push him.
Yeah, he's not THAT hard. Everyone has to deal with 80 mu's not just Kazuya.
 

Diddy Kong

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SW-1597-979602774
This discussion about Kazuya is sort of pointless and slightly amusing imo.

He will never be fully tapped nor is there any reason to invest the time and energy that's needed to do so.
Unless you're some type of hybrid Tekken / Smash hardcore competitive player that's dead set on making Kazuya work in Ultimate.

I bet if this person exists, they'd be Japanese though
 

Guynamednelson

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Unless you're some type of hybrid Tekken / Smash hardcore competitive player that's dead set on making Kazuya work in Ultimate.

I bet if this person exists, they'd be Japanese though
You mean Korean, that's where the Tekken pros reside.
 

Frihetsanka

Smash Champion
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Apr 26, 2016
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Sweden
It's interesting how his top 51 is high tier (very generous) and Corrin is still mid tier, hah. There are things I disagree with here and there but overall it seems solid enough, a fairly vanilla tier list.
 

Gleam

Smash Ace
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Apr 7, 2008
Messages
654
Location
Burlington, NC
It's a pretty basic list but looking at it, I've noticed something. Guys...I think I might be from a different dimension. You see in my dimension, :ultridley: regularly got Top 33rds and 25ths from his primary players in majors and around 2021-2022, he even seemed to show a vastly increase in production, with major placements shown around Europe and Japan. He could be sporadic at times but he always held himself what, in my dimension, always considered Mid Tier, with a real argument being made to get him to High Tier.

I wasn't as keen on that idea, but yeah, he has proven time and time again to at least be Mid. Sometimes it'd be on the upper end, sometimes he'd slow down and get on the lower end. But the thing is he always kind of remained there.

Now that was my universe but it seems in this Universe, Ridley doesn't get those kind of numbers, or maybe those numbers are now the Low Tier number. In my universe, there are players like Mezcaul, Momon and Nair^ (the latter's been kind of quiet) with an Orion status usually in the #40s, but has kind of been improving.

Although I do see that in your universe, you too have Pikachu as one of the absolute best characters. Awww, I suppose some things don't change throughout space and time.

Seriously, get Ridley the f*** out of Low Tier.
 

Frihetsanka

Smash Champion
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Messages
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Sweden
A spicier tier list, from Aaron:

Top 2, nothing out of the ordinary... Kazuya #3? Cloud #6, Steve #8, Pikachu #10, Diddy Kong #12, Terry #16, Ness #18, Samus #21, Peach #24, Marth #26, Luigi #27, Falco #28, Fox #30, Shulk #36. And then Lucina in the "almost hit tier but not mid tier" tier. Lucina worse than Corrin and Marth? That's an interesting take, for sure. Mega Man in mid tier is also very interesting. Pichu in low tier seems really odd.

Corrin #34 is cool, she's somewhere around that range probably, perhaps a tad lower, I'm not entirely sure. I could see Jigglytuff being around #37 or so as well, maybe a bit lower.

I believe Sephiroth is a tad overrated on this tier list. Tweek seems to have lost most of his hopes in the character and most other Sephiroth players seem to be using him more and more as a secondary and occasionally struggling. Sadly, the character does not seem to be as good as many people used to think. The best Sephiroth player is probably Nairo, but due to his Twitch ban he struggles to addend tournaments.
 

Hydreigonfan01

Smash Master
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Messages
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I believe Sephiroth is a tad overrated on this tier list. Tweek seems to have lost most of his hopes in the character and most other Sephiroth players seem to be using him more and more as a secondary and occasionally struggling. Sadly, the character does not seem to be as good as many people used to think. The best Sephiroth player is probably Nairo, but due to his Twitch ban he struggles to addend tournaments.
Actually, it's probably KEN. KEN has been playing Sephiroth recently at Japanese regionals/locals and it's got some good results and wins such as Shuton's :ultmythra:, Ly's :ultcorrinf:, Umeki, and HIKARU's :ultroy:.

On the topic of Aaron's tier list, it basically goes against everything in the current meta so I disagree with almost all of it. Only thing I kinda like about it is not having Pikachu alongside Aegis and Joker.
 
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Gleam

Smash Ace
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Burlington, NC
Good lord, another Kazuya in Top Tier.

Listen folks, the so called "Potential" or "Theories" of your character, doesn't mean a jackity load of custard pie, if your players cannot implement those "theories" to better themselves and the character. Stop this whole "well if they just push Kazuya..." Guess what? They haven't and therefore, it doesn't matter what Kazuya "MIGHT" be able to do.

We know what Kazuya has done, we know what his players have done and what can be said about Kazuya is frankly. Someone who runs around the Mid Tier range, 33rds and 25ths but with some rare but notable High Tier marks. For some that might push him up a bit, I'd even go around the Upper Mid range personally. But there is no Top jack here.

You can start putting Kazuya in Top Tier, when his playerbase starts consistently getting those kind of results. Just like with LeoN up there, you can gladly put Ridley in Low when Ridley stops getting 33rds, 25ths and 16ths by his major players and starts getting 49ths and 65ths.
 

Arthur97

Smash Master
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Jun 7, 2016
Messages
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Indeed, the over reliance on "theory" to even trump better results is a bit irksome. Why is Pikachu often put in top 3 if not the top spot? There is almost nothing of substance to back that up. Why are people so resistant at the same time to think of others as good? Well, I do think part of it in cases like Ridley is people generally thought he was bad so they don't want to really reevaluate their bias there.
 

Linkmain-maybe

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Can anybody please tell me why people all of a sudden think Hero is high tier? I feel that he is a high tier bordering top tier if you think of him highly (which I do), but wasn’t everybody saying he was a low-tier/mid tier for a long time? Maybe it’s because of Akakikusu, Nair^, and BeastModePaul, but the shift has really smacked me in the face…

I also feel that people rate Link so badly for no reason. Sure he is hard, but he generally has among the best edgeguarding, ledgetrapping, and kill power. He has a bad disadvantage, but he benefits from rage and he has a great neutral. i know people also knock his speed, but Link has the range and projectiles to force people into positions where his speed is a non-issue. Frame data looks like it should be an issue, but he has unexpectedly good boxing tools that feel like they belong to rush down characters.

I know that he hasn’t exactly had amazing representation (especially since his main representation isn’t active), but I just think that people are oddly harsh on him…
 

Hydreigonfan01

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Messages
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Results for Sumabato SP 23

1. Atelier :ultpokemontrainerf: :ultwolf:
2. Shirayuki :ultinkling:
3. Kuroponzu :ultrob:
4. Rizeasu :ult_terry:
5. Parme :ultsamus:
5. Tsubotsubo :ultolimar: :ultjoker:
7. Tsuna :ultgreninja: :ultroy:
7. Kaninabe :ultfox:
9. HIKARU :ultroy: :ultdk:
9. Rarikkusu :ultdk:
9. Gurudan :ultzss:
9. Jogibu :ultfalcon:
13. Luminous :ultjoker:
13. Hinatoto :ultgreninja: :ultpalutena:
13. Atsumu :ultyoshi:
13. Tsumusuto :ultdoc:
 

Sucumbio

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Interesting tier list. Fwiw even mids are considered capable of reaching top 8. Really the only thing that stood out was Lucario and Wii fit, they both seem to me more viable than that.
 

SKX31

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Feb 22, 2019
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Sweden
As for Kazuya:

The big problem with evaluating him is that it's very easy to latch onto something ("he's great / mediocre because he's got tools for everything / is too complicated") but one side of the coin does not exclude the other here. Sure he has issues with platform camping due to his jumpsquat and what not, but he has a F4 U-Air and F12 Up B that can pressure platforms. Which is not that much to compensate, but it's still rather notable since he has a lot of range with those two options - something Mac critically lacks (even with his Up B).

His positioning options also remains relatively untapped - I think part of the issue is that several of his attacks still are not fully explored. Yes Crouch Dashing and EWGF have become centrepieces of the gameplan, but it's kinda to the detriment to his other moves (In particular I don't see Tombstone Crusher used a ton).

Lastly, Kazuya being not that far from Terry in terms of OrionStats results - Kazuya's tied 44th with Chrom at 33.5 points and Terry's tied 38th with Shulk at 41 - does imply that he still has a presence in the meta, even if it may not be the high end of high tier as of right now.

We'll just have to see, but I'm really thinking that the Kazuya criticism is not taking into account that while he's the most complex character to date he's also gotten some results. As a final disclaimer, he could be mid tier or higher for all I know, but I'll closely watch if Axiom and Brr for the forseeable future. While Riddles has mostly dropped him he still uses him in a secondary capacity (same with Tea) suggeting that he has at least some viability.
 

Diddy Kong

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A spicier tier list, from Aaron:

Top 2, nothing out of the ordinary... Kazuya #3? Cloud #6, Steve #8, Pikachu #10, Diddy Kong #12, Terry #16, Ness #18, Samus #21, Peach #24, Marth #26, Luigi #27, Falco #28, Fox #30, Shulk #36. And then Lucina in the "almost hit tier but not mid tier" tier. Lucina worse than Corrin and Marth? That's an interesting take, for sure. Mega Man in mid tier is also very interesting. Pichu in low tier seems really odd.

Corrin #34 is cool, she's somewhere around that range probably, perhaps a tad lower, I'm not entirely sure. I could see Jigglytuff being around #37 or so as well, maybe a bit lower.

I believe Sephiroth is a tad overrated on this tier list. Tweek seems to have lost most of his hopes in the character and most other Sephiroth players seem to be using him more and more as a secondary and occasionally struggling. Sadly, the character does not seem to be as good as many people used to think. The best Sephiroth player is probably Nairo, but due to his Twitch ban he struggles to addend tournaments.
Bold tier list, but Kazuya is definitely wrong, on all fronts. Even optimized Kazuya wouldn't reach this high, even if the case happens that a proffesional hybrid Smash / Tekken pro player from Japan Korea picks him up.

Lucina that low, also somewhat of a mistake, however her results are waning. She's essentially like Pyra / Mythra; easy to pick up and use, but due to Aegis existing that novelity is not as strong anymore. Though I do believe she's still a strong High Tier character, definitely higher than Marth, Corrin, Peach, Samus and Ness. Not too sure about Terry, they seem similary viable to me.

Fox also is definitely too low. Just look at Light playing the character.

He got Pikachu right however I feel, still amongst the very best, just not as good as everyone says. I feel quite the same way about Joker, who has no actual players to back him up much. If Zero Suit Samus gets thrown under the bus for this, so should Joker.

Mario is low too, so is Mewtwo, Toon Link too, and I even think Zelda isn't all THAT bad.
 

superjm

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 23, 2022
Messages
88
Indeed, the over reliance on "theory" to even trump better results is a bit irksome. Why is Pikachu often put in top 3 if not the top spot? There is almost nothing of substance to back that up. Why are people so resistant at the same time to think of others as good? Well, I do think part of it in cases like Ridley is people generally thought he was bad so they don't want to really reevaluate their bias there.
The way people are assessing Pikachu has always been kinda strange to me. I feel like a lot of the theory around Pikachu is entirely correct and on point but the conclusions drawn from it are always wildly out of sync with this theory. Yes, Pikachu has busted tools, several important strengths that help him succeed and the ability to make up for his own weaknesses with proper play, but guess what? This also describes at least 1/4th of the rest of the cast too. And therein lies the disconnect. Pikachu is very strong, but he's not uniquely strong in a way that places his a cut above other similarly strong characters. He's just one top tier candidate in a sea of other top tier candidates and when analyzing at that level you need to dig a lot deeper than "PIKA BUSTED" to justify why his strengths are worth more than other characters' strengths. And in that context Pikachu starts to fall short in many ways.

In short, I don't think Pikachu is overrated, I think everyone else is underrated compared to him. You can argue that's the same thing I suppose, but I find the nuance different.
 

StrangeKitten

Smash Lord
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Messages
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Battle Royal Dome
It's a pretty basic list but looking at it, I've noticed something. Guys...I think I might be from a different dimension. You see in my dimension, :ultridley: regularly got Top 33rds and 25ths from his primary players in majors and around 2021-2022, he even seemed to show a vastly increase in production, with major placements shown around Europe and Japan. He could be sporadic at times but he always held himself what, in my dimension, always considered Mid Tier, with a real argument being made to get him to High Tier.

I wasn't as keen on that idea, but yeah, he has proven time and time again to at least be Mid. Sometimes it'd be on the upper end, sometimes he'd slow down and get on the lower end. But the thing is he always kind of remained there.

Now that was my universe but it seems in this Universe, Ridley doesn't get those kind of numbers, or maybe those numbers are now the Low Tier number. In my universe, there are players like Mezcaul, Momon and Nair^ (the latter's been kind of quiet) with an Orion status usually in the #40s, but has kind of been improving.

Although I do see that in your universe, you too have Pikachu as one of the absolute best characters. Awww, I suppose some things don't change throughout space and time.

Seriously, get Ridley the f*** out of Low Tier.
Is it the same dimension where DK gets 33rds and 25ths a lot too? Where two DKs got 9th at Sumabato SP 23 a few posts up from mine? And yet, I still see him placed in the bottom of some tier lists and people act like it's far-fetched to think the monke may actually be Mid.
 

F4lcoMain

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 1, 2022
Messages
55
LeoN posted his tier list
Mostly solid tier list I'd say. There are some nitpicks I have here and there (imo a fair number of the mid-tiers could be high tier, a most of the low tiers could be mid-tier, etc.) but that's bound to happen given the sheer roster size.

Marth may be better than I initially thought, though you gotta know what you are doing. He does have several really good confirms / 50/50s at medium percents into tipper F-Smash and even more when rage is taken into account. That Nair is also pretty busted move due to only having 7 frames of landing lag.
 

Hydreigonfan01

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
4,356
Lot of results today

First off, results from Virtuocity Smash Open 2022

1. Chag :ultpalutena:
2. EMass :ultjoker:
3. Tooky :ultpacman:
4. SkyWarrior! :ultmario:
5. ABR :ultdiddy:
5. Crono :ultluigi:
7. ZoZeF :ultroy: :ultsnake: :ultfalco:
7. $BK :ultinkling: :ultpalutena:
9. Vi :ultluigi:
9. Ghassan :ultsnake:
9. Xaiop :ultrobin:
9. Gogeta :ultfalco:

Results from Sumabato SP 24

1. acola :ultsteve:
2. HIKARU :ultroy: :ultpokemontrainer:
3. Asimo :ultryu:
4. Kome :ultshulk:
5. Abadango :ultpikachu: :ultsamus:
5. tk3 :ultchrom: :ultroy:
7. Lunamado :ultdarkpit: :ultbowser:
7. Injelly :ultwiifittrainer: :ultyounglink: :ultbrawler:
9. Rizeasu :ultbyleth: :ultsephiroth: :ultmarth:
9. Gurudan :ultzss:
9. showers :ultinklingboy: :ultpokemontrainerf:
9. shori :ultwolf:

Results from CT Gamercon 5

1. Light :ultfox:
2. LingLing :ultpeach: :ultkingdedede:
3. Axiom XL :ultkazuya:
4. Tilde :ultfalco:
5. Marss :ultzss:
5. naitosharp :ultzss: :ultjoker: :ultwolf:
7. PkChris :ultness:
7. Beast :ultpokemontrainerf:
9. G-XTREME :ultpikachu:
9. Toxex :ultike:
9. Kiwi :ultpacman:
9. DM :ultsteve: :ultpikachu: :ultmythra:

Results from LEVELUP ARENA 4

1. SKITTLES!! :ultyounglink:
2. Zomba :ultrob: :ultroy:
3. Scend :ultness:
4. ApolloKage :ultsnake:
5. Skar :ultcloud:
5. loaf :ultwario:
7. Ned :ultsephiroth: :ultcloud:
7. PeZ :ultfalcon:
9. Stroder Ame :ultgreninja: :ultroy: :ultjoker: :ultchrom:
9. Colorondo8 :ultinkling:
9. Comet :ultfox:
9. Doorstop :ultzss: :ultpokemontrainerf:
13. Doman :ultolimar:
13. Deathspade :ultbayonetta: :ultsora:
13. TonyZTank :ultsonic:
13. The6Master :ultpacman:
 
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Hydreigonfan01

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
4,356
Sparg0 posted his thoughts on Aegis. Considering he's the best Aegis player, I thought this could make some interesting discussion.
 

Hippieslayer

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
953
Location
Azeroth
I can understand Sparg0 saying that. Cloud has been underrated for a while. Comparatively, Aegis is definitely overrated.

Sparg0 might be the most solid and consistent Aegis but I think Cosmos has reached greater heights with them.
 
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NairWizard

Somewhere
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
1,947
I think we should talk about how blazingly (pun intended) fast Aegis counterplay developed since SWT, and how actually terrible they seem now. It's not just that they didn't do well or their mains are using other characters; I mean, there just seems to be so much counterplay to them now, and it all focuses on corner-camping Mythra and then circle-camping Pyra. Aegis has room to counter the counterplay (as with any top character), but I will be the first to admit that what I'm seeing in the gameplay doesn't match my expectations based on what I was seeing in the gameplay a few months back. I'm quite baffled.
 

Hydreigonfan01

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
4,356
I think we should talk about how blazingly (pun intended) fast Aegis counterplay developed since SWT, and how actually terrible they seem now. It's not just that they didn't do well or their mains are using other characters; I mean, there just seems to be so much counterplay to them now, and it all focuses on corner-camping Mythra and then circle-camping Pyra. Aegis has room to counter the counterplay (as with any top character), but I will be the first to admit that what I'm seeing in the gameplay doesn't match my expectations based on what I was seeing in the gameplay a few months back. I'm quite baffled.
I mean, not too long ago Cosmos did win Glitch Infinite so it's proof Pyra/Mythra can still do well. Obviously Cosmos got 33rd afterwards getting upset by SHADIC and Peabnut but Cosmos did a bunch of poor DI choices against :ultcorrinf:'s tipper Pin and died really early during a couple of games on last stock scenarios. Peabnut's set against Cosmos was also offstream so we don't have gameplay footage of how Cosmos lost that set.
 
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Arthur97

Smash Master
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
3,463
So we've gone from a detriment to the game to terrible now? That was fast. Does certainly seem some were crying wolf though.
 
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NairWizard

Somewhere
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Oct 28, 2014
Messages
1,947
So we've gone from a detriment to the game to terrible now? That was fast. Does certainly seem some were crying wolf though.
"Terrible" is an exaggeration on my part (almost no one in this game is terrible), but are you watching the gameplay? The same Mythra short hops that were looking unpunishable are now looking like silly neutral gimmicks.

As for "that was fast" -- yes, the speed is exactly what baffles me; the turnaround is so quick as to be confusing and unsettling.

Usually it takes much longer than a span of 2-3 months for a character to go from looking completely unstoppable in a wide array of matchups to looking like there's substantial counterplay. Usually it happens in one or two matchups at top level and then you see percolation down to other ranks, but I'm seeing it everywhere.

Compare Leon vs. sparg0 at port priority to Leon vs. sparg0 at Collision; it's just one matchup, but the difference looked night and day.
Leo's Aegis looked seriously "different" and dominant at SWT but he's dropped sets to Larry and Zenyou; sparg0's Aegis looked only a little better vs. Larry.
Those are just two examples, but even in Shuton's sets, I'm seeing more and more counterplay.

Did all the best smash players just fuse into a single cell of being and develop Aegis counterplay together? It's crazy.
 

Mikazuki

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 25, 2018
Messages
37
Speaking of Corrin and Aegis: Mkleo lost to Zenyou‘s Mario with Aegis and then run it back with Corrin. He‘s been dabbing on the character for some time, but it‘s still curious to see a objectively better character and his more or less secondary perform worse than a character he just recently picked up. He also said that he might pull them out as a potential counterpick for certain characters.

With the Aegis I feel like we have a little bit of a Wolf and Palutena situation on hand, where the characters are so commonly played, that everyone knows how to actively counter them. Even if you lose to them it’s nothing to sweat over and you can easily adapt and develop counterplay mid-game. Doesn’t make them less intimidating, though.
 

Rizen

Smash Legend
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
14,915
Location
Colorado
With the Aegis I feel like we have a little bit of a Wolf and Palutena situation on hand, where the characters are so commonly played, that everyone knows how to actively counter them. Even if you lose to them it’s nothing to sweat over and you can easily adapt and develop counterplay mid-game. Doesn’t make them less intimidating, though.
All the mentioned characters are sitting comfortably in top 5 on Orion stats and have been for a long time. They're not going anywhere.
 

Arthur97

Smash Master
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
3,463
All the mentioned characters are sitting comfortably in top 5 on Orion stats and have been for a long time. They're not going anywhere.
Sure, but they are hardly an infestation that will overtake the meta. Seems people really overreacted to the Aegis sisters.
 

Rizen

Smash Legend
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
14,915
Location
Colorado
Sure, but they are hardly an infestation that will overtake the meta. Seems people really overreacted to the Aegis sisters.
Yes, we've heard all this. I'd point to results but I've really stopped caring. Call Aegis "terrible" all you want.
 

F4lcoMain

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 1, 2022
Messages
55

Riddles tier list ordered from hardest to get maximum potential to easiest.

View attachment 348178
IDK, I don't think this list is too good. Falco, for example, on the surface seems pretty easy, but he has a lot of combo routes that you need to practice and vary depending on the different characters. Heck, even once you practice them, some of them are susceptible to very easy counterplay that you also need to be aware of. For example, against, Yoshi, Falco has a psuedo chain grab with D-Throw -> Fair Dragdown, but Yoshi always has the option to SDI the Fair to avoid this set-up, so you need to prepare accordingly. Falco has a good kill confirm in Up-Tilt -> Back air, and imo its a bit more generous than Roy's Jab -> Bair, but again, its something that you need to practice since the timing is somewhat tight. You also gotta practice stuff like instant double jumping / actice hops to maximize your damage output at certain percents. Technically you could just go for the easy mode Up-tilt combos like Up-Tilt -> Nair and what not, but to maximize Falco's potential, its important to master the more difficult combos. Also, I disagree with Riddles on the elite smash part. See WAY more Foxes and Wolfs (Wolves?) on elite smash than Falco.

I also think Rob is at least as complex as Pacman when we consider some of his gyro combos.

Speaking of Corrin and Aegis: Mkleo lost to Zenyou‘s Mario with Aegis and then run it back with Corrin. He‘s been dabbing on the character for some time, but it‘s still curious to see a objectively better character and his more or less secondary perform worse than a character he just recently picked up. He also said that he might pull them out as a potential counterpick for certain characters.

With the Aegis I feel like we have a little bit of a Wolf and Palutena situation on hand, where the characters are so commonly played, that everyone knows how to actively counter them. Even if you lose to them it’s nothing to sweat over and you can easily adapt and develop counterplay mid-game. Doesn’t make them less intimidating, though.
I watched some of the footage and it looked like MKLeo was getting punished pretty hard for some of his getup / landing options as Aegis. I saw him do landing Fair off of Ledge as Mythra or landing Dair as Pyra and promptly get F-Smashed by Zenyou. He did some of the same options as Corrin, but was able to avoid getting punished, I think as a result of Corrin's longer F-Air hitbox. Something else really notable I saw MKLeo go for as Corrin was Up-Air -> Forward-air, which limited Zenyou's options in how he could land. Corrin's Up-Air has nearly 20 frames less ending lag than Pyra's Up air, yet still has pretty good kill power, which made it harder for Zenyou to avoid being juggled. I also saw MKLeo fake out his landings occasionally with Back Air, letting him readjust his a position & avoid Zenyou's punish attempts.
 

Arthur97

Smash Master
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
3,463
Yes, we've heard all this. I'd point to results but I've really stopped caring. Call Aegis "terrible" all you want.
They aren't terrible, but they aren't this meta crushing threat they were made out to be. People adapted, and now they're just good. They aren't getting Smash 4 Cloud representation. Better than someone like Sora, sure, but the fear mongering hasn't played out.
 
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