Is The Luigi Hype Real?

[Dakpo]

Is the Luigi hype real? What happened to the green man we thought could take a shot at APEX? Didn’t Jmiller take a huge win at BEAST 5? Wasn’t Boss cleaning up his region for a while? Maybe the Luigi hype was just false hope. At APEX top 16, we see one Luigi player, False. False isn’t particularly a Luigi main. He actually mains sheik and used Luigi for a few match-ups or for fun. This is actually pretty disheartening to most Luigi players to hear. For a while we thought this might be a game that Luigi was actually one of the best.

Well folks, I’m here to tell you that Luigi is indeed one of the best characters in the game. Although results at APEX may say otherwise, this character is extremely powerful and the meta-game is just starting to develop. What makes this character so strong? His combo potential and kill power are early signs of potential. Later in the article I will explain this characters combo tree, which is incredibly long and complicated. Another thing that will make this character last is how he does versus the ever changing meta-game.

The Anti-Meta

So what is anti-meta? To define anti-meta, we must first establish the term meta-game. Meta-game is defined as the dominant strategy/methodology that is used at the high level of a game. In simple terms, it just means what’s usually winning and why. I think it can be said that Diddy Kong is everywhere. We saw 2 in top 8 at apex, and one of them won. Diddy Kong has a lot of tournament results as well. Another character to look at would be Sheik. Many sheiks did well at APEX including a 3rd place finish from Nientono and the closest tournament results to Diddy Kong. I feel as though those are the two characters that are showing the best results. This is not to say Rosa, Sonic and others aren't making their way but we need to look at what Sheik and Diddy Kong have in common that really makes them shine. HOO HA! That’s right, among the many tools Diddy has, he is best known for his down throw combos. Diddy can rack up easy percent and snag a KO with a simple grab to up air. Sheik also thrives off of throw combos. These characters also tend to lean on the more aggressive side as well. Both characters can obviously be played defensively, but thankfully that isn’t what’s winning at the moment. Now that we have defined what the meta-game is, we need to find the weaknesses.

The anti-meta is a strategy that is meant to counter or do well versus the current meta. The first thing we need to form the anti-meta is to break down the aggressive playstyles, step by step. For that, we need a character who has the tools deal with Diddy’s and sheiks grab/aerial game. Diddy Kong uses bananas to get easy grabs. How can we stop Diddy Kong from using bananas you ask? By making them more of a risk instead of reward. Luigi seems to be the best character in the entire game with Bananas. This is obvious when you look at the 2 follow ups you can get. First off, if you connect a banana at 63% (before the banana hit) then Diddy dies to a Luigi Up B on all of the current legal stages. This is a true combo! Second of all, If Diddy is any lower than that, it means you get a free grab which should put Diddy around 63% and above. How ridiculous is that. If you can just fathom how much better Luigi is with a banana than Diddy is, then you start to see the beginnings of something called the anti-meta. Luigi’s Up smash actually beats Diddy Kong’s Side B 100% of the time, if spaced correctly. You can grab Diddy Kong at 98%, pummel, down throw, and land the kill with an Up B on all the legal stages as well. Granted you have to follow the DI correctly, but this means Diddy Kong is in extreme danger after 98%. It kills even lower with rage! Luigi also has an incredible gimp game on Diddy. You basically get your choice of using sour spot nair or Down B to knock Diddy out of his Up B. These are exactly the kinds of tool you need to steal a game from the infamous Diddy Kong.

Sheik also has a hard time with Luigi. Not because of gimmicks with a banana or easy gimps but because of something that is very unique to Luigi. Sheik’s game plan depends on using long combo strings and good edge guarding to get kills. Luigi’s floaty nature combined with his incredibly fast nair make him a nightmare to combo. This is also something that applies to Diddy but not as much. Extensive combos, combo breakers, and extreme kill power are the tools that can counter this aggressive style of the early meta-game.

Now I’m not here trying to convince anyone that Luigi is the best character in the game, he has a lot of weaknesses. Luigi can lose to characters who have disjointed walls like Rosalina and Zero Suit Samus and his recovery is sub-par, but paired with the right secondary/co-main, he could win something big. At the bottom I will leave some links to some really entertaining Luigi videos.

Check out some awesome vids from Azazel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wgxhTvKzWs

S/O to some of my Luigi brethren

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2EFIzijDfg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLTmbeQaZYE

Some vids of myself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOPpGbzHFb4

Shameless plug- Follow me @thedakpo

 

[J.Miller]

This is not meant to come off as a angry reply or anything so hopefully my words are not read as such.

The "Luigi Hype" is down to people to believe or disbelieve. I personally couldn't care for it for the "hype" either way because it can be fickle, unless the character is winning people can and tend to just flock to what does get the results.
It was sad that Thunderstorm, Boss and me were placed in the same Round 2 pools there is no way to know if Luigi as a character could have gotten further at Apex but I am content with my placement and the placements of other Luigi mains.
Whether the hype is real or not I'm more than confident we are just going to continue doing our thing regardless, word of mouth either positive or negative without it being consistent *regardless of results* means nothing to me.

If you are a consistent Luigi player throughout the smash series, you were never playing him because you thought he was the best character to use to win. No Luigi should be disappointed, this game is our best outing yet and there is more to discover in a game so young he is genuinely balanced. A character with fear inducing strengths and at times very crippling weaknesses that aren't easy to shake.

I do feel over time that our character will become harder to win with, as I personally feel that not enough people understand how to fight against him currently and that is their own fault. We have been given many more reliable ways to take a stock and deal reliable damage, and even a better mid-screen game... in exchange our recovery was heavily adjusted being offstage in general is just more of a risk. I plan on being ready regardless of ignorance or if my opponent is well versed in the match up, as with any tournament you can take a grand victory or a heavy loss. To any Luigi dedicated main, hit the lab, play your friends/rivals because over time keeping Luigi out unless you are on-point with perfect shields and do not falter with decision making (something I am guilty of personally at times) will become harder as long as you playing against someone who understands the neutral game a

There are match ups that are currently not being played enough that pose a (potentially) bigger threat than the current top 2 that Dakpo has addressed briefly. Rosalina and Luma, ZSS, Pac-Man, Greninja, Pikachu,R.O.B (there are others) but I feel the game is too young to truly care who and what the best characters are unless your goal is strictly money motivated (then fair enough). My goal is to currently win as Luigi (simply because he is my favourite Nintendo character) as it had been before Smash 4 but overtime I do have other characters I personally could use and have as back-up but I do not want to go to these back-ups until I feel I have "mastered" Luigi and I'm no where near close to that mastering him that takes a lot more than a few months to do.

Do check out the links Dakpo linked, I found the first one in particularly very inventive and am in the middle of looking at the last

 

[Dakpo]

This is not meant to come off as a angry reply or anything so hopefully my words are not read as such.

The "Luigi Hype" is down to people to believe or disbelieve. I personally couldn't care for it for the "hype" either way because it can be fickle, unless the character is winning people can and tend to just flock to what does get the results.
It was sad that Thunderstorm, Boss and me were placed in the same Round 2 pools there is no way to know if Luigi as a character could have gotten further at Apex but I am content with my placement and the placements of other Luigi mains.
Whether the hype is real or not I'm more than confident we are just going to continue doing our thing regardless, word of mouth either positive or negative without it being consistent *regardless of results* means nothing to me.

If you are a consistent Luigi player throughout the smash series, you were never playing him because you thought he was the best character to use to win. No Luigi should be disappointed, this game is our best outing yet and there is more to discover in a game so young he is genuinely balanced. A character with fear inducing strengths and at times very crippling weaknesses that aren't easy to shake.

I do feel over time that our character will become harder to win with, as I personally feel that not enough people understand how to fight against him currently and that is their own fault. We have been given many more reliable ways to take a stock and deal reliable damage, and even a better mid-screen game... in exchange our recovery was heavily adjusted being offstage in general is just more of a risk. I plan on being ready regardless of ignorance or if my opponent is well versed in the match up, as with any tournament you can take a grand victory or a heavy loss. To any Luigi dedicated main, hit the lab, play your friends/rivals because over time keeping Luigi out unless you are on-point with perfect shields and do not falter with decision making (something I am guilty of personally at times) will become harder as long as you playing against someone who understands the neutral game a

There are match ups that are currently not being played enough that pose a (potentially) bigger threat than the current top 2 that Dakpo has addressed briefly. Rosalina and Luma, ZSS, Pac-Man, Greninja, Pikachu,R.O.B (there are others) but I feel the game is too young to truly care who and what the best characters are unless your goal is strictly money motivated (then fair enough). My goal is to currently win as Luigi (simply because he is my favourite Nintendo character) as it had been before Smash 4 but overtime I do have other characters I personally could use and have as back-up but I do not want to go to these back-ups until I feel I have "mastered" Luigi and I'm no where near close to that mastering him that takes a lot more than a few months to do.

Do check out the links Dakpo linked, I found the first one in particularly very inventive and am in the middle of looking at the last

This is actually an article I wrote for Tourney Locator. The title is just something to catch people's attention not a question to be taken to seriously.
This character has actually been most of my inspiration to learn smash 4. I've used Luigi throughout the entire smash series as he is my favorite Nintendo character. He was my first Brawl main and I never stopped using him lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2N1GszABNA
But I think is the game where he is really going to shine. THIS MAKES ME SO EXCITED. I'm working on a Combo Tree Project. I might have it done by this weekend.
I was not aware that you and Boss got put in the same pool. The apex staff does that ALL THE TIME. Its really annoying. I can't count the amount of times they will put Nick Riddle and Salem in the same pool or Denti and Richbrown. They also clump the Japanese players together......The list could go on and on.
I hope to keep seeing great things from you, Boss, and others. Thanks for reading!

 

[J.Miller]

Ah I have a problem, I take things literally usually from the get go... my bad.
Yeah the seeding choices were strange, even Boss and PinkFresh got paired together and I think they come from the same area so that is pretty strange considering there were many other choices or possibilities.
I'm assuming like with any tournament pools they are drawn by random chance.
Through bad luck, we just sadly had Luigi players having to kill each other off potentially or just being rounded up in the same pool so a minimal amount of Luigi are mathematically getting out. I even heard there was a pool of FOUR Sonic mains so we didn't even get it as rough as it could have been I guess.
Well done on your tournament performance :D finished watching a little while ago. I'm glad I'm seeing others slowing start using cyclone as a kill move and you definitely made me realise I have been underestimating the amount hitstun Diddy receives. I would usually just be modest and go for either upsmash or a grab but too many times I saw you confident go for more to dismiss.

 

[TriTails]

Well, Dabuz said RosaLuma goes even with Weegee, and ZSS MU is more or less even in my experience. Though, I am no expert.

In all honesty, Luigi mains were screwed in this Apex. ThunderSt0rm, Boss, AND J. Miller got placed in the same pool, meaning only one Luigi may prevail. Meanwhile, in the same pool there's Nairo and aMsa(?), both very good players.

Though, good job in Apex anyway, J. Miller! And Boss, ThunderSt0rm, False and other Luigi mains! Pretty sure all of you did your best.

Well, there's always another chance :D.

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

I'll admit I didn't give luigi a chance in smash 4 early on in the 3ds version, dismissing him as viable without customs (due to poor recovery) and I feel upset that I did this because he's my favorite nintendo character and I didn't want to use him because he initially seemed subpar/bad to me. I didn't want to go through another 6 years of that like I did brawl but it's still not enough of an excuse in my eyes.

After getting my hands on wii u version I still wasn't satisfied with him, only seeing the negatives. But when I started looking at other aspects of the character I started to realize luigi wasn't as bad as I originally thought, and from there the momentum built up slowly as I learned of what all he was capable of and it made me happy.

Would I still use luigi if he was nerfed? Probably out of pride and favoritism yea, but I wouldn't feel as confident sadly. That's not to say I would jump to a top tier char because to me it's always been about using the favorites first.