Here's an unpopular opinion: Smash 5 needs fewer projectiles

[Peachach]

All chars with more than one projectile should lose at least one. Seriously... the spam quotient of some chars is way too high. It promotes ****ty gameplay. And almost all of these spammy chars have more than enough melee power to not lose mucu by losing another spammy projectile. Duck Hunt, Pac Man, Links, etc... seriously.

 

[kraw23]

I don't agree - projectiles have an important place in a rock paper scissors type matchup game such as smash. Remove projectiles, and sword characters become stronger. It is definitely harder to deal with off stage with only one airdodge. Fortunately most projectile heavy characters have pretty average kill power, or are quite slow, so you can try and exploit those weaknesses before they exploit yours.

 

[Wyoming]

All of these characters were added as zoners. Removing a projectile gimps their play style, particularly the ones you mention who rely on it for setups and mixups.

If they dominated the meta I could see the concern, but they don't. They offer a different dynamic to a battle that changes the flow of battle.

 

[SmashBro99]

wait till he fights a good (lame) isabelle haha

cant approach her, cant jump, cant stand still, cant recover, i hate that little ***** but im gonna have to use her when i wanna cheese lol so easy

 

[Diem]

Projectiles have a hard counter with characters who have reflectors. If Samus goes up against Fox, that puts some of her key moves in jeopardy. It all depends on the matchup. Large or slow characters without much range won't do well against projectiles, but fast ones with an option to deflect will be very dangerous.

Even without that, projectile characters have never been at the top of the meta. It's always been fast, melee/combo-oriented characters who have been the better overall fighters. Projectiles are more predictable and limited in their usage, whereas characters with lots of good melee options perform better.

 

[Wyoming]

Projectiles have a hard counter with characters who have reflectors. If Samus goes up against Fox, that puts some of her key moves in jeopardy. It all depends on the matchup. Large or slow characters without much range won't do well against projectiles, but fast ones with an option to deflect will be very dangerous.

Even without that, projectile characters have never been at the top of the meta. It's always been fast, melee/combo-oriented characters who have been the better overall fighters. Projectiles are more predictable and limited in their usage, whereas characters with lots of good melee options perform better.

Yup, and characters who rely on projectiles tend to struggle under pressure. Get too close to Duck Hunt and it's a mad dash to get out of there for him against fast characters. Heavies certainly have a trickier time with zoners, but the super armour can come in handy and the stage comes into play as well. Obviously online on flat stages and some lag the projectile users can be annoying to deal with, but in ideal conditions you can get them in a weaker position.