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MYM 20: Moveset Creation Thread, Contest Over, MYM21 Starting June 1st

Professor Lexicovermis

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"Ohohoho! What eeevil scheme will I use this time...?"

Sonic Mania Eggman


Scrambled Stats:
Size: 10
Weight: 7
Ground Speed: 4
Jump: 10
Air Speed: 3
Fall Speed: 3
Traction: 2

Dr. Eggman, as always, pilots his iconic Eggomatic hovercraft into battle. This gives him a meaty hurtbox, impressive jump height, and floaty air movement, but limits his ground speed and traction. Additionally, his weight is rather low for his size due to constantly hovering.


Since this Eggman is specifically from Sonic Mania, he has a nasty trick up his sleeve in the form of the enigmatic Phantom Ruby. This ruby sits on the "dashboard" of the Eggomatic, and it glows visibly when in use. The Ruby allows Eggman to manipulate time and space to some degree, an ability he uses to bring his best inventions from the past into the present. All of Eggman's attacks involve either summoning one of his creations with the Ruby or utilizing the Eggomatic's myriad features.

A unique aspect of Eggman is the ability to Ruby Chain. By simply inputting another summon during a summon's animation, Ruby Chaining allows Eggman to use multiple summoning moves in a row with drastically reduced lag in between. However, this comes at the cost of slightly increased end lag when he stops; each subsequent summon after the second adds to this lag. There is no limit on how long a Ruby Chain can be, but Eggman cannot use the same summon twice in one Chain.

Summons - Ruby Delusions

Neutral Special: Heavy Gunner

With a tap of B, Eggman chuckles heartily as the Phantom Ruby glows brilliantly. After a short bit of startup, Heavy Gunner, one of Eggman's elite Hard Boiled Heavies, appears in a temporary spacial distortion. Gunner, and the other Heavies by extension, stands as wide as Wario and as tall as Bowser. When summoned, Gunner immediately flies into the background, then brandishes a comically large rocket launcher. He then begins visibly aiming it at the nearest foe, following their movements with very little delay. After roughly half a second, Gunner fires off three rockets at his target. Two of these rockets are long, red missiles that fly at Sonic's dash speed. These Red Rockets have unlimited range, but detonate upon hitting any solid object. Additionally, they have no homing capabilities. Red Rockets deal 8% and KO at 185%, making them a somewhat threatening projectile. However, the third rocket in Gunner's clip is a bulbous, somewhat rickety blue missile. This Blue Rocket moves at Dr. Mario's awkward dash speed, and wobbles in a sort of sine wave pattern. Despite it's slow movement, the Blue Rocket is deceptively powerful, dealing 12% and killing as early as 160%. This Blue Rocket is a major risk/reward for Eggman; if an opponent attacks this Rocket, it will be redirected towards him and sped up considerably, reaching Sonic's dash speed. Eggman cannot deflect this sped up Rocket, and so must react quickly to dodge it. The deflected Rocket can hit characters other than Eggman, but they would have to be between him and the deflector. In a 2v2 scenario with friendly fire, Eggman could very well have his partner deflect Blue Rockets as a valid tactic. Once his clip is fired, Gunner vanishes into the same distortion he emerged from.

Side Special: Heavy Rider

With the same summoning animation as before, Eggman calls in Heavy Rider, another Hard Boiled Heavy. Unlike Gunner, she appears on the main battlefield directly in front of Eggman. Once she appears, she quickly dashes forwards on her trusty Motobug, swinging a large mace over her head. Rider moves rather quickly, crossing the stage as fast as Wario's bike. While she dashes, Rider leaves a trail of flames behind her, each flame a Kirby apart. These patches of fire deal rapid damage to anyone standing in them or lying prone in them; including Eggman. Meanwhile, Rider's mace deals a nasty 9% and knocks victims into prone. Rider has one more hitbox as well: the Motobug's tire. Hitting a foe with the tire deals no damage, but launches them with the force of the Bumper item. However, this is unreliable given that most foes will be clocked with the mace before the tire can hit. Rider dashes forward until hitting the ledge, then performs a quick donut and vanishes. If summoned in the air, Rider performs flashy stunts on her Motobug until she lands, dropping fire and swinging her mace as she falls to the ground.


Grounded Up Special: Heavy Magician

Eggman has two unique Up Specials, one being a summon and the other his recovery. Upon inputting this move on the ground, Eggman summons Heavy Magician, who appears slightly above and ahead of Eggman. She tips her hat to the foe before transforming in a puff of smoke. What she transforms into is influenced by which Heavy was summoned last.


If Gunner was previous, she becomes Nack the Weasel, infamous gunman. As Nack, Magician bounds across the stage on Nack's springy tail, flying a Kirby into the air and firing 2 Pokeball-sized corks every other bounce. These corks deal 6% and a surprisingly long flinch. Being bounced on by Nack Magician, however, deals 10% and causes burying. Magician is an intelligent minion and tries to stun foes before bouncing on them. Nack Magician cannot move without bouncing, meaning quick foes can run right under her.

If Rider was the last Heavy summoned, Magician becomes Bean the Dynamite, crazed demolitions expert. As Bean, Magician throws bombs at the opponent, aiming their arcing trajectories at the nearest foe. These bombs are identical to Link's, damage, knockback, and all. After throwing two bombs, Bean Magician leaps to another location, with no limit on how far she jumps.

If Shinobi was the last Heavy summon, Magician becomes Bark the Polar Bear, stoic strongman. As Bark, Magician slowly moves across the stage, occasionally pounding the floor with her fists. The seismic activity caused by these punches causes large chunks of debris to fall from the top blastzone, with the debris seeming to target foes. These chunks of debris deal 9% and a lengthy stun. If a foe gets close to Bark Magician, she will attempt to pound them into the ground, dealing 12% and burying her victim. As Bark, Magician has a painfully low jump, making her close range pound easy to avoid.

Magician is unique amongst the Heavies in that she persists until forced to leave by attacks. When hit with an attack that deals 6% or more damage, Magician is knocked out of her transformation and stunned for a moment, allowing opponents to deplete her 30 hp. Once depleted, she immediately vanishes into a spatial distortion, requiring 10 seconds to cooldown before she can be summoned again. Attempting to summon Magician before her cooldown ends will cause her hat to appear and dump a large Caterkiller in front of Eggman. The Caterkiller is a rather weak projectile that behaves similarly to a Gordo, bouncing across the stage with some obedience to gravity. The Caterkiller deals 6% and very negligible knockback, but summoning it is allowed in a Ruby Chain. A magical aura will appear around Eggman once Magician's cooldown ends.

Down Special: Heavy Shinobi

By far the fastest of Eggman's summons, boasting very little startup even outside a Ruby Chain, this move summons Heavy Shinobi. When summoned, Shinobi stands directly in front of Eggman in a defensive stance. If an opponent gets within a Bowser length of him, he performs an instantaneous slash with his icy katana, freezing the opponent in an immobile block of ice. Unlike the traditional Smash Freeze, the foe is not launched, and is instead left wide open for a moment. Frozen characters take 1.5 times the usual damage, but no knockback, as any attack shatters the ice block. Additionally, the frozen fighter can break the ice block themselves by button mashing. Shinobi's icy slash deals no damage, but its speed and freezing ability make it invaluable.


If nobody enters his range for a half second, Shinobi performs a high somersaulting jump. At the peak of this jump, Shinobi throws three Asters below him at differing angles, attempting to hit any foes beneath him. These Asters explode on contact with a foe, dealing 7% and killing around 180%. Should they hit the floor or a wall, the Asters stick in place, eventually exploding and launching small fireballs in each compass direction. These fireballs deal 5% and light knockback. If possible, Shinobi avoids hitting ice blocks with his Asters, allowing Eggman to use more powerful attacks on them instead.

Shinobi stays on stage for 7 seconds or until he is attacked once. Normally, he parries any attack with his katana, but he can be stunned by attacking him while he jumps. Once stunned, he only needs to be hit once more to remove him from the stage. Like Magician, Shinobi suffers cooldown after being defeated, though his is only 5 seconds. Inputting this move while Shinobi is on cooldown simply launches an Aster forwards. An icy aura surrounds Eggman for a moment when Shinobi can be summoned again.

F-Smash: Mini-Silver Sonic

Eggman's Smash attacks serve as summons too; they have similar lag to traditional Smash attacks and charging them changes the properties of the summoned minion. To help protect Eggman, they each have a traditional attack hitbox as well.


F-Smash causes Eggman to summon a Mini-Silver Sonic. These tiny terrors stand as tall as a Pikmin, though they are as wide as a Pokeball. Depending on the charge time, Mini-Silver Sonics perform one of two attacks:

When the summon is not charged, the Mini-Silver Sonic performs a short ranged "slap" of sorts. This slap is deceptively dangerous because it ignores Super Armor. Don’t get too excited, though: it deals a paltry 4% and flinching. After this slap, the MSS quickly rushes across the stage at Sonic's dash speed. This dash deals 8% and kills at 185%. The MSS explodes into harmless junk after colliding with a foe. The MSS can and will merrily dash off ledges to their doom.


The MSS is summoned as soon as the move is input, and begins charging a spin dash if the Smash is charged. Once the charge is released, the MSS immediately launches across the stage in a spin dash comparable to Sonic's Down Special. The longer the Smash is charged, the faster the MSS goes, capping at a speed slightly faster than Sonic's dash. This spin dash deals 7-13% and kills at 170-155%. Upon hitting a foe or solid object, the MSS ricochets off at a 45 degree angle, retaining its speed and damage. If it hits another object, it ricochets once again. An MSS can ricochet an unlimited amount of times, but in practice is unlikely to hit more than two objects before launching off the nearest blastzone. Take care, as Eggman can be hit and even killed by an MSS in flight.

Two MSS units can be in play at a time; using this Smash while two are out unceremoniously destroys the oldest one. This summon is rather useful in a Ruby Chain, with the Armor-busting slap coming in handy for things like Focus Attack and the like. Since MSS's attack is nearly instant upon releasing the charge, this is the only Smash that lacks a hitbox on Eggman's person.

U-Smash: Mean Bean Machine

Possibly the strangest of Eggman's summons, the U-Smash summons a Puyo, err, "Mean Bean". Upon inputting the move, a Mean Bean appears above Eggman, changing color as the Smash is charged. Each color has different properties when released. The color cycle goes Yellow-Green-Blue-Purple-Red.


Yellow Beans explode in a gooey blast directly over Eggman's head. This is a fairly simple U-Smash comparable in reach and utility to Link's U-Smash. The Yellow Bean deals 9% and kills at 185%.

Green Beans work similarly to Snake's mortar U-Smash from Brawl, launching upwards and falling in front of Eggman. Again, fairly straightforward Smash. Green Beans deal 10% and kill at 180%.

Blue Beans are where the move begins getting more interesting. Blue Beans drop down directly ahead of Eggman, creating a nasty caustic puddle. This puddle will temporarily trap opponents and deal extremely rapid damage to them until they escape by button mashing. The puddle lasts for 4 seconds or until someone gets stuck in it. Hitting with the Bean itself deals 12% and knocks the opponent into prone, possibly even causing them to land in the puddle created by the Bean.

Purple Beans take inspiration from the infamous purple Mega Mack that floods Chemical Plant Zone. They are launched in a similar manner to Green Beans, with one difference: they latch onto their victim's head in an attempt to suffocate them. Opponents with a Purple Bean on their head suffer greatly inhibited movement and jumping, but are in far greater danger than that. Once the Bean latches on, a 5-second timer appears above the victim. Should it deplete, they fall into prone and suffer a horrific 18%. Thankfully, shrugging off a Bean is as simple as button mashing as though escaping a grab. Having Heavy Shinobi freeze a suffocating foe is a valid, if extremely cruel tactic; most foes will likely be aware of this combo, however, and do all in their power to avoid it.

Finally, Red Beans explode into a shower of clear Garbage Beans. These Garbage Beans fly all around Eggman, somewhat like the shrapnel from Charizard's Rock Smash. One flies straight up, and three fly off on each side, one in a high arc, one straight outwards, and the other in a shallow arc. Each of the 7 Garbage Beans deals 7% and sticks the foe in place, likely guaranteeing at least one more hit. Best case scenario, the foe ends up with 21% from the Garbage alone. The Red Bean's explosion itself deals 16% and kills at 155%, but its hitbox is rather small and located directly above Eggman.

Mean Bean Machine is a versatile summon and, thanks to the reduced startup, is especially useful to end a Ruby Chain. Use Yellow Bean for a quick U-Smash, Green to hit someone above you, Blue to make a nasty trap, Purple in combination with Shinobi for a terrifying stranglehold, or Red to rain chaos on the stage.

On top of the summon, Eggman strikes a dramatic pose, raising the Ruby high into the air. This pose acts as a traditional, if somewhat weak U-Smash hitbox, dealing 5-9% and killing at 190-175%.

D-Smash: Gachapandora

Originally a feature of the Eggomatic, the Gachapandora line of Badniks are toy-sized robots based on older models of Eggman's Eggomatic. The D-Smash, when input, summons a Gachapon capsule the size of a party ball over Eggman's head. Depending on the charge, one of four Gachapandora Badniks will emerge. When the contents of the capsule change, it shakes visibly to let Eggman know. To protect Eggman, each capsule drops to his "feet" and bursts open violently, acting as a traditional D-Smash that deals 10-16% and kills at 185-170%.


With no charge, the capsule contains a Pokeball sized Eggomatic complete with authentic, also Pokeball-sized wrecking ball attachment. This Sonic 1 Gachapandora behaves identically to the boss fight on which it is based; it flies back and forth across the stage at Mario's dash speed, swinging its wrecking ball. Contact with this wrecking ball deals 8% and light knockback. This is essentially a toy, after all. The Sonic 1 Gachapandora is a garden variety pest, being a nice supplement to your damage output and little else. The Gachapandora has 15 hp.

With a short charge, the capsule reveals a Drillmobile Gachapandora the size of a Pikmin lying on its side. This particular Gachapandora is based, of course, on the first boss from Sonic 2, and behaves as such. The Sonic 2 Gachapandora drives around at Luigi's dash speed, attempting to skewer opponents with its drill. This drill deals a surprising 10% and kills at 175%. The deceptive power of the Sonic 2 Gachapandora makes it a reliable minion, but it has a crippling weakness in that it cannot jump. At the very least, it turns automatically at ledges. This Gachapandora has 25 hp, and launches its drill as a desperation move when it is destroyed.

Further charge time will cause the capsule to create a rather large (Soccer Ball-sized) model of the Egg Flamecraft from Sonic 3's Angel Island. This is the largest Gachapandora, and one of the more complex mechanically. The Flamecraft follows a very rigid pattern: fly forward one Battlefield platform length, fire off a flame downwards, fire off a flame down at a 45 degree angle, turn if a foe is behind it, repeat. The only real wrinkle is the fact that the Flamecraft flies into the background when relocating, rendering it invulnerable until it attacks. The flames shot by this Gachapandora deal 12% and kill at 170%; they also crawl along the ground a very short ways should they miss, allowing the Gachapandora a little leeway. This particular Gachapandora has only 10 hp, but its extensive periods of invincibility render it surprisingly durable.

Finally, a full charge unleashes a truly terrifying Gachapandora: an Amy Doll. These Pikachu-sized automatons are deceptively dangerous, and yet one of the simplest minions at Eggman's disposal. The Amy Doll, upon being summoned, charges forward recklessly, relentlessly pursuing the nearest opponent it can find. Once it catches them, it grabs onto them with a robotic laugh. After one second, the Doll violently explodes, dealing a hideous 17% and killing as early as 145%. The Amy Doll's plush body renders it effectively invulnerable, but it is still susceptible to knockback. In fact, knocking it into Eggman will cause it to grab him! Thankfully, the Amy Doll can be transferred like a Sticky Bomb, but act fast.

The Gachapandora summons make for a very unorthodox D-Smash, but they are an undeniable boon to Eggman's offense. Up to two of each model can exist at a time, but your opponents would be mad to let you form such an army. Gachapandora is very helpful in the middle of a Ruby Chain, especially the quicker summons such as the S1 or S2 minions.

N-Air: Shutterbug / Ruby Shock

Eggman's last few summons are aerial moves. To use an aerial in a Ruby Chain, Eggman simply uses the A button and the desired direction, being careful NOT to smash the input. Each of these lesser summons calls in a Badnik that debuted in Mania.


The N-Air summons a Shutterbug. These paparazzi pests float around quickly, following opponents and attempting to take photos of them. The Shutterbugs' camera flashes temporarily stun any character that is both facing them and within a Battlefield Platform of them. Additionally, the flash deals an irritating 4%. Shutterbugs are bog standard stunning minions, designed purely to aggravate. However, their stun can prove useful sometimes. 2 Shutterbugs can exist at a time, and they have a paltry 10 hp.

In addition to the summon, each Aerial also has a more standard hitbox. In this case, a large blast of Ruby energy envelopes the Eggomatic for an attack identical to Mewtwo's N-Air.

F-Air: Orbinaut / Percussive Maintenance

Eggman summons an Orbinaut; more specifically the bumper-based model used in Studiopolis. Orbinauts patrol back and forth forever, staying at the height they were created at. When an opponent gets within a Kirby of them, they begin rapidly spinning their bumpers around, making a nigh-impenetrable barrier that bounces fighters and projectiles away. Contacting this barrier launches the unlucky fighter just like a Bumper, and Eggman must take care not to touch his own minion's barrier! After a short period of spinning, the Orbinaut drops its barrier for a short while, allowing opponents to damage it. Orbinauts have 15 hp and only one can exist at a time.


Meanwhile, in a move inspired by Oil Ocean's new miniboss, Eggman swings a comically large wrench with a mechanical arm that extends from within the Eggomatic. This seems like a fairly generic F-Air, and for the most part it is. The wrench whack deals a sharp 10% and kills at 175%. However, the main purpose of this move is to perform maintenance on your summons. This move heals any summon with health for 7 hp, and has some unique effects on those without hp.

Hitting Heavy Shinobi while he somersaults will launch him forwards very quickly, with the robot quickly sprouting large blades on his person. This essentially makes Heavy Shinobi into a Bowser-sized shuriken that deals a painful 15% and kills at 150%. As a shuriken, Shinobi flies at Mario's dash speed and has infinite range. This is a wonderful finisher, but requires some setup and timing. Plus, if you miss, you've wasted a Shinobi summon and must wait for him to come off cooldown.

Hitting Heavy Rider will send her Motobug into a frenzy, doubling its speed and causing it to turn around at the ledge without vanishing. In addition, the flames it drops are now only a Pokeball apart, making Rider even more dangerous. A frenzied Rider will stick around for 5 seconds, longer than her usual "until I hit a ledge".

A Mini-Silver Sonic in flight can be hit, launching it down at a 45 degree angle. This is extremely risky and not recommended, but it is an option.

Hitting a Mean Bean, only possible with a Green or Blue Bean and impeccable timing, simply launches it forwards in a shallow arc, where it behaves normally.

Finally, hitting an Amy Doll will cause it to panic and run away from Eggman. Great if one is too close for comfort.

U-Air: Eagloid / Tentakill

This aerial summons a rather annoying flying Badnik first seen in Mirage Saloon. Eagloids fly around in wide, curving paths at Wario's dash speed. They seem to move around aimlessly, but actually manipulate their flight path intelligently in order to hit opponents. An Eagloid's ram deals 12% and kills at 180%. This isn't a very powerful minion, and they only have 10 hp. However, their speed and unpredictable flight pattern make them more durable than one might think. Two Eagloids can exist at a time.


While the Eagloid flies off, the Eggomatic launches a pink robotic tentacle tipped with a blade. This tentacle is launched from the Eggomatic's back end, arcs above Eggman's head, then lands in a receptacle that emerges from the front of the Eggomatic. This move is faster than described, taking about as much time as an average U-Air. The tentacle has a sweetspot on its blade, which can be rather difficult to land. The tentacle deals 9% and kills at 185%, while the blade deals 12% and kills at 175%. Other than the rather odd animation, this is a fairly straightforward aerial.

B-Air: Splats / Reanimator

This summon is a rather adorable Badnik that is an odd cross between a rabbit and a rubber stamp. Splats quickly fall to the ground, where they begin their hopping across the stage joyfully. As they hop, they leave small puddles of ink. These ink puddles dramatically slow anyone walking through them, but only last for 2 seconds. Splats can only do damage by landing on a fighter. This stomp attack deals 6% and stuns the victim. Splats will never leap off of a ledge, and their surprisingly high 20 hp makes them a solid minion. Up to three Splats can exist at a time.


While the Splats fall to the ground, a large device resembling a cross between an industrial magnet and a lamp emerges from the rear of the Eggomatic. This device then generates a large pulse of electricity behind the Eggomatic. This pulse deals rapid hits of 2% to anyone caught inside and places them in helpless. Much like the F-Air, this move has unique properties when used with Eggman's minions.

Using it on a "lesser" minion (the aerial Badniks) will cause said Badnik to be pulled towards Eggman, relocating them and healing them for 2 hp. This allows him to alter the height of Orbinauts, the path of Eagloids, and more while topping off their health.


Zapping Heavy Shinobi causes him to become much more aggressive; he stops attempting his icy parry and instead begins jumping constantly. He also begins throwing four Asters per jump instead of three. Pairs very well with the F-Air's ability to make a jumping Shinobi into a deadly projectile.

Zapping Heavy Rider causes her to jump extremely high, leaving a trail of flames behind her in the air. These flames deal rapid damage and fade away after a while, but can help control the battlefield.

Unlike the F-Air, this move can influence Heavy Gunner, or at least his rockets. Using it near one of his projectiles will cause it to spin around for a moment before targeting a new foe and launching off. This does NOT work on Blue rockets that have been deflected towards Eggman.

Likewise, this move effects Heavy Magician. Shocking her will cause her to change into the next disguise in her repertoire. The disguises cycle in the order Nack-Bean-Bark. This still heals her for 2%.

The electrical pulse has the same effect on all minions summoned by Smashes: it magnetically drags them to Eggman's back before releasing them. Adjust the height of Gachapandora Badniks, grab and release a ricocheting Mini-Silver Sonic, or somehow grab a nonmetallic Mean Bean.

D-Air: Ironsight / Excavate

Eggman's final summon is a rather interesting Badnik hailing from Titanic Monarch Zone. Ironsight ominously hovers around a small area near his summoning point. Once a foe enters a Bowser-sized area around him, a large wireframe "cage" appears around said foe. This cage slowly shrinks, becoming a crosshair and following the victim's every move. After 2 seconds, the Ironsight fires off an invisible, instantaneous shot that hits the targeted foe for a whopping 17% and drops them into prone. Ironsight is a very scary minion mainly due to his impeccable aim. However, there are a few ways to escape his vision: get a Final Destination away from him, dodge right as he takes the shot, equip a Cloaking Device, or simply destroy Ironsight. With his 35 hp, most characters have just enough time to destroy him before he can pop off a shot, but Eggman has ways to protect him. Only one Ironsight can exist at a time.


Once Ironsight is on patrol, the Eggomatic suddenly sprouts an array of drills on its underside before plummeting to the ground. Hitting an opponent will cause Eggman to bounce upwards, while the foe ends up spiked with 13% more damage, as per the traditional heavyweight D-Air. Hitting the ground, however, causes Eggman to rapidly drill into it, launching rocks and debris in a short area around him for a few moments. These rocks deal 2-4% damage and flinching. Hitting a shielding foe, however, causes Eggman to rapidly drill the shield, dealing extreme shield damage before he simply disengages the drills. All in all, a solid addition to Eggman's toolkit.

Eggomatic Functions: Iconic Bionics


Aerial Up Special: Jet Boost

In a fairly standard recovery, Eggman activates the Eggomatic's auxiliary thrusters and quickly ascends skyward. This is a fairly decent recovery, covering decent vertical and horizontal distance but having no hitbox. Interestingly, this move's endlag ends just before Eggman stops ascending. This can potentially allow for some interesting summons…

Jab: Rocket Punch

For this Jab, a mechanical arm tipped with three drills launches forwards from the Eggomatic. This Jab is comparable in speed and reach to Ganondorf's, with Eggman's having slightly more range. The main advantage is being able to angle this Jab by pressing up or down during the brief startup. This move deals 6% and light knockback. Very simple, very reliable, very efficient. A somewhat odd property of this move is the fact that, while it's extended, the arm acts as a drop-through platform. This is little more than a novelty, but perhaps one could find a use for it; maybe giving low-jumping minions a boost…?


F-Tilt: Shredder

Taking inspiration from the Press Garden miniboss, the Eggomatic sprouts a Kirby-sized sawblade on a pole. This sawblade is awkwardly thrust forward in a rather laggy F-Tilt. The sawblade deals constant rapid hits of 2%, but barely any knockback. This move can be angled, but its primary strength is in its ability to combo into itself for reduced lag. By simply mashing A, the sawblade can be extended and retracted over and over; it can even be angled up or down in different directions each time! However, there is a weakness: if this Tilt deals too much shield damage, the blade shatters, leaving Eggman with increased endlag. Be sure to stop cutting if the foe puts their shield out.

U-Tilt: High Wind Advisory

In a move inspired by Studiopolis Zone's weather-themed boss, a comically large fan pops out of the Eggomatic. This fan then spins at absurd speeds, creating a visible updraft above Eggman. This updraft deals no damage, but the sheer speed of it rapidly pushes anything above Eggman towards the top of the screen. The updraft reaches roughly two Ganondorfs above Eggman, and can be held indefinitely. However, Eggman cannot move while holding this attack. Eggman's minions are also affected by this wind, making it useful for moving them about.


D-Tilt: Eggmine

From the now grounded Eggomatic, Eggman tosses a Soccer Ball-sized red mine bearing his likeness. This mine lands just ahead of him and stays there either until a foe gets within a character length or 7 seconds pass. Once one of these conditions is met, the mine violently explodes in a Kirby-sized blast. This blast deals a sharp 11% and kills as early as 165%. The mines can be manipulated with some of Eggman's moves, and will not trigger when bear him, but they can and will damage him once their timer ends. This is a useful trap, but take care not to blow yourself up! Up to three mines can exist per Eggman.


Dash Attack: Starlight

Using an attack from the Stardust Speedway miniboss, Eggman hovers upwards slightly while firing a large beam below him. All in all, he floats roughly a Ganondorf in the air and moves about a Battlefield platform before suffering severe endlag. This is surprisingly slow for a Dash Attack, but is rewarding to land; it deals 12% and kills at 165%.


Grab: BIG ARMS

Thanks to the sheer size of the mechanical arms used for this Grab, Eggman has the longest grab range in the game. However, missing it leaves him with the worst grab lag in the game as punishment. The dash grab is similar, but with slightly less range and lag. Eggman's Pummel has him simply squeeze his captive with the BIG ARMS. Very slow, but deals a nasty 9%. Don't expect to get more than a single pummel off, though.

F-Throw: Eggman releases his foe before unleashing a massive haymaker punch with the BIG ARMS. This punch deals 13% and sends the victim skidding across the stage in prone. This throw typically kills around 155%.


U-Throw: Still holding the foe, Eggman hovers upwards slightly before suddenly cutting the Eggomatic's engines, causing it to plummet to the ground. The foe is slammed down as well, taking a horrific 17% and becoming dizzy for a moment. Eggman suffers considerable lag after this throw, enough to prevent chaingrabs but short enough to allow another followup.

B-Throw: A large Bumper emerges from the rear of the Eggomatic as Eggman uses the BIG ARMS to slam the foe face first into said Bumper. This maneuver deals 9%, but can kill at 145%. Easily Eggman's best kill throw, but the weakest for damage racking.

D-Throw: Eggman releases the foe as he does in the F-Throw. This time, he uses the BIG ARMS to pound his victim into the ground, dealing 12% and pitfalling them. Just like the U-Throw, the lag on this throw is enough to prevent chaingrabs.

Final Smash: RUBY ILLUSIONS
Eggman laughs maniacally as the camera zooms in on the Phantom Ruby. It glows brilliantly for a moment before the camera zooms back out to reveal two Master Hand-sized, er, hands. These hands seek out opponents, attempting to grab them. Upon grabbing a foe, a hand vanishes into nothing, immediately removing a stock from the victim. Two hands are summoned, so a maximum of two kills are possible. The hands are rather slow and vanish after 6 seconds, so this is not a guaranteed kill.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Please wait while images and taunts are found/written!​
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
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Location
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Switch FC
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Spooky October is a wonderful time for Make Your Move, and this October is the spookiest of all: It lands on Friday the 13th, and the same year It is hITting it huge huge in theatres...hey, someone could make a religion Iron MYMer out of this...

This month's Iron Make Your Mover is...

Friday the 13th!

So what does that mean? We're talking horror movies here, any character from a horror movie. What counts as a horror movie? Where there's your slasher movies, the Freddy Kreugers, the Leatherfaces and of course the Pennywises. Horror movies can be stuff like The Shining...there's children's horror, like A Nightmare Before Christmas (Which I should note actually freaked me out as a kid thanks to when I watched it). And then there's horror series, like the It short series...Stranger Things, and so on and so forth.

So, basically, find a movie or a series that qualifies as horror and make a set from it! You can even give us a story of an explanation of why something was specifically horror to you and use that as a reason for it to fit in the "horror" theme...really, I'm rather lax, and just ask if you wanna know if something qualifies!

This Iron MYMer, due to being late, will last until the 13th of November. Until then, have a happy and frightening Spooktober...because if you're too slow Jason Voorhess might get ya!
 
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Smady

Smash Master
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
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SMALL SET INCENTIVE


Hi everyone! It recently occurred to me that there's not a ton of shorter sets posted anymore, and I had an idea on how to encourage that on top of regular sets.

Now if you post a set that is 5000 words or less, or 5001-10000 words long, I will write a special write up about your set at the end of the contest! All you have to do is say in the set, or to me somewhere and your set qualifies. Depending on the amount of interest, I may or may not combine these two categories at the end. It'll probably be my personal ranking of what I thought of all the sets at those lengths and which was the best.

Hopefully this helps gives some incentive for these quicker, shorter sets to get out now. Looking forward to seeing if you guys have anything in mind for this little challenge, good luck!
 
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MasterWarlord

Smash Champion
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Aug 24, 2008
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Not wasting countless hours on a 10 man community
BURTER


Burter is a member of the Ginyu Force, the most elite mercenary force in the universe, employed by Frieza over the course of DBZ. The Ginyu Force are an evil team inspired by the traditional heroic sentai teams, regularly showing off with elaborate team poses and being pretty goofy. Despite their comedic nature, they are highly competent and Frieza employs them for a reason, all with their own varied abilities.

Burter specifically calls himself the fastest in the universe as his primary gimmick, dubbing himself "The Blue Hurricane." While he is presumably faster than his power level would imply and outspeeds Jeice and Recoome who have similar power levels, he does a pretty poor job of demonstrating any actual speed before he dies. Burter and Jeice have to fight Goku fresh off of a training session in the afterlife, and they are the fodder to be decimated to demonstrate what all of Goku's training did. Burter is so used to being powerful and the fastest in the universe that he refuses to accept it that he is so outclassed, as his scouter tells him his power level is much lower than it appears. While with his speed Burter should easily be able to escape, he doesn't possibly believe anybody can be that much faster and come out of nowhere, much less a character from what was then considered a butt monkey race, and is defeated. Goku intends to spare him after defeating him, but Vegeta kills him and Recoome before Goku can stop him.

Burter is pretty obsessed with his gimmick of being "fastest in the universe", as he lacks too much else to differentiate himself. Unfortunately for Burter, speed is not a good gimmick to have given that is one of the most obvious things to scale with power level, and even at that time, characters within Burter's own knowledge that were faster than him included Ginyu and Frieza, technically even Guldo with the ability to stop time. While Burter is one of the more rational members of the group under normal circumstances, his obsession with defending his impossible to defend title unhinges him.

While Burter may not be as fast as what he wants to be, as a speedster character he is very unique for his body type. Burter is a hulking giant bigger than even Recoome, who is the heavyweight grappler archetype of the Ginyu Force. Sometimes Burter and Recoome are portrayed as the same size, but he is never shorter than Recoome and can often be taller to complete the gimmick of all of the Ginyu Force being different heights for various poses. Compared to many muscular heavyweights who miss leg day, Burter has a full massive body and extensively uses his legs to attack. The one part of his body that's a bit smaller than the rest is his strange skull-like head, which gives him a more monstrous/alien appearance.

Statistics
Size: 12
Aerial Speed: 10 (1.3 units)
Ground Movement: 9.5 (2.9 units)
Weight: 9 (120 units)
Falling Speed: 9 (1.82 units)
Jumps: 8
Aerial Control: 4
Traction: 2

Burter towers over other characters, standing at 1.25X Ganon's height. His upper torso is as wide as Bowser, while his legs are significantly less wide than him and more comparable to Ganondorf. Given the large size of his legs, his Bowser-tier width won't be an issue for his hurtbox for a significant amount of grounded attacks with low hitboxes. He still has nothing to help make him less directly vulnerable to combos, though, which means it's a good thing his recovery puts those of the Smash cast to shame, having a multitude of great ways to recover that makes him into an aerial god.

Even in the existing Smash Bros cast with no other Dragonball characters, Burter isn't the fastest! His dashing speed is directly in the middle of Captain Falcon and Sonic. This is more than enough to enable him to do all sorts of elaborate combos, especially in tandem with the range he inherently gets from being so large. His first jump is tied with Falco's as the best in the game, while his midair jump is pretty good if a far cry from Yoshi's.

SPECIALS

SIDE SPECIAL – WIND WALK

A small blue aura of wind surrounds Burter as he gains the ability to run in the air and use grounded attacks there for 1.5 seconds. While under the effects of Wind Walk, he will constantly keep dashing without player input (freeing up the control stick to perform other moves), while angling the control stick will cause Burter to start turning to move in that direction. Unfortunately, Burter can't just turn on a dime like with aerial movement given he's actually running through the air. Burter needs about 1.5X Bowser's worth of space to turn in this state without using a B reversed Special to do so, and will slow down briefly before he gets going in the right direction again. This isn't turning lag like traction, though, and Burter is still perfectly capable of attacking during this. Burter must keep moving, though, or else the recovery will end early. Attempting to do a u-turn shortly after having just turned will also count as coming to a "stop." Burter enters helpless at the end of this attack, but his massive ground speed should be more than enough to make it back to the land in time. Burter can cancel out of this attack by inputting his second jump if he still has it, which won't put him in helpless but will prevent him from using the move again until touching ground.

This attack can be used on the ground to simply enable Burter to move around while attacking. The Side Special's duration will not only pause, but regenerate the amount of time Burter has for Side Special's duration while dashing along the ground. Beware that Burter's feet have to actually line up with the ground properly, which means he might have to do an awkward shuttle loop before landing back down on the ground if he didn't initially start there.

Burter is capable of running up walls with this move, very useful on stages like Brawl Yoshi's Island or certain omega stages in SSB4. Running up a wall will surprisingly still regenerate the Side Special timer like standing on ground normally does, making this very helpful and making Burter a terror at the ledge. However, the usual rules that prevent Burter from stopping still apply. If Burter wants to hang around by the ledge forever, he's going to have to constantly do long awkward loops where he runs up the side of the stage before diving back down and repeating the process over again. Burter runs very fast, so he'll have to move a pretty significant distance up along the side of the stage in order to regenerate enough of Side Special's duration to matter.

The fact that this move is on Side Special means Burter can input the move out of his normal dash, letting him transition into it very casually if he's going to run out of stage to run and making his dash very versatile in terms of movement options. Inputting Side Special while already moving with Side Special will cancel out of it, though it's laggier than just jumping out of it. The main reason you'd want to bother to do this is if Burter is dashing along the ground anyway, in which case this will refresh Wind Walk's duration before Burter can potentially just turn the move right back on again. Burter's regular dash cannot run up the sides of the stage or anything like that, though, so this is strictly a technique to use on real ground. Something like a platform on Battlefield will do just fine for this, so Burter can potentially make a pit-stop at one of those platforms in order to "refuel", timing the use of Side Special so that he lands on it as the lag of canceling Side Special comes to pass before turning on Wind Walk once again.

NEUTRAL SPECIAL - KI BLAST BARRAGE

Burter fires 1-5 simple blue ki blasts from his open palm that travel forwards at Captain Falcon's dashing speed with a max range slightly shorter than Final Destination. The ki blasts are the size of Mario's fireballs on their own, and will have a Pokeball's worth of space between each of them. Burter lowers his hand towards the ground, making the projectiles spawn Mario's height off the ground to make sure he's actually hitting most characters. The first time Burter uses the attack, he will produce 5 shots, but has to wait 10 seconds to fully recharge all 5 shots somewhat like Bowser's fire breath. Spamming the attack for a second time after first using it will produce one shot, Burter regaining one of the five shots each 2.5 seconds.

The individual ki blasts, when they explode by touching something, explode in a hitbox Wario's size. If it hits an enemy, they will trap the enemy in just a couple of very brief freeze frames long enough for the next ki blast to arrive, though it adds up with all 5 shots. Assuming each ki blast hits the previous spot, the explosion grows bigger and bigger with each ki blast that hits the target, up to 1.2X Bowser's size with all 5 ki blasts. Each ki blast only does 3.6% for a total of 18% if all of them hit from a fully charged Neutral Special. The knockback is based off how big the explosion hitbox is, killing at 200% with only one ki blast, and killing 20% sooner for every additional ki blast added in after that.

This has enough lag that the individual ki blast isn't terribly spammable, but most of the lag is on the front of the move. Burter is easily capable of outrunning the projectiles he produces, letting him run behind them and use them to give a very soft cushion to his next attack to make it super safe. If used during Wind Walk, he will get ahead of the projectiles immediately after they are fired, letting him smack the foe to ensure they get hit by the projectiles behind him.

Shielding one of these 5 projectiles normally will make foes get stuck in shield stun from the other four longer than the freeze frames from getting hit by the projectiles normally, though will of course mean they won't actually get hit. While they don't do any extra shield damage, this is more than enough time for Burter to try to take a smack at the foe's shield personally. If the foe perfect shields the projectile, they will still have to immediately perfect shield the next projectiles in unison, effectively stunning them in place regardless, and that's assuming they don't mess any of them up. If Burter is anywhere nearby this is a time to punish this activity and go for a grab.

DOWN SPECIAL - LIGHTNING BRUISER

Burter puts his heavyweight status to use as he stoops down and rips a chunk of ground out of the stage with both hands for some 40 frames of set-up. The ground chunk is 1.25X as wide as Bowser, though the depth of the chunk only goes down about a Kirby height. After uprooting the chunk, Burter will casually hold onto it with one hand, able to do everything as normal. A select few of his attacks that normally use both of his hands will change if he's holding a ground chunk to actually make use of it.

Pressing Down Special while holding onto a ground chunk will have Burter throw it straight forwards, though "straight forwards" can be redirected to be anything through use of Wind Walk. When Burter throws the chunk, he throws it so that it's vertical to the direction he's currently facing, dealing 14% and vertical knockback that kills at 150%. The chunk travels a bit slower than Captain Falcon's dashing speed and will keep going until it makes contact with the ground which causes it to shatter, given it is affected by gravity. Unlike with the ki blasts, Burter throws the ground chunk at a realistic height for himself given the chunks are so large that they'll hit short enemies anyway, and he doesn't want them to instantly shatter against the ground. Damaging somebody will not use up the ground chunk, but it can only damage people once each time it's thrown. Burter can catch up to the ground chunk to catch it again for future use with another press of Down Special if he so desires, taking far less lag to catch an existing one than to produce a new one.

The ground chunk is a drop through platform, but only for the portion of it that's currently facing upwards. If the ground chunk is completely vertical, obviously nobody can stand on it (not that foes can ever really stand on it). Burter will always throw it this way unless he uses Wind Walk and runs in a direction other than straight forwards, which enables him to make it a direct platform. Even without this, though, Burter can run along the sides and bottom of the platform if he so pleases by making use of Wind Walk, enabling him to rapidly run around the ground chunk even if it is totally vertical. This also gives Burter back access to his very powerful first jump, but does not renew mid-air jumps or Up Specials/Wind Walk, including Burter's. Unlike running along the side of the stage, running along an aerial ground chunk will not regenerate Burter's Wind Walk duration. Throwing the ground chunk forwards while dashing with Wind Walk will have Burter automatically start running along the side of it as it's thrown in front of him. If Burter wants to be able to run on a ground chunk withot using Wind Walk, all he has to do is to first throw it while using Wind Walk so that it's at a different angle other than totally vertical.

Burter's first jump is incredibly high and faster than Falco's to the point the individual movement from it is faster than even his dashing speed, letting Burter easily kick off of the chunk he throws in front of him for an even faster burst of movement to attack the enemy with an aerial. Jumping cancels Burter out of Wind Walk, so it'll be an aerial and not a grounded attack. If Burter's recovery wasn't unstoppable enough as is, you can keep a ground chunk around just to jump off of it at the end of your Wind Walk for even further recovery. Running around the side of a chunk is also a faster way for Burter to change directions than awkwardly "turning" through the air during Wind Walk. If Burter doesn't want to cancel out of Wind Walk, all he has to do is to use Down Special again to pick the ground chunk back up again after having ran along it briefly.

Pitfalling somebody inside of the ground chunk or causing an earthshaking effect on it destroys it instantly, causing it to burst into rubble and deal 11 hits of 1% and flinching as it shatters. While you're not getting the effect you paid for, it still is a brief, smaller stun for your trouble. Ground chunks of course cannot be produced out of ground chunks, and Burter himself will just pick up the existing ground chunk when he attempts to do it.

UP SPECIAL - BLUE HURICANE

Burter runs around in a circle to produce a blue tornado very slightly larger than himself, taking 35 frames. Burter is running fast enough that he's nothing but a blue blur for most of the attack, with glimpses of his upper torso making it through on a few frames. He is a hitbox during the attack that deals 7% and radial knockback that kills at 155%, with his hitbox showing up on the edge of the tornado's width. If a foe comes into contact with it, they will spin around very briefly inside of it in a stun state like the Hyrule Castle N64 tornados for about half as long before being shot out of the top with vertical knockback that kills at 200%, taking no damage whatsoever. If Burter stands inside of the tornado like a coward to hide, he'll become vulnerable to it. Burter is only immune to the tornado when dashing/using Wind Walk, and it won't restore any jumps or recovery to Burter specifically.

As far as the possibility of stalling off-stage by allowing himself to "get hit" by tornados, if Burter gets hit by a second tornado without touching the ground he'll enter helpless. Burter stalls in the air while producing the tornado to make it a functional recovery despite the lag if he wants to use it for that purpose, though can move to the side after it's produced if he doesn't want to be flung out the top of the tornado right after he makes it. The base knockback for the tornado is fairly high to ensure that this is still a viable recovery at low percents.

If Burter was dashing/Wind Walking while using Side Special, he will dash around in a larger loop to produce a larger tornado twice as wide as Bowser. Burter will have to stop in place in order to produce it rather than continuing to dash. The fact Burter is running in a wider circle unfortunately means the tornado takes longer to produce, a full 50 frames, but it can easily be potentially worth it for having such a large trap. Having a tornado this big will lower the kill percentage to kill people at 140% and increase the amount of time people are spun around inside of it to be just as long as Hyrule Castle tornados.

The problem with these tornados is they only last for a paltry 5 seconds by default, difficult for Burter to take too much advantage of or to produce an elaborate set-up with. The good news for Burter is using Up Special inside of/next to an existing tornado will renew the duration, so Burter can take the time to renew the tornados as he passes them with only half the lag of producing a new one.

If tornados do not sound powerful yet, Burter is fully capable of angling himself to be upside down during Wind Walk then producing a tornado to make the tornado shoot people outside of it downwards, or whatever other angle he wants. This is very, very powerful, though Burter risks being potentially killed by this himself if an enemy knocks him into the tornado, and Burter is forced to make the laggier, stronger tornado while using Wind Walk. Still, given Burter's weight and recovery, it is entirely possible for him to form it in a location that if he is knocked into it, he'll survive it and the enemy won't against a lot of enemies he's going to be facing (assuming he hasn't used a tornado in the current air trip, anyway). Despite this, Burter is primarily an offensive character and should be taking the opportunity to make these at more liberal advantageous points if the situation calls for it.

Tornados will suck in projectiles they come into contact with whether or not they are Burter's. Burter won't take ownership of them when they enter the tornado, but after a brief time spinning around the tornado comparable to a character, they'll get fired out the top of the tornado at Captain Falcon's dashing speed with their duration refreshed. A blocky ground chunk or other heavy objects will spin around inside the tornado slightly longer than something else, and in their case this will renew their hitbox even if they had already hit a foe by "refreshing their duration." If a foe is spinning around inside of the tornado with projectiles unallied to them, the projectiles will hit them without doing any knockback but the foe will suffer all other effects of the projectiles, which basically just amounts to damage in Burter's case. Burter primarily wants to use his Ki Blasts for damage and combos anyway, and if the tornado is facing horizontally he can just use the tornado to briefly "pause" the projectiles to give himself even more time to play off of them before they continue forward with their duration renewed.

Ground chunks will not hit foes twice by spinning around inside of the tornado and going up, using up their "hit" while spinning around inside the tornado. If Burter throws his ground chunk into the tornado before quickly going in himself, he'll end up on top of it afterwards, able to ride it upwards since it spins around slightly longer than characters and Burter will be entering the tornado after the ground chunk does. This might not apply if the tornado's top was angled in a different angle other than the default. This can even enable Burter to escape the usual limitation of the move forcing Burter into helpless by putting ground underneath him yet again, though if this exploit is used Burter will still not be able to use Up Special again until touching real ground since ground chunks don't refresh recoveries.

After coming out a of a tornado, ground chunks will be rotating around constantly after having been spun inside, changing the slope of their "platforms" for Burter and briefly losing their platform status when they go completely vertical. Of course, Burter can stay grounded onto them even during this state by running along the sides during Wind Walk. This will change the angle of the knockback of the ground chunks to fling foes in whatever direction the ground chunk is potentially turning, making it potentially a lot more important for foes to dodge the chunk given it now doesn't just always deal vertical knockback. It's possible for Burter to throw a ground chunk into a tornado significantly in advance of the foe to make it just smack them right back into the same tornado, though requires insanely specific timing to not just make the ground chunk's hitbox be used up inside the tornado and to make it smack them in the direction you want.

SMASHES

FORWARD SMASH - CRASHER CANNON

Burter puts forwards both of his hands to fire a concentrated energy beam out of his palms. This is a predictably laggy attack, very slightly slower than even Dedede's fsmash, given it's basically the usual Kamehameha motion before Burter fires the beam forwards. The beam is as thick as Robin's fully charged Neutral Special, but only travels forwards a single platform before it spontaneously explodes. The beam itself deals several hits of miniscule damage that total up to 10-14% that pushes foes into the explosion, while the explosion itself deals 18-25% and knocks enemies away up at a diagonal angle that kills at 100-55%, though the bad angle means foes will never die from being unable to recover, only if this kills them outright.

This can potentially be a very damaging attack, but it's very rare foes will take all of the beam damage, only taking it if they were hit at point blank range enabling them to be pushed forwards. This attack, while very slow, has the lag fairly evenly distributed throughout the move meaning Burter isn't taking 10 years just to get the attack out and a lot of the lag is also in the move's duration. This move can be quite safe for an attack so slow not only because of the move's range, but because the beam is so powerful Burter suffers some kickback during the attack, pushing himself backwards 0.5-1 platform over the move's duration. The attack's range is long enough that this should still have no problem hitting enemies fairly close to him, though does make it a bit harder to use as an obnoxious "poke" (more like a stab!).

If Burter uses this attack during Wind Walk, he won't actually get pushed back at all by the fsmash but will instead slow down while he's using the attack considerably, all the way down to Ganondorf's dashing speed. Temporarily putting on the brakes is very helpful, as Burter moves so fast that he would easily outrun the rate the foe is pushed forwards by the beam if he was at top speed. Slowing down is very useful for a foe who predicts Burter coming in at full speed and does a dodge, which this attack is practically designed to catch with the huge range and long duration. This can make aerial enemies wary of using their dodges against Burter and prefer to just hit him as their "defense." Burter loves to do trades against enemies with aerial priority, what with his massive weight and godly recovery.

Even at only Ganon's speed, if Burter hits the attack at point blank range he'll move through the foe and become punishable, making it much more ideal to hit at the edge of the attack's range during the Wind Walk version. This can potentially start a combo at middling percents due to just how fast Burter runs once normally, though given Wind Walk doesn't last forever he'd have to have been dashing on the stage at the start or hit fsmash pretty much the moment he starts Wind Walk.

If fired into a tornado, the beam will spin around inside of the tornado before the explosion hitbox comes out the top of the tornado. This will apply even if the tornado was at the very edge of the fsmash's natural range, letting you artifically extend the range of the hitbox to huge levels, especially with the wider tornado. The explosion hitbox's size isn't increased, but if a foe is knocked into the tornado the tornado will still fire them up directly into the explosion anyway. This slightly increases the duration of the fsmash to extend slightly into the move's end-lag, and if a foe was hit by a portion of the fsmash beam before being knocked into the tornado they can potentially take almost double the amount of beam damage before being hit by the explosion.

Given this attack uses both of Burter's hands, it changes when holding a ground chunk. When used, Burter will casually toss the chunk slightly above himself, facing vertically with no spin on it, unlike when he uses Down Special, going on with the usual fsmash after that and adding on just a couple frames of starting lag. When he releases the fsmash, the ground chunk will be directly in front of himself due to gravity and get hit by the full force of the fsmash, disintegrating it as the beam goes and making chunks of debris go through it, doubling the damage of the beam hitbox. Combined with a perfectly spaced tornado in front of Burter, you can potentially get 30-42% based off just the beam hitbox alone, let alone the explosion, though it requires extensive set-up and spacing and will sacrifice the ground chunk of course. This does not quadruple the damage of the beam hitbox, as even if the beam's duration is extended by the tornado the debris from the ground chunk will completely disintegrated after a normal fsmash's duration.

If using Wind Walk while holding the ground chunk and using fsmash, Burter will throw it in front of himself much more forcefully in the direction he was dashing, because if he just threw it upwards like usual he'd just dash past it. He throws it far enough that he'll still be right in front of it when ready to fire the fsmash after the starting lag has passed. Because the ground chunk is thrown much more forcefully here, it is actually a hitbox, dealing 8-11% and knockback that kills at 185-150%. This is not exclusively a good thing given it will knock foes out of the way of the primary attack, though throwing the ground chunk only takes just a couple frames and is very difficult for enemies to respond to. Should enemies dodge the chunk, they're in for a much bigger world of hurt. At low percents, it's still possible for the chunk's personal hitbox to confirm into the primary fsmash.

If Burter changes the angle he's dashing at, is interrupted out of the attack, or somehow is not able to fsmash the ground chunk, it'll keep going. If fired into a tornado, it'll start spinning around and become just as powerful as if Burter threw it with Down Special. Burter may potentially want to aim the chunk in such a way that it won't hit the enemy so it won't interrupt the fsmash, but to provide potential coverage for him and/or combo into the attack afterwards.

UP SMASH - SUPERSPEED COMBO

Burter does a bicycle kick comparable to Fox's usmash. Burter is significantly larger than Fox which gives the move more range, and has around the same speed as Fox's usmash, coming out fast with heaps of ending lag. It only does 10-14% and vertical knockback that kills at 200%, which is pathetic by the standards of a smash, and there's way too much ending lag on the kick to combo off of the weak knockback.

This is a multi part smash like Link's fsmash with two additional attacks being performed as Burter presses the A button, rather than just one like Link. Upon continuing the attack, Burter skips the ending lag and rushes upwards extremely quickly as the traditional Dragonball "speed" sound plays, turning into a blue blur and exiting Wind Walk if he was currently using it. Burter goes up a surprisingly high distance, 2 Ganondorfs. When Burter stops and becomes visible again, he is holding his two hands above his head before slamming them down in front of himself in a motion similar to DK's fair, dealing a decent strength spike if he can successfully hit anyone that deals another 11-15%. As far as killing off-stage enemies, this spike certainly has the raw power to get it done, though the fact you've just brought them that much higher into the air makes it worse than an ordinary spike for that purpose.

As burter goes upwards as a blue blur, a wind hitbox is generated that pushes enemies up with him a set distance to try to make the first hit combo into the second one. The wind hitbox is strong enough to push up enemies who dodged the bicycle kick entirely to get hit by the second hitbox, since wind hitboxes are capable of hitting dodging enemies. After a certain percentage, the first hit will stop comboing into the second hit against enemies that are actually hit though, unfortunately, making it outright better to hit a dodging enemy with the wind hitbox. The foe's percentage is never too low to combo, on the other hand, as the wind hitbox will push them up into the two handed slam. It stops pretty early around just 40%, but if Burter charges the smash he'll go higher and higher into the air during the second portion of the move, potentially as high as 3.3 Ganondorfs to make it combo all the way up until 65%. Even if this fails to combo, after the ending lag you should be pretty close to directly under the foe to provide further pressure.

The third hit of the attack is activated by pressing A after the two handed slam. This causes Burter to rush back down with another burst of superspeed back down to his original location to do a powerful roundhouse kick forwards for the finisher, dealing 12-17% and knockback at a 45 degree angle that kills at 135-90%. This should hit most of the time if the second hit of the attack hit, and the same wind hitbox shows up as usual when Burter's a blue blur to push foes down with him. The main exceptions to this not working is if the extra damage of the two handed slam was enough to actually knock them too far past Burter, or if this attack was actually used on the ground originally. The two handed slam can be teched, so if you hit them at the ground too quickly this won't combo if they're able to tech it.

This is a very powerful and scary attack at low percentages. The range of the bicycle kick is excellent, but the hitbox of the two handed slam is more specific by comparison. If Burter just kicks up somebody standing in front of him or grazes them with the side of the hitbox, most characters that aren't insanely wide and/or don't have terrible aerial movement should be able to move far enough away to get out of the second attack's range, so Burter has to be a little specific. If Burter was holding a ground chunk, he will smash that over the foe's head instead of doing the two handed slam, which increases the range of that hitbox and makes it able to hit foes in such a scenario. While the ending lag of the bicycle kick is long, keep in mind Burter doesn't have to cancel out of Wind Walk if he only uses the first attack, so he should only go for followups he's confident will connect.

The wind hitboxes on this attack will affect energy projectiles (meaning ground chunks do not qualify), redirecting them with Burter's fast movements. If Burter just performs the second hit, the projectiles will be redirected vertically. If he performs the third hit, the projectiles will come back down where they originally were before being sent forwards with one final wind hitbox from the roundhouse kick. This will affect enemy projectiles but will most likely just result in Burter getting hit by the attack in question, though if the projectile was slow he may be able to avoid it by canceling out of usmash after performing the two handed slam before he goes back down.

Each wind hitbox will renew projectile duration, essentially enabling Burter to "pause" projectiles as he moves them up with him before sending them back on their way and/or turning them around. Delaying them is useful alone, but bringing them along for the usmash is also incredibly useful. If a foe is hit by ki blasts as they go up with Burter, the freeze frames produced will be enough to delay foes to be hit by Burter's two handed slam guaranteed if he had at least 4 of his 5 ki blasts to spare. This technique enables the second hit to combo regardless of the foe's percentage. If the foe's percentage was too high for this to be relevant, they obviously won't get comboed by the third hit, but tacking on the damage from the ki blasts will make up for the lost damage.

The Crasher Cannon beam and tornados do not count as "projectiles" to be redirected, though tornados will regain a second of duration for each one of these wind hitboxes that passes through them, 2 seconds in total with the full usmash. However, when Burter is moving at superspeed during the attack, he is immune to his tornados, enabling him to pass through them. If the tornado was at the very top of Burter's ascension, the second hit will still combo as the foe is spun around inside the tornado, knocking them out of it immediately. If Burter goes too high to hit the foe with the second attack as they get stuck into the tornado, that's not a bad thing either, as Burter will be above the tornado and ready to combo them with something as they come out of it. He will still have to perform the lag of the two handed slam as he hits nothing, so he won't have much time to hit something too impressive, but usmash's starting lag is low enough that it can combo out of this scenario to juggle the foe up even higher.

If Burter goes through a tornado that had energy projectiles spinning around in it, he'll take them with him when he goes up through it and free them from the tornado. Projectiles will ignore tornados like Burter does during superspeed so long as they're under the effects of the wind hitbox. If you knock a foe into a ki blast filled tornado, this means the ki blasts will do their full effects rather than just damage and drag the foe up out of the tornado again, making them vulnerable to the wind hitbox and Burter able to combo the foe as they're stuck in freeze frames. The tornado will still briefly center the foe's location inside of itself regardless, which can be helpful to get foes who were only grazed by the usmash to still get fully hit properly.

If Burter uses this attack during Wind Walk, he will use the attack at the angles you'd expect from where his feet were facing, potentially redirecting people in different ways if he so chooses. Burter is already capable of knocking foes in a variety of ways without using Wind Walk by stopping during different portions of the move, though if nothing else this is useful to try to knock a foe into a tornado along the way or to better redirect projectiles. While setting up the exact angle, Burter will ideally want to charge the smash while he's at it.

DOWN SMASH - AFTERSHOCK

Burter jumps up and down in place three times, stomping down with great force and significantly shifting his hurtbox. Each stomp itself deals 15-23% and knockback that kills at 135-90%. This has a long duration and ending lag as you'd expect. As Burter stomps, the ground he's standing on becomes more and more cracked before finally becoming damaged enough to generate an earthshaking hitbox after the third stomp.

The earthshaking hitbox reaches out 0.7 platforms to either side of where Burter performed the dsmash, and enemies within range will take 7-10% and get popped up into the air lightly with knockback that kills at 220-180%. This earthshaking will continue for a brief time after the attack's ending lag is complete, around 20 frames, and is also fully capable of shield poking Burter's enemies such as anyone who tries to shield the attack's main hitbox.

If Burter is moving during this attack, he will stomp the ground in three different places and not produce any earthshaking effects at all, since it requires 3 stomps to crack the earth enough for the earthshaking hitbox to be created. However, the cracks in the stage aren't just aesthetic and will stick around for future use, meaning if Burter stomps on them in the future he'll only need 2 of the 3 stomps to create it. With the earthshaking hitbox spawning early, it's possible for that to combo into the attack's main hitbox as foes get knocked up into it. If Burter moves across the stage multiple times with this, it becomes possible for him to trigger 3 earthshaking hitboxes at once, one with each stomp, causing practically the entire stage quiver and shake.

Burter is also capable of jumping up onto platforms during the attack, such as his ground chunks. The ground chunk won't be "shaking" until the third stomp which will cause it to shatter and reduce the attack's ending lag into nothing, producing the rubble hitbox detailed in Down Special for 11 hits of 1% and flinching while Burter is free to combo off of it against anyone hit. The first two stomps, meanwhile, will cause the chunk to go flying through the air in the direction Burter stomped, accelerating its speed by roughly 1.2X to make it to go faster than even Burter can run naturally with two stomps. Stomping into a ground chunk from the side or even from underneath it can enable Burter to use it as a powerful threatening approach, if a rather predictable one. Burter will kick off of whatever vulnerable target he hits, meaning if he lands on a foe or a shield he'll only be hitting the ground twice. This is a nice shortcut to get an almost fully cracked piece of ground rather than painstakingly dsmashing while moving across the stage two times.

If Burter picks up a chunk that already has a crack in it from his dsmash, this will still be transferred to the ground chunk he's holding, potentially making it so he only needs just one stomp to quickly shatter it and use it for comboing. This doesn't let Burter "ride" the chunk as he stomps it in the desired direction, but is much less predictable.

If Burter uses this attack while in the air and not running on a ground chunk, he will reorient himself to use the attack downwards regardless of where he was facing. He will go down as far as he can until he hits somebody, turning the move into a stall then fall. He'll thankfully stop with just one stomp if he hits a target he can damage that he can't stand on, but if he hits a ground chunk he'll still insist on performing all three stomps unless that stomp shattered the ground chunk in question. If not running along the ground chunk to be "synched" to it, Burter will only be able to stomp on it once as it passes by most of the time, mostly just enabling it to be a brief save to jump at a foe again who dodged the dsmash. This functions as Burter's stall then fall "aerial" rather than his actual dair, and will automatiaclly cancel him out of Wind Walk if used in the air.

GRAB-GAME

GRAB - STRONGARM

Burter's standing grab is more towards the long range, slow side as he lurches out with a large outstretched arm. The range is just as good as Bowser's, though it takes another frame to come out and has even more ending lag. His dashing grab is largely the opposite, and Burter is the only character with a faster dashing grab than his standing grab. His dashing grab has him just swish his arm in front of himself to try to snatch people rather going out of his way to reach out for them for one of the fastest grabs at just 6 frames of starting lag and generous ending lag to boot.

Burter is capable of using his grab in the air thanks to Wind Walk, though that will always give him his dashing grab. Missing the dashing grab will not cause Burter to stop dashing, though hitting it will. Characters slide a decent ways in Smash with their victim when they land a dashing grab, Captain Falcon slides a good full platform's distance. Burter slides about 1.5 platforms as he stops all of his momentum from his dash, regardless of whether he is on the ground or not. This will cancel Burter out of Wind Walk, though Burter will still be able to perform his grab-game on the foe in the air as they levitate in place through Dragonball flight after the momentum has been stopped, with gravity kicking back in after the throw is over.

PUMMEL - KNEE

Burter knees the foe in a spammable pummel that deals good damage for its spammability only slower than Lucario's, dealing 1% per hit though staling very quickly. Burter alternates which knee he uses to smack the foe in the stomach as he mashes pummel, practically doing a marching pose in place. This is a good pummel that will make the rest of Burter's moveset fresh pretty quickly.

FORWARD THROW - PUNT

Burter tosses the foe up very slightly, taking the opportunity to laugh at them before before casually kicking them away in front of him for 9% and weak knockback, killing at 200%. This is a pretty pathetic throw compared to Burter's three other amazing throws. The reason it is so weak is because of Burter's ability to grab off-stage. Fthrow is the easiest throw to set up to become a very powerful gimping throw by simply dashing downwards, and the fact Burter slides forwards such a long distance after grabbing the foe will always most directly benefit fthrow over any of the others. This is the most mindless throw to attempt to gimp with given the mechanics of the grab, even in spite of his other amazing throws.

Another limitation on this throw is that Burter cannot use this throw while sliding forwards after having grabbed the foe, and must wait until he has come mostly to a stop. This is because the toss at the start of the move will not combo into the kick that does the main knockback if Burter was moving during the throw. At low percentages, this gives foes more time to try to escape the grab to avoid the early gimp.

Aside from gimping, this throw's knockback is pathetic enough that it has some potential for comboing due to Burter's insanely high dashing speed. The lag of activating Wind Walk means it will only combo into anything if Burter used the move on-stage, but if he was he can dash up and combo the move into an aerial or a (maximum speed) utilt.

BACK THROW - CURBSTOMP

Burter tosses the foe lightly into the ground, then stomps onto their backs forcefully with both of his legs before they land on it, smashing them into said ground for a forceful 7%. After stomping the foe, Burter casually steps over their body to be in front of the foe before giving them a kick directly to their face, sending them off with 5% and knockback that kills at 125% behind him. This is Burter's most powerful kill throw, though largely requires Burter to use his slow standing grab to reap the full benefits of its power. The throw's duration is long enough that if Burter used his dashing grab, he will always slide forwards the full distance of 1.5 platforms before he actually deals backwards knockback to the foe.

If this is used on land, Burter will create a single crack in the stage from the down smash wherever he first stomps the foe down. If this was the third crack needed to actually break it apart, the foe will take the damage from the stage/ground chunk shaking/breaking apart while remaining superarmored for the throw's duration. If Burter used this out of a dashing grab and immediately inputs bthrow, he will slide about 0.6 platforms worth of ground before he gets past enough of the throw's lag to stomp down on the foe, meaning Burter is capable of stomping on cracked earth in front of him but has to be pretty precise. It's a lot easier to just do it while standing directly on top of one, but that makes Burter a lot more predictable by comparison. The most realistic scenario where you can do it is by bringing a ground chunk with two cracks off-stage.

If this throw is used in the air, it will still deal full damage, but when Burter stomps down on the foe they will both move briefly downwards together about a Peach height before Burter does the attack that inflicts the move's knockback. Given Burter's very powerful recovery, this is generally going to be a positive to make it harder for the foe to recover. While Burter has to be dashing towards the stage in order to use this downward set "knockback" to most directly knock a foe towards a blast zone, it can be a lot more useful to try to stagespike and/or knock the foe under the stage.

Ideally, you would want to just dash off the stage and pick up the foe, use bthrow, fall down, and go for a cheap easy kill. This is harder than it sounds, though, because Burter will not run off the stage so long as he is grounded and his slide will stop at the edge, requiring him to be in Wind Walk. Even if Burter is in Wind Walk, he has to be dashing very slightly above the ground, which can enable his low range dashing grab to miss people due to hitting too high in that scenario. For this technique to be as effective as possible, Burter will want to grab the foe so that he and them are directly next to the edge at the end of the attack for the attempted stage spike. Knocking the foe under the stage is harder but possible, and depends on stage layout.

While a potentially very powerful technique, this too can become rather predictable and punishable. One way to vary it up and make the foe more unsure is if there is a portion of ground with two dsmash cracks in the way, giving you multiple options of how to space the move for a great result. Note that even if the move starts in the air, if Burter drags the foe down onto the ground before dealing the knockback he will still crack the earth like dsmash anyway on the foe's first contact with the ground, potentially enabling him to make the crack a further distance away from himself based on his height at the start of the move and varying up the spacing.

UP THROW - LIGHTNING SLAM

Burter gets behind the foe and restrains their arms with both of his before rocketing up towards the top blast zone at the speed of light, becoming a blue blur as the Dragonball sound plays again like during usmash. Burter then comes back down where he was as he slams them against the ground he was standing on as he lets the foe go, causing them to take 13% and vertical knockback that kills at 150%, very similar to Kirby/Meta Knight's uthrow and just as fast.

Like during usmash, this creates a wind hitbox that will carry energy projectiles along with Burter identically to that move. The difference this time is that the wind hitbox goes all the way to the top blast zone and back with Burter's stupidly fast movement. This wind hitbox is so extreme that it will actively speed up the projectiles to double their normal speed. Burter and his victim will collide with the projectiles on the way down, and foes are not superarmored during this throw like normal throws, enabling the throw to be interrupted. This enables foes to take the damage of a Ki Blast very high up in the air, potentially killing them sooner than the already strong uthrow would by itself.

If Burter lands on a ground chunk, he will shatter it as if an earthshaking hitbox hit it, stopping as he slams the foe onto its remains and dealing the usual damage and knockback from on top of the ground chunk and 5% extra damage from the debris. This means the foe will take the knockback from a potentially higher altitude, dying sooner. This is a very rare scenario to actually set up, and will pretty much only happen through elaborate use of tornados. Keep in mind the wind hitbox from this move, like in usmash, will ignore tornados and ground chunks. Just like Burter, the throw victim will also become immune to tornados during the main animation of uthrow, enabling Burter to take the foe through a tornado with a ground chunk in it before it gets shot out and Burter can slam the foe on top of it. Like with usmash, this also shares the property of adding 2 seconds of duration to tornados, one on the way up and one on the way down.

If this attack is used in the air with nothing for Burter to slam the foe on top of, Burter just casually lets the foe go when he reaches his original height. This means you unfortunately get zero damage out of the attack without anything to slam the foe against, but that's the price you pay for some respectable downwards knockback after having had the luxury to grab the foe in the air.

This attack can get very strange if Burter uses it at an angle during Wind Walk. While the attack is traditionally an infinite range vertical line, you now have the possibility to make a gigantic line at any angle. With this in mind, if there is any trap or projectile anywhere on the entire space of the stage, at all, you can potentially drag the foe past it instantly with this move with enough preparation and timing, though tornados will need to have something inside of them for it to matter during this move. Pretty much the only thing that should get in your way is the large mass of the stage's main platform. Either way, this should enable you to get to the ground chunk you need.

Burter restrains the foe with both hands during this attack, so he'll casually drop the ground chunk at the start. It will just barely be affected enough by the wind hitbox to still be in place for Burter to slam the foe on top of when he comes back down. If used on the ground, this is a pretty raw deal as you'll just be adding on 5% damage, but it lets you have a portable platform to slam the foe into when used off-stage, letting you use the uthrow's great vertical knockback if you were already high up in the air.

DOWN THROW - AZURE TYPHOON

Burter spins around while holding the foe to produce a Up Special tornado on the spot, though it's only the weaker variant not made by using Wind Walk. This does the usual weak vertical knockback that kills at 200% at the end as the foe gets shot out, though given Burter is personally here with the foe running around, they'll take 9% over multiple hits during the attack's duration. The tornado only lasts for the duration of the throw, so this isn't some casual free set-up throw. This is useful to suck in projectiles from Burter's sides as he and the foe spin around, given it takes a brief time to do and gives time for projectiles to potentially come in. This is more notable if Burter is sliding from his dashing grab, enabling him to better pick up stray projectiles along the way as they smash into the foe, adding to the attack's damage as they spin around inside the tornado.

Burter will come out of lag shortly after the foe takes their knockback, with the tornado spinning around just a bit longer than that. Any projectiles still spinning around will always be shot out when the throw ends no matter what. If Ki Blasts come into the tornado during this period, it is possible to combo their actual knockback rather than just their damage, since projectiles only damage enemies when just spinning around in tornados with them. At low percents, this extra delay can also be enough for Burter to get into the air to combo the foe personally as well.

Ground chunks spun around in the tornado will also combo against the foe, doing considerable damage. The fact ground chunks aren't used up upon contact, only their hitbox, makes them very useful for this throw as they enable Burter to combo foes to much higher percents than he would otherwise be able to. Burter can jump up on top of the ground chunk in mid-air as it rotates around (This tornado will cause ground chunks to rotate just like an Up Special tornado), potentially even perform a quick grounded attack without making use of Wind Walk (which is especially relevant if he grabbed someone in the air, which means he can't use Wind Walk again), or just jump off of it with his great first jump to pursue a foe who got knocked up too high.

If Burter somehow manages to nab a ground chunk just after the foe gets shot up with the throw with perfect timing, the chunk's rotating hitbox can combo and potentially knock the foe in a variety of directions depending on the way the chunk was spinning. Depending on the foe's weight/fall speed/damage/etc, they'll get knocked a different way by the ground chunk, potentially straight up for stronger knockback or back down to be knocked back directly towards Burter. While this is highly situational with a random ground chunk flying through the air, if Burter was holding a ground chunk he'll toss it into the tornado only at the very end of the move.

STANDARDS

JAB - RAPID KICK COMBO

Burter does a series of rapid kicks in front of himself his legs moving fast enough they are blurred out. The jab deals damage at a fairly average rate for a rapid jab, nothing too special as it flinches them and deals tiny, tiny set knockback forwards that forces foes to move away from Burter if they want to escape the attack. As usual, what makes this exceptional is the range due to Burter's huge legs. While the damage is only average, it's going to take foes longer to actually move out of the rapid jab's hitbox to stop getting hit thanks to the huge hitbox, resulting in good damage overall, better based off how close the foe was to Burter. If Burter was running during the attack through use of Wind Walk, he will be alternating the leg he is running and kicking with throughout the jab, being stupidly fast enough he is capable of doing that.

The jab finisher has Burter casually push forwards his open palm to strike the foe, dealing 6% and unimpressive knockback that kills at 200%. The good news is this palm strike is incredibly fast with very low ending lag, ripe for comboing off of if Burter was already running throughout the use of jab. The main thing is that when using the jab out of Wind Walk, Burter will be moving forwards so quickly that he will easily surpass the foe and release them from the rapid jab accidentally. Burter will have to end the rapid jab very quickly when moving forwards in order to hit with the jab finisher, and to even hit with the jab finisher at all he'll have to hit the move at longer range to even give himself time to transition into the jab finisher if he wants to hit confirm it properly from the rapid jab. The move is still fast overall and definitely a threat, but is a terrible close range option when dashing, at best used to desperately interrupt the foe out of an attack while fleeing to safety.

The move is mainly threatening because of its ability to chain into itself so well with the jab finisher. Given it only combos out of Wind Walk, though, the move will not combo at super low percentages unless Burter has rage, as the foe has to be knocked a far enough distance for Burter to land the jab finisher. While it can't combo into nearly anything else aside from itself, it does combo into grab. Comboing into fthrow on an on-stage enemy can potentially kill them, though Burter's going to need the foe to be at the upper end of damage of when this combo works. If he has practically any rage at all, the combo won't work.

DASHING ATTACK - SCISSOR KICK

Burter can't use his dashing attack during Wind Walk, which limits this move's use, but this is still decent enough to be worth using. Burter does a scissor kick forwards, lifting his huge legs above him in a flipkick before kicking in front of him as he slides to a stop in front of himself, landing on his legs at the end. Burter's legs are only a hitbox as they are in front of him, not above him early on in the move. The move has some start-up time, but the huge hurtbox shift on Burter's legs during the starting lag can enable him to avoid some attacks, and his legs are superarmored during the starting lag anyway. On contact with the hitbox, Burter does a forceful 15% and knockback that kills at 130%. Given Burter's high dashing speed, he will travel a significant distance over the course of the move before actually letting it come out which can make it a bit awkward to space properly, though can make it significantly safer given what lag this move has is all in the start.

While the significant slide can be used to Burter's advantage, it can make it a bit hard to do an elaborate prediction to actually land this move. Using it from a distance is mainly advantageous for how safe the attack becomes with very few chances to actually punish Burter, especially given the move does enough shield push to cover for him. To use it more offensively without hard reads, it's best to use the attack at the edge/on a ground chunk where Burter will automatically stop sliding at the edge like other dashing attacks, potentially even enabling Burter to stage spike the foe.

Ground chunks enable Burter to use his otherwise unusable dashing attack off-stage. It is difficult, though possible, to start a dashing attack on a small piece of terrain like a ground chunk. In order to bypass the lag of starting a dash, though, Burter can cancel Wind Walk just before he's going to dash onto the chunk, ending the move while dashing on it properly and immediately starting up his dashing attack for a powerful off-stage "stage spike."

FORWARD TILT - KNEE OF INJUSTICE


Burter extends out his arms to either side while raising up his knee to hit enemies for the actual attack. The move comes out fast and has a bigger hitbox for a kneeing attack than you'd expect given Burter's size, certainly bigger than Captain Falcon's. While this attack has no sweetspot, Burter holds the knee out for quite a while, letting the foe bask in the majestic magnifience of this pose. The attack comes out very fast on frame 8, but it takes until frame 15-22 for the attack's main hitbox to come out as his knee flashes and the tacky background spiral graphic appears in the background next to him briefly as he shouts his name. After this, the move lingers a bit longer for frames 23-32 before finally ending on frame 37.

If Burter hits during the "flashy" part of the move, he'll deal 18% and knockback that kills at 95%. If Burter hits at any other point in the move, though, he's looking at a paltry 5% and terrible knockback that can't kill. This knockback doesn't even become safe on hit until 100%! At roughly 120%, this weak hitbox could theoretically be used for comboing if the foe isn't dead yet, though at full rage this will come down to a more manageable 70%.

Burter is superarmored during the flashy portion of the attack. Ideally, Burter wants to use the move as a smash attack and just ignore frames 8-14, treating them as extra starting lag. This isn't a super slow move for the power, the issue is Burter hitting the foe early in the move is an active negative. As such, it's often better to be safe rather than sorry and hit the foe a bit later into the knee's duration sometimes. The main way to mask the useless hitbox frames is to get them out of the way while dashing up at the enemy. If you can greet the foe with superarmor right as you arrive, it can definitely punish people, especially those attempting to hit you with a projectile.

When this move becomes capable of comboing with the puny hitbox, it obviously only occurs on the final frames around 28-32. If anything, this is harder to get off than the main move, and shouldn't be actively sought too much. When this combo is capable of happening, though, there's only a very brief window between two desirable outcomes of the flashy hitbox hitting and the combo starter hitting. It's pretty rare the foe's going to be able to take advantage of the middle, so as long as you pass the undesirable early frames this move will usually work out for you in some way, making it a pretty threatening hitbox to linger out in the foe's face and fairly safe unless you severely mispredict the foe.

When this attack is used in the air during Wind Walk, it pretty much translates to both your "fair" as well as your "bair" given there's no such thing as a back tilt. If used as a bair, Burter will actively turn around during the start-up frames. The hitbox on the first few frames will actually come out before Burter entirely turns around, enabling Burter to catch people rolling behind him or simply people he's dashing past too quickly. This is also helpful to partially mask the weak first few active frames of the hitbox if aiming to hit a foe with the flashy hitbox specifically.

UP TILT - AXE KICK

Burter raises up his leg above himself for an axe kick similar in animation to Ganondorf's almighty kick. Raising it takes almost no time at all for Burter compared to Ganondorf, but Burter takes the time to gather some ki to power up the incoming kick for a similar period of lag, letting out a yell as an aura of power surrounds his body. This has a windbox on it just like Ganondorf's that sucks foes in from the force of Burter gathering ki, stretching out even further due to Burter's greater size. Burter eventually slams his leg down in front of him for great range and power, dealing 19% and diagonal knockback that kills at 105%.

Ganondorf's attack is laughably slow and takes 115 frames to finish with 81 frames for the hitbox to come out. Captain Falcon's similar utilt takes 40 frames to finish with the hitbox coming out on frame 17. Burter's version is considerably faster than Ganondorf's joke move with the hitbox coming out on frame 40, but that's still slow when it's barely even faster than Dedede's fsmash. The ending lag, if nothing else, is pretty generous after all that starting lag, so generous this can even combo at very low percents.

As Burter is gathering ki, he can power up by absorbing his own ki blasts. This wind hitbox will suck in energy projectiles, and they'll be absorbed through Burter's hand during this attack. Given Burter fired them in the first place, this won't make the axe kick any more powerful, but will stop Burter from having to absorb energy to power up the attack, speeding up the starting lag. Each Ki Blast absorbed will speed up the move by 7 frames, potentially making the attack come out on frame 5! Even with 5 Ki Blasts, they have to actually reach Burter to be absorbed into him, so if you really want the full mileage of this attack's amazing speed you'll need those ki blasts nearby. It's possible for Burter to absorb too many ki blasts than he can use with the amount of starting lag that has already passed during the attack, effectively wasting the extra ones. Given the space between the ki blasts, the fastest this attack will come out is more like frame 9 unless they were bunched up together by a tornado or something.

Keeping in mind Burter can outrun his ki blasts, it's very possible for Burter to use this as a threatening approach option. If Burter doesn't use this right on top of them, he can briefly threaten the foe with the front ki blast while absorbing the other four, or even the fifth one should that not end up being needed. While this attack begs to be punished with a projectile right to the crotch given it sucks them in, having a token ki blast in front of Burter should be enough to block it with just one of them.

If Burter uses this attack during Wind Walk, the ability to turn during the starting lag can prove incredibly useful. Burter can spin around to angle the attack during the starting lag and potentially grab ki blasts from any which way before slamming his leg down on the foe to crush them. Given the nature of Burter's position during the starting lag, combining this with Wind Walk can enable some decent hurtbox shifting as well as Burter potentially leans back past an attack even without being sped up. The wind hitbox can suck foes in from quite a distance in an aerial context, he just has to be careful to not suck foes in too soon.

DOWN TILT - MARCH

Burter raises up his legs up and down in place very quickly, using the full extent of his speed to stomp his legs down as fast as he can. This deal several rapid hits that total up to 12% with a final hit of vertical knockback that kills at 160%. These multiple hits pitfall enemies similar to the Waluigi assist trophy before the last hit always knocks foes out of it. The attack comes out fast with a predictably long duration.

If Burter was somehow interrupted out of the attack before being able to knock the foe out of it, they'll find themselves pitfalled very briefly only as long as Wii Fit Trainer's jab. Burter actually has a way of doing that voluntarily by sliding forwards as he uses the attack through use of Wind Walk, though the attack's duration is long enough that he'd have to slide through the foe at the end of it in order to get any time to hit the foe out of their stun state whatsoever.

If used in the air through Wind Walk, it appears impossible to keep the foe stuck in the dtilt's entire duration at first, as the pitfalling hits just translate to flinches on aerial enemies. The way to accomplish this is to steer Burter in complete circles while rapidly kicking down on them in the middle, as his legs are long enough to cover this space reasonably well. The last kick can send the foe at any angle depending on where you started this from, providing the move some versatility.

Given this attack pitfalls people, it is useful for Burter to destroy a ground chunk on demand. If Burter wasn't using Wind Walk, pitfalling a foe on top of a ground chunk with dtilt will instantly interrupt him out of it and enable him to use whatever else he so desires as the foe take the 11% of flinching hits, stunning them longer than the very brief pitfall effect would even if Burter spaced it perfectly to pass through them at the last moment. If he was in Wind Walk, it's not as good but still useful to get the 11% from the ground chunk's debris + the entire dtilt with ease, and is generally a lot easier to actually land.

AERIALS

NEUTRAL AERIAL - BEATDOWN

Burter does a single outstretchd kick in front of himself similar to Ganondorf's nair, not reaching out any further, dealing 6.5% and a flinch. Burter then moves forwards in a single burst of movement speed as fast as in his usmash, blurring out in a mess of blue and turning around before he becomes visible again. Burter then does a second kick in the exact same space as the first kick was placed, simply mirrored as Burter does it on the opposite side, dealing the same 6.5%. Lastly, Burter moves in a blur below the theoretical target in the middle and does a rising uppercut as the final hit, dealing 7% and vertical knockback that kills at 150%, with Burter ending about half of his own width in front of where he started the move. 20% total damage may sound like a lot, but Ganondorf's similar nair deals 19% when both hits connect, and this has roughly the same speed as that attack, just with massive hurtbox shifting.

Unlike the usmash and uthrow, Burter totally phases out of existence he moves so fast in the attack, leaving behind a very brief (and completely aesthetic/impossible to mindgame with) afterimage. He can't afford to make the attacks more powerful like in his usmash when moving around at these speeds, and is not moving nearly as far as a distance. This translates into him teleporting into the other two positions, meaning he has no hurtbox as he moves around during this attack unlike in that move or uthrow. Of course, he can still be hit while performing the three actual attacks.

Burter can still use his aerial movement during this attack just fine, though if he lands the first hit he'll be dropping his combo if he moves much after that, the foe not having much opportunity to escape. Burter's falling speed is greatly slowed during this attack, but it's not entirely stopped and he can still make contact with the ground, which will interrupt him out of the move like anything else. The landing lag is painful and plenty enough for the foe to punish Burter if they were just hit by one of the flinching kicks. If Burter's teleport would place him inside of the stage, though, most commonly the one that takes him downwards, Burter will just teleport up against it. In the case of the downwards teleport, this will just cancel out of the move early with very brief landing lag. The closer Burter was to the ground before he teleported to it, the less landing lag there is, though at most it's still only 7 frames, while at minimum there is none. This is harder than it looks at a glance, daring Burter to get as close to the ground as possible during the two kicks without landing and rewarding precise spacing by comboing the two kicks into something. 7 frames may not sound like much, but they can be the difference between vital moves comboing into the kicks or not.

Aside from the move's combo potential, this can still make for a very nice movement attack with Burter's giant body. On the stage, even if Burter's kicks both miss, ending the attack behind the enemy can sometimes still save him. Off-stage, he doesn't have to worry about landing lag at all and can fully move wherever he wants during this move. This attack is extremely potent if a foe is between you and the ledge, as Burter can teleport off-stage then poke the foe with the uppercut from there or just opt for a ledge attack instead after the first two kicks. With a ground chunk, Burter can choose to use whichever version he wants, though the foe will probably be hit by the ground chunk itself before Burter can do either form of finisher, the natural one or an improvized one.

FORWARD AERIAL - FOOT DIVE

Burter kicks forwards with both of his legs as accelerating forwards/downwards at a 25 degree angle, descending a Mario height over the course of the move's brief duration. The move comes out fast and deals 10% with fairly good knockback that can kill at 165%, decent enough as a spacing attack. Off-stage, this kick does knockback at the same angle as itself, which is very useful in its own right. The kick's angle is pretty much perfect to try to kick at people grabbing onto the ledge as well, potentially ledge trumping them if the attack misses to boot.

While Burter has huge legs, the hitbox is not as big as it appears as it is centered around his feet rather than the entirety of his legs being hitboxes. The hitbox being small is the only real downfall of this otherwise excellent move, and if Burter knows what he's doing he can still threaten with this hitbox well given how far it reaches out from him. This makes for a great approaching tool/poke at mid-range, though is bad to throw out in a close quarters panic. Burter is better in this kind of range in general, especially given his size, only coming in at point blank during combos and/or Wind Walk most of the time.

If Burter hits ground or a target he can damage during this attack, he has the option to kick off of them back into the air by pressing A, going back and up a Mario height from them. This is slightly longer than going through the ending/landing lag, but given Burter will be in the air during most of it he will be able to move around during it, making this a versatile approaching option. If this hits something other than the ground at the start of the move's duration, it is faster to cancel out of the move rather than waiting to hit the ground, potentially enabling Burter to even gain height.

When Burter is extending himself out over the course of this move, his upper torso coming into contact with ground isn't going to cause him to suddenly register as having "hit the ground". Used against the edge of the stage, though, it can register as grabbing the ledge, letting Burter cancel out of the move very casually there in one of two ways based off where he was facing when he used the move. Used on a ground chunk with no grabbable ledges, so long as Burter's feet don't come into contact with the ground chunk he can clip through it as much as he pleases, either using it to kick off of or as cover for the rest of his vulnerable hurtbox. While Wind Walk is very useful in context with ground chunks, the fact Burter runs on them during it means he can't abuse them in this way nearly as easily while using it.

Burter has a massive variety of threatening options against foes at the ledge with this, his nair, dashing attack, and his standing grab into bthrow. Considering Wind Walk is obviously at its most powerful when used against off-stage enemies, this ledge game is one of the main things to help it get going without using up any of his Wind Walk time before he starts it up.

BACK AERIAL - DROPKICK

Burter does a massive kick with both of his legs behind himself for ridiculously long reach, comparable in animation to Snake's bair, dealing 13% and knocking foes behind Burter with forceful base knockback that kills at 165%. This attack comes out very fast as Burter's legs near instantly jut out similar in animation to the earlier mentioned move, though like that move has awkward ending lag. During the ending lag, Burter rolls over onto his stomach in mid-air as he goes to stand up to face the opposite direction he was originally with this move. If the ending lag fails to complete and Burter instead transitions into the landing lag, he'll end up facing the same direction instead if he wasn't past a certain point in the ending lag.

If you somehow passed up a foe in the air, this attack is a very casual one for Burter to be able to throw out to massively threaten the foe. The range is good enough that it's practically guaranteed to hit them if you jump out of Wind Walk after passing them by. "Back tilt" doesn't force you to give up Wind Walk, but this comes out much faster without any sourspot nonsense with a hitbox you actively have to try to miss. Turning around is a painful ordeal when Burter has to rely on back tilt or doing a loop around during Wind Walk, and while this move also has ending lag it allows you to threaten with a powerful offensive option immediately before worrying about turning around after the foe's been dealt with already.

This move might seem a bit difficult to use on the stage close to the ground, though as far as unpunishability that's what his nair and dair are for in those scenarios. Even then, though, this attack's range is so spectacular as a spacer that it's hard to not resist the urge to use it as an on-stage spacer. Because Burter goes entirely horizontal during this move, it will take much longer for his body to come into contact with the ground to trigger landing lag with this attack, letting him keep out the hitbox long enough to heavily threaten foes with it. While he'll suffer landing lag about it no questions asked, he will still get out the actual attack comfortably, just with longer ending lag. As far as punishability, even if Burter hits a foe's shield, this move does massive shield push that can send the foe off the ledge.

In a ledge trumping situation where the foe is climbing up onto the ledge and Burter is off-stage, this attack is also very useful for him to flop his legs up onto the stage to punish the foe's ledge option, while being able to casually grab the ledge afterwards to lag cancel. With a ground chunk, Burter can also very casually kick over the entirety of the chunk before moving to the side to not fall on it, or just simply clip through it depending on the angle it's at, similar to his fair.

UP AERIAL - KI EXPLOSION

With both of his arms raised up above his head, Burter forms a single energy blast between his hands that is 1.5X the size of what he fires during his Neutral Special, then immediately detonates it for 10% and vertical knockback that kills at 170% with good base knockback, which is pretty good for the move's high speed. The move is fast and has a decent enough sized disjointed hitbox, but the fact it's aimed fully above Burter makes it a bit hard for him to hit many foes with it due to his towering height. Burter's upward inputs don't do a very good job of launching foes to get them up high enough to be hit by this, with some of his best options being his other aerials.

If this explosion comes into contact with Neutral Special Ki Blast explosions, it will cause them to detonate and power the move up just like how the Ki Blasts do with each other normally. This will add on their damage and lower the KO percent by 20% per ki blast, potentially all the way down to 70% with all 5 as the hitbox lingers out from the extra explosions, growing slightly bigger just like with how Ki Blasts interact with each other, ending at 1.65X Bowser's size at max.

This sounds very powerful, so how do you go about executing on it? First off, you have to be using Wind Walk/dashing to catch up with the Ki Blasts on time, of course. Assuming the Ki Blasts were fired horizontally, It is possible to move Burter under the ki blasts to hit them with uair if he's off-stage, at which point he can jump to cancel out of Wind Walk and use uair. When Burter jumps out of Wind Walk, he will always correct his body to be standing upright regardless of his previous angle. This is harder to execute than it looks, as while the move is fast, if Burter hits the foe too soon he'll just hit them with the vanilla uair and those Ki Blasts will be wasted along with the entire set-up.

Expecting to hit this out of neutral is a nightmare, especially with all 5 Ki Blasts for the super powerful attack, making Burter's utilt set-up look easy to land by comparison. One of the main ways Burter's going to get this to work is by firing the ki blasts and/or the foe into a tornado. Burter still has to be precise about even this, though, as if he has the foe and the blasts in the tornado simultaneously they'll just be used up and hit the foe inside. Ideally, Burter wants the blasts to come out first and start up the uair so that the foe is hit by the full power version right as they come out. Burter can also have some more leeway in setting it up from "neutral" by having a tornado launch the ki blasts back at him (preferably from above) or using his various other projectile redirecting wind hitboxes in moves like usmash. Burter's falling speed is high enough that if he fastfalls after performing the second hit of usmash and stopping the move, it becomes possible for him to outrun the ki blasts.

If Burter was holding a ground chunk, he'll hold that above his head between his hands before detonating it with the ki explosion. This adds 5 frames of starting lag, but increases the damage by 5% and changes the attack into a multihit move that will stall the foe in it for a little bit. This is useful to stall for extra ki blasts to come into the blast and power the move up before the end, giving Burter some much needed leeway with the timing.

During the start of the move, the ground chunk Burter holds above his head will briefly function as a platform during the starting lag. If the foe performs any pitfall/earthshaking/terraforming/whatever moves on it in this brief window somehow, it will just cause the ground chunk to shatter early and make the move start up more quickly. What this is actually useful for is to catch foes in the middle of an aerial and trigger their landing lag, making for a great counter. If the attack is used in this way, it's pretty much impossible to stack the move's power with too many incoming Ki Blasts given you'll hit the foe immediately, so this is more of a useful defensive panic button at the price of the ground chunk if you want to use this "counter" property. Either way, this gives multiple ways for Burter to use the move while carrying a ground chunk without relying on heavy set-up, which is pretty important when Burter loses the ability to mindlessly spam this move while holding a ground chunk without depleting a valuable resource.

DOWN AERIAL - MACH KICKS

Burter does a series of rapid kicks below himself as his legs blur out somewhat similar to his jab, but this has no unique finisher and can't be held out beyond the usual duration. The kicks total to a decent 11% in damage over several flinching hits in a fairly big hitbox that spreads to either side of Burter's legs, with the last hit doing vertical knockback that kills at 170% and can combo at low percents.

Burter's high falling speed makes it awkward to land the whole attack without getting interrupted by landing lag, but this isn't all a bad thing. The attack's landing lag is never shorter than the ending lag, and the landing lag is shorter based off how close to the end of the move Burter was, to the point there's only 1 frame if done at the last possible frame. Burter is tall enough he still has to hit them from fairly high up to make the move go long enough before he hits the ground, though. This enables Burter to be directly in the foe's face with a very slight frame advantage from having flinched them with one of the earlier kicks at point blank range. His standing grab is unfortunately much too slow to combo, but this will at least combo into his jab for more damage than he would get out of this otherwise. Using a ground chunk to cancel out of the move is helpful off-stage, and also lets Burter knock the foe directly towards the blast zone with horizontal knockback on the finisher rather than relatively useless vertical knockback.

If the ground chunk is rotating from having been shot out of a tornado, Burter can briefly touch down on it with his dair to flinch the foe, use a grounded move on his enemy, then cancel out of the grounded move when the chunk spins far enough that Burter cannot stand on it. If the ground chunk is just about to spin far enough he can't stand on it as he dairs, he can very quickly cancel the dair into another aerial, something he's not able to do otherwise. This is also a great way to simply briefly stun the foe to actually get hit by the ground chunk's primary hitbox.

Comboing a tiny bit of damage into jab is nice, but where the move most directly shines is just as an anti-defense move. The lag of a dodge is significantly longer than that of a flinch and should enable Burter to punish with something more impressive, at least his grab. If foes are grounded, they can roll to avoid this attack, though a ground chunk has little enough space that rolling and spot dodges basically are the same thing. The fact this is a multihit move means foes cannot perfect shield anything beyond the first hit either.

This is much more reliable to space in comparison to Burter's nair, though offers smaller rewards unless heavily over-predicting. Burter's aerials, what with how many of them behave during landing, are going to end up being some of his primary on-stage attacks while Wind Walk means his grounded moveset is more often used in the air with uair as the main exception.

FINAL SMASH - ASSIST

Burter summons Jeice and they spin around together, forming a purple tornado as messes of projectiles are constantly shot out to either side. The tornado is double the size of Burter and can be moved left and right at Mario's dashing speed, and it shoots 4 red/blue Mario Fireball sized projectiles to either side at random angles per second. Each projectile is shot out at Burter's dashing speed and is just as powerful as a projectile fired from Burter's Neutral Special. Contact with the tornado itself deals 20% and large vertical knockback that kills at 80%. At the end of the Final Smash, Burter and Jeice do a team pose together and Jeice stays in the background for the rest of the remaining stock, commentating on the match with his Space Australian accent. If Burter taunts next to him, they will do a team pose that buffs the power of his next attack by 1.25X. If Burter taunts while not next to him, the buff is lessened to 1.1X. Thanks to Wind Walk, Burter is still capable of taunting while in the air.

If Jeice was already in the match, Burter does a simplistic solo Final Smash that is basically the same as the Kat and Anna assist trophy, zooming across the screen at random at super high speeds, though his hitboxes are a lot more powerful than that assist trophy. The randomness means this Final Smash generally isn't preferable.
 
Last edited:

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Dr. Neo Cortex


Dr. Cortex is the REAL main villain of the Crash Bandicoot franchise, no matter what some certain individuals will tell you. Born a genius, Cortex was made fun of for his short height, even when he was fully grown. Deciding to take revenge on the world that made fun of him, Cortex, and his assistant N/ Brio, made the Evolv-O-Ray, which they used to create an army of evolved mammalian henchmen. This also resulted in Crash’s own creation, and the downfall of every single one of Cortex’s schemes.

The bad doctor continued to show up throughout the years, mostly always as the main villain (Unless you’re playing Twinsanity). His ultimate fate, since there hasn’t been a (real) since, was being trapped inside Crash’s own brain. Cortex mostly rides around on his hoverboard, and uses a ray gun as his main weapon. This is a remarkably consistent thing throughout the series, with most of his boss fights involving them


Statistics

Weight – 80
Dash Speed – 1.2
Walk Speed – 0.85
Air Speed – 1.1
Fall Speed – 1.7​

Cortex is horrendously wimpy. His ground speed, in either form, is some of the weakest in the game, and he’s very light as well. The only good speed comes from his air stats, and even then, they aren’t particularly notable. This is all because of his ridiculous head, which is the largest part of his character model, bar none. Cortex stands around the size of Toon Link, if a bit taller, but is always hunched over. His head makes him nearly as wide as Toon link as well, but his actual body is considerably smaller than Tink’s. His jumps are mediocre-to-bad as well.


Specials
Side Special – Hoverboard

With a press of the button, Cortex quickly summons up his goofy hoverboard, and hops on it. Summoning the hoverboard is rather slow, as Cortex will have to pull the hoverboard out, and then hop onto it. This takes around the same amount of time as Zelda’s transformation ability, meaning Cortex can easily be knocked out of it. Once Cortex actually hops on the hoverboard however, he can start riding it around. This boosts his speed considerably, knocking it up to a 2. Cortex can move around in all directions like this as well, though the speed slightly decreases (To around 1.8) while moving in any direction that isn’t left and right. This makes the hoverboard a great mobility action, and solves two of Cortex’s major flaws.

This will end up being the hoverboard’s main use for most of the set, but there are a few limitations. For one, most of Cortex’s set is locked out during this time. He still has access to some attacks, which will be noted when we get to them, but he other than those select attacks, he cannot use anything else in his set. The second limitation is that the good doctor cannot summon the hoverboard while in the air, though he will still summon it, but in a different way. We’ll get to that in moment. The final limitation is the time limit. Cortex can only ride around on the hoverboard for around 9 seconds before it explodes. Again, get to that in a moment.

While normally moving around, the hoverboard doesn’t act as a hitbox, and is instead an extension of Cortex’s hurtbox. If an attack that deals 13% or higher hits him, he will be knocked off of the board. However, Cortex isn’t an idiot (At least, not much of one) and knows when to get off his hoverboard. This can be activated at any time while riding it to cause Cortex to hop off. The hoverboard will then go flying forwards, spinning and blinking red. This turns it into a projectile, but a bit of an odd one. While it will explode if it hits an opponent or an obstacle, but if it doesn’t it will continue flying for however many seconds Cortex had left before he leaped off of it.

The explosion is the same whether the time limit runs out, or if it hits an opponent. Roughly 2/3rds the size of a Bob-Omb explosion, and dealing a hefty 15% damage. It has heavy knockback as well, being able to KO middleweight characters at around 140%... and lightweight characters even earlier than that. You can kind of see where this is going. Yeah, the explosion can also damage cortex, even if he jumped off the hoverboard. This is the reason you don’t want to stay on the board too long, but it can still be used effectively as a weapon if your timing is right. It’s just a very… difficult, timing.

When trying to summon the hoverboard mid-air, it will instead instantly enter its projectile form rather than have Cortex hop on it, because he can’t use thin-air to boost himself (Unless it’s a second jump!). Its much faster to come out than the hoverboard usually takes, due to Cortex only having to perform the starting animation. If Cortex is knocked off the board, by the way, he will only be able to use one of his jumps, plus Up Special, in order to recover… and Up Special isn’t particularly good, as you’ll soon see. Basically, despite how it might seem at first, using the hoverboard off-stage is rarely a good idea.


Up Special – Jetpack

Speaking of the Up Special, here it is. Cortex summons his jetpack from his terrible Crash 2 “fight”, which then quickly boosts him upwards. This is a very, very mediocre recovery move all considered, though it is fairly fast, all things considered. It has a tiny bit of start-up lag, during which you can input any of the three upwards directions. This will cause Cortex to fly in that direction, travelling a distance of 1 and a half Ganondorfs. This, by itself, is rather weak, but once the jetpack hits its limit, it will explode and launch Cortex upwards for the rest of the distance.

The jetpack isn’t particularly fast, actual movement-wise, moving at around the speed of R.O.B.’s Up Special, except without being able to move it around. That means that timing is a very, very crucial element to make the most out of this attack. The explosion will put Cortex into helpless as well, so you’ll have to be careful of that too. The jetpack can also be used while riding the hoverboard, albeit with slightly more start-up lag. This acts similarly to how normally getting off the hoverboard acts, putting it into its projectile mode.

The jetpack is also an attack as well, not just a recovery. This is because of Cortex’s freakishly large head and thick skull, the momentum of the jetpack turning it into a bashing weapon. As mentioned above, while the jetpack isn’t remarkably fast, the hitbox remains active during that entire time, aside from when Cortex gets launched off by the explosion. His head will deal a rather safe 8% damage, while also knocking the opponent upwards, KOing at 200%, making it rather weak. This isn’t particularly useful in the grand scheme of things, but it can be useful for getting airborne opponents away while recovering.

The explosion also acts as a hitbox, though its much harder to hit with. The explosion is only roughly as large as Cortex himself, maybe slightly larger, but deals 10% damage and knockback that can KO at 180%. This is another decent way of getting opponents away, especially considering Cortex’s helpless state once this happens. This is still not particularly worth trying to actually hit with, however.

These lackluster hitboxes make the jetpack almost solely a recovery move, and even then it isn’t a particularly good one. Its mediocre, and can only really be used in tandem with jumps. Playing offstage with Cortex is a bad idea, basically, try to stick to the ground instead. Still, it can come in handy during a few situations, though they do manage to be rarer than most recovery moves.


Down Special – Techno-Shield

Cortex presses at something on his gun a few times, before a large, blue forcefield appears around him. This move takes a while to actually complete, though not as long as summoning the hoverboard, but only by a few frames less. Onto the shield itself, which follows Cortex around as he moves across the stage. Its around the size of a normal shield, but slightly larger. The shield is completely circular, clipping into the ground beneath Cortex when he’s grounded, but revealing itself in full while in the air.

When the forcefield is summoned, it briefly acts as a hitbox, dealing 2% damage and weak knockback to anyone in its range. The attack is too slow to make real use of, but the push can help get opponents off your tail in the right circumstances.

Once the forcefield is summoned, it doesn’t do much. It isn’t a hitbox while moving around, but if an opponent bumps into it while walking or running, they will be pushed back slightly, going into a stumbling animation. It otherwise doesn’t do much else on its own. However, if an opponent hits the shield with an attack that deals knockback, the shield will break. When this happens, Cortex will not take any damage, and in fact won’t be halted from any action he’s currently performing.

That’s right, the shield lets Cortex basically take a free hit from any attack… unless the attack is continuous, and has a hitbox that can reach his model. Attacks that are singular hits will only hit the shield, however. Anyway, this is one of the best parts of Cortex’s set, despite it being rather simple. Cortex will need all he can get in order to survive a match, and the shield helps him get past any tough attacks so he can quickly move to more important set-ups.

The shield has a cooldown period, however, meaning that you can’t just use it however many times you want. Once one shield has been broken, you won’t be able to bring out the next one for 15 seconds, a rather long time. During this time, if you attempt to use it, Cortex will still go into the animation, pressing at his gun, but it will instead end with him groaning loudly. Don’t use it while its recharging unless you want to taunt an opponent.

The shield is one of the attacks that can be used while riding the hoverboard, and due to the board moving on its own, Cortex can multitask and move while activating it. The bump effect doesn’t work, however, so you can’t do any fudging with it. This mix of defense and mobility is a dangerous force to be reckoned with, for sure… but if the hoverboard explodes, not only will the shield be destroyed, but Cortex will be damaged as well. So watch for that. Overall, this combo is one of the most useful for Cortex’s general gameplan. The shield can also be active (Not be activated) while using the jetpack, though the explosion there will not destroy the shield.


Neutral Special – A Little Lab Assistance

Cortex places his hand to his chin for a few frames, before going “Aha!”. He then points his gun towards the ground, and fires a shot, which causes a Lab Assistant to sort of grow in front of him, similar to the death animations from Piston It Away in Crash 2, but in reverse. This start-up animation is around above average speed, all considering. Cortex is free to move around as soon as the blast hits the ground, however. The Lab Assistants are also invincible until they reach their full size. The reason for the start-up is simple, inputting a direction on the control stick will cause Cortex to summon a different kind of Lab Assistant.

Just to note, Lab Assistants are the woefully forgotten robotic minions of Cortex. They kind of stopped showing up in games past Wrath of Cortex, for some reason, until they showed back up in N. Sane Trilogy. They look like tall, lanky stereotypical human scientists, wearing glasses and white lab coats, and are considerably taller than Cortex himself. In fact, they’re around roughly twice the size of Cortex, and nearly as tall as Ganondorf. They are a lot thinner than the Dark God, however, and all of them share the same amount of stamina, 20%.

The basic Lab Assistant type is the Potion Thrower. Every Lab Assistant has completely different AI, but they are all remarkably simple, and exist mostly to fulfill some very simple tasks. The Potion Thrower, as its name implies, throws a potion full of green or pink liquid forward. This is a very, VERY simple technique, as he lobs it specifically at an opponent in an arc, similar to that of a Yoshi Egg throw. Its overall trajectory is the same as a Yoshi egg, though the potion is significantly smaller than the eggs as well. The Potion Thrower will throw a potion every half second after the previous potion hits something, always aiming it at the nearest opponent, minion, or construct. They are relatively slow for projectiles, however, making it very unlikely to hit with anything anytime soon. When a potion hits the ground, it will create a puddle of pink or green liquid. As a projectile, the potion is pretty basic, dealing 7% damage with fairly weak knockback.

This attack can be fairly hard to hit with, due to the throw’s poor speed and odd angle. Like with Yoshi, the Potion Thrower cannot throw the potion downwards when aiming it at an opponent directly next to or below them, as the potion will enter a default throw where its flung forwards 1.5 Battlefield Platforms forwards, making it hard to hit smaller opponents with. The ooze is the most important part, however. If the potion manages to hit an opponent, it will cover them in it for around 1.5 seconds, and reduce their movement speed by 1/3rd. The ooze created by the potion when it hits the ground is similar, reducing speed by 1/3rd for however long the opponent stands on it, but dealing no damage. There can only be one of these puddles on stage at a time, however, and they last around 3 seconds, or until a new puddle is created. The color of the puddle is completely aesthetic. The Potion Thrower cannot move from the spot it was summoned in.

The second Lab Assistant is created by pressing down during the move, which will cause Cortex to summon a Lab Assistant carrying a big shield. This is a Blocker, and they are even simpler than the Potion Thrower. Like with the Potion Thrower, the Blocker cannot move from where it was summoned, at least not on its own, due to the massive shield. This shield is pretty incredible, even better than Cortex’s own. It’s around a head taller than Ganondorf, and cannot be destroyed at all, its completely invincible to any attacks that hit it.

Its also a solid object, and functions as a wall, letting certain characters wall jump off of it. The only way to get past it is to use attacks that can pierce through solid objects. A Blocker only has a single “attack” which is only activated when an opponent gets close. It will thrust the shield forward quickly, causing the opponent to stumble back with no damage taken. If an opponent hits the shield, then the Lab Assistant will be pushed back instead, though with slightly less distance. They can easily be pushed off cliffs if too close to an edge. Projectiles will not affect it, however. Though, opponents that are flung into it will push it back. Also, to prevent ledge guarding, opponents that roll up from ledges can phase through the shield.

Despite how powerful this minion might seem; its lack of actual fighting abilities makes it entirely good for being a shield. Another major problem is that the Blocker cannot adjust the angle of its shield, it will always be pointing in-front of where it was summoned. This means that opponents can simply leap over it in order to get past, and quickly take out the vulnerable Assistant behind it. Cortex doesn’t have any way to circumvent this, aside from placing the Blocker in a tunnel, as the shield will clip through ceilings. Though, there aren’t many tunnels in Smash 4. The shield is solid on both sides, however, and can be used for bouncing opponents off it, or saving Cortex’s big head when he gets hit really hard.

Third is the Lab Assistant created by inputting up, the Jetpack Assistant. Jetpack Assistants, obviously, wear jetpacks, and will launch up into the air the moment they are summoned, up around as high as the jetpack will take Cortex, but without launching them off. That’s right, Unlike the previous two minions, this guy can actually move around! Very slowly, though, which is unfortunate. Once a Jetpack Assistant reaches its maximum height from the initial launch, it will start moving towards a random opponent at around the speed of Robin’s walk.

They don’t do much beyond this, actually, and will continue chasing the opponent around until they end up killed, or catch up with them. Once a Jetpack Assistant reaches an opponent, its jetpack will blow up, launching the Assistant off and functionally killing it. The explosion is bigger than the one that Cortex’s jetpack creates, this one being roughly the size of the Lab Assistant’s model, making it a hell of a lot larger. It deals 15% damage, with decent knockback that can KO at 170%. This makes it, so far, Cortex’s best killing move. Unfortunately.

There isn’t much else to the Jetpack Assistant besides that. If it gets KOed instead of managing to reach the opponent, the jetpack will instead start spinning around, before rocketing up and off the screen, taking the Assistant with it. This is just a very elaborate death animation, and can’t do much else. Aside from that, this is called a Jetpack Assistant, and it can indeed assist Cortex with his jetpack. If Cortex uses his Up Special directly into the Jetpack Assistant, he will knock the Assistant away, and steal his jetpack. This will instantly cause Cortex to boost upwards at the same distance as normal, and from there the rest of the move acts the same. This is less practical than it sounds, mostly because Jetpack Assistants won’t be going off stage that often.

For the final Lab Assistant, you’ll need to press either forwards or backwards in order to activate it. This summons up an Electro-Grappler Lab Assistant, which are Lab Assistants wearing large, electrified, mechanical gloves. This is another minion that can move around as well, and gets right to it as soon as he enters the fray, rushing forwards at a decent pace. The Electro-Grappler is the only really aggressive minion in Cortex’s arsenal, as it will charge directly at an opponent in order to attack them. The Electro-Grappler actually has two different attacks, which is the most attacks of any Lab Assistant, if you haven’t guessed that.

The first attack is a series of electrically charged swipes, where the Electro-Grappler will swing his gloves forwards 3 times in a row. He only activates this attack when a short distance away from the opponent. This attack has a pretty pitiful range, and is very slow, but is otherwise pretty decent. While its very easy for the Electro-Grappler to miss with the first swipe, if it DOES hit, it will almost automatically chain it into the other two hits due to the attack’s decent hitstun. Each hit deals 3% damage, with the third hit dealing knockback that can KO at 220%, making it rather weak.

The Electro-Grappler’s second attack has him actually grabbing the opponent, as his name suggests. This only activates when the minion is right next to an opponent. The Electro-Grappler will lift the opponent up, and then send a bolt of electricity through them while shaking them. He then tosses them forwards a fair distance. This deals 10% damage, and has below average throw knockback, but that still doesn’t make it terrible. The main problem with this is that the attack has considerable start-up, and can be fairly easy to dodge if you see it coming. The Electro-Grappler will always throw the opponent in the opposite direction of Cortex.

Each Lab Assistant has a very specific purpose, as mentioned above. With the Potion Thrower, its main use is to have a projectile and to slow down opponents during set-up periods. The Blocker is a heavily defense based minion, designed entirely around protecting Cortex from projectiles, and just protecting in general. Jetpack Assistants are meant to pressure opponents, and keep them running around the stage. The Electro-Grappler is a heavily offensive based minion who is designed to directly keep opponents away from Cortex. Used correctly, the Lab Assistants can be a major, major threat.

However, Cortex can only have two on stage at a time, and it has to be two different Lab Assistants. This allows for some fun plays, especially with the Electro-Grappler. In fact, there are even a few fun interactions between some of them.

If a Potion thrower’s potion manages to hit the shield of a Blocker, then the shield will become covered in the goo. If the shield hits an opponent while it has the ooze on it, then they will be covered with the ooze instead. If a potion hits an Electro-Grappler, then it will grab the potion instead, and then flung it at the previously locked on opponent, giving it extra range. Potions can also hit Jetpack Assistants, but won’t do much besides just damaging them.

If a Jetpack Assistant is on stage, and an Electro-Grappler manages to grab onto the opponent that it was chasing after, it will instead throw it at the Jetpack Assistant instead of away from Cortex. If the opponent manages to hit the Jetpack Assistant, then this will almost always automatically cause the explosion to trigger. If an Electro-Grappler is placed behind a Blocker, and an opponent is in front of the Blocker, the Electro-Grappler will grab onto the Blocker and start to push it forwards at a slow pace. This will only go for as long as an opponent is standing in front of a Blocker, however, and will stop completely if a Blocker reaches a ledge.

So, be a scientist and experiment with your minions. Figuring out the right combinations for the moment is integral to Cortex’s overall gameplan.


Smashes
Down Smash – Mine All Mine

Cortex takes a small step back, as he reaches for something from his pocket. He quickly throws it forwards, revealing his item to be a large mine! Flying forwards slightly, 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform, the mine lands on the ground, and then arms itself, the light on top blinking on and off. The mines are very large, roughly around the whole width of Cortex’s own model, but only a third as tall. How he carries so many is a mystery. Anyway, the animation is rather quick, but there’s a tiny amount of endlag at the end of the move, making it so that Cortex can only move around once one of the mines has hit the ground. As a Down Smash, it has rather limited range, but isn’t terrible.

That’s right, one. Depending on the charge, Cortex can fling 1 to 3 mines out at once. One at the least amount of charge, making it the fastest, and three at full charge, with two falling between the two ends of the spectrum. The mines are all thrown at once, with each of them going a slightly different distance, specifically a bit farther than the original mine’s distance. There’s a tiny gap between each mine, roughly equivalent to a Home-Run Bat in width. As mentioned above, the endlag only applies to the first one hitting the ground, but the frame difference between the other two mines hitting the ground is negligible.

How mines are thrown is another interesting bit. If mines are thrown at a wall, they will instead stick to that, which can apply to the Blocker minion. This is the only time the gap between the mines can be broken, as they will tend to all fit onto one wall if there is enough room, basically squeezing together and clipping. Distance is an important factor, as the positioning for a wall changes based on it. When used at certain distances, only one or two mines could end up sticking to the wall. On smaller walls, one mine will tend to stick on, while either one or both of the other mines go onto the platform above it. Mines will fall down infinitely, but lose their hitbox once they begin to do so, removing any ledge-guarding techniques.

As they’re flung forwards, the mines count as a hitbox. Due to their large size, they can be fairly easy to hit with, especially when fully charged. However, due to being projectiles, they will always deal 13% damage, no matter the charge. The mines do deal rather heavy backwards knockback, able to KO at around 200%, but it isn’t especially useful as a KO attack. Due to this knockback, the opponent cannot be hit by a second mine, keeping it at that fairly low damage.

And now, the fun part. The mines, if you can’t tell, are explosive. They will explode when a character touches the model in any way, whether it be walking or attacking. Low flying projectiles will also trigger the mines. When this happens, the explosion will be slightly wider than the mine’s model, stretching out enough to reach the other mines and make them explode. The explosions are fairly short at around 2/3rds Cortex’s own height. The hitbox isn’t especially important, since opponents will most likely be touching them when they go off, due to there being very minimal lag. They will deal 10% damage, with upwards knockback that can KO at 180%.

This touch effect applies to minions as well, since it basically requires anything to touch them. Cortex can use this to his advantage, summoning up the Electro-Grappler to charge in and explode them instantly and potentially counter an opponent, as it will usually end up rushing after an opponent on the other side. Of course, this means sacrificing a minion. Other minions can trigger them as well, though only the Lab Assistant part of the Blocker can be hurt by them. A Potion Thrower’s potion can also destroy them, as well as a Jetpack Assistant’s touch.

But if Cortex doesn’t want to risk his minions to cause the chain reaction, he can always do it himself! Why would you want to do that, though? Cortex is made out of plasticine, he can be killed by them with little effort! Well, except when you use his shield! When a shield is equipped, Cortex won’t take any damage, but instead be flung up into the air, though this will destroy the shield. This can function as a decent getaway in some places, but requires set-up that might not end up being worth it.

Cortex can even throw the mines while riding his hoverboard! This behaves similarly to normal, but instead of throwing the mines, Cortex will instead drop them downwards. This cancels out their initial throw hitbox automatically, but can be a bit more precise, aiming wise. Finally, Cortex can only have one set of mines out at a time, which means he can only have three out if he fully charges the move. Throwing out one, even if there’s only one on stage, will cause the previous mine to peter out of existence.


Up Smash – Slow Mo Flow Staff

During the charging animation, Cortex will fiddle with his gun, quickly turning it into a staff or pole of some kind. He lifts it up, and then slams it into the ground, sending a shockwave across the ground. This first part, while technically part of the charge animation, will still continue even when the move is flicked. Its remarkably short, though, so it doesn’t really give it any real start-up lag. The shockwave is the main form of hitbox here, and reaches out fairly decently, around half a Battlefield Platform on either side of Cortex. It only travels across the ground, however, and is hideously ineffective against any character that’s in the air, but it is rather fast. It will deal 10-18% damage, with upwards knockback that can KO at 180%. The upward thrust at the start of the move is a weak hitbox that always deals 6% damage, with below mediocre upwards knockback.

Once Cortex slams the staff down, it will then plant itself in the ground, and extend upwards a bit, becoming a prop that’s around a Ganondorf head taller than Cortex, and is as thin as a Beam Saber. The staff, an N. Tropy Staff, despite having nothing to do with N. Tropy (Cortex was always good at stealing ideas). It can take a total of 15% damage before it gets destroyed, but other than that, there isn’t much notable statistic-wise.

However, the staff’s actual effect is definitely interesting. It creates an electrical field from its tip, forming a half circle. This takes up around 2 Battlefield Platforms, and reaches as high as the pole does. There is a small gap between the slam and the extending, allowing opponents who are hit by it to fly off without getting trapped in the field. When opponents walk into the field, they will be slowed down by 0.5x their normal speed. See, that’s why its called an N. Tropy Staff. This is a remarkably basic effect, all considering, and is there mostly to help with Cortex’s own, bigger set-ups. The downside of this is that the field will vanish after around 7 seconds. Luckily, the attack is fairly fast, meaning Cortex can have another one up, though this requires leaving a potential safe zone. Cortex can only have one N. Tropy Staff out at a time.

There are a few interactions with the N. Tropy Staff, though the more interesting ones will come later. The main thing is that it can also slow down minions, other moving props, and even Cortex himself. This isn’t major, but can definitely be used to some interesting capacities, most notably with the hoverboard’s projectile form. During that the timer its on will slow down as well, and make it slightly easier to hit foes with. Other than that, there isn’t anything particularly notable to it, but that will be fixed shortly.


Forward Smash – N. Sane Blast

Cortex lets out a laugh as he pulls out his ray gun, and starts to charge it for the… charging animation. The blaster glows blue during this, as Cortex braces himself for the blast. The actual attack has him firing a blue blast from his gun. The blast travels forwards for around half a Battlefield Platform, and is roughly the size as a fully charged Charge Beam shot. Its slightly slow, but not incredibly so. If it hits an opponent during this brief time, it will deal 6-8% damage depending on the charge, with mediocre knockback. Pretty weird for an FSmash to be doing something like that, huh?

Well, after the blast travels that set distance, it will then start to behave oddly. The blast will start to swerve either up or down, depending on which direction you inputted during the charging animation. The base version has it swerving up. Anyway, it will swerve upwards around a Ganondorf and a half into the air, and then, after traveling 1/4th of a Battlefield platform, swerve down a Ganondorf. It will continue this pattern for as long as it remains on stage, which will be a long while, since it has infinite range.

As the blast travels forwards, its speed gradually increases, until it reaches the point where its traveling forwards at the speed of a fully charged Super Scope shot, while also zooming up and down, forming into a wall of sorts, though there still are a few frames where it can be avoided. Reaching this speed takes 3/4ths of Battlefield’s main platform to reach, however. It strength also increases alongside this speed, reaching a maximum of 18-24% damage, with knockback that can KO at 140%! Of course, thats the maximum damage, which means it can be a bit… tough, to actually make it worthwhile. This attack is a very good keepaway move, while also just generally being a decent projectile. Its best to fire it from the edges of stages, and even then its most effective on flat arenas.

When Cortex has one of the blasts fired, he can still use the attack. It will become a lot more like a usual, generic smash attack, though it has the same start-up animation. A hitbox is placed at the point where Cortex fires the blast, and is roughly the same size as the normal blast, and deals the weakest amount of damage, but with slightly better knockback. Another drawback of the attack is its poor speed, having pretty terrible endlag, no matter which version you use. This is a problem mostly because it requires Cortex getting into the front lines himself, which isn’t that great an idea, and whiffing it just makes it worse. It is technically possibly to use the attack from the safety of a Blocker, but requires really, REALLY specific positioning.


Standards
Jab – Blaster Beam

Cortex pulls out his classic ray gun, and fires a quick, green energy blast from it. This is similar to Megaman’s Jab, as Cortex instead fires projectiles, rather than performing a basic combo. These projectiles are much larger, however, being around the size of a mid-charged Charge Beam shot from Samus. They are also more powerful, dealing 4% damage on contact, along with weak, though noticeable, knockback that can be good for knocking opponents around. The range of the Blaster Beam is insanely short, however, the blasts only travelling forwards half a Battlefield Platform forwards from Cortex. This basically makes this projectile a melee attack, something Cortex isn’t particularly good at.

Luckily, the blasts are remarkably quick, and the endlag is practically nonexistent, with Cortex being able to fire another shot as soon as the previous one vanishes. This makes it quick, but due to the knockback, it isn’t capable of comboing into itself. Cortex can actually move around while firing his ray gun, like Megaman, but unlike Megaman, this doesn’t function as his FTilt. Instead, after each shot, Cortex will hold his gun out for 10 frames. During this time, Cortex can move around, and if the Jab or FTilt inputs are used during this time, Cortex can continue to fire his shots while moving. With this, the use of Cortex’s ray gun becomes more obvious. It’s a defense tool that’s main use is to protect Cortex while he’s trying to get from place to place.

Like Megaman SHOULD HAVE been able to do, Cortex can charge up his blaster by holding the button down. Its similar to the FSmash, but the difference here is that, instead of the gun’s tip glowing blue, it glows a generic white color. Cortex can move around while charging, as the gun will be held out as long as its charging. This allows Cortex to position himself better, but also locks him off from doing anything other than jumping. The gun will reach its full charge after 3 seconds have passed, a ridiculously long time for something like this. Once the gun is fully charged, the light will become red.

The fully charged projectile is the exact same in size, but is now red in color. The biggest change is its range, which is now completely infinite. Its ridiculous speed is retained as well, and deals a pretty significant 14% damage, with knockback that can KO at 160%. While its easy to hit with in a lot of cases, coming out incredibly quickly, its also very telegraphed due to how you need to activate it. And if Cortex whiffs, he’ll suffer through some heavy endlag as the force of the blast knocks his tiny, pathetic body to the ground. This leaves him very vulnerable, but the attack is good enough (Relative to most of Cortex’s set, at least) to be very worthwhile. This can actually be pretty easy to get off if you have the right minions around.

While the ray gun doesn’t have any specific interactions with any of the Lab Assistants, it DOES have an interaction with the Slow Mo Flow Staff. If Cortex shoots the staff with his ray gun, the blast will instead attach to the staff, and then move up to the tip of it. Once this happens, the animation is incredibly quick, the staff will quickly spray out 2 small balls of energy, roughly the size of Pokeballs. The balls will fly out in randomized arcs, the maximum distance being 1/3rd of a Battlefield platform away from the slow aura on either side, and disappear once they hit the ground. If the balls hit someone, they will take 2% damage without any flinching. The charged shot can activate this as well, but will shoot out 7 electric balls rather than a pitiful 2. Other than that, nothing changes. It requires some spamming in some cases, but it can work as a quick damage causer, as multiple shots can be shot into the staff at the same time, and the blasts count as gone once they hit it.


Forward Tilt – Like a Present, Except the Exact Opposite

Cortex lets out a laugh, before pulling out a cartoony bomb with a skull on it, and starts to roll it forwards. This start-up animation is rather long, especially for am FTilt, but it isn’t impossibly slow. Its slow speed is mitigated by the actual hitbox of the attack, being the bomb itself. The bomb is basically a projectile, one that rolls along the ground with physics similar to the rolling barrel item. As soon as the bomb starts rolling around, Cortex will be able to move again, giving it very little endlag.

The bomb itself is around the size of Kirby, and moves at a speed slightly faster than that of the rolling barrel due to this. The bomb’s fuse will poke out occasionally during its rolling cycle, but only the bomb itself counts as a full on hitbox. On contact with an opponent, the bomb will explode into an explosion hitbox that is only slightly larger than the bomb model itself. This is surprisingly weak for an explosion, dealing 8% damage, and is only really able to KO past 190%. It is, however, a decent way to keep opponents away for a bit.

Bombs will stay on the stage for quite a few second, around 5 in total. Once the fifth second hits, it will explode automatically. As said above, the bomb mostly has the same physics as the barrels, but it has a few unique properties as well. If the bomb hits the ground after being in the air for a few frames, it will bounce off the ground, up to around half Cortex’s height. Bombs can only do this once per ground type (EG. It can bounce off of Battlefield’s platforms once, but won’t bounce again until it falls off and hits the main platform). This is actually a very decent way of edgeguarding for Cortex, but does have positioning issues. Another, minor, difference is that the bomb won’t explode upon touching walls or other parts of the stage, only when it hits active hurtboxes or hitboxes.

The bomb has a few interactions with the Lab Assistants as well. Being a wall, the Blocker can be used for bouncing and trick shots with the bombs. Potion Throwers can cause the bombs to explode if their potions touch them, but that’s something all hitboxes do. Electro-Grapplers, however, have a special function. If a bomb rolls into them, they will pick it up and start to carry it over their heads. They’ll then throw it at the closest opponent. If the throw misses, the bomb will explode upon contact with the ground this time.

Cortex can have 3 bombs on a stage at a time, but if all three bombs are out at once, Cortex will enter a quick animation where he reaches for a bomb, and realizes there are none left. He then gives a sheepish smile, and goes back to his idle animation. This animation is very quick, even shorter than the actual bomb throwing animation, preventing any punishable whiffs.


Up Tilt – Dead or High Up

Cortex’s blaster turns into a staff again, as he quickly thrusts it upwards. This version of the staff is much shorter than the one on USmash, slightly shorter than cortex himself. This doesn’t apply to the actual range of the move, which only reaches upwards about half of the rod’s length as Cortex thrusts it. The attack is rather quick as well, the gun transforming as Cortex thrusts it upwards, but the endlag is rather mediocre, as Cortex will hold it in the air for a few frames before it transforms back into his gun.

This attack has a bit of a strange hitbox to it. It isn’t limited to the staff itself, but extends outwars around 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform away from Cortex himself. See, when the attack is used, a pulse of energy will strike across the ground as well (Something involving gravitational experiments maybe?), which can hit opponents as well. The staff itself acts as the main hitbox, dealing 9% damage, with upwards knockback that can KO at a fairly pathetic 200%. The energy hitbox will deal 4% damage, and also deals upwards knockback, but at a much weaker rate that can KO at around 300%. Its incredibly weak, but it still causes flinching.

This actually also affects, well, basically anything on the stage. If items, minions, or anything that isn’t part of the stage itself is within Cortex’s range, he can use the attack to bounce it slightly into the air, around half a Kirby. This doesn’t do much, but its flinching can mess with opponent minions, and can occasionally be used to block projectiles. Otherwise, the attack is mostly a good way for Cortex to distract an opponent when he gets in too close. This also does affect Lab Assistants, but doesn’t allow for much use other than, well, bouncing them slightly.


Down Tilt – Mask the Pain

First, we need to describe Cortex’s crouching animation. It has him ducking and covering his head in fear, visibly shuddering in fear. First off, this crouch is absolutely terrible, entirely due to Cortex’s giant cranium. He’s nearly half the height of his normal stance when like this, its pretty pathetic for a crouch. Anyway, the actual attack has him suddenly raising his head and putting his hands out in a “boo!” motion. Once this happens, a holographic image of Uka Uka will shoot out of the N on his forehead. This isn’t the real Uka Uka, just a hard-light construct that Cortex has for… protective reasons.

This attack is rather slow, especially for a Dtilt. It takes a while for Uka Uka to fully pop out, but once he does, he stays there for a rather decent amount of time, before Cortex recalls the hologram. Cortex can actually hold Uka Uka out for an indefinite amount of time, as long as the attack button is held down. Calling Uka Uka back in takes equally as long as calling him out does.

As for the actual hitbox, despite light shooting out of Cortex’s forehead, only the holographic Uka Uka acts as a hitbox. He’s incredibly thin, but sticks out around 1/4th of a Battlefield Platform out, which would usually make this decent for poking, but the speed definitely doesn’t help it in any way. He’s also tall enough to fully mask Cortex while he’s crouching, which is important. Uka Uka will deal 8% damage to whoever he hits, while knocking them back slightly for unsurprisingly weak knockback for a hologram. This isn’t an especially great attack, but it does have a pretty specific use.

Uka Uka sort of acts as a temporary shield. It can block a single projectile that deals under 40% damage, meaning most projectiles. While you might think that this makes it superior to the Blocker, its only really a temporary measure. Again, it can only block a single projectile, while the Blocker can keep opponents busy for a while. Melee attacks will also shatter Uka Uka, but with enough range, they can hit Cortex as well. When Uka Uka breaks, Cortex will also be pushed into a brief stun animation. Its brief enough to not really cause any issues for him, however.

Uka Uka also has a cooldown period before you can use him as a shield again. It takes around 2 seconds for it to recharge, again making the Blocker a bit more preferable entirely due to his stamina. During thsi period, the attack changes slightly. It becomes slightly faster, with Uka Uka popping up for a brief moment as a hitbox, and then disappearing at a faster rate. It still deals the same damage as the normal one, but its additional speed makes it better at poking than the normal version. Of course, you’re very much limited to when you can use it, so its better to focus on the main version of the move.

Of course, there’s no one who’s more scared of Uka Uka than his minions, and this is another reason to use the move, as it can help move Lab Assistants around. Using the attack in front of them will cause them to act in different ways, depending on the type. Electro-Grapplers and Potion Throwers will run forwards, the Potion Thrower running 1.5 Battlefield Platforms, and the Electro-Grappler running 2 Battlefield Platforms. Blockers will push on their shields as best they can, exerting enough effort to push it 1/4th of a Battlefield Platform forwards, before becoming exhausted. These three effects help with basic positioning of the minions, though it can take a bit to get a Blocker anywhere. Jetpack Assistants will reverse their direction entirely, usually taking a longer way to the opponent they’re chasing. This can be used to trick them. The Assistants work on a cooldown timer of 2 seconds as well, but they’re affected by any version of the attack.


Dash Attack – Cranium Collision

Cortex isn’t a particularly good runner, as shown in this move. While running, Cortex suddenly trips over himself, causing him faceplant into the ground and slide forwards a bit. This move somewhat resembles Dedede’s dash attack, and actually behaves very, very similarly to it. The main difference is the timing of the hitbox. As is fairly obvious, the hitbox of this move is attached to Cortex’s big ol’ head. While only Dedede’s front becomes a hitbox, Cortex’s head stays a hitbox for a much larger period.

From around the moment Cortex starts to fall is when the hitbox activates, and it remains active until Cortex stops sliding across the ground. This is, surprisingly, a fairly powerful attack for Cortex, which is odd considering its his only melee attack. It deals out 10% damage on contact, with rather mediocre knockback that KOs in the early 200%s. Guess that’s what they call using your head.

Cortex will slide forwards only a short distance, however, giving the move some very, very bad range to it. The slide is even shorter than Dedede’s slide. This isn’t the only bad thing about the move, as it has terrible endlag. Cortex will have to get up and shake off the accident before the attack is fully finished. This means that whiffing it is an incredibly dangerous prospect. The start-up is decently fast, however. This attack mostly exists as a last resort. Hitting with it will buy Cortex enough time to escape, but a miss can result in punishment, and even a KO considering how weak Cortex is.


Aerials
Neutral Aerial - Down to my Level

Cortex points his ray gun forwards, shooting out a ball of electricity as he does so. The ball of electricity emits from the tip of his gun for the duration of the attack, and can be held for an infinite duration as long as the attack button is held down. The hitbox of the electric ball is fairly large, 3/4ths the size of a Party Ball, in fact. The ball is emitted directly in front of Cortex as well, giving it fairly decent range, though this leaves Cortex completely open in the back. The attack is pretty fast, but any momentum Cortex had will instantly be halted as soon as he uses it.

The electric ball, being the hitbox, will deal damage if the opponent touches it, or is inside the ball’s area when the attack is used. The attack has some other odd attributes. The first being that, when an opponent is hit, they will start to be dragged down through the air by Cortex. They’ll be trapped in the ball for this entire time, and can take a total of five hits from the attack at a time, each dealing 2% damage. If all five hits are used up, the opponent will be launched with some fairly weak knockback, but they won’t be if Cortex hits the ground before then.

This is something that’s rather hard to do, since the attack can get all its hits off very quickly, but it is completely doable. When Cortex hits the ground with the opponent they will take a small amount of hitstun, which allows Cortext to do a few things. One, he can use an attack, two, he can run away, or three, he can leave the opponent for a minions. In the case you want to use it with a minion, you will need to be very close to one before hitting the ground. The only really reliable minion for this is the Electro-Grappler, however. This move is a decent wall move, and can help Cortex get out of certain struggles.


Forwards Aerial - Jetpack-Back

Cortex pulls out his jetpack again, and this time swings the exhaust forwards, before activating it. This causes him to launch off backwards. This is a surprisingly fast move, coming out faster than a lot of Cortex’s other Aerials. The hitbox of this attack is, obviously, the exhaust boost. This doesn’t have a lot of range to it, and can only hit if Cortex is right next to the opponent, which, as we’ve established, is not something Cortex will be doing regularly. The move is actually fairly powerful, dealing 13% damage, with knockback that can KO at around 180%.

As mentioned, this is also somewhat of a mobility tool for Cortex. Using it will cause him to boost backwards around half a Battlefield in the opposite direction Cortex was facing. This is a decently fast bit of movement, especially with how short it is. This also counts as a hitbox, with Cortex using his massive noggin to ram into anyone that gets in his way. While this is visually similar to how Cortex hits opponents with his Up Special, its actually stronger, dealing 10% damage, and can KO at 190%. The major difference is the lack of travel, and that Cortex doesn’t get the extra boost from an explosion at the end, instead the jetpack just vanishes. As you might expect, Cortex can only use this move once per air trip.

This jetpack attack can also interact with the Jetpack Assistant. It interacts in, well, basically the exact same way, with Cortex stealing the assistant’s jetpack in order to boost a bit farther. In this case, its only a slight boost, giving Cortex a full boost of 1 Battlefield Platforms in total for his trip. This attack is another good mobility tool for Cortex, and can especially help with his air game. It can also help with some aerial combos, if he gets to the point where its safe to do.


Up Aerial - Flat Top

Cortex bends forwards, straining his entire body as he does so, before thrusting his massive noggin backwards. This functions practically as a flipping attack, except with a surprisingly large hitbox, mostly when compared to others of its kind. This is a pretty dreadfully slow move, however, taking quite a while to fully come out due to Cortex’s struggle with his own head. But this makes it rather powerful, dealing 10% damage with above average upwards knockback, making it one of Cortex’s more powerful melee attacks. Which isn’t saying much.

The hitbox is a bit odd, however. Despite covering the entirety of Cortex’s head, it only lasts as Cortex thrusts it back. Cortex does go into a full spinning animation despite this, but once the head completes its arc, the hitbox vanishes, leaving the rest of the animation as somewhat obnoxious endlag. However, its large hitbox makes it at all useful… sometimes.


Back Aerial - Overcharged

Cortex points his ray gun behind him, which then proceeds to charge up a blast. Once its ready, it fires out, with enough force to launch Cortex forwards a bit. First, the blast itself. For one, it takes a long while to actually fire. Not a horrendously long time, but enough time to be a damper to potential strategies. The blast is relatively small for what it is, however, only firing from the tip of the ray gun in a burst like with Samus’ FSmash. When it hits an opponent, it can deal 14% damage, and can KO at 160%, making it one of Cortex’s strongest moves.

For the push, this one is a bit more difficult. The effectiveness of the push actually depends on Cortex’s current momentum. To be more specific, if he fires it while moving forwards, the push will be more effective, able to launch him across most of Battlefield. If he’s moving backwards when he uses it, the push will be considerably less effective, only pushing him a tiny bit. This allows it to be multiple things at once. For one, it can be an effective mobility tool, and a good KO move, one of Cortex’s few.

It can also be used to interact with Lab Assistants. Using the attack on a Lab Assistant will cause them to fly forwards about 2/3rds of a Battlefield Platform forwards. Well, most of them, the Blocker will only go about half that far. Anyway, this can be especially effective with Jetpack Assistants, as it can help push them towards the opponent they’re chasing, and activate the explosion sooner. All Lab Assistants have their hitboxes active while being pushed forwards, meaning that an Electro-Grappler can be just as effective as well.


Down Aerial - Loads of N. Rgy

Cortex unfolds his ray gun into a staff again, but this time points it downwards. He then fires out a ray of electricity from it, like lightning. This has similar speed to Cortex’s other staff based moves, having a fairly quick start-up. The hitbox of the electric ray is relatively small, the size of two Homerun Bats placed right next to each other. It reaches downwards a full Ganondorf, however, giving it some very good range for an aerial.

The ray deals multiple hits of damage if the opponent gets caught in it, around three hits at maximum, each for 4% damage, totaling up to 12%. The attack actually deals upwards knockback, surprisingly enough. The attack is rather fast as well, for what it is. Comparatively, its a lot slower than most other DAirs. The attack also has fairly bad ending lag, though not the worst in Cortex’s set. Also, the beam can’t fire through floors, even thin platforms. The ground will cut off some of its length, depending how high up Cortex is. This makes it remarkably bad out of short-hop.

Cortex can also hit his Lab Assistants with the electric beam. This causes all of them to gain an electric charge throughout their bodies, which gives them 1.3x their normal speed. Well, all of them except the Blocker, since he kind of can’t move. Thsi can be incredibly useful for the Electro-Grappler and the Jetpack Assistant, but it works amazingly well with the Potion Thrower, too! It will speed up his potion throwing, allowing him to pelt opponents with projectiles much faster. This only lasts around 5 seconds, however, and Cortex will have to wait an additional 10 before a minion can take another one. This only applies to specific Lab Assistants, however, meaning that the timer has passed for another Assistant, but not the other, you can use it on the other one.

This is one of Cortex’s only real aerial attack options, due to its good reach and decent damage output, but the overall downside is that it doesn’t protect him a whole lot. Its effect on Lab Assistants make it handy as well.


Grab Game
Grab & Pummel - Magno-Beam

Cortex fiddles with his gun, pointing it forwards, and then creates a large, blue blast in front of him. The blast disappears almost instantly after its fired, but has a decent range of around a full Bowser in front of Cortex. This is, of course, a grab, and this range makes it one of the best non-tethers in the game. Unfortunately, the downside from this is that it has some pretty miserable start-up lag, making it incredibly telegraphed.

When the opponent is actually grabbed, Cortex will stun them, and then lift them into the air, keeping them hovering for however long the grab lasts. His pummel has him pressing another button on the side of his gun, and causing a quick shock, dealing 2% damage. Its rather slow, however, but not terribly slow.


Forward Throw - Cortex Vortex

Cortex presses another button on his gun, causing radio signal-like waves to fire out of it. They start to cover the opponent, who also proceeds to start spinning around rapidly. During this time, they spin faster and faster, this being the actual damaging part of the move, with each rotation dealing 1% damage. The opponent will spin around for a total of 8 rotations, equaling 8% damage, before they’re launched off. This makes the start-up rather long, and will take around a full second to perform.

This is actually a really powerful move, surprisingly. Obviously not damage wise, but it can fling the opponent remarkably far, just over 2/3rds of Battlefield’s main platform at 0%. The throw is in an arc, and if the opponent lands, they will enter a brief state of stun, specifically using the dizzy animation. This lasts 1/4th as long as the dizzy state usually does, and will specifically only affect the opponent if they hit the ground. If they’re flung off the stage, then after around 10 frames, they will be able to regain their aerial control, including extra jump and recovery.

With power like that, there also comes a downside. Cortex undergoes some heavy endlag as the force of the throw knocks himself back, and he has to recover. This is less stun than the opponent takes, but due to the strength of the throw, its practically impossible to re-grab the opponent. This move is for spacing, even more so than normal throws. Its long range and stun effect allow Cortex to easily escape some tough situations, but this also requires him to think ahead in regards to the grab itself.


Up Throw - Anti-Gravity Whats-its

Cortex lifts the opponent over his head, as best he can, before pressing a button on his ray gun. This causes the opponent to float up slightly, trapped in an electric bubble, before stopping completely. This throw takes a bit to get going, but once the opponent floats upwards (Which is only half Cortex’s height upwards), Cortex is able to move around, though the bubble protects the opponent from any attacks, so he can’t cheese it and hit them again.

They stay like this for around 1.5 seconds, but can break out of it with half the amount of struggling as a normal grab. When the opponent breaks free of the bubble, no matter what, they will take 8% damage, but regain control practically instantly, suffering exactly zero knockback. This isn’t a particularly good throw, but it is a good tool for Cortex! Obviously its main use is as a minor distraction, allowing Cortex to avoid direct combat and focus on something else for the next moment.


Back Throw - Oopsie daisy!

Cortex starts to lift the opponent over his head, using his gun, but starts to teeter over. He promptly falls over, slamming the opponent into the ground behind him. This causes them to fly off, because its a throw. This throw, like a lot of Cortex’s other throws, takes quite a bit to fully perform, though it isn’t the slowest in the game. This obviously leaves Cortex open for quite a while, unfortunately. The endlag is bad as well, as Cortex will have to get back up to his feet.

It deals rather decent damage, around 8%. The throw launches the opponent off at a more noticeable arc than some throws, due to it being a bounce. It’s capable of killing at around 190%. This isn’t a remarkably effective throw, but like most other throws, it can be used well to space opponents out. Its long animation can be a problem, but under the right circumstances it can be used… at all.


Down Throw - Payback

With the opponent at his mercy, Cortex proceeds to let out all of his frustration on them. Using the ray gun’s magno-beam, he rapidly slams the opponent into the ground, before a final slam launches them off. This move is fairly slow, due to Cortex performing exaggerated slamming motions to make sure the opponent is hit really, REALLY hard. With the final slam, Cortex is also knocked a bit off balance, resulting in some bad endlag.

The throw itself has the damage dealt while Cortex is slamming the opponent into the ground. Cortex will slam them into the ground a total of 5 times, each slam dealing out 2% damage, totaling up at 10%, fairly strong for a throw. The final slam deals upwards diagonal knockback, and can KO at a fairly decent 160%. This is one of Cortex’s, in general, better throws, despite it being rather slow. If you want to deal a lot of damage to the opponent, and its safe to do so, use this throw.


Final Smash
M-Mighty Uka Uka!

Cortex has the power of the Smash Ball! But before he can use it, Uka Uka, the REAL Uka Uka, appears! The doctor cowers in fear as the demon mask yells at him, before taking the power of the Smash Ball for himself! Once this cinematic ends, the Final Smash itself truly begins.

For the attack, Uka Uka will start moving around the stage, facing towards the screen. He’s surrounded by a massive ball of dark energy, the size of a full Smart bomb explosion. His movement is a bit odd, however, as he will bounce off the sides of the screen, like one of those screen savers, while never actually interacting with the stage itself. He bounces around fast, however, gradually building in speed as he travels across the screen.

The dark energy functions as the hitbox for Uka Uka, dealing 20% damage to anyone who comes in contact with it, besides Cortex and his minions, while also dealing good knockback that can KO in the early 100%s. This part of the move lasts for around 15 seconds, and when that’s done, Uka Uka will move towards the exact center of the stage, and let out a roar. This causes the dark energy to pulse outwards, in a wave that’s large enough to cover the entirety of Battlefield, plus some. This deals a hefty 30% damage, and can KO even earlier.

Once the move ends, Uka Uka will let out a quick laugh, and vanish.
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
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"Gimme some cash an' I might just let you walk away from this'n one piece!"

Balrog


Balrog, known as M. Bison in Japan and just plain as "Boxer" to many players due to naming confusion, is a long time character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter II. as should be obvious, Balrog here is a reference to Mike Tyson, but Capcom USA was afraid of a lawsuit from said Mike Tyson in the game with his name, and at the same time thought that Vega (who is Balrog in Japan) did not fit the name Balrog well. So they named this guy to Balrog, they named then-Balrog to now-Vega, and they renamed what was then-Vega in Japan to what the west would know as the Psycho Power wielding M. Bison. Confusing? Yes. That's why a lot of people in Street Fighter just call Balrog "Boxer", to sidestep this entire thing.

Balrog himself is an arrogant, hot tempered and self-centered boxer who is extremely greedy: Despite the fact he is one of the Four Kings of Shadaloo, he really takes almost no interest in their affairs for world domination or anything and instead is merely interested in amassing great wealth, fortune and fame so he can live on the easy, high class street for life. He only even ever joined Shadaloo after his excessive violence, such as illegal headbutts and accidentally killing one of his opponents, got himself kicked out of the pro boxing world. Unfortunately for Balrog, he tends to spend all of his money living like a king instead of using it at all responsibly, meaning he quickly blows through it all and ends up broke and needing to fight for money all over again.

He's also noticable for being one of the most straightforward fighters in Street Fighter, being almost all punches and illegal boxing moves like his headbutt, which Ryu notes also holds him back (His punches are absolutely fearsome, but since he doesn't know how to use the rest of his body, he's easy to counter) and the fact he's only in it for the money means he tends not to be as effective of a fighter as, for example, all these people who train all their life for fighting for whatever personal reasons.


Statistics


Big, bad and in charge, Balrog can be compared to Captain Falcon, except especially more bulky and muscular, making him one of the largest characters in the game. Fittingly, Balrog is nearly equal to Ganondorf in weight at 111 (Ganondorf is 113). What is more surprising is that Balrog is actually fairly fast, although he's no speed demon: he is the smallest touch faster than Bowser, to give one an idea, while having high end traction. His walk speed is extremely low, much like the other group Street Fighter, Ryu.

Aerially, Balrog shares the same fastfalling mechanic that Ryu does, only getting a 40% fastfall increase when fastfalling, and similiarly has noticably low aerial acceleration with low tier aerial deceleration. His actual air speed is 1.11, putting him barely above the Cloud tie but directly below Ryu, and he falls faster than Ryu, more like Bowser to be specific. Balrog's first jump goes pretty high, while his second jump is average.

As a general note, the default look for Balrog in this game is his appearance from Street Fighter V, but he has alt costumes for Street Fighter IV and the like.


Mechanic: EX Meter

Combining the inspirations of both Little Mac and Ryu, Balrog brings his own meter into the game, being named the EX Meter after the same mechanic in the Street Fighter series. It is a 3-segmented, blue bar much like its appearance in Street Fighter V, which fills up as Balrog takes damage or deals damage in a manner much like Little Mac's KO Punch: Each segment requires Balrog to either take 60% damage or deal 65% damage to fill up, with noticable exception which is that much like special moves in the Street Fighter games, Specials are more important to Balrog for this. If you deal damage with a Special in Balrog's set, it adds 1.7x its normal damage to Balrog's EX Meter (10% becomes 17%).

In a manner more like Cloud, Balrog gains a lot more from his EX Meter. Specifically, by utilizing Ryu styled inputs (Which I will describe as "Super Inputs" in each one), Balrog can sacrifice parts of his EX Meter (if filled enough) to perform a Super version of that move! These Super versions, of course, usually have some kind of large benefit to them, but often like the actual series have a trade-off as well.

The inputs will be described as follows:

←↑→↓↖↗↘↙: The respective arrow describes what way to tilt the control stick. For example, ↓↘→ means to put the control stick down and do a quarter-circle. ↓↓ would mean to press down twice.

←↑→↓↖↗↘↙: If the arrow is underlined, that means you must smash the input. If it is not underlined, it must be tilted. Simply smashing the first direction is sufficient to count as a smash, allowing smooth circling.

A, B, Z: Says if you use the Attack (A), Special (B) or Grab/Shield (Z) button. If it is underlined, that means to HOLD the button.

So for example, if I said to input a Super by going ↓↘→A, that means press down and do a quarter circle to the side and press A. If you've played Ryu, you know what this is like.

Each Super takes its own amount of EX Meter, either 1, 2 or all 3 bars to use. If you do not have enough bars, the move will fail. Balrog, unlike Little Mac, does not lose meter if he enters tumble, but he will slowly lose meter if he fails to deliver a hit (hitting a shielding foe counts) or take a hit for 10 seconds. In addition, Super moves do not generate any EX Meter themselves.


Specials


Side Special: Focus Dash

Super Input: →→B
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Placing his boxing gloves in front of his face, Balrog dashes forward one Battlefield Platform at a very fast speed, his entire body blurring with black action lines like Ryu's Focus Attack and the artwork of SFIV. Much like the Focus Attack, Balrog gains Super Armor against any attack, but only any single one attack: This is important, however, when you consider Balrog is moving noticably faster than Captain Falcon (but slower than Sonic) and that this move has very low starting and ending lag. However, multihit moves and grabs can both go through this attack, making them effective counters. Weak and medium projectiles (Think, say, 12% or less damage) will not eat up the super armor of this attack, with Balrog batting them away with his boxing gloves and a hearty laugh. Stronger projectiles will still be tanked by the super armor but not harmlessly deflected away.

While Balrog can actually move faster around the stage by constantly Side Specialing, it does have some noticable weaknesses to it, mostly the fact that Balrog cannot actually use the vast majority of his moveset nor shield during the dash, making him a lot more vulnerable if used predictably. For example, you can normally dash at someone fine and fake out with a jump, roll away or what have you, but if you're using Focus Dash, you're probably going to just get grabbed like a chump. Balrog can use this move once in the air, but it only goes 2/3rds the distance of normal. Does not put Balrog into helpless.

Balrog does have one attack out of this, however, done by using either the attack or special button, which is to have Balrog perform a single straight punch with windy action effects just like in most of the Street Fighter games. How powerful and slow the punch is depends on when it comes out, just like the light/medium/heavy versions in the games. If used during the first 1/3rd of the dash, it will be a fast punch that deals only 4% and is an excellent combo starter with low lag, and is fairly safe on shield if properly spaced, but it deals low damage and if it will stop being much of a combo move at higher percentages. The middle 1/3rd of the dash produces a middle punch that has fairly fast startup and deals 8% damage: The knockback is good for getting people outta your face or to set up close range edgeguard situations, but has minimal combo potential. It also has somewhat longer ending lag that makes it unsafe on shield. The last 1/3rd of the dash produces a strong punch that deals 12% damage and KOs at around 180%, but it has noticably good base knockback, bonus shield damage and especially good shieldstun, meaning that while it is quite laggy on both ends it is safe on shield and great for whittling it down, although it is reactable so predictably using this over and over will get you punished because of the lag. After punching, Balrog ends the dash on the spot to take the lag, so this can also be used to stop short.

If Balrog uses a move within 0.5 seconds after ending the Focus Dash, then that move will gain the 1.7x EX Meter bonus that using a Special has, allowing Balrog to get some potential burst-EX Meter afterwards if he, say, tanks a laggy hit and then replies in kind with his own heavyweight punches.

When performed as a Super Input, Balrog's entire body flashes yellow like when using the V-Move version of this from SFV, upgrading the super armor into flatout invincibility and allowing Balrog to use any non-Super move out of it! This is obviously extremely potent, combining supreme defense with mobility and flexibility, but it requires using a bar of EX Meter on something that isn't even damage and if the opponent, say, sees this coming and backs off in time, you'll have used an EX Bar for nothing. If Balrog uses a move during the dash, the invincibility lasts until the move's ending lag begins, making it extremely scary for being able to use starting lag moves while un-interruptable, but if they are long starting lag this also means it is predictable unless using the Super Focus Dash as a counter.


Up Special: Buffalo Headbutt


Super Input: →↓↘B
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
Balrog's eye flashes blue for the quickest moment as he covers his head with his boxing gloves and jumps into the sky with a fierce headbutt! This is an extremely fast animation that makes it one of the faster Up Specials in the game and it is actually rather powerful, dealing 14% damage that KOs at 150% on a recovery move is no slouch. One downside to this move is that it goes a pretty pitiful distance as far as recovery moves going, going a touch lower than even Ryu's normal Shoryuken. It also puts Balrog in helpless afterwards, of course, so whiffing is bad. On the plus side, though, it is one of the best out of shield moves in the entire game, making it very good for when Balrog is stuck on the defensive or to increase the power of his up-close game. You can also combine the Focus Dash with the Buffalo Headbut to have an okay recovery, although Balrog remains in the bottom of recovery in general. Not as bad as Little Mac, though!

When used as a Super, Balrog will gain counter frames during the start-up of the Buffalo Headbutt, which work just like an Ike counter or what-have-you, making Balrog invincible if hit by an attack during that time, and Balrog will specifically headbutt in the direction of the foe if he counters them. This deals the base 14% damage and 150% KO power + half of the damage that the countered attack would deal, making it a shockingly good KO move for a recovery-counter, although of course it requires a noticable input with great timing and two levels of EX Meter to perform. Balrog also goes 1.5x the normal distance when he uses the Super Buffalo Headbutt, allowing him to use it as a superior recovery move.

If Balrog Perfect Shields an attack and uses the Super Buffalo Headbutt within the next 14 frames, then it will gain the same effect as if the move was countered, except for the fact he won't track the foe. If used after normal shielding an attack, then it will gain half (AKA 0.25x the countered atack's damage) the bonus of a Counter/Perfect Shield hit. Note that while the Super Buffalo Headbutt can potentially be a potent counter, using it without countering gives you only the distance bonus for 2 EX Meters, making it one of the riskier Super Move options that Balrog can utilize.


Neutral Special: Charging Buffalo / Bursting Buffalo

Super Input: B→→ OR B↗↗ OR B↘↘
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar / 3 Bars
Pulling his arm back, Balrog takes a step forward (about half of a Battlefield Platform) and unleashes a brutal punch: Its one of his signature moves, the Charging Buffalo! By holding up or down during the move's starting lag, Balrog can instead perform directional versions of this move, known under the single title of the Bursting Buffalo! Each of these attacks has subtle but important distinctions. The upwards Bursting Buffalo is an uppercut, while the downwards Bursting Buffalo is a brutal downwards slam.

The straight forward Charging Buffalo deals 6% damage and sliding knockback that, in fact, will usually set the opponent up to get hit by another Charging Buffalo or Bursting Buffalo: At low to mid percentages, Charging Buffalo into Charging Buffalo into Charging Buffalo into Charging Buffalo is in fact a true combo as the Buffalo moves here work like Marth's Dancing Blade, able to be chained into each other for vicious and damaging combos, although knockback scaling means that later on the hits don't link together nearly as well. Balrog can reverse himself with each punch to try and catch out people who get behind him, but doing so adds 4 frames of lag to the Buffalo move. It has rather punishable ending lag if missed and on shield leaves both Balrog with a slight frame advantage if he chains into another Buffalo move and a slight frame disadvantage if he instead takes the ending lag.

The upwards Bursting Buffalo deals 6%, the same amount of damage, but it has reduced knockback that sets it up for combos even at higher percentages, although the fact it launches them upwards means you can't do the Buffalo 4x combo, however it has less ending lag and as I will get to later can be used for more combos. The downwards Bursting Buffalo deals 8% damage, 2% more than a Charging Buffalo, and is the only Buffalo base move with actual knockback, KOing grounded foes at around 160% while being a medium strength spike against aerial foes. If you want launching power, then the Bursting Buffalo Down is for you.

What is especially notable about all these moves is how they will work against the foe's shield. Shielding the Charging Buffalo forces Balrog to use another Buffalo move if he does not want to be shield grabbed or have another Out of Shield option used against him. If they just shield the entire way through, the shield pushback from Charging Buffalo means if he takes the manly prediction for four straight Charging Buffalos, then he can nearly shatter a shield on his own. He can also go for a Downwards Bursting Buffalo, which will usually shield poke a foe if they shield a Charging Buffalo, but it knocks them away from further combos usually and it has poor range against jumps, so if they jump out of shield it will whiff and punish. The Upwards Bursting Buffalo should basically always catch out jumps, but the reduced damage makes it more unsafe on shield and it has less horizontal range which can mean it doesn't hit the shielding foe as they are too far away and it lacks as good of shield push. Spot dodges can dodge all three of his Buffalo options when properly timed, but leaves Balrog in a solid spot to react to the spot dodge if he DOESN'T use a Buffalo options. Rolls can also dodge them, but leave the foe with few follow-ups, and he can even decide to try and force another shield mindgame by using a Buffalo move or reversed Buffalo move to get right in the foe's face after they roll, but of course Balrog has a limited amount of Buffalos to use while the foe has unlimited rolls.

Now we get into the EX Meter uses of this, for which there are a few. First, I shall begin with the simple EX versions of the moves itself. To use EX Charging Buffalo, you must hold down B for a brief moment and double tap forward. To use the Bursting Buffalo variants, double tap diagonally forward-up or forward-down. Unlike the normal variant, EX Buffalo moves cannot be reversed mid-combo. Each EX Buffalo move takes 1 bar, so you can make up to 3 of the 4 hits EX, similiar to how in SFV there is one less hit in his EX Buffalo moves than his normal ones.

For all of these EX moves, Balrog takes on a blue tone and his punches gain streams of blue-purple power that swirl around his fists in addition to the wind effects. The EX Charging Buffalo deals a crushing 14% damage, but it gains no additional knockback compared to the normal Charging Buffalo! Technically, it does even less, but the increased damage makes it deal the same knockback overall as the Charging Buffalo. This is important because it means that this move actually has large combo ability: If you have 3 EX Bar and the opponent is at low mid percentages, then you can do EX Charging Buffalo -> EX Charging Buffalo -> EX Charging Buffalo as a true combo! That's absolutely massive damage, yes, but do remember it requires 3 EX bars, which means Balrog either needs to be massively behind from taking damage or that he's probably damage racked the foe out of this kind of true combo range. One thing you can do that's risky, though, is try to save your EX Bars as much as possible and just KO the opponent, then look for an opening to get your Charging Buffalo in on their next stock: Talk about keeping a lead! Similiarly, the EX Charging Buffalo true combos can be something to worry about if the foe is flatout winning hard, as Balrog can suddenly run a train on their ass and turn the tide of battle.

The EX Bursting Buffalo, on the other hand, has two variations. The Upwards Bursting Buffalo deals 12% damage now and has slightly more knockback, but it now comes out dramatically faster and has dramatically less ending lag, making it an excellent combo starter and a safe option to throw out during any Buffalo combo if you are worried. It is also one of Balrog's better anti-air options, covering a good deal of vertical space in front of him (IE diagonal space). His EX Down Bursting Buffalo, on the other hand, deals the same 14% as a Charging Buffalo, but its knockback is instead dramatically increased. This makes it totally useless for combo-ing, but it can KO off the top at around 110% on grounded opponents, while if you can get someone in the air they will get spiked with the power of a Ganondorf Down Aerial! 110% might not sound like a lot until you consider that you can get that off of hit confirms from a normal Charging Buffalo, for example Charging Buffalo -> Charging Buffalo -> EX Down Bursting Buffalo or Charging Buffalo -> EX Down Bursting Buffalo at higher percentages can lead into a kill. You can also potentially lead opponents to the edge with the large steps of the Charging Buffalo and then finish it off with an EX Down Bursting Buffalo to send them flying down into the abyss!

You may have noticed, however, that I put a slash mark on the bar cost of this. That is because 1 bar per EX use is only on the base EX Buffalos. One of the notable things about both the Charging Buffalo and Bursting Buffalo is their cancelability! They have two seperate cancel abilities: Cancelling INTO Buffalo moves and cancelling OUT of Buffalo moves. Both cancels can only be used on a hit-confirm, although hitting a shield counts as a hit-confirm.

To cancel into an EX Buffalo move, you simply use the the Super Input of the EX Buffalo move you want after hitting the foe, usually until the end of the move's hitbox window and about 1/4th of its ending lag. Balrog will then cancel right into that EX Buffalo move! The entire moves you get to use that time are EX'd, but it will drain all 3 bars of your Ex Bar regardless of how many EX Buffalo moves you use and you must have all three bars to do so. At the same time, the ability to potentially go something like Jab -> EX Charging Buffalo -> EX Charging Buffalo -> EX Charging Buffalo is pretty immense and scary, or to cancel into your EX Bursting Buffalo Down as a KO option.

Cancelling out of a Buffalo move is a lot more interesting, though, as following similiar mechanics to the aforementioned Buffalo Cancel, you can cancel out of a Buffalo hit (Charging or Bursting) by inputting the Super Input of any valid move (you can't use aerials on the ground for example), which will cause Balrog to go right into using that move, at the cost of the move's EX Bar Use + 1, with moves that use all 3 EX Bars still using all 3. This can lead to using a base Charging Buffalo, for example, to instead fish into hit-confirms for other moves, a particularly deadly example being Charging Buffalo and cancel into a grab if opponent's shield you, although these are usually maneveurs you only get to perform once because of the EX Bar cost. It is still something opponents must keep in mind whenever you start throwing out your Neutral Special with any EX Bar at the ready, making the base moves much more scary at higher damage percentages.


Down Special: Stunning Screw Smash


Super Input: ←↙↘→B
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
Balrog brings his fist in and slides forward with a single step, performing a fierce forward-upwards smash! For as impressive as it looks and somewhat longer than average starting lag, the damage is a rather unimpressive 6%, with some light upwards knockback. However, this move has more unique properties than it may look, as it takes inspiration from the Stun Meter in Street Fighter, for which Balrog is a rather prolific user of! For every hit the opponent has taken in the last 6 seconds, the hitstun on this move increases, making it an increasingly better combo tool: With no hits, you're lucky to get an aerial off of it, but if you get 5 hits, you can pretty easily get a Smash off of this even at relatively high damage percentages, making it a potential kill confirm move. Although Balrog has plenty of single heavy hits, moves like his Charging Buffalo, Jab combo and more as you'll see can help him build up his smashing power!

What is particularly notable, though, is if you can get 6 or more hits (note that the Down Special itself does not count as a hit), it won't even launch the foe, instead punching them right into next week and stunning them on the spot! This stun has the appearance of a light shield stun state and lasts for 30 frames after the ending lag of Balrog's Down Special ends, plus an additional 10 frames for every attack over 6 Balrog got on the foe up to a maximum of 60 frames (or 1 second). Seeing as it works like a mini-shieldbreak, no mashing allowed though, Balrog can naturally use it to combo into all kinds of things, although noticably the first hit that hits the opponent will deal only half knockback, in addition to naturally knocking the opponent out of stun: This means that without some trickery, for example Charging Buffalo to take the first hit into a cancel to a KO move, this is much more for starting a combo than for killing the opponent, if anything being great for starting somewhat short, Street Fighter-style combos.

When used in EX, Balrog glows yellow and gains the same blue-purple punch effects as the Charging Buffalo EX, and the punch comes out just a touch faster. More importantly, it deals 3% more damage as the fist rises in the form of 3 rapid hits of 1%, each of which counts towards stunning the foe with his Screw Smash. Or, in other words, with proper timing (the hits can whiff after all) it reduces the amount of hits you need to get a stun by 3, massively increasing your odds of starting a combo at the cost of not being able to use more than 1 EX Bar at most for said combo, which will get rid of any potential Buffalo Cancel KO options.


Smashes

Forward Smash: Turn Punch


Super Input: ↘A OR ↗A
EX Meter Used: 3 Bars
Balrog takes a spinning step forward, about 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform, before unleashing a brutal forward punch! In the Street Fighter series, the Turn Punch is notable for being chargable to quite a large degree and as the GIF above shows this can become utterly absurd, as a max charge Turn Punch deals more damage than most Supers in the game! In Smash, this gets translated as Turn Punch getting a significantly stronger power boost from charging than most Smash Attacks, with damage going from 18% to 32.4% at full charge! That's a whole 1.8x! The KO power also gets pretty ludicrous, going from a high but not amazing 100% to an astounding 50%, meaning Balrog can rack up some intense kills with it!

Of course, charging a Smash to full is pretty difficult, although partial-charges still scale hard. This move actually has somewhat faster than normal, although by no means very fast, starting lag for a Smash Attack and it has pretty good reach on it thanks to the step forward. The downside is that since Balrog puts everything into this attack, it has absolutely horrendous, trash ending lag that anyone except Ganondorf can basically punish with any attack in their arsenal, making it an extremely high-risk, high-reward move.

Of all of the Super Moves in Balrog's list, the Turn Punch's is perhaps the most simple: It simply allows you to fire out a fully charged Turn Punch without any charge. This is completely terrifying when you consider it can come out quickly and that thanks to the step forward it is actually a pretty good option for covering getup options for a prone foe and situationally one who has grabbed the ledge...which can now be an absolutely crushing blow beyond anything you'd see in a single Smash attack! The downside is that it'll totally drain your EX Meter, not to mention that it requires you to not use other EX Meter to set it up, and it hurts all the more to be punished when you whiff this and drain all of your EX Meter.

Charging/Bursting Buffalo with a Buffalo Cancel into Turn Punch can be an extremely powerful early kill confirm, but to do so is very situational, and it won't do enough to break a shield unless you manage to combo almost all of the Buffalo moves into a shield, so it can be pretty risky. It also runs the issue that Balrog may go too far with his step at very low damage percentages and at high damage percentages he'll go past them, making this a situational but potent option that can force foes to be very careful at mid percents if Balrog gets 3 EX Meter.


Down Smash: Buffalo Whirlwind

Super Input: ↙↘A
EX Meter Used: 3 Bars
Spinning his arm a few times as a charging animation, Balrog performs a powerful sweeping strike with his fist, with especially potent wind animations following his fist as he spins exactly once. This, as far as Down Smashes go, is pretty laggy on both ends but also does pretty high damage, 19%-26.6% damage with fairly strong knockback that KOs at 110%-80% and obviously will KO earlier against the ledge, important because this attack can cover get-up roll, attack and just getting back on the stage and can even stop get-up jump if you predict it properly although this is hard. It offers strong all around coverage that lets Balrog clear the area out around him and has a small suction effect near the tips that goes out about 1/5th of a BFP to both sides but sucks people into his fists pretty strongly, giving him a bit more leeway in terms of already solid jointed range.

The EX version of this attack is not one to add power, but instead adds utility: The suction effect is massively increased, not only being stronger, but reaching about 3/4ths of a Battlefield Platform to both side of him, giving this move extremely impressive range even if it is laggy. On top of that, Balrog now performs a second spin, dealing the same damage (comboing is impossible, for obvious reasons) and blasting the air back out the same 3/4ths of a Battlefield Platform to both sides. This wind is blown out strong enough to be much more of a true hitbox, dealing half the damage and knockback of the base hit: Not a lot, but it adds significant safety to this move both in the starting and ending lag. A significant investment, but it certainly makes people respect the possible range a lot more.


Up Smash: Rising Buffalo

Super Input: ↖↗A
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
In an animation somewhat similiar to Mario's Up Smash from SSB64 compared to later games, which is Balrog's quickest Smash overall, with the starting lag being a bit faster than his Forward Smash, and more importantly his ending lag only being a bit laggier than normal. In exchange, while not especially weak, the Rising Buffalo IS Balrog's weakest smash, dealing 15%-21% damage and KOing opponents at 145%-110%, so it is superior as an aerial launching tool than a knockout tool. Balrog's head is intangible during the attack, which means that it can be used as a strong counterhit against aerial assaults, although Balrog's head is not nearly as much of his body as some other characters given his beefy upper body.

Utilizing EX Meter for this move causes Balrog to lean further during start-up and turns the entire top half of his body intangible, while an improved stance gives the bottom half of his body super armor, with both lasting through about half of the move duration in addition to the latter parts of the starting lag. This makes the move a very ideal counter-hit move, although Balrog can't really hit people on the ground with this, so it mostly serves as such in an aerial capacity.


Standards

Jab: Under Impact


Super Input: A
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Balrog's jab begins with a very quick, close ranged punch, followed by another swift, horizontal and close punch and ends with a simple swinging punch. The first hit deals 2% damage and the second deals 3% damage: and can be okay lead-ins to other damage, but aren't especially exceptional in that regard. The last hit deals 8% damage and launches opponents, primarily existing to reset neutral or set up edge play, but not having much else to it aside from that. The entire jab is fast to come out and each hit has low time between each one, making it link up incredibly well, an the ending lag is about average, so it is overall solid. Only the last hit has any real range to it, though, so it is pretty difficult to use against characters with notable limb advantage, weapon wielders and so on.

EX Jab is the simplest super move to perform, just hold down A without any other inputs. It is just a quick, straight punch that deals 10% damage, pushing opponents away: At low to mid percentages, it forces opponents into a tech situation, at high damage percentages you just send people away. The key thing of interest here is that the EX Jab comes out on Frame 1: Yes, the legendary Frame 1 Jab! This is very useful for combo breaks, quick strikes, and so on...but it does cost a whole bar of meter to use when Balrog doesn't get a ton off of it, so it is a pretty difficult choice to make.


Down Tilt: Crouch Light Punch / Crouch Heavy Kick


Super Input: ←↙↘→A
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
Balrog's Down Tilt is a pretty simple move, a quick punch forward which deals 5% damage and light knockback. This move is pretty quick on both ends and is meant to serve as Balrog's primary poking and identification tool, since it is safe on shield when properly spaced and has a good deal of room to be safe on shield. This can lead well into some aerials, or you can Focus Dash in for pressure, and additionally you can 50/50 a Charging/Bursting Buffalo, which gets really scary when you have bar built up, although going right in for an EX on a 50/50 is obviously rather risky. The hitstun on this isn't really enough for your lengthier combos, so do note this isn't a very high reward move, fitting for its low risk. It can serve as a decent approach breaker.

EX Down Tilt is somewhat different, coming out somewhat slower and involving Balrog throwing out a longer, slower downwards hook, which deals 8% damage. More importantly, this still rather fast move will trip the foe 100%, with its low strike making it good for shield poking as well. With low ending lag, this is a very powerful thing indeed, especially since Balrog has powerful tech chase options like Charging/Bursting Buffalo, Focus Dash, Turn Punch, Down Smash for coverage or even Stunning Screw Smash if Balrog can get the EX Down Tilt in at the end of a combo! While the EX investment is rather large for the effect, it can lead into some impressive follow-ups and KO options, so it isn't to be underestimated as an option.

Dash Attack: Dash Punch

Super Input: →→A
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Slowing down from his charge forward, Balrog rears back one of his fists, delivering a strong punch forward for a move with a rather laggy start. The meast of Balrog's arm is a sourspot, but still rather strong, dealing 10% damage and KOing at 125%, making it still a rather meaty punish from a distance if Balrog doesn't have time to properly line up a sweetspot. The sweetspot itself, naturally, is Balrog's fist, which deals 14% damage and pretty incredible knockback that KOs at 85%! This is pretty incredibly strong, but it is a rather specific hitbox which is difficult to land when the attack is laggy to start, making it more of a strong, specific punish. The ending lag is not especially long, but neither is it short, being rather average for this kind of move overall.

The EX Dash Attack is pretty simple and not too different from the normal version, but still rather potent, as the black ink lines from the Focus Dash surround Balrog when he punches, granting him the same 1-hit super armor as Ryu's Focus Attack! This can turn the move into a psuedo-counter move, tanking the blow's damage and punching back, possibly with the sweetspot! While the move's stats remain the same, getting counter-hit properties like this is rather potent, and the bar cost is on the lower end. Beware of multi-hit moves and grabs!


Forward Tilt: Heavy Punch / Crush Counter


Super Input: ↓↘→A OR ↑↗→A
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
Balrog's Forward Tilt has him punching straight forward, a single and fairly swift punch. It isn't very fancy to look at, but it gets the job done! This move has two hitboxes, the first of which is the sweetspot, which is Balrog's fist and a little bit of the arm before it. This deals 8% damage and solid knockback, with the hitstun enough to combo at times, although at mid percentages and higher this usually serves more as a spacer, for resetting neutral and even as a late game KO/edge setup move, as the sweetspot kills at 170% or so. The weakspot deals less damage, 5%, and the knockback is a lot worse, but at mid and higher percentages this move will start to launch foes at a tech chase angle, allowing Balrog to utilize the sourspot rather noticeably, especially due to Balrog's strong tech chase game. This move is unsafe on shield unless sweetspotted, and comes out at a slightly faster than average speed, with slightly longer than average ending lag: The sourspot is very bad if shielded, especially.

Performing a Super Input here gives you Balrog's Crush Counter, his fist glowing yellow as he performs a vicious overhead-downwards swing! This is pretty laggy for a tilt, but it deals 12% damage with knockback to KO at 140%...more importantly, it deals massive shield damage, as the phrasing Crush Counter would imply! This move is Collarbone Breaker-esque, nearly destroying shields all by itself, which is especially frightening when you bring the Charging/Bursting Buffalo into account! If you Buffalo Cancel, you can potentially catch opponents heavily off guard if they shielded the hit, as it needs to be a prediction, not a reaction...of course, predicting to dodge instead is perfectly logical for the foe, and a Buffalo Cancel Crush Counter is an impressive investment of 3 EX Bars for Balrog, making it very limited in how often it can be done, you can't even use the EX Buffalo to start it!

The Crush Counter's primary weakness is lag, as it takes a while to come out, and it is pretty punishable as well, and it has somewhat less range than the normal Forward Tilt. When Balrog's got this move ready, he has the threat of breaking out a shield and punishing with the hardest punish of a Turn Punch, but actually doing so is a dangerous investment on Balrog's part. It can be better to, instead, constantly threaten with a Crush Counter, especially with a Buffalo Cancel at 3 bars, and then punish the opponent when they respond.


Up Tilt: Upper Impact

Super Input: ←↖↗→A
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
The basic Balrog Up Tilt is visually similiar to a slightly slower, but more vicious Little Mac Up Tilt, a sweep of his boxer's fist above him starting in front of him. Although it comes out a few frames later, Balrog's Up Tilt deals 10% damage instead, while the knockback is still quite small, making this move the dangerous combo of high damage and combo starting, being a stronger combo starter than Down Tilt, leading into aerials, Jab, Grab, Forward Tilt Sour and so on at various damage percents and fall speeds. While this sounds great, one big issue with this move is that it has poor range and poor shield pushback, meaning that Balrog needs to go pretty close to the opponent to start off his most premium combos, making it a surprisingly risky option for Balrog. It can be better to get the foe into the air, then try to catch their landing, or even Focus Dash and tank a hit (which can help build meter!) into an Up Tilt punish.

Balrog's EX Up Tilt is a meaty uppercut performed in front of him, which deals 14% damage. As a KO move, it is rather mediocre, only KOing at 160% or so, however a lot of this is due to poor scaling. This move has some intense base knockback, which means it is good with rage, and also that even at very low percentages, this move serves as a great aerial launch, after which Balrog can try to cover their landing, with his Up Smash being particularly adept at this. This move comes out fairly fast and has a bit more range in front and front-above of Balrog as well, although obviously less directly above him and the ending lag is somewhat punishable. This move offers Balrog a good advantage state, but the actual gaurenteed value off of a bar use here is low, so that makes it somewhat risky. The different position of the hitbox compared to Up Smash or Up Tilt can make it punish stuff Balrog otherwise might not, which is a small utility use it has.

Grab Game

Grab: Gold Glove

Super Input: ZB
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
Balrog's grab isn't exactly anything special, with Balrog shoving both of his arms forward and seeking to catch anyone in them. This grab has fairly long range, but it is also somewhat laggy on both ends, so Balrog can't really use it as a quick grab option, and it is somewhat punishable. It does work well into his Forward Tilt ranges, at least.

Burning EX Meter on this makes it come out a lot faster and allows Balrog to recover a bit faster, in addition to causing Balrog to take a step forward and increasing the range further. Do note that while it comes out faster to land, it is still rather punishable at the end. If Balrog lands an EX grab, then he can perform an EX Throw without needing to spend additional meter, but the EX Grab can be a rather risky proposition and uses a lot of your meter. It is a pretty reasonable use of meter if you feel confident landing it, however.


Pummel: Buffalo Bash

Balrog's pummel is a simple punch to the face for 2% damage, at an average speed for that. This is the only move in Balrog's set that does not have an EX Input naturally, and it cannot be held to repeat the pummel, as that is required for the EX Throws. Instead, tap repeatedly to keep pummeling (which you can do anyway in Smash 4). Balrog's pummel hits do not count towards his Down Special.

If Balrog lands an EX Grab, however, the pummel is given its EX version, which causes Balrog to hit at the speed of a 1% pummel and some of the watercolor effects on the punch. In addition to looking cool, this can tack on a bit more damage than usual before throwing the opponent away, essentially being a small minor bonus for landing an EX Grab.


Forward Throw: Dirty Bomber


Super Input: A↓↘→ OR A↑↗
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Balrog hoists the opponent with one arm, punching them for 2% damage, before slamming them with his other face for 6% damage that sends them down and in front of him: If the opponent does not tech, they will be bounced up and off with enough force to KO at 200% or so off the top + forward, otherwise...well, it is a tech situation, as Balrog is able to move pretty quickly after using this throw. Even near a ledge, the opponent will be bounced off the ground (akin to a Kirby Down Throw still working at the ledge), so it isn't a spike. At low percentages, this can lead into some aerial combos, but past that it is hard to get anything 100% off of it, except a Buffalo Headbutt. Fastfallers can be combo'd and Buffalo Headbutted longer and the EX Buffalo Headbutt can combo at later percentages. Aside from that, it can be used to reset neutral, or importantly to begin an aerial chase or edgeguarding situation: At higher percentages, a foe teching can potentially be followed up by a kill move, which is more likely to happen if you have an EX Buffalo Headbutt ready and threaten a kill off the top if they don't tech.

When you invest EX Meter, the animation does not significantly change aside from Balrog's flash and blue-purple watercolor effects, but the move undergoes some rather significant changes. First off, the damage of the first two hits remains the same, however the slam against the ground now deals additional damage and knockback, using a similiar method to his Down Special. Each attack which the opponent has endured during the last 6 seconds, with the exception of the pummel, causes Balrog to deal 2% more damage and for the attack to KO 10% faster. Given the mvoe itself has two hits beforehand, this means the move does 2% + 6% + 4% = 12% damage at a base, and KOs at 180%. While many throws are dangerous to combo out of, an EX Forward Throw is dangerous to combo INTO, as big combo numbers can lead into some pretty strong damage and KO numbers into this! For example, if you mix up Charging Buffalos and your opponent ends up choosing poor enough to not block the first three properly but try to shield the fourth, you could get 3 hits off beforehand, which would make this move deal 18% damage and KO at 150%! Multi-hit moves are also pretty good into this.

That isn't all, though! When you spend EX Meter, this move becomes untechable, so your strong knockback can't just be negated, and the restriction on spiking the foe near the ledge is removed! As a spike, it is pretty weak without any buildup and everyone can escape death until high percentages, but it does set up edgeguarding situations nonetheless. Naturally, the more your knockback goes up, the stronger you can spike them, which makes ledges a very dangerous place to be if you've been comboing the foe. While this move does only cost one bar, it is rather situational to actually be useful: Without a good combo into it, you add a whole 4% damage and maybe set up an edgeguard situation, which given how valuable meter is to Balrog is really bad. This gives Balrog a much more additional layer he needs to go through aside from EX build.


Down Throw: Punch Drunk

Super Input: A←↙↘
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Balrog tackles the opponent to the ground, holding them in place with his body, and proceeds to punch the living daylights out of them, 3 punches that deal 2% damage eavh, with the last one sending the foe flying away a small distance. This knockback essentially resets neutral and Balrog doesn't have anything 100% of it, or even a ton of mixups. At a base, it isn't that great, so you probably expected a twist of fate of some kind. The more damaged the foe is, the better Balrog can hold them down, and the more punches he can get off: Every 20% the foe has causes him to add another punch, dealing 2% damage. So at 20%, this move deals 8%, 10% at 40% and so on. This makes it a move where you can actually get more damage off the more the foe is damaged, and becomes Balrog's go-to damage throw later in stocks, as his combo abilities go down but you can get more punches off, for example getting off 16% damage at 100% damage on the foe!

That isn't all when it comes to this throw, since each "punch" is a seperate hit, it has tons of synergy with your Down Special and EX Forward Throw, able to fill up a Down Special to the stun state at 60%, and turns EX Forward Throw into a kill move at 100% or so...if you can get them off. Down Throw doesn't exactly combo into either of the moves and your Down Special is somewhat tricky to hit, while Forward Throw requires meter and both have a 6 second timer before it is gone poof. Sometimes, the threat is better than trying to get it off, as the opponent can't play high risk around you when your Down Special or EX Forward Throw is ready to pop 'em!

The EX version of this throw is quite simple, but quite effective nonetheless, adding the watercolor effects and causing each punch to deal 1% damage. Weak as a base, 3% damage!, it scales fairly hard. For example, at 100%, you'll punch the opponent 8 times, so it adds 8% damage: That's a 24% damage throw! Pretty scary, although not an increase especially worthy of higher bar usage.

Two things to note about this move. Firstly, the move doesn't get slower with each punch, but each punch gets faster instead, which can look quite satisfying and silly at very high damage percentages, but also allows the opponent to DI consistantly and the Balrog's timer for Down Special and EX F-Throw to remain consistant. Secondly, the amount of punches is calculated at the start of the move, so ticking the opponent over the damage threshold won't add an extra punch. So, if you use this at 78%, you don't get a punch for the foe being at 80%, even though the move will push them over it. Them's the breaks.


Up Throw: Stiff Uppercut

Super Input: A←↖↗
EX Meter Used: 3 Bars
Balrog holds the foe firm with one hand, then uppercuts them in the face for a satisfying 10% damage that KOs opponents off the top at 180%. It is a pretty solid move if Balrog wants to start an aerial chase situation, probably his best at a base if he doesn't want to reposition forward such as with Forward Throw, and it leads to a fair deal of combos, such as most aerials at low percentages, Up Tilt at low percentages, Up Smash at mid percentages and Buffalo Headbutt on a lot of fastfallers late and floaties early. Generally, Back Throw is the better combo throw if you want to stay more grounded, while Up Throw is good if you want to go more aerial.

The EX version of this move is one of the most straightforward Balrog has, adding the usual effects and more power behind the punch, upping the damage to 12%, but the knockback dramatically to KO at 120%! This is basically a kill confirm throw Balrog has at high percentages, which opponents need to keep badly in mind, and is also why this costs 3 bars, since it is essentially only useful for ending a stock substantially early and would be obnoxious if too much less. You CAN "cheat" it out with only 2 bars early with an EX Grab, but this is riskier than an EX Up Throw out of normal grab, as it means you must commit to the EX Grab earlier, punishing Balrog severely for missing. EX Forward Throw can also be a strong kill, but it is significantly more conditional (you need 6 hits to hit 120% KO power!), while EX Up Throw is much more straightforward. Use this to fear your opponents, especially if they're a floaty (and thus much more vulnerable to early death off the top).


Back Throw: Dirty Shot


Super Input: A↓↙
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
It's nap time! Turning around and holding the enemy by his arm to brace them, Balrog proceeds to slug them square in the face, dealing 5% damage and launching them in a single fluid motion. This deals the least damage of Balrog's throws at a base, but it serves as Balrog's primary combo throw. At minimum, this move always combos into a Focus Dash Punch, although sometimes Balrog will need to dash forward to catch them such as if they DI away. He can potentially mix it up or true combo into a Charging Buffalo, although true comboing requires low damage percent and fastfaller, he can hit with Dash Attack at medium percentages, he can move forward and smack them with a Forward Tilt or Aerials, all that kind of stuff. It DOES start to run into issues comboing at higher damage percentages, although Balrog can still get 50/50 mixups on the foe, and again Focus Dash Punch stays a True Combo until obscene damage percentages.

You can solve that by giving yourself an EX Burst! Balrog will hold the foe steady with his feet, the cheater, when he slugs them in the face. This gives the move 6% damage, oh man that 1% damage boost, but more importantly it "caps" the knockback, essentially meaning the foe is always thrown as if they're thrown at 40%. This is obviously pretty dangerous, since it can lead into some combos which normally wouldn't work when the foe is at high percentages, which can mean a kill percent. More interestingly, though, is if Balrog wants to go for mixups or 50/50s: For example, if he expects the opponent to prepare for DI or not dodge, he can foxtrot into a Forward Smash or Charging Buffalo instead of a weaker but true comboing move, smashing them off the stage with a strong punch! Of course, foes can beat that with a button or can go for a dodge, but a Dash Attack if EX'd can tank it and potentially land the sweetspot for the kill, or Balrog can do a double-foxtrot instead of a move to catch rolls and so on. This puts tremendous pressure on the opponent: Get into the foes' head and you'll really be able to abuse them and this move!


Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Buffalo Double

Super Input: A
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
As a reminder, all of Balrog's aerial super inputs obviously require you to be in the air first, so there's no overlap with Standards for the Super Inputs. Balrog's Neutral Aerial is a 1-2 punch, the kind that might remind someone of Captain Falcon's Neutral Aerial...but with punching instead of kicking. The first hit of these two punches deals 5% across the entire arm and quite low knockback: It'll basically always link into the second hit (unless you hit near the edge of the hitbox or whatnot: It'll basically always link if you hit CLEAN), unless Balrog moves backwards while the opponent DIs forward at medium or higher percentages. How it links into the second hit, however, depends a lot on spacing and how Balrog and the foe move, as the hit as two hitboxes.

The first hitbox, which comprises most of Balrog's arm, deals another 5% damage and fairly weak knockback, and is the combo hitbox of the move, allowing him to link into at various points another Neutral Aerial (situationally), a Forward Aerial, a Focus Dash Punch, an Up Aerial or near the ground moves like Down Tilt, Forward Tilt, or if you're REALLY in their grill an Up Tilt or Jab. The second hit is the sweetspot, located on Balrog's glove and wrist, which deals 7% damage and sends opponents flying with the strength to KO at 160%, although of course you're mostly going to go off stage for kills and lower that. At low-medium percentages, this is instead one of Balrog's better moves for simply putting the foe into a well spaced position, but having the first hit on it AND a sweetspot makes it awkward for that. This move actually has somewhat longer than average starting lag as well, although the ending lag is short (facilitating combos), which means it is a good combo-starter that can be difficult to hit with.

With an EX Meter investment, Balrog will flash yellow as the usual blue-purple watercolor effects go off, rushing forward as he double-punches forward! The first punch now deals 8% damage, with the knockback slightly changed to keep it a linking move when Balrog is rushing forward, while both of the second hits get buffs. The second sourspot hit now deals 8% damage, still having rather low knockback and allowing combos, making it a high damaging combo starter, while the sweetspot hit now deals 12% damage and KOs at 120%, making it a much stronger KO option near the ledge that can snag early kills (if you get 2 bars at an early point, anyway), Each punch moves Balrog forward 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform for 2/3rds total, so he can use the two weaker hits to "drag" opponents across the stage and the like, and a falling Neutral Aerial off the ledge can be a strong kill move.

One thing to be worried about: The EX usage does not improve this move's lag at all and going off stage for the kill when you're moving towards the abyss as Balrog is rather dangerous, as your recovery is not great and, importantly, is rather linear: predicting you doing this from the foe can lead to a lost stock for Balrog shockingly easy, especially against enemies with strong or easy to land spikes. Be careful with it.

As an aesthetic note, when Balrog connects with the second EX hit, he'll shout "DOUBLE!!" as he does so.


Forward Aerial: Air Heavy Kick


Super Input: ↓↘→A OR ↑↗→A
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Balrog punches forward and downwards in front of him, which does not have a ton of horizontal range but actually has a lot of vertical range as the GIF above shows (although it has a bit more horizontal range in Smash 4). This move has two seperate hitboxes on it, like a decent number of Balrog's punching moves as you've seen, with the meat of the arm being a "sourspot" that deals 8% damage and knocks the foe away from Balrog some, serving as an actually useful sourspot as Balrog can combo off of it, against the most common and easy being a Focus Dash Punc. The second hitbox is more brief in existance and deals 11% damage plus a decently strengthed spike: It isn't especially strong, no Ganondorf DAirs or Mario FAirs here, but it is strong enough it can put opponents in a bad spot and kill at moderately high percentages. The hitbox on the arm lingers for a bit and takes over the sweetspot's position as well during this lingering: It doesn't go down in damage over time like a sex kick, but it also doesn't linger nearly as long. This move has just a touch faster than average lag on both the front and back ends, not blazing fast but still noticeable, but the moment of lingering adds some more punishing room for the foe if he whiffs.

The EX version of this move is one of the most utility and less used EXs in the set, as it causes the power of the sourspot to be bumped tremendously, up to 14% damage and KOing at 140%. This isn't super amazing, but it CAN allow Balrog to pull out some surprises where the opponent gets smacked far away (preferrably offstage or off the blast zone) instead of combo'd, especially if they were DIing incorrectly trying to escape the combo hit instead, so there's some mixup potential. And in a pinch, it can be a move to get foes off of you...at the cost of an entire EX bar, anyway.


Down Aerial: Stomping Attack

Super Input: ←↙↘→A
EX Meter Used: 2 Bars
We've talked about Balrog's headbutt cheats, but that isn't the only thing he has: He's also perfectly willing to stomp out the competition! this multi-hit move starts with Balrog firing off two smaller, shorter stomps for 3% damage each, before finishing with a much stronger looking, longer single stomp down for 6% damage. The 3% hits do dragging knockback, while the 6% hitbox has two hitboxes: Most of the hitbox sends the opponents upwards, at what is a pretty good combo angle at a lot of percentages. The foot of the stomp is a spike which is slightly weaker than Forward Aerial's, but also easier to hit with, and is a solid ledgeguarding option since this move has a long dueation due to the first two stomps. This move has somewhat long duration, adding punishability, but it does start off decently fast, with the ending lag being slightly laggy but not so laggy you can't combo off the 3rd hit sourspot (largely at higher percentages due to hitstun scaling).

This move has two autocancel windows, although both are rather small: One right before the third stomp comes out, after the first two have come out, and one for a few frames after the last stomp. The first autocancel window can be accomplished with a shorthop and immediate fastfall Down Aerial, which is important as it allows it to be Balrog's common ground-game combo starting aerial, since his other aerials are much better for starting aerial combos, and allows him to mix it up between Down Tilt and Down Aerial. The second auto-cancel window can be accomplished with a full hop into an instant fastfall Down Aerial, which can be particularly nice not only to mix up Down Aerial hits, but also because the sourspot 3rd hit is good for starting aerial combos from the ground: Again, you may have noticed a lot of Balrog's aerials combo better with the foe in the air, so using this, Down Tilt (again) and Up tilt are good ways of getting them there. One thing Balrog needs to be aware of, however, is that he needs to commit early to these options, as they won't autocancel if he delays them and he will suffer landing lag, making it fairly punishable. Thus, Down Aerial is more of a commitment than somthing like Down Tilt is.

The EX version of this move changes it significantly. Most noticeably, this becomes a stall than fall, with Balrog stomping repeatedly on the way down for 3%, plummeting at a fairly fast speed, 3/4ths of a Bowser Bomb or so. The 3% hits link into each other well enough and drag enemies down with him, while the final stomp into the ground does 10% damage and variable knockback based on how far Balrog has fallen, light knockback if he barely falls and KOing off the top at around 100% after dropping 3 Ganondorfs from the sky. In addition to potentially massive damage, one of the better uses for this move is as a landing mixup for Balrog, as it doesn't have a ton of ending lag and it actually comes out fairly fast, with minimal "stall", and leads into some combos if done low or has kill potential if done high, and Balrog normally only has decent-ish landing so the ability to plummet is liked, especially on someone who is aerial combo food like Balrog can be.


Up Aerial: Sky Upper

Super Input: ←↖↗→A
EX Meter Used: 1 Bar
Balrog takes his fist and thrusts it skyward, attacking upwards with his fist to the surprise of nobody. This move has two hitboxes, depending on where you get hit: The meat of the hitbox, which is Balrog's arm and the bottom part of his fist, and sends opponents straight up: It is a rather meaty hit, dealing 12% damage and having decent KO power, it'll KO at around 145% off the top if you're decently high, and of course will kill sooner if you're closer to the top. The top of the fist is somewhat more interesting, as it will actually spike enemies straight down, but is somewhat weak, dealing 8% damage...since this move doesn't have a lot of ending lag, this primary use is actually for combos, especially catching someone in the air with a well-spaced shorthop and then moving to a grounded combo. The starting lag is rather moderate and the landing lag is low. Balrog's Up Aerial can be a kill move or a combo move...depending on where Balrog is, which is the important takeaway here: Balrog needs to be very aware of where he is and what his Up Aerial can do, and it can be somewhat awkward if Balrog is not careful.

Spending an EX Bar sends Balrog flying up a small amount in a manner not unlike Little Mac's Up Special. It goes quite small, gaining Balrog just under half of an Up Special's boost (about 40%-45% of it), although he goes up slightly more and then loses some height due to falling during ending lag. Balrog's body becomes a hitbox while flying up, with the same damage stats, but with the placement reversed, with the upper half of Balrog's body being the upward-hitting hitbox and the bottom half being the spike, essentially like it logically would be if he was leaping upwards. This can be useful for a few reasons, and it can also "shift" the arm hitbox upwards as Balrog moves up, potentially allowing Balrog to poke people with the spike hitbox. It can be a minor escape, for example threatening a spike while moving up, and so on as well.

For recovery, Balrog's recovery path can be very dependant on his EX Meter, able to mix up his Side Special, Up Special and EX Up Aerial. The key to gimping Balrog is to remember that Balrog's recovery is very linear, like Side Special just going sideways and Up Aerial going straight up. Balrog can try to counter this by breaking it up if he has enough EX Bar, such as repeated EX Up Aerials vs. EX Up aerial -> EX Buffalo Headbutt and the like. In theory, the highest distance Balrog recovery is Side Special -> EX Up Aerial -> EX Up Special...enjoy wasting three bars on recovery, though.


Back Aerial: Buffalo Sucker

Input: ↓↙←A OR ↑↖←A
EX Meter used: 2 Bars
Balrog swings one of his fists behind him, basically trying to clothesline the opponent right in their smacker. While this isn't the strongest attack, it combines solid range with some pretty solid power, slapping away people near the ledge straight off the sides at around 120% and dealing 13% damage, although this move has pretty long ending lag because Balrog doesn't turn himself around and so has to twist his body back into fighting position. The starting lag is fairly fast, though. A pretty standard back hitting attack for Balrog.

The EX version is when it gets interested, as Balrog whips his body around with frightening speed and proceeds to throw a fierce haymaker straight forward. This is a brutal strike that deals 18% damage and a ton of knockback, killing at 80% and knocking in the teeth of anyone who isn't killed, which means it'll set up edgeguard situations quite well. It is a brutal frame trap: Air dodging the first hit of this move will set you perfectly up to get clobbered by the 2nd, making backwards jumping a surprisingly interesting approach option from Balrog when he has two bars, threatening either option, and can make backwards edgeguards very harrowing for the opponent. It can be better to just take the first hit, if you think he's gonna use the EX version, anyway, since they won't combo at all. Of course, if the opponent is out of range of the first hit, they will also be out of range of the 2nd hit, which has the same range as the first hit, so you need to be pretty aware of how opponents can get out of it, since hitting this into a combo is exceptionally difficult (requires the first hit not hitting otherwise, as mentioned, nombo).


Final Smash: The Pain Train

"You won't live to see the full ten count! WHY DON'T YOU GO TO HELL?!"



Super Input: B→→
EX Meter used: 3 Bars
The screen dramatically zooms in on Balrog as he pumps his fist, wind gathering around it as he says the first part of the Final Smash quote, before rushing forward 2 Battlefield Platforms while shouting the second part! This is one of the most straightforward Final Smashes in the game, dealing 50% damage that kills at 80% to anyone in his way. The dramatic zoom does give opponents time to dodge or even shield, as while this move does massive shield damage it actually IS shieldable (also has huge shield pushback)...

You may have noticed that Balrog can spend Super on this move. If you utilize this trick, then the screen will zoom in dramatically on Balrog while he swings his arms forward in a grabbing motion. This comes out faster than his default Final Smash and as a grab goes through shields! The Dirty Bull is a headbutt, followed by stomping on the opponents foot, and finally a crack to their skull! Each hit deals 10% damage, and unlike the original, Balrog won't shrug (unless you press the taunt button, which allows you to shrug at the cost of some frames before the 2nd part). Instead, Balrog pumps his fist, and then performs his normal Final Smash! This is a true combo (and from just a bit of % on, the taunt in the middle still lets it be. That's right, folks: Taunt to Final Smash is a true combo!), dealing 80% total damage and killing at 80%. Balrog will still perform the Pain Train if he misses the grab, but the delay of this gives opponents ample time to avoid it.

The crowd will boo Balrog when he lands the Dirty Bull and will boo even louder if he gets a kill off of it. Nobody likes a dirty fighter, Balrog.
 
Last edited:

Smady

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F.A.N.G

F.A.N.G is a playable character in Street Fighter V, where he makes his first appearance. FANG is M Bison’s second-in-command; one of the four leaders of Shadaloo alongside Bison, Vega and Balrog, as FANG replaces Sagat and even gets his own place on the Mt. Rushmore sculpture of the four in Shadaloo’s base. FANG starts off as an assassin working for a famous guild, but this is destroyed by M Bison. Despite his best efforts, FANG is unable to save the assassin guild’s honour and avenge them against Bison, who merely dismisses him and takes no damage from FANG’s poison. FANG decides he will instead become Bison’s Number Two, and takes great pride in the fact he is the second-in-command of Shadaloo compared to the less enthusiastic Balrog or Vega. FANG does his fair share of fighting in the story mode of Street Fighter V where he showcases just how powerful his poison can be and outright murders several other characters, having the biggest body count in the story, and easily earns his title as number two in Shadaloo. It’s only when Bison is finally defeated and killed that FANG is defeated as he is completely devastated in Bison’s loss. FANG’s fate is unknown though it’s possible he died as the Shadaloo base collapsed and in the same room where Bison died.

FANG’s moveset and character is simple: he’s an assassin and wields powerful poison to kill his foes discretely, while harbouring some of the most extravagant and flamboyant attacks available to characters in Street Fighter V. The one thing he shares with his master Bison is he is too a charge character. His abnormal body, incredibly tall, lanky and slender gives him access to deceptive range on his attacks and his unorthodox fighting style makes it hard for opponents to win if they aren’t prepared for FANG. In this respect too, FANG’s Critical Art (SFV’s Supers/Ultras) is that he flutters his arms like wings and flies for a short while, as he deals incredible damage to anyone in a close range, showcasing in of itself just how bizarre FANG’s moveset is in SFV. His main mechanic is that some of his attacks uniquely poison the foe, a mechanic entirely created for FANG in SFV. Foes hit by specific attacks by FANG will have their health bar coloured purple and take passive poison damage over time. FANG has poison projectiles he can lob into the air and let them fall on top of foes as he attacks from the front with his slippery movement. FANG’s V-Meter gives two unique functions too for his poison, his V-Skill has him throw forward a slow moving poison projectile called Nishodoku, which deals no hitstun but is unblockable. His V-Trigger is the Poison Dense Fog and covers FANG’s entire hurtbox in a poisonous cloud that damages foes who come into contact, working as the ultimate defence.

FANG’s place in Street Fighter is most comparable as a moveset to Gen from Alpha and Street Fighter IV, as they both share poisonous attacks (Gen’s is a Super) and are both assassins, though Gen is more of what you’d expect. There aren’t many characters in Street Fighter who share FANG’s tall, lanky proportions or the kinds of moves he does, making him stand out from the crowd. FANG is the least popular character to play in SFV online, maybe because he requires a huge amount of patience and skill to play relying on gimmicks. FANG's poison only ticks down health and won’t outright KO an opponent which plays a big part in this too. Despite his very low amount of players he's got one of the highest win rates of any character due to the skill of those who do play the character and the lack of knowledge on the match up.

I recommend watching this link of a currently working video showing off FANG's entire move list.

STATISTICS

Weight: 105 (12th~)
Walk Speed: 0.75 (56th)
Run Speed: 1.6 (28-30th)
Air Speed: 1.2 (6-7th)
Fall Speed: Bayonetta (9th)
Gravity: 0.07 (54th~)
First Jump: 37 (12th)
Air Jump: 30 (49th~)

FANG’s size is slightly taller than Ganondorf, as slim as Marth and his arms go out to slightly wider than Bowser, but as in SFV are not part of his hurtbox. This makes it harder for the foe to judge his hurtbox, as it is surprisingly slim for his overall size, and his height makes it generally harder for opponents to cross him up. He's got a mediocre speed on the ground, having a very bad walk speed, but a decent dash speed. FANG’s running animation has him doing a proud stride forward, which is unremarkable, but leans his upper body backward when walking to reference his back walk in SFV and naturally shifts his hurtbox’s height a little out of the way. His run speed is relevant for his size as he ducks down to roughly two-thirds his normal height and expands his width a little bit, which can have a small impact depending on match up.

He's extremely good in the air with a combination of a fast air speed and a low gravity, while having a high falling speed. His gravity is among the lowest so despite having a high fall speed, it won't kick in very fast at all, and his jumps are also decent enough, his aerial jump is awkward, putting him in a similar situation to Ryu in the air. FANG has very good rolls, having the same frame data as Fox's but going almost as far as Samus, making use of those incredibly tall legs. His spot/air dodge are comparable to Ryu.

SPECIALS

Neutral Special: Poison Fireballs [Nishikyu/Nishodoku]


FANG charges with his hands behind his back, gathering up poison, then throws them forward releasing a Poison Fireball the size of Ryu's Hadouken, travelling at 1.5x the speed of Mario's fireball. At default, this sends forward a poison projectile that deals no hitstun, mirroring FANG's V-Skill in that respect, but poisons the foe and colours their percentage. The victim’s character model is also coloured light purple and has numerous bubbling visual effects appear too from being poisoned. The foe takes 1% a second, but this stacks up to 3% a second if they are hit up to 4 additional times, 5 at most, covering them more and more in poison. This will create an aesthetic of their model dripping in poison and reduces their traction greatly, slowing it 0.9-0.75x, more powerful for each stack of poison. This poison stacks on any move that poisons the foe normally unless stated otherwise, and lasts for 5 seconds since the last time the foe was hit by such a move.

If the foe shields the poison deals double the damage to their shield instead, and the damage tick of the poison cannot be dodged. While this does do shield damage, shielding the initial projectile does block the poison effect too. Ultimately this means that FANG can at worst get some great shield damage off. This is a non-storable charge that has a different effect depending on the amount charged, with the lag marginally lower on both ends than Ryu's Hadouken, making it decently fast. These Poison Fireballs will dissipate after travelling 3 battlefield platforms, quite the lifespan.


When the move is charged further, instead FANG lobs upwards two poison projectiles that go from just below FANG's height at no charge, to half that, and falling down right next to FANG or up to 1.5 battlefield platforms forward, taking 2-1 seconds to make that journey. The distance of the lob depends on the charge of the special and takes between 15-45 frames of charge, going further with more charge. At lower charge, the move is easier to follow up on, but technically slower to reach goes at greater distances. Both of these projectiles deal hitstun unlike the default version, dealing 4-6% damage each on top of damaging the foe with the same poison status effect. This poison doesn't stack however so hitting the foe with both only leads to 4-6% extra damage. The two projectiles follow slightly different arcs, landing a small distance apart and the one closer to FANG landing a shortly before the further away one. The projectile deals little hitstun and knockback, though it is possible to combo the two. The more important part is that given the delay from when the projectile is thrown to when it lands, FANG can easily follow into it by attacking at the same time as the projectile fall, getting combos out of or into the hits of the projectiles. They deal radial knockback depending on which part of the projectile lands and naturally helps combo into all kinds of attacks.


When the move is charged beyond 45 frames to a max of 60 frames, or if the analogue stick/directions are pressed during the move's charge, FANG will instead throw different-angled projectiles forwards. These deal the same 6% damage and small knockback as the max charged Poison Fireballs. At default the projectiles will go in different directions here, one going up a Ganondorf above the ground (slightly shorter than FANG) and falling to the ground after travelling a battlefield platform, while the other one is sent from just above the ground and bounces off the floor like Mario's fireball, both projectiles travelling in opposite arcs. This means that in front of FANG is a huge death zone of projectiles covering more room. FANG can alter the arc of these projectiles if the player angles the move. FANG will send the projectiles at further away arcs when angled up, sending the top projectile at the same angle as the weakest version, while the other is thrown at the ground and then bounces upward, while the downward version has FANG throw both projecitles straight forward two battlefield platforms. This gives FANG a good amount of control over his projectiles. For the aesthetic, this version gives FANG the "ink" aesthetic and highlights his model like the EX version in Street Fighter V.

Side Special: Poison Cloud [Ryobenda]


FANG flails his arms behind his body in a similar charging motion to his first move, but a much more exaggerated motion, then throws both arms forward, striking foes with a powerful attack that does 15-21% damage. This is another non-storable special. The knockback depends on the range, as foes at a very close range will be hit by two hitboxes, the longer ranged melee hitbox that does 10-16% damage, and a second poison hitbox that deals the final 5% damage. The melee hitbox alone deals strong knockback, but comparable only to Luigi's default forward smash, so not particularly powerful and hits them away at an almost 90 degree angle forward. When both hitboxes land at close range, the poison hitbox below FANG will immediately hit the foe into the air and combine knockback from the two hits, able to KO at the same time as Mewtwo's up smash instead, scaling the same way with the move's charge time taking a second as well to max out.

When FANG doesn't hit a foe or something that can take the poison hitbox, it will instead create a cloud of poison that lingers on the stage. This counts as one stack of poison on the foe. Depending on charge, this lasts from 7-9 seconds and has the same overall size as a Smoke Ball item in terms of width, but is as tall as Mario. The hitbox encompasses the majority of the cloud and is a constant passive 1% damage a second to any foes that stand in it. While the poison status effect won't stack, the poison from this cloud will damage on top of the effect, and lets FANG get incredible damage if he can land both of them at once on a foe. FANG is limited to three of these on the stage at once, deleting the oldest cloud if he creates a new one. When used in the air, this will instead leave a cloud lingering in midair if the melee attack doesn’t hit an opponent. This cloud has the same properties as the normal cloud, but over time will fall at Jigglypuff’s fall speed.

The clouds have an effect on fall speed in the air and on first or aerial jumps done within the hitbox of the cloud. The cloud constantly pushes foes up, this buffs their jumps to go up 1.3x as high, and reduce the gravity of the character within the cloud to half. This effect stops once they leave the cloud. The grounded version will push foes lightly into the air at the rate of Jigglypuff's fall speed, counter-acting their natural fall speed, but naturally making vertical KOs that much easier. This effect expands out to an area roughly twice the height of the cloud's hitbox, shown by the air in that area being covered in fumes but not an active hitbox. Foes won't be lifted off the ground but will be forced a lot higher into the air than they might like, which is a pretty nice bonus for FANG to either set up on the ground, or hit them out of the air using his great height.


When fully charged the move gains the same aesthetic properties as the neutral special, covering FANG in a purple ink effect and highlighting him in yellow. Now both the melee attack and cloud count as a poison stack each. FANG will thrust forward his arms more forcefully and has super armour for the duration of the attack. Instead of the poison hitbox being destroyed as it hits the foe, the poison cloud will be created regardless of it lands on the foe and will do an extra 3% and decently long amount of flinching knockback to foes once, interrupting them rather than doing simply passive damage. Foes hit by the initial melee hit will be hit twice by this hitbox and the cloud, the last 1% is delayed enough that at low percents, it will instead combo the foe into the air at low knockback straight up. This leads into an easy combo for FANG, but will KO at high percents too, making it an extremely useful version of the move.

Down Special: Toxic Focus [Dokunomu]


FANG stretches his arms to a ridiculous height almost 1.3x as tall as Ganondorf and channels poison into his body directly and is covered in the purple ink effect. This has 30 frames of start up so is a big commitment, and every additional 20 frames will up the level of poison, potentially charging FANG all the way up to a toxic amount of poison. When the move is successfully finished, FANG’s arms will start to seep out poison in a thick cloud that surrounds them, continuing on for the next 5 seconds, maintaining the highest level of poison all that time. A downside and upside of this is FANG's model, dripping in poison, now is slightly bigger. Now any foe that comes within touching distance of FANG’s hurtbox or his arms, which are not even part of his hurtbox, will be dealt a passive 1-3% damage a second, an additional 0.5% for each level of poison, but this doesn't stack. Any foes hit by FANG’s moves themselves will now be poisoned the same way they are by his neutral special projectiles, and will stack poison for each melee hit landed (multihits counting as one single hit).

FANG will be "locked in" to whatever level of Toxic Focus he attained the first time and can't charge it any further, having to wait out the move. When Toxic Focus is already active, FANG instead uses this move to focus poison into his grotesque claw as he stabs one forward in a violent strike that reaches 1.4x the range of Luigi's fsmash. This is his version of the Focus Attack. The foe is dealt 10-20% damage and reeling knockback as they fall to the floor, scaling the same way and in all respects the same as Ryu's Focus Attack in Smash 4. The important difference with this move is that this power is set from the beginning depending on what Toxic Focus FANG had active, so if he charges it all the way, this is always on deck. The downside of this is it will use up the passive effect of Toxic Focus even when it whiffs and has poor end lag.


At very high percentages, when the foe is poisoned and FANG has Toxic Focus active, FANG's portrait on the HUD will glisten and FANG will laugh his "Nihehehe!" laugh to himself in idle, signifying FANG can go for the ultimate assassination by using up his Toxic Focus to just kill his foe on the spot by landing the Focus Attack. He'll inject poison into the foe and taunt them as they dissipate into a puddle on the ground as seen in the image. This only works when the foe is at a set percentage, starting at 200% for Jigglypuff and going up to 300% for Bowser, scaling first off of weight. However for every level of poison the foe is victim to this is brought down by 10%, and FANG's Toxic Focus has the same effect, so FANG can KO as soon as 60% on Jigglypuff, or Bowser at 120% given perfect circumstances. This isn't as irrelevant on FANG as most characters due to the amount of damage he can passively deal, ignoring the other factors.


FANG gains access to a unique "shield special" and "shield side special" when he's shielding with the Poison Cloud effect active. By pressing neutral special and a direction in shield, FANG performs his EX Nikanyaku from SFV and is covered in the same SFV ink effect as his other EX moves. This pushes FANG forward and keeps him facing forward, pushing foes along for the ride so that they end up directly in front of him as he comes out of the roll. This uses up the Cloud to move 1.3x as far as Samus' roll and has slightly faster frame data than Fox, and with the invulnerability window ending when FAF starts at 15 frames, this is an unpunishable roll. Pressing neutral special in shield has FANG perform his Nikaiho V-Reversal from SFV, throwing his hands up into the air and becoming invulnerable in a unique dodge, covered in the same ink aesthetic and highlighted the same way as his other EX moves. This is the same as his EX roll, using up his Cloud buff but giving him a dodge that cannot be punished, with full invulnerability and FAF moved up to frame 15. This only works for his grounded dodge, having no effect on his air dodge.

Up Special: Heaps of Corpses All Around [Shishiruirui]


FANG vaults upwards into the air, kneeing any opponent up into the sky alongside him as he goes, and laughs out with a "Nihehehe!" as he flaps his arms like wings, emulating a bird as he flies in the air! As FANG flaps his arms they become a powerful hitbox emulating moves like Yoshi's down aerial, doing a ton of rapid hits to the foe all at once and suction knockback that will keep them in until the last hit. All in all, while the first knee hit deals 5% damage, the move can then do a ridiculous 10 hits of 1% damage, then a final hit of 5% damage, overall able to do 20% damage. Similarly to the side special the knockback after the end of the move can differ depending on how much of the move the foe was caught by. If all hits land, this becomes a ridiculously powerful attack for an up special, comparable to Ryu's EX Shoryuken. This can be aided by the foe having been poisoned, as each additional tick of poison will add another 5% and that much more knockback, in which case it's easily the strongest up special.

This recovery has full super armour until it ends but will leave FANG in helpless once it's over, and doesn't carry him a great distance. This is best used to get to the ledge, as it has bad end and landing lag as FANG performs short taunt. It goes as far as Ganondorf's recovery upward, and goes the same distance as Fire Fox horizontally. This is at least very safe due to the amount super armour and the knee strike makes it a fantastic out-of-shield option, and will automatically grab the ledge to cancel the bird part of the move. This is also a great option to use to trade with a foe to inflict the Poison Cloud's poison onto them, as if it does land FANG will immediately make use of the extra poison on the foe to do the maximum amount of knockback, and if the initial knee strike only trades it still poisons the foe, making it a very scary prospect when FANG is in shield. All together, the knee strike counts as one poison stack, while all the consecutive strikes count as only another stack all together.

SMASHES

Forward Smash: Poison Rush [Sotoja]


FANG throws his hands up into the air for charge time, then vaults forward, dealing 14-19% damage, a move that has only average start lag and low end lag. The range of the move is boosted by two poison trails that follow FANG as he cuts through the air with his hands. This will KO at an almost semi-spike angle at the same percent as Falco's forward smash, decently powerful for a hard to punish smash. During the start lag before FANG throws up his arms, holding backwards will make FANG etch back a small distance, his own character width, before launching into the attack. FANG travels forward the same distance at low charge, making it reach the same overall range by default if the move is held back. When charged, FANG can vault forward up to a whole battlefield platform forward.

This can be angled. The high version deals knockback at a high angle, obviously, but more importantly will leave FANG slightly in the air at the end. This not only lets him use an aerial, but the height he goes in the air at the end is greater the more charged the move was, ranging from a crouching Kirby off the ground to a Little Mac height. This can even be boosted by the Poison Cloud as this is treated as a jump, so can leave FANG even higher and will carry the foe all that way to the end too, boosting the strength of the up angled version specifically. Note that FANG will hit foes next to him on the ground when angled up despite his height, though may miss foes once he's in the air. The best comparison for how this looks in action is Wolf's side special in Brawl.

The down angled version instead has FANG direct more of his strength into the attack, only moving half as far, but focusing his power to deal 3 hits of 3-6% instead. This now at most deals a lower 18%, but deals it at the Sakurai angle, this at high percentages will semi spike, and at lower makes it perfect for pressuring the foe too. This is the only version of the move that also deals more hits for the poison stacking too, all 3 hits dealing a stack of poison. This is the most easy to punish though as FANG has to go through the hit lag of all 3 hits and the move does weak shield push. A less obvious weakness of this version is because it's angled downwards, the lower poison trail is never relevant besides on super short opponents, of which there are none small enough in the Smash 4 roster.


Fully charging the move will turn the move into its EX form from SFV, giving it the now familiar ink aesthetic. FANG’s hands will now create a trail of poison that lingers in the air until the FAF of the move, dealing constant passive poison hits for 5% damage and constant hitstun to foes who are hit by it for its entirety. This renders the move perfectly safe against foes that end up behind FANG as he moves forward. The only recompense the foe will get is if they shielded, they will be dragged towards FANG during his lag so that they end up a little closer to punish him at the end so it’s not quite as safe. When the move is angled up or down, the last hit of poison will instead push the foe lightly into the air for this knockback, forcing them to land or commit to the air, and angled down will push them even further towards FANG. Normally they would only get half as far as FANG travels at mid-charge, but this will push them right next to FANG at the end of the move. The angles of the move come into play much more here too, and given FANG even gets into the air in this move, can create all sorts of trails of poison that linger behind him. The down angled version specifically will hit the foe towards the ground. The trail counts as 1 poison stack on the foe.

Up Smash: Fireworks Display

FANG focuses his power into a poison projectile that he builds up in both his hands, then does a Hadoken-like motion where he fires it up into the air above him, dealing 10-14% damage and good upwards knockback. This has low lag on both ends for an up smash but pretty low knockback, ranking among some of the weaker KO up smashes in Smash 4, but has great range as FANG shoots a projectile the size of Ryu's EX Hadouken upwards. This starts from in front of FANG and travels up 1-2 Ganondorf heights. This deals a single poison stack to foes.

The size of the poison orb at the middle of the move increases the same rate as Lucario's Aura Sphere projectile, only starting at the middle then increasing to the maximum size of that projectile. At no charge, the move will end at a frame neutral state for FANG and the foe. When the move is charged further and hits the foe when the projectile is further along, FANG can get between 10-30 frames on the foe, though this is never enough to combo them if they're being hit by the move it is enough time to do easy set up.

FANG can use his Toxic Focus by pressing special during start up to do an EX version, charge all into the smash and effectively skip the charge time. This will give 12 frames for every level of Toxic Focus FANG had charged, at level five giving it the full 60 frames or 1 second of charge. FANG gains super armour until he hits his end lag. FANG can keep charging the smash too even after putting in his Toxic Focus, letting him super charge the projectile to go another Ganondorf height, deal up to 20% damage, grow 1.3x as big as maxed out Aura Sphere, and at its most powerful do 1.2x the knockback of MegaMan's forward smash. This is significant too for the armour that will only stop after the same amount of time it would take to through to end lag without charge, so lasts a good ways into the charge. At no charge, the move does 1 poison stack, but does 2 at max, and beyond that using EX will deal a powerful 3 stacks all at once.

When the projectile makes it into the air, it will pull along any Poison Clouds along the way, either on the ground or in the air. This will make the projectile into the "anchor" of the cloud, the projectile as it goes up acting as if it was the floor of a ground-based cloud. This will flip the cloud upside down in midair and cause it to have the opposite effect as the cloud does when on the ground, pushing foes down at the same strength as they used to push them up, increasing their gravity to 1.5x that of normal, and reducing jumps to 0.75x their usual height. This all makes it harder for foes to get into that part of the air, and this extends to twice the range of the cloud's hitbox, the same as before. This is great for vertical juggles and this can be carried the full 2 Ganondorfs height into the air (3 with the EX version). At the end the cloud will then stay in place in midair at the peak of the projectile, refreshing its lifespan again, dissipating after a full duration in the air at that height.

In many ways this benefits FANG more than the grounded cloud as it forces foes to stay more grounded or simply creates an aerial trap to aid his projectile zoning game. The cloud when altered in this way will benefit from moving as well, the hitbox of the cloud can be used to track airborne foes or dissuade certain approaches. It does however only have the damage and knockback of the aerial version, even functionally being the same as the grounded version turned upside down. Where two clouds going in opposite directions overlap, the effect is cancelled out, though if the two poison clouds' hitboxes are not overlapping, they will still have the same effect, only cancelling out the portion above/below that.

Down Smash: Poison Fog


FANG backs up slightly and charges his arms behind his back, then throws them forward flinging poison at the ground and releasing a cloud of poison gas forward. The licks of liquid poison have a comparable range to Bowser's Flame Breath if in a few frames, it was firing at middle and its lowest angles, dealing 5 hits for 13-18% damage, and the strongest knockback after his default forward smash, dealt at a perfectly diagonal angle. The move has crazy range too, though only hits on the front side. This has pretty great reach but has a long duration and the end lag is slower than his other smashes.

The Poison Fog is another thing altogether, acting as more of a lingering trap than his Poison Cloud. The fog will travel across the stage covering a Marth-tall, Bowser-wide stretch of space until hit travels 1.5-2.5 battlefield platforms in distance then dissipates, this takes 3-5 seconds. Any foes within the fog will take a paltry 1% a second in damage, but will take a small tick of flinching knockback at the same time for only a few frames, forcing them to shield. Whether they shield or not, being inside the poison fog at all for one of these damage ticks will poison them and uniquely will actually stack if they are within a fog long enough. If a foe stood in the max charged version for its duration, this would immediately take them to the worst poison possible. This can be helped along of course by FANG simply hitting them forward to keep up with his fog! The fog has no obscuring qualities, simply staying in the background of the fight.

The fog has a unique interaction when FANG uses his EX Roll or Dodge inside it. FANG will use his EX Roll or Dodge, but once FANG would re-appear, the FANG that used the roll or dodge dissipates and reveals FANG in the fog wherever it now is on the stage. By using his dodge, FANG will be in the dead centre of the fog, even in the air if necessary, while using his roll will make him be on the right or leftmost side of it when he re-appears. FANG isn't actually invulnerable during this, and can be hit by foes to interrupt this and give him nothing. At the same time the simple threat of it makes his fogs a particularly powerful tool for mindgames.

This has an EX version when special is pressed during start up. FANG adjusts his stance and flings poison on both sides, expanding the move's range to double its normal size and giving him super armour until his end lag starts. This will only create the same amount of clouds on both sides, but will send them in opposing directions left and right across the stage. This deals the same damage on both sides as the normal version does. For the most part this is a great way to ensure FANG has the punish on a roll despite the normal move's inherent weaknesses, and while the move isn't directly buffed the range on this becomes just absurd, well worth the investment of Toxic Focus.

STANDARDS

Jab: Pressure Point Strike [Nirenko]


FANG strikes forward twice, hitting foes in reverse order to that seen in the image, hitting low then at a higher level for 4.5% each and knockback comparable to Ganondorf's jab only at a higher angle, so not useful as a semi spike. This is slightly faster to come out than Ganondorf's jab, but as an awkward two-hit jab, ends up easily punished due to a longer duration and some end lag. If the first hit lands, the foe will be dealt set knockback so they can be automatically hit by the second, only failing to connect at stupidly high percents. This does a high amount of damage for a jab and alongside poison, despite not being useful as a semi spike, is very useful to stall out more poison with the two hits, hits low and high to shield poke really well, flows easily into the up smash effects, and all around is a very good move to have around.

While this is only a two hit and not a rapid jab, it can be cancelled into itself to act similarly to a rapid jab. This can be broken out of between the hits like Dedede's jab, but will connect for as long as a traditional rapid jabs with enough poison, hitstun or outside set up helping it do so. Instead of just repeating the move, FANG will do a third hit high up that will drag the foe down a set distance to then be hit as he does the first hit again, staling harshly though, as the third hit only does 3.5%, and the fourth 3%, then at a normal degradation rate. FANG can especially take advantage of this by getting in close and then jabbing with his great reach to make it even harder for the foe to DI out.

If no further movement is input, each of the strikes will leave FANG in different forms of natural kickback. The third strike, so to speak, will push FANG forward a Bowser width if he doesn't move at all, naturally making it the best for aggression. If it doesn't land, it will push him back only slightly, making it easily punished. The second hit will push him backwards this same distance, while not landing the move will leave him in place, so while the safest most natural option has no additional defensive bonus like the others. The first hit, only capable of being the last hit of the move as a "fourth strike" at soonest, pushes FANG forward 1.5 Bowser widths and leaves him practically sliding forward a good distance so works best as an approach, but only when not landing it on a foe. Hitting the foe results in kickback where FANG is pushed backed a Bowser width with the same traction-like slipping across the ground, so he can buffer his projectiles on his way back. All in all this makes it a crucial element in FANG's movement alongside his dodges, rolls, and forward smash.

Dash Attack: Assassin Cartwheel [Senpukuga]


FANG drops to the ground in prone then rolls forward dealing 2 hits of 1% damage followed by a guaranteed 5% at the end, dealing decent knockback, but only comparable to Fox's dash attack in this respect. The difference between this and a lot of dash attacks is that it's much harder to punish, being that as FANG gets up at the end he has little end lag compared to most dash attacks. During the longer start up, FANG is flat on the ground so dodges many attacks, making this a perfect move to counter mid or high hitting attacks. Due to the shorter end lag, FANG can use this to chase down foes without having to worry too much about being punished, he can get some use out of this move just for sheer rushdown when he wants to pressure the foe when it's hard to punish. On the other hand FANG in prone is a massive horizontal hurtbox, so low hitting moves are laughably easy to land on him during the move.

By holding the standard button at the start of the move, this will instead end by putting FANG into a unique crawl, cancelling doing the move with a little less end lag. His crouch normally is a typical ducking move, but this crawl will keep FANG in his flat to the ground stance, similar to Snake's crawl in Brawl. This has around the same speed as Snake's too. The usefulness of this is just approaching through his poison clouds and reducing the size of his hurtbox and lets FANG to transition into many of his other moves as with other crawls, most notably his deadly down special. This crawls works the same way as any crawls, giving him access to his ground set, allowing him to transition easily from his crawl to his other standards, so can use it to dodge the foe and then counter attack if he whiffs his dash attack.

Forward Tilt: Assassin Rush

FANG pulls back his elbow, the rushes forward thrusting his hand as thinly as a needle, dealing 7% and average knockback at a sharp, moderately vertical horizontal strike. This only starts to KO at later percents, but its best feature is easily its end lag, as despite its not only decent start lag, it is the hardest move by FANG to punish. This move will move FANG forward a set Bowser distance on the ground and does strong shield push as well making it the perfect way to cover distance and fight stage control with the foe. At the end and beginning of the move's active frames, there's a sweetspot that deals 10% damage to shieldsm but has a special interaction when it lands on a non-shielding foe.

The sweetspot, visually represented by a sheen on his claw under his cloak, lets FANG rush past the foe's hurtbox as they're dealt 1% and pose for a short while as the foe suffers 5 hits of 1% then a final hit of 5% for much stronger knockback than normal. This ends with FANG on the other side of the foe at the end of the move, crossing them up. FANG will rush past a full battlefield platform after hitting the foe with the ending sweetspot, posing as the foe takes the 6 hits, making good distance from the foe at the same time. When hit by the beginning sweetspot, FANG turns around after the first hit and does another 1% rush through the foe's hurtbox, ending up back where he started with the same effect but standing right next to the foe as they take knockback. Both of these end up putting FANG with his back turned to the foe.

While rushing through the foe, any poison they had active will be used up and dealt with the 5 hits of 1%, boosting it by 1-3%, more the more the foe is poisoned. This can end up dealing an extra 15% for an incredible 16% or 17%, increasing the move's knockback to be as powerful as a weak forward smash nearer the top end, while boosting it to be a fairly powerful move for the sake of spacing besides that. This won't however end up giving FANG any more of a frame advantage due to being factored in with the other hits.

Angling the forward tilt will make FANG hit higher or lower, comparable to the angle of Luigi's forward smash only on a larger scale. When the sweetspot is used up, this will effect strongly how FANG attacks the foe. The up angled version will have FANG attack with an upwards strike into the air and pose in the air for a very short stall as the foe takes the hits, only a jumping height above them as both characters regain control. This can be increased or decreased utilizing FANG's poison clouds to leave FANG higher or lower in the air. The opposite of this happens when the downangled sweetspot lands, as FANG does a juggle into the air instead, leaving the foe their jump height above the ground at the end of the move. This can even help to KO the foe vertically when they've built up enough poison to increase the move's damage and knockback. Both versions of the sweetspot can shield poke for these effects, making them very dangerous at these set distances.

Up Tilt: Sky Chop

FANG bends his body to be as flat as possible and extends his arms as far up as he can, stabbing his hand into the air a good 1.2x Ganondorf’s height with his arms, dealing 5% damage and low upward knockback. FANG's hands are intangible during the active frames of the attack. This has very low start/end lag and has a particularly short duration making it hard to punish. The most awkward aspect of this move is easily its low range as while it hits high into the air, it can’t hit foes on the ground next to FANG, and makes him a huge vertical target. On the other hand, the fact he stretches his body to be so flat means he has a much slimmer width than normal, helping him escape or even counter-attack foes who attack into him utilizing the move’s low end lag.

The low knockback makes this a perfect juggle and will combo almost as well as Mario's up tilt at low percents, justified by the fact it won't hit grounded opponents so is much harder to land in the first place. FANG can make use of his Fireworks Display up smash to push the foe downwards to extend the up tilt's juggling even further, and besides just extending the combo, every hit of the juggle will poison the foe further and further giving it the possibility of doing insane damage. The lowered gravity also helps in not letting the foe drop fast enough to punish an already very fast move. Then if the foe gets too high, FANG can always just jump up himself to follow the foe into the air.

FANG will hit off a piece of any poison projectile that comes into contact with this attack, with a very lenient window to work. This causes a small, capsule-sized bit of poison to fall at Fox's laser speed down on both sides of FANG at a flat vertical angle, dealing 2% damage and light knockback. This will make the move safe to use against grounded opponents and has no negative effect on the poison so won't interfere with FANG's projectile zoning game either, only destroying it doing it twice to the same projectile. The knockback is so weak that it sets up well for a follow up at a low percents.

Down Tilt: Crouching Jab


FANG does a quick chopping strike towards the ground, his fastest move at frame 4 that deals 4% damage. FANG's long arms wrap around to hook behind him at the end too. This has good range due to FANG's reach, and comes out fairly quickly, but only does small amounts of knockback. To replicate the way Crush Counters work in SFV, this deals knockback at the Sakurai angle, so will keep the opponent grounded at low percents for easier follow ups. It has a small chance to trip too, and if that happens FANG is really going to town with his playstyle. Despite it not being a traditional Smash "counter," the fact it lessens the size of FANG's hurtbox to some extent and hits on both sides does lend itself well to being a counter, and to punish rolls or other defensive options.

This move does very little shield push because of its low knockback compared to its great range, and with its low end lag means it can be used to repeatedly bully shields in the same way as his up tilt can be used to bully with juggles against low percent foes. It can also combo into itself a few times at no or low percent for optimum poisoning on the foe. He can keep hammering away at shields at max health until the foe pokes or reacts defensively, with down tilt being so fast it's hard to punish. On top of that, the jump option can be worsened using projectiles or poison clouds forcing the foe into an disadvantage state easily. In general, this is a pretty fundmental move for both its speed, and the fact that in Smash 4 FANG's going to be towering over foes so needs this fast, low hitting option to get much going on the smaller characters.

GRAB GAME

Grab: Poisonous Grasp

FANG uses his huge reach and claws to grab at one of the best non-tether ranges, the same range as Koopaling's grab. This isn't too slow either, its weakness is its end lag as slightly more punishable than the average non-tether grab. After landing the grab, FANG grabs the foe with both hands and holds them off the ground, which is pretty high considering FANG's height. This isn't quite the infamous Ganondorf flame choke, but more like Ganondorf's grab animation, and holds the foe up as almost a meat shield to let them be hit by any stray poison projectiles.

Pummel: Poison Blob

FANG builds up a blob of poison in one hand, a more translucent looking blob than normal, then stabs it into the foe, attaching it to their model for 1% damage in a slow pummel. This can be angled uniquely for a pummel to make FANG instead hit the foe's upper or lower body, working on the same physics as the Sticky Bomb item. The blob will stick to the foe's model for 5 seconds, dealing 1% damage a second passively with no knockback. This means the pummel can deal over time 8% eventually, but this can be hit off by the foe with any attack that deals any direct damage, and it has a forgivingly large hurtbox. This will stack maybe 2-3 times at most in a single grab before the foe escapes unless already at super high percents. This poison itself counts as a stack, and this makes it pretty dangerous to simply allow to stick around, to the point just allowing a grab release may become preferable.

When FANG utilizes the Sticky Bomb for himself and hits the blob after it stuck to a foe, the standard/A button can be pressed on impact, causing a freeze frame where the poison is re-absorbed into FANG. This gives FANG his basic level of Toxic Focus, or adds one level to what he has currently! This is insanely useful as FANG can use it up in a move hitting a foe, then immediatley strengthen it again by absorbing it through his poison blob. On top of that, many of FANG's moves work very well into absorbing multiple blobs at once at high or low levels, such as his jab, forward tilt and forward smash to name but a few. He can mix and match using up the Toxic Focus and what order he reabsorbs either to maximize his damage/knockback output, or keep on refilling himself, this can get pretty tricky and makes the pummel a surprisingly terrifying effect for the OHKO effect the Toxic Focus can get eventually, making it easy for the foe to miscalculate when they're vulnerable to it.

Multiple pummels will deal only another 1% damage and not add any further poison damage over time, but will plant a new poison blob in the other two high/low areas, or will add to the blob already there. This can be done up to 2 more times on a blob, increasing its size from just that of the Sticky Bomb to 2/3x that. This makes it far easier for FANG to absorb the blob back into himself, and will give the Sticky Bomb some much needed defence. It now takes 10HP at 2 pummels or 16HP at 3 pummels to hit off. In addition, this will give FANG 2/3 Toxic Focus levels instead of just the one. Any additional pummels after increasing to the 16HP version will instead just deal a solid 3% damage to the foe, very useful if FANG wants to simply damage rack the foe.

Forward Throw: Shimonshu


FANG lays on his back on the floor and harshly kicks the foe using both legs, dealing 8% damage and catapulting them a large distance at a low angle. This has strong base knockback but comparatively lower scaling knockback, similar to the set knockback on an up special, so only will KO at around the 250% mark on a midweight. This does have its own benefits with the base knockback being high: FANG can make use of his poison damage, particularly on his pummel, to force the foe to take a huge chunk of passive damage as they have to fight their way back past FANG's camping and long-range melee hitboxes. This all adds up to a throw that's the best choice for playing for stage control as FANG puts a good bit of distance between himself and the foe.

When the foe has a poison blob on them from the pummel, FANG will automatically hit it when he uses this throw, causing the blob to stick to his feet as the foe is launched if the standard/A button is pressed. Unless the foe was dealt a huge amount of knockback, just not enough to KO, this blob will pull the back at the peak of their knockback as a form of elastic, and at one pummel will simply break then. This essentially halves the base knockback and then deals the foe the other half on top of any further knockback to be hit in FANG's direction instead. This will mostly cause the foe to whiz past or land in front of FANG unless at very low percents, then reliably putting the foe in front of FANG without much room for error, leading into an easy combo throw at low percents.

At two poison blobs, this will still end the throw normally but weaken the blob to just one stack after that, this is still uniquely useful in keeping the blob active while pulling the foe back in at the end of the throw. As the blob ends up stuck to the foe however, FANG will end up himself having a form of anti-kickback, pulled in weakly towards the foe as the poison blob detaches from the foe and pulls him lightly in the direction the foe was sent. This is increased in its strength depending on how much knockback growth the foe was dealt, so will end up pulling in FANG more when the foe is at a higher percent. This gives it a useful niche when the foe is too low percent to KO (then they'd just be KO'd) but too high to combo effectively under normal circumstances, this negative kickback lets FANG at least continue to chase them down.

When three poison blobs were placed on the foe, FANG will instead use this extra elasticity to pull himself in at the apex of the throw, pulling himself to the point where the blob would usually detach. Flying across the stage FANG performs a dive kick into the foe dealing 7% damage and light knockback, hitting them forward, or forward and 45 degree up or down, changing depending on what angle the blob was launched. This defaults to the last placed pummel if others were present on the foe. This can let FANG effectively start a gimp attempt off stage simply hitting the foe down after going so far with his pummel attempts, or hit them further at a semi spike or into the air for a juggle, giving him a few further options. This does destroy this set up intensive blob however, so is not always the correct option over the throw, especially at lower percents where the Toxic Focus comes into play.

Back Throw: Kyoshítsugeki


FANG knees the foe in the back, then acrobatically uses his legs to kick the foe onto the ground in prone in an axe handle motion, dealing 10% overall, and ending up behind the foe. This deals knockback at the Sakurai angle, but instead of sending them slightly off the ground at higher percents will bounce them into the air at the end of the move, for a midweight this starts when their percent is at 100% so fairly late in the game. The foe can't tech this hit, and will KO them off the top at 260%, again a very weak KO throw by Smash 4 standards, mostly because it sends the foe at a high, but not completely vertical angle.

When the foe has a poison blob on them, FANG's first strike will trigger the blob so that it starts flashing for the duration of the throw, then explodes; this is triggered only by pressing the standard/A button during the throw's start up. This varies depending on the level of the blob but with one pummel, happens one second after the end of the throw. This explosion deals 2% for each level of the blob, so 6% at three blobs, and forces the foe to react faster in prone than normal. This deals low-medium knockback upward knockback. This isn't because it takes a second for them to get up but because they don't want to end their invulnerability frames forced to take the hit, or making themselves have to predictably shield the poison blob's explosion at the end. If this put the foe into the air, this little bit of upward knockback can potentially KO the foe off the top of the stage, but more likely will aid in juggling the foe.

At two or three pummels worth of poison blob, the blob will attach the foe weakly to any hard surface as it becomes more malleable before it explodes. This translates to the foe having 5 frames of extra lag up on their get up attacks, rolls and dodges as their blob connects with the ground, either at the start, in the middle or at the end if the animation doesn't touch the ground again until that point. This varies depending on match up heavily, but does work well into FANG's playstyle regardless of where the lag is added as his own EX rolls and dodges act to naturally counter the weakness of the foe. This effect lasts for the extended 2 or 3 seconds for 2 or 3 pummels respectively, making it one of the most useful options when the foe is at a low percent. The same effect doesn't apply when FANG absorbs the blob into himself, so the foe can avoid it if they go on the offensive, pushing them to go for broke at a melee range against FANG, certainly working in FANG's favour.

Down Throw: Toxic Cable

FANG concentrates a huge amount of poison into his hands and then pulls them back before digging them into the foe’s chest for 5% damage as they fall to the floor, then kicks them away for a token 2% damage, resulting in little damage being done overall compared to his other throws. This actually is a semi-spike but deals low knockback so is only going to be functionally useful when FANG’s got his opponent at a high enough percent the angle matters most. This will leave a trail of poison before FANG and his victim, more of a goopy, liquid-like tether than the ones you’d normally see in-game. This tether will remain between the two for 6 seconds but can be destroyed if the foe deals it 3% damage for each level of poison active on FANG and the foe, or shields for a full 1.5 seconds at once, dissipating it immediately in that case. The tether’s length is largely not relevant in this case, but has a maximum size of two battlefield platforms before it dissipates.

The tether will transfer over to the other character whatever level of poison the other is at, so if FANG’s Toxic Focus is at level five, the foe’s poison will become the same level five, maximum poison for as long as they remain attached to FANG. Vice versa is true, powering up FANG’s Toxic Focus if the foe is at any level of poison, making FANG be poisoned up to that respective level. There are limits to this however, as FANG will use up the respective strength of both his and the foe’s poison and only use the strength of the move at that level, though he can potentially keep using moves with Toxic Focus, or keep the foe poisoned for as long as the tether is active. Rather than being additive, the tether is only the highest of either character, so can end up reducing the potential of the effect if FANG does this at a high enough level of poison for both characters.

This tether doesn’t work if the foe shields, blocking off the tether temporarily and can use this to ruin FANG’s day. FANG on the other hand is free to shield as his purple shield seems to have the same qualities as the tether when it’s active. In fact when FANG shields, he can use his shield to change the position of the tether by moving his shield, shifting the tether from the foe’s front to their back by moving his shield around himself, or move it to their lower or upper body by moving his shield more slowly. Moving around the tether isn’t simply to avoid the foe hitting it away either, as while the original tether is very useful for another reason.

Normally when FANG would use a move that utilizes his Toxic Focus, this will deal 10% damage to the tether, already doing a third of its health without taking into account the damage the foe is dealing. However when FANG moves his tether to touch one of the pummels he may have placed on the foe, this will send a single surge of poison roughly the size of a Pokeball at Ganondorf’s walk back towards FANG. At close range, this will instantly reach FANG. If it does manage to reach him, it will replenish the tether by 10-16% and extends its life by another 1-3 seconds, giving FANG a chance to keep the tether alive, healing more for a more powerful pummel blob. However to get this, FANG has to be shielding, though he has a pretty open window to do it when the surge of poison is within his shield’s general area. This can be repeated as many times as FANG wants by moving his shield around on the same blobs and isn’t too intensive, but is best used when the foe is already pre-occupied/reeling in place of set up to keep piling on the pressure.

Another option this tether opens up is when doing the neutral special Poison Fireballs. By angling the fireballs into the tether, and this is a bit more specific than the normal angling but naturally follows where the tether is connected to lower on FANG’s body, will send the same kind of surge of poison in the opposite direction. If it reaches the foe’s model, it will deal the same damage and have the same effect on them unless they shield or it destroy the tether first. In some respects this is worse than normal as they can simply destroy the tether although in a sense can no longer miss. When fireballs are caught up in a surge coming towards FANG instead, they are absorbed into a single poison blob that deals 1.1x the damage when it reaches the foe, up to as much as 1.5x damage. This is increased to 1.2 or 1.3x the damage if a 2 or 3 pummel blob was utilized in the attack.

Up Throw: Poison Umbrella


FANG flings the foe up into the air in an enthusiastic way resembling his win pose in SFV, creating a crescent of poison above him with his hands that launches the foe into the air, overall dealing 11% damage in a respectable KO throw upward, by far his best. This still isn’t one of the strongest up throws in the game though, but does have the added bonus of the crescent dealing 8% to outside foes and good knockback, always knocking foes straight up too, so particularly powerful on foes that are slow fallers. This can be made easier to KO by utilizing the poison clouds to push the foe higher into the air.

The eponymous umbrella comes from when the foe is thrown, as a poison residual is left of them in the air for a second after they’re thrown, similar to the hitbox of the move itself. This umbrella will be larger at points where poison blob pummels were placed in the foe, making it potentially lopsided on one end, or simply bigger overall and lasting for up to 5 seconds if 3 pummels had landed on the foe. The poison clouds have direct effects on the umbrella for its duration, not weakening in any other way too at the same time. The umbrella will cause the falling poison clouds placed in the air to send up a weak stream of raining acid into the air, dealing constant 1% damage 3 times a second to foes within a Ganondorf height of FANG’s character-wide umbrella. This is angled slightly left or right depending on the umbrella’s shape, so can be directed to send the rain at a 45 degree angle when the umbrella is most lopsided.

This isn’t too powerful other than forcing the foe to DI out of the way more than usual and deals no knockback. What’s more useful than that is after travelling up to their peak, they will fall back to the ground maintaining the same hitbox, making that entire area be a dangerous area for the opponent to go. This will actually push the foe down too. In both cases, this keeps a weak wind hitbox, though not overwriting any that exists for clouds in that area, and the rain can go all the way to the bottom of the stage, travelling at max two Ganondorf heights down before it dissipates. This works on the upwards facing, more common clouds too. This instead causes acid rain to fall on the ground and push out to the sides, creating a weak pushing effect in both directions that lasts the same 1-5 seconds depending on its strength. This pushes all characters at the speed of Ganondorf’s walk in that direction and more naturally lends itself to combos or rushdown for FANG, but can be used for more general keepaway purposes in that time too, giving a little escalator for FANG and the foe.

AERIALS

Neutral Aerial: Spur-Winged Goose

FANG does two precise stabs with his pointed out arms, hitting once a little upwards and forward, and a second time the same angle but reversed downwards, the first hit dealing 8% while the second deals 10%, comparable in many respects to Ganondorf’s neutral aerial only a little faster. The first hit deals less damage but at a largely more convenient angle compared to the latter which deals only slightly lower knockback than the powerful second hit of Ganondorf’s neutral aerial. The trade off between the moves is that FANG’s hurtbox is not as over-extended, poking forward his arms rather than thick legs and finishing ahead of Ganondorf too.

Both of the hits have a sweetspot at the end of the FANG’s claws as well as a sourspot closer to FANG. The sweetspots deal an additional 2% damage each and raise the power of the move to be on par with Ganondorf’s aerial. The sourspot deals 4% less and is also the version of the move that happens when it hits late, so is very likely to show up, but makes the move into more of a combo or juggle move so is not without its uses. Where this move really shines however is in its landing animation. FANG will end the move by immediately performing a follow-up stab forward or backward, having the same lag as Falco’s forward aerial landing hitbox. This deals the same damage as the aerial version, and has the same sweetspot and sourspot.. Whether it’s the earlier or later version also depends on when it was landed on the ground.

There is a mix up in the landing of the move. FANG will go forward if he lands while the first hit is active, and turn around to go backwards if he lands after the first hit. The process of landing can be slowed down by utilizing FANG’s poison blobs from his pummel, as well as his clouds and various freeze frames in the set to land earlier to ensure he gets the earlier hit to do the forward hitting version, or the opposite to land later and attack backwards. This will play into his playstyle too due to the angle he directs both hits to snag the foe’s shield and poking it.

Like Falco’s move, this can be used to FANG’s advantage to land both the aerial and landing version of the move. This takes advantage of FANG’s high fall speed to get to the ground faster. This may even combo if FANG is able to land a very technical combo from the second hit into the ground at low percents, or by hitting the foe into poison clouds that push them into the ground. He can even do this with the first hit by hitting the foe into his aerial set up like his falling projectiles or clouds to push them back into the ground. This mostly just functions as a reward for set up or very precise timing than anything too reliable, but overall makes this a key aerial for FANG.

Forward Aerial: Double Fierce Kick


FANG performs two kicks and halts his momentum slightly as he kicks himself a tiny amount up in the air, the first hit deals 9% damage while the second deals 7% damage, each having marginally decent knockback but only able to KO at high percents, comparable to MegaMan’s forward aerial. This will combo into itself at very low percents and can be manipulated by using the poison clouds in a situational way. This is a reverse of the neutral aerial in terms of the core hitboxes, the weaker one happening second, meaning the move is best used to KO when an early hit is more likely. The angle is very high, almost flat and upward, so actually works well as a juggle. The range is poor for FANG, but compared to most of the cast is not bad. The downside of the move is it has poor landing lag as FANG lands awkwardly on one leg. The end lag of the move in the air is one of the best by comparison.

The move can change dramatically if forward is continued to be pressed through the duration of the move. FANG will lean forward slightly and move forward during the move by gliding on his airy robes, this can only be performed once per air trip, moving him forward a Bowser width as he kicks. As he kicks, this will push him back slightly, so the net result is only around half that, and it adds to the end lag making it not all that worthwhile besides adding some range to the move. What makes it more useful is that if a foe is hit at the edge of the hitbox, this will change it to deal a lower angled form of knockback, enabling the move to turn into a gimp or outright KO move near the blast zone, which becomes easier to reach.

This can be altered slightly using outside wind hitboxes such as FANG’s clouds, FANG can after pressing forward instead push in that direction to go that way instead, though only for a Bowser width. This essentially makes the knockback of the kicks radial, but only can continue for as long as a cloud is in range. This gives a stiff limit to how far FANG can move, this itself can act as a reliable ruler for where FANG will end up and can actually help him move further back with his kicks if the cloud doesn’t go far enough, or when in the full push of them, end up further ahead instead. With how clouds are placed, it’s unlikely to aid his recovery either, but definitely makes the move less predictable. One thing to keep in mind though, this does make the end lag of the move worse, so it’s difficult to not be punished.

Back Aerial: Crush Counter


FANG turns and punches squarely in front of himself for great range, 1.2x that of Ganondorf’s back aerial, dealing 12% damage in a powerful aerial that will KO at 180% on midweights. This may not seem too great, but the move isn’t as slow as it sounds, having low end lag and only moderate start lag making it harder to time than land with its huge range. The move will turn around FANG in midair, which is important given his side special would use up his limited clouds otherwise if forced on him and FANG needs to get a good amount of use out of his jumps rather than waste them on turning around.

Mirroring the crush counter from the game, the aerial has a sweetrspot that deals reduced 8% damage at the end of the fist, but increased hitstun and hitlag adding to the aesthetic as well. This basically acts as sourspot, but can get much better if the foe was poisoned or Toxic Focus was active as similarly to the forward tilt, gives FANG the opportunity to do a follow up if the sweetspot landed. FANG will create a burst of the poison in his hand, dealing another 2-6% damage and launching the foe at a low angle. The amount of base knockback varies depending on the level of poison in the foe and for FANG. On top of simply making the sweetspot a powerful KO option, as it will deal a bit more knockback than normal when any poison is presented, this acts as a poison stack on the foe and the longer duration will almost immediately lead into a damage tick once the flashier animation is over, plus alleviates the extra lag to make it just as fast as normal.

Up Aerial: Two Handed Clap

FANG slaps both hands together in a gleeful clap above his head, dealing 9% damage in a strong but slow aerial that has good range above FANG. This does decent knockback too, a bit lower than DK’s infamous up aerial, though isn’t as fast as that move it does have a bit better of end lag and low landing lag. When FANG claps a poisoned foe he can perform a follow up, this will squeeze them for a few extra frames of animation, causing a splash of poison to fall onto FANG. This has the unique function of poisoning FANG and raising his level of Toxic Focus by one, but reducing the foe’s level by one level too, squeezing all that poison-y goodness out of the foe’s body, or simply causing it to drop off at a faster rate.

At the cost of great end lag, FANG can do a follow up if he misses and has Toxic Focus active. Using up one to all five levels at once, this will splash upwards poison that ranges from only half the strength of G&W’s up aerial in terms of wind hitbox, over the size of DK’s body, to up to twice that strength and size, as well as dealing 6-10% damage and light flinching knockback in a huge area. This can be a perfect finisher in the same way as MegaMan’s up aerial, but obviously is pretty costly when it uses up FANG’s Toxic Focus too. As another potential positive, shooting out this splash will send FANG down at twice his normal fall speed in a unique fast fall, while giving him back control and this has great landing lag. This means sometimes, he can opt to choose to get back to the stage much faster by sacrificing his Toxic Focus. For the duration of the fast fall, and carrying over for 5-25 frames if landed early during the fast fall, FANG even gains heavy armour against lightly damaging attacks from the momentum of being hit towards the ground. The splash itself counts as 1 stack, 2 only if all 5 levels of Toxic Focus are used up.

Down Aerial: Spinning Crusher

FANG curls his body up as he spins around and leans his upper body forward, turning his body into something of a corkscrew in midair, drilling his feet downwards for rapid hits, hitting 5 times for 2% and a final 5% hit in a well damaging aerial. This has a long duration, low start lag and good end lag. The landing has a unique attack the same way the neutral aerial does, FANG’s drill comes to a stop as he dashes backward, his legs dealing 5% as he skids to a stop and has a high chance of tripping, otherwise dealing low knockback at the Sakurai angle. This works as a good shield poke at least, and is difficult to punish due to how FANG’s legs lead outwards then back inwards once the move is over, making it harder to punish without good range. The long duration and multiple hits also work well for FANG’s playstyle of prolonging the foe’s pains.

On the other end of the move, FANG’s wrapped up arms create a circular hitbox all their own as they spin around, perhaps taking a book out of M. Bison’s book. This deals one hit of 14% compared to the other hitbox, a far more powerful hitbox, but as FANG is coming down will hit the foe downwards. This makes it one of the most awkward spikes in the game, and as FANG has to be high up to begin with, is best used as a mix up when passing the foe in midair to gimp if at all for that purpose. It actually works better to simply combo the foe into the landing or other hitbox of the move at certain percentages. The top of FANG will deal a lower 10% damage in a sourspot that nonetheless this the foe straight up, a useful angle to make the move safe on trade at worst, so all around a good defensive move hitbox-wise, only leaving FANG’s mid-section vulnerable.

FANG has a special animation when he lands on a foe shielding, treating it as solid ground. He spins around and does the full animation with the opponent in shield stun then enters his landing animation on the foe’s shield, almost like Greninja’s down aerial in Smash 4 as far as how it looks. This deals the same damage but massive amounts of shield stun and then shield push with the landing animation. FANG gets to have further fun if he lands on one of the poison blobs from the pummel, as this will deal further hitlag and hitstun every time he drills into it with his foot, bringing the foe down to a crawl with up to five hits. This will not be absorbed into FANG until the final hit, squeezing all of the damage he can out of it before he then gets it for himself at the end of the move.

The second, bigger hitbox of the move has an ulterior purpose too. Holding down the direction/up when next to a poison cloud during the move’s start up, FANG will then use his spinning to pull in some of the fog and release it when he enters his end lag, whether on the ground or in the air. This creates a weak, GTFO wind hitbox around FANG in a close range, dealing a passive 2% damage, but as it pushes away all around FANG can easily be timed to make the move unpunishable. This adds to the start lag of the move, which actually can be more of a reason to use this than the secondary hitbox it creates as FANG can turn the down aerial into a more traditional, stalled down aerial with all the benefits that come with that. Especially useful if FANG can manage to land on a shielding foe with the other half of the hitboxes, that stall could help to get great shield pressure or even break the foe’s shield.

FINAL SMASH

Dance of Poison: Poison the World


FANG taunts the foe as the camera zooms in on him, he shouts that he will be assisted by Lord Bison! Immediately a giant sphere of the world drops in front of FANG and explodes poison all over the screen, covering it in gunk the same way Koopalings’ final smash does, but obscuring only for a moment. The ball is the size of Giga Bowser and falls instantly upon a screen freeze, so is impossible for the foe to dodge if they were in front of FANG at the time. It deals 30% damage and will KO at 60% if it hits, as well as instantly KOing anyone who was over 200% no matter where they were on stage.

After that the entire screen becomes covered in an obscuring fog, making only FANG completely invisible for 10 seconds. At any time he can tell where he is however by doing any shield button motion, given far lower lag for the duration of the final smash. FANG has access to his full set and his Toxic Focus is at a permanent level five, as well as 1.5x as fast ground speed and much higher traction. The foe is also poisoned fully for the duration of this final smash. If FANG lands any attacks for the next 8 seconds when this fog is active, they will count as his fully set up Toxic Focus OHKO, reducing his foes to a puddle of poison. FANG will stop the final smash early and taunt with his victory dance/up throw animation if he kills off all his opponents in the match once with the final smash.
 
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Scourge the Hedgehog



Scourge the Hedgehog, also known as Anti-Sonic, is an evil version of Sonic the Hedgehog from the Archie published Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. First appearing in Issue #11, he has been a recurring rival for Sonic as he and his fellow Freedom Fighters cause misdemeanors and general anarchy across his home dimension and throughout the multiverse. Originally looking identical to Sonic without his trademark glasses and jacket, he even posed as Sonic on several occasions to pin blame on his good counterpart. Being an evil clone, Scourge is similar to sonic personality-wise, except with twisted and amplified characteristics. He is egotistical, yet conceited and cruel. He is easy-going, but only acts in his own shallow self-interests. Somewhere along the line, Issue #160 to be exact, he changed. After absorbing some power from the Master Emerald, his eye and fur color had swapped and a pair of hideous scars now lines his chest courtesy of Knuckles’ Father. After adopting his new name, he decided to test out his new form on Sonic. After being chased away, he had reformed his methods. Fixated on becoming different from Sonic, he went back to his home dimension, usurped his father from royalty, and now rules his dimension with an iron fist. After that, his obsessions forced his fellow Freedom Fighters, now known as the Suppression Squad, to adopt different names and appearances, in some cases to the point of mutilation. Hated and feared by all, he now lays his eyes on conquering the whole multiverse under his cruel reign…at least until he was erased from existence as part of the Ken Penders-induced Cosmic Reboot. With nowhere else to go, he now sets his eyes on Smash Bros, where he aims to prove to the MYM Ladder why he was crowned king.


Gameplay:

All of his statistics (speed, weight, height, etc.) are identical to that of Sonic’s. With high walking speed and uncontested running speed, Scourge rules the ground. He can get away from and close in on enemies with his blistering speeds. He is no slouch in the air either, with middle-of-the-road fall speed and great air speed. With wall-jumping capabilities and decent jumping statistics, he can provide good air movement to facilitate an off-stage game. His weight is on the lighter side of the mid-weight spectrum however, meaning he can be killed somewhat easier than other characters. To put it bluntly, Scourge is a semi-clone of Sonic. His playstyle is still quite a bit different from his good counterpart’s however. His attacks have less potential to rack up damage with strings of combos than Sonic, along with having less of an overall kill potential. That is not to say that his combo potential is completely gone, but it is nerfed compared to Sonic. Instead, due to being the dirty fighter he is, many of Scourge’s attacks have added affects for leaving opponents open to his attacks, such as shield breaking, tripping, forcing them to go prone, or even burying. With his underhanded attacks, Scourge will force his lackluster combo game onto his opponents. Furthermore, while Sonic is frequently cited as a notorious user of stall tactics, Scourge really shines in this regard. His distracting moveset combined with his top-class speed allow him to stun or incapacitate foes as he runs to the other side of the stage to stall out the clock. As is in universe, his diabolical strategy will make him despised by anyone on either side of his battles. Opponents will have to stay on their toes to remain standing against this foe.

Specials:

Neutral Special (Homing Crash):
Using the 3D Sonic staple, Scourge will spin so quickly that he launches his body towards the nearest opponent like a heat-seeking cannonball. Visually it is the same as Sonic’s; he curls up into a ball while briefly ascending, homes onto the nearest opponent, and then rams into them, launching them at a 60* angle. While it is similar looking, this move is a bit weaker than Sonic’s move (9%) killing at 175%. Like Sonic’s, Scourge’s rendition of the Homing Attack is not anywhere close to being the best move in his kit. The move does have some utility for closing in on opponents quickly, but the homing can be unreliable at times, overshooting the opponent and leaving Scourge open to a much needed beating. Similarly, the move can be used to help recover or edgeguard by approaching a nearby opponent, but if there is no target in range, Scourge simply moves 45* downwards a small distance and effectively kills himself. Even if the attack makes its mark, shielding will leave Scourge extremely vulnerable. With Sonic, you can press B a second time to make the attack go off faster. With Scourge, the opposite effect happens. Scourge will stop to spin 1.25x longer and make his attack more powerful (16%) killing at 150%. The homing attack itself moves 0.75x as quickly and travels 1.5 farther, meaning it tracks better than normal due to the longer self-correction time. It is also more difficult to stop now since Scourge gets super armor as he is barreling forwards. This makes for a better approaching tool, but it still leaves Scourge as vulnerable as ever to hitting a shield. Due to this, it is better used to interrupt opponents mid attack and in the air when they cannot shield. Use this move sparingly as it can easily be punished. As part of his playstyle, use it to interrupt any oncoming attacks if the foe leaves themselves too open.


Side Special (Hammer Spin Dash):
This move greatly resembles Sonic’s infamous Side Custom 2 of the same name. Much like the custom, the hedgehog leaps up about 4 times his height in ball form, then comes crashing down (12% up, 7% down). On the way up, this move has decent knockback that kills opponents with upwards knockback around 120%. This can be used to catch mid-air opponents off guard due to how quickly and how high Scourge leaps. However, it is a risky maneuver since Scourge cannot exit out of ball form until he hits the ground, so doing this in the air or close to the edge of the stage is suicide, not unlike Little Mac’s or Shulk’s Side B. Furthermore even if you don’t self-destruct, the end lag is quite high on this move, leaving you very open to retaliation if you miss or don’t finish the job. The real infamy from this move rears its ugly head when Scourge is descending. While this hitbox may cause less damage, it sends the opponent downwards for a moderately powerful spike. This can be used to kill opponents early, but as explained above this is near suicide if you are not above solid ground. Only spike opponents with this move if you aim to show them disrespect. On grounded opponents however, the opponent is buried. The endlag for this move is not all that accommodating for complicated setups, but uncharged smashes can be used if you are quick enough to react. The main use for this move is diabolical indeed. As one can expect, once people attempted to try custom moves in tournament settings, Sonic’s stalling stigma simply became insufferable, where Sonic could not only dash away from the opponent but also bury them to keep them at bay for a few seconds, adding up to a giant game of cat and needlemouse once Sonic got the percent lead. Since Scourge has absolutely no reservations about wrecking his reputation, this move is perfect for him. There is one huge difference for Scourge’s version of the move compared to Sonic’s: Scourge has no “spin dash” to speak of after he lands. Unlike Sonic, who continues to roll forwards, albeit at a stunted pace compared to his normal spin dash, Scourge pops out of ball form with a miniscule bounce once he strikes the ground. Since the majority of Sonic’s combo and approach game hails from the spin dash, Scourge’s lack of it is hands down the main reason for his lacking combo game comparatively speaking. He still has an unaltered Spin Charge for his Down Special (more on that later), but the Side B Spin Dash is the one that can fluidly transition combos from ground to air. Also, Scourge has some other methods of getting ground to air combos, namely his up tile (again, more on that later) but it pales in comparison to the sheer safety Sonic’s Spin Dash brings. Scourge will have to kill on the way up and stall on the way down with this move to gain a victory over the opponent to make up for the lacking follow up roll.



Up Special (Spring Trick):
Similar to his good counterpart, Scourge jumps off of a spring that materializes beneath his feet (2%). This spring doesn’t appear to be nearly as strong however, as Scourge only gains 2/3 of the height Sonic does. Furthermore, the spring disappears immediately if used on the ground, so that minor utility from Sonic’s kit is lost. However, Scourge has some tricks up his sleeve with this move. If you tap (as in the input strength one would use for a smash attack) a direction at any point while he’s rising, he will completely halt his momentum to do a trick along the lines of that which was introduced in Sonic Advance 2. While these may either improve recovery or expand your attack options, if you perform a trick Scourge will be put into a helpless state. Because of this and the fact that his comparatively weaker recovery by itself doesn’t leave you helpless, you should judge the situation accordingly if a trick is really necessary to recover. If you press up, he will jump up one double jump height with his hand stretched out above him and very little horizontal movement available. This is actually a command grab of sorts; if you the hand reaches an opponent, Scourge will immediately stand above them and footstool them. If you successfully pull off the command grab, Scourge will not be put into recovery mode and will gain back his double jump once more if it had been lost, but cannot perform his Up Special again until he is hit, lands, or grabs the ledge. In general, this is Scourge’s most useful trick for recovering due to its command grab nature. Even still, if your footstool is performed too far away from the stage, there is nothing else to do that can save Scourge. Pressing either left or right will make Scourge do the Humming Top. For this move, Scourge will do a windmill kick so fast that green blades of air appear to spin around him (max of 25%). The sheer torque will send him rocketing in whichever direction he pressed at his own run speed for about 1.5 seconds max before he falls into helpless mode. This greatly improves Scourge’s recovery horizontally, but limits his vertical recovery. When this move is initiated, any of Scourge’s vertical momentum from the spring completely halts and he falls about one character height the time he reaches helpless mode. Offensively, this attack is much stronger than the upwards trick. It hits several times for weak damage each hit. The final hit has decent knockback at 30*, killing at 90%. Due to the speed at which this comes out, it is a fantastic way of approaching the opponent if you are into that sort of thing. However, even if you hit the opponent you still fall into helpless mode regardless. Also, even though the attack gives Scourge good horizontal recovery, this only applies in one direction. After, Scourge’s horizontal momentum returns to normal, which can make it easy to blast off the stage and KO yourself like Little Mac is infamous for doing. If you can learn to control this trick however, it can have some further utilities. In a similar manner to Mewtwo or Pikachu, using this Up B such that you cancel out your ending off the edge of platforms gives Scourge great mix up potential. For example, one can Humming Top on a floating Battlefield platform, align yourself so that you slide off the edge, then perform a second Humming Top in the other direction to throw any opponents you missed off guard. The speed at which the move halts vertical momentum can also be used to play mindgames on opponents. If you time the horizontal input just right, you can cancel the spring’s launch after rising just a shorthop’s height. This is one of Scourge’s most dangerous attacks to both himself the opponent, so make it count.


Down Special (Spin Charge):
The only special move that hasn’t been altered to more sinister trickiness, Scourge performs an old classic. Rapidly pressing the B button will make Scourge roll into a ball and charge spinning in a ball really quickly. Once charged, letting go will let Scourge go rolling forwards at a sonic speeds. While going forwards, he can turn around, jump, and perform an aerial attack out of it. Between these options, one can also hold the down input without mashing B to end the attack without launching and jumping from a standstill when charging. In the air, this attack will make Scourge travel downwards at around 60*. While this makes for a poor recovery option, it can surprise foes for a KO off the top of the screen if the opponent is up far enough. This is a rare occurrence though, as the move under normal, ground circumstances does not kill under any reasonable percent. Both power and speed increases, providing as much as 20% between all the multiple hits that add up. Since this move has a constant hitbox it is great at approaching an attacking opponent. Be sure to use this attack whenever possible due to its high versatility on its own and large degree of follow ups.


Standards:


Jab:
A three-hit combo, Scourge’s performs an open palm slap, a low kick to the groin area, and an overhead chop onto the top of their head; such a fitting combo for an unscrupulous king (1%, 7%, 3%). This combo is rather weak as a result of not KO’ing until about 320%, but that is not the purpose of this move. The slap starting off this combo is incredibly quick, starting and ending in only a couple of frames. For one, its speed and near nonexistent knockback is fantastic for jab-locking purposes. Second, it is an incredibly safe option for interrupting an opponent to gain leverage of the battlefield. Doing so in this manner is a good combo starter as you can follow up with a second attack almost immediately. The other two hits of the jab are less useful in comparison, but still have purpose.


The kick, one of the oldest underhanded techniques one can do, is actually the most powerful part of the jab. It launches the opponent upwards at a 45* angle, killing by itself at 175%. For a jab, it does a hefty bit of damage since it aims for a sensitive area on all opponents. Due to how easy the slap is to get in, following up with a kick is a decent way to rack up damage quickly, but is a terrible continuation for a combo due to its knockback. For edgeguarding purposes, it is only good for knocking off the opponent at high percentages, since the upwards angle makes it relatively easy for opponents to recover if they have decent horizontal recovery capabilities.


The chop part of the attack has knockback that hits diagonally downwards at 30*, but as mentioned before it doesn’t KO until after 300%. Due to the knockback on the kick, the chop does not always connect at high percentages. Since the kick hits the opponent upwards, if the chop connects the opponent will most likely be hit into the ground, creating a tech chase situation. Additionally, close to the edge the opponent will be sent downwards, but not quite enough to be considered a spike. The knockback doesn’t really make it a killing move, but it makes it better for edgeguarding, specifically ledge trumping, if you can get this move off. Back to the tech chase situation, Scourge’s speed allows him to cover a variety of options, but because the angle of knockback is mostly horizontal with the chop, the opponent will be relatively far away from Scourge. This makes it safest for the opponent to roll away from Scourge, but Spin Charge, DACUS, or a dash attack used quickly can chase the foe that far if you are quick enough. If they do a normal get up, the above will work with more of a leeway, alongside up tilt, forward tilt, or down smash if you are quick enough. Rolling towards Scourge will cause the dash attack and DACUS to miss, along with the Spin Charge if you let it go too soon, but all tilts will be easier to hit, save the forward tilt (more on that weird move next). The Homing Crash can cover all 3 options depending on the fakeouts you do. Overall, the slap portion of the jab is most useful purely due to how quickly it gets out, but the other two hits have their uses for knocking foes off the stage or using a tech chase to gain leverage.


Forward Tilt:
With his index and middle fingers, Scourge jabs at his opponent’s eyes (13% sweet, 4% sour). In yet another sensitive attack, Scourge aims to stun opponents with this painful attack, which is exact what it does. Upon landing this move, the opponent will be stunned in a similar manner to that of ZSS paralyzer shots. The knockback after being stunned is pitiful, killing at no reasonable percent. This is not a huge issue however, since the stun is more than enough to make up for this downside. Following up with one of Scourge’s more risky killing moves would be a great follow up, as would a combo starter. The slap jab may be used to start a combo here, but since the opponent is a sitting duck at this moment, it would be more productive to try a riskier or flashier method of gaining stage control. It is very like Scourge to openly gloat his skills in the face of the incapacitated after all. This move may sound like an amazing move, but it has several drawbacks. First, while it is quick, it has a noticeable beginning and ending lag to it. Furthermore, the attack hitbox is only active for a couple frames, making it have a very small hit window. If you miss or don’t space properly, you could be the one on the receiving end of a beatdown instead. Second and most important, the stunning effect only works under the same conditions as Mewtwo’s disable, as in the opponent must be facing Scourge and the attack must hit at eye level, without their shield of course. Naturally there is some leeway, where hitting the upper portion of the front of a grounded opponent will activate the effect, but this sweet spot combined with the short duration of the attack makes it one of the riskiest moves in Scourge’s arsenal. If the move doesn’t hit the opponent’s sweet spot, it does really low damage and knockback comparable to that of the slap. This sour spot also occurs if the opponent is already stunned, prone, tripped, buried, etc. In the case of a tech chase situation as with the jab combo, the most optimal is a get up is…well the straight get up. While it is slightly farther away, the opponent will be facing Scourge, making the sweet spot easier to hit. If the opponent does roll towards you, you can still hit them, but since you need to quickly turn around to do so, it is far more risky. The roll away get up is simply too far away to enact upon. Unlike the slap, the endlag leaves Scourge open to retaliation with the sour spot, giving control of the stage back into the hands of the opponent. This move is best used as a mix up very rarely due to how dangerous it is for both parties. If you can get it off however, make the best use of this chance.


Up Tilt:
He performs a high kick much like that of Ganondorf’s Up Smash (9%). Unlike that slow king of evil, Scourge shows him what speed a real king should deliver a kick at. The kick is unsurprisingly another dirty technique, one that in real life aims for the chin with the purpose of snapping the opponent’s neck from the whiplash. In Smash however, this move just launches the opponent into the air. Of Scourge’s standard ground attacks, this is really the only normal one, not having some debilitating side effect or laggy, but powerful hit. It is decently quick, launches with vertical knockback and kills at 145%. Being not quite a risky move, it is arguably the best follow up for the slap. After that, a variety of aerial moves can be used to follow up. Spring Trick can also be used at higher percentages for footstool shenanigans or for horizontal knockback for the up and side tricks respectively. The same follow ups can be used after a get up or roll towards for the tech chase. Even without using moves beforehand, this can be used by itself or out of shield to start aerial follow ups. It’s not nearly as lagless as the slap, but it is possibly the second safest move in Scourge’s arsenal, so use it liberally.


Down Tilt:
In an exaggerated motion, Scourge lifts his foot and stomps down hard with a crunch (18%). If anyone is hit by this laggy attack, they’ll get more than just their foot crushed. Similar to Mega Man’s up tilt, this attack is extremely strong for a tilt, killing with vertical knockback at the comparatively low percentage of 85%. This attack does vertical knockback to grounded opponents, but airborne opponents get spiked instead. The spike is rather strong at that, being great for killing opponents trying to recover from off stage like a smaller version of Bayonetta’s Down Smash. This comparison is apt in many ways since Scourge lunges his leg about 2/3 his character width and his foot slightly enlarges for effect. This is a powerful follow up for the complete jab string. If this leads to a tech chase, the only real follow up is if the opponent rolls towards you, but even then it is a tight fit to safely do so. Rather, the real follow up comes from the chop knocking the opponent off stage. You can either use the down tilt to meteor smash them into oblivion, or precede with a ledge trump to take away their vulnerability and crush the hands of your adversary desperately groping for the ledge. Since the spike is so powerful, this technique can kill at low or mid percentages, which is quite fitting as the jab kick leads into the chop much more easily in this damage range. In general, this attack is used like Mega Man’s up tilt: it is a strong KO move that punishes you if whiffed, so make sure to use it only when you know it will count.


Dash Attack:
Scourge performs a sliding kick similar to moves of the same function in Sonic Unleased onwards (9% early, 4% late). In Smash, this knocks the opponents upwards to give him some slight combo ability leading into the air, killing at around 210%. It is similar to Bayonetta’s grounded side special in this function, knocking them just high enough to allow Scourge to easily follow the opponent at nearly any percent with one or two jumps. However, this attack also has sex kick properties, in that at the end of the attack when Scourge is slowing down, the attack no longer launches upwards. Rather, this new hitbox trips the opponent instead. Since this hitbox appears at the end of the attack, Scourge can get up to punish or run away from the felled opponents. When tripped, the opponent will be vulnerable to a large amount of damage from Scourge’s down smash or can be stunned in a different manner with forward tilt if timed exceptionally well. If the opponent is likely to shield right after getting up, use a forward smash to crush them a little longer. This tripping hitbox is a bit finicky to hit with however, due to the fact that Scourge doesn’t travel very far with this hitbox, so it is something you have to space out really well. The former hitbox is not without its applications though. Due to being much more reliable than the latter hitbox, it is pinnacle for Scourge’s ground to air game. It can either be used to start a combo or be used after a slap, jab combo, forward smash, or after one of Scourge’s many incapacitating moves. In general, this is one of the most important moves in Scourge’s arsenal due to both its combo and stalling potential, so use it when you can.


Smashes:


Side Smash:
In charging this attack, Scourge splays out his arms, but he is certainly not looking for a hug. In a blink of an eye, Scourge reaches out and claps his hands together, as if to fake out an opponent with a swift yet loud motion (10%). This forward smash is one of the fastest in the game, but is quite weak, launching horizontally and killing at 190% uncharged. Oddly enough, this clap does tremendous shield damage, being able to instantly break shields when fully charged and destroy most of the shield uncharged. Since this move has virtually inexistent startup time and low cooldown, it is one of Scourge’s safest moves. While it is poor at killing, the opponent will have no choice but to dodge the move as interrupting it is practically impossible and shielding will spell doom. If the opponent does manage to dodge, they will have to act immediately to capitalize on Scourge’s brief moment of vulnerability. Since it is more similar to a tilt in frame data, this move can be used as a combo starter. With the horizontal launch angle, one can follow up with a dash attack to launch the opponent upwards to continue the combo into the air. At higher percentages, DACUS or Homing Crash can give chase as the opponent is launched farther. If you do manage to break the opponent’s shield, savor the moment. Watch your opponent struggle to gain control as the clock is ticking. Plan out the flashiest way to deal with the opponent; then you can sense how palpable their rage is. Rack up damage with the down smash, spike them with your jab combo and down tilt, break their shield again after predicting their first action of being free, the possibilities are endless. This is a safe attack to use, so the most important thing to do is to be creative in how you crush the enemy between your palms.


Up Smash:
In an identical move to Sonic, Scourge hops up slightly and spins very quickly (5% first hit, 1% up to 6 times, 3% final hit). This move is literally the same move in damage, knockback, and animation as the Blue Blur’s. Since the rest of Scourge’s smash attacks are so radically different, this now takes the place as Scourge’s most powerful smash attack in terms of KO potential, killing vertically around 110%. The final hit can be quite strong with high knockback growth, which can allow for unexpected KO’s at higher percentages if you hit an opponent standing on a platform from below. This is especially true if you employ DACUS, allowing Scourge to slide across the stage before letting lose this attack. It is also a safe move in that there is very high priority on the multiple hits, as well as a couple intangibility frames to clash with incoming attacks. Due to being a multi-hit move however, it has a comparatively long duration, making it punishable upon whiff. If the opponent is incapacitated at a high enough percentage, you can use this to finish them off, or refrain from doing so to play with your food a little longer. This can also be used to catch an opponent trying to land from above or trying to recover high from offstage. Since this move is one of Scourge’s most reliable killing moves, make sure not to use it too often as to prevent it staling.


Down Smash:
In charging the attack, Scourge revs up his legs in a figure 8-pattern, smoke billowing from the friction created by his feet, a process with about 0.5 second of startup lag. Once the attack begins, Scourge runs back and forth in a blur the length of 1 Battlefield platform (max of 35%). This is a very unconventional smash attack, essentially acting like Weavile’s Pokéball summon from Brawl. Scourge runs back and forth for 1.5 seconds, the entire blur a hitbox. For grounded opponents in the blur, they take no knockback and become stunned in a similar manner to that of Mewtwo’s Disable. Even though there is no knockback on the ground, the opponent will rack up a lot of damage through multiple quick hits. Since the stun does not last too long, to the point where an opponent caught in the beginning will snap out of stun between the hitbox ending and Scourge’s moderate endlag ending. For an airborne opponent touching the blur, they will not be stunned by the attack, receiving only damage sans knockback. If an opponent is not stunned, it will be easy for them to punish Scourge on whiff. Unfortunately for the opponent, during the entire time the hitbox is active, Scourge is completely invincible and thus cannot be interrupted. This is not even a case of Scourge gaining invincibility frames but more along the lines of any teleporting move where their entire body disappears, leaving behind a rectangular cloud of pain. If one wants to punish Scourge, either do so for the startup lag or the ending lag once the blur disappears. The center of the blur is positioned where Scourge is standing when the attack first starts, and Scourge lands on the outer edge of the blur cloud in whichever direction he was facing when initiating the attack. For Scourge’s end, try to time this attack such that the opponent lands in the blur shortly after it started. This attack is best used as a punishing technique when the opponent is attempting to land either after they have been launched up into the air or if they are trying to get back onto the stage. This move is extremely predictable however, so do not rely in its stunning effect to work too often.


Aerials:

Nair:
Visually identical to that of Sonic’s nair, Scourge curls into a ball and spins extra quickly, shredding the opponent with his impressive torque. While Sonic’s variant does one clean hit, Scourge’s nair is a multi-hitting attack, possibly hitting a foe up to 6 times (max 19%). Due to this, it takes more of a function of Sonic’s fair. It still comes out quickly so it can be used to approach enemies in the air or on the ground after a shorthop, but the multi-hit nature of this move gives it a bit more cooldown afterwards. Due to this, it cannot carry on combos too close to the ground. This move is especially good to use directly after launching the opponent into the air after up tilt, dash attack, or spin charge to rack up quick damage, but only higher up can you get past this move’s slightly longer cooldown to use a second aerial attack. The knockback on Sonic’s nair was nothing special to begin with, but this attack’s last hit is far weaker, killing at 320%. As such, it is great used multiple times after one another to rack up damage and keep the opponent close to you. When the opponent is close to you, you can end the combo with a fair or uair depending on whether the opponent is in front of or behind Scourge respectively. When the opponent is at higher percent ranges, ditch this move and go for the spin dash for approaching and basically any other move for killing. This attack best makes its use at low or medium percentages when you are racking up damage.


Fair:
Scourge rears his leg up and performs a massive axe kick (15%). This attack is pretty strong, spiking the opponent straight downwards. When an opponent standing on the ground is struck, they are launched vertically, killing at around 105%. Attacking the foe in this manner is not recommended however since it is tricky to hit with this attack close to the ground and due to having very poor ending lag. Similarly, this attack has moderate end lag, not making it good for a tech chase either. Instead, this attack should be used exclusively for spiking, and as a result, disrespect. Throw this move out whenever the opponent is floundering offstage to give them the quick kill that they need. While it may seem predictable, it has very great synergy with up air as will be explained in the latter move’s section. Scourge’s combo game is not nearly as good as Sonic’s, so the only real moves that follow up into this are a series of nairs at low to medium percent or a couple back airs. Do note that the back airs do not directly lead into fair and merely set the opponent in place to be easily killed should the fair connect. Also note that Scourge may have to stop on the ground to turn around to hit the opponent more easily. From throws, use forward to follow into this move easiest. The back throw will also work close to the ledge as well, but Scourge will have to turn around to be in a better position for attack. This is a strong killing off the ledge even at low percentages, so use it to end your foes.


Bair:
Scourge twists around and does a horizontal kick (14% clean, 10% late). It is exactly the same as Sonic’s bair and as such can fulfil the same role as a good kill move and great edgeguarding tool. Hitting a clean kick will kill opponents around 110% from FD’s ledge, so chaining multiple bairs one after the other will allow for a pseudo fence of pain with Scourge’s great mobility. Like most of Scourge’s aerials, it has moderate start and end lag with high landing lag. It is probably middle of the road in speed and lag compared to Scourge’s other air moves however, so it is safer than most of his other options. For initiating this attack, you will have to get the opponent either high into the air or off stage. The up tilt is great for the former situation due to its swiftness. The up throw can also work, although it is quite a lot slower. For getting the foe off stage, try the jab combo, forward throw, or forward smash. For a follow up, either continue with bairs until death or use the up air to KO off the top. As it was a staple in Sonic’s set, this move is great for Scourge.


Uair:
This attack looks very similar to the fair at first glance. Scourge lifts his leg up in preparation to do an axe kick. He stalls for half a second longer than normal as he cracks a devilish smile and chuckles. He then immediately flips himself upside-down and performs an axe kick which, due to his orientation, knocks the opponent straight up into the air (16%). Also due to the way in which he orients himself, the hitbox is mainly behind him. The starting lag for this attack is very intentional since, due to initially looking like the fair, will fake opponents out into going above or behind Scourge to dodge the attack. If you are not looking to fake out the opponent however, this attack has a lot of drawbacks. For one, its orientation makes it a bit finicky to hit others with. For second, the raised startup time makes it quite easy coming and punish if you are going straight on. In spite of these drawbacks, it is a strong killing move, killing at around 125%. To lead up into this move, you can use a series of back airs for a pseudo fence of pain then use the orientation to your advantage to nail them as they try to recover. Additionally



Dair:
Looks identical to Sonic’s Dair, but this move is not a stall-then-fall, making it a simple downward kick (11% sweet, 8% sour). This kick has a sweetspot at the toe of the foot, in which the move becomes a powerful spike. It is not nearly as strong as the forward air spike, but it is at a 60* angle instead of straight down, giving it more utility on stage. For example, on the left or right platform of Battlefield, if you use up tilt into fair, it will slam the opponent down into the platform. If you do the same with dair however, then the opponent will fly at such an angle that they will go off the edge of the stage. If you do not hit the sweet spot, the opponent will be launched at a much more lenient degree of 20. Launch is also not very fitting of a word since it is quite weak, killing at 240%. The late version can be used in succession as an alternative and switching up with nair. Additionally, the late hit can be a bit of a safety harness for your combo game. If you miss the sweet spot, then you can follow up with a more decisive fair to send them plummeting after the sour spot. If you hit an opponent on the ground, they will instead travel at a 60* or 20* upward instead. Since it is one of Scourge’s faster aerial moves, it can be a suitable substitute for the up tilt for knocking the opponent into the air. However, this only applies for the sweet spot version of the move, since the sour spot launches the opponent at an inconvenient angle for follow ups. If you spike an aerial opponent close to the ground, this will provide a tech chase situation due to the comparatively low landing lag. Since you will be closer to the opponent than with the jab tech chase, the options that will work in all situations will come easier for Scourge. However, do keep in mind that landing lag does exist, so you will have to predict and commit to an action. In short, this is an average move that has wide reaching utility in all regards, making it extremely versatile.


Grabs:


Grab:
Scourge simply grabs the opponent with average grab range. With his quick dashing speed, he is able to perform running grabs quite easily, giving him impressive grab game potential.


Pummel:
He knees the opponent in the groin. Did you expect anything else? It is of below average speed and does 3% per hit.


Forward Throw:
Grabbing the opponent by the hair, Scourge smashed their head on his knee then tosses away the trash (7%). This launches the foe at a 30* angle and is the bread and butter for off stage play. While it can kill the opponent at 140%, at low to medium percentages it allows for Scourge to get in position to spike the airborne opponent with forward air or down air. Forward air is especially great in this case since it covers the front of Scourge (as opposed to beneath with dair) which will more readily hit high-recovering opponents. Do keep in mind that at higher mid percentages, the opponent will fly too far to definitely follow up. At these higher ranges, the Humming Top is the perfect move for chasing the opponent due to the sudden boost in momentum and high power. Unfortunately, using it off stage will most certainly result in Scourge’s suicide, so if you don’t want to make a flashy kill (and to be honest, why wouldn’t you?) you can throw them towards the stage and use a safer Humming Top. This is a great initiator in off stage play, so use it whenever you feel like putting pressure on the opponent.


Back Throw:
This move is visually similar to that of Sonic’s Down Throw, except it follows the Sonic the Fighters variation of the move a bit more closely (9% max). Scourge gets up onto the opponent’s head as if he were performing a footstool, then he starts charging a spin dash right on the opponent’s crown. As the opponent feels the equivalent of an 80 pound buzz saw cut into their head, Scourge slowly moves up to the back of the opponent’s head. Now on their hands and knees due to the splitting pain, Scourge quickly increases his torque as he digs into their back. Finally, the opponent is launched behind Scourge at a low angle close to the ground. The most likely occurrence is that the opponent hits the ground, which can lead to a tech chase situation. However, it is less useful than the likes of the tech chase out of jab or dair, since Scourge will naturally be facing away from the opponent. Rather, if you are close to a ledge when facing away from it, you can throw the opponent off the stage at a low angle. At medium to high percentages, this is useful since the opponent will have more difficulty recovering high than low. In waiting for the opponent’s low recovery, you can ledge trump the opponent as they return, then go in for the kill with down tilt or any of Scourge’s other spikes. Since the opponent will only be heading towards the stage after being trumped, the delayed Homing Crash can be without fear of retaliation during its somewhat lengthy charge time. If you use this at lower percentages near the edge, the opponent will naturally have more options with regard to the height that they recover at, and naturally will make it more difficult to spike the opponent. If you predict a high recovery over the ledge, try to let them fall into a down smash for massive damage. In general, this move compared to Sonic’s down throw loses a lot of tech chase potential and more so favors dynamic edgeguarding as follow ups.


Up Throw:
Scourge throws the opponent above himself as he skewers them on his spikes (1%, 5%). This is yet another move that is the same as Sonic’s and thus has the same functions. It kills with vertical knockback around 190%, but can kill much earlier on stages with platforms such as Battlefield or Smashville. Along with up tilt and dash attack, it is a good way to initiate aerial combos. His actual air options are relatively limited, with neutral air to rack up damage with multiple hits or dair to spike the foe into a kill or tech chase. Humming Top can also provide both a lot of knockback and damage, but the downside is that Scourge can easily self-destruct if he is anywhere close to the ledge. If at higher percentages, you may try to chase after a flying opponent with your Spring. This is less effective than when Sonic does it due to the Spring’s lessened force, but using an up air can be a great way to knock the opponent up past the blast zone. In addition, using the Grab version of the Spring Trick followed by fast falling can allow for the dair and fair to connect easier, making for a great use near the ledge of the stage. While Scourge’s combo game may be relatively shallow, this does supplement what he is able to do in the air.


Down Throw: Scourge spins around the opponent really quickly in ball form, making them fall prone due to dizziness (3%). Once again, this is one of Scourge’s favorite moves due to the stalling potential it provides. You can grab an opponent, lie them down, evade to the other side of the stage, then wait to rinse and repeat. Due to being a throw, this is perhaps Scourge’s most reliable stalling move, as it will never miss so long as you get the initial grab. If you do feel the need to follow up, the possibilities are limitless. You can knock the opponent into the air with the dash attack for air combos. You can Spin Charge into them for an absolutely safe option. You can predict in which way they will get up for a more debilitating stun with side B, side tilt, down smash, etc. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to do it quickly because the ending lag of this move is the highest of Scourge’s throws. Use your imagination in which way you feel will steam the opponent up the most.


Final Smash (Super Scourge):

Laughing maniacally, Scourge is becomes surrounded by hundreds of green Anarchy Beryl. These gems melt into Scourge, transforming him into the vile Super Scourge. In this super form, Scourge is truly a terrifying beast, as he is a super transformation in both the lines of Super Sonic and Wario-Man. All of his statistics save traction are doubled, as are the damage, knockback, and speed of all of his attacks. While unwieldy, this makes him into a speed demon capable of killing many with his extensive combos. The only move that has changed is his Up Special. For the new attack, he goes into a flying state while surrounded by a more present dark aura, essentially putting him into a Super Sonic state. While he cannot perform standard or special attacks anymore and is essentially stuck in this flying format until the end of the Final Smash, he performs damage on contact and produces huge knockback upon ramming the opponent (18%). What is extra scary about this is that its statistics are reverted back to that of Brawl’s Super Sonic, meaning that he is extremely great at killing opponents. This definitely sounds like the best Final Smash in the game twice over, so what is the catch? Well unlike Super Sonic, he is not immune to the death planes (save the top one). This may not seem like so good an issue to one used to playing as Scourge, but keep in mind that he is extremely fast and unwieldy, making it extremely easy to self-destruct. Furthermore, in the context of the comics, Super Scourge has one major weakness compared to Super Sonic: while he may be faster and stronger than the good hedgehog, Scourge gets completely wiped out once he exits his super form. Likewise, once Scourge’s 15 seconds of transformation end, instead of calmly releasing the Chaos Emeralds like Super Sonic, Scourge’s super form abruptly shatters like glass as Scourge is snapped back into his regular form, accompanied with an exasperated, “What...the f***?” censor bleep and all. After this, he enters a state as if his shield was broken: falling straight down without any air control and becoming dizzy upon landing. Due to this, you need to arrange yourself over an area that would be safe to land and not over an edge as your super form starts to run out.


Palette Swap:

(Standard)


(Anti-Sonic) Black Glasses, Blue Fur


(“Super” Scourge) White Jacket, Golden Fur


(Rob o’ the Hedge) Teal Fur, Brown Jacket


(Rosy the Rascal) Mauve Fur, Green Jacket, Yellow and White Flames


(Breezie) Dark Teal Fur, Red Jacket, Blue Glasses


(Convict) Dark Green Fur, Orange Jacket


(Fiona) Red Fur, Black Glasses


Taunt:
Taunt 1: He beats his chest with his fist twice, holds his arms out in a shrug, and says “Respect.”

Taunt 2: Scourge pulls his glasses over his eyes then flips off the camera.

Taunt 3: Scourge runs in place as his legs form the trademark figure-8 shape as he says, “Eat my dust!”

Misc:

Victory Pose 1: Scourge adjusts his glasses while looking up at the camera as he says “You peasants should learn your place”.

Victory Pose 2: Scourge runs back and forth then stops to give the screen a wicked smile and a thumbs down. Accompanying this, he says “Sucks to be you.”

Alt (Sonic): If Scourge had been fighting Sonic, he says “Told you before Blue, I’m your superior”.

Victory Pose 3: Scourge stretches backwards to crack his back, then rests his arms behind his head in a lazy fashion. As he does this he says “*yawns* Man, you really made a fool out of yourself, huh?”

Victory Music: The Sonic ’06 Level Clear theme.

Entrance Animation: As warp ring appears, Scourge walks out of it and says “Hail to the king, baby!”

Kirby Hat: Kirby gains a hat that resembles the top of his head, plus glasses and crown.

Punch Out Title: The Anti-Sonic

Home Stage: Windy Hill Zone

Series symbol: The Sonic Series symbol: Sonic’s Scourge's Head
 
Last edited:

Munomario777

Smash Master
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<oc moveset>

Iris

Iris Harding was born at the dawn of the twentieth century to a slightly-below-middle-class family in London. Her blonde hair, fair complexion, and silver eyes shone through, but tragically, Iris had come out of the womb with aphakia in one eye. This incredibly rare disorder left Iris without a lens in her left eye, giving this eye extreme farsightedness and a hindered ability to focus in on objects at different distances. Neither the technology nor the funds necessary to correct this disorder were available to Iris and her family, so she lived with aphakia for her entire life. Nevertheless, she went on to be a bright and successful student.

Early in life, Iris came to realize that her left eye had the uncanny ability to detect
Ultraviolet light, light with a short wavelength which the lens would normally filter out. This unique talent made her quite useful to scientists making breakthroughs in the study of light and its properties, and through repeated involvement in these experiments, Iris soon took a deep interest in the field and conducted her own research. She led the forefront of optics research throughout much of the 1900s, and today her legacy lives on in many modern products made possible by her studies.

You won’t hear this in the history books or anywhere else, but in her spare time, Iris perfects more “magical” uses for the element of light for use in Smash battles! During battle, she wears a flowing black robe with glowing white highlights, and underneath it a tighter black getup almost sorta resembling ninja garb like Sheik’s. Her research has progressed so far that she’s more of a light-bender than anything else at this point. In addition to light-based attacks and nimble kicking, Iris’s weapon of choice is her Shard Dagger. It’s a blade shaped like a piece of broken glass, with just as sharp of an edge; it reaches about half as far as the Falchion. She keeps her Shard Dagger tucked away in the folds of her robe until it’s time to use it.



<5k word challenge>



Stats
Size: :4marth:
Weight: :4falco:
Jump, Fall Speed, Wall Jump: :4sheik:
Ground Speed, Traction, Air Speed: :4feroy:
Midair Jump: :4peach: (floaty, so more like Melee Peach)
Airdodge: :4mewtwo:(disappears)

Iris boasts swift, tricky movement. Her floaty midair jump gives her mixups, but is too slow to reliably escape combos – which is where her tricky-to-track airdodge comes in. Iris plays as a zoner type character, but has the combo ability to back up that keep-away.

Neutral B: Radiant Prism

Tap B, and Iris outstretches both hands in front of her, one angled upward and one downward. A beam of rainbow light spans the distance between her palms, suspending a diamond Prism in the middle. During this stance, the Prism acts like a trample hitbox, but deals no damage. You can tap B again to cancel the move.

Tap up or down on the control stick to “slide” the Prism to the top (blue) or bottom (red) of the spectrum. Iris then tosses the Prism in front of her in either a high or low arc. It freezes in midair and stays in place after traveling about a platform’s distance (kinda like a Bumper item), or hitting the stage / an opponent. Both the high and low arc end up placing it hovering just above the ground when used from the ground. Use Neutral B again to delete the old Prism and create a new one.

The Prism acts as a construct. Opponents cannot destroy it, and it never disappears. Its properties vary depending on whether you chose
Infrared (down input) or Ultraviolet (up input). The glowing highlights on Iris’s robe, her Shard Dagger, her left eye, and the Prism itself change to red or a deep blue to match. When an attack using Iris’s Shard Dagger hits the Prism, it shatters into a small, damaging burst of glass shards. Here are some properties of the Infrared and Ultraviolet Prisms:

Infrared:
Initial throw deals 9% and a semi-spike.
Shard Dagger Prism burst deals 11% in a small “explosion” of energy, KOing vertically at 120%.
Shard Dagger attacks gain a hilt sweetspot for increased knockback and 1.1x damage. *
After airdodging, hold a direction to immediately counterattack with a kick for 5% and combo knockback. * †

Ultraviolet:
Initial throw deals 5% and hits twice, with low knockback on the second hit.
Shard Dagger Prism burst deals 9% and pops foes upward with increased hitlag and hitstun for follow-ups.
Shard Dagger attacks gain a tipper sweetspot for a brief paralyze effect and 1.1x damage. *
After airdodging, hold a direction on the control stick to intangibly dash a short distance once per airtime. The dash acts just like a Rivals of Aether airdodge. * †

* Passive buff while Prism is onscreen

† Changes direction with Control Stick movement; increases airdodge’s endlag if used

Side B: Photon Flicker

Iris gathers white light energy in her hands and then throws it forward as a quick, transcendent projectile with a bit of startup. It travels half of FD’s width, dealing 6% and very weak knockback, plus a TON of hitlag (freeze frames). It bounces off of surfaces, “snapping” to the four 45* angles (vertical wall = 45* upward). When it touches a Prism, it’ll get its duration renewed. In Infrared, touching a Prism also causes the Photon to make a beeline toward the nearest foe, changing its direction instantly. Ultraviolet instead “slows down” the light, trapping it in the Prism for one second before releasing it in its original direction of travel.

By holding B throughout the noticeable startup, you can instead cause Iris to “become” the projectile, turning this into a command-dash. It travels in the exact same way, bouncing and Prism refractions included, and you’ll pop out whenever you release B or when it’s reached max distance. Held Side B doesn’t disappear upon hitting a foe, but does disappear when you release B to end the move – so the projectile doesn’t keep going after you exit the dash. On the ground, this has moderate endlag. In the air, Iris enters helpless immediately, but can choose to perform a single Aerial Attack first like Olimar’s recovery move. Her landing lag from helpless is very short, though. You can hit Iris during a held Side B with good timing or lingering attacks.

Up B: Two-Slit Experiment

Iris gathers energy in both separated hands and then throws the two balls diagonally upward and to the left and right, at a 45* angle. These projectiles act exactly like the ones from Side B, but Iris disappears upon using Up B no matter what, whether or not you hold B. These Photons don’t disappear upon hitting a foe. At the end of the move, Iris reappears at the endpoint of one of the two projectiles. By default she appears at the one that went in the direction she was facing before starting Up B, but you can tap left or right on the stick to choose which one you want to appear from. You can change your mind as late as you’d like, for mixups when recovering.

Up B causes “semi-helpless” just like held Side B. If you hold down during Up B’s startup, you’ll do the same thing but throw the projectiles downward instead of upward (still at 45* angles). This version of Up B doesn’t cause “semi-helpless.” Up B interacts with the Prism in the same way as Side B does.

Down B: Flash Screen

Iris jumps forward a good bit higher and further than Corrin’s Dragon Lunge (except this jump also happens in midair), while gathering white energy and then throwing it at 45* downward mid-jump. It does not interact with opponents directly, but upon hitting the ground, it flashes and leaves a blinding aura of white light, 2 SBB wide, lingering for 3.5 seconds. This serves to mask your next move, and if you’re within the field, any Shard Dagger moves have their tipper or hilt sweetspot effects (if active) extended to the entire blade. Handily, the jump arc sends you right into the aura by default, unless you jump / etc before landing. The jump itself is useful for recovery and mobility, with intangibility on startup. You can ledge-cancel this move, and you can grab the ledge at any point during it.

By hitting the Prism directly with the energy projectile from Down B, you can change the flash’s effects, at the cost of destroying the Prism. In
Ultraviolet wavelength, the flash becomes a multi-hit for 8% which lasts for a good while to catch opponents for a follow-up. The blinding aura also lasts for 5 seconds total. Infrared adds a more powerful single-hit blast which launches opponents and deals heavy shield damage, allowing for shield pokes. Also, the lingering aura reveals opponents (but not Iris) like a heat-sensing camera.

Down B has an eight-second cooldown, but it doesn't stop you from using the jump. In midair, you can only perform the jump once before landing or getting hit.

Up Smash

If a Prism is active, all three Smash Attacks share a unique property. At the beginning of the Smash Attack’s charge, the Prism creates a wavy “beam” of light stretching between itself and the Shard Dagger (which all three Smashes use). It looks like a stretched-out version of the middle wave here. In Ultraviolet, its short wavelength means that there are three “bumps” throughout the beam (two upper, one lower). At the two midpoints where the wave is in the middle of its height range lie small hitboxes which cause a decently lengthy stun before popping the opponent up for a combo (after the Smash Attack finishes). Infrared has a longer wavelength, so it only has two “bumps” and one hitbox in the very middle, which launches foes directly into Iris to potentially combo into the Smash Attack.

Up Smash has Iris draw the Shard Dagger and thrust it straight upward forcefully, much like Robin’s up smash. This strike deals 13% and strong vertical knockback, boasting decent vertical range. Long-ish startup might get in the way when trying to land this move, but it’s incredibly potent if you trap an opponent or read an airdodge. The tipper or hilt sweetspots from
Infrared and Ultraviolet also give all Shard Dagger moves added utility. Here, Infrared gives Up Smash added utility as a finishing move against grounded opponents, while Ultraviolet adds anti-air capability with a combo-ready stun tipper.

Down Smash

For Down Smash, Iris splits the dagger in twain and stabs low to both sides while crouching down to the ground. It looks kinda similar to Sheik’s up smash, and deals 10% plus a semi-spike that sets up for either tech-chases or edgeguards. At high percent near the ledge, it can also KO outright. This is Iris’s quickest Smash Attack, handy as a fairly fast option to cover both sides, shatter your Prism, continue momentum off of a combo, or get the Smash Attack beam out. Since it’s so fast, Down Smash is a go-to tool for “utility” in terms of interactions with the Prism, creating the beam, etc.

When in
Infrared mode, both Up and Down Smash are large parts of the play surrounding the Smash Attack beam. Upon getting launched by the beam, Iris’s opponent can DI up, down, or neutral. Up Smash and Down Smash each hit different DI options:

Up Smash: Up, Neutral (2/3)

Down Smash: Down (1/3)

Up Smash connects by default, but downward DI avoids it and must be punished with Down Smash. Neither player can just react to his opponent’s option here, so it’s all about mindgames and mixups. Since the two options are not equal, both in terms of reward (kill vs. tech-chase) and how many options they cover (2/3 vs. 1/3), there’s a bit of interesting mind play here too.

Forward Smash

Iris projects a mirror made of hard light in front of herself during Forward Smash's charge, like a narrow version of Palutena's barrier, while readying her Shard Dagger with the other hand. This mirror blocks attacks and reflects projectiles. If used in the direction of the Prism, it'll also "reflect" the Smash Attack beam, but this acts a bit differently. Instead of reflecting it right away, Forward Smash "stores" the beam's energy for as long as you charge the move, then when you release the charge, sends the beam back toward the Prism to potentially catch foes who dodged the first beam! By charging Forward Smash for different lengths of time, you can change up the timing of this double-beam.

Speaking of releasing the charge, when you do just that, Iris thrusts her Shard Dagger in front of her, shattering the mirror and hitting opponents a decent distance away. This deals 14% and some of the strongest knockback in Iris's kit, KOing at very early percents. Forward Smash is handy not only for plain kill power and double-beam shenanigans, but also blocking attacks and reflecting projectiles. As far as blocking attacks goes, it comes with the big benefit of having a powerful counterattack built-in! But if the opponent doesn't take the bait and hit your mirror, you'll be easily punished due to the attack's endlag.

Dash Attack

Iris briefly speeds up her dash to the speed of light, appearing to teleport forward a platform’s distance in a streak of white. Dash Attack hits throughout this dash, dealing 5% of damage and weak forward knockback which can set up for follow-ups. Its startup is actually really fast, and if you connect with this move, Iris has very little endlag. The downside? First off, the endlag on whiff is pretty long, so the best counter is to dodge or evade the attack. On shield, not only does Iris have the lowered endlag (because she hit the shield), but she also has a chance of crossing up the opponent to avoid retaliation such as shield grabs. The other downside of Dash Attack is slight negative disjoint, meaning that the hitbox is “inside” Iris’s hurtbox by a little bit. So lingering moves tend to beat it out.

Neutral Attack

Waving her hand in front of her, Iris leaves a curved trail of white light energy. This is a two-hit jab combo: a downward swipe dealing 4%, followed by a second upward wave for 5% and weak knockback, potentially setting up for combos. The second hit actually changes if Ultraviolet or Infrared are active, in both color and function. Ultraviolet turns it into a horizontal swipe, dealing stronger, more horizontal knockback designed to create space. Infrared gives the second hit a stronger, more forceful upward angle, launching foes straight up in order to begin a juggle. Jab always comes in handy as a get-off-me tool or a poke in neutral, but the reward you get from landing it comes in different forms.

Forward Tilt

Iris throws the Shard Dagger like a throwing knife, acting as a higher-commitment projectile than Side B. The dagger deals 7%, traveling two platform distances at an angleable trajectory (horizontal by default). Launching opponents a short-to-moderate distance at a normal diagonal angle, Forward Tilt excels at creating space or setting up for potential landing traps at high percents. It also gives Iris a quick way to shatter a Prism from a distance, and since you can angle it, it’s handy for long-ranged anti-air. At the ledge, try edgeguarding an opponent by throwing the dagger diagonally downward.

The hilt and tipper sweetspots apply all throughout Forward Tilt, without any specific spacing required, but in return the stun / knockback effects are noticeably weaker.

Up Tilt

Iris hops into the air a short distance while spinning around one time, throwing her hands to the left and right accompanied by small bursts of white energy when she reaches the peak of the jump. Up Tilt deals 8% of damage and semi-spike knockback, forcing a tech or setting up for an edgeguard. Uniquely, Iris can hold left or right during the “jumpsquat” to give the jump momentum in that direction, but she cannot influence her movement in midair (so it’s a Castlevania jump). You can also use this move out of a dash, unlike any other tilt in the game. Up Tilt’s animation ends (allowing Iris to act) when you either land on the ground or fall below the point you started from.

Up Tilt, advantageously, hits high while avoiding any low-hitting moves. It also has the aerial-attack-like benefit of horizontal movement while attacking, and has great reward thanks to the semi-spike. You’re vulnerable from above, however, so Up Tilt isn’t fit for juggling or conventional anti-air.

Down Tilt

Crouching down low to the ground, Iris spins around almost similarly to Peach’s down smash. She releases a thick white mist from her robe onto the ground, covering 1.5 SBB horizontally. The mist deals a multi-hit of 5 hits for 8% total, and the last hit deals weak-to-mild knockback at the Sakurai Angle. It keeps Iris safe on hit, but she can’t get any direct follow-ups. Down Tilt is still great for covering a wide area of ground defensively.

The mist also lingers after Down Tilt ends, disappearing when you use the move again, after five seconds pass, or when an opponent’s non-projectile hitbox touches the mist. Normally it has no effect, but with
Ultraviolet or Infrared active, the mist changes color and gains effects when any of Iris’s hitboxes touch it, including projectiles. Infrared mist immediately deals 5% and Sakurai Angle knockback away from the center of the mist whenever Iris attacks the mist, essentially extending a hitbox out toward the foe. It acts like a projectile in that Iris suffers no hitlag. Ultraviolet has a similar effect, but instead produces a hitbox one second later and adds a small paralyze effect. After producing a hitbox, the mist vanishes.

Neutral Air

Iris does a high axe kick in midair, kinda similarly to Lucario’s forward air. This kick deals 7% and straight upward knockback with very low scaling and low-to-moderate base knockback, putting the opponent about a jump’s height above Iris most of the time. Neutral Air’s greatest perk is its speed, coming out and ending pretty dang quickly and allowing for lots of midair combos into itself or other moves.

Another part of Neutral Air’s combo utility is its potential for DI mixups, due to launching the opponent straight upward. If the opponent DIs behind you expecting you to use a strong horizontal launcher like Down Smash (in the hopes of minimizing the launch distance with DI), they’ll end up behind you if you instead use Neutral Air – allowing you to true-combo into a Back Air! This mixup between “survival DI” (inward) and “combo DI” (outward) is pretty dang potent. Since Neutral Air hits low as well as high, you can easily hit grounded opponents by shorthopping.

Forward Air

Iris boldly extends one open palm forward, letting out four small consecutive bursts of white energy. Each deals 2.5%, making for 10% across the course of the multi-hit. It acts a lot like Ness’s dash attack, in that each hit extends further forward than the last. This makes it excellent for spacing in combination with its long duration, but it actually gets better as the move goes on, adding another wrinkle to shorthop timings. The fourth and final hit deals weak upward knockback at a bit of a forward angle, allowing for potential follow-ups. Forward Air’s long duration also means that it’s pretty much your go-to tool for punishing airdodges if the spacing lines up; try using it when the opponent drifts away and in front of you with an airdodge.

Back Air

Pulling the Shard Dagger out of the pockets of her robe, Iris grips it in one hand and stabs straight backward after a little bit of startup lag. At first, Back Air deals 10% and a rather strong semi-spike. Back Air acts like a sex kick, meaning it has a weaker, lingering hit. It lasts for nearly half a second and deals 6% and much weaker knockback at the Sakurai Angle. Also note that only the initial hit benefits from Infrared and Ultraviolet hilt / tipper sweetspots.

Back Air excels as a combo finisher thanks to its kill power near the ledge, and it has the range to extend chains that might otherwise be out of reach. The tipper sweetspot granted by
Ultraviolet also adds some stun to the mix, so you can use it mid-combo too. It’s a go-to spacing tool in neutral thanks to a bit of disjoint and its lingering hitbox, but do note that its startup and landing lag are a bit longer than most sex kicks. Back Air is also one of two Shard Dagger moves you can use in the air, so it has added utility with the Prism by shattering it.

Up Air

The other of those two Shard Dagger moves is Up Air, where Iris stabs straight upward, dealing 11% and knockback that can KO rather early near the ceiling. It lingers kinda like Back Air does, dealing 7% and weaker knockback, but not for nearly as long. Up Air is gonna be your main juggling tool in general, thanks to its disjoint, speed, and good knockback. It’s also handy for combos and 50-50s, and you can even potentially frame-trap with it. That is, you force them to airdodge with the Up Air, then catch that airdodge with a quick Neutral Air.

Down Air

Iris performs a downward kick with an outstretched leg, resembling Melee Sheik’s down air. It deals 10% or 7% with a medium-length lingering hitbox, spiking kinda weakly with the clean hit and dealing normal knockback after that. It's not very fast to start or end, but has a good amount of utility overall.

By tapping A again during the attack’s startup, you can change it into a stall-then-fall resembling Smash 4 Sheik’s down air, dealing the same damage and knockback as before; the clean hit takes place right at the beginning and still spikes. Upon landing, Iris has landing lag about as you'd expect from a move of this type, but she'll also stab into the ground with her Shard Dagger to cover herself after landing (6%, moderate knockback) and potentially shatter the Prism. This is also a nice follow-up after the initial spike. Note that this stab doesn't have any tipper or hilt sweetspots.

With a Prism onscreen, you can hold A during the startup to do a stall-then-fall, but directly toward the Prism. This changes the initial spike’s angle to match that of the divekick, and Iris always stops after reaching (and destroying) the Prism. So if it's offstage, you won't just SD. Within a range of 2.5 platforms, this works in absolutely any direction, even straight up. Outside of that range, it only works if you're at least 40* above the Prism, and more than 1.5 Final Destinations away it will never work. If you try to do this and are out of range / at the wrong angle, you'll just do a normal (Melee Sheik) Down Air instead, so don't worry about accidentally plummeting to your doom offstage.

Grab

When grabbing an opponent, Iris takes the opportunity to get up close and personal rather than resorting to ranged light magic. So it’s basically a pretty standard grab, pretty dang quick with middling range. Her dash grab is pretty good too, and her pivot grab has a bit of extended reach like most pivot grabs. Iris pummels an opponent by channeling light energy through her palm, dealing 2% for a rather substandard pummel overall. The other quirk of her pummel is that, with a Prism onscreen, it actually toggles between Ultraviolet and Infrared with each use, so you can take this opportunity to revise your strategies and swap modes. Who knows, you might be able to use Down B’s blinding effect to hide your toggles!

Down Throw

Iris unsheathes the Shard Dagger while simultaneously thrusting the opponent down onto the ground, viciously stabbing with the dagger in the blink of an eye. This deals 9% of damage and a weak-ish semi-spike, forcing a tech at most reasonable percents. It launches the opponent forward so that tech-rolling back toward Iris puts the foe in range for an attack if Iris just keeps standing there.

Down Throw can hit foes besides the actual target, and being a Shard Dagger move, it can also shatter your Prism. This means that the burst from the Prism true-combos out of Down Throw, and overrides the throw’s original knockback. This can be pretty handy with
Ultraviolet’s stun when shattering the Prism.

Also, remember that mist from Down Tilt? A similar thing applies with that too.
Infrared mist acts much like the Prism shatter, but in Ultraviolet, the delayed hitbox means that the Down Throw carries on as normal at first. If the opponent tech-rolls in after the throw, that delayed hit puts a ton of pressure on them to shield. While Iris can’t grab again due to the regrab timer, she can put on some shield pressure to the point where tech-rolling in isn’t really a good option. So this makes reading tech options even easier!

Up Throw

Gathering light energy in a ball, Iris tosses both it and the opponent straight up a short distance. The foe suffers normal knockback and 4%, while the ball of light detects when the opponent begins to fall and immediately becomes a hard-light platform the size of a Battlefield platform, centering itself directly under the foe. This forces the foe to tech on the platform to avoid entering prone, starting a platform tech-chase no matter where you are. If you’re already standing on one of these platforms, Up Throw won’t create a new one, so you can’t get too crazy with your stairways to heaven. Also, a hard-light platform only lasts for 1.5 seconds, so it’s pretty much designed for a single tech-chase read and that’s that.

Forward Throw

Iris gathers light energy again and throws it a lot like in Side B, but this time she kinda “absorbs” the foe into it, basically throwing them forward just like a held Side B. This deals 3%, which is better than nothing, and basically acts like Kirby’s star projectile after inhaling someone. Here, the opponent “jumps” out after the projectile reaches its maximum range. Just like Side B and Up B, it travels half of FD’s width and interacts with the Prism in a different way depending on whether you’re in Ultraviolet or Infrared. In the latter mode, it homes in on Iris instead of "the opponent," potentially allowing for neat combos if your spacing is right.

Depending on what you want to do with it, you can use Forward Throw to either reset to neutral (and buy time for setup) or keep up close and personal for a combo, and the Prism adds some neat strategies to the mix.

Back Throw

Iris jumps up a bit with the foe in her grasp and does a roundhouse kick behind her, only dealing 6% but having a nice launching angle to create space or launch offstage. With a Prism onscreen, it gains extra effects as Iris super-charges her leg with light energy. Infrared turns it into a kill throw, dealing 9% and knockback similar to Mario’s back throw – quite a threat at high percents! Ultraviolet instead adds a half-second-long stun and increases the damage to 7%, allowing for setups and combos at lower percents. If the opponent DIs inward, more combos and setups become available off of this stun. So you can force the foe to DI in in fear of the Infrared version of Back Throw, but sneakily pummel to change your mode (probably within a blinding Down B) and use the combo-ready stun instead to potentially get a kill confirm!



</ 5k word challenge>



Final Smash: Light Is Fast Enough To Travel Around The Earth Seven-Point-Five Times In One Second

“Time for the grand finale!” Iris charges up a massive amount of blinding white energy and throws it forward with great force, creating a massive beam. Blink and you’ll miss it, though, since it immediately leaves the edge of the screen before traveling around the entire planet earth and coming back for an encore! ...Don’t worry about how that works on Lylat Cruise.

This multi-hit Final Smash lasts for one second before the beam just stops appearing. A keen eye will notice that the beam makes seven loops during that time, dealing 10% per hit for a total of 70% if you trap a foe throughout the whole duration. This screen-wide attack, though, really excels in its duration and ability to trap opponents who try to jump over or dodge it. The last hit has massive knockback befitting of a Final Smash, so don’t expect to walk away from this one without a scratch. Or without just being dead, really.

Playstyle: Spectrum of Strategies

Iris’s kit is actually pretty versatile, so you can kinda play with a variety of different playstyles, but she’s generally got a pretty zoning-centered focus. Her projectiles, setup, and odd mobility lend themselves quite nicely to playing keep-away and then swooping in for a combo, kill, or other tricky setup. Really, a big part of playing Iris is being able to switch between playstyles to fit the situation, and Ultraviolet and Infrared really help with that.

Infrared is the directly aggressive end of the spectrum, complementing Iris’s mobility and combos with an airdodge attack, quick pressure off of Down Tilt mist, strong combo finishers in sweetspot Shard Dagger moves, kill confirms into Smash Attacks off of the Smash Attack beam, and instant auto-aiming projectile pressure by shooting Side B projectiles into the Prism. Long story short, Infrared is your best friend if you like pressuring foes constantly and not allowing an escape from your light-speed assault!

Ultraviolet instead places an emphasis on setup and zoning, allowing for elaborate setups and ranged gameplay. Whether it be Down Tilt’s delayed reaction, the Prism’s ability to trap a Photon projectile, or the stun on many hitboxes including tipper Shard Dagger hits, Ultraviolet allows you to delay a lot of different things for setups and combos galore. In aiding with keep-away, the airdodge dash allows for very tricky movement on platforms or on the ground, while the Prism-enhanced Down B in this form walls foes out with a long-lasting multi-hit and masks your actions for longer.

So yeah, Iris basically wants to stay as unpredictable as the quantum properties of light itself. Not only are a lot of her moves pretty versatile, but her two different modes give some of her more unique moves different focuses for different situations. Her strengths include combo ability, damage-racking, mobility, KO setups, and adaptable kit. Iris suffers when it comes to weight, escaping pressure, and reliably landing KOs outside of her special setups. But when things line up and you get that lightbulb over your head, it’s oh so satisfying.

Changelog
13 Nov, 2017 - Basically swapped Forward Tilt and Forward Smash, as suggested by Froy. The old moves are as follows:

Forward Smash (pre-13 Nov 2017)

Iris throws the Shard Dagger like a throwing knife, acting as a higher-commitment projectile than Side B. The dagger deals 11%, traveling two platform distances at an angleable trajectory (horizontal by default). Launching opponents a short-to-moderate distance at a normal diagonal angle, Forward Smash excels at creating space or setting up for potential landing traps at high percents. It also combos off of the Ultraviolet Smash Attack beam’s stun. Forward Smash gives Iris a quick way to shatter a Prism from a distance, and since you can angle it, it’s handy for long-ranged anti-air. At the ledge, try edgeguarding an opponent by throwing the dagger diagonally downward.

The hilt and tipper sweetspots apply all throughout Forward Smash, without any specific spacing required, but in return the stun / knockback effects are noticeably weaker.
Forward Tilt (pre-13 Nov 2017)

Iris gathers light energy in her hand and then thrusts forward an open palm, creating a reflective, vertical-rectangle-shaped “mirror” of energy. This deals 9% and very weak Sakurai Angle knockback, covering a large amount of vertical space. Forward Tilt has trample priority, meaning it can block attacks without putting Iris into clashing lag. When blocking an attack with Forward Tilt’s trample, Iris has an opportunity to counterattack more efficiently than out-of-shield. It also reflects projectiles, including Iris’s own from Side B. Angle the move up or down to send projectiles at a different angle.
There is one downside, though, aside from mediocre speed. Forward Tilt has HP like a shield, regenerating at the same rate and taking the damage of any projectile or attack it reflects or blocks, shown by cracks in the mirror. It depletes twice as quickly from moves as a normal shield does, so you can’t use it too much. When its HP depletes, Iris enters a laggy animation as the mirror shatters, opening her up for a counterattack. So if you use it too much for reflecting projectiles (including various Prism- and Photon- related setups), you might not be able to block a crucial attack, or vice-versa. After the mirror shatters, it regains full HP.
 
Last edited:

DGAMER

Smash Apprentice
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
114
Welp.

It probably couldn't be done, but I did it.



COLOR TV GAME-15

(AKA PONG)




Color TV Game-15 is simply put, Pong. You know, that game with the paddle and the ball. The virtual table tennis like game. The really old one that showed up in WALL-E. The one that inspired the creation for BIT.TRIP. The one that became a cultural icon and a videogaming legend.

You might be asking yourself why the hell is Pong relevant today. Well, many games have previously utilized Pong as inspiration, and the Color TV Game-15 even arrived as an assist trophy in Smash 4.

(Side note, thanks to FrozenRoy for giving me this terrible idea. A paddle qualifies as a realistic newcomer.)

So yeah, Pong can definitely be in Smash. I mean, we already have several retro legends in Smash, so why not Pong? It’s a crazy idea, but so is the idea of putting a dog and a duck in Smash. (Side note, I know the full name is COLOR TV GAME-15, but I’m going to refer to “it” as Pong for simplicity.)

Stats/Appearance/Concepts
Pong as a character is shown as one simple paddle with a flat effect. It hovers, and doesn’t have any animations for moving, walking, running or even turning around. It’s just the paddle, facing straight up. Pong can’t crouch due to this lack of animations, and such, will always be standing tall. A consequence of this is that you have no visual indicator of what direction pong is facing, so you gonna have to memorize that. (By default, initial direction will be facing towards the nearest opponent, if opponents spawn in different sites but with equal distance, Pong will face right.)


Pong stats aren’t that very high. The ground movement is a bit sluggish, (think something slightly higher than Bowser’s) but since Pong floats, the traction is very low. Pong slides a lot and it can take a while to do turnarounds. Pong’s air speeds are floaty-ish, comparable to Jigglypuff. Pong is also very light, and can be killed at early percents. Pong’s fast fall however, has a special effect. It is rather quick, and a fast-fall descent is comparable to Melee Fox. (A regular fall is still floaty) Pong can’t wall jump, or wall cling as well.

Pong also has a passive ability. Every Projectile (with some exceptions) is always reflected upon hitting Pong. Pong takes ZERO Damage to any Projectiles, and the projectile will be reflected back in the direction it came from. (For clarification, a projectile in this case is defined as something that can hit opponents from far away in a physical form. If a character uses short ranged projectiles for smashes, Pong can’t reflect those.) This property seems powerful, but the projectile will be reflected back at half of the speed it came from, and REGARDLESS OF WHATEVER MOVE WAS REFLECTED, the move will deal 10%. (With Pong, it’s all about the consistency). Aside from some special cases, the one major exception is any projectile from a teammate. Teammate’s Projectiles will always go straight through Pong, again with ZERO Damage to Pong. This applies EVEN WITH TEAM ATTACK.

Well now that I introduced you to some properties, time to get to the moves!

Specials

Neutral Special- RESET

At first glance, this move doesn’t seem like a lot. When you first press it, it appears to do absolutely nothing, but what it does is save your current position. Press Neutral Special again, and Pong will glitch out and suddenly appear where you saved. The glitching out takes not that much to execute, and you can act out of it immediately. You can use Neutral Special at any time, even during hitstun. The position will always be saved. Be aware, that this move will not save anything else you had at the time, so you will still keep your damage, but things like knockback can be instantly canceled.

A instant transportation tool sound useful, but there are limitations. You can only save your location once every minute. To save a new location, you must first get rid of the old one. Getting KO’ed eliminates your save points. The most important thing to remember, is that saving your location has NO Significant animation, and you can do it at anytime, even by accident.

There is one more property to this. If by some reason, you reset and happen to overlap with any other opponent, you will deal 35% and knockback that can kill at 70%. However, you must land it on frame 1, or else it does nothing.

Side Special-Ball Serve


Pong summons a pixel shaped ball, and hits it in the direction Pong is facing. The animation will be the same, but the ball has different properties depending on how long you held the button.

With a light tap, the ball will shoot out really fast(think Sonic dash speed) and deal 6% and small knockback. With a regular press, the ball will shoot out at a medium pace, and deal 8% and medium knockback. Hold the button, and the ball will travel very slowly(think Ganondorf Walk speed) and deal 12% and a tiny bit more knockback than the medium pace ball. You can only have one ball at the time.

By default, the balls will travel in a straight line, but by slightly tilting the joystick right after the input, you can change the angle of the ball trajectory. Point it a bit downwards, and the ball will travel angled at 45 degrees downwards. Point it upwards, and the ball will go 45 degrees upward. If a ball happens to contact a ceiling/floor, it will bounce at a 90 degree angle, and continue. These balls will stick around for 5 seconds, or until they fly offstage or hit a wall. (Perfect Shielding the projectile reflects it and refreshes it’s timer. Pong’s natural reflection does the same as well)

Up Special-Sudden Motion

Pong suddenly rises up in a fast motion. He travels around the distance of Pit’s recovery, but only travels upwards. You can slightly move left or right, but your horizontal movement is restricted while using this. The Motion itself deals 10% to anybody who contacts it, but the knockback isn’t stellar. You enter a state of helplessness after performing the move (You can still do your Neutral Special though) and can’t directly grab the ledge while performing.

If you happen to hit a projectile while using this move, something happens with Pong’s reflection ability. Instead of making the projectile slower, it makes the projectile FASTER, now going at 1.5 its regular speed. It also reflects the projectile to deal a extra 5%, for a total of 15%. The main issue is you now also take half the damage of a projectile. (You still don’t receive knockback) To even get this to work, you have to hit it while the motion is active, and since Pong moves very fast, it can be difficult to even hit a projectile.

Down Special- Glitch in the System

Pong appears to glitch out a bit. If the opponent doesn’t attack Pong during this period the Glitching eventually stops. If the opponent does happen to interact with Pong, something happens. Pong registers the damage of the hit, but takes no knockback. The opponent is also knocked back with the same knockback of the move they did! Basically, it’s a counter, but instead of simply multiplying percent, Pong transfers the knockback of the move back at them. (He reflects the opponent!)

For this to work, the opponent must hit Pong during the glitch animation, that lasts about half a second. If a hit isn’t registered, Pong will suffer some endlag, leaving him open for follow up. The counter also has a bit of a startup, but it’s nothing really terrible.


Standards

Jab- Pong will slightly tilt immediately upon input with very little lag. The move has a staggered motion like Game and Watch, and only deals a measly 3%. It has some end lag, and is only one hit.

Side Tilt- Pong will do the exact same motion as the jab and do a very similar attack. The difference is that while the jab dealt a measly 3%, this deals a measly 5%! It also has more knockback than the jab. There is one more thing, and that is that this move will always send the opponent into a spinning animation. This means that this move is impossible to tech. (Go watch Beefy Smash Doods if you don’t understand.)

Up Tilt- Pong will do the exact same motion as the jab, but after finishing it, Pong does it again in the opposite side. The tilt deals 3% the first hit, and 4% the next hit. Each hit will send the opponent upwards.

Down Tilt- Pong will turn sideways and fall to the ground. This deals 6% and send opponents at the Sakurai angle. This has some end lag, so be careful using it.

Dash Attack- Dash attack is unique that there is no animation for it. Your only indicator that you are doing a dash attack is that you are running. The attacks turns Pong to a hitbox that deals 5% upon striking. Sends opponents in a angle similar to Mario’s Dash attack.

Smashes

Side Smash- Pong again does the same animation as the jab and side tilt. This particular smash isn’t that powerful, only dealing 13% uncharged and 17% with a full charge. The knockback isn’t that good either, and you will probably only be able to kill at around 150%. The unique thing is that All of Pong’s Smashes share the exact same animation. Nothing. Pong just flashes yellow like every regular smash attack, but anything else, there is no indicator of what smash Pong will do.

Up Smash- Instead of repeating the Up Tilt animation, Pong instead does what appears to be a small hop up, and then back down. This has very little startup and deals 15% uncharged to 20% fully charged. This has the most knockback of all of his smash attacks and can kill at about 120%. It has a fair amount of endlag, so be careful with this.

Down Smash- Pong again repeats the down tilt animation, but instead of having knockback downwards, it has sideways knockback. It comes out quick, and is the worst damage wise in terms of his smashes, dealing 12% uncharged and 16% fully charged. Can kill at about 140%

Grab/Throws

Grab- Pong somehow manages to get the opponent to stop. The opponent appears to be in their grabbed state, but Pong still remains motionless and still. Attempt to pummel, and Pong appears to shake a bit and has some glitchy looking effects surrounding him. The opponent receives 1% upon pummeling. It is a rather slow pummel, and you will probably only be able to get one pummel before the opponent can break out.

Forward Throw- Hey, would you look at that, it’s our recurring Jab/SideTilt/SideSmash Animation! This time, it deals 8% and launches the opponent forward. It’s simple, and has average knockback.

Back Throw- Pong appears to glitch out in a similar manner to the jab, and suddenly appears in the opposite side of the opponent! He then proceeds to do our Jab/SideTilt/SideSmash Animation in the direction of the opponent. Deals the same 8% as the forward throw, but launches opponent backwards. It takes a bit more to startup due to the extra glitch animation.

Up Throw-Pong rises up even more, somehow carrying the opponent, and slams down to the ground. (Think Rob's Up throw) This throw is your strongest, and deals 10% as well as fairly high vertical knockback. You have a bit more endlag to this move, but the move can kill at around 110%.

Down Throw- Pong does THE EXACT SAME animation as the up throw, except for some reason, instead of knocking the opponent up high, it buries them. This also deals 10%, and buries the opponent, allowing for you to follow up even more. You do have a lot of endlag after this move, so you better act fast to take advantage of the opportunity.

Aerials

Neutral Air- Pong will rapidly spin 360 degrees, dealing 9% and sends opponents forward. The move has very little startup and very little end lag as well. If you land on the ground while doing the move, you will practically be able to start acting out of it, so this move is really good.

Forward Air- Pong does the same animation as the jab and side tilt, but this time, he tilts a tiny bit more. This deals 7%, and has quick startup, but a rather big amount of endlag. Not recommended on shields.

Back Air- Pong appears to do a similar animation to the forward air, but instead does one full 360. Deals 7% and is rather slow on startup. It also had a fair amount of endlag, but if you happen to land it at the tip of the paddle, it spikes.

Up Air- Pong does the up tilt animation, but much quicker and deals only one hit of 6%. The knockback is also rather high, and Pong has only a bit of startup to do it. It does have some endlag so be careful.

Down Air- Pong suddenly slams to the ground in one really fast motion. The speed is similar to some stall-fall aerials, but the key difference is that Pong doesn’t stall. The move comes out fast and deals 8% in total. It has some endlag, but still a pretty good option. Don’t use when there is no platform beneath you, as that is practically suicide.​


FINAL SMASH-Giant Pong



After Pong gets the power of the smash ball, he suddenly appears to split into 2! The 2 paddles now move to different sides of the stage, and begin to grow, and grow, and grow until… They are Gigantic! A much bigger Pixel Ball is summoned and is tossed in the direction of one of the paddles, and so, a match of Pong begins!

Pong’s final smash is basically the effect Pong did as an assist trophy, but there are some differences. First is that the ball is even bigger, and deals a whopping 23% per hit, with knockback to kill at 80%. The second is that you now control one of the paddles! You control the one that was on the side of the stage you were upon activation. (If you were on the right, you control the paddle on the right, and viseversa) By tilting the joystick up and down, you move the paddle. The other paddle is AI controlled, and tries to reflect the ball back at you. The final Smash lasts for 20 seconds, or until one of the paddles gets a score of 3. (The score does nothing btw)


Competitive Commentary(Playstyle)

Pong as a character can do many functions in battle, but most of his playstyle relies on his unpredictability. Due to the fact that Pong has no visual indications outside of movement, it’s hard both on you and the opponent to understand what Pong does next. Moves also share animations, meaning that while you know the input you pressed, your opponent will have to predict what input Pong is doing.

Pong passive is a major bonus, as Pong is now immune to projectiles. This means that projectile camping is impossible against Pong, and characters are forced to get up close and personal (which is good, since Pong only has one actual projectile, and needs to get close to be able to deal effective damage.) The issue is that the projectile is on most occasions nerfed, and can easily be dodged, but it’s still a decent tool. (For more details on passive, see further below)

Pong’s normals are not his strong suit, and most of his attacks are weak damage wise. Some normal are different though. Dash attack has again, no visual indicator, making it a excellent tool for approaching opponents. N-Air is very fast and has very little lag, so it is a safe option for many different situations. Finally, his side tilt is a critical move. Since it always results in the spinning animation, that is untechable, in low percents, this lead to guaranteed follow ups. Examples include other normals, a grab, and maybe even Up Smash. The problem is that at higher percents, hitstun ends before the opponent touches the floor, so they can jump out of it. This can be a good place for your aerials to hit.

Pong’s grabs are a exercise in DI mixups, as a lot of his throws share similar animations. His back throw has a similar animation to pummels, and this can maybe confuse the opponent. The Up throw and Down throw are identical in terms of animation. When the animation starts, the opponent chooses between DI Upwards knockback, or mashing. It’s a 50/50. Pong also has a surprise forward throw, that can throw off some DI as well.

Pong’s Smashes have absolutely no way to be identified. This again puts pressure on the opponent to guess correctly witch direction Pong will go in and can lead to mindgames. Every time the opponent is put in a guessing situation. Be careful however. If you misinput, your game plan might be thrown off course, so you need to adapt, and focus more on your controller inputs than Pong’s animations.

Pong’s specials also have different uses. His Neutral Special is a powerful hybrid of a checkpoint and Rest. You can use it as a recovery move outside of your Up-Special, which isn’t very powerful. Since you don’t have any indication that you used it, you will need to remember when you pressed B. You can act out of it after frame one, and this can lead to some safe moves, like N-Air. The problem with acting out of moves, is that you risk potentially eliminating the strong knockback of the frame one hitbox. Doing safe moves afterwards is a good strategy however. His side special is a projectile that can be tailored to your needs. Make a slow-moving projectile to pressure the opponent even more, or make a fast projectile that can take some opponents by surprise. Angle it downwards on a ledge as a edgeguard, or angle it up to prevent the opponent on getting back onstage. It’s a powerful tool in your arsenal, but it’s the only projectile you have, so staying away and camping is also not an option(remember that you can only have one ball at the time). Up-Special is a pretty basic recovery, and your primary recovery move outside of Reset. Use it first, since you can still reset in helpless. Trying to hit a projectile with this is a risky strategy, but one that could work to avoid edguarding situations Down Special is a very situational move. You would need to pay attention to the opponent’s percent. If it’s high, and they input a high knockback move, go for it, and hit them hard. Don’t waste the move on low knockback moves, since you still absorb damage, and if they aren’t at high percents, the trade could be in the opponent’s favor. (AKA, don’t counter jabs/tilts/other weak moves)

While Pong still has some tricks in 1vs1s, playing with a teammate changes the game. Pong can very easily support teammates in a variety of ways. Pong’s passive can help teammates who struggle with projectiles, without completely shutting down their own projectiles. Pong also has multiple setup moves, that can be followed up by much stronger options that a teammate can bring. (Side-Tilt, and Down-Throw are some examples.) A good teammate for Pong is one that can provide KO power/knockback, combining with Pong’s damage and pressure abilities. (You could also team with someone with more projectiles, creating a wall of projectiles that can't be countered by other projectiles.)

Pong’s weakness is his light weight, making him easy to KO. Pong is also is a tiny bit slow, and fast fighters can probably keep away for some while.

Flavor/Extra Details

Special Passive Interactions-
If a projectile is less than 10% in damage, the damage is actually upscale to match that percent! The speed drop remains the same. (Imagine the possibilities with this. Imagine Fox’s Lasers at half speed, but they deal 10%)

Projectiles thrown by minions and constructs will be reflected, but Pong can’t passively reflect thrown Minions (IE something like Olimar's Pikmin, or Rosalina's Luma Shot), or constructs that later become projectiles. (IE Villager's Tree)

If Pong reflects a throwable item, the item will continue in a arc, but will initially be reflected in the direction it came from.

If Pong reflects a Pokeball, the Pokemon that comes out will be owned by Pong.

If a Bomb is thrown into Pong, the bomb will explode, but Pong still won’t take damage! Pong will still be afflicted normally if a Bomb falls within his range, but isn’t a direct hit. (AKA he can’t reflect Smart Bombs radius, Motion Sensor Bombs, and you can even hit Pong with a bomb if you aim slightly before him.) This only applies to item based bombs. Any bombs that a character can pull out will behave like a normal projectile. Sticky Bombs will stick to Pong, but will take no damage or knockback as normal.

Pong can’t reflect Final Smashes, Special Projectiles (Daybreak and Certain Assist Trophies) or projectiles that happen to deal more than 80% of damage. (Note- if a projectile is a OHKO, the amount of damage dealt will be the factor. If a OHKO projectile deals 79% damage, Pong will still reflect the projectile, and reset the damage to 10% while also eliminating the OHKO factor)

Entrance- Pong glitches into existence and blinks twice before settling into the idle.

Taunt- I know that this will probably make people hate me, but Pong only has 1 taunt. He performs a Glitching animation similar to the one used before he teleports in his neutral special. To make up for this, Pong can use this taunt even in the air. (Could one use this to mindgame the opponent? Probably.)

Victory Pose 1- Even more hatred, Pong only has 2 Victory Poses instead of three. The first one only shows Pong standing still.

Victory Pose 2- Pong plays a game of Pong with the buddy he made during the final smash. (This can only be triggered if Pong wins with his final Smash)

Lose Pose- Pong stand there. Just like his idle.

Costumes-

1. His standard white. All of the costume simply change the color.

2. Red shade

3. Green Shade

4. Blue Shade

5. Yellow-ish color (Similar to the paddle from BIT.TRIP)

6. Neon Orange

7. Light Blue (Similar to the Line Block from Tetris)

8. Purple

Closing Comments

I haven’t introduced myself, but I would like to say, I’ve kinda lurked these threads since MYM18, and have gone back and read sets from past contests before finally deciding to take a joke too seriously and make a moveset. This is my first set, and I really enjoyed making it. It’s probably very bad but then again, it’s Pong. I have more ideas in mind, and while it seems weird to start off with a meme, well I guess sometimes you must make an impression. Hopefully my next set is going to be a lot better and a bit more serious than this one. If you have any feedback, comments or concerns, that would be kindly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
(Side note- Set also happens to qualify for the Small Set incentive)​
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Well, I'm glad to see that little contest has produced something, haha. A Pong set! It can go along with the old Tetris set we had...
 

Professor Lexicovermis

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
273
Location
Pop Star
To whom it may concern:

The outmoded unit, codenamed "Vention", has been scheduled for replacement. The new unit, codenamed "Cogito Ergo Sum", is to be delivered within a few days. A detailed manual will be provided once the unit ships.

Any improper usage of the unit or violations of protocol will be punished swiftly. Please, read the manual before attempting to use the unit.

Thank you,
Management
 

UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
305
[10]~ [Warning! Challenger Approaching!] ~[10]



[10]~ [Hockey Man] ~[10]

One of six stage bosses from the Mega Man fan game 'Rokko-chan', Hockey Man guards the obligatory ice stage and shield weapons. The plot of the game is very basic; robots around the world start going haywire, and a man named Dr. Mad claims responsibility, declaring his intent to take over the world. The titular protagonist, created by 'Dr. Thane', attempts to stop him despite her father's concerns for her safety.

[_]~ [Stage Theme] - [Play] ~[_]
[_]~
[Stage/Boss Fight] - [Play] ~[_]
[_]~ [Play Rokko-chan] - [Play] ~[_]


[10]~ [Stats] ~[10]

[_]~ [Traction] [10] [Lucario] ~[_]
[_]~ [Size] [9] [Donkey Kong-like Dimensions; little taller, little thinner] ~[_]
[_]~ [Weight] [9] [Dedede] ~[_]
[_]~ [Gravity] [8.5] [Captain Falcon] ~[_]
[_]~
[Fall Speed] [8] [Little Mac] ~[_]
[_]~
[Walk Speed] [7] [Link] ~[_]
[_]~ [Jump Height] [4] [Mega Man] ~[_]
[_]~
[Dash Speed] [3] [Mega Man] ~[_]
[_]~
[Air Speed] [2.5] [Link] ~[_]
[_]~
[Special] [Crouch] ~[_]

Hockey Man's metal body and size cinch his Super Heavyweight status; he takes a great deal of punishment before attacks start launching him off stage. He's not a fast runner, and he falls quickly enough that it hamstrings his durability by limiting his ability to recover.

Despite his low speed, Hockey Man is spoiled for choice on approach options through his move set. He can chase enemies up and down a given stage without much difficulty, given the right circumstances. He hits hard, his finer positioning is swift, and his reach compensates for the telegraphed wind ups that dot his set.



[10]~ [Mechanic] ~[_]~ [Ice Rink] ~[10]

The skates on Hockey Man's feet aren't just for show. His robotic body is capable of generating freezing cold, letting him take the ice rink with him wherever he chooses to go.

When one of Hockey Man's ice hitboxes hits the ground, the area where the hitbox overlaps with the floor freezes over with a thin sheet of ice. The ice lasts for 10 seconds, until hit by an opponent's hitbox, or when a similar terrain effect would be placed on the ground. Hitting the section with ice again refreshes the timer.

The ice thickens on the very top of ledges, forming a short lip. This terrain feature is small enough that it can be walked onto like a slope, and it does nothing to obstruct characters trying to climb back up or hang on to the ledge, but it serves as a (very low) wall for the purposes of projectiles and other objcets.

When moving on this ice, Hockey Man and all other characters slide for a moment after they stop moving, coasting along on the leftover momentum, and coming to a stop roughly half the distance they would have crossed if they continued moving normally for a second. Bumping into a solid surface causes them to bounce off and slide the rest of the way in the opposite direction.

Movement effects are also affected in this way, barring effects that end with the character at a dead stop such as Fox's Side Special. They can remove this effect early by shielding or leaving contact with the ice, or by moving in the opposite direction for a short time. Turning does NOT take any additional time, though the character can continue to slide even if facing the other way.

While sliding, a character can act as though standing despite being in motion, having access to their normal tilts and other inputs even as they continue coasting along mid-input. This is the key behind Hockey Man's mobility, using ice to advance swiftly and get through the start up of his attacks while out of reach.


Horizontal knockback taken increases slightly while on ice. The effect isn't especially noticeable on moves with only flinching or light knockback, but potential KO moves finish off combatants sooner, and moves whose knockback is best for positioning push characters that much further. Hockey Man is no exception, though his weight makes this more of an advantage than anything; he escapes combos that little bit easier, and enjoys herding foes around with his poking tools regardless.


Ice also builds on Hockey Man's foes. With every 4% of damage he does with ice hitboxes, Hockey Man causes more and more small chunks of ice to appear on the opponent. Their fall speed and gravity increases by about 1/5th the effect of a metal box item for every 'step' of this status, keeping them close to the frozen floor and Hockey Man's ground-hugging hitboxes. This caps at a maximum of 5 steps.

Every second that passes without them being damaged by an ice hitbox reverses the effect a step, the rate halved while standing on icy terrain. Should he manage to inflict 5 steps of this status on an opponent, the ice solidifies around them, acting as a stun effect. The stun lasts for 1 second; not long for most things, but an eternity in Smash.

While trapped in ice, the immobile opponent slides around as if on icy terrain- leaving a trail of it on the ground they pass over. Hockey Man can push the opponent around by moving into them.

When the stun ends, all steps of this effect are removed at once as the opponent breaks free of the ice.



[10]~ [Specials] ~[10]

[_]~ [Neutral Special] ~[_]

Six Pokeball-sized snowflakes appear from thin air around Hockey Man, orbiting him at a decent clip. The area around Hockey Man, which clips into the ground beneath and a short distance from him, is treated as a disjointed Ice hitbox that deals [5%] damage and light knockback on hit.

This move has a short bit of start up and some notable ending lag, and otherwise would be a tad underwhelming if not for two qualities. Firstly, while the Ice Shield is active, Hockey Man is in a state functionally identical to the mercy invulnerability granted upon respawn.

Unlike the source material, the first hit that would inflict more than flinching knockback causes Hockey Man's shield to fail a split second after. It is still negated, melee attacks bouncing off as if shielded and weak projectiles knocked away (merely cosmetic; the shield is not a deflector), but Hockey Man himself does not suffer shield stun from the hit.

Secondly, the Ice Shield lingers a whopping 3 seconds after the end lag finishes. Naturally, there's a drawback; Hockey Man's Neutral Special has a cool down equal to double the time spent in the shield after the initial input before it can be used again, to a minimum of 2 seconds. If ended by being struck, Ice Shield takes the maximum 6 seconds. The end of the cool down is telegraphed by the sound of ice forming and Hockey Man flashing a light blue.


The shield can be dismissed early by repeating the input, which causes the snowflakes to solidify into solid ice crystals and fly away from Hockey Man. The six snowflakes fly straight away from him, over the distance that Fox's Neutral Special projectile does, doing the same damage and knockback as when used as a shield. They move slightly faster than Hockey Man's Dash Speed.

By holding the Special input, he instead launches the six crystals in a single direction, normally straight forwards but aimable using the control stick during the wind up. This works mostly the same, but works as a single projectile with the same area as it had working as a shield.

Though underwhelming as an attack, the crystals freeze surfaces a Kirby width out from themselves in either direction from where they touch, potentially giving Hockey Man a bit of ice to work with. The quick movement of the ice crystals while circling him also means they can catch an opponent waiting for the shield to drop or force them to abort an approach, setting up nicely for Hockey Man to follow up.

He suffers longer ending lag for this version of the projectile, but can use this to form a nice stretch of ice out in front of himself to use, and can coast behind the Ice Shield (which doesn't grant its normal protection at this point, but is still a hitbox).

Using the shield as a projectile immediately is possible by holding the input without Ice Shield already active, or double tapping the input quickly, letting Hockey Man access either projectile version of the input with only the minimum cool down. He still suffers a bit of ending lag for his troubles.


[_]~ [Side Special] ~[_]

Hockey Man rears his stick back, then swings it low, performing a slapshot. A hockey puck- the width of a Pokeball but notably flatter- is sent flying from the strike, having seemingly manifested on the ground right as his swing would pass over it.

The swing deals [10%] damage, or [15%] with the sweet spot directly where and when the puck spawns. Its surprisingly hefty knock back makes it a viable KO move, as the arc is low to the ground, and parts of the stick other than the heel down are not part of the hitbox. His swing takes a little time to happen, but he's free to act shortly after.

The puck flies at Captain Falcon's Dash Speed, in a short arc that can be adjusted up or down by angling the control stick. A high arc goes just above Hockey Man, and a low arc barely leaves the ground. In the air, the arcs are angled roughly 30 degress downward, only really 'arc'ing if aimed up. It descends as the same speed that Hockey Man falls.

The puck skids across the ground after it lands, going about half the distance of Final Destination from Hockey Man in total. It bleeds off speed once it touches down until it slows to Robin's Dash Speed, then vanishes. It deals [7%] damage and light knockback at full speed, but weakens as it slows, to a minimum of [2%] and flinching.

The puck bounces off of walls, maintaining speed as it travels in the opposite direction. Shields and constructs that obstruct movement count as walls for this effect, though the puck passes through any it breaks.

Hockey Man can have three pucks out at a time. Creating a fourth despawns the slowest puck the immediate frame before the new puck spawns.

Hockey Man can extend the life of his pucks by keeping them in motion. Any of his hockey stick hitboxes can hit his pucks; if he does more than flinching with the hitbox, the puck goes flying at full speed in the direction of the knockback.

Pucks slow down only half as quickly on ice, and they do not lose momentum in the air (in defiance of physics). They only retain horizontal momentum while sliding, however; they don't bounce off the ground.


By holding the Special input, Hockey Man instead lowers his stick to the ground and leans over. He moves normally in this state, simply skating along at his normal speed. He exits this stance if he performs a different input or leaves the ground.

If his stick touches a puck, he pushes it along in front of himself as he moves; he keeps it with him even as he turns, only letting it go when he ends the input, comes to a stop, or pushes the puck into a surface it would bounce off of. This even allows him to regain control of a puck that's been reflected.

If the Special input is released without cancelling out of the stance, Hockey Man performs the slap shot. He uses a puck he's controlling if he has one, else he summons a new one as normal.

While he's pushing it around, the puck deals [4%] damage and flinching knockback. Any other pucks bounce off of his stick as if it were a tiny wall, much like the 'lip' of ice his ice hitboxes make on ledges. This keeps the puck on stage long enough to make use of its range and duration.


[_]~ [Down Special] ~[_]

Hockey Man bends down, hands on the ground and almost kneeling. He lunges forward with surprising speed for his size, and rises to his full height to slide shoulder-first.

Hockey Man's shoulder charge crosses 3/4ths a battlefield platform at Captain Falcon's Dash Speed. The side of his body deals [18%] damage and solid, low-angled knockback. He comes to a dead stop, his skate catching on the ground, and he suffers long ending lag as he nearly loses his balance.

The charge travels half again as far over ice and through the air, and the ending lag is greatly reduced when he finishes it under either condition. Instead of stumbling over himself, Hockey Man transitions into a squat and coasts along on his momentum.

He loses speed at the same rate as one of his pucks in this state, and can similarly rebound off of large enough surfaces. Until he's slowed to his normal speed, his front deals [12%] damage and moderate knockback.

While skating, Hockey Man can not only use his standing attacks as though he were sliding, but he can use his shield or jump without halting his momentum. Using a move ends the Down Special's hitbox, and has a slight increase in start lag as he stands up.

He can enter or exit his normal dash while retaining this speed, or repeat the input to exit the stance and lose momentum twice as fast. Turning around works like it normally does on ice.

During the charge, if he slams into a wall that isn't moved or destroyed, Hockey Man stops instantly; this has the same lag as stumbling from ending the input off the ice. The platform the wall is on shakes, stunning foes on it, and giving Hockey Man a moderate frame advantage. The hitbox becomes a sweetspot as he pins the opponent into the wall for no knockback, extensive stun, and [20%] damage.

Lastly, holding the Special button delays the charge. Hockey Man skates in place until the button is released, then charges. Any input other than releasing the Special button cancels out of this animation with minimal lag.


[_]~ [Up Special] ~[_]

Fog pours from Hockey Man's feet, a burst of pressurized cold air launching himself upwards with surprising height. He crests roughly his own height above where Kirby would for the pink puffball's Up Special, before crashing down to earth just as quickly with a small cloud of ice dust punctuating his landing. Hockey Man's body is a hitbox that deals [12%] damage and moderate knockback during his leap, and his landing is a sweet spot that deals [16%].

Hockey Man has a bit more leeway in terms of horizontal travel with this input than Kirby does, generally able to get half of Battlefield's main platform away from his starting point. Not a great deal of distance, but given he likely won't be sent flying too far with his weight, the height does a decent job compensating for his quick fall speed.

The fog reaching a short distance from Hockey Man before and after his jump is an ice hitbox that deals [6%] and stuns the opponent briefly. Hockey Man's recovery has noticeable lag at the end, but the stun is just long enough leave him at a small frame advantage.

Overall, the recovery doubles as a solid approach tool thanks to its sudden start and stun on landing, setting Hockey Man up with a nice patch of ice and possibly a frame advantage without having to use up his Neutral Special.



[10]~ [Standards] ~[10]

[_]~ [Neutral Combo] ~[_]

Hockey Man throws out two quick punches, and lurches forward to slam his metal helmet into his opponent's head as a finisher. Hockey Man's reach is nothing compared to what it is when he uses his stick, but is still worth noting.

Each punch does [3%], and his headbutt does [4%] with some appreciable knockback. At lower percentages, he positions his foe just right for one of his other tilts; at high percentages, he can corral foes around to better position them for the kill.

These hits have a small sweetspot close to Hockey Man, which adds an extra [2%] damage each and a slight push effect that puts enemies at arm's length. When he slides on ice, he easily chains these sweet spots into each other, manhandling the foe where he wants them.


[_]~ [Forward Tilt] ~[_]

Hockey Man squares his shoulders and swats foes with the heel of his stick. This horizontal swing has a little bit of wind up that hinders its usefulness in tight quarters, but it also has a slight upward curve to the swing that lets it hit a little above and a little below Hockey Man, ensuring it remains useful against shorter opponents and some jumps.

The heel does [8%] damage and has a low arc to its passable knockback; Hockey Man 'shoves' opponents off stage or against a barrier, and deflects falling pucks in situations where he hit them into the air or is involved in odd platform arrangements.

The stick does [6%] and light knockback, a sour spot that covers the gap between Hockey Man and the heel of his stick, but does little else. At most it eliminates a massive blind spot that would leave Hockey Man in danger, and at minimum, it is still safe on hit due to the move's low ending lag and quick animation.

If Hockey Man skates in on ice, he can usually complete the start up outside his quarry's range; this is a fairly safe approaching option that can chase opponents back or corner them.


[_]~ [Down Tilt] ~[_]

This low sweep starts behind Hockey Man and ends in front of him, its wide hitbox hugging the ground. Hockey Man doesn't have the usual wind up that accompanies his swings, though there's still a very tiny window of vulnerability due to his hockey stick starting its arc behind him. He tends to miss enemies even slightly off the ground if they're not exactly where the hitbox starts or ends, but can catch foes below him if he is on a fall-through platform.

This tilt inflicts [7%] damage and solid knockback that's angled upwards. Enemies and pucks alike are popped up over low walls and onto platforms above, and the latter makes for a decent anti-air move off the cuff. Foes who dodge around him too early are struck by the wind up and find themselves back in front of Hockey Man.

If Hockey Man times it right, the delay between the puck going up and coming down makes it a one-two combo that catches enemies out of a dodge, or locks them into their shield briefly with a bit of luck; either gives Hockey Man a clean window for another attack.


[_]~ [Up Tilt] ~[_]

An overhead swing of Hockey Man's stick. The hitbox starts almost directly above his head, and covers a decent area in front of himself. It deals [5%] damage and light knockback angled forwards and slightly down, with the heel of the stick acting as a sweet spot for [8%] and moderate knockback with the same angle.

Holding the input delays the swing slightly, making it easier to adjust the timing of this swing. Hockey Man slaps pucks out of the air and back onto the ground with enough force to send it skidding across the ground at full speed, and he catches foes attempting to clear him and his hitboxes with a jump.

If he positions himself right, with a properly timed Ice Shield to protect himself, Hockey Man has a mean ledge guard option in this input; he's as adept as a goalie as he is in every other position, apparently!


[_]~ [Dash Attack] ~[_]

Hockey Man skids to a stop, his foot sliding out to help end his momentum. The skate on his foot is a low to the ground hit box that deals [5%] damage and flinching knockback. With its quick animation, this input serves as another option for Hockey Man to come to a complete stop on the ice in short time, though the start up prevents it from being too spammable.


As he slides, Hockey Man's skate kicks up slush with tiny, sharp ice crystals glinting inside it. Even when he's not on ice, Hockey Man just produces some as part of the attack. This disjointed hitbox flies off of the ground he slides across, then crashes down to freeze over the small patch of land in front of himself with range that's a little lacking.

The slush deals 3 hits of [2%] damage and flinching in a short cone, finishing a little after Hockey Man has exited the stance. This gives Hockey Man a slight frame advantage against someone caught in the hitbox. When performed on ice, the hitbox reaches nearly twice as far over a slightly taller cone, and does an extra two hits; this turns a slight frame advantage into a big one.


Lastly, Hockey Man slides across the ground if the input is held; he loses momentum quickly, but doesn't come to an immediate halt unless the input is released. This lets him coat a decent swath of the stage in ice, but weakens the input by spacing out the hitboxes into smaller gouts of slush. He doesn't slide forever; even on ice and with the input held, he continues to lose momentum- assuming the opponent doesn't do something about it before then.



[10]~ [Smashes] ~[10]

[_]~ [Forward Smash] ~[_]

Hockey Man pulls his stick back, assuming a stance that fits a baseball player more than a hockey player. With exaggerated effort, Hockey Man grunts and swings as hard as he can, a weighty sound accompanying the swing. The force of the swing sends him teetering forward as he tries to regain his balance.

This Smash has a bit of lag before the charing animation and after the swing, but comes out fast on release. It adds up to start up you would expect from a smash attack, but works exceptionally well with his ability to approach even during his animations as he skates or slides along on the ice.

The swing deals [18-32%] damage and strong knockback, KOing fairly early when fully charged. As the hitbox moves across his hurtbox, Hockey Man's Forward Smash has no sour spot or blind spot of note on the horizontal plane with himself. The swing can be angled up or down slightly, letting him swipe enemies out of the air, or more easily strike a rebounding puck.


He launches pucks with more power and speed than he does even in his Side Special proper at full charge, capping out at above Captain Falcon's own Dash Speed and [14%] damage (using the same knockback formula), while minimum charge acts like another strike of the Side Special. His swing even knocks away enemy projectiles, acting as a somewhat awkward reflector.


[_]~ [Down Smash] ~[_]

Hockey Man leans forward with his head tilted down. When he finishes charging, he vents a burst of cold air from beneath his helmet in a small, thick fog cloud. The fog quickly disperses to reveal a solid block of ice with the same dimensions as a crate. If the standard button is pressed again at this time, Hockey Man rears back and punches the block, sending it skidding across the platform. The punch's hitbox starts behind Hockey Man, while the ice block will move straight across the ground up to the distance of a battlefield platform at Captain Falcon's Dash Speed.

The ice block counts as an ice hitbox, freezing the ground as it travels and creating a lip at the edge of platforms- the latter causing it to come to a halt on any ledge. If ice already covered the ground it moves across, it does not count the ice-covered terrain to its range limit, going until it travels normal groud, reaches a ledge, or hits a wall. Reflectors and shields don't deflect the ice block, but will also cause it to come to a halt.

If formed off the edge of a platform, it falls at Fox's fall speed in addition to having the same forward momentum and distance it does on ice. If formed while Hockey Man is in motion, the ice block starts off coasting along in front of him at the same speed as he's traveling before the punch.

Both the punch and the ice block deal [15-21%] damage and moderate knockback. The former inflicts strong upwards knockback as the victim rebounds off of the ice, and the latter deals strong knockback away from itself until it slides to a stop. The bottom of the ice block while it falls is a spike that requires very specific timing to pull off, but is an almost certain KO if it manages to hit off-stage.

The icy fog Hockey Man blows during the initial part of the move's animation deals rapid hits of [2%] damage and very light knockback that pushes foes up and away, a maximum of 5 hits; it clears out foes who close in at the wrong time and can juggle opponents against decently-sized walls. It has half the reach (and the general shape) of Bowser's fire breath Special input.


The ice block also happens to be a solid construct. It has 20% stamina, which is lost when hit by an enemy attack, or a combatant is hit up against it. Someone being knocked into the block deals half the damage of the attack that knocked them into it did, and causes them to bounce off slightly at an upward angle. Hitting the ice block with an attack that does more than flinching knockback causes it to move as if it had Megaman's weight and 0% damage, with the knockback being angled more horizontally than normal for the move (thus making it difficult to dislodge from the floor).

Chaining hits will eventually allow the victim to escape upwards or break the ice block, one or the other. An opponent pinned between the ice block and a solid surface (such as another ice block) is 'popped' out from between them at the nearest open area unoccupied, usually directly above the block and the wall to prevent trapping foes. Since it forms (and is stopped by) a small lip of ice at the edge of platforms, it can't prevent the use of a ledge, and itself even can be climbed onto and stood on as if icy terrain. Up to 3 ice blocks can exist on stage at once; creating another simply causes the oldest to shatter.


Hockey Man suffers noticeable (though not truly abysmal) ending lag after he completes the input. Forgoing the follow-up punch doesn't reduce the ending lag, but it does mean he skips the slightly long animation; handy for when he just wants the wall or on reading a dodge from the opponent.

Even with its size, Hockey Man can attack over it fairly easily, his own projectiles being easy to angle over it if he is close by. It provides a decent low wall for himself, and is one of his more obvious options for creating a wall to go with his Down Special, or something that can catch pucks from his Side Special with more room for error. His attacks' reach and specific knockback angles allows him to more easily combo opponents against blocks for damage, then launch them away when the blocks break- though his weight does him no favors if the tables are turned.


[_]~ [Up Smash] ~[_]

Hockey Man looks up and over his shoulder, blowing a steady trail of icy fog into the air above himself. He turns his head slowly, creating a streak of fog that covers a crate's width from himself in either direction. Glinting lights fill the cloud, revealed to be dozen of tiny ice crystals as they descend with the thinning fog.

The fog reaches a crate's width from Hockey Man in either direction; if he creates it in-motion, it covers behind his starting location out to a crate's width and all the way to in front of his ending position the same distance, filling the area between. The fog lingers in the air just above Hockey Man's head for a brief moment, then descends at Jigglypuff's fall speed, it and the ice crystals inside a single wide but short hitbox.


Hockey Man's breath is a sweatspot that deals [17-24%] damage and strong upward knockback. The fog and ice crystals inflict a comparatively weak [10-14%] damage and flinching knockback as they descend, until they vanish. The duration of the fog increases with charge; the fog falls to Hockey Man's chest on a level platform before vanishing at minimum charge, reaches the ground at half charge, and very briefly lingers on the ground at full charge.

Portions of the fog also disappear when hit by any enemy attack or upon hitting the enemy out to a pokeball's width away from their hitbox/hurtbox, which prevents repeated hits outside of an opponent dashing into the cloud and coasting on ice through a long strip of it. The fog starts off high enough that (barring Super Mushroom or similar size-altering effects) most Smash 4 characters can not be hit while standing on the ground until the fog descends.

The entire move is an ice hitbox, covering areas above Hockey Man (and below at half charge or more) with ice out to a small radius. It moves through fall-through platforms, though leaves a thin coating of ice crystals on it that serve as an extension of the hitbox. They act just the same as the fog when hitting or hit by an opponent.


There is noticeable start up to this input, but the ending lag is fairly merciful; with at least half charge, Hockey Man exits the end lag of this move before the hitbox has fully vanished, giving him some cover to attack under. He's vulnerable during the early portion of the move; attacks from the front in particular interrupt him if he's dumb enough to use it in an opponent's face, leaving him with only whatever portion of the fog he finished creating.

Foes with low traction need to be careful when shielding, as the first hit from the fog pushes them far enough to be hit by the cloud a second time, eating away at their shield.



[10]~ [Aerials] ~[10]

[_]~ [Neutral Aerial] ~[_]


Ice cold fog spurts from Hockey Man's metal body in a thin cloud around himself with each tap. The range is short enough that Hockey Man has to nearly be touching his opponent, well within the sour spots of most of his poking tools, but the attack has extraordinarily short lag. Each hit does [4%] damage and pushes foes up and back, which makes it hard to get more than one hit stationary, or three or so on when in motion, despite its quickness.

If Hockey Man catches an opponent with another input as he moves forward but fails to keep them moving with himself, or they slip in past his longer reaching attacks, he can move into them with this input to juggle them for some extra damage and to potentially reset their position in relation to himself.

This also serves as his most spammable source of ice damage; it's too situational to make his main option, but makes getting in close to him terrifying when one is a few damage away from being frozen- one poorly timed dodge or good read on Hockey Man's part can spell disaster.


[_]~ [Forward Aerial] ~[_]

A low, horizontal swing of Hockey Man's hockey stick. Hockey Man's sweep is angled down slightly by default, but angling the control stick allows him to hit a bit above himself or low and forward to catch those further below himself. His swing arc is even wider than in his Forward Tilt, to the point there is slight overlap between the possible angles.

It does [10%] damage and modest knockback, with a sour spot close to him that does only [6%] damage and flinching. The move comes out quickly enough, and packs just enough punch to continue pushing foes back on the offensive should they take to the air or Hockey Man find himself airborne, and can be used in tandem with a short hop meant to dodge a low hitbox (such as a reflected puck or most Down Tilts) to serve as a circumstantial punish.


[_]~ [Down Aerial] ~[_]

Hockey Man lifts his leg, knee to his chest, then stomps straight downwards. The motion does [12%] damage and moderate knockback; if sweet-spotted by hitting just as he drops his leg, signified by a tiny glint of light off of his skate, the hit meteor smashes the opponent and renews his second jump.

While he's slow to perform the move, Hockey Man can use this move safely out of a short hop; if he lands while his skate is down, he slides forwards slightly instead of suffering additional ending lag from a botched landing.


[_]~ [Back Aerial] ~[_]

Hockey Man reaches his stick behind himself, then sweeps it forward, using the heel of the stick as a hook to drag enemies with the motion. Moving the stick back is a hitbox that does only [4%] damage and flinching knockback, and after a pause, leads directly into the more damaging second swing, which his for [11%] and light knockback in the direction Hockey Man is facing.

The tip of the first hitbox is a sweet spot, which deals [8%] damage and moderate knockback. Good for when you just want to hit something behind you.

The second hit drops opponents enemies at low damage percentages right in front of Hockey Man, close enough for his Neutral Aerial. At middling or higher percentages, it instead places them closer to his prefered medium range. Overshooting an enemy while skating about, and a poorly-timed dodge roll on the opponent's part, become an opportunity for a combo with proper timing of this input.


[_]~ [Up Aerial] ~[_]

This rough upward swing comes out quick and covers a good vertical area that starts just below and ends long above Hockey Man, but lacks the reach of other hockey stick-related attacks. The hitbox is thin to start and wide at the end, best as an anti-air and situational as anti-ground.

Hockey Man does [10%] damage and middling upward knockback that is excellent for juggling an opponent or puck, pulling opponents off the ground and over an obstacle, or getting in a few quick hits on an opponent that gets to close. A short hop back into this input can catch an overly aggressive opponent, and is reliable enough for when Hockey Man wants to knock his puck high into the air (possibly following a successful Down Tilt for extra height).



[10]~ [Grab Game] ~[10]

[_]~ [Grab and Pummel] ~[_]


Hockey Man swipes his free hand in front of himself to grab his opponents by their neck. The motion is quick, but lacks in reach- the former a boon and the latter downplayed when he's skating along. He continues to coast even on a successful grab.

Once he has his opponent in his grasp, Hockey Man pummels his opponent by pulling back and slamming his head into theirs. This pummel hits at a slow clip, but does [5%] damage with each hit.


[_]~ [Forward Throw] ~[_]

Hockey Man pulls his opponent down with him as he crouches, then springs forward. He swings the opponent with all his strength and hurls them away for [10%] damage and heavy knockback.

Since he exits the throw dashing, he easily chases down foes early in the stock for a follow up, or rushes to the ledge to harass a recovering opponent. His Forward Throw doubles both as a KO option and a tech chase!


[_]~ [Down Throw] ~[_]

Hockey Man rears his hand back, grip tight, and slams his opponent against the ground as hard as he can. The opponent takes [6%] damage but is not released from the grab just yet; just as quickly as he swung them down, Hockey Man swings his dazed opponent over his shoulder.

Hockey Man is able to move around while carrying his opponent. He is restricted to his walk speed and a single jump, though he retains momentum if he was sliding across the ice mid-grab. Pressing the Standard or Special inputs causes him to lift his foe off his shoulder, rear back, and throw them forwards for [3%] damage and medium knockback. This throw's special state shares his grab duration, giving him time to reposition for the throw.


[_]~ [Back Throw] ~[_]

After a half-hearted upward throw, Hockey Man grasps at his opponent's ankles before they can fall back down, then spins around, flinging them behind himself. This inflicts an impressive [12%] damage and strong knockback, the latter of which can be angled. Aiming upward throws the opponent in a high arc; it lacks horizontal distance, but potentially puts them over the top boundary.

Aiming down reduces the knockback; instead of a proper hammer throw, Hockey Man smashes his opponent head-first into the floor, letting them bounce off the ground. The damage jumps to [15%], but the knockback is low, and the lag ensures the opponent and Hockey Man will end nearly frame-neutral from each other. At minimum, the throw still has enough distance to put them at medium range from Hockey Man- ideal for his reach.


[_]~ [Up Throw] ~[_]

Hockey Man pulls the opponent into a bear hug, with spine-cracking sounds appropriate of someone actually getting hugged by a bear. The cracking crescendos as fog spills from Hockey Man, freezing his opponent solid and launching them upwards. This does moderate upward knockback and [12%] ice damage, which can easily push a partly frozen opponent into the stun state.

A lot of ending lag is attached to the throw; Hockey Man is unable to immediately follow up between lag and the knockback angle, and the opponent will almost certainly be out of his reach when they break free of the ice (assuming it does indeed freeze them solid). Instead, this throw serves as a situational star KO, or a free chance to set up some more of his preferred tools while the opponent is cooling off. Following up with Up Smash or Neutral Aerial can potentially lead to a freeze if timed and set up properly.



[_]~[10]~ [Final Smash] ~[10]~[_]

(To Be Added Later)



[10]~ Closing Notes ~[10]

I'm pretty happy with how this set turned out; it's not ground breaking or a particularly unique concept in how it works, but it fits what the character does and how he fights during his boss battle, and I think it's solid in what it does do. I have to thank Smady for the suggestion regarding the freezing effect on opponents in the mechanic, Muno for the Back Aerial concept, and Jamie, Muno, and FA for reviewing changes and giving advice on the finer details.


Edit Log:

Novermber 28th, 2017:
-Hockey Man can no longer return to his normal grab from his Down Throw state, and the Down Throw's duration runs off of the remaining grab duration normally, instead of passing twice as quickly. (Thanks Muno)
-Hockey Man's Back Aerial can now be used to strike enemies behind Hockey Man without drawing them forwards, via a sweet spot. (Thanks Smady, Muno)

April 15th, 2018:
-Upped the damage on Hockey Man's aerials, improved the knockback on his Down Aerial's non-sweet spot hitbox.
 
Last edited:

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
This is my submission for the 5k word challenge, as ignoring the introduction and final smash it is under 5k words.


Hee-Mo
Hee-Mo was a participant in the National Pet Fight League who only appear in a grand total of one fight. The National Pet Fight League, or NPFL, is an organization in the far future that genetically engineers creatures intended to be adorable in a lab to fight for the entertainment of children. It was largely intended to be a bloodless sport, and had a massive amount of money both invested into it and earned from it, which allowed them to cover up the amount of mental and physical damage it actually caused to the participating genetic experiments fairly well. All creatures participating were borderline sentient, not quite capable of the same mental capacity as a human but close enough they could even form something resembling basic speech. This made the "pets" fairly receptive to their popularity, with the more popular ones becoming prideful while the highly unsuccessful ones tended to take it as personally as a human who received universal ridicule.

Hee-mo itself was an ugly, goblin-like creature with vampiric powers, which for a number of reasons was extremely poorly recieved by both the organization and the public alike. Matches were usually rigged against it after the hatred mounted, and stress built up on the creature until it came to loathe every other human and "pet" in the league. It finally got lucky, however, when it ran into one of its very few fans, a rich scientist who felt sympathy for it and wanted to help Hee-Mo get revenge on the NPFL. The two of them agreed to a genetic experiment that initially made Hee-Mo appear more presentable and got him into another match... until it hatched into its new form, an absolutely hideous sack-like creature that moved around on blood vessel tentacles. It killed its opponent, one of the most popular fighters in the NPFL, by sucking its blood out of its body, before its new owner swooped it out of the arena by aircraft before the organization could put it down. This effectively destroyed the organization's credibility with children and put them into a lot of government controversy, eventually forcing the NPFL to shut down.

Hee-Mo and his geneticist left the public eye, but Hee-Mo was still resentful even after having destroyed the NPFL and wanted more blood. The geneticist, being kind of a madman, was fully supportive of his newfound effort to go out and drain the blood of the now jobless "pets", as well as former NPFL employees, and children in general. Suffice to say, the blood sucking tentacles of Hee-Mo are the last thing you want to see on the street, especially if you're a parent or child. And with every victim Hee-Mo drains, he grows stronger...


Stats and Appearence

Hee-Mo is a simple looking creature, being entirely red in color and its only notable features aside from its sack-like body being its face and tentacles. The tentacles look and act somewhat like blood vessels, and extend from its body out about twice as long as the sack is wide. It has a face with one normal looking eye and a huge, swollen and bloodshot one next to it, as well as a human-like mouth that's missing many of its teeth. The face sinks into and extends out of the sack at times to give it a truly unpleasant appearance.

Being made for the NPFL, Hee-Mo was sort of designed with "small and cute" in mind, albeit very loosely to just get it into the tournament, so he's only as big as Olimar not counting his tentacles, which extend off a decently large distance from his body. They aren't part of its hurtbox, except when its moving along the ground as he will use them as quasi-legs. Hee-Mo's stats are generally pretty bad, but as blood is somewhat dense and his body is mostly full of it it is fairly heavy for its size, clocking in at 98 weight. However its ground movement is noticeably worse than Robin's, and its aerial movement is among the worst in the game as well. It falls quite fast too.

Specials

Neutral Special - Blood Boil

Hee-Mo's face grotesquely extends outward a bit and assumes a very angry expression, possibly seeing much of the Smash cast as horrible mascots like its homeworld has. Steam will shoot out of its tentacles, and Hee-Mo will start taking 1% per second. This lasts until Hee-Mo gets rid of the blood boil, which he has a few ways to do, and thankfully has very little lag, only 15 frames total of start and end lag to get up a stage of Blood Boil.

Hee-Mo can use this attack up to 5 times, increasing the self-damage per second by 1% each time, but strengthening the positive effects of Blood Boil. At 1% per second, it will increase his ground speed to being in about the lower third of the Smash cast, and 2% will increase it to about Mario's dash speed. His aerial movement is also somewhat improved, with his fall speed decreasing and his other movement increasing, though he can fastfall at the same fastfall speed no matter what. 3%-5% per second will only increase the dash speed by a smaller amount each time, but also start to increase his attack power. At 3% per second it deals 1.1x the damage, at 4% 1.1x the damage and knockback, and a 5% a scary 1.2x the damage and knockback. The dash speed also caps out at Shiek's giving Hee-Mo a scary amount of offensive pressure at this level.

As a small note, the knockback growth and base values of its attacks are slightly altered at lower percents, meaning Hee-Mo won't lose most of its combos barring the occasional high percent one.


Side Special - Tentacle Tether
Hee-Mo shoots one of its tentacles forward, latching onto the opponent's skin. It will by default just fly forward, but if Hee-Mo hit an attack on the opponent in the last 2.5 seconds, a small red spot will appear on their body. If this attack is charged for 10 frames, it will latch onto that spot instead, giving Hee-Mo a bit of variety in tentacle positioning to make them slightly more annoying to hit off. The red spot will always be the furthest from the center of the opponent's body it can possibly be if they were hit with a large hitbox. The tentacle has an impressive 50 stamina, and deals 1/8th of all damage dealt to it to Hee-Mo. It can stretch out infinitely, so the opponent doesn't have to worry about usual tether rules while its out. The tether shot has moderate start-up and low end lag, and deals 2% and a flinch to make it hard to punish, especially at the end of its fairly long range.

Once every 3 seconds, the tether will squeeze a blob of blood out of the opponent, about the size of a Pokeball, and pull it into Hee-Mo at the rate of Ganondorf's dash speed. This deals 5% and a flinch to the opponent, allowing it to set up for combos to a degree, and when the blob reaches Hee-Mo it will grow slightly in size and moreso in weight, gaining 4 weight units. It caps out at 5 absorbed blobs of blood, meaning it has 118 weight, and a size slightly larger than Jigglypuff. This has no major effects on his speed other than letting him fastfall slightly faster for each stack. Like the Neutral Special, there are ways to expend stacks of this on other moves. Also while Hee-Mo is tethered to an opponent, they take half the damage it does from Blood Boil. If Hee-mo absorbs more than 5 blobs, he will heal 5% for every blood stack he would've gained past 5. Not bad as a way to counteract the self-damage this set sometimes causes.

Pressing Side B with a tentacle already out will just retract it back into Hee-Mo. If you charge this for 10 frames, he will suck out one blood unit on the way out and deal the typical 5% and a flinch, and after 25 frames of charge he will suck out two blood units and deal twice the damage, as well as knockback that KOs at 180%.


Down Special - Evil Bile
Hee-Mo opens its mouth and lets forth a disgusting grey and green fluid, leaking onto the ground in front of it. If Hee-Mo has any stacks of boiling blood, this will remove up to two to make the bile burning hot. By default the bile deals 4% per second to opponent's standing in it and slightly slows movement and dodge/roll speed, but if its heated it will instead deal 10% and upwards knockback that KOs at 200%. If only one stack was removed, the bile will only be that hot for 1 second before cooling down. Hee-Mo can have two of these out on stage at once, and each will be about Bowser's width. As simple a trap as it is, this does play a pretty useful role in Hee-Mo's gameplan, as having a simple trap to push the opponent into improves his pressure game massively. Which is important if you want to commit to boiling your blood. This is a pretty laggy attack overall, taking 35 frames to come out and 70 for the FAF. These bile puddles last 10 seconds.

If you have a tether out and hold Down Special for a moment, Heemo will instead spit the bile onto the tentacle, causing it to travel down the tentacle in a bulge that moves at Ganondorf's dash speed, this time away from Hee-Mo and into the opponent. Hee-Mo can have as many of these out in the tether as it wants, and if the tether is destroyed they will fall out of the tether and create puddles of evil bile with the usual effects where the bulge was in the tether. Unfortunately, only the most recently created two will remain in that case. When the bile reaches the opponent, it will deal them 7% and a slightly long flinch, but if the bile is hot it will instead deal 3 hits of 5%, which will add up to a fair bit more hitstun than before as well as a considerably larger amount of damage. This is potentially a more powerful pressure tool than the trap version, but is dependant on the tether remaining stable to work.

Up Special - Bloody Launch
Hee-Mo points its tentacles below it and fires out a jet of blood to launch itself upwards, going up about 1.5 Ganondorf heights. This can be angled in any direction, and Hee-Mo deals 6% and weak radial knockback on his top side on contact. It goes into helpless after, but you can charge the move slightly to expend one of your blood stacks in exchange for not going into helpless when you use this. This lets you recover insane distances or mount a stronger aerial offensive, and lag is pretty low on both ends, but if you don't stock up on blood stacks this is a pretty terrible recovery.

Smashes

Forward Smash - Spray Cloud
Hee-mo points four of its tentacles forward before shooting out a cloud of blood, which deals 9%-13% in multiple flinching hits, the last of which deals knockback that KOs at 250%-200%. This is very fast for a smash attack, but suffers from a fairly massive issue of just not having much power at all and on top of that being possible to DI out of, as the hitbox is a fairly small circular area that can easily be broken out of like Zelda's Smashes. If you have another pressure tool on top of it though like either of the blood vessel flinching hitboxes or a nearby bile puddle, it can be a decent combo move if nothing else as it can stall the opponent into those delayed hitboxes and deals low enough knockback for Hee-Mo to follow up on.

Charging this attack becomes a much bigger deal as every 12 frames of charge, 1 blood stack is used up to increase the size and power of the hitbox. Each one used provides a 1.25x multiplier to the damage, and increases the hitbox size to 1.3x as large stacking additively, capping out at dealing 29% and having a hitbox 2.5x as big as before. The hitbox being that much bigger is important because it will make actually escaping it much harder, so the foe will take the final hit and the full brunt of the knockback. And at full charge using 5 blood stacks, that knockback KOs at 75%, which makes this into a horrifically powerful KO move, especially considering the range goes from not especially large to downright massive. Of course, you have to use a full 5 blood stacks to get this, but it gets even scarier if you decide to stack blood boil on top of it, as 5 stacks of both mechanics will get it dealing 35% and KOing at hilariously low percentages. Just note that sometimes if you try to take advantage of the full range, you'll get an unpleasant surprise when the opponent influences their knockback in a way to escape the attack before the KO hit lands, and then you wasted a lot of resources.


Up Smash - Pointed Tentacles
Hee-Mo extends some of its blood vessels upward as pointy tips poke out of the ends, before it jabs them upwards in a hitbox that covers an arc above Hee-mo. This deals 13%-18% and upwards knockback that KOs at 160%-120%, making it the most reliable KO move Hee-Mo has as he doesn't need to sacrifice blood stacks unlike FSmash. It will poke small holes in the opponent where the hitbox lands, which can vary wildly based on how the arc of tentacles stabs into them. These holes are mostly cosmetic, and a little bit of blood will drip from them, but it will only deal 1% per 3 seconds for the next 9 seconds. This attack is fairly laggy and its knockback is rather front-loaded with low growth, meaning foes will basically always be out of range for a follow up unless you chase them with Up Special.

These little holes on the opponent's body are important because if you tether to them specifically, the tether will instead suck out 2 units of blood from the opponent each time and deal 8% and a noticeably longer. In addition, if you do the double extraction maneuver with Side Special, you'll extract a whopping 4 stacks of blood and deal 18% and knockback that KOs at 120% to the opponent. Obviously the hard part is actually getting the tether on these specific spots as most likely due to the low potential for follow ups, the lock-on to the foe's body will not be there and you'll have to land some hits in precise places to get it to work. Or you can just expend some blood stacks and pursue with Up Special, which can be nice as then you can get those back through the improved blood drain rate.

Down Smash - Blood and Bile Bubble
Combining the bile of his mouth which drips down, some air, and some blood, Hee-Mo creates a disgusting looking bubble which will pop if an opponent is immediately in contact with it. This is Hee-Mo's laggiest smash attack, and deals 10%-14% and knockback that KOs at 200%-160% based on charge as the bubble pops on them. However, the bubble can linger for 4 seconds longer if the opponent doesn't immediately come into contact with it, and then it will only explode if either Hee-Mo or the opponent hits it with an attack. It can be redirected around with wind hitboxes, and otherwise floats a bit above the ground at Ganondorf's walk speed forwards. If you're clever, you can put these near or overlapping your tether depending on how you position it on the opponent, making it very hard for them to actually destroy it and letting you continue with your powerful tether game. Each bubble is about 2/3rds the size of Kirby.

Charging this smash works a bit like Forward Smash, in that you use up a unit you've stocked up every 12 frames, this time a heat unit. This means for every 2 heat units used up, another bubble will be produced. This can allow this move to frame trap as the additional bubbles will hit the opponent even if they dodge the original. Or, if not, you just get more traps to cover up more of your tether, or if you hit with the early hit you can still have some bubbles to go with it. Either way, its a good deal, and if you use all 5 units the fifth heat unit will give you an additional bubble, meaning you get a total of 4 bubbles at that value. Also with clever flinching placement you can hit with all of these bubbles at once, doing a pretty impressive amount of damage especially considering the heat buff will be factored in before they're expended.

Standards
Jab - Flail
Hee-Mo flails its tentacles around in a similar fashion to Meta Knight's Jab, with the key difference being that Hee-Mo does not hit above itself and the range to the sides is a bit better to compensate. The damage is better too, but only very slightly if you don't have burning blood up. Note that this will rapidly cause red spots to appear up and down the opponent's body, so if you stop at exactly the right time with this move you can potentially get a fairly idealized spot on the foe's body. This is not terribly reliable due to the fact that it will start in the middle, which is basically the least optimal spot and will take a bit to reach a more optimal point, but when it works it works well. This Jab also has a finisher that has it clap the tentacles together at the end for 10% and knockback that KOs at 170%, which is a bit on the slow side for a Jab follow up but not super hard to connect with regardless. That being said, this power only comes at the tip, otherwise it only deals 6% and weak horizontal knockback that can occasionally set up combos. You're going to have to predict the foe's movement to land it, but this can be a surprising KO move in maxed out burning blood if nothing else.

Down Tilt - Lash
Hee-mo sweeps a tentacle along the ground, dealing 4% and very low knockback that pops the opponent into the air at above 30% to set up for some combos, but before that is so weak as to be punishable on hit. This can be alievated with some high levels of burning blood, as then it will work even if the foe is at 0%, but the self-damage is definitely something to be concerned about. That being said, putting a tentacle on the ground can cut off a considerable portion of the opponent's moveset for damaging and this lets you hit basically the bottom of the opponent's body for this, which when combined with Down Smash bubbles can make destroying the tether quite annoying. This is the fastest and easiest way to accomplish getting a tether locked onto that point for Side Special, and this will specifically combo into Side Special at exactly the 50%-60% range. The range isn't too great though, compared to some of Hee-Mo's other moves.

Forward Tilt - Double Strike
Hee-mo lashes forward twice in front of itself, dealing a hit of 5% followed by a hit of 6% with knockback that can reliably combo into your aerial game until about 40%, at which point Down Tilt becomes better for the job. The second hit will strike relatively high up by Hee-Mo's standards, which means the tentacle will lock on to the top of the opponent's body if they're another small annoying mascot character. This is a bit annoying to destroy and you can obviously make it more annoying with bubbles, though its not nearly as good for that purpose against larger characters, making Down Tilt your reliable option for giving them a bad tether(and some smaller characters like Pikachu do use their head a fair bit, so its not always ideal). That being said, its probably the best set-up move in your ground game and does acceptable amounts of damage, so it serves a fairly important purpose in your arsenal.

Up Tilt - By Hook or By Crook

Hee-mo raises one of his tentacles up and curves it slightly as the same spike forms as in his Up Smash, before he swings it above him in an arc of about 75 degrees above his head. While the body of the tentacle only deals 3% and a flinch, making it pretty worthless, the hooked edge deals 9% and knockback that KOs at 195% in the direction the hook is moving, which can be pretty good if its on the downwards trajectory near an edge. Careful positioning of the hook also lets you select a nice starting point on the foe's body for a tether.

The move's real power will come if you happen to land it at the same point you have a tether in the foe, at which point the hook will dig in for a freeze frame and tear to drag out 2 units of blood and powering the attack up to deal 16% and knockback that KOs at 110% with the same angle. This gives blood units, is a good KO move that gets even better with boiling blood and a good angle, and on top of that comes out fast... but it requires you to hit a specific point on the foe's body with an attack that's already got a slightly awkward hitbox. Still, you can transition out of your powerful aerial combo game into this if you put the opponent at an ideal spot and score both an early KO and some blood units, which is a pretty amazing deal.

Dash Attack - Lunge and Chomp

Hee-Mo's eyes go crazy as it lunges forward, stretching its face forth and attempting to bite in front of it. This deals 9% and knockback that KOs at 230%, and travels as far as his dash would go in 0.7 seconds. This is not very far at low blood boil levels, but at high ones this move actually has a ton of range to it, and on top of that the damage is boosted slightly more than usual due to the momentum behind this move, by an additional 1.05x additively increasing per blood boil level. This means it deals 15% and KOs at 125% at maxed out blood boil, on top of going quite a large distance, making it an excellent dash attack, but you are dealing 5% per second to yourself to use it so keep that in mind. It also doesn't really combo, even if the end lag is pretty okay by dash attack standards.

Aerials
Neutral Aerial - Whirling Hee-Mo
Hee-mo spins its body in a circle, its tentacles extended out. This always deals radial knockback, but the damage and strength of the knockback depends, dealing between 7%-11% based on how close Hee-mo's body is to the opponent, stronger if closer. The knockback ranges from very weak to KOing at 245%, but importantly the radial nature of this in combination with your Up Special and variety of knockback power choices gives you a massive, massive amount of combos if you have enough blood to propel yourself around for it. This is how you set up the specific Up Tilt hit, if you want that, and the lag honestly is not even bad, though if you specifically land during the attack the landing lag is a bit brutal as the only downside. While using this near the ground can have powerful results, be careful when using it to transition from air to ground or ground to air for this reason.

Forward Aerial - Blood Spurt
Hee-mo points two of its tentacles forward and fires a spray of blood from them, travelling forward half a battlefield platform as a pseudo-projectile and dealing 8% and decent horizontal knockback that KOs at 220%. The range on this is obviously great, but the lag is not exactly stellar. That being said, this does have a secondary purpose, as there's a follow up hit where Hee-mo simply expels air from the tentacles in a wind hitbox. This can be good for gimps, but aside from that, its a fantastic way to keep the foe out of your face. This is of great importance to Hee-Mo as while it does want to go on the aggressive eventually, it wants an ideal situation to do so as going on the offensive takes a lot of risk due to the amount of self-damage burning blood inflicts, and you won't be that great at doing so without it due to your poor movement speed for combos. On top of that, this move can be angled up and down and the wind hitbox can push around bubbles, and you can even angle the wind hitbox and the first hit separately. Just keep in mind when angled down the knockback is still diagonally upwards, so if you're going for gimps Nair is definently better.

Back Aerial - Blood Whip
Blood spurting from the tip of one of its tentacle, Hee-mo whips the tentacle behind itself in a move that deals 9% and horizontal knockback that KOs at 230%. As wall of pain moves go, it lingers a bit which is beneficial(dealing 6% while it does) but suffers from having a very skinny hitbox that doesn't go out as far as some of Hee-mo's tentacle whips. That being said, you can compensate for that by mixing in Nair and having the great mobility tool of Up Special to make this more effective, so Hee-Mo's wall of paining can actually be quite good, but only if you have the blood units to make it work.

Up Aerial - Vicious Bite
Hee-mo tilts its head upwards before chomping down, dealing 11% and upwards knockback that KOs at 185%. Considering the power of Up Special for letting Hee-mo chase foes high into the air, this would be a really good KO move, as that 185% is far lower when you're close to the top blast zone. That being said, its actually one of Hee-mo's laggiest moves, making it terribly awkward to use. It does get a special bonus from Blood Boil though in that a tiny bit of the start lag is decreased by each level, and while even at maxed blood boil its not super reliable it at least is usable, which is a big deal when you consider the damage and knockback multiplier will make it KO earlier and once again, you're probably using it very high into the air.

Down Aerial - Bile Drip
Hee-mo's bile forms in its mouth before it spits the bile downward, dealing 10% and upwards knockback that KOs at 220%. If Hee-mo is jetting around in the skies with his Up Special, it can use this to camp down on opponents below him and potentially bring them back up to his level to continue comboing them. That being said, as this is a projectile it is not very reliable in melee range due to having heightened lag, but if you want to hit foes below you Nair is a surprisingly acceptable option for doing so, and its not so laggy that using it in close range is never an option if you really want the foe to go above you rather than weakly spiking them.

Grab Game
Grab - Tentacle Grip
Hee-mo reaches its tentacles forward in a tether grab, albeit one with short range and much more tolerable lag by tether standards. Its not amazing but it serves as a nice middle ground between regular grabs and tethers, though you don't get a Zair out of it. Sadly the dashing grab is pretty miserable, being extremely laggy and worse ranged than the regular grab, but it gets faster like the Up Aerial at high blood boil levels.

Pummel - Squeeze

Heemo squeezes the opponent in his tentacles for 2% in a slightly above average speed pummel. He glares at the opponent with an expression of hatred while he does so, which grows considerably more intense if the opponent is a child or cute and mascot-like.

Forward Throw - Cast Away

Hee-mo raises the foe over his head before hurling them forward slightly diagonally upwards, dealing 8% and knockback that KOs at 290%. As simple as this throw is, it combos into Forward Tilt, Nair, and even Side Special, so it works pretty well for Hee-mo's combo game. However, past 60% the knockback will get a bit high to pull off any of these combos and it only gets harder to do with rage, so its not fantastic in that regard, but it will certainly suffice on opponents at low percentages.

Back Throw - Brutal Suplex

Hee-mo pulls the opponent in closer before flipping backwards and slamming them into the ground, not going over ledges if it's at one to prevent odd suicide KOs. This deals 13% and diagonal knockback that is great at base, but scales extremely poorly so it will only KO at 260%. This makes it an incredibly reliable move for getting space to build up to a more advantageous state to start blood boiling, serving as a solid alternative to Fair for that. If you want to turn this into a KO move, high levels of blood boil combined with rage will alter the knockback of this move to kill at surprisingly early percents, especially compared to that 260% there, so this can double as a KO throw, just not without some slightly specific circumstances.

Up Throw - Discard

Hee-mo weakly boosts the opponent into the air with his tentacles, dealing 6% and low upwards knockback that doesn't combo very well into the rest of Heemo's moveset. The one specific time this is actually pretty good is at 40%-55%, at which point the Up Tilt will combo its sweetspot into this move for a fairly effective setup, especially if that somehow is where the tether is on the opponent's body. Otherwise, its a sub-par combo move, but will at least suffice as a replacement for Forward Throw at high percents as its knockback scales worse, so you can at least go into Nair or some Up Special setups if nothing else.

Down Throw - Blood Spray

Hee-mo charges up blood as it builds up in his tentacles, before spraying it in the opponent's face. This move can be charged like Wario's Forward Throw in Project M, dealing 8%-13% and middling knockback that's not good for comboing or getting the foe far away. That being said, the damage is pretty acceptable, and gets much better if you have blood units to expend. Every 12 frames of charge up you can expend one more blood unit for this like with your Forward Smash, increasing the damage dealt by 5% even if the knockback only barely increases. While its a bit of a sacrifice this can sometimes get you some nice free damage to put foes into KO range for a burning blood powered move, if nothing else.

This move gets a fair bit more interesting with a tether, as he will instead pump the blood into the tether rather than spraying it at the foe. This will create a huge blob of blood up to 1.5x Kirby's size in the tether, that will deal 10%-25% depending on how many blood units are invested into it, and diagonally upward knockback that KOs at 200%-80%. Before he releases it he will throw the foe forward for 6% and weak horizontal knockback that he's a bit too laggy to combo on, but as the blob goes through the tether at half Ganondorf's dash speed it puts some incredibly high pressure on the opponent, which Hee-mo can naturally capitalize on. That being said if the foe manages to destroy the tether, you just lost all that blood for nothing, so be careful.


Final Smash - Lambs to the Slaughter

A brief cinematic will occur where Hee-mo is shown scaring several children out of a school yard and onto the stage you are playing on. There will be 6 children in total, each with 30 stamina, after they arrive on the stageg, and they will attempt to flee from Hee-mo at Ganondorf's dash speed. Hee-mo can obviously leech off them for blood, but more importantly if he kills one he permanently gets a free level of the burning blood buff, without all the downside, for the rest of the stock. This can go over the cap and if it does, he just stacks on an additional 1.1x damage and knockback multiplier, with the cap just being however many children he slaughtered in terms of buff plus five burning blood stacks. Sadly his speed won't go any higher, but with the kind of power you're getting for an entire stock, you shouldn't need that too badly.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
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Dougfister (Doomfist Munomario777 Munomario777 )

I was one of the first people to proclaim Doomfist as quite a good set, back when you were previewing it, and it currently stands as quite a solid Super Vote for me: Considering you've never gone higher than an RV for me (or 7 stars. for that matter), this is obviously a leap as big as Doomfist's Up Special, and certainly your best set to date, Muno.

You probably figured that out from my ranking, though, so what is it that makes Doomfist so good? I would say it is because it combines your streamlined and solid base without sacrificing depth and perfectly showcases a set that feels like it could go into Smash 4 and not feel out of place. The writing of the set I feel helps in this regard, reminding me of Izaw's "Art of Smash" videos, and I can perfectly imagine a lot of these being explained in depth in a competitive context, something both rare and important I feel.

The Best Defense is an excellent mechanic that is interesting in encouraging a kind of offensive-defensive playstyle, and that what it essentially does is give Doomfist a unique advantage state which Doomfist and the enemy can play around. This is then built upon with multiple ways to utilize it and create powerful yet fair states for Doomfist and the foe to fight in, such as Doomfist's Side Special, Forward Smash, Down Smash, Down Tilt (a personal favorite) and more! It is very easy to imagine the scenarios around The Best Defense playing out in matches and leading to high intensity, fun moments, something which is very important in this kind of set.

That isn't all Doomfist has to him, however, and he especially combines this with his Down Special wall, which is actually rather unique for a wall (although I do still wonder if it is slightly too easily destroyed): In particular, using the wall as a way to "double dip" an attack's hitbox at the cost of the wall is something I can't remember seeing much, if at all, in previous sets of this type, and has a lot of potential that I feel people will be mining for a bit, in addition to things like the way hitstun interacts with the wall...I feel like we actually have had very few sets that try to do much with a "short term" wall, which means this breathes a somewhat fresh air into an extremely well explored archetype, and in some ways reminds me of a reversed Lexaeus pillar.

My complaints with the set, in general, are incredibly minor: The Up Special is perhaps slightly odd, but for me, it wasn't a huge deal, Down Aerial is probably the most pertinent example that most people find odd for having a grab hitbox, something I generally agree is ill fitting in the moveset. As mentioned, I do wonder if the wall is a bit weak in terms of ease of destruction, but I'm not sure it is too bad either way since Doomfist should still get some kind of advantage over it. In general, though, I found there to be quite little to complain about in Doomfist, even the worst stuff in the set is servicable. A very good job, Muno...hopefully you can match it at some point. :)

Hee-Mo, Master of the Universe (Hee-Mo ForwardArrow ForwardArrow )

One of a pair of 5k word OC movesets we got (I hope we get more!), Hee-Mo is ForwardArrow's first set this contest, and as far as 5k word movesets go, it is...fairly okay! The blood boil and blood draining concepts are solid enough to build a decent base, and it builds on it decently enough, with Up Smash, Up Tilt and surprisingly Down Throw probably being the most noticeable and fun ways to use Hee-Mo's concepts presented in the set. There was also some fun stuff like Down Tilt, Forward Smash and Dash Attack.

Something I will say I found in the set is, compared to Iris, the melee felt less...involved and noticeably, which is one of the reasons this set didn't reach a 6 to me, and the body type could have had more use made of it. I was kind of sad there wasn't just a move where it squished down very far, to be able to dodge attacks, and then popped up as a hitbox, given it's sack/blobby appearance. Maybe on a Down Aerial stall than fall? I also thought Down Smash was kinda underutilized and to an extent redundant with the Down Special bile and Forward Smash clouds. Maybe some kind of larger scale melee move like I'm thinking could go there? His body size could expand based on the amount of blood he has as he squishes, and thus the hitbox size.

Overall, Hee-Mo felt like a fairly standard exploration of his concepts, and while nothing ground breaking, was solid and well constructed enough to be deserving of a vote, but not quite enough to rise high. Fairly solid for a 5k word moveset, and I'd be quite interested in seeing more from you there.

Light Master Iris Would Like To Battle! (Iris Munomario777 Munomario777 )

Iris is the other 5k word OC moveset we got (which is why I compared Hee-Mo to it: They both are working under the same restriction) and one I am actually rather fond of. The Prism idea is rather fun and I enjoyed the kind of Rivals of Aether/Clairen inspiration, plus it has some good trade-offs and gameplay to it, but for me one of the things that really steals the show is the Side Special and Up Special: The "turn yourself into a projectile" idea is one I've thought of a few times and this is a good, simple way to go about it. This is yet another thing I definitely can see more of in the future.

The Smash Attack mechanic is rather interesting even when it is done in a smaller way for the 5k challenge, and is again a kind of mechanic I think we can see more of, and is actually not done a lot...the multiple modes here are interesting enough and play well into it. I do wonder if it might perhaps be too strong as-is, though, it depends a lot on how easy it is to realistically line up the hits. I like the way Up Smash and Down Smash work together, a very good Muno-style take on this kind of stuff, but I do wonder if Forward Smash could do more (maybe have the beam travel with the Shard Dagger as it flies off?), and it feels like a move somewhat hurt by the 5k word limit capping animations.

Forward Tilt is pretty cool, but I do agree it seems odd here: I almost feel like the power of each move should be adjusted and Forward Tilt should become Forward Smash and Forward Smash should become Forward Tilt, perhaps with Forward Smash getting an interaction with the beams when used (maybe they could reflect/refract off the energy "mirror" during charge to catch people in certain areas out?). I enjoy Iris' Neutral Aerial and Down Aerial, but Back Aerial and Up Aerial feel a bit too similiar for this kind of set. Down Throw is cool with how it works with the rest of the set and I quite like Forward Throw as well. I'm not a big fan of Up Throw, though, mostly as it feels redundant with a set that has Down Throw in it and might be better served as a Command Grab or a Special or something, although I wouldn't say I super dislike it, since it does have some fun gameplay applications.

Also, that Final Smash name is anime AF. I approve.
 

Munomario777

Smash Master
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DeGrey

"Jefferson DeGrey is a lawyer who fights for justice. His primary motivation is exposing the truth, and his primary physical skill is punching. DeGrey was granted unnaturally long life by Persephone, and she left behind her ghostly friend to watch over DeGrey and make sure he keeps up his quest of fighting tyrants."

"As a lawyer, DeGrey will tell you that his opponents are bound to make a misplay sooner or later – and when they do, he'll be ready." [...]


DeGrey comes from Fantasy Strike, a Steam Early Access fighting game which seeks to simplify the traditional 2D fighter. DeGrey is a heavily bait-based character, with a moveset and special mechanic all geared toward forcing or luring the foe to do one action and punishing them for it. In Smash 4, DeGrey not only maintains this bait-and-punish aspect, but also carries over the spirit of Fantasy Strike (boiling fighting games down to their essence) by being the definition of a frame trap character.



<10k word challenge>



Stats
Size, Weight, Ground Movement: :4ryu:
Air Movement, Jump Height, Falling Speed: :4falcon:


DeGrey is quite the heavyweight, with decent movement abilities and a fast-faller’s ability to return to the ground quickly.

DeGrey thrives off of punishing an opponent’s mistakes through frame traps and baits. A frame trap is a situation which forces or lures the opponent into taking a certain action, and then allows the user to punish that action. That action can be anything, from airdodging to attacking to even just moving. The defining feature of a frame trap is that you've controlled the situation and limited the opponent's options to the point where you can reliably punish.

A frame trap can come in the form of a lot of different situations. In fighting games, it typically involves leaving a gap in your blockstring (stringing attacks together on a blocking opponent, for pressure) so that the opponent can input an out-of-block attack, but then timing your own attack so that it stuffs the opponent's attempt at retaliation. In this situation, the opponent is constantly taking block damage (depending on the game), so they want to try and retaliate in order to escape the blockstring. DeGrey's frame traps (as well as similar situations throughout Smash) operate in a similar way: DeGrey makes the opponent want to do something, and punishes them greatly for it.

Signature Moves

Mechanic: Counter-Hit

In Fantasy Strike, the Counter-Hit mechanic is a universal quirk where hitting a foe during the startup of their attack deals increased hitstun. DeGrey in particular benefits a lot from this mechanic, since some of his attacks have special Counter-Hit bonuses such as wall-bouncing or extra damage.

In Smash, DeGrey carries the Counter-Hit mechanic over wholesale, as he gets a special hit SFX and GFX from attacking a foe during the startup or active frames of a move. Increased hitlag (freeze frames), a satisfying sound effect, a white flash, and the word “COUNTER!” briefly flashing above DeGrey in blue all make it crystal clear when DeGrey uses this special technique.

A Counter-Hit attack deals 1.2x damage and hitstun (with unchanged knockback despite the increased damage) and always causes the untechable spin animation (unless the move’s knockback is too weak to cause tumble). Also, some moves have special bonus effects when you use them to Counter-Hit, in addition to these universal buffs.

Landing a Counter-Hit gives DeGrey a Super charge. Tap A during a Special Move to expend your Super and activate bonus effects! You can only hold one Super at a time, indicated by a purple glow.



DeGrey has two main ways / strategies to land Counter-Hits.

1: In neutral, Counter-Hits are the best way to punish a whiffed or misplaced attack off of a read. Down B helps a ton in this regard, but more on that in a bit.

2: In advantage state, DeGrey can use frame traps to get the opponent to attack and then punish the attack. For example, DeGrey might leave a tiny gap in between his hits during an aerial juggle. This gap is long enough for the opponent to act, but if they try to attack with an aerial, DeGrey’s next hit will catch the startup of that aerial before its hitbox comes out (triggering a Counter-Hit). In this way, DeGrey enjoys making opponents think they have an opportunity to attack, then scoring a Counter-Hit off of their impatience.

Neutral B: Counter-Point Step

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DeGrey immediately steps backward nearly a platform’s distance with startup intangibility to dodge an attack, then lunges forward twice that distance. Counter-Point Step boasts low lag on both ends, making it a useful mobility tool on its own. One quirk is that you can slide off the ledge during this move, so when facing away from the ledge, you can tap B to dash backward and then instantly grab it! Handy for trumping during ledge traps.

But the real utility comes in when you press B again during the dash! DeGrey has three different follow-ups, which you can use at any point after crossing the halfway point of the lunge (i.e. your point of origin). One good strategy is to use Counter-Point Step to dodge an attack if you think your foe will strike, and then choose a follow-up on your way back depending on what the opponent does.



Down + B for a low-hitting punch that’s safe on block thanks to shield pushback, low endlag, and a slight step back at the end of the move. This punch deals 7% and mild knockback at the Sakurai Angle. The Counter-Hit has no unique effects, but the added hitstun lets it combo or set up pressure rather than simply creating space.

Press B without holding up or down to perform a powerful pile bunker attack, projecting a ball of energy forward. It’s very unsafe on shield due to high ending lag and the fact that you launch yourself into the opponent’s shield grab range, but in return deals a whole 14% of damage and respectable KO knockback (which increases with a Counter-Hit) at a pretty shallow angle. The neutral finisher also deals a good amount of shield damage, so even if the foe can punish you by shielding the attack, this isn’t without a cost.

Up + B for a series of two high leaping kicks. DeGrey is invincible throughout the entirety of this attack’s startup and active frames, but it has endlag that’s punishable on shield. It deals 11% total, launching foes upward to start an advantageous juggle, or can set up close-range pressure via frame traps at low percents. The Counter-Hit has higher knockback growth, so it kills at high percents. Use the invincibility to get a safe Counter-Hit during a foe’s attack!



In midair, the first half of the move is the same, but the second half now goes downward at a 45* angle. DeGrey cannot use any of the three follow-ups while in the air, but can instead cancel it into any other Special Move. Like the grounded version, you still need to be at least halfway through the second dash to cancel it into a Special. If you hit the ground during the diagonal dash, the move has a miniscule amount of landing lag, so it’s amazing for mobility mixups.

If you have a Super ready to go, you can press A (or the c-stick) at any point during Counter-Point Step to cancel it into any Standard Attack, Smash Attack, or Aerial Attack (in the air)! You can cancel the backward dash, the forward dash, or even one of the three grounded follow-ups into a move. This allows you to retreat with an attack by canceling the first part of the move, slide long distances forward from the second half, unlock new combos by canceling a grounded follow-up strike, or make one of those grounded follow-ups safer on block / whiff. Just save it for when it really counts!

One neat strategy here is actually to use a really unsafe follow-up on shield, such as the neutral or upward follow-up. The foe will probably go for a punish like a shield grab or something in this situation, since you just threw out an unsafe move on their shield. But if you expend a Super to cancel the endlag of the follow-up into a quick move, you can hit the foe during the startup of the shield grab etc for a Counter-Hit! DeGrey THRIVES off of this stuff.

Down B: Persephone's Ghost

http://freegifmaker.me/img/res/1/5/1/0/7/4/15107476251544064.gif

Always hovering alongside DeGrey is the Ghost, and while she only appears in a couple of moves, she plays a big part in DeGrey’s playstyle. Tap Down B to send the Ghost forward in an attempt to grab the opponent, traveling at a decent-ish pace for a range of up to 4 SBB. Unlike other grabs, the Ghost cannot go through shields, but registers as “hitting” the shield (and then returns to DeGrey immediately). Since the Ghost is, well, a ghost, she has complete intangibility and transcendent priority, so attacks cannot interact with her at all.

If the Ghost successfully grabs a foe, she’ll hold them there for one second before letting go. She deals no immediate damage by herself, instead serving to open the foe up for one of DeGrey’s attacks. If she catches an opponent in the middle of the startup, active frames, or endlag of an attack, she’ll flash yellow, indicating that she’s “stored” a Counter-Hit state from the opponent. This means that if DeGrey hits the foe while they’re still in the Ghost’s grasp, it’ll register as a Counter-Hit! (Note that unlike a normal Counter-Hit, it activates during ending lag too.)

Down B is an amazing tool for punishing whiffed moves at a distance thanks to its Counter-Hit storage. It can also discourage the opponent from attacking, forcing either a shield, dodge, or jump. DeGrey quite enjoys punishing these options! Think of it almost like a fireball from a traditional fighting game; DeGrey gets just as much benefit when the foe avoids the Ghost as when she successfully snares them.

One neat strategy is to send out the Ghost and then use Counter-Point Step, and then choose your follow-up action based on what happens. If the Ghost grabs an opponent successfully, you can go for either the upward or neutral follow-up to lead to a combo or a kill, especially if the Ghost stores a Counter-Hit. If the foe shields the Ghost, you can use the downward follow-up to be safe on shield. And if the foe dodges or jumps over it, you can do nothing after the step forward, or you can expend a Super to cancel into another attack to cover that angle.



Once the Ghost reaches her maximum range, she’ll stop and return to DeGrey, turning transparent – once she’s turned transparent, the grab hitbox is no longer active. If you launch an opponent into the Ghost and her grab is still active, she’ll actually still catch the opponent, canceling all knockback (like a normal grab) and allowing you to get another hit in!

Turning transparent indicates a bit more than just when the grab hitbox ends. DeGrey’s Ghost has a cooldown of four seconds; as long as she’s transparent, you cannot use her. (If you try to use the Ghost when she’s on cooldown, she’ll flash a dark blue to indicate that you can’t use her.) This cooldown starts whenever the Ghost releases a grabbed opponent, fails to grab a shielding / invincible / etc opponent, or reaches her maximum range without grabbing anything. DeGrey goes into very little lag upon using Down B, so the cooldown is the thing you’ll want to look out for. Try fitting it into the middle of a string of attacks.

In the air, DeGrey sends the Ghost downward at a 45* angle, stopping after 4 SBB. If she hits the ground, she’ll travel sideways along the ground rather than stopping, kind of like Quick Attack. This has the exact same effects as the grounded Down B, with the added quirk that if you jump forward, the Ghost will almost always start from behind DeGrey, since she trails behind as he moves around the stage.



http://freegifmaker.me/img/res/1/5/1/0/7/4/15107480521544045.gif

By pressing Down B + A, you can expend a Super and turn this move into Ghost Riposte! DeGrey enters a counter stance as the Ghost covers his back. If he counters a move successfully, the Ghost holds the foe in place just like the normal Down B. If you hold either B or A during the whole move, you can use an automatic follow-up: a two-handed punch to the gut that deals 15% and a pretty strong semi-spike. If you let go of the buttons, you're instead free to use a follow-up of your choice as the Ghost incapacitates your foe.

In addition to low lag, Ghost Riposte has a unique property regarding hitstun. For context, as a universal mechanic in Smash, airdodges cancel hitstun a tiny bit before an attack or jump can. So after you're launched by an attack, if you mash airdodge, you'll act sooner than if you mash jump or attack. This property allows for mixups between airdodge (which beats instant follow-ups) and jump (which beats delayed follow-ups), commonly called a "50-50." Anyway, Ghost Riposte acts like an airdodge in that it can also cancel hitstun a little bit early! So it's an awesome reversal technique to escape combos or frame traps. ("Hey, frame traps are MY thing!") ...Just be careful you don't throw this out willy-nilly, since if you miss the counter, now you're short a Super and the foe can combo you again.

You can use Super Down B even if the Ghost is on cooldown or has already been sent out via Down B, but attempting it will put the Ghost into cooldown.
Forward Tilt

Hey, what's Forward Tilt doing here? I'm listing it in the Specials because it actually involves the Ghost in a big way. Input Forward Tilt, and DeGrey points forward emphatically, dealing 3% and flinching. The main part of this move is how the Ghost then performs a quick, ranged kick in the direction you choose, dealing 10% and popping the foe straight up for potential follow-ups. DeGrey himself has barely any ending lag on Forward Tilt (it's quick enough to make a flinch safe on hit!), so you can almost have both the kick and DeGrey's attack out at the same time! The Ghost’s attack is also transcendent, and can gain the normal benefits from landing a Counter-Hit – quite a nice combination, since you can hit a foe right through their move's hitbox and thus land a Counter-Hit.

The fun of Forward Tilt is how many situations you can use it in. You can use it while the Ghost is idle, potentially offsetting her position from your own by moving. If you fastfall toward the ground from a jump, you can have the Ghost cover the air while DeGrey attacks from the ground! The Ghost can also kick after you've sent her out with Down B, adding to her pressure game against ranged opponents and enabling some mixups. The kick also allows her to punish foes who, for example, spotdodge or roll behind her! You can even have the Ghost kick while holding an opponent in place, which is handy if you happen to be too far away to land an attack of your own.

Just note that the Ghost cannot kick if she's on cooldown. Also, using Forward Tilt puts her on one second of cooldown, which isn't as much as the normal cooldown but still keeps you from spamming Forward Tilt.

Side B: Flying Kick

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DeGrey’s Side B is a ranged flying kick, traveling 2.5 SBB at a slight downward angle. On the ground, it’s preceded by a small hop upward. This deals 7% of damage and 45* knockback with very, VERY low scaling. If DeGrey successfully hits an opponent with his Side B, it gains more favorable IASA frames, meaning that he can cancel it into other actions earlier, setting up for combos or potential frame traps. Upon hitting a shield or whiffing the move entirely, however, DeGrey suffers punishable ending lag.

The nice thing about this move is that, whether or not you hit something, you can tap Side B a second time to kick again in the same direction, this time at a slight upwards angle. It deals the same damage, but increased knockback. This kick has less combo reward on hit due to the increased knockback, serving mainly as an incredible mixup against shields.

If you hit a shield with the first kick, normally the Side B’s endlag means that the opponent could punish you with an out-of-shield attack, such as a grab, an aerial, or a jump-canceled up smash / up special. But if you do the second kick and they try to punish in this way, your second kick will almost always end up getting a Counter-Hit on their out-of-shield option! So if you kick once, the opponent wants to attack out-of-shield. If you kick twice, the opponent wants to stay in shield until the second kick finishes, then punish the second kick. And of course, if they just wait in shield and if you just do one kick, you can easily escape, or potentially punish the shield with a grab.



Speaking of the Counter-Hit, the first kick has no special effects other than the normal increased damage and hitstun, which on its own makes it super-scary for combos and frame traps. It combos better into aerial attacks this way, and even true-combos into the second kick! If you land a Counter-Hit with the second kick, it becomes a powerful kill move in terms of knockback, making that shield mixup that much deadlier! At low percents, the increased hitstun from a Counter-Hit also gives DeGrey a better advantage when he lands the second kick, as he’s able to pressure more easily.

By pressing A either during the middle of the first kick or right after you activate the second kick, you can expend your Super to perform a powerful downward-diagonal stall-then-fall kick instead of the normal second kick, which does a ton of damage to shields it hits and deals 14% if you hit an opponent! It also packs a powerful spike alongside the likes of Wizard’s Foot, sealing the fate of anyone offstage, and allows DeGrey to recover fairly well after using it offstage. Aside from edgeguarding, this move gives DeGrey a deadly landing option, as well as yet another option to consider when the first kick hits a shield. It’s safe on block, and on Counter-Hit, the opponent cannot tech the spike, leading to devastating follow-ups!

Up B: Final Arbiter

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Up B has a few different variations depending on how you use it. Firstly, the grounded version has DeGrey leap upward the height of a full jump before using Final Arbiter, a lightning-fast punch of justice. He dives forward at nearly Captain Falcon’s dash speed, traveling half of FD’s width while descending a little bit. The punch deals 9% of damage and moderate knockback at a shallow angle, allowing DeGrey to act after the move ends and retain his momentum. Try landing a follow-up after using this move as a ranged anti-air! Similarly to Side B, Final Arbiter has more ending lag if you whiff or hit a shield. Just keep in mind that DeGrey has no hitbox or intangibility during the initial jump.

In the air, Up B becomes a more conventional recovery: a flying uppercut with the same damage and similar knockback. DeGrey enters helpless after using this move, but can circumvent it by hitting an opponent (he still cannot use Up B again without landing / getting hit). As far as recovery distance, Final Arbiter is pretty respectable, going as far as Mario’s recovery move but at a steeper angle.

With both the grounded and midair versions of Final Arbiter, a Counter-Hit increases the move’s knockback (signified by a special “POW!” graphic, like in Fantasy Strike) to turn them into threatening KO punishes! So try not to whiff aerials against DeGrey, unless you really like being dead.



Super Up B, activated by pressing Up B + A, is the same whether you're on the ground or in the air. It's a flying uppercut that goes twice as high as your normal aerial Up B, packing invincibility frames on startup. At the very beginning of the move, Super Up B deals 15% and strong vertical knockback, able to KO very reliably off the top. Later on in the move, it deals 9% and moderate knockback. On Counter-Hit, the initial strong hit is as strong as Ryu's True Shoryuken, which is ridiculously strong! DeGrey doesn't have something like Ryu's weak up tilt to combo into it as reliably, though, so it's more of a commitment. Super Up B doesn't put DeGrey into helpless, and can snap to the ledge at any point during the move, which when combined with the distance makes it an amazing recovery!

Smash Attacks

Down Smash: Ground Pound

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DeGrey crouches down and pounds the ground with a mighty fist. This deals 15% up close along with powerful upward knockback, while the earthshaking shockwave hits grounded or ledge-hanging opponents for 9% and moderate upward knockback. Not only is Down Smash a powerful vertical finisher up close, but it’s a long-ranged threat too! And when ledge-trapping, all of these properties combined will instill fear into your opponent.

Down Smash has a slightly above-average amount of lag on both ends. The main hindrance in terms of speed is the fact that most of the startup comes after the charge, so it’s not easy to release the charge on reaction; instead, you need to predict what your opponent will do and release the move ahead of time. In this way, Down Smash acts as a higher-commitment long-range punish than the Ghost, designed to Counter-Hit opponents who whiff grounded moves. The earthquake reaches up to one platform away!

In addition to the normal Counter-Hit effects, Down Smash also turns into an untechable spike when it Counter-Hits a grounded foe! Aerial or ledge-hanging opponents simply get the normal damage and hitstun increases, so you sadly cannot use Down Smash to send foes plummeting downward. Rather, this unconventional meteor smash exists entirely for the upward bounce when hitting a grounded foe. The high hitstun of spike bounces stacks here with the Counter-Hit hitstun multiplier!

At certain low percent ranges, the hitstun is so long from a Counter-Hit that the opponent bounces up and then hits the ground before hitstun ends. Due to the untechable spin caused by Counter-Hits, the opponent is forced into prone here, furthering your advantage state!

Forward Smash: Pile Bunker EX

After winding up, DeGrey throws his fist forward as it’s surrounded by energy with similar GFX to Counter-Point Step’s neutral follow-up. Forward Smash is pretty much that attack to the extreme, in fact, dealing 19% and super-powerful knockback at a rather shallow angle. It launches more weakly at the end of its range, but the sweetspot isn’t that precise to land. The main thing is that DeGrey has to wind up for a long time prior to this attack, and similarly to Down Smash, a lot of that startup takes place after the charge window. During the startup, though (not the charge), DeGrey enjoys a bit of knockback resistance, able to shrug off weak attacks as he begins his punch.

Forward Smash is unsafe on shield, but deals a lot more shield damage than its Counter-Point Step counterpart. In fact, if you charge it halfway, it can even instantly break a shield! So not only is Forward Smash an amazingly strong hard read tool, but it also works alongside the Ghost to dish out insane shield pressure. That is to say, if the foe shields in an attempt to block your Ghost, you can Forward Smash and deal tons of shield damage! And if you have a Super ready, you can throw in the Ghost’s kick to mix up your timings and further throw off the opponent.

If you manage to somehow land a successful Counter-Hit with this move (possibly with the Ghost’s shield pressure, or the armor on startup?), Forward Smash becomes cancelable into any Special Move! So if you land a Counter-Hit Forward Smash at low percents, you have a lot of follow-up options. Counter-Point Step allows you to quickly move forward out of the move, and since you always have a Super from the Counter-Hit you just landed with Forward Smash, you can cancel the dash into another attack to slide really far and retain the momentum!

Side B is a more direct chase option out of a Counter-Hit Forward Smash, but has ending lag that might prevent you from putting up good pressure. Down B’s low lag on activation means you can basically act instantly after landing the Forward Smash, allowing for lots of versatility while also throwing out the Ghost. Finally, Up B on its own is a safe true combo out of Forward Smash that works most of the time without any fancy setups or pressure. Choose your cancel wisely depending on the situation, and make your Forward Smash count.

Up Smash: Flying Uppercut

DeGrey leaps upward with a flaming dragon punch! The jump doesn’t go as high as your standard recovery move or anything, just about matching a shorthop. The punch deals 11% and good KO knockback at the very beginning, and later on / higher up, its damage is reduced to 7% and it fails to KO at reasonable percents. Up Smash has middling startup lag, but if the foe blocks or dodges it, DeGrey is vulnerable as he falls to the ground.

Like any good dragon punch, Up Smash has a tiny amount of invincibility on startup, making it a handy out-of-shield attack or way to reverse an opponent’s string of attacks.



Note that invincibility, like in Up Smash, is different from intangibility, such as the intangibility that Counter-Point Step has. Intangibility means that attacks cannot hit the user at all during the intangibility frames, and appears most prominently in rolls and other standard dodges.

Invincibility allows opponents to hit the user, but the user is completely unaffected. Respawn invincibility, the Super Star item, and more use invincibility. The difference here is that the OPPONENT acts as if they “hit” something. Sonic’s Homing Attack will bounce off of the user, as will Jigglypuff’s Rollout. Every move in the game also has hitlag, which is the frames during which both characters freeze in place momentarily when one character attacks another with a melee move (distinct from hitSTUN). When character A hits the invincible character B, character A has to wait through hitlag but character B does not. Character B, as a result, has a big frame advantage!



For DeGrey, this means that if the foe attacks him during Up Smash’s invincibility, they will suffer hitlag while DeGrey simply carries on with his dragon punch! And since the opponent’s hitlag counts as their active frames, DeGrey will almost always get a Counter-Hit off of the exchange. For Up Smash, a Counter-Hit allows DeGrey to act immediately after the punch ends, so he no longer has to fall to the ground first. This can open up combo potential at low percents / with the weak hit, and is generally really nice for keeping your pressure up.

Speaking of the weak hit, it actually might see a lot of use for DeGrey, since it’s an awesome anti-air tool with solid coverage. Try using it when your opponent tries to jump at you with an aerial attack, or if they try jumping to evade the Ghost’s grab.

Midair Attacks

Neutral Air

DeGrey extends his leg forward in a ranged kick similar in pose to the second hit of Ganon’s nair. Instead of a two-hit combo move, though, DeGrey’s move is a sex kick, dealing 9% and diagonally upward knockback on startup. As the sex kick lingers, it deals a lower 5% and Sakurai Angle knockback.

Neutral Air is kinda unconventional for a sex kick in that it has more startup than something like Mario’s nair, and also has more ending lag. In exchange, Neutral Air plays a pretty key role in DeGrey’s frame traps and baits. The lingering hitbox allows DeGrey to cover lots of different timing options from the opponent, and makes it easier to land a Counter-Hit too!

Neutral Air has a modest Counter-Hit effect: its relatively high (for a sex kick) landing lag is reduced to ten frames, matching Mario’s nair. In combination with the extra hitstun, this opens up tons of combo potential! If the foe DIs in, you can combo into super-strong moves such as Up Smash or Down Smash. Outward DI escapes these follow-ups, but if the foe DIs out in anticipation of a Neutral Air, you can mix up their DI by instead using a horizontal launcher, which benefits from outward DI by killing earlier.

Forward Air

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DeGrey leans forward and slams his fist down like a hammer, covering a wide arc in front of himself. The very bottom of this attack deals 11% and a rather weak spike, while the rest of the arc deals 10% and launches the opponent at a normal angle with moderate power. Forward Air is very quick to start and to end, and while the spike can set up for edgeguards, you’ll often use the normal hitbox to aid in combos at lower percents. If the opponent DIs outward (probably as a result of a DI mixup), it can KO at higher percents.

Due to its sheer speed, Forward Air is invaluable when it comes to frame trapping, much like Roy’s forward air. If the opponent airdodges to avoid a Forward Air, DeGrey can often act quickly enough to punish the airdodge with another attack! You could go for another attack immediately in this case, in order to get an almost guaranteed punish off of the airdodge’s ending lag. But if you delay your attack slightly, the opponent might just try to counterattack with an aerial, in which case you can catch its startup and get a Counter-Hit! (If you were to attack as soon as possible, you’d not even give the foe a chance to try and attack.)

Speaking of Counter-Hits, Forward Air will always spike if you Counter-Hit with it, meaning that even the upper part of the arc sends foes plummeting downward! This is also a stronger spike than the normal Forward Air spike, now reliably KOing offstage foes. And like all Counter-Hit moves, this spike is untechable, meaning the foe will either bounce off of the ground (high percents) or suffer lag as they stay in place on the ground (low percents). This opens up tons of combo opportunities, and seals an opponent’s fate offstage! Try catching a foe during their recovery move’s active frames to trigger this deadly Counter-Hit bonus.

Down Air

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Curling both hands into rock-hard fists, DeGrey slams his hands downward in a spiking motion to deal 14% and strong knockback at a diagonally downward angle. Down Air takes a moment to start up, but makes up for that with a misleadingly large hitbox and a strong, unconventional knockback angle. Offstage, it’s a really awkward angle to recover from, and onstage it forces the foe to tech while also establishing stage control by launching the opponent away.

If you’ve deployed your Ghost and the foe is between you and it, punishing a jump with Down Air will often launch them directly into the Ghost! Even if it doesn’t, the tech-chase aspect is still enhanced, since the Ghost’s grab basically removes one of their tech options.

On Counter-Hit, Down Air has a unique effect. If you launch an opponent into the ground, they won’t bounce up, nor will they be able to tech. Instead, the opponent will become embedded into the ground. This effect is distinct from the standard pitfall / burying effect; it has a few differing properties. First off, the opponent cannot mash out to escape early; it lasts for a flat one second no matter what. When the foe does escape from the bury, they’ll be able to tech instantly (otherwise, they’ll enter prone).

Outside of these differences, the effect does resemble a normal burial effect. Opponents suffer reduced knockback when hit out of the burial (which can be handy for combos!), so it’s more suited to set up for combos rather than to land straight-up KOs. If you do want to land a KO move, you must either chain into it with another move or wait for the foe to choose a tech option and then punish it. A foe buried with a Counter-Hit Down Air can be grabbed, whether it be by a normal grab (including DeGrey’s) or the Ghost’s grab.

Oh, and for both Down Air and Forward Air, the extra hitstun on Counter-Hit makes these spikes even deadlier offstage!

Up Air

DeGrey delivers a beefy uppercut, covering the entire space immediately in front of him as well as reaching upward. In this regard, its hitbox is a lot like Kragg’s up air from Rivals of Aether. Up Air deals 10% of damage and upward knockback, with moderate base knockback and pretty dang low scaling. As a result, Up Air isn’t meant to KO most of the time, instead being an awesome juggle and combo tool. It can cover the space above and in front of DeGrey, but also hits pretty low, so you can potentially scoop up foes from the ground.

Up Air starts pretty quickly, and has a weak hit that lingers for a split second after the initial hitbox, dealing 7% and slightly weaker knockback. As for ending lag, Up Air takes a little bit to end in the air, but its landing lag isn’t too bad. As a result, you’re often able to continue a juggle after hitting with a landing Up Air, but there aren’t really any true combos off of it. The Counter-Hit helps a ton here, thanks to the added hitstun. Up Air’s initial hit also gains launch power with a Counter-Hit, making it a deadly part of DeGrey’s aerial frame trap game. If you want to combo with the extra hitstun instead, you can either land the Counter-Hit Up Air at lower percents, or you can use the late hit, which doesn’t have any knockback increase from the Counter-Hit.

Back Air

Back Air is a swift dropkick behind DeGrey, lasting for only a couple of frames with pretty quick startup and endlag comparable to Mario’s back air. It reaches pretty far behind DeGrey, so it’s a good tool in neutral for walling out opponents. Back Air’s landing lag is a little slow, though, so you definitely can’t just spam it. Back Air deals 10% and moderate backward knockback at a shallow angle, giving DeGrey a bit of damage on his opponent and creating stage control when it connects. On an opponent’s shield, Back Air isn’t entirely safe, since at close range it’s easily punished by a grab or other out-of-shield option.

This move slots into DeGrey’s playstyle quite nicely as a way to poke at and frustrate a foe into attacking, walling them out until their impatience gets the best of them and they decide to rush in. When the opponent does this, DeGrey is equipped to punish their hasty attack with a Counter-Hit! Back Air itself has no special Counter-Hit benefits, and due to its launching knockback, it doesn’t open up any real follow-ups with the increased hitstun. Instead, Back Air pokes at opponents to set up for Counter-Hits, and it’s your job to use another move such as Forward Air to more beneficially Counter-Hit when you think the opponent will rush in.

Grappling Game

Grab

DeGrey’s grab is fairly standard, as he reaches forward to catch an opponent in his grasp. It’s got pretty good range, and average speed. Once he’s grasped an opponent, DeGrey confidently holds them high up in the air with his huge strength, so that their feet don’t get a chance to touch the ground. DeGrey pummels an opponent by means of straight punches, dealing 3% with slow speed (similar to other 3% pummels).

By grabbing an opponent out of the startup lag or active frames of their move, DeGrey can Counter-Hit with his grab! His pummel and throws all gain the normal Counter-Hit benefits. This gives DeGrey a ton of different options out of a Counter-Hit compared to a normal attack, but none of DeGrey’s throws have unique Counter-Hit effects beyond damage, hitstun, and untechable spin. Also, keep in mind that a grab is less safe than a normal attack: unlike a grab, a normal attack can clash with a foe’s hitbox as a safety net if you mistime your attack.

Forward Throw

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DeGrey delivers a punch to the gut with his free hand, dealing 7% right off the bat. He then grips the foe using this hand (the one he punched with), slamming them into the ground in front of him for another 3%. The opponent is forced to tech, or else they’ll be put into prone. If you’re close enough to the ledge to where there’s no ground to throw the foe onto, they’ll be dealt very weak downward knockback instead.

Forward Throw is amazing for tech-chases, putting the foe right in front of DeGrey and forcing a tech. You have good options for punishing each tech, such as Back Air for teching behind DeGrey for example – some of his other great punishes will come in during the Standards section. Like any Counter-Hit move, Forward Throw is untechable if you get a Counter Hit, always putting the foe into prone. You could go for something like a Down Tilt for a guaranteed punish, but the really awesome application here is reading the foe’s tech option and using the added delay to get in a stronger, slower attack.

Counter-Point Step has a notable application here, since the dash covers all three tech options at different points. That is to say, DeGray visits the endpoints of tech roll toward, tech neutral, and tech roll away thanks to the two dashes during Counter-Point Step. If the opponent techs in place or away, you can punish with one of the normal follow-ups, preferably the neutral follow-up. But what if the opponent techs towards DeGrey? Well, while you can’t use a follow-up early enough to punish that – since you can’t do a follow-up until you start going in front of your starting position, – you CAN expend a Super to cancel into an attack during the initial backward dash! And since you just earned a Super by landing that Counter-Hit grab… well, there you go.

Down Throw

DeGrey hands the foe over to the Ghost, who then holds them in her grasp for a moment before tossing them straight upward with low knockback befitting a down throw. It also deals 9% of damage, but the real kicker is the fact that DeGrey himself is free to move almost instantly after inputting the throw! This means that DeGrey can act even before the foe is thrown, allowing for unprecedented combo potential.

However, Down Throw is tied to the same cooldown as Down B. If the Ghost was recently used for Down B, Down Throw won’t work, and vice-versa. Down Throw is certainly DeGrey’s most powerful throw, but he’ll often be without it. Much of his shield pressure revolves around using the Ghost to force a shield, and that’s your best way to land grabs. So in effect, Down Throw rewards DeGrey for finding creative ways to land a grab without using the Ghost.


If you landed a Counter-Hit grab, Down Throw becomes even more powerful thanks to the increase in hitstun! While nothing super-fancy, it's certainly worth noting on a combo throw.
Back Throw

DeGrey turns around and lobs the foe backward, dealing 5% and moderate knockback at a shallow angle. Back Throw has good base knockback and low scaling, so it serves to create space for DeGrey and establish stage control. It’s a textbook reversal technique, since if DeGrey has been cornered at the ledge, he can use Back Throw to send foes behind him, turning the tables of a match’s momentum and gaining the positional advantage. As a bonus, Back Throw’s increased hitstun and untechable spin from a Counter-Hit also means it can situationally force prone.

Up Throw

DeGrey maintains his high grab stance, thrusting his grabbing palm diagonally upward to deal weak diagonal knockback and 4% of damage. Up Throw deals very little hitstun and equally little ending lag, to the point where DeGrey and his opponent can often act at around the same time. This situation is awesome for DeGrey, since he can use his Standards (more on those in a second) to beat out an opponent’s aerial attacks through sheer speed and land a Counter-Hit! Up Throw forces an immediate reaction from the foe, pressuring them and allowing DeGrey to counterplay it and punish. Also note that the foe is very low to the ground after the Up Throw. This means that if they airdodge, they'll land before it ends, suffering the very punishable landing lag of an airdodge (which DeGrey can exploit).

If you have a Counter-Hit going on your grab, Up Throw has a bit more hitstun, which enhances this frame trap ever so slightly. It also allows Up Throw to true combo more easily, which is nice if you don’t want to risk the opponent doing something you didn’t anticipate.

Also, at mid-to-high percents, try Up Throwing the foe onto a platform! It’ll put the foe onto the platform, and while it won’t usually force a tech, that’s still a pretty high-pressure situation to begin with.

Normal Attacks

Jab

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Jab is a simple two-hit combo of punches that deal 4% apiece. The second hit launches opponents with pretty normal jab knockback. The thing about Jab is that the first hit comes out on frame one – just like Zero Suit Samus and Little Mac. For this reason, Jab is a champ at getting quick punishes in, and has great applications during frame traps. If you combine it with DeGrey's quick falling speed, it's handy after frame trapping with an aerial, such as Forward Air. However, if DeGrey is coming out hit-induced stun (including reeling back, normal hitstun, etc), Jab has five frames of startup instead, which is the same as Marth’s jab for example. So Jab is good when DeGrey is in control of the situation, but isn’t a particularly good reversal tool.

Jab is amazing at landing Counter-Hits during frame traps due to its speed. If you do pull that off with the first hit of Jab, you can cancel it immediately into any other attack! This plus the increased stun means that you can combo into any tilt or into your grab. If you think the foe will panic, you can also go for a mixup by using something like a Smash Attack. Maybe use Forward Smash’s armor to protect against counterstrikes?

Up Tilt

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DeGrey does a super-high arcing kick while moving forward about 1 SBB, dealing 9% and moderate horizontal knockback. Up Tilt covers the airspace as well as the area in front of DeGrey, and gives him some nice stage control if it connects. However, the movement aspect of Up Tilt makes it unsafe on shield, since DeGray is right in the opponent’s face and has endlag. Also, it’s kind of awkward to use for juggling. But the movement aspect can also be quite beneficial if you learn to utilize it!

On Counter-Hit, Up Tilt automatically cancels into a dash forward. This dash is the exact same as if you flicked the control stick, and you can hold forward to continue the dash. Since it’s just a normal dash, you can cancel it into an Up Smash, Special Move, jump, or Dash Attack, making it awesome for following up on Up Tilt’s knockback in a way that you normally can’t.

Down Tilt

A simple leg sweep across the ground, Down Tilt deals 7% and moderate diagonal knockback. It’s a quick, long-ranged poke in neutral, safe on shield at the tip similarly to something like Ike’s down tilt. It’s not that great for proper combos, but at low percents, it keeps the foe up close while putting them in the air for some nice pressure. In combination with Back Air, Down Tilt is a big part of DeGrey’s ability to wall foes out pretty decently, luring them to approach.

If you Counter-Hit with Down Tilt, it causes a guaranteed trip effect rather than launching the foe. Trips force techs, and delayed ones at that. So like with the Counter-Hit version of Forward Throw, DeGrey has some time to use a move and punish the foe’s getup option. Alternatively, you could also just attack immediately after the trip, which is guaranteed and doesn’t rely on reading a getup option.

Dash Attack

As the move to finish off the set, Dash Attack also specializes in finishing off opponents. DeGrey leaps forward into the air and then punches diagonally downward with great strength, able to leap offstage near the ledge. This powerful punch deals 12% and diagonal kill knockback, KOing early in exchange for its startup and endlag. Dash Attack is unsafe on shield, but you can space it so that the punch comes out after you’ve crossed up the foe’s shield, which can definitely throw off the foe’s punish. If they try to punish but are too slow, that’s a Counter-Hit opportunity!

On Counter-Hit, Dash Attack deals a diagonal spike instead of its normal knockback. It forces a ground-bounce onstage and seals the fate of offstage opponents!



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Playstyle

As I've been hammering in just a little bit, DeGrey loves baiting reactions out of his opponents. Whether it be in neutral or in advantage state, he thrives off of landing Counter-Hits and catching opponents off guard.

In neutral, Counter-Hits allow DeGrey to start a really powerful advantage state, thanks to their extra hitstun and other move-specific effects. By walling a foe out with Back Air, Down Tilt, and his Ghost, DeGrey can bait them into approaching hastily out of frustration, making it that much easier to land Counter-Hits! Counter-Point Step is handy here for evading and immediately countering the foe's attempt to attack, since it gives you a lot of different options for the attack at the end.

Once he's in advantage state (i.e. once he's landed a hit in neutral), DeGrey can really go to town! He has tons of different types of traps:

  • Juggling Traps, which force a foe to find a way to land with potentially limited options. Key moves include Down Smash, Up Smash, Up Air, Neutral Air, Up Throw, Up Tilt, and Down Tilt.
  • DI Traps, which force a foe to DI wisely based on whether DeGrey uses a combo move or KO launcher. Key moves include Counter-Point Step, Flying Kick, Forward Smash, Up Smash, Neutral Air, and Forward Air.
  • Tech-Chase Traps, which force a foe to choose the correct tech option or get punished by DeGrey. Key moves include Counter-Point Step, Ghost, Down Smash, Forward Smash, Up Smash, Forward Air, Down Air, and Forward Throw.
  • Ledge Traps, which allow DeGrey to cover tons of ledge options at once. Key moves include Counter-Point Step, Down Smash, Forward Smash, Neutral Air, Back Air, Up Tilt, and Forward Tilt.
  • Shield Traps, which involve pressuring a foe's shield and punishing an out-of-shield attempt. Key moves include Flying Kick, Counter-Point Step, Back Air, Grab, Jab, Down Tilt, and Forward Tilt.
  • Platform Traps, which involve pressuring a foe who's on a platform. Key moves include Final Arbiter, Up Smash, Up Air, Up Throw, and Up Tilt. (So basically all of the up moves.)
  • Tomahawk Grab Traps, which involve empty-hopping to threaten with an aerial attack and then landing to grab the opponent (or otherwise exploiting their shield). Key moves include Back Air, Neutral Air, Forward Air, Grab, and Forward Smash.
  • Cross Up Traps, which involve jumping at a foe's shield with an aerial and landing behind them to avoid and punish out-of-shield attempts. Key moves include Ghost, Back Air, Up Air, and Dash Attack.
So TL;DR: DeGrey focuses less on actual true combos and more on pressure. He likes forcing a foe to do one specific thing and then punishing it. Counter-Hits come into play in a big way here. For example, if a foe tries to grab out-of-shield during either his shield pressure or a cross-up, not only can DeGrey avoid or punish it, but the Counter-Hit makes this punish even stronger! Stuff like that sets DeGray's punish game apart from others in Smash.

DeGrey's biggest weakness is what happens when he isn't in control. His Jab is honestly a pretty good summation of this aspect of DeGray's gameplay: it's an amazing frame one move when DeGrey is in control, but if he's just been hit, it's a slow frame five move. In the same way, DeGrey has trouble escaping pressure. He can expend a Super to use Ghost Riposte (the Down B counter), but that's a one-time thing, and none of his non-Super moves are really equipped to reverse situations effectively. For instance, DeGrey lacks a good combo-breaking aerial.

As a lawyer, DeGrey will tell you that mistakes are everything. His years of experience and powerful tools allow him to swiftly and effectively punish any misplay from his opponent, all in one swift strike. But at the same time, DeGrey must be very careful with his own plays. Many of his most powerful moves are kinda unsafe on shield, and once he's being pressured, his combo-breaking and vertical recovery are rather poor. So study your opponent, cover up your own weaknesses, and read your foe like a book to counter their every move.

Changelog
22 Nov, 2017 – Moved Super Up B to Super Down B, moved Super Down B to Ftilt, dropped old Ftilt, added new Super Up B. Old moves:
Down B: Persephone's Ghost (pre-22 Nov, 2017)

http://freegifmaker.me/img/res/1/5/1/0/7/4/15107476251544064.gif

Always hovering alongside DeGrey is the Ghost, and while she only appears in a couple of moves, she plays a big part in DeGrey’s playstyle. Tap Down B to send the Ghost forward in an attempt to grab the opponent, traveling at a decent-ish pace for a range of up to 4 SBB. Unlike other grabs, the Ghost cannot go through shields, but registers as “hitting” the shield (and then returns to DeGrey immediately). Since the Ghost is, well, a ghost, she has complete intangibility and transcendent priority, so attacks cannot interact with her at all.

If the Ghost successfully grabs a foe, she’ll hold them there for one second before letting go. She deals no immediate damage by herself, instead serving to open the foe up for one of DeGrey’s attacks. If she catches an opponent in the middle of the startup, active frames, or endlag of an attack, she’ll flash yellow, indicating that she’s “stored” a Counter-Hit state from the opponent. This means that if DeGrey hits the foe while they’re still in the Ghost’s grasp, it’ll register as a Counter-Hit! (Note that unlike a normal Counter-Hit, it activates during ending lag too.)

Down B is an amazing tool for punishing whiffed moves at a distance thanks to its Counter-Hit storage. It can also discourage the opponent from attacking, forcing either a shield, dodge, or jump. DeGrey quite enjoys punishing these options! Think of it almost like a fireball from a traditional fighting game; DeGrey gets just as much benefit when the foe avoids the Ghost as when she successfully snares them.

One neat strategy is to send out the Ghost and then use Counter-Point Step, and then choose your follow-up action based on what happens. If the Ghost grabs an opponent successfully, you can go for either the upward or neutral follow-up to lead to a combo or a kill, especially if the Ghost stores a Counter-Hit. If the foe shields the Ghost, you can use the downward follow-up to be safe on shield. And if the foe dodges or jumps over it, you can do nothing after the step forward, or you can expend a Super to cancel into another attack to cover that angle. (e.g. If the opponent rolls to dodge the Ghost and ends up behind DeGrey, you can expend a Super to cancel into a Forward Tilt behind you, since none of the three normal follow-ups cover that space.)



Once the Ghost reaches her maximum range, she’ll stop and return to DeGrey, turning transparent – once she’s turned transparent, the grab hitbox is no longer active. If you launch an opponent into the Ghost and her grab is still active, she’ll actually still catch the opponent, canceling all knockback (like a normal grab) and allowing you to get another hit in!

Turning transparent indicates a bit more than just when the grab hitbox ends. DeGrey’s Ghost has a cooldown of four seconds; as long as she’s transparent, you cannot use her. (If you try to use the Ghost when she’s on cooldown, she’ll flash a dark blue to indicate that you can’t use her.) This cooldown starts whenever the Ghost releases a grabbed opponent, fails to grab a shielding / invincible / etc opponent, or reaches her maximum range without grabbing anything. DeGrey goes into very little lag upon using Down B, so the cooldown is the thing you’ll want to look out for. Try fitting it into the middle of a string of attacks.

In the air, DeGrey sends the Ghost downward at a 45* angle, stopping after 4 SBB. If she hits the ground, she’ll travel sideways along the ground rather than stopping, kind of like Quick Attack. This has the exact same effects as the grounded Down B, with the added quirk that if you jump forward, the Ghost will almost always start from behind DeGrey, since she trails behind as he moves around the stage.



Press A during Down B to expend your Super and have the Ghost perform a quick, ranged kick attack which deals 10% and pops the opponent upward with increased hitstun. She automatically turns around if the opponent is behind her, handily. DeGrey himself goes into no special animation when you use this Super, so you can use it to essentially throw out two attacks at once: one from the Ghost and one from DeGrey. The Ghost’s attack is also transcendent, and can gain the normal benefits from landing a Counter-Hit – quite a nice combination!

By holding B while the Ghost moves forward from the initial Down B, you can press A later on to have her perform the kick after traveling for a little bit. Even though you’re holding the B button, DeGrey can still act immediately after Down B begins – but you can’t use Specials since you’re holding B, and you can’t perform attacks because pressing A activates the Ghost’s kick instead. To circumvent that limitation, you can actually do something like this:

Tap Down B, then release B (Ghost is sent out)
Perform a Special Move or other attack of your choice (DeGrey attacks)
Press and hold Down B, then press A (Ghost kicks)

You’re essentially “reactivating” the Down B in order to get the Ghost to kick, which allows for pretty fancy setups or frame traps.

If you want, you could activate the kick while the Ghost holds an opponent, but there’s no real reason to do that since it pales in comparison to DeGrey’s own attacks.

While you normally can’t use Down B during an action, you CAN input Down B + A if you have a Super to have the Ghost perform a kick even if DeGrey is attacking, dodging, or shielding! This opens up even more super-scary options, such as attacking mid-airdodge. In this way, the Ghost’s kick also serves as a traditional fighting game “reversal,” while also extending DeGrey’s frame trap gameplay to his combo-breaking by covering multiple different options. In a typical jump-airdodge 50-50, for example, it covers the immediate attack by giving DeGrey intangibility (i.e. by being an airdodge), and covers the delayed attack by hitting the opponent as they wait.
Up B: Final Arbiter (pre-22 Nov, 2017)

http://freegifmaker.me/img/res/1/5/1/0/7/4/15107479511544029.gif

Up B has a few different variations depending on how you use it. Firstly, the grounded version has DeGrey leap upward the height of a full jump before using Final Arbiter, a lightning-fast punch of justice. He dives forward at nearly Captain Falcon’s dash speed, traveling half of FD’s width while descending a little bit. The punch deals 9% of damage and moderate knockback at a shallow angle, allowing DeGrey to act after the move ends and retain his momentum. Try landing a follow-up after using this move as a ranged anti-air! Similarly to Side B, Final Arbiter has more ending lag if you whiff or hit a shield. Just keep in mind that DeGrey has no hitbox or intangibility during the initial jump.

In the air, Up B becomes a more conventional recovery: a flying uppercut with the same damage and similar knockback. DeGrey enters helpless after using this move, but can circumvent it by hitting an opponent (he still cannot use Up B again without landing / getting hit). As far as recovery distance, Final Arbiter is pretty respectable, going as far as Mario’s recovery move but at a steeper angle.

With both the grounded and midair versions of Final Arbiter, a Counter-Hit increases the move’s knockback (signified by a special “POW!” graphic, like in Fantasy Strike) to turn them into threatening KO punishes! So try not to whiff aerials against DeGrey, unless you really like being dead.

http://freegifmaker.me/img/res/1/5/1/0/7/4/15107480521544045.gif

Using a Super on Up B actually turns it into a completely different move… kind of. By pressing A at any point during Up B, you can block an incoming attack, acting like a traditional Smash counter. This counter comes out in only a couple of frames, and if you mash Up B + A out of a combo string, it’ll actually cancel the hitstun like an airdodge. That is to say, it’ll come out a little bit earlier than a normal aerial attack, jump, or special move could. So it’s extremely scary as far as counters go, especially with this combo-breaking ability out of hitstun!

If you do successfully counter a move, DeGrey delivers a powerful two-fisted punch, dealing 15% and a pretty powerful semi-spike! It’s super-scary, and it even has a bit less endlag than most counters. It’s not unpunishable, though, especially since if you use the counter and whiff it, you’ve used up your Super, and the foe can then combo you again without the threat of your counter.

If the Ghost isn’t in cooldown, you can tap Down B during the counterattack to instead have the Ghost grab hold of the foe just like Down B, which has its own combo setups.

Ghost Riposte (the name of the counter in Fantasy Strike) serves as DeGrey’s other reversal, an alternative to the airdodge → Down B + A technique. That technique is safer due to the freedom of aerial movement during the airdodge as well as lower endlag, but Ghost Riposte offers much greater reward. With Ghost Riposte, not only does the counterattack deal more damage and knockback than the Super Down B kick, but you also have the choice of activating a Ghost grab!



One neat quirk is that since Supering your Up B basically cancels it entirely, you can also use this to extend your recovery: If you Up B once and then press A at the very end to activate the counter, then after the counter ends, you can Up B again for even more distance! And there’s also the benefit of being able to protect yourself as you’re recovering, which is a pretty awesome feature.
Forward Tilt (pre-22 Nov, 2017)

DeGrey thrusts two clenched fists forward for a ranged double-punch attack, dealing 11% of damage and a pretty strong semi-spike. You can angle this move up or down to cover different areas. Forward Tilt boasts long range, a potential tech-chase setup, good damage, and the ability to gain stage control or set up for edgeguards… all at the expense of noticeable startup lag. It’s your go-to tool to punish a whiffed or blocked move at medium range. On Counter-Hit, Forward Tilt doesn’t have any special benefits, but the added hitstun is a nice perk. Onstage, the foe is forced to tech, which can limit the foe's options and add to a feeling of claustrophobia even if it doesn't offer DeGrey a big direct tech-chase opportunity. And offstage, it forces the foe further away from and below the stage.

By the way, Forward Tilt also used to be in the Standards section. Now it's with the Specials.

24 Nov, 2017 – Forward Tilt cooldown 4 seconds --> 1 second. Forward Air normal (non-CH) spike weakened. Down Throw changed.

Down Throw (pre-24 Nov, 2017)

Down Throw is pretty simple, but also pretty powerful. DeGrey simply hands the foe over to the Ghost, starting a Ghost grab just like in Down B, except its duration is a bit shorter. This is a very powerful effect for a number of reasons. It allows DeGrey to land any other attack out of a grab, and he can even grab again while the foe is trapped!

However, Down Throw is tied to the same cooldown as Down B. If the Ghost was recently used for Down B, Down Throw won’t work, and vice-versa. Same goes for the optional Ghost version of Super Up B. This also means that, while DeGrey can reset his grab duration (in order to land more pummels or to turn around during the grab state) by using Down Throw into a regrab, he can only do that once. Even if the foe is at 999% and you’re able to hold them in your grab for more than the Ghost’s cooldown time of four seconds, it’s hardcoded to prohibit repeated regrabs.

If you landed a Counter-Hit grab, the Ghost stores the Counter-Hit just like if she grabbed a foe with Down B in the middle of their attack. So this throw is even more powerful if you land a Counter-Hit!

Down Throw is certainly DeGrey’s most powerful throw, but he’ll often be without it. Much of his shield pressure revolves around using the Ghost to force a shield, and that’s your best way to land grabs. So in effect, Down Throw rewards DeGrey for finding creative ways to land a grab without using the Ghost.

27 Nov, 2017 – replaced image / gif embeds with urls because lol xenforo
 
Last edited:

MasterWarlord

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RECOOME


Recoome is a member of the Ginyu Force, an elite mercenary force summoned regularly by Frieza to do his dirty work. The Ginyu Force are a parody of the common sentai teams from all those series they based Power Rangers off of, but the Ginyu Force are evil rather than good. They have a lot of silly team poses, but take their jobs very seriously despite that. If anything, their silliness only makes them being so powerful even more jarring, with Recoome and Burter betting chocolate bars over the outcome of fights given how little of a threat they deem their enemies. Recoome gets to fight the longest and display the most abilities, given he won the rock paper scissors match with the other force members and got to fight the protagonists first.

Recoome embodies the Ginyu Force the most besides the captain, getting into the posing enough he comes across fairly flamboyant despite how macho he is. His primary dub voice also consistently makes him sound like an idiot who is as dumb as he looks, which makes it all the more humiliating for Vegeta when he loses so badly to him. Despite appearing so simple minded, Recoome loves his "work" and commands respect on the battlefield, given he would've easily ended the saga had Goku (who is arguably even dumber than Recoome) not shown up with his latest arbitrary power up. Given Recoome is so used to fighting enemies much weaker than himself, he insists on showboating and using flashy techniques to keep himself amused, making heavy use of explosive techniques in addition to his physical strength.

Statistics
Size: 10.5
Weight: 10 (130 units, tied with Bowser for 1st)
Fast Falling Speed: 8.5 (2.8 units, tied with Sheik/Diddy for 10th)
Jumps: 8
Aerial Control: 7
Traction: 6
Aerial Speed: 4 (0.96 units, tied with Fox for 39th)
Falling Speed: 2.5 (1.3 units, tied with Samus for 50th)
Ground Movement: 2 (1.33 units)

Recoome has the width of SSB4 Bowser while being very, very slightly taller than Ganon. If he shaved his mess of anime hair, they would be roughly the same height, and his hair isn't a hurtbox anyway. The rest of his stats are rather slow for a Dragonball character, though he has ways of going faster. While Recoome doesn't have any float or extra jumps, he has a very low falling speed. Uniquely, Recoome has a differently coded falling speed that causes his falling speed to increase more than usual when he fast falls like Link, enabling him to have the best of both worlds in that department. His first and second jump are pretty good and give him decent enough recovery in this department, even if his air speed is a bit below average.

TAUNTS

Given his showboating nature, Recoome's taunts are more than just aesthetic and serve practical purposes for his gameplay, enabling him to apply various buffs to himself.

UP TAUNT - MAJESTIC SPACE DUCK



Recoome does an elaborate series of poses that ends with him standing on one leg, posing like some kind of "elegant" bird by the end. This is a painfully long taunt to complete that takes around 90 frames, though the effects are thankfully pretty long lasting if you pull it off. For the next 12 seconds, Recoome gets a massive mobility buff as he constantly emits ki from his boots when moving in order to propel himself. His dash now has him just fly forwards rather than run, boosting his dashing speed up massively to 2.05 units, tying him with Mewtwo at 7th place. His air speed gets a smaller but still notable buff, going up to 1.09 units to tie Lucario for 20th.

In addition to buffed air speed, Recoome gains three extra midair jumps. These jumps are fairly small and push Recoome half a platform in the direction he wants to go through use of his ki, but these "jumps" provide no lag to Recoome and can stack with his existing buffed air speed. The boosts provide Recoome with very quick movement that he can do other actions doing, not giving him lag like a typical midair jump does. If Recoome is jumping through use of the jump button and inputs a direction other than up while doing so, he will propel himself in the chosen direction rather than going straight up, greatly increasing his mobility and enabling him to get a lot more mileage out of his air game. A lot of Recoome's moves are only capable of comboing when Majestic Space Duck's buff is active, whether it be for the added jumps or dashing speed. Taunting a second time while the buff is active will refresh it back to 12 seconds.

DOWN TAUNT - BURNING INNER STRENGTH



Recoome does another series of elaborate practiced poses, ending on an awkward pose of him showing off his rear end to the camera. This pose takes a bit less long than Recoome's most desirable power up, the up taunt, coming in at 62 frames. If completed, Recoome gains a small amount of damage resistance and superarmor for the next 12 seconds. Recoome will take 1% less damage from all attacks, and passively has superarmor against attacks that do 1% or less. This will not save Recoome from multihit moves that do 1% or less, only blocking damage/superarmoring him against the first hit of such moves. While attacking, Recoome will have superarmor against attacks that do 5% or less, and the damage resistance will be boosted to 3%. Taunts don't count as "attacking" for the purposes of giving Recoome superarmor.

This buff may not seem that fantastic, but it will stack with other methods of giving Recoome superarmor in his moveset. In addition, any damage prevented because of this ability will still boost Recoome's rage. Like with Majestic Space Duck, taunting again with the buff up will just refresh the duration.

SIDE TAUNT - RECOOME DOOM

Recoome does a series of three poses one after the other. This is Recoome's longest taunt yet, as each of the three individual taunts takes 52 frames to total up to 156 frames. With the first pose, Recoome says "The name's Recoome", then with the second taunt "It rhymes with Doom!", and then the final one has him say "And you're gonna be hurtin' all too soon!" after which the Smash Bros crowd cheers Recoome's name for 8 seconds (and it cannot trigger the normal way for Recoome unless items are on). This gives Recoome a passive power buff of 1.1X, which is pretty pathetic for how long this set-up takes, but it also greatly buffs his Neutral Special. The crowd will keep cheering for 2 additional seconds for each attack Recoome lands, which puts the foe on the defensive. If the foe just runs away from Recoome, though, he can just use his other taunts or set-up something else, so the foe has to play defensive without giving Recoome too much free space. The crowd will not cheer longer than 20 seconds no matter how many hits Recoome lands, and unlike Recoome's other taunts, this taunt can't be renewed while it's already up by taunting again.

What makes this taunt usable is the fact Recoome can casually cancel out of it and he will keep speaking the lines. However, Recoome must input side taunt again to make the poses on frame 52, 104, and 156, or else he'll stop talking and have to start over. Recoome must commit to 12 frames of lag in order to do the actual pose on these frames. If you input side taunt while Recoome is speaking the dialogue, he'll pick up the posing wherever he left off, but only these frames are the relevant ones to keep it going. The Recoome Doom speech will also stop if he ever takes hitstun before the end of it, making it a lot more feasible to get through it if Burning Inner Strength is up and/or by making use of Recoome's attacks that give him some superarmor.

SPECIALS

NEUTRAL SPECIAL - BRAVADO

In addition to his poses, Recoome is so overconfident that he likes to call out all of his attacks. While the actual attacks vary, he names them all after himself, no matter how generic or how silly they sound, proudly bragging about such unique techniques as "Recoome Kick" and "Recoome Elbow."

In Smash Bros, Recoome doesn't naturally say his name/the names of his attacks when he uses them (with the exception of Recoome Doom, of course). Instead, pressing Neutral Special causes him to say his name. At first, this may seem like nothing but a taunt, and using this move by itself is useless. However, if Recoome uses an attack within 5 frames after he finishes saying his name, he will say the rest of the name of the attack he used as he performs it and the knockback of that attack will be buffed by an impressive 1.2X.

Pressing Neutral Special gives Recoome 10 frames of lag, but during the other 30 frames of saying his name he's free to act. When Recoome finishes saying his name, he must time either the starting lag of the attack or the first frame the hitbox comes to be within 5 frames of it. In the case of the first active frame of a hitbox, it won't work if Recoome finishes saying his name after the attack's hitbox is already out, only if it's 1-5 frames before it comes out. This is a very powerful technique Recoome can make extensive use of. The 10 frames aren't a high price to pay, the issue at hand is more that you're literally telegraphing your attacks. Obviously, you don't have to go for the buff every time and can just abandon your Bravado if desperate, potentially even faking the enemy out.

Recoome has the ability to "charge" this attack by holding down the B button, causing him to elongate the "oome" syllable in his name. Holding it down can make Recoome drag out his name to make the attack take a total of 70 frames. Charging this increases the knockback buff slightly to 1.27X, which is decent but not really worth it. Moreso than the power, delaying Recoome from finishing his name enables him to get an attack ready to fire off and to be harder to predict. Given how long Recoome can potentially drag this out, it is perfectly possible for Recoome to do unboosted attacks before he finishes before getting ready to finally use the buff at the end. Recoome can even potentially combo the foe with unboosted attacks before knocking them away with a powerful finisher, though Recoome will be on a very strict time table to get that done.

Unfortunately, Recoome cannot use other Specials while holding down the B button with the default control scheme, though it is still possible to prepare them in advance for when Recoome finishes his name if the C-Stick is changed to Specials. Recoome cannot immediately reactivate this move after using it successfully because he will still (laglessly) be saying the name of the attack he used. The exact amount of time before you can use it again varies, obviously taking longer for Recoome to say "Ultra Fighting Bomber" than "Kick." In addition, Recoome's Up Special and Fsmash are moves that require use of his mouth, so activating them will interrupt Recoome in the middle of his speech (This also applies to Recoome Doom). Those moves are fairly slow, so they would pretty much only be used as finishers at the end of when Recoome would finish saying his name anyway.

This has a notable interaction with Down Taunt in that this technically counts as an "attack", which means if Recoome performs any other action while using Bravado, Recoome can double his superarmor and damage resistance from having two attacks going at once. This totals to superarmor against attacks dealing 10% or less while Recoome takes 6% less damage from all attacks so long as he's performing a real attack and Bravado at the same time, which is nothing to joke about.

If the crowd is cheering for Recoome, this attack is powered up greatly if Recoome synchs up saying his name with that of the crowd. If he synchs up saying his name with the crowd perfectly before unleasing his Bravado, he will deal 1.43-1.5X the knockback of his attack, though this doesn't stack with the static 1.1X buff he gets for having the crowd cheer period. Recoome's attacks are going to be killing stupidly early at this point, to the point that just playing super defensively is a legitimate strategy for the foe to wait out this buff and prevent Recoome from extending it. Recoome only has to finish saying his name at the same time the crowd does, he's still allowed to delay it if he so pleases. If triggered correctly, the crowd will say the name of the boosted attack alongside Recoome.

This is a very powerful effect, but actually getting it started is not something easy for Recoome to pull off. If Recoome activates Bravado while he's going through his whole "Recoome Doom" speech, it will interrupt the speech and cancel it out, so not being able to use Bravado during it is seriously painful. There is one exception to this, however. On frame 52, part of the speech includes Recoome's own name. If Recoome uses Bravado to yell out his name especially loud here, the taunt will pause and resume after Recoome finishes his Bravado. This can be useful to delay the Recoome Doom speech to give Recoome even more time to act in the middle of it, but it's still fairly early on in the speech. Regardless, it adds another layer of fear for the foe when Recoome gets ready to say his name.

DOWN SPECIAL - RECOOME ULTRA FIGHTING BOMBER



Recoome raises his arms above his head as charging a massive aura of energy around his body. In the series, Recoome was never able to get off this attack before being interrupted, but merely charging the attack caused the earth to split around him and debris to fly every which way. Recoome claimed the attack would destroy everything "as far as the eye can see", and in the video games it does just that. Recoome can charge the attack for up to 4 seconds before releasing it, just as long as Ike's Eruption, and unfortunately like that move the charge cannot be stored, and the move even has some pre-charge starting lag to boot.



When Recoome releases the button, he shoots out an aura of fiery orange energy outwards from his body that reaches out anywhere from just slightly beyond his character model all the way up to 1.2X that of a Smart Bomb Blast radius. The explosion deals 8-30% and knockback that kills at 240-50% at max charge, with the explosion hitbox lingering for 1-21 frames during which time Recoome is perfectly free to act. All air dodges last slightly longer than this (the shortest lasts 22 frames), so despite the massive range of the attack it is still possible to dodge like any other attack even with the max duration, even if it requires a near frame perfect input reaction from the foe. Recoome actually generating the explosion is at least quite fast regardless of much charge was put into the move.

As Recoome charges the attack, the stage underneath him (regardless of whether or not he is standing on it) begins to split and crack apart, extending out to either side in straight lines slowly at Ganon's walking speed. This crack in the stage is a weak hitbox as it extends out, dealing 4% and tripping foes, potentially enough to stun them to get hit by the explosion. When the explosion hits the stage, it will cause several additional cracks to spawn in the stage if not blow open the stage entirely. For each 20 frames of charge, the orb will generate one crack at the point in the stage the orb was detonated. At 3 cracks, the force will finally be enough to break the earth open and terraform the stage, creating a sloped indent in the stage equal to half of the size of the explosion. If the portion of the stage the explosion hits was already cracked open, Recoome only needs to charge up the explosion to generate as many cracks are needed to equal three in order to blow open the ground to terraform the stage for the remainder of Recoome's stock.



If Recoome rapidly presses the button rather than holding it, he will use his regular "Regenade Bomber" attack, firing a series of smaller ki bombs at 45 degree angle in front of himself, somewhat similar to Mewtwo's fthrow in appearance but aimed down. Recoome will fire 5 shots in total, and by default each one only does 1.6% (totaling the usual 8% damage). As each explosion rams into another, the explosion of the hitbox radius will increase slightly and deal hitlag to keep foes inside of the explosion to be hit by the next shot, though the shots fire fast enough foes won't be kept in this for long at all before being knocked away. The knockback improves as more ki bombs hit the foe, and with all 5 will total to the usual knockback that kills at 240% at the end. With miniature ki bombs like this, at least 8% must be dealt to the ground in order to generate a crack as they culminate together.

When Recoome is charging the attack, he must keep the B button released for 10 frames to fire the projectile, during which time he is in lag. If he presses B again before the 10 frames are up, he will fire a single small projectile worth 11 frames of charge from the main "ultra fighting bomber", which is roughly equal to one of the super weak projectiles from the rapid fire version. If Recoome holds down B again after having fired one of these, he'll resume charging the projectile, but with having lost 11 worth of charge on it. Recoome can rapid fire these projectiles with basically no theoretical lag between them so long as he has charge left, but with human input delay being the main thing that limits it because of the game having to register you as "holding" down the button again for a couple frames, enabling Recoome to fire them at a rate of once every 4 frames or so at best. Still, firing some Renegade Bomber shots before the Ultra Fighting Bomber finisher can help catch foes before hitting them with a slightly weakened but still very powerful blast - assuming all the weak shots actually hit, the foe should still be dealt the exact same amount of damage as usual anyway. This is a powerful technique, but Recoome has to still get in close enough for the radius of the explosion to still combo into the shots after Recoome uses up some of his power on Renegade bomber. However, with Recoome's ability to boost his knockback (not damage) with Bravado and rage, the overall strength of the knockback will be stronger if you just hit with a single huge explosion.

Recoome's falling speed is slowed a significant amount when he uses this attack in the air, and as such this is the main place where he's going to want to try to charge the move. His aerial speed is also weakened alongside this falling speed decrease so he can't move a ton while he charges it up, but if he has Majestic Space Duck active he'll move at his regular airspeed during the attack and more importantly have access to his three boost jumps. Using weaker shots in tandem with Burning Inner Strength is also especially useful against enemies with reflectors, since so long as he keeps charging the move he'll be in the process of an attack and reduce the damage down to almost nothing, literally nothing if Bravado is simultaneously going.

SIDE SPECIAL - PILEDRIVER



Recoome reaches forward for a command grab pretty similar overall to Bowser's Side Special. Like Koopa Klaw/Flying Slam, the grounded version is faster than the aerial version with lag comparable to a normal grab, with the aerial version having the obvious advantage of being able to move during it and grab enemies in the air. Should Recooome grab the enemy, he'll fly up with them about as high as Bowser goes up during Flying Slam before going downwards with them at breakneck speeds, ready to piledrive them into the ground. Unlike Flying Slam, the foe has no control over horizontal movement, though Recoome is still able to influence where he and his foe land. He travels down with the foe so fast he has very little time to be able to move around, of course having more time to do so if he grabbed the foe higher in the air.

When Recoome hits the ground, he will deal 12% to the foe + 1% for each Mario height he fell during the attack before slamming the foe into it, with knockback that kills at 165% -5% per Mario height. Recoome automatically goes up about 3 Mario heights when he grabs the foe, increasing the base power to something a bit better. Grabbing the foe higher is obviously better, but Recoome's terraforming is also very helpful to make the ground lower so he has further to fall with this attack. If Majestic Space Duck is active, Recoome can use his boost jumps to quickly drag the foe more towards the deepest portion of the stage regardless of where he grabbed them, though he can drag the foe much farther if he has momentum from Super Breath. Even more importantly, Recoome can use the extra jumps to boost higher into the air to power up the attack after he has already grabbed the foe, though he will only have enough time to get off two of them before crashing down if he grabbed a grounded foe and there are no pits for Recoome to drag the foe towards.



When Recoome slams the foe into the stage, he'll generate at least one crack, generating an extra crack for each 6% he dealt to the foe beyond the base 12%. If Recoome is able to break through the ground, he'll smash the foe through it and create a sloped indent in the stage the size of Wario. This won't do any more damage than usual, but will pitfall the foe in the stage as they're smashed through it. The pitfall is only aesthetic, though, as Recoome will automatically go to lift the foe up out of the pitfalled state after this, transitioning into his regular grab. In the event Recoome is somehow interrupted by another foe before being able to pluck the foe out of the pitfall, they will remain pitfalled as strongly as DK's Side Special.

Recoome can use Bravado to increase the knockback of the Piledriver like any other attack, but if he's going to transition into the grab, he'll want to hold it out until he can perform a throw to actually get the knockback boost, meaning he'll have to be fairly on in Bravado to get any benefit. This is a very direct way of "comboing" a foe into another attack while keeping the Bravado boost for the end.

Recoome is somewhat encouraged to slam the foe into the same segment of stage over and over again to slam them deeper and deeper down. By the process of doing that, Recoome can also have an easy, obvious target to have two cracks in it to be ready to slam the foe into with Piledriver. While that sounds nice and simple, Recoome has to be careful to not make pits too deep given the vertical knockback of the move/throw he uses to kill the foe will have to send the foe up higher to reach the top blast zone. In addition, while it might be easy to correct Recoome's movement onto one specific spot if he has boost jumps at his disposal, those aren't always going to be available so Recoome will want more than one landing option if at all possible.

While Recoome may be dumb, he's not suicidal and would never consider sacrificing himself to defeat such a weak enemy as his foe. As such, if Recoome goes below the ledge when off-stage with this move, he'll stop his descent and just throws the foe downwards before kicking off of them, dealing a weaker 10% and decent downwards knockback. Unfortunately, this means you can't casually drag a foe off-stage with you for cheap kills on fresh stocks, but it will refresh his recovery and jumps, including any boost jumps.

UP SPECIAL – SUPER BREATH



Recoome exhales forceful gusts of wind from his mouth, after which Recoome gains the ability to control where the wind goes with the control stick as his falling speed is greatly slowed. This functions very much likes the recovery specials of Ness and Lucas, in that Recoome has to redirect the wind back into himself from behind/below in order to get boosts in that direction. This has just as much starting lag as PK Thunder, but the wind travels a lot more quickly and will travel through characters, dragging them along with itself briefly as it pushes foes roughly a platform's distance. The wind is pretty hard to control with tighter turning arcs than PK thunder due to its speed, and unlike a "normal" Smash wind hitbox will not hit foes through dodges, so it's a bit difficult to casually gimp somebody with it. Recoome thankfully doesn't enter helpless from this attack, though he can't use it twice without touching the ground. If Recoome is on the ground when using this attack, he can cancel out of the attack early at any time by pressing the shield button.

If Recoome hits himself with his own wind, he will exit the stance and be pushed slightly further than Ness. Recoome does not become a hitbox if he pushes himself, but is entirely free to act during the push to go on the offensive with other attacks such as his aerials or just casually air dodge for a hard to punish recovery. The momentum from this attack can be an excellent combo starter, especially if Recoome manages to push the foe one way before hitting himself with it shortly thereafter. This can potentially do almost everything Majestic Space Duck can without set-up, but at the cost of being more obviously telegraphed. So long as Recoome is either in the lag of Super Breath or is pushing himself with it, he will get Burning Inner Strength superarmor from it, potentially enabling him to stack the superarmor of Super Breath, Bravado, and some other attack to have three instances of it going simultaneously. Nevermind the superarmor he can potentially have up from other attacks. The Bravado can stay up for extra superarmor before being potentially expended on an attack for a superpowered blow. Even with how predictable this approach can be, it's so powerful that it's still potentially very dangerous, especially if Recoome is in an advantage state so the foe can't prepare for it, potentially becoming very liberal with this attack if Majestic Space Duck is up. Recoome is not an easy foe to finish off.

Recoome has the ability to redirect his projectiles with this attack, enabling him to keep around his Down Special Renegade Bombers a while longer by redirecting them. Recoome has to fire them into pits/off-stage or use the move high in the air for them to not detonate too quickly before he can redirect them. Once the wind disperses, the projectiles will continue going at whatever direction Recoome directed them, sped up to go as fast as the wind that moved them before. Recoome is capable of temporarily stealing ownership of enemy projectiles with Super Breath, but only for as long as they remain in the wind. Projectiles will have their duration refreshed while being moved by Super Breath, traveling their usual distance once Super Breath finally stops.

Moving around a lot of projectiles is scary just for controlling space even if they are weak, though the high speed can sometimes be a detriment in making it difficult to dodge in combination with the turning lag. There is an aesthetic "tail" to the wind hitbox similar to the electric tail of Ness' PK Thunder. The "head" of the wind hitbox can only carry one projectile at a time, with other projectiles tailing behind it, with Recoome able to carry up to 5 projectiles at once with it. Having extra shots to nick the foe to be hit by the main one is even more useful here, though keep in mind you can only control it as long as you can keep PK Thunder going, and the increased movement speed of the projectiles makes it extremely doubtful you'll be able to grab them out of the air again with a second Super Breath unless the foe reflects them or something.

Super Breath enables you to have a more active neutral state when charging up Ultra Fighting Bomber, making it more usable in immediate combat than you'd expect rather than being exclusively reserved for advantage state. If Recoome uses Bravado to boost the power of the Ultra Fighting Bomber, it will still retain that boost even if you make it linger longer than it would naturally through use of Super Breath. You will have a lot more room to maneuver the projectile without accidentally crashing it into the ground if the stage is opened up, and redirecting it into such a pit is an ideal place to cause the explosion given the projectiles can fit perfectly inside, what with their ability to create them in the first place. Another strategy can be to partially charge up Ultra Fighting Bomber while off-stage, then use Super Breath both to redirect the projectile and recover. If he has Majestic Space Duck up, it can even become possible for Recoome to boost his way into the wind while performing Super Breath without having to loop the wind back around to Recoome himself.

SMASHES

FORWARD SMASH - ERASER GUN



Recoome braces himself and places his arms above his head for this attack, charging a massive blast of ki in his mouth. As he charges during the starting lag and throughout the duration, Recoome has slight superarmor against attacks that do 8% or less. When Recoome is good and ready, he'll fire a massive energy beam forwards aimed diagonally downwards at the ground as he sweeps it forwards the distance of 1.2 platforms. Foes hit in the beam will be dragged along with it with no hope of escape, taking 20-28% over a handful of hits as they're caught in hitlag before the last one sends them flying away with knockback that kills at 120-85%.



This attack is much faster than you would expect for the range and power, making the Eraser Gun a move foes are forced to respect. The starting lag is very brief with most of the attack's lag being the duration and ending, which still isn't terrible. The catch for this move is that if Recoome is attacked during the starting lag, he'll lose his concentration and his mouth will shut, forcing him to fire the beam through his own teeth! If the attack wasn't enough to break Recoome's superarmor, this will deal half the damage of the Eraser Gun to Recoome in self damage. If the foe's attack went through the superarmor, he'll take the full damage (thankfully the self damage does not increase with charge). Recoome has to be careful, as even if he gets up a lot of superarmor through use of Burning Inner Strength, foes can still go through it with a casual grab. Recoome cannot take self damage from his fsmash more than once per use of fsmash from being hit by multiple attacks at once.

The attack is a lot more dangerous to use without Burning Inner Strength, and while the move comes out quickly it takes Recoome long enough to sweep the Eraser Gun beam across in front of him that it can't be used reliably at long range. Besides, if Recoome hits with the end of the beam he won't get nearly as much damage from having kept the foe in the attack the entire time. The ideal range for this move is fairly close, but not so close that you're in range of a grab.



This attack will produce a crack in the entirety of the stage it sweeps over. If there were already two cracks over what it swept over, the beam will go into the cracks and widen the chasm in the stage to explode it open, terraforming the stage to lower it a Wario height. Aside from terraforming, this will knock up enough debris to even further boost the attack's damage. If the entirety of the ground the Eraser Gun went over was cracked, it will deal an additional 7% over the course of the move's duration. This can make foes even more horrified of your almighty fsmash, to the point they'll favor grabs when you have terrain lined up to casually use fsmash on. Recoome has a great air to ground game to use against foes who get too predictable with spamming grabs, so you can always keep foes guessing. Note that because this is a multihit attack, this bonus damage will not boost the knockback of the attack.

If Recoome fires the Eraser Gun while standing at the top of a slope without standing on the slope itself, he will fire it down into the pit before sweeping it up across the other side. Because the beam isn't being dragged along on the way to the bottom of the pit, it moves faster, with Recoome only sweeping the Eraser Gun beam once it hits the ground. If Recoome wants to fire on the side of the slope next to him, he just needs to casually take one step forwards so that he's facing diagonally downwards towards the bottom of the pit. This gives Recoome a ridiculous degree of space control here, and enables him to much better take advantage of the move's range. If the beam doesn't hit anything due to being fired off-stage, it will explode on its own after traveling 1.2 platforms.

The Eraser Gun laser beam will sweep up the side of a slope/wall/etc, but not down one because of Recoome's position making that impossible. He can still fire it down the slope/edge if standing right next to it, but if standing far enough away it would get cut off it won't magically wrap down the side of the terrain.

UP SMASH - RECOOME KICK



Recoome does a series of poses with his arms before doing a kick similar to Ganondorf's usmash. The kick has even better range than Ganondorf's and does a massive 26-36% damage with knockback that kills at 85-55% at a 45 degree angle. Because of the elaborate pose Recoome feels the need to do at the start every time before he performs this attack, the starting lag is horrible, as long as something like Dedede's fsmash with 43 frames of starting lag. For the ridiculous amounts of starting lag involved, the ending lag is generous enough that the move is at least a little difficult to punish.

The pose is not entirely worthless. Completing the pose at frame 38, whether or not you finish the move, will refresh the duration of Majestic Space Duck and Burning Inner Strength by 5 seconds if they were currently up. Just spamming this move to keep your buffs up is still pretty awkward given it takes 48 frames, but if you can manage to threaten people with this hitbox at all it can be pretty helpful.

If Recoome uses this attack after having completed any of his taunts (within about a 6 frame window), he won't perform the pose at the start and will skip straight to the kick with just 5 frames of starting lag. Majestic Space Duck and Burning Inner Strength are obviously much slower, so this is more of a buff to those taunts, giving Recoome a very potent defensive option to use on foes who were too slow to punish him. Burning Inner Strength is fast enough it's possible to have a fully held out Bravado used on the usmash, but this is just making the kick even more predictable. Recoome Kick is so predictable after a taunt that it can become a pretty decent way to bait foes. While this is a great mix-up, not using the default pose will not refresh the duration of Recoome's taunt buffs.

Recoome Doom is extremely useful for this attack, because so long as Recoome completes the relevant 12 frame taunt on frames 52/104/156 of his speech, he is free to cancel out of the taunt and perform the 5 frame stupidly powerful kick with no strings attached, potentially giving him a move this powerful for the cost of a mere 17 frames. While even 17 frames might sound a bit too predictable when the move has to be done on such a strict schedule, making use of Bravado on frame 52 of Recoome Doom can allow Recoome to make a massive window where he can choose to stop the Bravado, giving him a lot more leeway to use this attack at an opportune moment. This is powerful enough it can be tempting to start up Recoome Doom for no other reason than to get this effect, if you can actually complete the full Recoome Doom speech more power to you. This is just for offensive purposes - having this open for defensive purposes during Recoome Doom is still extremely potent if trying to acquire set-up against a foe that's getting under your skin rushing you down.

DOWN SMASH - RECOOME SURPRISE



Recoome generates a white ki bomb in his hand before casually detonating it 45 degrees towards the ground in front of him for a very unimpressive, uncharacteristic attack for him. As Recoome charges the smash attack, though, he bends over until he's looking under his legs, still holding the energy orb with him as he charges it up. If Recoome stops at any point before this, he'll detonate the ki bomb wherever his hand currently was, enabling him to fire it at the ground in front of him like Mewtwo's dsmash, directly under his character model, or be aimed at the ground behind him. Recoome fully bends over after just 10 frames of charge and the attack's direct starting lag is only another 13 frames, making this a very fast smash attack. The attack deals 14-20% with knockback that kills at 165-130% at whatever angle Recoome's hand was currently facing. This attack can be used something like the typical dsmash that hits in front of you before hitting behind you, but requires a lot more manual work on Recoome's part. If Recoome can get used to it, though, he can be very precise with where he wants his hitbox. In tandem with Bravado, foes can potentially mispredict where Recoome will actually fire the attack and confuse his intended spacing.

If Recoome charges the attack for 25 frames, the attack will become a projectile as it's fired out from between Recoome's legs rather than just detonating immediately, traveling up to 1.5 platforms before detonating if it doesn't come in contact with anything before then. Like with Eraser Gun, this projectile property is a lot more useful on slopes. The Recoome Surprise projectile will never wrap around slopes, enabling Recoome to fire it over across the top of the slope or down it if he prefers, or potentially hit the opposite side of the slope by using the Eraser Gun instead. When standing at the top of a slope, Recoome just has to take a step in either direction to be given a wealth of potential options with this move.

If Recoome is hit during the starting lag with the surprise between his legs, it will burst open and cause Recoome to take 5% extra damage in addition to the foe's attack. Even if Recoome had charged past 25 frames or more, it will just detonate in place and not be fired as a projectile, though. Foes will have to avoid getting too close to Recoome, as unlike the Eraser Gun's superarmor this is capable of punishing foes who grab him. So long as they don't get too close and attack him from the front they should generally be fine, unless they hit him with an attack that extends their hurtbox low along the ground. If Recoome wants to try to counter an attack that is naturally aimed higher when the foe isn't in close range, he just needs to use this attack while on a higher elevation than the foe. Aside from all of this, Recoome's hurtbox shifting during the charging can enable him to potentially "clip" through uncareful enemies changing the entire dynamic of the attack, especially against bigger enemies/those approaching through the air.

AERIALS

DOWN AERIAL - HIP DROP



Recoome's patented heavyweight stall then fall is quick to start up by the standards of these moves as he gets ready to crush enemies underneath his girth, though still has the usual piles of landing lag you'd expect. Contact with Recoome as he falls deals a base of 14% and downwards knockback that will kill a grounded enemy at 160%. For each Mario height Recoome falls, this is increased by 1% damage and the move kills 10% sooner. This caps at 20% with the move killing at 95%, which is pretty telegraphed. Recoome starts with 5% superarmor on this move once the hitbox becomes active, and gains 1% worth of superarmor for every Mario he falls, capping at the same time the move's power does at 5.5 Marios, which is signified by Recoome gaining a red aura.

Like most stall then fall dairs in SSB4, Recoome will eventually stop falling if he goes long enough without hitting the ground after having fallen roughly 4 platforms. This is a very long distance, though by the time Recoome has fallen 5.5 Marios he'll be fairly close to this cap already. This move only really becomes amazing with proper set-up, as it is an absolutely fantastic move when bolstered with Burning Inner Strength superarmor, pits to fall down further, and of course Majestic Space Duck's boost jumps.

With the jumps, this move becomes much more threatening as Recoome gains the ability to essentially stall then fall up and down 3 times, catching foes who would casually dodge the move and enabling him to even pursue foes horizontally. While 4 platforms would be much too far to fall off-stage under normal circumstances, 3 platforms worth of boost jumps makes it shockingly usable off-stage compared to an ordinary character's as Recoome threatens to send foes down into the abyss. If Recoome does manage to fall 4 platforms without hitting anyone, the whole move is very fast, ending lag included, so this is very desirable. This would already be amazing even if Recoome wasn't capable of canceling out of the attack by grabbing the ledge, which he is, enabing him to go boost off in the ledge's direction to even end the move early without having to stay too super close to it.

Going against the momentum by boosting upwards while falling downwards will slightly weaken Recoome's power. If he went straight up, it will be lessened by a full 2 Marios, but if he went up at a 45 degree angle it will only be lessened by 1 Mario, weakening progressively the less vertical the boost jump's angle was until it's nothing at all when going purely horizontal/downwards. This means Recoome has to pay a small price for making the move so much less predictable, though it's entirely possible to regain that momentum by falling a bit further unless you use multiple vertical jumps at mostly vertical angles.

If Recoome has a remotely deep pit, this can also serve to function as a cushion for him, as Recoome wants to fall as far as he can without landing/dying. 12% superarmor at max isn't massive, but it should hopefully be enough to shrug off any aerial attacks. If you have the luxury of Burning Inner Strength, the superarmor becomes pretty much impossible for most characters to contest at higher levels.

Recoome will make a crack in the stage if and only if he has fallen 5.5 Marios, and this is still a generally undesirable way to produce cracks given the lag. In the event there are 2 cracks where Recoome was about to land, the ground will literally break Recoome's fall as it gets terraformed down the usual distance, while Recoome simply gets up as floating in place where the ground previously was. This isn't perfect and still has some landing lag, but is much more tolerable than the regular ending lag. With Majestic Space Duck, Recoome will still be considered "in the air" during this lag given the ground was lowered, and can still boost around during this lag. However, because Recoome did briefly touch the ground, this will refresh all of his jumps and even his Up Special.

While not as good as just not landing at all, if Recoome was running low on jumps this can be a great way to regain offensive momentum and continue his aerial assault or maybe to even try and charge up Ultimate Fighting Bomber. Recoome enjoys fighting grounded enemies while in the air and greatly benefits from air to ground trades. This is only further emphasized with Burning Inner Strength up. Compared to just boosting to not land, this rewards Recoome further for reaching full momentum without blowing his load early, making both options very viable and making it harder for the foe to prepare for him when he comes crashing down.

NEUTRAL AERIAL - EARTH SHATTER

Recoome does a series of rapidfire punches in front of himself, alternating which arms does the punches for a multihit attack. The punches start out somewhat slow before Recoome picks up the pace as the attack goes on, ending with his arms being nothing but a blur before he finally knocks the foe away with the finishing punch. If the whole multihit attack lands, the attack deals 20%, with the last hit consisting of 5% of the damage and dealing knockback that kills at 150%.

This attack comes out fast, but is difficult to use on grounded enemies given its long duration. Recoome can potentially "scoop" up an enemy with this attack by using Majestic Space Duck to boost jump and carry a foe into a pit/off-stage by using the boost horizontally, potentially even off-stage with a boost from Super Breath. He unfortunately can't lift foes into the air with it, though given the existence of gravity can of course drag foes down with this attack.



If Recoome lands on the stage, his fist will smash into the ground as an attack during the landing lag. Towards the start of the move, this is a pathetic 1% and a flinch, and Recoome's arms have to have gotten going for this to be all that impressive. If done right before the move ends within a 3 frame window, the power will be much higher than the normal finishing hit, dealing 15% and knockback that kills at 90%, meaning the move will have dealt a foe hit by the entirety of it a total of 30%. For perspective, the frame before this window starts is only 10% and knockback that kills at 120%. This is still good, but there's a big jump at the end to reward a player who smashed the ground at max power.

Recoome will crack the stage with this move, but only if he hits the ground at max power during those 3 frames. If he smashes open the stage with the third crack, the power will be boosted to 18% and knockback that kills at 70%. In addition, Bowser sized cracks will be produced to either side of the ground that generate hitboxes that deal the usual 15% and knockback that kills at 90% as foes get bounced off the ground, like Recoome did to Vegeta. For how powerful this finisher is, the landing lag on this attack is pretty bad to compensate for the attack attached onto it.

This move can potentially be ludicrously powerful, and everything that was stated didn't even account for rage or Bravado. Actually smashing the stage during 3 specific frames on a laggy move is not easy, though, and to power it up further Recoome has to make the attack even more predictable. It can sometimes be easier to land the attack after it's already started if Recoome wants that super strong finisher specifically, and Recoome will want to make use of boost jumps and pits to control when he's going to land. More notably, even without set-up of any kind, Recoome's low base falling speed and high fast falling speed is extremely useful for this move, as he's able to stay in the air a while to get the attack going before hastily falling down to smash his fist into the ground as the attack ends.

FORWARD AERIAL - SMACKDOWN



Recoome smashes both of his hands down in front of himself in an animation somewhat similar to DK's fair. The starting lag on this aerial is slightly slower than even DK's move, though Recoome gets 7% superarmor during this attack's starting lag and duration to muscle through weaker attacks. Once the attack hits, this is a powerful spike that deals an impressive 16% while knocking enemies straight down for a spike that cannot be teched, much like Ganondorf's dair.

While slow to start, this attack has low enough landing lag that this attack is capable of comboing. While strong, foes who bounce off the ground after having taken knockback will have that knockback massively reduced in SSB4. If Recoome can actually manage to land this, this can potentially combo until very high percents if Recoome uses the move from high enough in the air. Given Recoome's super high fast falling speed, he can generally never be -too- high, easily able to catch up to the foe. If he has boost jumps, he can catch up to the foe no matter the direction. This attack most obviously combos into Recoome's almighty Hip Drop dair, and Recoome can potentially even fall a while to power it up if he used the move from up high enough. This is harder than just hitting the dair itself to start with, but is pretty much a hit confirm unless used very low to the ground without boost jumps. This is one of the main ways to get off a Bravado boosted dair, as while dair is easy to hit with it's very awkward to time Bravado with given Recoome often prefers to hit with the move shortly after it starts rather than at the beginning. This can also enable Recoome to be more conservative with using dair on top of ground ready to be fully cracked open.

Dair is obviously the more powerful option off-stage if Majestic Space Duck is active, but not having to fall during this move means you're going to have to settle for threatening with this spike sometimes, as sadly your boost jumps aren't infinite. While this move may seem slow, if Recoome manages to use Bravado + Burning Inner Strength to reach 17% superarmor, his vulnerability period will be very brief given the move's low ending lag while still having any boost jumps at his disposal afterwards.

BACK AERIAL - RECOOME KNEE



Recoome turns around and smashes the foe with his knee for a very fast aerial, dealing 11% with fairly low base knockback that scales to kill people at 185%. The move lingers on slightly for something of a sex kick effect, with the hitbox weakening down to 7% and knockback that kills at 220% during the second half. If Recoome hits the foe before the sourspot comes into play, there will be freezeframes on the attack before the foe takes their knockback and Recoome will skip past the rest of the duration and most of the ending lag, making the already fast attack faster.

Considering this amazing attack is one of Recoome's primary spacers, it's unfortunate he can't use it quite as much as he wants given it turns him around. Recoome's Majestic Space Duck boost jump is fast enough that at very low percents, Recoome can boost past the foe to still have his back to them before hitting them with another bair back where they came from! At 0%, Recoome can use all 3 jumps to hit the foe a total of 4 times (though the second to last hit will need to be sourspotted). Of course, that requires Recoome to set up an insanely laggy taunt before he damages the foe. If he kills them, he'll inevitably have too much rage for this to work properly on his second stock.

This attack combos much longer if Recoome hits the sourspots, though that makes the move not quite as fast and reliable. The delay on the freeze frames can potentially be useful to stall for Bravado on a different attack, as while Recoome won't be able to tack on another attack to a long string of bairs, after a single bair comboing into nair or dair is possible with a boost jump. It's a lot easier to land bair than fair as a combo starter, but unless high in the air, it's doubtful Recoome will get much off of nair, and dair will be unboosted while leaving Recoome punishable with at least one of his boost jumps already having been taken up. Fair lets Recoome get a full strength dair up and can work to much higher percents, especially if pits exist which bair doesn't benefit from.

UP AERIAL - RECOOME CHOP



Recoome braces his arm against his side before swinging it up above his head in an quick, fluent motion for another fast aerial. This attack deals 9% and knocks enemies up above Recoome with light knockback that kills at 180%. The attack has fairly low base knockback that can be comboed like bair can with use of boost jumps, though can't combo into much of anything besides itself given Recoome won't be able to get above the foe quick enough to hit with anything else. If nothing else, this is still a decent juggler to get the foe high into the air for aerial combat, enabling Recoome to still use his nair, fair, dair, and Renegade Bomber with extreme prejudice against a foe who was otherwise hesitant to come into aerial combat against Recoome. Even if he used all his boost jumps to get there, he'll still have his variable falling speeds at his disposal to help him better land those attacks.

This is a solid attack and Recoome's fastest aerial, though Recoome's hand is a sourspot that deals only 4% and low enough knockback the attack is punishable on hit. This is strictly a downside until the foe is at 100%, at which point it's about frame neutral as the knockback is roughly safe on hit. At 200%, the knockback scales to be useful enough for comboing, though with Recoome's massive power the foe should be dead well before 200%. These given percentages do not take into account Bravado or rage, though, which enable Recoome to boost it up to be useful at much more relevant percentages, to the point this attack can become Recoome's single best kill confirm if the crowd is cheering and he gets off Bravado on this move. When the foe is expecting a strong hit out of Recoome's telegraphed Bravado, you can surprise them with a flamboyant pimp slap to set up for the real attack.

Notably, the arm hitbox can often end up comboing into the slap. This is helpful to save time for Recoome's Bravado to build, and also means you don't have to waste Bravado on the uair in a frame neutral state. If Recoome hits Bravado on the uair's arm hitbox, it's pretty much just going to be entirely negative as it makes the attack too powerful to combo. A skilled Recoome can still just gamble and try to hit with the slap immediately, as while the extra 9% is nice this can potentially save Recoome one of his precious jumps.

STANDARDS

JAB - LIGHTNING ASSAULT



Recoome does a rapid series of palm strikes and punches faster than the eye can see, racking up damage at a rate as fast as the fastest jabs in SSB4. The jab finisher is an uppercut that knocks the foe away with 7% and knockback that kills at 200%, acceptable if not great for a jab finisher. The jab finisher's ending lag isn't bad or anything, but it's long enough that in tandem with the jab finisher's fairly high base knockback that it amounts to little more than a spacing reset, popping foes up at a fairly standard diagonal angle. It's decent enough to get a foe out of his face early on.

All repeating jabs in SSB4 push the attacking character back slightly with each hit, eventually guaranteeing the foe can escape. In the event a character pushes themselves off the ledge, they will have no ending lag to the jab and will be able to combo into an aerial. Recoome is no exception to this rule, and this will happen more commonly for him than a normal character because of his pits. Recoome will push himself off the side of a pit rather than walking back down the side of the slope. Unfortunately for Recoome, only his bair and uair are fast enough to combo, and he won't be facing the right way for his bair under normal circumstances. Uair, meanwhile, requires more space underneath Recoome to properly hit the foe, and the top of a slope doesn't provide that. It can be possible to combo bair by using a boost jump to go past the foe if that's available.

It's difficult to notice in a lot of matches, but the tiny, flinching hits of Recoome's jab do have a tiny bit of knockback on them, and that knockback is inwards knockback towards Recoome. Foes will still not be able to move back past Recoome to escape the jab because of him pushing himself backwards, and the pushback to Recoome is still strong enough in comparison to the foe's knockback that even at higher percents, the foe will be eventually released, just staying in the jab a bit longer than they would for some extra damage. Notably, Recoome's rage and Bravado can make this last significantly longer if not knock the foe behind Recoome entirely at high percents, enabling easy combos into his bair and/or uair if his back was to a ledge/pit without any need to use a boost jump. At the stupidly high percents the foe/Recoome will be at for this to start being effective, the extra damage you get out of the jab may not seem that helpful, but you can eventually get it to the point bair itself can kill in a long drawn out match, perhaps against another heavyweight foe.

In his battle against Vegeta, Recoome easily blocked all of Vegeta's attacks at the same speed just to mock him. Here, this translates into making the repeating portion of the jab one of those weird attacks that counts as both an aerial and a grounded attack priority wise like Mach Tornado or most of Olimar's moveset. Air to ground combat is inevitable with all of the pits around making it impractical for foes to traverse the whole stage by just running across it, and the jab's rapid hits deal 2% to "clank" with aerials that deal 11% or less. In the event this occurs, both attacks will keep going, but their hitboxes will be nullified. One of the most common places for this to occur is with Recoome's back to a ledge, in which case he can just push himself off to get out of the now useless jab and potentially punish the foe's aerial. Even without his back to a ledge, Recoome can simply immediately stop the repeating jab before performing the finisher (which will still also be nullified), which has pretty generously low ending lag. Even in the event this property is used against Recoome somehow, Recoome will still keep any Burning Inner Strength superarmor during the attack even if the hitbox is down.

DASHING ATTACK - RECOOME KICK



Recoome for whatever reason considers this attack a "kick", he makes these move names, not me. Recoome Knee was already taken by the bair anyway. This attack has Recoome use the momentum from his dash and jump up off the floor as he gains an aura of ki around himself, attempting to ram enemies with his knee. This attack gives him 5% worth of superarmor and is fairly powerful, dealing 12% with knockback that kills at 135%. The starting and ending lag individually don't stand out, but combined make the move pretty slow to get through.

Recoome normally only travels the average distance for a dashing attack with this, but Majestic Space Duck greatly increases his dashing speed as it changes it from a physical dash to on-stage flight. This causes Recoome to soar forwards a platform's distance during the attack as he leaps slightly off the ground. This counts as being off the ground for purposes of boost jumps, enabling him to use them as he sees fit during this attack to either travel even further forwards, do the attack in place, or totally change the angle of the attack and turn it into another aerial. Recoome still ends the attack on the ground by default, but if jumps are used during this version of the attack is totally capable of ending the move in the air.

This attack's knockback is angled to knock enemies into the air at a 45 degree angle in front of Recoome. This isn't a super desirable angle on the stage, though if traveling up the side of a slope translates to entirely vertical knockback which will make the move kill sooner than it would otherwise. With the Majestic Space Duck version, Recoome will take off when he reaches the peak of a slope rather than continuing to zoom along the stage, letting him keep that angle to hit foes higher in the air straight up, extremely useful to pursue foes he's knocked away without even using the boost jump. This also applies if Recoome dashes over a pit or off-stage, with him dashing straight off the stage/over pits rather than dashing down into the pit on the slope like he normally would.

If Majestic Space Duck happens to run out while Recoome is in the air and performing dashing attack, he will fall downwards at an accelerated pace for the remainder of the dashing attack, crushing foes with his knee. Unless you dashed off-stage immediately as it ran out like an idiot, this will generally never cause him to fall so far as to die, and if it would you should use your boost jumps before it runs out to circumvent that. This can still be useful as a last burst of movement before it wears off to threaten an off-stage foe for an unorthodox "stall then fall," given the ending lag is a lot shorter than dair.

FORWARD TILT - RECOOME ELBOW



Recoome lifts his arm above his head before smacking down with his elbow for a pretty fast tilt if not lightning quick, coming out as fast as Bowser's ftilt while giving Recoome intangibility on his arm during the active frames just like that move. Recoome's upper arm does 9% and knocks foes straight down, dealing vertical knockback to grounded foes that kills at 170%. Recoome's elbow, on the other hand, deals 15% and knocks foes down at a 45 degree angle, killing grounded enemies off the top at a much more impressive 125% despite the strange angle. By comparison, Bowser's ftilt does 12% across the entire hitbox and kills somewhere in the middle of those two percents.

The angle of this attack's knockback makes it look like a prime candidate to punish foes at the ledge, but this was sadly not meant to be because the hitbox is too high. The move just barely manages to hit the shortest characters and even misses a few crouching foes. It's of course useful if a foe recovers high, which Recoome can potentially bait out with his powerful air game when Majestic Space Duck is active. In air to ground combat, this attack does a great job at punishing foes approaching Recoome from the air while easily knocking them down into pits. Approaching foes are the easy ones to hit the elbow sweetspot on, as opposed to foes who rush him down who force him to settle for the close range sourspot. The upper arm hitbox would be usable for comboing if not for the attack's ending lag. The attack is not super helpful as a spacer, but is a key move he's able to easily throw out that should help determine his mentality with his spacing.

While standing on a slope, the variable angles of this attack change as any other attack would. Knocking the foe "straight up" with the sourspot will knock them at a 45 degree angle behind Recoome, while the elbow will instead be knocking foes straight up which can make it kill much more quickly. However, if Recoome's elevation is too low from being in a pit, the attack will still kill later than it otherwise would anyway since he's trying to knock them to the top blast zone, so he wants to hit it at the top of a slope to angle himself to get that early kill. The most ideal scenario is to hit a foe standing on the regular ground outside of a pit, and the terrain in the way will make it easier to "block off" the sourspot and hit with his elbow for that kill. This move definitely benefits more from a small pit for the sweetspot. His dair/Side Special encourage big pits, but he'll still want to have multiple pits around that are the most ideal for this move.

UP TILT - LARIAT

Recoome extends out his arms to either side and spins fast enough to make a very small wind effect around himself, having slight suction on the move. There is suction that reaches out very slightly all around his body, but it most strongly reaches above Recoome to pull foes down into the hitbox. Recoome's arms consistently deal 12% and vertical knockback that kills at 145% with high base knockback, while the rest of his body is a multihit hitbox as he spins that deals flinching hits. The suction pulls foes directly into the main hitbox, which means the grinder will inevitably eventually spit the foe out into the main hitbox before chewing them up too much. The attack is surprisingly biased against smaller foes, as their hurtbox will take longer to come into contact with the main hitbox which lets them take more damage from the "grinder" before the attack ends. The attack has a long duration for something like a tilt, though has few frames where there's no hitbox present.

This attack can be angled 45 degrees to the left or right like how most ftilts can be angled up or down, causing Recoome to lean over as he spins. This can make the wind hitbox above Recoome's head significantly more useful as he pulls foes in from afar. The angle can be made even more dramatic if he's standing on a slope and attacking a foe outside of it on terrain above him, to the point the hitbox is entirely horizontal while letting Recoome more greatly enjoy the fact his arms and everything above them has 6% superarmor on them.

Threatening with the main hitbox is great, but it's more rewarding to hit foes standing on the ground below Recoome. Even against large foes, Recoome can attempt to "hide" the main hitbox by angling the attack to get the foe grinded up more before taking the attack's knockback. The further Recoome uses this attack from the foe, the more dangerous it is but the more damage he can get out of the attack. Against a tiny character like Pikachu, this attack can do as much as 28% if spaced perfectly, though it's a very rare scenario akin to something like Yoshi's dair. The suction effect is all set knockback, and is thankfully not boosted by knockback increasing effects.

DOWN TILT - RECOOME STOMP

Recoome does a simple stomp forwards, coming out fast with good range, though only deals 8% and horizontal knockback that kills at 200%. The move has too much ending lag as Recoome puts his leg back to combo despite starting super fast, but this move is actually a two part move if Recoome presses the A button a second time. After Recoome's stomp, Recoome will almost immediately bring his other leg forwards for a second stomp if presses A again, dealing another 10% and vertical knockback that kills at 130%. This stomp is fast enough that despite the first hit doing knockback on its own, this will still generally combo. The keyword is generally, as the second stomp's range is less good than the great hitbox on the first stomp, and the foe will still have a couple frames to fly away before Recoome stomps down on top of them again.

The two stomps will eventually cease to combo at all even if the first stomp hits at point blank, though thankfully it's shortly after this move stops killing. This is a pretty specific range where this will actually work as a KO move without intentionally missing the first hit and making the move a lot worse for that. Bravado is important here not just for generically powering the move up, but for increasing the amount of percentages available where you can reliably perform the combo while still being able to kill somebody with it. Bravado specifically is important for this, not rage, because you can opt to not use Bravado when that would make the knockback on the first stomp cause the second stomp fail to hit and you could just kill the foe without it anyway.

The ending lag on the move is somewhat bad regardless of which move Recoome ended on, but the move is strong enough defensively it's still a great spacer. The window for Recoome to press A to start the second stomp goes through most of the first stomp's ending lag, making the first stomp itself hard to punish. During this window, the attack is still considered ungoing, so Recoome will still keep any armor from Burning Inner Strength as the game considers him "attacking." The first stomp also has 8% superarmor on Recoome's leg during the brief active frames it has, enabling it to better stack with Burning Inner Strength. These properties are a lot more useful when the attack is used as a poke, particularly with a pit in the way to protect the rest of Recoome's hurtbox other than his leg.

This attack is a pretty significant hurtbox shifter, as if Recoome does both stomps he'll be taking two steps forwards and end the move ahead of his old position slightly. Recoome has a big decision to make with whether he retreats back to where he was or goes back to his old position after completing the attack, though having superarmor going definitely helps. If Recoome stomps down onto a lower elevation, this will artifically increase the range of the move slightly as Recoome stomps over the gap at the cost of a frame or two of speed, while if he stomps onto a higher elevation, his foot will travel less far and slightly speed up the attack, making the move's two hits combo into itself longer than it would otherwise. Either way, this move can help to keep Recoome's presence large to help keep him in charge around his pits.

GRAB-GAME

GRAB - GRAB

Recoome's grab, in spite of his huge size, isn't all that fantastic. It's not terrible and is better than garbage grabs like Ganondorf's thanks to having any range on it at all, but it's the slowest physical grab behind Bowser by one frame. This makes getting those Side Special grabs pretty rewarding, enabling use of his great throws. Unlike normal characters, Recoome's dashing grab is surprisingly slightly faster than his regular grab to the point it's above average, though the range is fairly poor. Boosting Recoome's dashing speed with Majestic Space Duck turns the grab into something more worthwhile, "fixing" the range by having Recoome slide farther during the attack, and Recoome will oftentimes slide along the ground far enough with a faster dashing grab that he'll be able to go into/out of a pit.

PUMMEL - HEADLOCK

Recoome holds his arm around the foe's neck and squeezes, dealing 3% in a decent speed/damage ratio pummel. Recoome will oftentimes be holding the foe in a grab longer to finish off Bravado for his powerful throws, during which time he's free to pummel away. At earlier percents where the foe will escape before Bravado finishes, it's pretty much irrelevant given the foe wouldn't die from the attack anyway, so you're better off just moving on to the throw.

FORWARD THROW - RENEGADE BOMBER BARRAGE

Recoome launches a series of renegade bomber shots at the foe at a 45 degree angle in a similar manner to Mewtwo's fthrow, but looking a lot more explosive. The attack deals a total of 14%, with the last hit dealing knockback that kills diagonally at 155%. By comparison to Mewtwo's fthrow, the stream of projectiles is a lot bigger and the foe will take a lot more knockback as they fly through the stream. Recoome is pushed back by the force of his own projectiles throughout this move, and tilts the angle of the projectiles he fires to be directed towards the foe to account for this, going directly towards them.

As the foe's percentages rises, Recoome will have to fire the projectiles at lower angles to account for how far the foe is being knocked away by them, though it still generally remains inescapable outside of fringe cases like Jigglypuff. The higher the knockback of this attack, the more the 45 degree angle of the knockback shifts to purely horizontal knockback, and the more pushback Recoome takes from the move. Recoome will not slide off the edge of the stage with this. While the final hit kills diagonally at 155%, horizontally it kills more at around 140% taking into account the better angle.

Aside from using this attack as a kill throw, this attack makes a massive amount of space between Recoome and his foe. The pushback Recoome deals to himself makes the move create more space than just another move that does high knockback. This is important to enable Recoome to attain precious set-up time to get up his taunts, though the fact this only works when the foe is at a high percentage means this set-up time isn't exactly free, to say the least. Recoome may have to go without a lot of his set-up sometimes early on in a match, though he's at least fairly well equipped to go without it. He can get the set-up time from this throw sooner by using Bravado and rage, which amounts to setting up for another form of set-up. That might sound redundant, but it's a nice option to have open in the heat of a realistic battle where set-up is not easy.

At low percentages, this move could potentially have some comboing potential if not for the pushback Recoome deals to himself. The way to get rid of the pushback is to use the move with Recoome's back to a ledge or to use it while facing upwards on a slope. While Recoome will push himself down into a pit, he will not push himself up a slope, only down a slope with the pushback on this move. After that, Recoome can potentially dash up the side of the slope in time with a Majestic Space Duck boosted dashing attack, not able to do much else unless at very low percentages at which point he's unlikely to have a pit, having to instead use the ledge. Stopping Recoome's pushback is not only useful for comboing because it means he's closer to the foe, but because he'll stop tilting the angle of the stream of projectiles if he stops taking pushback. This works best if Recoome is already at the dead center bottom of a pit, which will happen automatically if he's transitioned into his grab from Side Special.

BACK THROW - RECOOME SLAM

Recoome holds onto the foe's lower torso with one arm before rapidly swinging them back and forth onto either side of himself with great speed. Each slam does damage that totals all the way up to 14%, with the last hit dealing knockback that kills at 125% as the foe flies behind Recoome horizontally after the last time they were slammed. This is a simplistic, if long lasting throw due to the many slams Recoome does to the enemy. Recoome can't combo off of the throw at all, strictly a KO throw in most circumstances.

If the attack is used on something other than level terrain, Recoome will keep swinging the foe until they slam onto some form of terrain rather than magically slamming the foe against the air, instead using actual physics. Recoome can slam the foe onto the side of a slope, the edge, or even the underside of a Battlefield platform. The reason why this matters is because Recoome will always swing the foe around for the same amount of time rather than the same amount of slams. Whenever Recoome releases the foe, they'll take knockback at the angle they were currently being swung at.

In the middle of a pit, Recoome can slam the foe on either side quickly and easily to rack more damage, adding on an extra 6% to the throw and causing the foe to take directly vertical knockback if he managed to grab the foe smack dab in the middle, probably from Side Special's effect. The given kill percentage of 125% will not kill foes as soon vertically, especially from a lower elevation inside of a pit. Outside of this specific scenario, Recoome is generally going to slam the foe less often rather than more often, resulting in less damage on the throw but potentially leading to other benefits. If standing at the edge of a pit, on the inside/outside, Recoome can potentially either throw the foe down into the pit or out of it to the side for a potential kill based off which direction he's facing and how close he stands to the pit's edge. It depends on the steepness of the slopes, with deep pits from multiple terraformings more radically changing the angle of the throw's knockback. Using the attack on top of a drop through platform works wonders for comboing, as if Recoome spaces the throw so that it ends as he slams the foe against the underside of the platform, he can very, very easily combo the attack as the foe bounces off the ground.

If used against the edge of the stage, Recoome will slam the foe against it, adding a large time gap between his slams. If used right up against the edge of a normal stage, Recoome will unfortunately end the throw dealing vertical knockback, which hampers this throw's otherwise great knockback into killing later than it should because Recoome has to stand far enough back from the ledge to avoid the property. Based off how close Recoome stands to the edge, though, the knockback can change, and if he stands just barely in range to do the effect on the bthrow he can potentially bthrow the foe down to their deaths for a very cheap KO that will kill most characters early, much less with Bravado backing it up.

This is an incredibly strong technique, but requires Recoome to stand in a very precise spot with his back to the ledge, and to further complicate things the physics change slightly based off the size of the foe's hurtbox, requiring him to stand in slightly different positions based off the foe's size to pull it off. Furthermore, this requires Recoome to use his mediocre standing grab, as using his dashing grab while just barely away from the ledge with his back to it is incredibly awkward. The Side Special grab technique doesn't work for this either, since Recoome will terraform himself down inside of the stage in the center of a pit if he successfully transitions into his standing grab.

All negatives aside, the early bthrow kill's existence means Recoome will often want to stand in this position when doing things like his set-up taunts to threaten this and give himself a stronger defensive advantage. Rolling against the edge in a desperate attempt to get behind Recoome turns into something much more frantic than it is in a normal matchup, and it's going to get him a ton of mileage out of his dsmash. Recoome can also change the spacing if he makes slopes right against the edge (standing on the sloped side of the pit, not the center like he would with Side Special's grab transition), though he still can't do it in the ideal position of right up against it outside of a few fringe match-ups.

UP THROW - SUPLEX

Recoome suplexes the foe behind himself, dealing 12% and vertical knockback that kills at about 150%. This is pretty easily Recoome's fastest throw, which is useful to not waste the timer on Recoome's precious buffs if he has them or in the event Recoome wants to keep his Bravado for some other move after he completes the throw. The throw's base knockback is unfortunately fairly high as far as combos go, though the low lag on it means it can still sometimes combo at very low percents and/or with boost jumps.

Recoome's foe moves back from him about a character width before taking their vertical knockback, and if Recoome suplexes them on top of a slope that will change the angle of the knockback. Combos are much more possible if Recoome suplexes the foe towards the bottom of (but not in the dead center of) a slope so that they get knocked towards the other side of it, better with a deeper, steeper pit. If Recoome uses this throw at the edge, he'll use his flight to go with the foe as he suplexes them all the way against the edge of the stage, causing them to take horizontal knockback instead while Recoome ends up grabbing the ledge afterwards. The foe will be taking the horizontal knockback at a slighter lower height than usual, which can help it net kills earlier than the kill percent would suggest.

Against the very edge of the stage, Recoome's bthrow and uthrow do inversed knockback and compliment each other well. The bthrow will still kill earlier even without slamming the foe against the edge of the stage and sending them straight down, but Recoome has to stand a bit away from the ledge to slam them against the ground rather than the edge. There is a small "blind spot" where neither Recoome's bthrow or uthrow will deal any kind of ideal knockback that is the worst case scenario for him, and his ledge attack unfortunately puts him right in that awkward spot. Ledge roll can put him in range for bthrow to work against certain characters, though Recoome will probably roll past a foe aggressively chasing him at the ledge him with his ledge roll.

DOWN THROW - RECOOME CRUSH

Recoome rips out a chunk of the stage in front of him with a single hand while still holding onto the foe before slamming it on top of their head. This deals a good 13% and knockback that kills at 175% at 45 degree angle, not the best in the world. After Recoome finishes the throw, he drops the chunk of stage back down where it was. Recoome can't constantly carry a ground chunk around with him everywhere, how would people see his magnificent poses?! This gives Recoome extra ending lag that makes this throw unviable for comboing.

When Recoome slams the ground chunk on the foe, it will gain one crack. If the ground chunk already had two cracks, it will shatter as Recoome slams it on top of the foe's head while making the throw deal 5% extra damage. This gets rid of the ending lag on the throw since Recoome doesn't have to drop the chunk anymore, enabling the move to combo at lower percentages, particularly on slopes to alter the angle of the knockback to be vertical (which you may well be standing on since the attack has to be used on cracked ground).

In addition, some debris from the ground chunk will get impaled into the foe's body, dealing 0.5% per second for 4 seconds. If Recoome hits the foe while they have pieces of debris embedded into their body, he will destroy it and very slightly increase the knockback of his attack that shattered it by 1.1X, dealing all the remaining damage over time of the effect plus 3% extra. 1.1X is a pretty pathetic multiplier, but is useful when Recoome can stack it with rage and Bravado.

This knockback boosting effect may seem to have anti combo synergy at a glance, but the most obvious move Recoome has to combo into the dthrow in this scenario is the hand sourspot on uair, which combos better with rage. With rage, Bravado, and this bonus, it is possible the hitbox can be used for comboing at shockingly low percentages compared to what it would normally. Bair, on the other hand, can be used if you just want to kill the foe with the bonus while still getting a combo, potentially getting a cheap kill a lot earlier than the mediocre move would normally be able to with all of the knockback boosts.

While this throw is very powerful with the proper set-up, the set-up is even more difficult to attain than it appears. Recoome has to grab the foe with his ordinary grab, because if he uses Side Special to grab the foe, he'll destroy the ground underneath him and won't be able to get the amazing version of this throw. Recoome will mainly have to rely on his Majestic Space Duck dashing grab to get this without doing a lot of hard work.

FINAL SMASH - WRESTLEMANIA

Recoome Doom activates if it wasn't on already as a cheap knock off of John Cena's theme starts playing. The crowd will now be much louder and yell for nearly every attack that lands, especially those Recoome lands, comparable to the audience in SSB64. Recoome automatically performs his up taunt and down taunt for free in a cinematic, invulnerable, and for every hit that he lands the crowd will keep cheering and keep his buffs up without letting the Final Smash end. If Recoome goes for 10 seconds without landing a hit, the crowd will get bored and leave, and every 10 seconds the amount of time Recoome has to land a hit within will decrease by 1.5 seconds.

If Recoome lands an attack with Bravado, a rabid fan will throw a chair onto the stage for Recoome to beat the foe with. The chair is a powerful battering item that deals 17-24% with knockback that kills at 90-60% on the fsmash with great speed and range, though will be destroyed after landing two hits with it. If the foe dares to use the chair, the crowd will boo them constantly for the duration they hold it, turning them into a heel and buffing Recoome's rage passively by 10% per second they do so and enabling his rage to go over 150%. If Recoome hits the foe with the chair, the audience will throw him other items based off the item settings, at worst throwing him explosive capsules if all items besides Smash Balls are off and at best throwing him home run bats and beam swords.

December 6:
  • Finger has been deleted and replaced by a new taunt. Two new important paragraphs are added at the end of Neutral Special and one at the end of usmash about the effects of this new taunt.
  • In place of Up Special having a hitbox, Recoome is free to act during the recovery and it gives him a stack of Burning Inner Strength if he has it up. "If Recoome hits himself with his own wind, he will exit the stance and be pushed slightly further than Ness. Recoome does not become a hitbox if he pushes himself, but is entirely free to act during the push to go on the offensive with other attacks such as his aerials or just casually air dodge for a hard to punish recovery. The momentum from this attack can be an excellent combo starter, especially if Recoome manages to push the foe one way before hitting himself with it shortly thereafter. This can potentially do almost everything Majestic Space Duck can without set-up, but at the cost of being more obviously telegraphed. So long as Recoome is either in the lag of Super Breath or is pushing himself with it, he will get Burning Inner Strength superarmor from it, potentially enabling him to stack the superarmor of Super Breath, Bravado, and some other attack to have three instances of it going simultaneously. Nevermind the superarmor he can potentially have up from other attacks. The Bravado can stay up for extra superarmor before being potentially expended on an attack for a superpowered blow. Even with how predictable this approach can be, it's so powerful that it's still potentially very dangerous, especially if Recoome is in an advantage state so the foe can't prepare for it, potentially becoming very liberal with this attack if Majestic Space Duck is up. Recoome is not an easy foe to finish off."
  • Down tilt's kick forwards has been replaced with another stomp, so the attack is now two stomps, one with each leg. If Recoome does both stomps, he'll step forwards and end the move ahead of where he was. Burning Inner Strength superarmor now has more of an impact on the move. "The ending lag on the move is somewhat bad regardless of which move Recoome ended on, but the move is strong enough defensively it's still a great spacer. The window for Recoome to press A to start the second stomp goes through most of the first stomp's ending lag, making the first stomp itself hard to punish. During this window, the attack is still considered ungoing, so Recoome will still keep any armor from Burning Inner Strength as the game considers him "attacking." The first stomp also has 8% superarmor on Recoome's leg during the brief active frames it has, enabling it to better stack with Burning Inner Strength. These properties are a lot more useful when the attack is used as a poke, particularly with a pit in the way to protect the rest of Recoome's hurtbox other than his leg.

    This attack is a pretty significant hurtbox shifter, as if Recoome does both stomps he'll be taking two steps forwards and end the move ahead of his old position slightly. Recoome has a big decision to make with whether he retreats back to where he was or goes back to his old position after completing the attack, though having superarmor going definitely helps. If Recoome stomps down onto a lower elevation, this will artifically increase the range of the move slightly as Recoome stomps over the gap at the cost of a frame or two of speed, while if he stomps onto a higher elevation, his foot will travel less far and slightly speed up the attack, making the move's two hits combo into itself longer than it would otherwise. Either way, this move can help to keep Recoome's presence large to help keep him in charge around his pits."
  • Some token text added to jab finisher first paragraph, given all text was about the repeating jab. "The jab finisher's ending lag isn't bad or anything, but it's long enough that in tandem with the jab finisher's fairly high base knockback that it amounts to little more than a spacing reset, popping foes up at a fairly standard diagonal angle. It's decent enough to get a foe out of his face early on." The rest of the move's existing text is about offensive purposes. Regardless, simple spacing reset is fairly helpful.
  • Recoome cannot take self damage from his fsmash more than once per use of fsmash from being hit by multiple attacks at once.
  • Dsmash is angled 45 degrees towards the ground by default without needing to charge, and it is now only 10 frames of charge to have Recoome fire the projectile between his legs rather than 15.
  • On dair, originally majestic space duck didn't interrupt the move's momentum at all in a preview draft, he could just boost around while continuing to gain speed. Because of this change, I am now making Recoome only have to fall 5.5 Marios to reach max speed just to make the interaction with cracked ground happen slightly more often. Max power very slightly nerfed from 21% kills at 90% to 20% kills at 95%.
  • Recoome's taunts no longer give him superarmor on Burning Inner Strength.
November 27: Ultra Fighting Bomber is no longer a projectile and is an explosion around Recoome.
November 26: Posted Moveset.
 
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Smady

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Hockey Man was a fun read, it managed to exceed my expectations. The mechanic of freezing the foe adds a layer of depth to his melee and playstyle that really helps deepen the character. Being able to shove the foe around in the frozen state, enabling Hockey Man to space into, around and out of the frozen state all gives a second or third purpose to many of the moves. The set doesn't go over the details but it's all too obvious how the mechanic works into all these moves, as Hockey Man is really a straightforward character.

The set could've made a little better use of the snowflake shield it has, as that was easy to forget later. This could've just been a copy of MegaMan's Leaf Shield which is good for approaching as it naturally covers his body and is more of a passive bonus than this set's neutral special. Though it certainly makes a ton of sense he would have a shield of some form to help his balance. The down smash also could've probably made it into the specials, maybe even over the puck. The set is maybe a little too restrained because it could've been fun to try some more elaborate ice effects, as the ice block is one of the most fun parts of the set. Might suggest a fog, or cracks in the ice for some earthshaking, that kind of thing.

The restraint is good in some ways though as the set is successful in making a very oppressive HMA hockey player, and I find it hard to believe this isn't very true to the source material too. In fact, this may be some of your best melee yet US! Only moves I disliked were the bair for its dragging hitbox and at a stretch, down throw could probably be a cargo throw and be a bit more intuitive. There's not much else as far as complaints go, and I definitely enjoyed this one, so good job!

DeGrey is one of the smartest sets I've read in some time, and so the trend of Muno's sets continue in this direction. I am shocked the ways you manage to squeeze the potential out of simple concepts, this time it's frame traps, and it's a real learning experience to read this moveset. I don't think anyone else could possibly know all these little intricate details in how the Smash 4 engine works, and it's getting to the point I practically learn new information every move. If I didn't know this set was for the under 10k challenge I'd hazard a guess it was around 12-13k word, around the size of my average set, because it's a dense product. Each move demands your attention and unlike some of your older sets this one didn't have any real falling off point, the only move I would criticize a little for being filler-ish is the back throw, but that's a move I can easily see Roy and others of that mindset defend.

DeGrey manages to deconstruct the way movesets work and somehow manages to put such a simple concept as Counter-Hit into the core of a character. It's not an easy mechanic to work in as it's just DeGrey hitting the foe during their start lag or active frames of their attacks. Little by little your moves make the argument for why this concept deserves the spotlight at the core of the set, each further move filling an indention you'd assume had to come. It's almost overwhelming in how stylized it is for the purposes the set needs and the argument it makes it very hard to disagree on. If you implemented the ghost more, it would detract from the whole point of the set, and really that's about all there is to the character. I've never seen a clearer example what's been called "Subtractive Design" in MYM. So the question then becomes what's the actual value or worth of this distilled concept, really close to perfect encapsulation of the Counter-Hit mechanic? It's true that this approach can only get you so far, and for me this set is one I'll have to sit on to decide how much I value this mechanic. One thing's for sure, I don't know how Roy, Jamie and the rest haven't jumped on this little gem.

Recoome’s a very fun set for me to read, coming from the unique position as the creator of the original, then hated, now aged into mushy garbage moveset from over five years ago. There’s really no comparison between the two, obviously, but you did manage to retain the spirit of my original Recoome set in the form of taunt buffs. It’s not quite as integral to new Recoome’s set, but more of a fifth special that gives some more general buffs than always directly shaving off lag. Recoome already has that in his first special, Bravado, anyway, and the other utility of the old taunts was just super armour, gracefully implement here on Burning Inner Strength. The Finger is obviously the least relevant taunt with Majestic Space Duck being referenced the most. It might have aided the set to mention the stacking super armour you can potentially get from Burning Inner Strength, but they’re all ultimately well implemented.

The terraforming and connection it has to the Pildriver special and other moves is a very smart way to utilize that fairly difficult, central move, Recoome’s Ultra Fighting Bomber. I never really thought before about how it made cracks in the ground, and this terraforming then forms a core part of the playstyle. It’s the little interactions, hard or soft, that make up the meat of the set. Piledriver is perhaps the most interesting one where Recoome can lift off and do significant damage when diving into the pit from higher up. It’s a clever way to combine the archetypal grappler Bowsercide grab, terraforming and many of the other traits present in Recoome. I’m not sure I remember a focus on this particular aspect of the HMA, and in many ways it has been a while. It’s very refreshing to see you return to such a strong archetypal character.

I really do enjoy when you delve into technical aspects like in the jab, actually showing off some specific knowledge about the way priority works and making it relatable and relevant. Recoome’s elbow has one of the better sweetspots I’ve seen in a while as it’s made pretty contextually relevant, with very good balance. I love how that elevates the Recoome’s Elbow to a core move for obvious reasons. In general I found the input placement here strong. Everything makes a heck of a lot of sense and the few times the set steps out of the orthodox on input placement, it’s a perfectly understandable reason why. The only time I felt a move was awkward was the bthrow possibly throwing the foe forward and the down throw in general just feeling a bit off in its animation. I would suggest just going up further in MSD for Pildriver, and axing the variable fall speed as I don’t see much point in it, but those aren’t huge issues. Overall the set is about as clean in its delivery as Recoome’s perfectly poised poses.

The balance goes hand in hand with the input placement. This guy can dominate well enough if he has his buffs up, mostly he’s going to want to play his spacing game and get in to do his work. There are a couple exceptions, namely the forward smash and Renegade Bomber that give him some token projectiles. Nonetheless he’s a pretty traditional grappler/HMA archetype that has to work for his melee. It’s a playstyle that meshes well with your style as this set is very competent at giving the correct level of reward for the player’s correct timing/strategy in a match, giving them better moves or an overall buff. A testament to its thoughtfulness, the set doesn’t go overboard handing out the nerfs or imba moves either way to try and compromise. It’s natural, unforced and the highest compliment I can give the set is it feels truly inspired and brimming with passion. I’m looking forward to reading those other two even more now.
 
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Professor Lexicovermis

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I never quite got around to adding images nor taunts to SM Eggman, but I'd love to see some critique on it! I'm more proud of it than my previous submissions, and I believe it's my best work yet!
 

Smady

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Hey Professor Lexicovermis Professor Lexicovermis just wanted to make a new post to notify you of my comment.

Sonic Mania Eggman on one hand shows a huge leap forward in your sets, it's clear the amount of effort you put into this set, but the concept of the set has some major issues that are easy to point out as a long-time veteran of the community. Number one problem here is the fact summons take up a huge chunk of the set, all the specials, all the smashes and some of the aerials. This is hugely problematic because it means Eggman has far fewer moves than a normal character to fight with and these moves are universally just a way to summon a new minion. The summoning animation on each of them isn't explained, Eggman just has the minion appear, though even that much detail is not given. So all of these moves are simply Eggman doing nothing as a summon appears next to him, with no stated lag or a snazzy entrance animation to glorify the minion. If it's any consolation though, the whole of Make Your Move went through a period where we'd make sets that did this kind of thing and it took years for us to realize why it's bad for all the reasons I stated.

What Eggman needs is to limit the summons of these moves to one or two specials and give them animations, stated lag, try to get creative with how each of these are summoned, and so on. Then you would return to all those summoning aerials, specials and smashes and put in attacks for Eggman, working in the minions as Eggman fights alongside them or has his own independent or co-dependant game plan. For the summons themselves, it would seem straightforward to put all the smashes onto one special that can be charged and the others all onto their own special where he could cycle through as they don't need to be charged. OR do what other recent sets have done and do a charge special where he summons the weaker ones first, then gets the stronger ones as a reward.

There's actually a couple other things I have to point out here about the set. The Phantom Ruby mechanic doesn't feel too necessary as a mechanic, it actually seems to be quite overpowered as it just lets Eggman summon a bunch of minions at once and though he may get punished for it severely, at a low enough percentage the punishment he gets is not going to outweigh the massive positive of summoning a truck load of heavies, badniks and others all at once. It gets to a point where he's basically won the match through sheer quantity of minions on stage and anything less than a KO in response means the foe can't win. And that's assuming he could be punished when he's swarmed the stage with Nack the Weasels or Heavy Riders that have their own attacks to interrupt the foe. There should be a limit on how many minions he can have out at once, in Smash 4 you don't see all this clutter but you obviously have seen what happens if you spam assist trophies or Pokeballs all at once... the game lags. So theoretically if you gave Eggman his infinite minions from the Phantom Ruby mechanic, it's going to potentially crash the game when there's no real limit on the overall amount of minions he can have, and even if it didn't crash the game it just makes Eggman snowball to the point he wins by default as the opponent has to fight the current minions as he runs away to create more!

The other big issue I had was the very idea of summoning the heavies from the game. I actually really like the ideas you had here and would think a sole special for all of these together would be an excellent idea... but the idea of putting all these guys as minions for another character is a disservice to them. Imagine if Dedede summoned Bandanna Dee, or Bowser summoned the Koopalings, you catch my drift? These characters deserve their own sets alongside Eggman and in the Skype (where you've been invited for a while now) we've discussed a movement. This isn't all that bad though as the easy fix is to just state these are copies of the Heavies and not the real thing, which is perfectly understandable for Eggman to be able to do on his own. As a general comment too, I do think the set after all these summons where Eggman fights himself is a little lacklustre. I know Eggman isn't known to directly fight but he is in a mech and has tons of gadgets or weaponry you could adapt. Anyway, I hope this is helpful and you don't feel disappointed in all the criticism I levied against the set, if you followed through on all my suggestions I think you could have a very good submission on your hands. I look forward to the changes to the set, or any future sets if you take my criticism to heart.

Hee-Mo is a decent set, it's telling if you compare this to some of your older sets that have worse filler, this one shows how well you can maintain quality even when on a limited word count. When you said you were making an entire set based off FANG's tether, I was definitely curious to see the result. This set reminds me of FANG in more ways than one, the blood stacking mechanics remind me of FANG's Toxic Focus and poisoning mechanics. FANG's pay-off is that he can perform a OHKO attack when he and the foe have sustained enough buffs or nerfs, here Hee-Mo is trapped in somewhat of an infinite cycle of trying to refresh his buffs to use in moves like forward smash. You're getting the Blood Boiling and stacking up, but there's not the punchy OHKO reward there was in FANG. One way you could raise the stakes a bit is in even further emphasizing the strengths/buff the mechanic, but add a more drastic cooldown and lower duration so that Hee-Mo has to really go on the offensive when he's managed to get a string of buffs off.

The set has some good melee and use of the tentacles, the one section I found a bit off was the grab game. Here you have a good understanding of how you wants its combos to work and in Smash 4, it's right for this kind of character, this size and archetype, to have some basic combos. What I felt was weirdly lacking is the "physics" aspect of the tether. When you said you were going to base the set off FANG's tether, I thought you'd be working around a tether that sped up or slowed down depending on the way the tether was leaning or move it around more within the set. I have to wonder if you thought about that yourself and decided against it for a reason I haven't thought of, or just didn't want to implement in that way. It does show later in the set that you're confident in doing a combo set and have the basics of Smash 4 down more than you ever had for Brawl (or me for that matter, just to make it clear that's a compliment), so maybe you felt you didn't need to do anything flashier, or felt limited by the word limit? Besides some lingering questions the set was pretty good though, nothing I can criticize about the balance. My biggest complaint is as a result of a surprisingly dry execution the redundancy in the playstyle is easier to spot. It honestly feels like you could return for some band aid fixes if you wanted, but not bad at all the way it is, good job.
 
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Professor Lexicovermis

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Hey Professor Lexicovermis Professor Lexicovermis just wanted to make a new post to notify you of my comment.

Sonic Mania Eggman on one hand shows a huge leap forward in your sets, it's clear the amount of effort you put into this set, but the concept of the set has some major issues that are easy to point out as a long-time veteran of the community. Number one problem here is the fact summons take up a huge chunk of the set, all the specials, all the smashes and some of the aerials. This is hugely problematic because it means Eggman has far fewer moves than a normal character to fight with and these moves are universally just a way to summon a new minion. The summoning animation on each of them isn't explained, Eggman just has the minion appear, though even that much detail is not given. So all of these moves are simply Eggman doing nothing as a summon appears next to him, with no stated lag or a snazzy entrance animation to glorify the minion. If it's any consolation though, the whole of Make Your Move went through a period where we'd make sets that did this kind of thing and it took years for us to realize why it's bad for all the reasons I stated.

What Eggman needs is to limit the summons of these moves to one or two specials and give them animations, stated lag, try to get creative with how each of these are summoned, and so on. Then you would return to all those summoning aerials, specials and smashes and put in attacks for Eggman, working in the minions as Eggman fights alongside them or has his own independent or co-dependant game plan. For the summons themselves, it would seem straightforward to put all the smashes onto one special that can be charged and the others all onto their own special where he could cycle through as they don't need to be charged. OR do what other recent sets have done and do a charge special where he summons the weaker ones first, then gets the stronger ones as a reward.

There's actually a couple other things I have to point out here about the set. The Phantom Ruby mechanic doesn't feel too necessary as a mechanic, it actually seems to be quite overpowered as it just lets Eggman summon a bunch of minions at once and though he may get punished for it severely, at a low enough percentage the punishment he gets is not going to outweigh the massive positive of summoning a truck load of heavies, badniks and others all at once. It gets to a point where he's basically won the match through sheer quantity of minions on stage and anything less than a KO in response means the foe can't win. And that's assuming he could be punished when he's swarmed the stage with Nack the Weasels or Heavy Riders that have their own attacks to interrupt the foe. There should be a limit on how many minions he can have out at once, in Smash 4 you don't see all this clutter but you obviously have seen what happens if you spam assist trophies or Pokeballs all at once... the game lags. So theoretically if you gave Eggman his infinite minions from the Phantom Ruby mechanic, it's going to potentially crash the game when there's no real limit on the overall amount of minions he can have, and even if it didn't crash the game it just makes Eggman snowball to the point he wins by default as the opponent has to fight the current minions as he runs away to create more!

The other big issue I had was the very idea of summoning the heavies from the game. I actually really like the ideas you had here and would think a sole special for all of these together would be an excellent idea... but the idea of putting all these guys as minions for another character is a disservice to them. Imagine if Dedede summoned Bandanna Dee, or Bowser summoned the Koopalings, you catch my drift? These characters deserve their own sets alongside Eggman and in the Skype (where you've been invited for a while now) we've discussed a movement. This isn't all that bad though as the easy fix is to just state these are copies of the Heavies and not the real thing, which is perfectly understandable for Eggman to be able to do on his own. As a general comment too, I do think the set after all these summons where Eggman fights himself is a little lacklustre. I know Eggman isn't known to directly fight but he is in a mech and has tons of gadgets or weaponry you could adapt. Anyway, I hope this is helpful and you don't feel disappointed in all the criticism I levied against the set, if you followed through on all my suggestions I think you could have a very good submission on your hands. I look forward to the changes to the set, or any future sets if you take my criticism to heart.

Hee-Mo is a decent set, it's telling if you compare this to some of your older sets that have worse filler, this one shows how well you can maintain quality even when on a limited word count. When you said you were making an entire set based off FANG's tether, I was definitely curious to see the result. This set reminds me of FANG in more ways than one, the blood stacking mechanics remind me of FANG's Toxic Focus and poisoning mechanics. FANG's pay-off is that he can perform a OHKO attack when he and the foe have sustained enough buffs or nerfs, here Hee-Mo is trapped in somewhat of an infinite cycle of trying to refresh his buffs to use in moves like forward smash. You're getting the Blood Boiling and stacking up, but there's not the punchy OHKO reward there was in FANG. One way you could raise the stakes a bit is in even further emphasizing the strengths/buff the mechanic, but add a more drastic cooldown and lower duration so that Hee-Mo has to really go on the offensive when he's managed to get a string of buffs off.

The set has some good melee and use of the tentacles, the one section I found a bit off was the grab game. Here you have a good understanding of how you wants its combos to work and in Smash 4, it's right for this kind of character, this size and archetype, to have some basic combos. What I felt was weirdly lacking is the "physics" aspect of the tether. When you said you were going to base the set off FANG's tether, I thought you'd be working around a tether that sped up or slowed down depending on the way the tether was leaning or move it around more within the set. I have to wonder if you thought about that yourself and decided against it for a reason I haven't thought of, or just didn't want to implement in that way. It does show later in the set that you're confident in doing a combo set and have the basics of Smash 4 down more than you ever had for Brawl (or me for that matter, just to make it clear that's a compliment), so maybe you felt you didn't need to do anything flashier, or felt limited by the word limit? Besides some lingering questions the set was pretty good though, nothing I can criticize about the balance. My biggest complaint is as a result of a surprisingly dry execution the redundancy in the playstyle is easier to spot. It honestly feels like you could return for some band aid fixes if you wanted, but not bad at all the way it is, good job.
Thank you for taking the time to critique my set! I appreciate the thought, and don't fret about me getting discouraged!

Okay, the very first takeaway is that Eggman needs to consolidate his summons into fewer inputs; that's doable! Perhaps it'd work best with the Heavies on one Special, the Gachapandora becoming a Special, and then perhaps consolidating the remaining summons into the remaining Specials. I also think I can safely drop a few minions that are less useful.

He also needs more detailed animations and the like on his summons. It's likely not clear from my writing, but each summon was intended to share the same animation. Reflecting on that, he'd be a very dull character visually.

The Ruby Chain Mechanic was intended to make him somewhat more unique than a standard summoner, and admittedly it doesn't do much for him. Reflecting on it, as you pointed out, reveals that it is stupidly broken. I'll simply excise it on updating.

I can understand the Heavy point, (and I post from a phone on top of being rather busy normally, so I'm not quite able to join a Skype, I'm afraid), so I'll simply clarify that they are merely replicas! Placing them on one input makes sense, perhaps with a sort of multi-tap input that allows Eggman to choose who he summons.

With the summons being moved to the Specials, I'll rewrite his standards and aerials to be more impressive and useful; it'll be a job, but will make the set better, I feel!

All in all, I appreciate your comment and hope that the coming changes will alleviate the set's issues!
 
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Smady

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Only 3 months late here's my comment on Doomfist. This was a real breakout for you Muno, this set incorporates a strong defensive mechanic in the The Best Defence. This mechanic is very satisfying for the player as it gives what is essentially an on-hit buff, giving Doomfist incentive to go on the offensive when he has this in his back pocket. I've always liked your heavyweight sets, but this is the first time you've been able to do a fully self-ware moveset in the archetype. It's hard to pick on this now quite polished style you have created as seen here, when you utilize it and then do small diversions on the mechanic, have strong, fun indivdual moves, you end up with a set that's visually creative and well balanced.

The moves are a fun take on the heavyweight bruiser; every move has a huge impact and massive power backing up every attack. Doomfist unsurprisingly throws around his fists to make craters in the ground or punches holes in clouds as he leaps as if a gorilla around the stage. It's definitely the sort of character I'd enjoy playing in game and the balance is hard to criticize. Best Defence's activation enables all of the melee to have a strong relevance in the playstyle, the stage domination is in-character, the wall special gives a nice edge to proceedings he needed in the set. It might get a little redundant with all the ground pounding and has to resort to some unorthodox moves like a down aerial grab or him moving around so much on two of his smashes, not a huge fan of those choices. Overall though, very good set here and one that deserves all the positive attention it has gotten.

Aku is another set I'm extremely late to the party on and it's hard to say anything new. This set is a weird one because its stated goal is to recreate the (awful) Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion set for Aku in Smash Bros without the unintended glitches of the PTE set. The set doesn't try and add much new to the set, the technically only new moves are the throws and a couple other inputs that are missing from the PTE engine. The set doesn't have a comedic writing style either, which might've made it a good joke set, so it's hard to see what the point was of this experiment. It's technically a success as it did implement Aku into the Smash engine. Problem there is that's not that hard when PTE has almost the same control scheme only lacking a few inputs. It did spawn a very entertaining chat discussion and FAQ so I can’t say a lot of good didn’t come from this set. Obviously, Aku can have a much better set than this where it's not limited by a PTE moveset.

McCree is a super competent and well polished set. The concepts are pretty clever, it's your standard playstyle designed around outplaying the foe by expertly setting up High Noon, using flash bangs and rolls to manipulate the situation in McCree's favour. It's not exactly your most inspired set though, and I don't feel like I need to go over the exact reasons why. What I do like though is moves like the forward smash, the forward tilt has shocking depth on the gameplay side and in general the skill ceiling is great for early activation on the flashbang. It's fitting for McCree to have a set with a high skill ceiling and it feels like a marksman, not much else you could ask for in a McCree set. It's impressive how you managed to work in all manner of escape mechanisms and forcing the foe to react, the set predicates on making a correct read, conditioning the foe. It's a smart, simple and solid moveset, good work Roy.

Junkrat is the third of these Overwatch sets, and for the character you'd assume has the best potential. This set makes a good show of using up all his props and explosions; surprisingly it even makes use of the character's strong personality (up smash) or making it a theme that he's a rash fighter. For example his up aerial headbutt, the down smash's inherently bad lag to make it easy to punish and the 50/50 in the back throw. The very idea of a 50/50 to me is most logical on a gambler or irrational character who wants to take such a chance and these small character moments are littered throughout the set, unless I'm reading too much into it, but this set aged well for me after I came back to it and looked for them. There was plenty to find! My only complaint might be not making enough out of his self-damage and tire. I suppose those aren't easy to work in, there is some other depth here hidden away. It’s an eccentric approach for the character I wouldn’t have expected but it grew on me in the past few months.

Blaster-Tron is built on solid ideas but the implementation isn't great here. Blaster-Tron's universal charge shot is implemented as a straight buff in no particularly creative ways. The gimmick is putting another hitbox on top of the primary one in a move, where the move tends to be a generic sword slash. This wouldn't be too bad but everything just feels like it's layering on top of something that wasn't anything great in the first place. The field special was a decent idea: Blaster-Tron gets a general buff when he's stood on it and this works into a stage control playstyle. But that’s not enough to sell the rest of the set, and in general there’s just no real hook of a gimmick to keep the set coherent. I wouldn't say the set is poorly balanced at least, though it has some weird moves like a neutral aerial that shoots out infinite range missiles. It feels like it's lacking that flair of sets like Cronus that take some chances to stand out on their own. I wouldn’t say it’s all that bad however, just very bland.

My first thought on Judy Hopps is that it’s sad no one got around to a comment on it yet. I know how big you’re a fan of Zootopia and you put tons of effort into fixing Nick's set. I knew quickly into reading Judy that in spite of the little feedback you've received for this set, it's obviously one you care about and would want to improve. This set is far more competent than Blaster-Tron, its obvious goal is a combo character. For the most part it’s got all the right elements and it’s head-and-shoulders above Nick’s original set. You’ve got all the necessary core moves for juggling, comboing and speed to make the playstyle work.

Still, there are a few things you really ought to change and after you edited Nick I’m hopeful you’ll listen as I thought about how to improve this set a little bit. For starters, I’d axe the counter. What it achieves is easily achieved by any move that hits the foe into the air with high end lag. Combo characters certainly benefit from a counter, but it’s not necessary. You mention in the standards at one point how ice buffs the movement of said move, this could easily be a new down special where she has a prop to make the ground slippery in some way, giving her a way to reduce traction, go faster and force the way the handcuffs work. The other big, easy change is just swapping up and down smash’s inputs. Up smash never actually hits up but it does hit down, the actual position of the hitbox is most similar to Bayonetta’s disjointed down smash from the point Judy initiates the move. As for the tornado down smash, that could very easily launch foes at a vertical/diagonal angle, or straight up depending on the hitbox. It’s a little off that the down smash does 20-30% too, smashes are just the uncharged damage x1.4 for maximum charge.

Another change I’d recommend is the way she works with stun, by far my biggest suggestion. The thing is that in this set, if you stun the foe with the dart gun, all you get out of is one free hit before they’re out of stun again and that doesn’t help you much. You can pull them around using the handcuffs for one attack or something, not exactly super useful. What might help is if instead this stun made the foe immune to histun for attacks under a certain percent of damage so that Judy can actually do her combos on them for the duration of their stun and time it so that she hits them out of the stun at the end with her KO move. I don’t know if this stun goes up or down based on percent, I assume that because the set compares the stun to a shield break that it’s the opposite to grabs like a shield break and is worse/lasts longer at low percents, which might not be a bad idea… it however does need to be specified. The taser fsmash is also a bit mediocre in purpose so I would try and work that into the mechanic I just proposed. If you actually did stuff like this, it’d elevate the set a good deal for me, and I’m very interested to hear if you like my ideas. What you’ve done with the core and the handcuffs so far is pretty good, enough for me to consider what’d take it to the next level.
 

Munomario777

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I've just gotten a new article up on the Bunker! It's called "The Verbs of Smash Bros.", and talks about the fundamental nature of player actions in games, in Smash, and in movesets. Here's a link.
 

Smady

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I read Captain Metal a long time ago, Roy and Muno covered much of what I wanted to talk about. The crab legs aren’t necessary and could easily be replaced in the specials by the down smash. The set has a few very fun ideas. Constructing your own minions from their parts after they’ve died had the possibility to be a super creative approach to a minion character and it would’ve then been easy to work the set into the ways you could adapt to the match or your opponent. The set gets far too wrapped up in trying to justify its multiple weapon switch mechanics. The forward and down smash should be moves that stand on their own as attacks, the attacks however are the secondary purpose and up smash just showcases that the weapon switch is pretty dull. There are definitely a good few moves where the fun part is supposed to come from the switch and instead these end up as two completely different moves where neither one feels particularly satisfactory.

You need to ask yourself in a set like this if you really want the weapon switch, as it seems to be an active detriment and if you do want one, you need to see if the moves when switched up add up to be greater than simply two alternate versions of the same move that exist in parallel movesets. If you want a good weapon switch, Shulk in Smash 4 has an elegant way of changing his stats and doesn’t rely on interactions or fundamentally changing his moveset. These mechanics end up harming you more than they help by splitting the moves in half.

All that said, I was disappointed this set wasn’t better as I liked the minions and felt the concepts presented on the forward/down smash had potential. It’s an interesting concept to swap the AI of a minion that deserved a place in the specials and then you didn’t even need further interactions after the specials. Ultimately you feel as if Captain Metal’s own set is being cluttered by all the interactions and switches. Frankly this is one of those sets where I feel cutting down the set’s length and axing many of the interactions would help improve it easiest. The leftovers would get closer to the heart of the character.

Guldo got a remake but there’s no throws that puts the foe into a pretzel? This is blasphemous. Guess I’ll have to rip off the down throw when I make Jeice this time. This set is a great fun and could be said to be a natural evolution of the psychic archetype, as much as Sloth has been the evolution of that archetypal heavyweight you’ve improved every so often. Guldo does the logical marriage of telekinetically throwing boulders/wood spears and the time freeze shenanigans. The specials are shocking in that they aren’t trying to stack everything together, you separate the boulder and spears, plus you could’ve easily put the time freeze and paralysis on one move if you were desperate. This ends up giving the set the breathing room to properly balance some of the harder concepts.

I would say it’s carried off almost flawlessly except for one or two fringe issues. I don’t know why the opponent is even allowed to attack when they’re frozen and it’s a strange, if small part of the move. Bayonetta’s Witch Time should’ve just been copy pasted/referenced and left at that. Time freeze is as balanced as it could be outside of the buffing down throw that can deal up to 44% + pummel damage out of a grab (9% for the throw and 35% for the up special). I’m not completely sure this is viable though as the up special has some lag to it, the set might just need to emphasize this is only if the foe’s read hard after the down throw. These are however the only two instances in the whole set where I could criticize the balance and in a set for a time stopping psychic that’s a good result. It’s not one of those sets that cops out on the time freeze, it’s just there, Guldo freezes everything.

I have to comment on the whole Time Freeze mechanic too, it’s awesome how you interpreted the time freeze to give Guldo super speed. Outside of the down throw’s excessive damage, the way he automatically punches/kicks was a really clever way to take advantage of the way that freezing time works. Thinking on it the only way I would criticize it is again to point to Witch Time, a mechanic in Smash already that has far less baggage and is easier to balance around. As Time Freeze here isn’t really the point, that’d be the spears, the boulders/terraforming and projectile manipulation, there wouldn’t be much to lose from copying Witch Time wholesale and slapping on a generic recovery. You’d not need to lose the best part, the visual of super fast Guldo and it might be worth seriously thinking about this potential change.

The rest of the set is what I’d expect out of the concepts. I really enjoyed the creative ways you went about moves such as jab, reminding me a good deal of Gruntilda, and up throw, reminding me of a bunch of sets. The various eye laser moves had a lot of imaginative ideas too. I particularly liked the little soft interactions, for example the fsmash that only combos when it’s going up a slope, cue the spear and its ability to stick in the ground. The up throw is the best example of a logical interaction and I have to compliment the set a lot on avoiding having many interactions period outside of the grab game where it feels the most correct place. Back onto the spear, sticking it into the ground was a really cool idea. If anything, I felt you could’ve made more use of this pseudo-wall given the right limitations, but can hardly complain that much when you got all this material out of another slope.

As far as anything that stuck out to me as remotely awkward, the down tilt was pushing it a little. Guldo has a decent theme of wanting to ledge hog or play around the ledges but on one hand you have the fsmash following the rules of how moves work in the game then the dtilt on a far less important input upending them for the sake of playstyle relevance. On a similar note, the way boulders lag the boulder special when off stage is a little weird for similar consistency issues. I don’t think it’d be imbalanced if he could simply create a boulder off stage when he wanted. These are some pretty miniscule issues though, and have very little impact on my overall enjoyment of the set. Outside of the balance of the up special and down throw, I have no major criticisms. This set was just as fun as Recoome to read and I’m glad to have one left to go! Very good job on these sets, I hope Burter can live up to the other two.

Balrog is a set I was excited to see finished and for good reason, as this is one of the smartest executions I’ve ever seen of a character who only punches (and rarely headbutts and kicks). This meter mechanic employed here elaborates on the minor input mechanic where Ryu can do his EX Hadouken and other specials to instead give entirely new moves. This works very well on Balrog as in the game he already has his TAP mechanic that always gives him a strong hand to play at his most desperate. It’s fitting that he’d be given a mechanic that lets him pull out a wholly new, buffed move at the right time, it’s another one of those times where the gamble is in-character. This is the real meat of the set as the core moves are decent enough but the most enjoyment comes from reading all the imaginative ways you give them a greater purpose when turned into an EX move. It’s every single attack in this set and it’s hard to pinpoint really any of them that felt out-of-place or reaching for a purpose, because they’re all fairly well-defined.

One thing I like too is that this set gets completely away from the Little Mac set in Smash 4. It’d be far too easy to make this the “balanced Little Mac” as another boxer. For that matter, it makes a great break from Ryu too. The down special is kind of generic by our own standards but it makes perfect sense as a pseudo-Focus Attack and at the same time, it does have a strong amount of synergy with the way Ryu’s Focus Attack actually works. The Ryu synergy and referencing mechanics like Stun give off a nice feeling of coercion between the existent Street Fighters. That’s only one way, this set has many smaller references to Street Fighter and Ryu’s mechanics, and I can always appreciate the dedication to purity in a set. It’s great how this and Guldo stick so undyingly close to the source material.

One thing I’d like to touch on and I’m not sure if this is a positive or a negative, is the input system. Ryu’s input system I can at times struggle with in Smash 4 as a non-Ryu main and I don’t really bother with it a whole lot, Ryu mains obviously have a good handle on it. I have a hard time believing that Balrog mains would ever fully absorb the huge amount of expected knowledge of all his EX inputs or that there’d end up being more than a handful of masters at the character. For all we talk about high skill ceilings, this guy is pretty nuts and some of these inputs, for example the 180 up tilt might be a bit much to ask from any beginner or intermediate player. On the other hand, I do like that this does add in the level of Street Fighter skill to a degree. This would play a part in balancing the character’s potential dominance when the player has to know all these inputs and take this into account. The most important aspect that makes it hard to really criticize is that it never felt as though you’d be accidentally doing any of these inputs. There’s really just a ton of depth to the input system here in general that deserves some attention for what it’s trying to do.

In general, I really liked a lot of the ways you improved the EX moves. Obviously these aren’t direct buffs to damage or knockback and instead can be utility based, one of the best simple ones placing a cap on the amount of damage a foe takes to 40% (although couldn’t this just be set knockback?), granting various forms of super armour, tripping and the list goes on. As far as complaints, the down aerial’s animation becoming a stall-then-fall is a little awkward, the 40% cap not being set knockback on back throw, and the up smash is a little overpowered. His entire upper body intangible and his lower half super armoured? That’s pretty insane for 1 bar of EX meter. Overall though, I’d say this is one of your best sets in the last few contests, and I really enjoyed it! Good work again Roy.

I read Iris after Doomfist and DeGrey so I had some high standards, for a 5k word moveset this is hardly fair because this set’s far more experimental than those at this word limit. I wasn’t sold on the gimmick of Infrared and Ultraviolet after my first read of the set as I felt it might’ve divided the effects between the already short moves, after thinking on it I changed my opinion. This helps to create some of the best moves in the back aerial and down tilt just for the versatility it gives Iris without going overboard. These are big changes to the moves but only change a few elements. On the other hand, the smaller changes you wrote for the jab and up smash have their own subtler effect on the playstyle. It’s a very measured approach where you’re able to meld two distinct but similar playstyles on the same set.

I can see why Roy likes the set as much as he does for the approach alone. I wouldn’t say the set particularly blew me away even taking into account what possible improvements could be made at a higher word count, this set is practically crafted around the word limit given its gimmick is two short, simple and largely similar movesets with a few small changes and a few big creative concepts. In many ways it reminds me of Zelda’s set. You’ve got all the magic obviously, but the up smash, side special and up special vaguely resemble the teleport and Din’s Fire. It’s what I’d expect when I thought up the challenge and can hardly complain for it being worse than DeGrey or Doomfist, so I’m very happy this exists.

DGAMER DGAMER This set for Pong or, uh, COLOR TV GAME-15 is worth delving into, as it’s been some time since we’ve had a set for a completely abstract character. The bad unfortunately starts immediately in the passive. No character should be able to passively reflect all projectiles. The fact it makes all projectiles deal 10% means that characters wouldn’t even try and fire them; even non-damaging ones are now a negative. Reflectors are fine and giving an effect on a special for him to reflect projectiles makes sense. This is definitely not something that should be a passive.

I don’t remember Pong being a glitchy game, I don’t get why this set is glitching up in the specials? I know that the Pong paddle doesn’t have any potential but I feel like what you probably wanted here was more of a strobe effect of an old CRT or video game that would phase the paddle out of existence. That would be a decently creative idea for an abstract old character. If anything the reason this game took off in a big way is precisely because it wasn’t glitchy and was reliably consistent to play. These moves break the set too. Teleporting away during hitstun means Pong can effectively do to many multihit moves or other types of attacks reliant on set knockback to combo (Cloud/Ganondorf dsmash), what he does to projectiles, making them unusable for characters if he can teleport away in the middle of their animation. The special that lets him take no knockback is equally broken. And again here, this is all based on the concept that Pong is glitchy. Is Pong secretly related to Missingno?

I mean I know I’m obviously not mean to take this set too seriously and it at least has the paddle ball in there, but the core playstyle idea wouldn’t be good on any set period. You don’t want to base a whole set on having every move look the same. If you turned the glitches into strobes and axed the passive, you might want to let the Pong paddle tilt a ridiculous amount and turn him into a sandbag physically, giving him the ability to just fully tilt all over the place. You may as well let him summon another paddle for anything here without making it even more abstract by focusing on the fact he doesn’t animate. It just makes me feel bad for Pong that it both can barely move and glitches out constantly when it’s presented as an elegant assist trophy in Smash 4. You should’ve either gone all the way making a joke out of it doing un-Pong like things or stuck completely to what Pong can do, as it comes off very funny just the attempt to mesh these things in an already hilariously misguided concept for a set. Oh well, I definitely got some cheap laughs out of the whole thing.
 
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Munomario777

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I was gonna post these as part of a larger block, but figured I might as well go ahead and post 'em since I've not made any more progress toward that block for a day or two at this point.

Guldo is a pretty ambitious set (I expect no less from MasterWarlord MasterWarlord 's sets), with a really cool time-freeze gimmick and projectile-constructs that play off of it. Each move also has something unique going on, and while some of the effects are pretty strange, I'd be remiss not to give Guldo a high ranking when it has so many diverse concepts while also keeping its focus. (sorry this comment is so short, I read this set forever ago and have just now gotten back into writing comments)
Cronus has to be the best Bionichute Bionichute set I've read this contest, I'd say. The pause mechanic is actually a very nice way to do a time stop overall, since it focuses more on gaining advantages such as cool projectile setups, positional advantages, or charging your Up B, rather than just hitting the foe over and over. (Since, well, you CAN'T just hit someone over and over.) In particular, I think the ammo bank works in a really cool way – it incentivizes Cronos to get up close and personal, since that's the way you recharge his ultimate attack. Same thing for the infection, except the foe is incentivized to come at cronus to remove the poison effect (which might be a bit overpowered tbh, as an aside). I like a couple of the characterization touches too, such as how Cronus just slaps away projectiles during pause (which is amazing) or how the minions are so incompetent that it's not even a huge downside that they're hostile to Cronus.

On the topic of characterization, though, I find it pretty dang weird that a TON of Cronus's standards use prop-ish weapons that aren't exactly his. It does add to move variety and is potentially a cool reference (haven't seen the show so I can't say for sure), but maybe they could be projected out of his normal time belt or something? As opposed to him pulling ten different weapons out of his pocket. There's also a few mechanical things that are really weird, such as Forward Smash. Like, if charging it doesn't increase the startup... then why would you ever *not* charge it? It basically just makes the uncharged version nonexistent, so it's weird to include the charge at all at that point. Also, it's strange when it does 40-60% but doesn't KO until 90%; that's up to twice the damage of a regular Warlock Punch but with much less kill power. Up B is also pretty strange in some of the specific ways it works, mainly in how it teleports Cronus and the foe back to where the KO blow was dealt. I'd probably just have him respawn at the clock instead (with respawn invincibility or something to prevent easy punishes), but the "counter" aspect is also admittedly kinda neat. Finally, the throw follow-up mechanic seems pretty pointless, since kinda like Forward Smash's charge, there's scarcely a reason to ever *not* use the follow-ups. They just deal more damage and KO earlier. Maybe the non-chained-throws can combo at low percents or something? But the way the set words it, all the throws sound like just straight up kill throws, which is also pretty bland on that note.

With that said, Cronus is a pretty dang solid set with cool ideas and fun execution. Well done Bion!

These comments, along with star rankings, will be up shortly in my main rankings post on the first page of the thread (as always).
 
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DGAMER

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Smady Smady
Thank you for your feedback! I’ve wondered a bit if people liked the set or thought it was a terrible monstrosity. Let me reply to some things.

I started making the set with the idea of the passive in mind, but looking back on it, it does seem like it’s a bit too overpowered. I kinda wanted to avoid limiting the passive too much, but I also wanted to make it so that the idea of pong (A game where you reflect a ball around) is present. I completely forgot about non damaging projectiles, so I’ll probably edit the passive a bit.

You were right on the strobe effect idea, I was trying to find a word for it, but couldn’t come up with anything. Gonna try and fix that as well. (I currently live without full free access to internet and wrote the thing offline. It's a long story.)

The idea behind reset was to give him another way to recover outside of upspecial (Pong is light, needs a sorta good recovery). I realize that the concept of teleporting through hitstun was a bit too much, so I tried to limit it by not allowing you to do it more than 1 time per minute, and only allowing one at a time. The idea was for it to be used when you are launched far away, as a quick recovery. I completely forgot about multihit moves however, so I’ll probably set a knockback requirement or limit it even more.

I actually thought a long time about what the down special would be, so I came up with the concept of a different counter (You still take damage, and can’t get anything if your opponent is at a low percent). It is a bit stupid, so I’ll probably completely change it.

From the start, I didn’t want Pong to be projectile based, so I gave Pong only one move with the paddle ball.(I did attempt to make it multi purpose.) A projectile based Pong set would make too much sense.

The paddle is a paddle. I figure I don’t want to make the paddle into something it isn’t, so I tried to avoid changing how the basic paddle looked like. Using the same animations for different moves allows for this. That being said, I figure I should find a way to identify some of the moves.

The endgoal with this was to take a a obvious joke, and turn it into something that could have worked. A jokeset that doesn’t go to terrible grammar, giving out random katanas, or just saying jokes instead of moves, but instead makes you realize it could work. I knew it was a terrible set, but hey, I’m proud of it.

That being said, I seriously hope I don’t win the “Realistic Newcomer” Thing. After looking at the other sets, it seems that I’m the only one that actually qualifies. (Unless you count Omega Metroid because Metroid) It would be completely stupid if this terrible jokeset won.

Still, thank you for your feedback. Hopefully, I’ll get around to doing at least one more set. Look out for edits soon.
 

Smady

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DGAMER DGAMER Cool to see you take my criticism on board! I know the set wasn't anything too serious. It may be best to just do something else entirely that's a little more serious. The set basically achieved what it set out to do when I found any of it funny, and I can hardly blame you for these mistakes on a character this abstract. I'd like to see more sets for the Realistic Newcomers event Roy's running too, as this one is a bit out there.

Scourge the Hedgehog is an archetype of set I like, the “Luigified clone” as everyone once said on Smash World Forums. This stemmed from how Luigi was gradually “de-cloned” from Mario after Smash 64, in this case Scourge is what would happen if a clone of Sonic was gradually given his own individual set. The reason I bring this up is because when you compare Luigi to Scourge here, Luigi has far more unique moves. The only shared specials are the fireball and recovery, but these are also very different. Scourge has the exact same specials as Sonic and while the later inputs diversify, the specials are the core of the moveset. There’s no chance for this set to be its own thing when the specials are direct clones of Sonic’s, be it the default or custom versions. It doesn’t really give a lot of character to Scourge and instead just feels like an alternate version of Sonic’s specials. Muno brought up Wario in the chat recently and that approach is a lot more reasonable, where Wario is the anti-Mario, but all of Wario’s specials are different, it’s his less important moves that are meant to be the opposite of Mario.

That’s my main issue with this set; it doesn’t really set out what Scourge is other than a clone of Sonic. It does try for some personality at least, in moves such as the down tilt although these moves that try to give him character can end up feeling a little broken. For example the down tilt deals 18%, which for Sonic’s body shape seems very steep. Likewise, the forward tilt is quite tacky stunning the foe by jabbing their eyes. Can you imagine this animation on robotic, tall, or short characters, there’s so many characters I can imagine it looking awkward on. Maybe, maybe it would work slightly if you emphasized it had to hit something like a facial area and you could angle it, but the way it is, makes no sense. Later on, you say the forward aerial is not good for a tech chase… but what forward aerial spike would be? And lets be honest a pummel where you kick the opponent in the groin is pretty childish even for this character. To cap it off, the down throw’s stalling is really lame to put in a set.

To summarize, this set doesn’t give much idea of who Scourge is other than a clone of Sonic. I’m going to guess that isn’t far off the truth but nonetheless, it’s not a particularly well-designed set even as a Sonic clone. There’s not a lot of cohesion on a playstyle level and the balance is very iffy on moves like forward tilt, down tilt and many of the aerials are devastating for a character that apparently has the same proportions as Sonic, a relative weakling in Smash. The later input sections wouldn’t be so bad. It’s all pronounced by a weakly distinguished set of specials. It’s annoying because this set shows definite signs of improvement from your previous sets in the effort you put in and I can see you trying to make all the later sections relevant, just not quite there yet.

Cortex is a tough one to comment on frankly, as I have a very thought out plan for how I would approach the character and I can’t help feeling I might be too biased. When I look at this set of specials, I definitely feel like the hoverboard is wrong and largely irrelevant later, the jetpack is a similar deal and should’ve been a second/aerial jump or hover, the minions aren’t necessary and the shield is the one part I agree on the input, but not the execution. That said, the minions are good, they’re one of the best parts and that’s one part where I do like your attempt at giving Cortex some definition. I do wish it had depth beyond returning to the minions for later interactions, but nonetheless, it’s a cool idea incorporating those lab scientists into the set.

Where the set honestly is poorest for me is input placement, and it feels like poor input placement is rampant throughout the set. It’s weird to be throwing mines on a down smash, I know Snake plants a mine in the ground, my idea was putting them on a special so there wouldn’t be this problem. The forward smash is odd not on a special as its justification as a powerful smash attack isn’t there in the same way as MegaMan, it feels weird that this projectile transforms midair after a largely superfluous period where it’s a useful hitbox, I’d have put that on a special. The bomb on forward tilt is a little weird and could’ve been a smash or special. The up smash is also weird because while it does hit up, Tropy’s staff never does that, and the real important aspect of the move is when it comes down as you’d expect. So a lot of the time the set ends up feeling like it’s trying to justify these odd choices of input and the attack comes across as secondary to the interaction.

The interactions are the best part of the set as they give some reason for the minions to exist and generally are logical. They make the set into a largely minion-based playstyle which is not an execution I expected for a Cortex set. He never really summons or appears alongside them even. I don’t think there’s any frame of Cortex being next to one of the scientists in the original trilogy, though he does have them kidnap Tawna in the first game from off-camera. If I was going to pick out an aspect I really don’t like here, it’s got to be the really odd way you made the hoverboard work. He gets hit off it during the start lag too easily, the way it’s summoned in the air is very weird, I just want to ride the hoverboard! The jetpack isn’t much better quite honestly, I know I told you that it’d be bad to have too much recovery in both the jetpack and hoverboard being specials, but this isn’t what I had in mind. This set would just be improved if you swapped many of these move inputs to make sense and then that would naturally lead you to make smarter design choices, not have to spend all this time justifying why the inputs.

Cronus was a real fun set to read, and it goes a long way that you went to the trouble of showing off all the weapons/moves in images for a change! It's palpable how much you care about the character and make this into an AAA production. For starters, even more so than Guldo, this is a pure time stop set with no cop outs. The way the mechanic works is pretty clever in treating hits as currency for him to recharge his time stop, Kitanji had a similar mechanic but I actually prefer what you did here. You then have the smart and logical minion mechanic of hitting them to earn the hits easier, and it's definitely nice to see you try and balance this mechanic by giving him slow ways to summon both the minions as well as the clock. It's a little bit of a missed opportunity not meshing in the revival clock as a positioning tool or his melee up special, but at least it's there. The moves are some of your best at melee range simply for their imaginative animations. I like seeing all these different weapons and making a big deal out of their properties. Although I'm not sure I read how you deal with multihit moves or other outliers for the time stop mechanic? I would guess they all count as 1 hit for that.

I definitely liked the smash section although I'm not sure the forward smash is very extreme in its start lag and definitely did not need to be quite that slow, and generally the set might benefit from some super armour on moves that are that slow. When time is stopped, Cronus tries and makes a big deal out of moves interacting differently just by being in the time stop and mostly, it's just a way to get out different versions of projectiles and manipulating them around. I feel that in this respect, its direct comparison Guldo had a more succinct method, but Cronus definitely tries its utmost to give some fun mechanics for when you do manage to get the time stop off.

As far as criticism goes, I'm not sure that cronus should really get a Time Stop right off the bat if I'm reading it right. He should have to earn even that one. The set also has an interesting but unfinished feeling mechanic of having to press a button to do a second hit for many of the moves. This would've been a much better mechanic, and could easily be still if you gave some kind of negative for missing the second hit's timing, as it's way too vague at the moment. Maybe losing one of his "hits" if he doesn't time it correctly? As right now, this whole mechanic just seems like it's asking for abuse and the player to spam at the right time, so it's pretty worthless. This could also have worked into the way the hitboxes and time stop works to give some further depth to the character... but for now just working in any negative for it and being more specific about how exact the time is would really help. Overall though I'm happy how this set came out. It's definitely your strongest this contest not having read Bomb King yet and I hope there's more sets in this style from you in the future!
 
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FrozenRoy

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Miles Edgeworth (DeGrey Munomario777 Munomario777 )

This set I feel really was a surprise treat for people reading it, Fantasy Strike being a fighting game based heavily on distillation and simplicity, although it has potential for some sets I feel (I have ideas jotted down for Rook, for example). I feel like I've been a bit of a glutton for Muno sets this contest, given I've both read and liked all of them so far, but it really does feel like you've taken strides this contest, finding your "voice" if you will, the actual writing of your sets has improved it feels. It reminds me both of Izaw's Art of Smash videos and pretty much all of the Fantasy Strike spotlights, both of which I feel are good things.

So, DeGrey. Counter-Hit is an interesting mechanic, perhaps in part because counter-hits are common in fighters but not really a thing in Smash Brothers, making it something familiar yet different. The mechanic at first feels a bit small to be such a main focus, but when you combine that with DeGrey's heavy focus on frame traps, it really does come together quite well, creating a very focused and synergistic playstyle that nonetheless doesn't devolve into having just one trick, which is pretty impressive.

The Specials are about what you'd expect from DeGrey: The Counter-Point Step, the ghost, his double kick and a recovery move. I particularly like the Counter-Point step, from the small things like the way it can be used to ledge snap during ledge traps to a multitude of ways to play around the foe, their shield and their attacks with the three options provided which are pretty accurate conceptually to Fantasy Strike. This implementation reminds me of how I did Balrog's Charging Buffalo even, a multitude of options that pressure the foe in order to get them to choose an option and punish it. The ghost does everything expected and is a fairly fine centerpiece for the Specials, it feels like it has more playstyle function than just a stun due to the internal cooldown and how it interacts with the rest of DeGrey's set, plus the fact that DeGrey's rarely gonna get the full second. And, importantly, it isn't spammable thanks to the cooldown, so you can't really make gameplay a miserable slog for the foe.

I was surprised by the Ghost Riposte and Final Arbiter being on the Specials, as I expected at least one to be a Final Smash, Final Arbiter being the recovery makes a lot of sense though and helps flesh out 4 Specials for translation. Ghost Riposte I feel is perhaps a bit awkward here: I do appreciate the gameplay value, which makes me not dislike it, but it feels rather disconnected from Persephone's Ghost as a move, and I do wonder if perhaps a different Super could go here and something like the Ghost Riposte enter the Smashes.

On that note, the Smashes are the weakest part of the set by far, a reversal of norms for you. I like the Down Smash, but Forward Smash is only decent gameplay-wise, feeling a bit too similiar to the Counter-POint Step move it emulates in some regards, and the Up Smash just feel supremely wonky to me animation-wise with the gameplay value being kind of eh, kind of clever. Personally, I feel it would have been interesting to have just one more Ghost move in the set, and for it to be in the Smashes, which would help drive home the Ghost's importance and add a bit more penalty to the Ghost cooldown as well. Maybe some kind of solid fast/GTFO option which DeGrey lacks, to make the Ghost's downtime even more weakening by taking away one of his few options there? Key would be not to make the move too good, both Up Smash and Forward Smash could be modified for this or have elements of their original involved. You could also possibly add Ghost Riposte somewhere here instead, maybe a move that turns into a vicious counter if interrupted during the start but weak/punishable otherwise?

Surprisingly, DeGrey's grab game was one of the strongest selling points of the set I feel, something which is usually a bit of a struggle for you. Down Throw I thought was fun, especially as it is a stronger incentive for DeGrey to hold the ghost reserve, with Forward Throw being fun, mostly in combination with Counter-Point Step and the resulting descision trees. Up Throw was probably my 2nd favorite or most favorite throw alongside Down Throw, though, as it sets up a cool situation for DeGrey and the foe that also serves as a "glue" move to help DeGrey's moveset properly function. Both the aerials and the standards have fun moves, although Forward Tilt felt off to me for reason I can't entirely articulate, Jab was really clever and aerials like Neutral Aerial and Forward Aerial served as excellent moves to aid DeGrey's overall playstyle.

This one feels like a bit of a sleeper hit, even if it isn't as good as Doomfist. I agree with Smady that the set feels longer than it is, but in a good way: Rather than due to being a slog, it is because it fits a lot of information in a nonetheless concise and clear manner. It really fits your style and it has very little bad about it: The worst one can say is that it might feel somewhat generic at times. And, to that, something I feel like asking is...well, how many sets like DeGrey do you really see? I don't think there's all that many sets that focus on frame traps, counter hits, and quite intricate descision trees like DeGrey, the simple stuff here actually is in many ways not seen at all, and that itself makes it fairly unique, something which might be criminally underrated. I hope you continue to make some excellent sets, Muno, because I'm digging this output of yours.

Recoome Comment! (Recoome MasterWarlord MasterWarlord )

The Ginyu Force continues to pose into existance with Recoome (Burter's speed must have failed him to get read last), the latest Warlord set in a contest where he's had a pretty consistant posting schedule, something which is quite nice: You've already matched your contributions last contest with about half a contest to go! It's a good pace.

Lets start with the stuff I like about Recoome: I'm a pretty big fan of the Taunts and their mechanics, in addition to Bravado, and quite like them here. Move-Taunts are something which are hard to do, in part because I feel it is difficult to make characters with whom it fits: Recoome and Dan Hibiki are two good examples of where it could fit, and I feel most of the Ginyu Force could (Personally, I'd rather Guldo's Ginyu Force Pose be a taunt). The Taunt buffs here are mostly good too, with the Majestic Space Duck being the primary one of course, although I feel The Finger is probably the weakest. Bravado is a pretty fun way to do something rather interesting with a hard to use gimmick of Recoome's move names and it is something I feel is pretty creative and new about the set, and it feels like it has both good flow and good character flow.

Seeing as they're buffs, the set needs good attacks to play off of them, and I do feel this set has some pretty nice stuff. Dash Attack is definitely my favorite move in the set I think, as I really like how it plays with Majestic Space Duck and how it works with his slopes/pits as well. Back Aerial is pretty neat and I enjoy the way that if you do get the Majestic Space Duck + multi-BAir combos off that, well, it's gonna basically look like Dragonball combat with you smashing them from both sides and flying around and the like. Up Smash was pretty fun, I like the way it weaves into the poses both in the lag reduction and how the attack having its own pose works with Recoome's taunt buffs as an extension, it's well done. I also like how Forward Smash handles it's animation and the general hitbox, although some of the rules on how it works seem odd. Also, the recoil if you're hit should be lowered, especially if it works with multihits or recoils on a grab + throw, right now I could see people getting behind him and using fast options during the duration to get multiple backfires and massive damage and 20% damage recoil if the opponent predicts is really harsh. I feel like Forward Throw was a really cool take on the Mewtwo forward throw style and has some pretty cool stuff to it, with combo options, variable killing potential, and so on...sadly, I feel the grab game kinda then makes this throw somewhat redundant. Up Tilt should give some idea of what the damage of the grinder can do outside of ideal situations, but I like the move.

I joked in chat about the "The name's Recoome" not being here and the like, but I actually do wonder if it would fit better than The Finger as a buff, as said Finger seems like the weakest taunt. It could be a multi-part taunt (The quote has three "parts", after all) which you can repeatedly input in a row to get more, or stop part-way through, giving Recoome either a short or a long taunt...and it would then allow Recoome to perform mixups with his Up Smash, as he can either stop Taunting and throw out a sudden, powerful Up Smash, or he can continue Taunting for buffs, or he can even do nothing/go for another option. I feel like with a good effect, this could have a good deal more gameplay relevance than The Finger currently does.

This set has a lot of words dedicated to effects that will rarely have an actual impact on the match and in general some very specific/odd stuff. Jab feels like the biggest case for this, as the middle two paragraphs don't mean much aside from the fact that it is oddly hard to combo when you cancel it off a slope, and the last paragraph has more use but it isn't as core, personally I would rather know more about what happens when he actually hits the Jab: Does it reset neutral, is it more for spacing, is it a combo move? Down Tilt is a pretty weird move with a lot of focus on the follow-up, but it doesn't really feel like a Down Tilt, more an alternative Forward Tilt: Considering he's making slopes and pits, or in other words areas where a low hitting move would be useful, it is an odd design descision. Down Aerial's off stage uses are neat, but I can't imagine the 7 Mario drop into 2 crack ground for a cancel is going to come up that often. Down Smash felt weird in general, I assume the time to bend over and fire behind is meant to be close to a backhit of a Down Smash, but it still feels like a somewhat awkward mechanic in general, the options you get on a slope are kind of neat but I'm not sure it is worth it, it might be better if he had a more normal Down Tilt since it means he has two wonky down hitting moves despite making pits/slopes AND a stall than fall, making him weak to people under him...when he's trying to make space for people to be under him. Personally, I wonder if it would be a good idea to give Recoome a fast, weak spike somewhere: It would help with combos, especially with pit/slope play (FAir kind of does this but it is pretty laggy and so not as great for it at all) and the like.

Does Recoome's Up Special not have a hitbox when he hits himself to recover? As written it seems that way, but I'm afraid I might be missing something here, it seems like a really crappy recovery if it doesn't have a hitbox. The move has a pretty cool aesthetic, but projectiles don't exactly play into Recoome much at all and it feels rather superflous by the end of the moveset. Neutral Aerial's ground timing stuff is pretty weird and the landing hit seems odd coming out of the multi-hitting Neutral Aerial. NAir also seems potentially really strong with the Majestic Space Duck, can't you keep opponents in it pretty easily/follow-up with even another NAir and stuff at lower percents with the Majestic Space Duck jumps?

Slopes/pits seem a bit hard to make and there's some nonsensical stuff for doing them as well (why would you focus on slamming the foe into the same ground if you repeatedly land Side Specials instead of the large amount of damage you're doing?), but given they're for a full stock, I suppose that makes sense because otherwise you could decimate the stage too much and that'd be bad. The fact that two of his other throws are KO throws similiar in percentage to Forward Throw feels like it cheapens Forward Throw, which is notable because Forward Throw is probably the coolest throw here, although I like Back Throw's ledge play. Down Throw is pretty cool (and the bit about holding the ground chunk made me laugh) and did help out the grab game overall. Something else that is odd is that a good deal of the stuff with slopes/pits is mostly usable at low damage percentages...when stuff like the Piledriver and whatnot require damaging the foe to make pits/slopes.

Recoome's ideas felt stronger than Guldo for a base, the Taunts and Bravado, but I feel like Guldo had the superior execution, and I'd definitely say I enjoyed Guldo more than Recoome. But that doesn't make Recoome a bad set, as I still thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly when it got some neat melee like the Dash Attack, but it has some awkward input placement/design descisions to it and the sense of gameplay flow doesn't feel as strong as a set like Guldo or DeGrey. This and Guldo excite me to read Burter and are a solid contest start for the Warlord Force.
 
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ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
Kamen Rider Cronus
This set actually did improve for me a fair bit on a reread, as I was actually on the whole not all that fond of it initially. Its a pretty straightforward time stopper, with the idea being to create a bunch of hitboxes during time stop and just watch them all mess up the opponent horribly as soon as the time stop ends. Where Cronus distinguishes himself is much better balance of this concept than previous attempts, as he actually needs to beat up on opponents to get his time stop recharged. While its smaller, Cronus also has the "trail" effects that come out after a time stop to allow him to genuinely incorporate his melee into what are usually just projectile combos, and while I think this set could definitely have been more elaborated on it gives every move some unique applications in a time stop for a truly startling amount of time stop combinations.

That being said there are a lot of areas I think the set struggles, and the easiest one to bring up is just the incorporation of the Bugster Virus. The strong multiplier it gives to one hit before removal is neat and the base idea of the ability to pull it out at just the right time through the throws is fun. Though I'm not sure it makes for as practical of an ability to get the bugster virus on the foe as you might want, as you still need to always land a grab to infect them so its not like you can do some surprise mid-combo thing which would probably be more interesting(though possibly worryingly strong). That being said, the actual bugster transformation you give to the ride players is less than great, as while killing Ride Players to buff Cronus' moves is a fun concept the set uses acceptably well, the Bugsters don't actually contribute anything to Cronus at all other than having a minion. Something like that should not have been a total throwaway, though throwing in a couple forced interactions isn't going to solve the problem with them either. They need a more genuine reason to be involved in Cronus' gameplan.

I really don't care for the grab game past the base concept of it too, because it really is just the same three step throw where the only variable to how good it is being how well the player can mash button inputs. I really don't think this is an interesting sell to begin with, much less when this is literally the same effect mirrored onto all four throws. To a lesser degree, Side B shares this problem, as I'm not sure why you would ever use the version that's not the powered up one other than just sucking at the timing of it, and when you time it right the effect is probably too strong. I think another kind of mechanic other than additional button presses to gate the power of these moves would be preferable, as when "follow ups" exist there should be an actual downside to using them.

Lastly, and I hate to keep nitpicking, but while the mechanic is a much better approach to time stops than I've seen before, there's still room for improvement. I don't think I would base it off the number of hits as not all hits are even remotely equal, a full FSmash hit with this dude's massively slow and powerful FSmash should mean more than grazing them with Down Tilt. The system that Little Mac's KO punch operates on would be a good one to replicate, relying on the actual damage dealt by attacks to build up the power rather than the number of times you hit them. Whether or not you want to include the damage taken formula(which would have to be weaker than the regular one) is up to you but it would give Cronus a nice comeback mechanic. He probably shouldn't just start the match able to throw out a full 5 second time stop too, it gives him such a huge initial advantage. Though with how awkward a lot of his moveset is in direct combat, I wonder if he'd be underpowered without it, and it does raise questions of Cronus becoming too uninteresting in the parts of his gameplan that don't involve Pause.

For all my complaints, the core is there and this is mostly just me suggesting how to touch this up into a set that would probably be well above anything you've ever made before. Even as is this is one of your best for the core concepts, higher attention to detail in the melee, and lastly excellent visuals. Seriously it really does help to have gifs on all of these attacks, making it more clear how they would play out in practice when they can feel a tiny bit confusing just looking at the descriptions alone, and it honestly seems like playing this character would be very cool visually. So I can say I like this set Bion, and underneath the surface I think it shows that if you can work a few things out of your system you'll be able to shoot much higher with your sets.
 

Smady

Smash Master
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Messages
3,306
Location
K Rool Avenue
@der Rabe Omega Metroid is a pretty impressive set for how adept it is from someome who has only made a few submissions, it's clear you're not all that absorbed into the world of MYM but you've developed a unique style because of that. The passive mechanic of having a set weak point works well into the set's moves that focus on a close range, giving a good seesaw of balance where Omega Metroid wants to get in close but equally gets punished for it. This results in a playstyle of forcing aggression or being reduced to only peppering the foe using the limited amount of long range attacks at Omega Metroid's disposal, relatively speaking anyway. I do feel like the damage nerf when OM is facing away from the foe is a bit exaggerated given that this is a highly situational scenario and no moves that existed in Smash 4 really predicate on this, so it's more of an Easter Egg. If anything, both the damage done to the chest should be reduced (to around 1.2-1.3x) and damage to the back increased (0.7-0.8x) to be realistically balanced.

I was actually a big fan of the aerials which is not common in a relative newcomer set. Moves like the up aerial that emphasize the punishability of Omega Metroid but at the same time highlight her own effectiveness. I also really enjoyed the many references to Samus' set in this in surprisingly imaginative ways like the up smash, without just being a directly cloned move, this puts a fun spin on Samus while feeling like a Metroid set. While I like the set for the most part, I don't think that the down B, Carapace is all that effective of a move. The animation is very tucked away amidst all the text here and I'm not quite sure what this does, my best guess is she turns away? Still, this is something you'd add to another move, for example a melee move that has OM turn around in start lag or a back aerial that turns her around like Marth. After the down B, I also felt like the throws were a good downgrade in quality from the rest of the set and a bit of a low note to go out on, although nothing egregious, just bland. Overall though I still liked this set and definitely feel it's your best, largely overcoming your flaws. Really hope to see more from you!

Bomb King is a little different from your usual set in that it goes for a simple concept, bombs, and has a very straightforward way of executing it compared to some of your other movesets that focus on complex mechanics and heavy, almost web-like interactions. If anything I agree with Muno that it'd be better in some cases to just have no interaction at all and let the moves themselves and their effects be more distinctive, but on the whole you carry off the execution well. I was not a big fan of how much you reused the gimmick of making bombs, on almost every move, and that was a big negative. I'd hope you'd do some more creative things like have the Villager fsmash, kick a bomb, make more out of the bomb as a direct hitbox, it was bordering on being one of those old "manipulate thing by hitting it around" only making the thing on the same input. But I guess in the end, it's done just about good enough I can forgive it for that.

Burter finishes off my catch up for reading and commenting, and I'm glad I saved a set I knew would be good for last. The concept is very well executed, a speedster who throws up ground chunks, runs up walls and um, that's really about it for the set and character, but what it does it does well. I really liked the way that you approached the ground chunk and flipping Burter on his wall and the tornado physics while well tread was never broken, so why fix it? This is given a huge amount of detail and modernized from such ancient whornado sets as Uka Uka. You go a long ways to keep the set from being overpowered by giving him a lot of slow moves and failsafe mechanics, hitting him into his own tornado and in general Burter can screw up his set up. It's a fitting weakness to give for a character who is absurdly arrogant and sure of himself, ultimately despite not being a focus this set nails the characterization just as well as Guldo or Recoome.

Main problem in this set is a lack of good coverage moves. Zooming past an opponent? You’re going to want moves that hit up, back, all around you. Burter’s far too limited in this regard; he only has up smash and back aerial for when he’s in the air. Specifically out of a Wind Walk he only really has up smash as a reliable and fast all-around coverage move. You’ve got plenty to hit in front of him and lots of slow moves, but the variety is pretty lacking for faster attacks that don’t also hit in this direction and significantly limits the amount of ways he can try and hit the foe. In this way too, the set doesn’t really touch on things like cross-ups as you’d expect, at least not on the grounded set. The forward aerial for example has some good utility for that, but specifically out of Wind Walk he seems like he’d be too predictable. This is all helped a good deal by the new bair and paragraph on the end of ftilt.

The other problem I had is just generally a lack of fast moves. Yeah there are some good ones specifically out of wind walk or with set up, but I still would like a set that’s more playable without literally any set up. There’s going to be match ups, lets say a character like DeGrey who sets up frame traps that work against Burter’s playstyle directly, where Burter will crumble under pressure without any panic buttons or GTFO moves. Especially in a match up like that, he won’t get saved by his grab either as he’ll get hit out of it when the frame trap and grab hitboxes trade. I don’t feel like you’d necessarily lose all that much sacrificing a couple moves here or there just to more easily get him out of combos and such scenarios. I do think it made a small difference you changed animation of uair and it helps but I still feel it’s a bit awkward he is on the slow side when he has this speed theme. Overall though, despite how much time I’ve committed to talking about negatives in detail, this set is still one of the best this contest, just not up to the same level as Guldo or Recoome.
 
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Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
Location
California
Smady Smady
I appreciate the kind words and commentary. What had happened was I was without Internet for a while, so while I would have been happy to make edits for the Omega Metroid, I was rather limited. I've also been kind of busy with some things in life. Nevertheless, I'll be around. Thanks again.
 

Professor Lexicovermis

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
273
Location
Pop Star


"Hi-de-ho! You must be them new debt collectors the boss sent for! You're here to round up them Soul Contracts, aintcha?

Well, allow me to introduce myself! I'm Mr. King Dice! I'm the Gamest in the Land!

Anyway, the boss wanted me to lay down some ground rules, so listen up!

Now, there's two kinds'a Contracts in this world: Simple and Standard.

Simple Contracts are at least 5k long. All them lousy debtors are Simple folk, so all of em need Simple Contracts at the very least!

Standard Contracts need to be at least 10k long! Any ol debtor can have a Standard Contract if ya wanna challenge yourself!

What's that? You wanna make me or the boss Simple too? That ain't how this works, genius! You betta make us Standard, pronto!

As for them Unlikely Odds, they're not too important. If ya wanna collect on em, go on ahead; don't worry if ya don't feel up to it though.

But the No-Hopers? Probably best to just let em alone.

If ya REALLY want to test your mettle, take a whack at negotiating an Expert Contract! They're 20k at minimum, so good luck weaselin one of those outta some of these layabouts! Of course, Expert Contracts are completely optional; the boss'll settle for Standard or Simple!

Now, some real go-getters have already laid claim on some'a them lousy debtors! Here's the claimed Contracts so far:

The Root Pack - NO-HOPER
Goopy Le Grande - Starring Smash Daddy
Hilda Berg - Starring Professor Lexicovermis
Cagney Carnation - Starring Bionichute
Ribby & Croaks - UNLIKELY

Now, the boss expects these Contracts by New Year's Day!

Got all that? Good! Now bring me those Contracts, PRONTO!"
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Pokedex #093

Haunter

Haunter, the Gas Pokemon
Type: Ghost/Poison
Weight: 0.2 lbs
Height: 5' 06"
Ability: Levitate

Because of its ability to slip through block walls, it is said to be from another dimension. In total darkness, where nothing is visible, Haunter lurks, silently stalking its next victim. If you get the feeling of being watched in darkness when nobody is around, Haunter is there. If a Haunter beckons you while it is floating in darkness, don't approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away. Its tongue is made of gas. If licked, its victim starts shaking constantly until death eventually comes.


Statistics


Haunter constantly floats slightly above the stage, although its hurtbox still extends to the bottom of it, making it a somewhat-noticeable visual quirk rather than a gameplay interruptor. Haunter itself is not very large, with a body similiar to Kirby or Jigglypuff in general size: Haunter's hands are not hurtboxes. Being tied as the lightest Pokemon, Haunter is suitably light in Smash 4, having the same obscenely low weight as Jigglypuff. Haunter makes it out better than Jigglypuff in the ground speed department, however, floating along at the speed of Palutena when dashing (26th) and Meta Knight when walking (21st). Haunter's traction is very slippery. It has a very low crouch, with the bottom half of its body slightly melting into the stage while crouching.

Aerially, Haunter is exremely slow to fall, with a fall speed of 1.04 compared to Jigglypuff's 0.98, making them fall slower than any other character in the game (Peach, the 2nd to lowest in Smash 4, has 1.15 fall speed). Haunter does have somewhat faster gravity, however, of 0.60, closer to Rosalina's 0.62 than Jigglypuff's 0.53, although this still puts Haunter at the 2nd lowest. Haunter moves through the air noticeably slower than Jigglypuff, more like Lucario (20th), Air acceleration is very fast however, equal to Wario's (who is 2nd: Puff is #1). Haunter has high regular jumps, but a pretty low shorthop, giving Haunter a wide variety of air angles and a good shorthop game.

Overall, though, Haunter's stats are fairly unexceptional: Speed is average and it is easy to die when playing Haunter. One must make up for this through other means.


Specials


Side Special: Hypnosis / Dream Eater

Haunter lets out an evil chuckle and sends his hands forward, travelling at Mario's dash speed for one Battlefield Platform. The hands act as a command grab hitbox until the end of their distance. Haunter's hands not being a hurtbox as mentioned. The duration is pretty long, since she can't move until the hands reach the end of their path, but the actual ending lag is very short, the hands just vanishing and returning to Haunter in his idle stance. Thus, punishment mostly comes from duration. The starting lag is somewhat long, but not crazy long or anything.

If Haunter's hands hit an opponent, they will vanish with the foe and re-appear in front of Haunter with the foe, his hands squeezing and phasing into the foe's head. Haunter's eyes swirl hypnotic colors as he proceeds to use his (level up!) move, Hypnosis. The multiple squeezes deal 3 hits of 2% each, and then Haunter throws the opponent away for 4% damage and knockback that essentially resets neutral. This isn't the primary purpose of the use, although it can be a decently long damage racking tool that is anti-shield as well in that regard.

In addition to grabbing the foe, however, this process leaves the opponent hypnotized, giving them the Drowsy status effect. Drowsy opponents mostly aren't affected by it, having little more than aesthetic snoozing Zs floating around them and a more tired look with half-open eyes. This status effect affects multiple moves of Haunter when she hits them on the foe, making this important to Haunter in terms of enhancing his moveset. If an opponent does not move for 3/4ths of a second (45 frames), then the opponent will start to rock to sleep, causing them to have halved movement stats for half of a second after moving when this happens and 3/4ths of movement stats for half a second after that. If the opponent stays still for 2 seconds, then they will flatout fall asleep, with the same conditions as Jigglypuff's Sing. Time in shield counts towards this, time spend attacking or in lag/hitstun does not. This pretty much is an easter egg, however, considering how rare it is for anyone in Smash 4 to stay still for so long. Hypnosis lasts for 10 seconds, but is removed if the enemy falls asleep due to its effects as well.

While the opponent is Drowsy, this move changes from Hypnosis to Dream Eater. Most of the attack is the same, with the attack only differing when Haunter hits the foe. When this happens, Haunter will go through the same hand-teleport, but his hands will be more firmly on the foe's head, Haunter's mouth opening wide with a dark cackle, pink-purple energy flying from the foe and into his mouth as Haunter eats the foe's dreams! This move deals a lot of damage, dealing 4 hits of 4% for a total of 16% damage, with Haunter healing for half of the damage dealt (8%). Haunter then forcefully throws the opponent away for 6% damage after finishing his meal, strong enough to KO at 150%. Overall, Dream Eater is quite a strong move, dealing lots of damage and decent KO power...of course, it is gated behind hitting with a Hypnosis and then hitting the Dream Eater soon after. Opponents who are Drowsy will likely want to avoid Haunter during this time, to avoid this command grab.


Neutral Special: Lick / Nightmare

By licking, it saps the victim's life. It causes shaking that won't stop until the victim's demise.

Haunter licks it's lips for some starting lag, before swiftly licking in front of himself. The lick starts low and ends high, quite sloppy, making it a walling hitbox which is good for pushing opponents away, with decent horizontal range. Hitting this attack deals only 5% damage, but pushes opponents away decently, again serving largely as a tool to reset neutral. This move is somewhat fast to come out, with pretty average ending lag, trending towards the higher end. The primary usage of this attack is the poisonous status it afflicts, as Haunter's tongue is made of poisonous gas. Opponents take 1% per second, then 2% the next second, and then 3% the second after that...it caps after that, only dealing 3% damage per second for the rest of it's duration. The poison damage will never flinch the opponent.

How long the poison lasts depends entirely on the opponent. If they don't do anything, it'll last until the very last chill of their demise, damaging them the entire stock. The poison specifically ends whenever the opponent strikes Haunter with a move that causes hitstun. This gives opponents great incentive to approach and damage Haunter, while Haunter is perfectly happy to sit back and watch the opponent's misery, poking at them with his incorporeal arms, forcing them to approach his more defensive oriented options. You won't get a lot out of this if they hit you quickly, though, three ticks for example will mean this move did a mediocre 11% damage. Enemies can tell they are poisoned by a faint purple coating over their body and constant, small shaking like a chill is up their spine.

If Haunter hits a foe who is Drowsy, then the foe will suffer extended hitstun and Haunter will go through a little special animation as he slathers his tongue through their head, causing them to be inflicted with a more potent Nightmare toxin instead. This functions much the same as the normal Lick toxin, except that it goes up to 5% (with the same increase per second) and caps there instead, making it SIGNIFICANTLY more frightening for the foe if they don't get rid of it. If the opponent is asleep from Drowsy somehow, then Licking them like this will not wake them up or knock them back. In addition, Drowsy foes will not have the Drowsy status effect tick down while they are suffering from a Nightmare, making it more difficult for them to avoid moves like Haunter's Dream Eater by waiting out the status effect for obvious reasons...

Speaking of Dream Eater, if Haunter hits it on a foe suffering from a Nightmare, it will be upgraded further to Nightmare Eater, with the orbs from Dream Eater turning a sludgy dark black-purple and Haunter will aesthetically lick it up as it enters his mouth. This deals even more damage than a normal Dream Eater, 4 hits of 6% each for a total of 24% damage, with Haunter still healing for half of the damage dealt, making this a huge damage swing...of course, it also requires a lot of setup, with a limited duration to use, making it quite tricky to set up. The reward, however, is quite nice. Haunter's throw after remains the same.

While an opponent is afflicted by a Nightmare, the aesthetic Zs will turn dark and jagged from Drowsy, and small little demons will attach themselves to the Zs, like the kinds seen in Spite/Nightmare's animations in the classic RBY/GSC days. Spooky. Lick is not upgraded to Nightmare if you Drowsy a foe who is Licked, they need to be Licked after.


Down Special: Payback / Spite

Haunter's eyes gleam for a moment as it's body turns slightly faint, signalling that it is ready to counter the opponent's move! This is pretty fast for a counter to come out, and while it still is punishable, it isn't as punishable as a lot of Smash 4 counters. If Haunter would be hit, his body instead turns invisible as he lets out a fiendish cackle, being invulnerable as per the usual counter shenanigans. Haunter then appears behind the foe, his arms enlarged and around them, and begins shocking them with dark, ghostly energy while repeatedly cackling madly. This deals two hits of 2% damage, plus an additional hit of 2% damage for every 2% damage the enemy's move did. So, countering a 10% damage move means this move deals 14% damage. Each shock is pretty fast and it cannot be escaped or DI'd, the foe being held in place. At the end of this move, the opponent is released into prone, with Haunter at a slight frame advantage. If the enemy is in the air, they are instead spiked weakly, which will cause a tech situation if they are close to the ground.

Haunter is a fairly good choice to abuse prone, in part due to the nature of his hand hitboxes: Side Special is a great example of this, being a strong tech chasing move due to the high reward of putting a foe in Drowsy or landing a Dream Eater, while Haunter himself remains relatively safe due to his hands not being a hurtbox and much of the animation being during when the foe would be rolling. Payback can also be particularly useful when the opponent has been Licked, not only rejecting their chance to rid themselves of the meddlesome curse, but also forcing them to go through prone time and thus racking up more damage on the opponent. Since the opponent needs to be proactive to stuff Lick's damage, this gives Haunter more chances to pay the foe back.

If they are Drowsy, then Payback turns into Spite. The animation is much the same, save for the appearance of the same little imp from Nightmare seeping into the foe as the energy courses through them, sending Haunter's spite into them for a rude awakening. This little imp carries the spite of Haunter in it for the foe's move, and will cause their move to be treated as if it was max staled while they remain Drowsy, drastically reducing the power of the move! This is a straight buff from the normal version (unless the foe can combo you better staled) and a solid advantage for having landed a Hypnosis on the foe. If you get an opponent Nightmared, then you'll even have some Imp-helping-Imp action: Nightmare keeps the foe's Drowsy from wearing off, allowing Spite to last even longer!


Up Special: Levitate

Haunter's eyes turn pure white as its body glows a spooky dark black-purple. Haunter now has free and full levitation and free flight for 3.33 seconds, able to travel anywhere at Jigglypuff's air speed by tilting the control stick in that direction. Haunter can attack freely during this time and can "drift" in any direction during the move...imagine if in addition to moving left/right/whatnot during an aerial, you could freely go up, down or whatnot as well, basically. Haunter can exit this move prematurely by pressing Up Special again and can enter/exit it freely until she runs out of time.

Haunter's Up Special works on a recharge timer like R.O.B.'s, recharging at half the rate it is used while not in use. This means it takes 6.66 seconds to recharge fully. Haunter must also touch the ground at some point to begin recharging, although once he does so it'll recharge even in the air. The mobility this move gives is pretty strong, but it is also pretty self-explanatory, so not a ton to say this moment.


Standards


Jab: Dark Thrust

Haunter leans her hands back, then thrusts them forward, first one, then the other if A is hit again. This move has good range that is pretty similiar to Bowser's jab, which this move can be rather heavily compared to, coming out one frame earlier (Frame 6 for hit 1, Frame 8 for hit 2) and having 1 less frame on FAF (20 for Hit 1, 25 for Hit 2). However, it deals less damage, 4% for the first hit and 5% for the second compared to Bowser's 5%/6.5% respectively.

This move is primarily for stuff approaches from the opponents, smacking them away with your hands: Jab 1 can combo lightly, into grab at lower percentages, Up Tilt, Down Tilt or various aerials at most percentages. It is not the most potent combo tool at all, but given Haunter has a low amount of combos for a Smash 4 character. It is safe on shield unless used up close, so you can use it as an identification tool to pressure the foe and begin to download their response. Jab 2 is mostly used for when you want to reset neutral instead, which can be good especially if you have a Lick out, and at mid percentages creates a tech chase situation, which Haunter can abuse with a combo Dash Attack, or can try to read for a Side Special, a Neutral Special or Grab.

This is your basic, bread and butter check move, checking the foe's shield, checking the foes slower options, and one of Haunter's better options against foes up close, which is a pretty serious weakness for him.


Forward Tilt: Shadow Punch

Haunter curls one of his hands into a fist, punching it forward quite a far distance, it isn't like the fist is attached to his body after all. Haunter's fist goes a full Battlefield Platform at a pretty fast speed of Captain Falcon's dash. The fist enlarges slightly as it travels, gathering shadows as it does so, and it can be tilted very slightly up/down. The fist takes a bit to wind up, giving this move somewhat longer than average starting lag, and it does not deal a lot of damage, 5%-8% and light knockback. Damage, like size, increases with distance: 5% for the first 1/4th, 6% for the next 1/4th, 7% for the 1/4th after and 8% for the final 1/4th. It really doesn't lead into much unless you hit close, which is generally a bad idea because it is pretty easily punished/stopped if you start it close, such as with a jab or a grab.

The plus sides of this move come instead from its very impressive range, its high speed, and the fact it has very low ending lag, with the hand disappearing and re-appearing at Haunter's side quickly (it also does this if Haunter is hit while it is out: Assume this for all moves which Haunter sends out his hands). For the Forward Tilt specifically, there is an aesthetic pop of the gathered shadows as it disappears. If the opponent is not close to you, then you can send it out rather easily as a punch to poke at enemies and force shields, or to wall them out and punish approaching moves or whatnot. This is very deadly when combined with Lick's poison, as a low risk option which slows the opponent down and forces them to take more poison damage, playing right into Haunter's defensively oriented game. Expect to see a lot of this move when fighting Haunter.


Down Tilt: Shadow Swipe

From his place half-melted into the stage, Haunter brings up once of his hands, swiping it across the bottom of the stage,. This move has two hitboxes, one near the tip of Haunter's fingers, and one on the rest of the hand. The hitbox near the tip has darkness covering it transparently and extending past the finger. The damage that each hit deals is the same, 6%, but the sweetspot on the finger tip is a trip, while the rest of the hitbox merely pops opponents up lightly. The light pop up can lead to some combos, depending on where the foe is, since this move has fairly low lag on its ending (and slightly below average starting lag). Most commonly, this is with an Up Tilt, but stuff like an aerial can be weaved in sometimes as well. The trip hitbox is fairly difficult to hit as a sweetspot, but it forces a prone chase situation, and Haunter has obvious tools to work with that as mentioned.

I should mention that time spent in prone counts as "doing nothing" for Drowsy if you just do nothing, so opponents can't delay their movements for too long, unless they want to suffer its movement effects...or worse, falling asleep right after getting up. This helps give Haunter a leg up on the foe in certain situations. It also applies to things like hanging on a ledge, which can make ledge setups REALLY scary. This move also gains a bonus effect on enemies who have a Nightmare, as the darkness on the finger becoming a hitbox against them and thus making it easier to hit the sweetspot.

This attack has a blindspot right in front of Haunter, since the claw swipe starts a bit further in front of him due to the placement of his hand. This means that, along with Forward Tilt, it isn't really a viable option when the opponent is in your face too much;. Be aware of this. (It wouldn't be safe on shield that close even if it could hit, heh)


Up Tilt: Shadow Rise

Starting in front of Haunter, she swipes one of her claw-hands in front of her and upwards, a motion not dissimiliar to something like Bowser's Up Tilt but starting lower. Small wisps of darkness fly up and off of Haunter's hands when it does this, although this is usually cosmetic. Because of this, it can hit in front of Haunter, and is Haunter's primary combo starter on the ground, although it does have an issue of somewhat low ground range, and not being safe on shield. Opponents hit by Haunter's hand take 5% damage and are popped lightly into the air, light enough that at lower damage percentages, Haunter can loop an Up Tilt into an Up Tilt a few time for damage racking. It also sets up most any aerial of Haunter's, situationally an Up Smash, a Jab at very low percentages, and depending on the character and percentage a grab. It covers a lot of space above Haunter, making it a strong anti-air option for coverage, albeit not in strength.

Because it can hit in front of Haunter, this move and Jab make up the core of his play when foes are on his face: This is the less safe, but more rewarding option of the two. It provides good anti-air coverage, as well, which is nice with the disjounted hands for stuffing closer aerial approaches, while Forward Tilt stuffs longer ranged or grounded approaches. Up Tilt has some issues against opponents coming up high and in front of Haunter (obviously backwards is open in general), but against Nightmared foes, this is fixed somewhat, as the wisps become an active and somewhat spooky hitbox against them.

This hitbox goes above Haunter and drifts forward lightly, dealing 3 hits of 1% each followed by a last launching hit of 2% that lightly pops up opponents. So, against foes undergoing a Nightmare, this can be a good defensive option against one of the most common ways for opponents to approach Haunter...which can be a real sticky issue for opponents trying to rid themselves of a Nightmare.


Dash Attack: Shadow Rush

His body wreathed in shadow-y flames, Haunter rushes forward at a fast speed, seeking to crush the foe with his gaseous body! He doesn't move very far, but this is one of Haunter's stronger attacks, dealing 14% damage and more importantly some pretty sweet knockback, which will KO at around 115%, which is pretty dang good on a dash attack. As with all moves, there is a catch, and here it largely lies in some really harsh ending lag, which is pretty punishable and makes this move unsafe on shield: Crossing up can make it less unsafe, but even then, fast back aerials can get you.

It's fast to start up and boosting forward at a faster speed can make it a surprise punish move considering Haunter's rather average ground speed. In general, it has the same use of a lot of Dash Attacks in the game, such as giving people a hard punish when they would be out of range of better options.


Smashes


Forward Smash: Sucker Punch

Haunter grins wickedly as he punches forward with a single fist, not unlike his Forward Tilt but somewhat distinct, and his other hand disappears stealthily behind him. Getting hit by the initial punch will deliver some rather disappointing damage for a smash attacl: 10%-14% damage and weak knockback can actually be used at combos at lower percentages, but for the most part serves as a neutral reset. The fist travels about half of a Battlefield Platform before returning to Haunter...

But this move is hardly so simple. As the fist travels forward, the OTHER hand, which disappeared, will appear in front of the thrusting fist, having also been balled into a fist and heading directly towards the punch Haunter just threw: This appears in front of Haunter a Battlefield Platform and travels half a Battlefield Platform, meaning the two fists collide EXACTLY half a Battlefield Platform in front of where Haunter used the move. This back hit deals slightly more damage, 12%-16.8%, but the knockback remains low...rather than a neutral reset, this sets up combos instead because of the fact it hits opponents TOWARDS Haunter, leading into a multitude of aerials, or an Up Tilt...at very specific percentages, it can lead to a sweetspot Up Smash, but we'll get to that move in a moment.

This isn't the end of the move, quite, though: There's a reason I talked about the fists colliding so much, as that is a VERY powerful sweetspot that serves as one of Haunter's somewhat rare kill options, dealing 22%-30.8% damage and potent knockback that will kill from 85%-60%! The problem, of course, is that the sweetspot is quite difficult to hit with, especially since the fists can be liable to hit opponents before they collide, not to mention the precise spacing. It can be best to try and read the foe expecting another option for midrange and go for this attack: The starting lag is actually average-ish for a smash attack despite the potential power, so you can whip it out faster than you'd expect. Another option is a risky prone read: It's fast enough you CAN slam an opponent out of prone, in most situations, with it...however, the timing and spacing is rather strict, as a mistimed or mis-spaced hit will result in either whiffing on their invincibility frames or hitting with the much weaker arm strikes. The hands will linger for a moment, non-damagingly, after colliding, giving this move more ending lag than similiar moves like Forward Tilt, although it isn't horrendously long, just clearly punishable.


Up Smash: Dark Applause

Haunter lowers her hands down, so far down that they sink into the stage in fact!, before thrusting them up and performing a sick clap with them, a splat of dark energy aesthetically shooting out as the clawed hands collide, visually you can kind of think of it as a spookier Donkey Kong Up Smash. This attack has two hitboxes: The claws when they're travelling up, which hits to both sides and above Haunter, and the hitbox when they clap.

The hands traveling upwards deal 14%-19.6% damage and moderate upwards knockback, enough to start aerial chase situations and to kill from 180% or so, while the clapping hands are a potent sweetspot which deals 21%-29.6% and kills at 100%-75%, making it a pretty potent kill move all things considered: The sweetspot is easier to hit with than Forward Smash's, but of course it is less potent in killing power. The hands moving up at the start can serve as coverage, but the clap is high enough that it can really only hit opponents jumping or whatnot reliably. The starting lag isn't too bad, but it does take some frames for the hands to get to the clap, so that comes out a bit late: The ending lag is similiar to Forward Smash, punishably long but not absurdly so. The claws moving upwards is not safe on shield, although the sweetspot is if it ends up hitting a grounded opponent due to them being big enough to be hit. It can be an anti-air kill move with predictions, and you can threaten with it + Up Tilt to cover their air dodge and leave them guessing, although at higher percentages most opponents will likely be willing to just eat the Up Tilt to avoid dying.

If the opponent is afflicted with a Nightmare, the aesthetic dark energy shooting out becomes an active hitbox against them. This has two effects. If it happens when the clap occurs, the hitbox has the strength of the sourspot (travelling upwards), and then it lingers for a moment. While lingering, it deals 8% (unaffcted by charge) and weakly pops opponents up, mostly serving to grant the move more safety. If it his towards the end of the linger, it can rarely combo into something else of Haunter's. This also makes it better for covering landings.


Down Smash: Dark Pulse

Haunter shakes and shivers in place, facing the camera, before rearing back and letting out a glass-shattering shriek, sending out waves of dark energy all around it! This is Haunter's strongest smash attack at a base, dealing 17%-23.8% damage and KOing at 140%-111%, but it lacks any kind of sweetspot to boost its power. It comes out quite fast and functions as Haunter's best move to get off of people, but it also has VERY punishable ending lag, moreso than Forward Smash or Up Smash anyway, which makes sense given getting in Haunter's face is one of her weaknesses. The range is solid and covers all around Haunter, but naturally it won't reach the lengths of Haunter's hands being sent out or anything.

Against shields, this move does strong pushback, but it only gets stronger if the opponent is Drowsy or suffering a Nightmare! If this occurs, then miniature dark shockwaves will send themselves through the foe's shield, dealing 1/4th the damage of the Down Smash for Drowsy or 1/2 for Nightmare in addition to the base damage, which can absolutely wreck a shield: This means being under Haunter's hypnosis can strongly discourge shield dashes in and the like, which is good, because Haunter can otherwise have some difficulties with that, so Haunter has this move as a kind of "defensive threat". Low shields can be pretty useful with Haunter's dink and dunk, poking gameplay style as well, and weakening a shield prior with Forward Tilts or the like can make foes risk a shield break in these situations. It's good news all the way down.


Aerials


Neutral Aerial: Astonishing Darkness

Haunter grins widely as it crackles with dark energy, dealing multiple hits of 2% that equal 6% before the energy bursts with a loud pop that deals 6% more damage and sends enemies away with radial knockback: Haunter can drag her enemies around with the multiple hits decently easy, although it is not impossible to DI out of, which can be useful for Haunter, especially out of a shorthop. The move has fairly average starting and ending lag, not much special to talk about there. You can drag people to the ground and auto-cancel right before the last hit, there's an autocancel window between the 3rd multi-hit and the last hit, which can lead to an Up Tilt for one of Haunter's longer combo strings.

This move gains power if Haunter hits an opponent who is Drowsy or suffering a Nightmare with at least one of the multi-hits, the darkness surging larger before the last hit, gaining an inky texture to it if Haunter hit a Nightmared foe, and the darkness is so large and intense it makes it almost impossible to see Haunter just before the explosion if he hits a Nightmare'd foe as well. Hitting a Drowsy foe adds 3% to the base explosion, a slight increase jn explosion size and making the knockback kill at 170%, which is solid enough for the move. Now, with a Nightmare, that's when it gets really spooky, the explosion dealing 6% more than base (That's 18% total damage, now!), the explosion being 1.5x as large (making it impossible to DI away from even if you escape the multi-hit, really) and massively increasing the knockback to be able to kill at 135%! This is one of Haunter's stronger rewards and a rather important one, as the other power boosts for moves are pretty much all grounded ideas, and is one of the scarier things to face when you've got a Nightmare on you.


Forward Aerial: Sideswipe

Haunter performs a very swift, horizontal slash with her claws in front of herself as darkness energy flies out, dealing 6% damage and low knockback. The low starting lag and below average ending lag of this attack, when combined with the low knockback, make it an ideal "Wall of Pain" move, chaining it into itself or other areas to damage the opponent, drag them where you desire, and to wall them out by using the move repeatedly while retreating, allowing Haunter a less commital option to cover space than moves like Forward Tilt.

It should be noted it has significantly less range, and that you won't really get anything aside from 6% off a hit if you're retreating, although going forward offers the potential of combo follow-ups. This is your general bread and butter aerial and the disjointed, ethereal nature of your hands makes it a bit better at walling people out then if it was jointed as well.

The dark energy shooting out from Haunter's claw as it moves forward spray out a bit as it slashes forward, looking almost like claw slashes themselves. Against opponents afflicted by Nightmare, this extends the hitbox of the FAir, allowing it to hit much better above and below Haunter, more akin to something like an Ike Forward Aerial arc, but with it all coming out closer together than arcing down. This means the hitbox up and down come out faster comparitively, but it also covers space for less time. It also is of course dependant on the opponent being in a Nightmare, but if they are, it becomes a good way to solve some defensive weaknesses Haunter has.


Back Aerial: Vertigo

One of Haunter's hands floats behind him, slashing upwards vertically, starting below Haunter and moving upwards. Darkness follows the path Haunter swipes like a sword trail and glow brightly after the attack comes out before vanishing. This move takes longer to start than many of Haunter's moves, but it actually has a good deal of power, dealing 12% damage and KOing at 150% without any conditions attached to it. Because it covers a wide vertical area behind Haunter, it is a good coverage move, although again, slow and thus in need of prediction...the ending lag itself is more on the average side, maybe even a twinge faster, so it isn't the most punishable move there is, but it is a lot more about threat and prediction than snap judgement, and to provide strong option coverage when combined with the Forward Aerial: Do note that, much like said FAir (and your NAir, for that matter), it doesn't have great range away from Haunter, which can be problematic.

The darkness trails will become a hitbox against Nightmare foes when they glow, a brief hitbox after the initial swipe ends, which can sometimes catch out air dodges. This only deals 6% damage and the knockback is rather weak, but this allows the move to have some optional psuedo-combo potential. A small boost against your Nightmared foes, but it can be a lot scarier if you are edgeguarding someone who is under a Nightmare with its difficulty in air dodging and the brief hitbox potentially necessitating a recovery delay.


Down Aerial: The Claws

Haunter's sends his hands flying downwards, travelling at moderate speed with claws turned towards the ground, Haunter's falling speed dramatically reduced (but not fully stopped) as they move. Contact with the hands deals 8% damage and lightly pops the foe into the air, which can potentially set them up for a combo with Haunter above them, although Down Aerial into itself is a rather iffy proposition, so it'll usually follow up into a NAir, DIng to the sides can also result in a BAir or FAir depending on the direction. Starting lag is on the longer side, but the ending lag is on the lower side.

The hands will continue travelling down until they either hit the ground/blast zone/opponent, travel 3.5 Ganondorfs, Haunter presses A or Haunter holds down A. If Haunter presses A, then the attack will stop where it is and ending lag will continue as normal, Haunter's hands vanishing and reappearing on his body. This is also the default for not doing anything and reaching the ground/travel limit. And if you hold down A, the attack will stop, but it'll be the opposite: Haunter vanishes and reappears where the hands are! This serves an important function to the very slow falling Haunter, as it allows him to mix up his landing options, although at the same time it does have some issues with not being the strongest normal down hitting move. Haunter can hold A to transport himself down when hitting a foe or whatnot as well, tapping A not necessary to just have the hands come back since that's the default. This is important as since the hands hit upwards, Haunter can potentially combo it into an Up Aerial, or otherwise instead go down-to-up instead of up-to-down.


Up Aerial: Shadow Spin

Haunter lifts one of her hands above herself, spinning around for a total of three hits that deal 3% damage each, the last hit dealing light, popping knockback upwards, quite nice for juggling a foe, especially given the multi-hit is lingering, although the lag is only a bit below average-ish on both ends. It goes pretty directly above Haunter, so it doesn't have a ton of horizontal coverage, although the hand is at least of decent size. It's straightforward and mostly for combos, so there isn't really much to say here, you'll probably be using it a decent deal with your Up Tilts, your Down Aerials and so on.

Grab Game


Grab: Shadow Tag

Haunter sends an open hand forward, fingers twitching and flexing not unlike his Gen V sprite's animations. This is a rather long grab, tether-esque really, and given the hand's intangibility that's pretty much true. When the foe is grabbed, the hand and foe disappear and reappear in Haunter's grip like his command grab. It has a lot less ending lag than most tether grabs, but the hand moves rather slowly, and it doesn't come out fast. Haunter can hold down A to extend his grab range up to twice its normal amount, which naturally increases the ending lag a good deal as well. Haunter's pivot grab and dash grab are much shorter in range, being more like somewhat short normal grabs, but are actually somewhat fast.

Pummel: Drool

Haunter's tongue furls out of her mouth, slathering itself over the foe's head (or rough equal), dealing 1% per pummel at a fairly high rate. If the foe is Drowsy, then the slathering deals 2%. And if under the effect of a Nightmare? Well, that's 3% per pummel. Grabs can be pretty terrifying when under Haunter's sleepy effects.

Down Throw: Smack Down

Haunter grabs the foe by their feet/legs with a single hand, or rough equal, dragging them upwards roughly for 2% damage...and then Haunter's other hand appears above them, smacking them down into the ground for 4% damage: The knockback will force opponents to either tech the hit, or to suffer a stagebounce, both of which are good for her: A tech can be read if done properly, while the stagebounce leads to aerial combos, usually starting with a Forward Aerial or Up Tilt. Haunter does need to be rather quick on the uptake, though, since you won't be tech chasing very well if you wait for the stagebounce and if you're going for a grounded tech option, you'll probably whiff someone bounced into the air. Read the opponent well, though, and you can start some sick stuff with this throw.

Up Throw: State of Fear

Haunter opens his mouth wide, cackling a little as he does so, and bites down onto his opponent, dealing 6% damage and popping the foe up into the air a surprisingly decent amount: Not the best for comboing, but it can start Haunter getting some landing coverage going. When in a state of Drowsy or in a Nightmare, then Haunter will devour and grow upon their fear while they are in his grip, his size expanding and getting eviller with each one, Haunter a massive shadow-y Haunter with gaseous poison drooling out of his mouth, the claws on his hand growing while he cackles much more deeply and maniacally, we're talking living horror monster right here, devouring the opponent whole with a single chomp and sending them flying.

When Drowsy, the foe's damage is increased to 12%, and the knockback becomes significantly more capable of KOing, doing so at 165%. Nightmares are what really get this move going, damaging the foe for 18% and killing them at an incredibly early 110%, with this move being one of the prime reasons to get a foe Nightmared, and is very dangerous to them again: Go too aggro, get shieldgrabbed and you might find yourself pummeled and flung off the top incredibly fast! Be very, very afraid...


Forward Throw: Shadow Ball


Haunter places a single clawed hand on the foe and digs it into them, quite literally seeing as the hand phases into them, collecting some of their energy and shoving them away for 4% damage, while her other hand gathers the shadow of the hapless foe into a ball of pure dark energy, throwing it forward as the foe flies forward a decent, but still more towards small, distance. The size of this Shadow Ball projectile, along with its power, is dependant on the foe's state, dealing 4% damage, weak knockback and hitstun and being the size of an uncharged Charge Shot as a base. If the enemy that was drained is Drowsy, then the Shadow Ball does 8% damage, increased hitstun and is 1.5x the size of an uncharged Charge Shot. And if they were afflicted by a Nightmare, then the Shadow Ball will deal 12% damage, high hitstun but with mediocre knockback and is twice the size of an uncharged Charge Shot!

These don't automatically hit the foe or anything, and in fact, they move quite slowly and in a wide, looping arc: If used from the bottom of Battlefield, it'll reach the first platforms cleanly at its height and touch the ground at its lowest, phasing through any solid object with a shadowy effect to it as it does so. The primary purpose of this move as a reward is to make it a rare approaching tool for Haunter, being his only projectile, and thus something he might risk taking lower success rate grabs on in order to start off some stronger offense, his Forward Tilt works particularly well with this and the angling to cover the direction that the Shadow Ball is currently not, while being incredibly safe. The Shadow Ball always travels a full Battlefield in horizontal distance, not changing with the foe's condition just like its slow speed. While your Up Throw is about finishing drowsy opponents, Forward Throw is much more about damage racking and pressuring them.


Back Throw: Twists and Turns

Haunter lets out a tiny, dark laugh as he vanishes, both of his hands gripping the opponent, spinning them in place 5 times for 1% damage each, before stopping as Haunter reappears on the other side of the foe, her hands oriented properly now, and throwing the foe "forward" (IE back of where the throw started) for 7% damage. The knockback is not high enough to kill, nor is it low enough to combo, but instead serves as your primary way to reset neutral, with Haunter being able to move fast out of it and the opponent in a prime position to do some long range pressure with, say, a Forward Tilt and force them to approach Haunter yet again. Having a throw like this is rather vital, seeing as a powerful neutral is probably Haunter's biggest strength...if they aren't in your face, which this move provides. It also does vastly more base, unconditional damage than any of Haunter's other throws, making it good when you don't have Drowsy/Nightmare ready and don't feel confident in your Down Throw predictions.

Final Smash: Miniboss No. 093 - Black Fog

</10k Moveset Challenge>

With the indescribable power of the Smash Ball in hand, Haunter cackles maniacally as it begins to draw surrounding shadows into itself, each shadow that enters Haunter giving it more size, more frightening aspects like poisonous drool, some spikes, more defined claws on it's hands and other such spooky items. Every time a shadow enters it, a crackle of lightning shoots out, dealing 2% lightning to anyone nearby and a flinch. This happens 10 times over the 1.5 seconds that Haunter takes to transform into it's Final Smash form!


Now absolutely massive, think like a Subspace Emissary giant boss, Haunter lands/floats in the background with a loud thud, as both of Haunter's hands take a place to the left and right of the stage (centered on the nearest foe in 1v1s), essentially the same as Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Haunter's giant eyes will gaze upon the foe's predicament with a dark glee, with the Final Smash lasting until both of Haunter's hands are destroyed (40 HP each). Haunter's hands cannot move naturally, but instead can move and whatnot with attacks, again think like Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Haunter is in the background and entirely invulnerable, even to tacky background hitting attacks. Haunter's hands have the following attacks. Both hands can attack at once, but only one hand can be performing one action, so the left hand can't do something when it is already attacking, only the right hand. There is a 1 second cooldown per hand between moves, just like MH/CH need to pause between attacks.

Side Smash: Deathly Sweep​

Haunter's hand sweeps forward in front of it with a wide, open palm of dripping darkness: Right smashing has the left hand smash to the right, while the opposite occurs for left smashing. This has a wide range, about all of Final Destination in MH/CH style, and deals 16% damage that KOs at 160% and an aesthetic electrical effect upon striking a foe. Knockback has a lot of horizontal, little vertical.

Side Special: Supreme Sucker Punch​

Haunter's hand balls into a fist and flies forward with a blast of darkness, with the same control scheme as the Side Smash, it takes longer to come out, but deals 20% damage and KOs at 130% instead. If Haunter has both hands use this, then they will collide into an extremely strong hitbox when they meet up, dealing a hilariously brutal 40% damage and KOing foes at 60%, essentially an instant kill, although it is super telegraphed, and it doesn't come without downside: Both hands take 10% damage from the resulting explosion of inky black darkness from their collision, so the Final Smash will end rather soon if you use this a lot.

Neutral Special: Finger Guns​

Haunter's hand forms a classic finger gun and tracks the nearest foe, firing after 1.25 seconds of tracking, shooting out a pair of Shadow Ball projectiles that deal 12% damage each and knockback that KOs at 200%: Both Shadow Balls can hit the same foe, which won't deal more knockback, but is 12% damage. The nearest hand to the nearest foe will be used for this, but you can tap Neutral Special again to have the second hand try to fire as well from the opposite side. If you hold down the Special button, then the finger gun's power can be charged at the cost of more ending lag, dealing up to twice the damage per Shadow Ball and KOing at 100%. Shadow Balls can harm your other hand if the opponent, say, air dodges at the right moment and tracks the Finger Gun hand towards the other one, so be careful of friendly fire.

Down Special: Death Grip​

The nearest hand to the nearest foe sinks into the stage as a pool of pure darkness, traveling at them at Greninja's Dash Speed for up to 1.5 seconds. If the foe passes over the pool, either on the ground or up to one Ganondorf in the air, the hand will fly out of the pool and attempt to grab them. If it suceeds, it will pull them into the pool, dealing 5% damage 5 times over 55 frames before popping them ou with moderate knockback. Only one hand can be using Death Grip at a single time.

Down Smash: Writhe in Agony​

Haunter's hand slams onto the ground, prioritizing being the most middle of the stage possible, and begins rapidly shaking, convulsing and slamming on the ground, dealing 10 hits of variable damage that total 25% damage over 2.5 seconds: This is largely useful as a long term trap for the other hand to take advantage of, but it is quite a commitment, and can lead to some hard punishes that will end your Final smash early.

If you input Down Smash again while a hand is writhing, the other hand will pull out a spiked ball of darkness as Haunter makes an innocent face in the background, before the other hand flings said ball at the writhing hand. Upon impact, the spiked ball explodes into an explosion which is circular with 8 spikes on it (the eight cardinal directions) for 33.3% damage that KOs at 80%. while this is strong, it also deals 20% damage to the hand which was blown up, making it a very big commitment.

Forward Tilt: Poke​

Haunter's hand, with the same control scheme as Side Smash/Special, does a simple poke forward. It's very fast, but only deals 8% damage and middling knockback, largely existing as a fast move in the repitoire.

Jab: Shadow Pong​

The closest hand to the nearest foe of Haunter's conjures a ball of darkness in it's hand, then bats it forward, directly at the location of Haunter's other hand. This ball of darkness deals only 4% damage and does not disappear after hitting a foe, instead going right through them, dealing hitstun but no knockback. As long as Haunter's other hand is not performing an action, Haunter's other hand will bat the ball back at the original hand, adding 4% damage to it: This continues ad infinitum, stopping only when Haunter "misses" a hit back by using a move, or when one of the hands is destroyed (and thus cannot hit it back). It can be extremely spooky, but takes time to power up, and if you want it to get bad it is very limiting of your other options.

Down Tilt: Shadow Slam​

The nearest hand to to the closest of Haunter's foes swiftly moves a Ganondorf above them, waiting for 0.5 seconds before slamming down on them for a rather strong hitbox of 14% damage that KOs at 125%: The hand, when impacting the ground, sends out a shockwave which travels the entire length of the platform/stage it is on and deals half the damage and knockback of the original hit. If two shockwaves from collide, say from two hands using them, then they will explode into a pillar of supremely dark energy that deals 25% damage and kills at 75% damage with very impressive vertical height that reaches the topmost platform of Battlefield from the bottom platform of it. Spooky.
 
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WeirdChillFever

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
6,493
Location
Somewhere Out There
"I found this in my master's belongings. It seems to be an uncompleted song.

"Zelda told me of Kilton, the man of many mon, with a road of many bends
Of many monsters, small and big, he knows their skulls and their scents.
After Hyrule was ridden with monsters, his heart became full
Rumors say he lives in a lake in the shape of a skull.
He tries to befriend the monsters, even if their intentions are bad
He seems to rejoice the day the moon colors red.
He travels in a mechanic balloon.
Selling inventions, in the glance of the moon.
He wants to be a hero so he can see the Lynel with the mighty hooves
In response, I made him these moves"

I wonder what moves my master meant.
Maybe these inventions will be the key?
I'll have to find this strange fellow in order to get inspiration for a song with fighting moves.
It'll be quite hard to make it all rhyme though, but I'm convinced my master intended his song to be that way
I'll play my song if I completed it, fellow traveler."
 
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Smady

Smash Master
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Messages
3,306
Location
K Rool Avenue
PIGMA


Pigma is an antagonist from the Star Fox series and originates from Star Fox 64. Before joining Star Wolf, an adversary team of pilots hired by Andross to fight Star Fox in midair combat, Pigma was a part of the group of pilots led by Fox's Father, James McCloud. It was Pigma that betrayed James McCloud and Peppy Hare, selling them out to Andross for money. Pigma's traitorous act was why James McCloud was killed and he boasts about this to Fox in Star Fox 64, in his most famous line of dialogue: "Daddy screamed real good before he died!” It took the team of Fox, Falco, Slippy and Peppy to finally shut up Pigma and Star Wolf in the war that finally culminated in the death of Andross.

Pigma is present in most Star Fox games, appearing in Star Fox 64, Star Fox Assault, Star Fox Command and Star Fox Zero. The only game he doesn't appear in is the questionably canon Star Fox Adventures where Fox is the main character and the members of his crew are only cameo appearances, and the original Star Fox. Assault is an important game for Pigma's character development as it shows Wolf has tired of Pigma after the events of 64 and their defeat, scarring his face with his claws in a fit of rage. Pigma then left the Star Wolf squadron alongside Andrew and both went their separate ways. Andrew tried to emulate his dear uncle Andross as much as possible as the first boss of Assault, struck down as he tried to revive Andross' Empire. Pigma is more impactful on the plot as he becomes involved in the Aparoid plot, collecting the Core Memory to sell for money, but is defeated by Star Fox. He is corrupted by the Aparoids into a giant satellite monster, in one of the glitziest moments for Pigma in the series.

Pigma's role in Command is about as questionably canon as Adventure as Pigma fuses with a giant space station, becoming a giant Andross-style floating head in space. Pigma's role in Star Fox Zero is basically a retread of Star Fox 64. In all his appearances, Pigma is always characterized as one of the most immoral characters, out for himself and to make it rich. Assault is the only game where this is developed, showing that Pigma's so greedy it's too much for Wolf's honour to tolerate after Andross has been defeated. As he was part of James McCloud's squadron, he and Peppy Hare are the oldest known pilots in the series.

STATISTICS

Weight: 109 (Samus)
Walk Speed: 0.88 (Bowser Jr./48th)
Dash Speed: 1.5 (Villager/55th)
Air Speed: 1.21 (Wario/5th)
Fall Speed: Villager (47th)
Gravity: 0.12 (Falcon/5th)
First Jump: 35 (Fox/19th)
Air Jump: 35 (Sonic/24th)

Pigma is a marginally fatter Wario clocking in at roughly the same height, only a little shorter. In his games Pigma is shown to be shorter than James McCloud by a head and Wario is just below Fox, his identically-proportioned son in height. All that fat puts Pigma on the in-between of the super heavyweight gate keeper Ganondorf and Samus at the top of normal heavyweights, this is a long ways separated from his Star Fox rivals who weigh 82 (Falco) and 79 (Fox). As a disgusting fat pig Pigma's slow as molasses, his walk speed is only eclipsed in its sluggishness by his dash speed. The saving grace of his movement is that his air speed is very good. This fittingly puts him at the opposite end of the spectrum from the fast running, slow in the air Fox/Falco.

Another respect that Pigma differs greatly from his much hated Star Fox compatriots is that he's floaty in the air. He does have a high gravity to reflect he's not some pig balloon, but Pigma and his fattened up body won't be going off the top nearly as quickly as the other spacies. His jumps aren't too bad, the first the same as Fox's competent jump and the second worse than Fox or Falco's aerial jumps. Pigma is not as aerodynamic as those fast fallers, but to say the least he isn't at home in the air. Pigma looks pathetic scurrying the fastest his wimpy legs can take him across the battlefield, he's lucky that all those years chomping away at garbage has built up a soft cushion that will soften those hits he's bound to take. All KO percents listed in the set are on Mario at the middle of Final Destination.

SPECIALS

Neutral Special: Hot Gun


Pigma takes out and fires the same Blaster as Wolf does in Brawl, firing the same laser as Wolf. However, Pigma fires it from within his fat hurtbox so this lacks the 'gun' hitbox at melee range, only dealing the 6% laser hitbox. This in all respects is the same as Wolf's move but for one big difference: Pigma can cancel the end lag of the move to perform a cocky thrust forward of the blaster, firing it a second time to emit an electrical hitbox forward 0.5x the range of the blaster shot, dealing 8% damage and high knockback, able to KO at 150%. This will only combo when the foe was already at a close range at the beginning of the move, acting as a trade-off for not having Wolf's gun/muzzle hitbox, or if the second hit is mashed early in the move locking Pigma into the worse end lag of the second shot. Pigma's blaster will glow red and overheat for the next 5 seconds after the second shot, dealing Pigma a passive 1% damage a second. Pigma's blaster will only fire a projectile the size and trajectory of Zero Suit Samus' uncharged neutral special when it's overheating, dealing 3% damage with hitstun only for the first few hits similarly to MegaMan's buster, but can be fired only a bit slower than Fox's Blaster so can be spammed.

Pigma can charge his blaster and shows off other modifications he made to the blaster in his time away from Star Wolf. A reticule appears over the closest foe if they're within two platforms of Pigma and has the same lag as Palutena's Autoreticle neutral special. Pigma will then fire a round energy blast the size of Ness' PK Thunder projectile that travels forward two battlefield platforms and then explode in a blast similar to the one in Robin's Arcthunder, dealing 5 hits of 3% damage and the same knockback as that move. When a foe was targeted by a reticule the energy ball will home in on them as it travels across the stage, this is very good homing compared to Samus' missiles and only wears out once the blast has gone two platforms, exploding the same as normal. The foe's answer to this is pretty simple though: the projectile is instantly snuffed out by shields, dealing all its 15% damage in one hit. The end lag though not as awful as Autoreticle is 40 frames, this is bad enough that this leaves Pigma fairly vulnerable at close to mid range. Pigma can do the same electrical blast shot to cancel the end lag of this projectile too and this has the same hitbox but extends the distance the homing blaster shot travels by 1.5x.

Pigma can try to charge his blaster when overheated for a very different, not always welcome change. The move appears to work as normal besides Pigma bashing the gun out of frustration, however the reticule appears... over Pigma who snorts angrily. The projectile will be shot out and after only travelling a very short Kirby width, will change direction on a dime and head back towards Pigma for the remaining duration. It will home in on him and from the beginning will now deal self damage if it lands on Pigma. At the same time this still will damage the foe so it far from useless, just very risky.

Side Special: Hog Tie

Pigma darkly laughs to himself, taking out a high tech looking grappling hook ostensibly for space exploration and lazily thrusts it forward, shooting the hook forward a battlefield platform. Any foes it hits will be grabbed in place. Pigma by default will pull himself into the foe and body slam them, dealing 15% damage and high knockback at an almost horizontal angle, able to KO at 130%. Pigma will instead pull the foe in to himself when his direction compared to the foe is pressed and body slams them on the way, dealing 8% damage and marginally lower knockback than the 15% hitbox. Pigma and the foe respectively for each version will be turned into a lower tech version of the phantom side specials of Fox and Falco using the advanced grappling hook, explaining why Pigma has the strength to pull and push around any character. When the grab lands, Pigma will refresh his jumps, and can use the grab on walls once per air trip to do the same, bouncing off the wall for a floppy wall jump. The appearance of this tether resembles the “arms” from Aparoid Pigma’s boss fight in Star Fox Assault.

The grappling hook's got obvious uses in tandem with the charged homing version of Hot Gun. Pigma can drag in the foe when the projectile is in-between either characters and force them to be hit by it, any move that deals knockback ends the grab early, launching the foe away. Pigma, following the rules of how throws work in Smash 4, will tank the damage of any projectiles he hits, including his own, on the way to hit the foe and has full super armour. The lag of the grappling hook is comparable to Samus' grab, only 20 frames faster end lag at 50 First Actionable Frames.

The side special can be angled up or down. All versions of the move can sweetspot the ledge and pull in Pigma like a tether. The up angled version is no longer a grab hitbox and launches the hook higher into the air before pulling it back down at the ground, ending the move with slightly higher end lag. This turns the hook into a melee hitbox that deals 7% and untechable knockback towards the ground and inwards, this will lead into a combo for Pigma at set percents. The hitbox's location makes it a great shield poker. The down angled version will let Pigma dig the hook into the ground just under the foe and then uses this pivot to drag him forwards performing his normal 15% body slam hitbox. This will launch Pigma 1.2 battlefield platforms with super armour and deals minimal amounts of shield push, this has low end lag. This sets up a mindgame for shields where the foe will be punished for shielding the grab but not for the down angled version, with no time to react or tell before it's too late, giving Pigma a good deal of pressure each time it's used.

Pigma's move changes fairly drastically when forward/the direction towards the foe is held, Pigma will chuckle as he flails the hook around, dealing rapid hits of 3% and light hitstun to the foe. Pigma's hook has the same control scheme as Sheik's Melee chain, only using hypothetically improved physics and a bigger hitbox at the end for the hook, which is roughly the size of a Pokeball. This can go on indefinitely but stales to do no hitstun after dealing 8% damage. Pigma can cancel at any point with a good bit of end lag making it easy to punish, but the move will also push the foe out slowly, acting as a slower repeating jab. This all adds up to not much besides 8% damage, and though this is nice the real power of this version of the move comes from delaying the foe in the middle of trying to dodge the homing Blaster shot. Hope this isn't... frustrating for the foe or anything!

Down Special: Ugly Reflection


Pigma laughs under his breath as he grabs a device from his belt and tosses it forwards, before it bursts into the familiar Reflector that Wolf had in Brawl, but its general appearance more resembles PK Freeze. This is because this has the same functionality as Falco’s reflector, dealing the same damage and small hitstun, with a slightly higher chance to trip foes too. The reflector goes off roughly 1.2x the distance from Pigma it does for Falco and as a result, comes out at a slight delay compared to that move too. The obvious problem in using this reflector is that it has no defensive purpose, as it’s created too far from Pigma’s body… or so you’d think. The reflector will do the opposite of Falco’s which is a hitbox as it goes out then comes back, Pigma’s instead is a hitbox only after being thrown and then as it returns to Pigma. This works the same way as Falco’s and if Pigma is launched too far for it to naturally return, it will appear anyway, and the hitbox is unaffected by Pigma’s position.

The way this all works unfortunately is actively worse than Falco’s Reflector, projectiles will be harder to reflect and have to be reflected when they’re a little ways in front of Pigma rather than directly in front of him, making it worse defensively against projectiles. On the other hand he can catch foes out with projectiles just behind them and further away from Pigma, and the move is far harder to punish, giving it a melee edge over Falco’s already competent Reflector as a defensive melee move.

Pigma will throw the reflector out and not have it return when the button is held, this means the reflector can’t be held out but neither could Falco’s. The reflector will fall to the ground or float in the air where it was thrown, becoming a static reflector half the size of its hitbox. This has little lag overall. This will deal only 3% damage and light flinching to foes who touch it, making them immune to it for the next second like the regrab timer, this has its uses but isn’t too effective even as a gimp because it refreshes recoveries. The reflector isn’t solid either, only the tiny reflector device itself is a physical object so the foe can move through it easily after taking 3% due to the reflector’s weakened state. The reflector will reflect projectiles as normal but due to its weakened state, will not strengthen them as it normally does.

Pigma can hold the button when the reflector is out to put his hand on another device on his belt, this makes the reflector immediately shut down and returns to Pigma so he can use the normal move again, this is fairly quick and easy to do mid match. Pigma will instead mash the same device if the button is pressed, causing the reflector out on stage to malfunction and flash on/off, this has another effect entirely. Pigma’s own projectiles on the stage will home in on the reflector wherever they are and have their duration refreshed, having the same weak homing behaviour as Samus’ normal missiles, turning slowly, and slower still when the reflector isn’t close. This would be all good for Pigma, but thing is that his projectiles are now self-damaging because of him messing with his equipment! On the bright side, any of his projectiles that were already self-damaging are reversed to be owned by him too. He can however only do this once as the reflector continues to malfunction until it takes 30% damage then explodes in a Bowser-sized explosion for 15% and high low-angled knockback to KO at 120%. Its flashing will become more constant as it gets lower HP, each projectile it reflects now also deals half its own damage as it’s reflected, making it inevitable it will explode if Pigma is using any of his own, let alone the foe. Pigma can self detonate it too with the same special in an animation similar to Snake’s mine detonation in Brawl, but has slightly more lag to make it interruptible as Pigma wants to rub it in with a cackle to himself first, making it a lot less viable of an option.

When the reflector is out like this, Pigma can use his side special to latch onto it like a regular wall and slam into it as one. When angled high, he can even use it to launch himself into the air out of the slam, leading into his good air game. The down angled version will let Pigma reach through and grab the physical reflector itself, dragging it forward to be right next to him instead. For the duration the hook grabs the reflector, it is highlighted in a high tech bright green the same as Pigma’s reflector and regains its Falco-damage hitbox until it’s fully moved. This does have bad end lag however and does little to shields, so the old reliable regular command grab is still an important part of the triangle here.

Up Special: Fire Pig

Pigma hunches down in a squat (or as much as his decrepit body can manage one) and is launched up and forward in a diagonal reminiscent of Wolf’s up special in Brawl, dealing the same damage and knockback, but covering 1.3x vertical space. Another nice benefit is this no longer has the weird ability Wolf’s had to not sweetspot the ledge. When Pigma hits anything solid, including the foe, he slams into it and rebounds off horizontally half a battlefield platform width. This means he has to then use another recovery move but it does give him back his up special too, otherwise this leaves him in helpless in midair. On walls, this will bounce off and continue the move upwards in the opposite direction as Pigma rebounds up and gives him a small bit of extra distance to his recovery. This theoretically lets Pigma climb two walls placed next to each other for several Ganondorf heights before it stops working, but this is unlikely to be relevant in any competitive match.

When Pigma is travelling like this he is technically counted as a projectile and will act like one in relation to his reflector. He’ll be pulled towards it, and off stage this can slightly improve his recovery, but only slightly, to make it travel 1.3x as far when it’s right next to the ledge. When the up special is used very close to the reflector, say on the ground next to it, Pigma will do a full U-turn in midair and come crashing down next to it on the other side. This can be influenced by DI and gives some control to the move. This will rebound Pigma in the opposite direction letting him get back into the air, or he can tech the landing to land normally on the ground. This lets him either transition safely into his grounded set or remain in the air. He can even DI to hit into the reflector itself to damage it then go back into the air, although he can’t tech it to slide off it or stand on it for further abuse.

SMASHES

Forward Smash: Aparoid Laser


Pigma takes out a huge futuristic Gatling gun held in both of his measly hands, the end building up with energy as the smash charges, then fires a meaty, breath-like pink laser! Pigma sniggers to himself as he fires this impressive weapon. This deals 6 hits of 2-2.8%, and a final hit that deals 8% and high, low angled horizontal knockback, able to KO horizontally as powerfully as Palutena's up smash does vertically. The laser has a massive hitbox, a whole battlefield platform, and will travel a final destination length in distance before it dissipates. The laser is as wide as a battlefield platform. The end of the laser has a slightly bigger spherical build up of energy that deals the final 8%, but each earlier hit will put the foe into hitstun and combo into the rest of the laser. The laser travels at the speed of Falco's blaster shot. Pigma's start lag on this move is only a few frames better than Dedede's forward smash, with the same end lag where Pigma puts the Gatling away quickly, and given the move’s lower knockback the move's selling point is definitely its range.

The laser is made up of many small particles rather than being one huge hitbox, this isn’t that relevant most of the time until the move is angled up or down, showing that the laser can reflect off the ground or other walls. This doesn’t reflect the entire laser; rather each small particle – roughly a Pokeball in size – will independently reflect as if its own projectile off walls or enemy reflectors, so at certain angles can bypass certain shields or do a great job of poking shields from corners. Pressing B/special during the laser's duration will cause a nuclear bomb-style ring the same colour as the laser to surround the laser at its current endpoint, facing mostly left/right and a little toward/away from the screen. These rings are made from static Aparoid Particles that break away from the laser, weakening it by 5% and making it 0.8x as wide, this can be done up to 3 times per fsmash, and extends the end lag by a few frames. These will linger around for 8 seconds and merely sit in place. Pigma can only have 3 of these at once, a 4th deleting the 1st.

Aparoid rings are a hollow ring the size of Bowser, and strongly resemble the speed up rings from the Star Fox games. It's only passive, but can be destroyed by foes dealing it 20% damage. Projectiles sent through the rings will be sped up to boost forwards at 1.3x their normal speed for as long as they’re in its range. The fsmash laser itself is a big deal here as it will speed up as being shot through the ring letting it travel much further. Pigma’s other main use of the particles himself is attacking inside of them will cause another chain reaction, as the particles start to pulsate and tick an ominous red for half a second. After that, the articles cause a small, Tabuu-like explosion inwards dealing a passive 2% and hitlag to foes. The ring dissipates but slows anything within the ring to half speed for 1 second. This works on Pigma, foes, projectiles, but Pigma’s the only one able to trigger it. Pigma or any character can utilize this to slow down their hitboxes, turning many moves into a pseudo-sex kick or lingering hitbox. All hitboxes created by Pigma within this slowing ring deal 1.1-1.3x the damage and knockback as the particles gather around the hitboxes.

The unique way that the rings work in activating for the slow part can be taken advantage of by Pigma, especially in how his Hog Tie reacts to it. So long as he's performing an attack within the ring and has his hurtbox within it, the ring will begin to activate. This means Pigma can throw out his Hog Tie tether inside the ring, then depending on what he does next, pull the foe into the slowed area and deal more damage with the follow-up, or time his pull in at the foe to coincide with the slow so that he delays it and hits them after they've dodged. On the other hand, merely throwing out the Sheik-chain-like whip and letting it linger there with more power is a tantalizing option too! The slowdown and buff doesn't last for long, so Pigma has to make his choices, and keep in mind the foe can make use of the lingering hitboxes if not the damage.

Pigma can use his up special within the ring, absorbing the particles into himself as he is surrounded in a purple flame, cackling evilly. Pigma can launch himself surrounded in a 15% damage hitbox 1.2x the distance of Fox's Fire Fox. This uses up the ring. When Pigma hits a wall or the ground, he'll create a shockwave against it that travels out for a Bowser width and deals 5% with weak knockback outwards, making it very hard to punish on the ground. He has full super armour for the duration of the attack. Pigma will enter helpless if he didn't have his old up special available but can keep entering the rings around the stage to keep using this renewed, buffed up special to chase the foe around the stage without caring about having his up special. The foe can still punish this if he's being too blatant about it by attacking him during the end lag. Other moves can use up the Aparoid Ring too by pressing B/special, and they will light up the Aparoid Ring when used within it, enabling Pigma to cancel the slow on demand.

Pigma's Blaster neutral b changes in the Aparoid Ring too when he charges it, shown to the player by the Aparoids gathering around the blaster when it's used normally. This has more lag to it than the two versions normally available, taking half a second to absorb Aparoids into the blaster, making it be covered in a pink hue for the next 5 seconds. When Pigma next shoots a projectile, wherever it hits a foe or dissipates/hits a wall or runs out of space, it will create an Aparoid Ring. This can only be done a maximum of three times before the Aparoids dissipate on the blaster, but gives Pigma a huge amount of control and just takes a little while for him to set up at first. These work on the same limits as the other Aparoid Rings. The blaster shots sent out will be coloured pink to distinguish them from the normal projectiles. This goes for both the normal and overheated blaster so the normal version has a bit of room to trick foes into walking into a homing shot, as this takes a little longer than that. The overheated blaster will however not be able to fire rings, so Pigma must wait for it to cool off before firing them out.

The laser will only reflect what parts of the laser physically hit a wall or reflector, with the other parts that don't continue along the old path. This lets Pigma get around foes' projectiles, in particular that of Fox and Falco by aiming in convenient directions or from higher platforms so that they can't reflect the entire thing nor gain ownership of it. This won't hit them all the time but from unique angles will make it impossible for them to reflect the whole thing making the laser even more dangerous for them, and gives Pigma an edge over characters such as Fox or Falco.

Up Smash: Pig Missiles


Pigma takes out a large, double-ended missile launcher, charging it in place before firing out two missiles, one from each side roughly the size of Samus' Super Missiles. Where the missiles are first shot from the launcher is two hitboxes on top of Pigma's left and right that each deal 18-25% damage and 0.8x the knockback of Snake's forward smash missile launcher from Brawl, only from a much higher location. This is quicker to finish than Snake's up smash but not by much, though it's not nearly as slow as his fsmash. The lag is on par with Snake's up smash in Brawl, at 11 frames this isn't too bad for a smash of this nature. The two missiles can be blocked independently, misfiring if they hit in the first part of the move, but the other one can still be fired out yielding very different results.

The missiles when successfully shot out will curve around and be fired into the air above Pigma, travelling only just above his height before turning around and hitting the other missile in midair just above Pigma's head. This happens just as Pigma is out of end lag. This explosive hitbox is the same size as a Bob-Omb explosion. The missiles themselves are as powerful as Samus' Super Missiles and the two combined cover a huge range for a projectile, but will never KO normally. The explosion however when the two hit in the middle is much stronger, dealing 15% and able to KO at radial knockback starting at 100%. This is very, very telegraphed, coming out a long time after the move is first used and only landable when foes are read trying to do a stall then fall, fast fall or something of that nature on top of Pigma a while before he used the move. This powerful hitbox is mostly useful to scare foes out of certain parts of the stage above Pigma and to help control the air.

Pigma will fire out more missiles as the move is charged, shooting out another 2 or 4 if the move is charged a half or all the way respectively. These missiles don't add to the move's end lag but make far more of the move's poor end lag be covered by the powerful melee hitbox of the missiles coming out of the launcher. The missiles will closely follow the first set of projectiles, but travel up a Ganondorf over Pigma's head for the second pair, and 1.5x that high for the third pair of missiles. They will both explode a little later than the previous set, the second and third exploding as Pigma is out of end lag. With how fast these travel though, Pigma's not going to have much chance to manipulate these projectiles.

The move can be angled during the move's start lag, Pigma will lean on one side and fire the missiles 25 degrees in that direction, firing the side he angled 25 degree down and the opposite side 25 degrees up. Now the missiles will be launched along the ground and the other further up in the air, taking longer to reach each other in the air above Pigma. This changes the angle of the melee hitbox at the start of the move, each side now launching foes in the direction the launcher was facing when fired at the same damage and knockback. This can make the move a potential spike when close to the edge of the stage, but due to the low angle, so can only be used to check get up, though the missile is useful just to keep the foe off stage. This is slow enough in its end lag, it's too punishable to use on the ledge more than once. The missiles will meet in midair above Pigma, but will meet up vertically from the shoulder he leaned/angled on, pushing the explosive hitbox to that side, and happens a little later. This doesn't make Pigma get any more control however, as angling either direction will give the move slightly more end lag.

When one of the missiles is destroyed or knocked off course, easily done using Pigma's reflector walls or by hitting parts of the stage, the other missile will be hit off course and continue past where it would normally collide. The missile will go for another battlefield platform, stall in midair and then explode for a hitbox only half as powerful, and 0.75x the size. When angled, this will instead have the missile go at the same 25 degree angle up or down at the end and continue for the same distance. The speed of these resembles Samus' Super Missiles again, coming to a slow stop once they're out of juice before they explode. This can be sped up or slowed down by firing the missiles into Aparoid Rings. This slows them down when fired into the rings, but at the same time, will slow them as the ring dissipates.

Pigma can press special/B when he's near one of his reflectors to activate a secondary effect. A device on Pigma's belt will glow pink/his team colour signifying he can activate it during the start up of the move, Pigma will then chuckle evilly and mash the device as he launches the missile. This will cause the aiming reticule from the neutral special to light up on the reflector, aiming the missiles toward it! The missiles will be hostile to Pigma as usual, sparking and visibly overheating, but will now be pulled in towards the reflector instead of heading towards each other once they go over the top of Pigma's height. They will go of course, and slowly home in faster and faster at the reflector. The missile will go from Samus' Super Missile speed to double that once within a battlefield platform. Once reflected, the missile will go off in the opposite direction. Pigma can vary this up by pressing the button later when he's firing multiple missiles from charge, causing the second or third set solely to home in on the reflector.

This allows Pigma to reflect his own missiles and double up, firing two in the opposite direction, or delaying a missile by sending it forward then reflecting it back towards Pigma where he can then dodge out of the way. Pigma can create a pretty complex web of missiles if he wants to this way and has enough charge time and a reflector out on stage by selectively 'misfiring' missiles so that they reflect off the reflector rather than staying under Pigma's ownership, and thus ignoring the reflector to meet where their counterpart missile would in midair. Pigma's missiles will instead of being reflected, explode on top of the reflector when it's too low on health that the missile's explosion would destroy the reflector. This can also be combined with the way Pigma can selectively misfire up to 3 sets of the missiles to catch foes out who don't realize the reflector is so low on HP.

Down Smash: Rocky Landing


Pigma takes out his tether used in his side b, Hog Tie, and holds it above his head for charge time, then slams down his arm in midair! For the start up of the move, a Bowser width of the ground below Pigma glows a tech-y green, Pigma causes a round boulder of ground to erupt around him and spike up into the air! These are two equal, Kirby-sized rocks that deal 15-19% damage and high upwards knockback, straight up if just above the rocks, or at a high/low angle depending on what part of the boulders hits the foe. The boulders then explode into Rock Smash-sized hitboxes on both sides of Pigma dealing 5% and low knockback in the process, basically just enough to shield Pigma during his long end lag, but can be easily perfect shielded to punish him or crouched as they travel upward at the end of the move. The start lag for this move is mercifully low making it perhaps Pigma's best Smash for the melee hitbox, only let down by the long end lag. This never actually terraforms the stage, an aesthetic where the rock was is shown for the duration of the move, but is then filled in.

The boulders that rise out of the ground are only semi-solid, foes will be able to move them out of the way as they do a character. This is because the boulders are glowing for the duration of the move, signifying that Pigma is using his device to make them levitate in midair. The boulders at no charge travel up only a short distance off the ground, a Jigglypuff height, but will travel as high as Mario on either side at full charge. In addition, when at maximum charge, the boulders will not shatter and instead fall down to the ground, becoming a hitbox that deals 75% as much as they did going up, but this is very powerful next to the ledge. This however requires being down way ahead of time so is best used against "slow" recoveries like Villager's up b or Duck Hunt Dog, as well as being easily beat through by up b invincibility/super armour. The boulders when they fall have the same physics as Villager's fsmash bowling ball. They will deal the same knockback as the bowling balls as they fall on stage. Pigma end lag will be completely covered by the falling boulders as they linger for a good while. As they enter into the ground, the boulders will create a Bowser dair-sized shockwave on either side, dealing a token 2% and light flinching knockback, giving Pigma a significant frame advantage.

When Pigma does the max charge of the boulders he has a small window to influence the boulders himself using his own moves, which mostly extends to most of his moves as he can hit the boulders right up until they hit the ground. The boulders will be hit around at Bowser's weight, at 0%, and have a very high gravity so will quickly hit the ground. As they're being hit around, their damage varies from 10% when hit by a weak move, while their cap is being dealt 20% (hard to do with any time limit on it here) that makes them deal 20%, KOing from 110-90% at a radial angle. When not returning into their original hole in the ground, the boulders will instead smash into debris against the stage in the same hitbox as the aforementioned Rock Smash in the default move. This will happens against solid walls or other solid objects too. Foes can hit the boulders away the same way, this will only work against whatever attack Pigma used on the boulders however, subtracting from the power of the move the foe used, which makes it much harder to hit the boulder back with weak moves. If they do hit the boulder back, it is then self-damaging to Pigma... but this only means he can reflect it! Hope you enjoy those rocks Fox.

Pigma can grab onto the rock using his side b, the result varying greatly depending the angle and at what stage he grabbed the rock. The default straight angle will pull the rock towards Pigma. As a unique interaction, Pigma will dodge out of the way, letting it fly behind him. This will then travel a full battlefield platform before gravity kicks in and it goes back down after. Of course, most of the time the rock will hit the other rock that was behind Pigma instead, hitting that one the same direction and making it travel just as far before it falls. The remaining rock will then fall in place instead and do the Rock Smash hitbox below Pigma, catching out any foes who tried to dodge/roll around the move. Pigma can be interrupted out of his dodge mid-move, which will cause the rock he grabbed to awkwardly stop and drop in place instead. Grabbing the rock with the down angled version will pull Pigma to the rock, he then slams into it, hitting it forward a battlefield platform at the medium damage of 15% to foes. This will potentially leave Pigma in midair if the rock is caught midair, or grounded when next to the ground. When Pigma does this next to another rock, he will have it levitating in place for a moment before it falls into the ground normally, letting him launch himself into it for his up special. These are the two best ways to make use of the up b on the rocks, which usually are too risky to use or moving too fast, or Pigma too far away. Down angled will cause the rock to be gripped tightly by the grappler, exploding in place into a hitbox 1.5x the size and power of Rock Smash, and is the fastest option available. This is fast enough it's just about possible to turn around and do it on the other rock too, but only if the first one is done immediately.

During the start up of the move, like the up smash, a part of Pigma's belt will glow indicating he can press b/special to do add his own fun twist to the move. Pigma will laugh under his breath, getting out a small version of the Smart Bomb, only half as big as the normal item, and kick it forward with his stubby legs as the boulder is raised into the air. The trade off of this is that only the front boulder is created, and the move's end lag is unaffected. The move is ultimately the same up to the point when the rock falls back to the ground. Pigma is no longer able to max charge it to be able to influence it after the move is over, and the hole is filled in even if he's interrupted. However the ground is shown to "beep" every second thereafter as the smart bomb underneath is just about ready to off at any moment. The ground has a small indentation that can be attacked, and once it's dealt 20%, will blow up into a Bob-Omb sized explosion that deals 15% and high upwards knockback. This is another one of those hitboxes Pigma is vulnerable to, but there are some other bonuses to this too. When the explosion goes off, if the boulder managed to fall back into the hole in the ground, it will be blown back up a Ganondorf height by the explosion, dealing 12% and decent radial knockback to foes or Pigma, then falls down after lingering like a stall-then-fall, then does the same damage and knockback downwards, falling back into the ground. One important difference here is the rock is solid and Pigma can now easily manipulate it with his up b or use it as a solid for his side b, only dealing damage on its upper side when rising, and when falling its bottom side.

Pigma has plenty of ways to secure a last hit on his "mine" he can now set in the ground, with his reflector, his blaster he can home in on himself or the reflector, or even the reflector's own, highly disjointed hitbox. For the regular max charge boulder, his fsmash is extremely useful as it will continue dealing damage to it in multihits that will keep pushing it forward, though he won't get long enough to land an fsmash on it without use of his side b first. The same goes for his side b, with all those ways you can use your missiles, and it’s possible to keep a boulder in play for a long, long time if Pigma gets creative enough. Finally, for those who truly want to pig out on this down smash, Pigma's boulders have a rewarding, powerful sweetspot if they hit enough boulder! They smash together in a 1.8x Rock Smash-sized hitbox of exploding rocks that deals 18% and very high knockback at the point the two collided, this has the same knockback as a Falcon Punch. You're going to have to really be devious to land this, it's practically an Easter Egg, but there's enough meat to Pigma's camping and defensive game it might ever be possible in a normal match. It’s all helped tremendously by the slowdown Pigma can achieve through his fsmash rings, which will slow down the rocks, and as hitting the rocks will create these rings, they’re going to be easy to then repeat a down smash there again.

STANDARDS

Jab: Space Dagger

Pigma equips a knife and slashes it forward in a typical repeating jab fashion, slashing forward, slightly up, slightly down, then repeats until the jab finisher where he does a violent slash forward. The repeated hits of the knife deal 2.5% damage and the final hit deals 6% damage, a fairly typical jab for damage. This is a fast jab by jab standards and one of Pigma’s most reliable moves at melee, the range of the knife is extended by a green laser, the same colour green as that seen in his specials, that gives the knife almost as good of range as Captain Falcon’s rapid punches, in spite of Pigma’s pathetically stubby arms. The basic nature of the repeating jab is incredibly useful in many facets of Pigma’s set up. He can use it to stall or delay the foe into being hit by his lingering, homing projectiles, whether they’re homing on him or the reflector. He can use this to set off the rocks in his down smash with a weak move, causing them to careen almost immediately downwards and forcing a foe to back away or hit it back at point blank, making it a safe prospect to throw out his reflector in response to bat it back. In addition, Pigma can activate his Aparoid Rings when jabbing the foe, then revel in their torment as they are slowed, as spaced right this will put foes in way of the slowdown but not Pigma, simply landing the finisher with the bonus damage and knockback is very impressive. The knife strongly resembles the blade on the end of Wolf’s blaster.

Well that’s good and all, but Pigma doesn’t like to play by the rules! Pigma can press b during the jab to finish it early; this is done in the small window between the lag of the repeating jab and the jab finisher starting as a hitbox. Pigma erupts in laughter as he stabs the knife forcefully instead of his usual jab finisher, this gives the move heaps of end lag that has no place on a normal jab finisher. For his efforts, Pigma will impale the knife in the foe, or in any solid construct he has out on stage. This upfront will deal 8% damage and high knockback at the Sakurai angle, the same as the normal jab finisher. This will unsurprisingly keep the knife impaled in the foe for up to 7 seconds, dealing another 1% each second until the foe hits the knife away with any attack that deals over 4% damage. Any foe should be able to do this, although this is much harder if Pigma manages to get off his signature, the backstab, and implant the knife somewhere the foe can’t actively hit so easily. A legit backstab on foes deals 2% rather than 1% a second. The foe can shield the damage and when they do, when the knife would deal damage it instead starts to rustle in place, and then falls out completely if its hit is shielded twice in a row, no longer a hitbox.

When the knife is hit out by the foe, it will be knocked as if a homerun bat Smash Tossed in the direction of the knockback, or simply fall to the ground. It will dissipate immediately if it hits the ground, but does become an active hitbox to Pigma as it’s hit out by the foe. Pigma can then keep it in play by using his reflector, to knock it back at the foe if they’re that predictable. Though this could ever backfire, as Smash Tossing a homerun bat is pretty fast and this deals the same damage too. The foe may even be able to use their own reflector if they have one to return the favour, in which case the damage and knockback will escalate quickly.

This is why Pigma may instead choose to backstab his own inanimate allies, his set up, this is basically just his dsmash rocks , as he can’t backstab his reflector or non-solid missiles or blaster as much as he may wish to. When he stabs his rocks, if they fall back on the ground the knife will be tossed into the air and be spun around, going from 1-2 Ganondorf heights into the air depending on how far the rock fell to the ground. The knife does weak radial knockback and 4% damage, not very strong, but after hitting the foe will rebound off at an adjacent angle, using normal physics, and can then be reflected by Pigma again to potentially hit it back at the foe. Pigma can get a knife to stick up out of the ground by implanting it in the top side of a rock as it falls from his Smart Bomb mine. This will now become a constant hitbox that deals 5% and weak upward knockback to foes, and becomes a part of the mine’s hurtbox that can be whittled down to make the mine explode. If nothing else, this makes damaging the mine that much easier for Pigma. When exploded, the knife will be sent up 2 Ganondorf heights before turning around and falling, dealing 5% and weak downwards knockback, this can be reflected to go back into the air slightly before falling back down, but then is under Pigma’s ownership again.

Dash Attack: Help Me I Tripped!

Oof! Pigma trips over and falls on his fat pig butt, what an oaf! Or rather it seems that way to the untrained eye, but looking at his animation, it’s clear Pigma is taking a fall and deals damage over his entire body as he falls, dealing a couple percents lower than the king of this sort of body slam, King Dedede, though Pigma is taking it a bit far! This deals only slightly lower knockback than the king of unusable dash attacks, but doesn’t have near the bad end lag, though like many Smash 4 dash attacks it’s still pretty slow to end. The move has decent enough start lag anyway. This is one of Pigma’s more straightforward KO moves, though not quite as powerful as his smashes this is practically the punish move especially when unlike Dedede, he has plenty of ways to independently cover his end lag with projectiles or other set up.

This has one special use that makes it especially useful compared to the king’s version. Pigma can activate his Aparoid Ring to use it up and this will cause the Aparoid to rush to the sides of his body, covering him in an outline of Aparoids that struggle to bring him back to his feet over a short end lag as Pigma looks very relieved that they saved his bacon. Depending on how quickly in the dash attack this was used, the Aparoids will carry Pigma a Kirby height into the air, or simply lift him up back to his feet at the end, his entire body becoming a weak hitbox dealing 5% and low, radial knockback, and giving him heavy armour for the duration of this move. The Aparoid themselves become a passive hitbox that deal 3% damage up to 5 times over the course of the move when right next to Pigma. This is reliant on being so close to Pigma, it's basically Rest range, but can add up with the move's naturally high damage and 5% hitbox to go for a shield break if the foe was at 2/3rds shield health or lower.

Forward Tilt: Pig Trot

Pigma steps forward and performs a horizontal slash with the same knife he used in jab, this is comparable to Shulk’s ftilt though deals a slightly lower 11% damage, that much lower knockback, has less range but still respectable, and has far better lag on both sides. This is in fact one of Pigma’s faster moves alongside his jab for his melee game and is able to KO reliably around 140% on middleweights, so it pulls its weight. This is in the same way as his jab an integral hitbox at Pigma’s disposal for his playstyle as it gives him a semi-powerful, if shorter ranged move to throw out to hit back his rocks, to control space for his own set up, and generally get the better of foes trying to have dominion over his stage. The ftilt can be angled too to hit a little up or down, though this isn’t too much of a game changed it does let him hit his own stuff easier, like hitting down into his mines or into rocks above him with decent proficiency for such a fast, hard-hitting move.

The move has a sweetspot at the tip of the knife that has a nice sheen effect to show it off, this deals an only marginally higher 13.5% damage (same as Shulk’s ftilt) but has an important distinction of dealing Sakurai angled knockback and has a unique knockback quality. Pigma has extended hitlag on the foe as he drills it into them for a moment, pulling himself towards them, before the foe is hit away, similar to a freeze frame/Little Mac’s KO Punch in functionality. Though this isn’t all strictly flash as this can occur on his reflector, minus the extended hitlag. This will instead cause Pigma to be turned around mid move and be pushed that far, approximately a Kirby width across the stage in the opposite direction. As a purely visual effect, Pigma will glow green to showcase this underhanded use of technology to literally get ahead, and without hitlag this ends up being almost as fast as the normal version of the move! This is a pretty nice turnaround ftilt with that in mind too. Pigma can turnaround with his ftilt, sweetspot his reflector and turn himself around again, hardly stopping in his tracks as he attacks forwards but can dodge out of the way of the foe’s move in the mean time, then counter-attack. This is one of Pigma’s primary counter-type moves at a high level when he has a reflector active.

Pigma can use the sweetspot on his rocks too, drilling into them if the A/standard button is pressed again after start lag but before end lag hits. This is a bit of tricky timing, but Pigma will drill into his rock, causing a little rock projectile to fly out of the other side. Depending on the angle, this will be shot forward or slightly up/down and deals a paltry 3% and very low knockback. This has the same effectiveness of the little bit of wood that pops out of Villager’s tree sometimes when it falls. And this serves a similar purpose in a way, as the foe can then throw it back as a very weak item, letting Pigma reflect it! He’s really pigging out on these rock interactions. Pigma can’t ride the rocks all the way, but this will let Pigma be dragged along with the rock if it’s currently in travel, pushing him backward/forward/into the air until the ftilt ends, letting him catch a ride anywhere the rock is going for a very short time. This still can be a great way to travel at a high speed and make use of the rock’s not solid, but fairly annoying semi-solidness when hit towards foes.

Down Tilt: Pig Trip

Pigma incandescently kicks at the dirt below him, a move almost ripped off in its animation from Ness’ dtilt and dealing the same damage/knockback as that move. The one big animation difference is Pigma’s down tilt leg is exaggerated because of its inherent stubbiness. After the fastness of forward tilt and jab, this comes out the fastest of them all, mirroring that of Ness’ dtilt, but has some pretty garbage range… like Ness’ down tilt. Granted not the absolute worst for the range, but it’s bad enough to be a big issue. The big kicker of this move is that it still trips at the same rate as Ness’ move, and that’s a big deal for Pigma’s campier, trap-based playstyle. Foes aren’t going to be thrilled tripping as they’re trying to back throw Pigma into his own blaster shots. It’s Pigma’s best defensive move solely for its speed, the kind of move the Smash 4 heavies would love to have.

Pigma’s little shin kick is directly the best thing he has going for his rock mine, as he kicks it for only 2%. However it has the same sweetspot has Ness’ which deals 4%, making it a typical “hot potato” type move where Pigma can chisel away at this, or his reflector to make it go boom very slowly, or fairly quickly by angrily kicking the crap out of it. The foe can’t really tell which it is from looking, and it really makes it a pain in the neck for them to keep track. Making the foe trip up in certain areas, also a part and parcel of the move, can then be really dangerous for them as they might feel too unsure to use a get up attack on top of a mine or next to a reflector, conditioning them to use a “safe” get up option. Pigma can either try to trick them and then explode it in their face, or simply punish their chosen get up with more accuracy as he’s now whittled it down to the point it’s practically a 50/50.

Up Tilt: Piggy in the Middle

Pigma says screw it to using his knife again, that’s just dull, the blaster Wolf gave him is sharp and that’ll do! He cuts a curve into the air above him, dealing 4% and low knockback, though in a surprisingly quick up tilt, this is about as close as he gets to the other Star Fox characters in his ground game. This is a naturally good juggle and as a potential bonus, will deal radial knockback depending on what part of the hitbox hit, Pigma doing a decently-wide slash with his gun’s blade. Whatever part hits is fairly significant as at low percents, simply hitting up is enough, but at marginally higher ones, Pigma will have to hit horizontally and move for the follow up. This isn’t the best to combo into itself, but with good reads/bad DI, can get a good old chain of utilts going. This is of course helped along the way by Pigma’s natural pressure from his specials and smashes.

The blaster isn’t always in great shape, and when it’s overheated this will alter the move quite substantially. Pigma’s blaster will fire off by itself at four points over the course of utilt, this is basically Samus’ usmash, each of these tiny explosions deals 4% damage and low knockback, though scales very quickly if even more than one of these can be landed at once. Pigma will lag a little each time, so it’s at all possible to hit the foe into the other hitboxes at low or high enough percents at a sweetspot. Said lag makes the move far, far slower and nigh unusable compared to what it used to be, but gives the range a massive buff as a trade off, and the end lag is the same. The long duration makes it easy to punish though, and throwing this out carelessly is a one way ticket to joining Andrew’s Uncle Andross.

This is the opposite of the down tilt in that “hot potato” functionality, as this works exclusively on above-ground stuff, and it’s not all that useful to hit his reflector. Instead this is in the same boat as jab, particularly the overheated version of the move. Dealing 4 hits of 4% to constructs that can’t move out of the way is a big deal and while not consistent on the rocks, the fact it isn’t consistent is somewhat of a plus at high levels where foes won’t know for sure what result their weaker moves will have as they try and hit back the rocks. In the same vein, the semi-circle radial knockback of the normal utilt makes it somewhat unpredictable as it bats away rocks and combined with his missiles and delayed lasers he can put on stage, his melee having a trump card too gives Pigma a definite edge.

AERIALS

Neutral Aerial: Roast Pig

Pigma chuckles and rolls up into a ball in midair, a device activates on his belt and Pigma is engulfed in flames for a reverse sex kick hitbox, dealing 9% and low knockback at first gradually ticking up until the fire gets its hottest, dealing 14% and high radial knockback as the move winds down and Pigma unrolls into his normal air stance. This has good start lag for a sex kick. At its most powerful, the move has the same power as Ganondorf's fair, so will start to KO from below 100%. This has a long duration but for the last few frames has heavy armour, which is very powerful combined with the natural priority of an aerial, but requires precise timing. Start lag on the move is minimal, landing and ending lag in the air are both pretty slow. Pigma's momentum in the air is unaffected by the move but his gravity does lower significantly at the start of the move, making it useful out of a jump to stymie his fall and catch out foes.

The move has no effect on aerial momentum so Pigma can effectively use it as a pseudo-rollout, timing it to hit only at the end or putting it out as a defensive shield to bait foes in, the armour giving it a nice counter-like quality. This is the best panic button that Pigma has that makes his up special a lot safer when it whiffs, as given the time he can just use nair and the foes has to give him a little respect rather than rushing in for the punish, at least when up special wasn't used really poorly. Likewise on the offensive side of things, Pigma can use his reflector and up special to launch himself at any desired angle the use nair to guide his path in the air. Pigma's fat pig body makes for a big hitbox.

Pigma can press b/special in the air when he's hovering in front of his Aparoid Circles to absorb them into his body during the move, cackling away in his usual high tone as the fire becomes purple. This buffs the move and reverses its sex kick properties. Instead of burning up to its hottest at the end of the move, the aerial now immediately deals 14% and slowly winds down until it abruptly ends. This has now minimal end lag in the air and marginally better landing lag, making it much safer. This can be used at any point in the move's long duration, which creates something of a trade off. It won't extend the move's duration and thus can be a little wasted if used at the very end, only good for making its end lag safer. When used earlier on, this will mean the later part of the move won't KO as it degrades back down to 9%. This might ever be useful though as Pigma is out of end lag sooner so could use his up special or at very low percents his Hog Tie/other aerials when the foe is close.

Whether or not b is pressed when over an Aparoid Circle, this will always trigger its slowing effect at one point or another. This will rarely happen during the aerial itself if it's what was used to activate it. When activating the Aparaoid Circle, this is a great way to cover a good amount of the space within the circle and beat out any foes that try to get inside it and take advantage of its lingering properties, or simply fight Pigma out of it so he can't. If the move is used into the slowing effect this is very useful because it will extend the sex kick's specific hitboxes twice as long, and can be used dynamically to cancel the Aparoid just before it happens if Pigma ends up not wanting this for the slow's drawbacks. Just as easily the move can be used along with aerial momentum to dash in out of the circle. Not used up, Pigma can always use his up b inside the Aparaoid Circle too, giving a multitude of mix ups.

Forward Aerial: Slash of Meat

Pigma takes out his blaster upside down, slashing it in a half-circle in front of him, dealing 8% and good knockback. This won't KO, but this has some of the best range of any of Pigma's moves, is his fastest aerial and has good end lag, a little better than Bowser's fair though without nearly as much range. The blaster's blade has a sweetspot at the tip of the blade that deals 10% and higher knockback, able to KO now at 150%, there's also a sourspot at the base of the gun that deals a different, melee form of damage for only 4% and weak knockback. The angle of the knockback is also radial and can hit the foe anywhere in a 180 degree/half circle range. The speed and coverage makes it a great move for hitting rocks from down smash or just knocking foes back into homing blaster shots.

This is one of the best moves to slow down due to its insanely good coverage, and slowing down such a fast move means it won't get so slow it's any more punishable either. The sweetspot when buffed becomes far more of a powerful KO move and even the sourspot will start to do enough knockback that it will always be safe in the air. For the duration of the move, the sourspot and non-sweetspot part of the gun acts as a solid to projectiles while not being solid, giving a minor way for Pigma to early detonate his missiles and reflect his fsmash laser. This isn't all that easy normally, but works far better when he slows it down when going through the Aparoid Rings.

When the aerial lands before end lag, the move has a landing hitbox the same way as Falco's fair. Pigma will ram the gun upside down into the ground, slamming the top part of the blaster so that it shoots out a weak blaster shot across the ground in a shockwave for a Kirby width. This is a transcendent hitbox that deals 4% and low knockback. This has low end lag. If the blaster wasn't already overheated, this will overheat it for only a second after this is used, letting him shoot out a bunch of the weaker, faster blaster shots to get the foe out of his face. When the gun is overheated, the landing hitbox instead creates a small explosion as the gun hits the ground, dealing Pigma 3% self damage and 9% to foes, with decent upwards, slightly horizontal knockback. This will only KO around 150%, but is far more powerful when used on platforms or on one of his airborne rocks.

Down Aerial: Pig's Ear

Pigma raises his legs and aims his posterior at the ground, firing his blaster upwards to propel himself downwards in a stall then fall. The shot only deals 3% as it emits a Kirby-sized electrical hitbox, not even good for a combo due to the stall then fall, but it somewhat useful just for defensively returning to stage. Pigma falls at the same rate as Bowser Bomb and deals 15% to foes on the way down, dealing strong knockback at a high diagonal angle that KOs at the same strength as Bowser's dair. This has good landing lag, but ends with awkwardly slow end lag in the air after falling two Ganondorf heights. After the move is ended though, Pigma will continue with his previous momentum and use other moves like his neutral aerial or side special, or buffer moves like his neutral special as he careens past foes.

Pigma's blaster instead shoots the same small, weak projectile it does when overheated when the move is used with an overheated blaster. This will cause the stall then fall to start a little slower, making it slower for start lag. The move also deals only a reduced 8% damage and low knockback for the first small amount Pigma falls as he builds up momentum. This version comparatively has much lower end lag however, as Pigma doesn't have to stop himself nearly as much and landing lag is the same. When hitting the ground during the new animation at the start of the stall then fall, Pigma awkwardly hits the ground his fat chops. Pigma can cancel this into any grounded move when performed as he lands, working like a tech. This works really well if he cancels it into his up special, able to easily chase foes due to the hitbox's weaker knockback.

Pressing B at the start up of the move will make Pigma laugh evilly and instead turn the blaster around, firing a disjointed shot downwards! This fires his blaster from neutral special downwards, powered up to be disjointed for the first stretch that goes as far as MegaMan's dair, dealing 8% damage and low downwards knockback, still an incredibly powerful gimp with good range. After travelling that far, it becomes the normal projectile going downwards. This has longer start lag than the normal move and worse end lag, but decent landing lag. When used as he lands Pigma, fires the blaster into the ground causing it to split both ways, going a Bowser width in both directions dealing a token 3% and flinching knockback, giving Pigma a slight frame advantage. If nothing else, this gives a nice way of firing projectiles down, but the slowness puts it on par with Dedede's slow horrible dair for speed.

When the blaster is overheated the dair has the same lag, but instead the blaster shoots out a wider, but only 0.7x as long blaster shot that never becomes a normal projectile. This does the same damage, but has an explosive sweetspot right next to the blaster that deals 12% and high knockback, but hits foes at a high angle up, making it only KO vertically at around 120% on ground, making it very powerful in the air. This and the default, non-overheated versions make the move a very powerful mix-up. The explosion deals 3$ self damage and pushes him up for a small amount of kickback, actually pausing his momentum slightly compared to the stall then fall aspect of the move, though is so laggy it's not useful for recovery or camping purposes.

Up Aerial: Drill Spin

Pigma spins his blaster above him in the air, this is highly comparable to Fox's drill kick dair but deals a few more hits above him, at roughly 1.3x the range. This has slightly more end lag and a longer duration to make it more punishable, due to the extra hits this deals a little more damage and can KO, but only near the top blast zone. Due to the long range disjoint on the move though, this is fairly safe move to throw out. Near the base of the blaster instead is a weak sourspot that deals 4%, some of the lowest knockback in Pigma's set, but can be used to effectively juggle almost as good as Fox's utilt at low percents. The fact Pigma is floaty makes this a very handy option to have around too. The negative of Pigma doing this move is despite the great vertical range, his fat, wide hurtbox is not defended well by merely poking his blaster upwards, not even having the same protection as Dedede's uair where the top of the hammer is a wide hitbox. But then again, Dedede doesn’t have the awesome power of the Aparoid Ring buff, lingering the uair even further and making the final hit really powerful!

Pigma can press b/special during the move, firing the blaster upwards in the same hitbox as neutral b, as Pigma desperately pulls the trigger as he spins it. Pigma is then forced to go through end or landing lag on par with Link's landing lag for his dair as he fixes his blaster, bashing it for a moment, but no negative effects carry over if he's interrupted by a foe. Pressing b while over an Aparoid Ring during the move instead uses it up and has the ring circle the blast. The ring creates a whirlwind the same size and power of MegaMan's uair, largely a clone besides going up faster and dealing less knockback in the wind hitbox to foes above it. This will cancel the uair and timed properly, acts as a direct buff to uair that guarantees a combo that should KO near the top of the stage, though deals slightly less outright knockback, trading knockback for ensuring the foe is KO'd when very high in the stage or when the foe is at a super high percentage. At low percents, this instead means the move is a much better combo move due to all the extra damage and at very low percents is a great combo starter. The whirlwind’s appearance resembles when rings are picked up in Star Fox and spin rapidly around an arwing.

This whirlwind will pull in any projectiles above Pigma, forcing them to circle the whirlwind for 1 second before spat out at a Kirby higher position in the air. The projectiles are not then owned by Pigma, when released they return to previous ownership. These projectiles will remain hitboxes as they circle twice over a short time, creating a massive area of active projectile hitboxes that become immune to any reflectors in the area due to the whirlwind. What can be reflected however is the whirlwind itself, which will reflect everything within the whirlwind, and power up all of the missiles, blaster shots or anything else Pigma managed to pick up. Only the foe can do this if all of the projectiles are Pigma's but if he goes out of his way to make sure one of the projectiles inside of it is self-damaging, the whirlwind has a red tint and can be reflected by Pigma himself! The way that the missiles work especially, this can be very useful to send them outwards a long distance as opposed to colliding in the middle above Pigma, but being able to reverse a homing shot above Pigma is very useful too.

Back Aerial: Prime Rump

Pigma sticks out his fat rear end behind him in a large sex kick hitbox that deals 7% and decent backwards knockback, although never enough to KO, before scaling down to 5% over the course of an average sex kick duration. This is always at a nearly semi-spike/fully horizontal angle, only slightly upwards, so is a great wall of pain when off stage. A wall of pain is certainly useful when Pigma is going to be fighting with a wall of projectiles to his or the opponent's back, on top of complimenting his competent air game. The range on the move is surprisingly good due to Pigma's size and is one of the best moves for moving around his fairly large hurtbox, because he moves a little back and bends his body into a semi-crouch, as well as pushing his fat gut to his back. While this has long duration as a sex kick, it comes out fast and has good end lag after the duration is over. This is one of Pigma's best moves used with the buff of Aparoid Rings to both extend the initial hitbox and extend the move in general to make it even more of a wall of pain.

Inside an Aparoid Ring, Pigma can activate it to be thrusted harshly backwards a battlefield platform, exploding from the Aparoids gathering on his front side. Pigma will deal 12% and high knockback, comparable to Luigi's Misfire, and gives Pigma full super armour. This can be used to cancel the sex kick at any moment and gives a very powerful option for Pigma to pressure foes in the air when he's got his back turned and Aparoid Rings around the stage. When Pigma hits a wall or side of the stage, he'll get wedged into it like Luigi does in his misfire, this will give him back his jumps and recovery as if he landed. This is however only after an extended period of Pigma pulling his fat behind out of the wall or stage in a characteristically undignified way, having as much lag as Luigi has when this happens.

GRAB GAME

Grab: Pig Mittens

Pigma has a fairly standard melee grab that is on the poor side for range, but is fast to come out and has average end lag. This makes it easier to punish as Pigma ends up overextending in his attempt to grab, but is more than useable due to its speedy start up. Pigma's stubby arms are far from the worst arms to grab with in Smash 4. Pigma's pivot and dash grab are basically the same as the normal grab having the same stats, poor range but good speed. Pigma holds the foe by the scruff of their neck in typical antagonistic style, snorting in their face.

Pigma's grab won't activate his Aparoid Rings and as a result is a great move to throw out safely in the middle of the rings without needing to care about the effects it will have on them. The grab is like any other hitbox when it's slowed down however and while it won't get any stronger due to dealing no damage, will linger for twice as long.

Pummel: Pig Slap

Pigma delivers a disrespectful slap to the foe, enjoying himself as he does so for a 2% and decently fast pummel. This will activate his Aparoid Rings and with enough percent is enough to set up Pigma's throws in them to deal more damage when thrown within them. The pummel is buffed more than normal moves to deal 3% a hit, making it a high damaging pummel in the Rings.

Forward Throw: Shoot Off

Pigma pushes the foe away for 1% damage and then shoots them three times with his blaster, shooting them low, in the middle and then high, the last hit dealing very low angled knockback that will only KO at 220% or higher. As he shoots the foe Pigma seems to take a sick delight in their agony. Each blaster shot deals 4% damage, adding up to a very respectable 13% damage, but this is at the cost of no combo or KO potential (until relatively late). The blaster shots count as projectiles, the same way they are in Mewtwo's fthrow, the throw has a lower duration and is normally harder to throw off the projectiles' trajectory. An overheating blaster will shoot out self-damaging projectiles the same as are shot when overheating normally, these shots travel slower and go at a lower angle making it easier to be reflected by Pigma's own stand alone reflector. While the others hit low/mid/high, these are all shot roughly in the same area, easily reflected back. This won't normally happen if Pigma doesn't make use of his Aparoid Ring slowdown and other parts of his set up.

The Aparoid Rings will give a nice hefty buff to all the potential hits of the move, and the slow changes the way the move works tremendously. The first hit will be buffed more than usual to deal 2% damage and rather than dealing set knockback, this hit changes to be scaling knockback, hitting the foe further away before they're hit by the blaster shots. The foe is still hit by all the blaster shots when not overheating, but now will escape the last hit of the overheated blaster even if not slowed down. This has the potential to put the foe off stage. The first blaster shot, hitting low, will hit the foe downwards instead the same way the last, high hitting shots hits them at low angle up, so can be used to halfway gimp foes. This requires Pigma to time his throw to slow down both the initial push and the first shots so that the foe is out of hitstun and takes the knockback of the first hit. The knockback on this is below that when all hits land, only able to KO at 250%, but will still be a useful gimp most of the time when Pigma has the patience to go through with this set up.

Pigma will still go through the full animation of the throw as normal throws work in Smash 4 even if the foe is hit out of the move. This is how Pigma can use his overheated blaster shots to his advantages, something as simple as pushing the foe into his reflector then hitting them with the blaster, hitting them out of the way to have the other blaster shots reflect back behind their back. As the foe will be hit back into the blaster too, this will be a fairly chaotic environment for them DI and dodge these reflector blaster shots in. This can also work by pushing the foe into the rocks or missiles Pigma sets up in his smashes to knock the foe out of the way, and then make use of the fact these rocks will fall down later to get the 3 blaster shots out on screen at once. Why this would be all that helpful is unclear, but this is something any player would want to find out. One real option out of this, more than making use of the projectiles would be to then go for a Hog Tie command grab as the foe is hit back at Pigma or hit only a short distance, being the closest thing to a combo possible out of the throw.

A particularly important aspect in Pigma's set up for this throw is his mine from the down smash. Pigma can shoot it with the low angled shot if the foe isn't in the way, or if the mine is right underneath them and Pigma when he shoots, even able to tank a hit as the foe is hit by the same blaster shot if spaced perfectly. Using the Aparoid buff, Pigma can game the system and the foe's expectations by dealing an extra percent of damage, but far more powerful is the damage capable in close quarters using a reflector and overheated shots. Pigma can time the Aparoid buff to hit the foe into the mine at the end using the low angled first shot solely, this will either force the foe to not tech to not end up right on top of it, or tech and end up in a quasi tech chase situation. Pigma can attack them and blow up the mine at the same time using his fsmash or other attacks, or read their attempt to jump. Merely rolling out of the way won't do it due to the fsmash's range and the mine's explosive hitbox.

Down Throw: Anti-Gravity Beatdown

Pigma presses a device on his belt and grabs the foe chuckling under his breath as he does so, the device turns gravity off on the foe and surrounds them in a green tint, and Pigma then lifts and slams them three times into the ground! Pigma has not gained super strength but instead reduced the gravity on the foe making it far easier to knock them around. Each time the foe is hit against the ground they're dealt 3% damage, the final hit dealing 5% and weakly pitfalling the foe in the ground. This pitfall effect is as weak as Wii Fit Trainer's weird jab pitfall so doesn't combo into much of anything. Instead of a pitfall, on solid ground (like the infamous Lightworld stage's platforms) or on constructs, the foe will be hit off the ground in an untechable bounce, able to KO at 170%, helped by the fact the angle is entirely vertical. This can be done on top of the rocks rising or falling from down smash.

On top of a mine, the foe will not be pitfalled and the ground will be treated as a solid. This is very useful for when Pigma just wants the powerful KO throw version of the move. Each time the foe is hit into the mine, they'll deal it damage and especially when using the buff from Aparoid Rings, this means Pigma can really deal a ton of damage to it all at once. The downside of this is that the foe, being in a throw, won't take knockback if they set the mine off. Pigma can actually get around this however by being on the mine himself when it detonates, ending the throw by exploding it on himself and hitting the foe as a result. Obviously, Pigma doesn't want to do this when this would also KO him.

When there is no stage in front of Pigma at all, Pigma snorts angrily and grabs the foe with both hands, smashing them into the ground beneath him! This deals 12%, one of Pigma's strongest throws as it deals just under the knockback of the normal throw and has the same mechanics as the final hit of the dthrow normally when on solid/non-solid ground. This will leave Pigma in the air above the foe and is particularly useful on stages with platforms to leave the foe in a vulnerable aerial position while Pigma's hovering around them. Especially true when there's missiles or projectiles homing in or around them to force them to jump into Pigma, making them very predictable, and even letting him get an easy grab off of his Hog Tie.

Up Throw: Pigs Like Lassos

Pigma equips his tether from the side b and latches it onto the flesh of his opponent, then swings them behind him onto the ground for 3%, before throwing them back up into the air and throwing them upwards for 9%. The gravity device present in the side b, the foe is surrounded in green. As mostly an easter egg, this does mean that these throws are not affected by the usual slowdown of most throws from heavier opponents. The throw will be cancelled out early if the foe is flung into an Aparoid Ring during its explosion, as they are counted as a projectile for the duration of the throw. This means they can be hit into reflectors to reverse their knockback too, useful when flinging them around the stage. The foe will be released early and dealt only 8% damage with lower radial knockback, up to only the halfway point of the fling with the maximum amount of slowdown from the Aparoid Rings, making it a very versatile throw.

When there is no ground to the back side of Pigma for the first hit, he instead does a different animation where he flings the foe down and underneath him, looping them around and laughing uncontrollably as the foe hurtles around below. This is mostly an option when performed facing away from the side of the stage. This can be interrupted to release the foe in midair, and they have the green tint for the duration of the throw. The foe will be dealt 6% and mostly radial knockback in the opposite direction if they hit anything solid, most of the time this will be the ledge/side of the stage. Against the ledge/stage side specifically the angle is a high one, basically hitting them right next to Pigma on the ledge to not be a direct KO against Little Mac or other such characters, but still acts as a fantastic combo throw. When there is no ledge or anything to throw the foe into, the foe is dealt 3% per quarter-circle they travel around Pigma before being hovered right around where they started and weakly spiked down for a final 2% damage. If nothing else this long and huge hitbox will collide with any projectiles lingering on the stage and is very, very long if Pigma is in the middle of an Aparoid Ring, letting any blaster shots, missiles or allies in team fights get in free hits.

Back Throw: Don’t Do a Barrel Roll!

Pigma seeing the funny or ironic side of this grabs the foe by the feet and flings them around in the typical Mario bthrow style throw. Pigma however uses the gravity device again to lower their gravity and uses this to spin the foe around much, much faster, dealing rapid hits of 1% 5 times and finally releasing them for 5%. Pigma looks exhausted as he releases them in spite of the gravity device and this deals a little less knockback than Mario's throw as a result. Under the effects of Aparoid Rings, this will be slowed down but continue the constant damage, doing up to an extra 5%, which will then boost the end knockback of the move to be a 1.3x stronger than Mario's bthrow.

Due to the gravity, the standard/A button can be mashed to put Pigma into the air 1-2 Mario heights, dealing no extra damage, but instead at the end of this Pigma will toss the foe down into the ground. The foe will be dealt 5% and if they don't tech, will land into prone on the ground. If the foe doesn't tech, and this is harder to do when Pigma can mash slightly more or less to change the timing, he can do a uniquely aerial tech chase with his side special or use his down aerial on top of the foe, and this creates many opportunities for 50/50s due to Pigma's projectiles and options available in the air. Pigma will have no momentum in the air out of the throw, meaning he can drop safely on the foe with a nair or drop on them with his bair, making this a pretty scary throw to follow up on if he can't directly KO using it.

FINAL SMASH

I’ve Got Your Back!

Pigma’s final smash varies depending on whether he’s in an Aparoid Ring or not. When he’s not, Pigma has a humorously similar animation to that of the other Star Fox characters. The camera zooms in on him as he says one of a variety of lines:

“Personally, I prefer to save my bacon!”
“Don’t worry I’m a great wing man!”
“Andross didn’t pay me enough!”
“Who needs Star Wolf?”
“I’m gonna be rich!”


From off screen, a generic arwing appears to aid Pigma! He sent a distress signal! The arwing is the size they are on the various Star Fox stages in Smash 4, having the same attacks but being far more aggressive than usual as they attack alongside Pigma for 10 seconds. After those 10 seconds pass, Pigma presses a remote control button and laughs, causing the arwing to start sputtering and shooting out sparks as it malfunctions and falls, homing in on the nearest opponent. Where it lands there’s a massive explosion that deals 25% and huge knockback, able to KO from 50%. This has a long pause as it falls also giving Pigma plenty of time to work it into his aggression. Pigma is totally invulnerable to the arwing’s attacks for its duration and can use it as a platform for his other attacks, whereas foes will find it has a much quicker version of the two guns on Corneria that deal even more damage and knockback, making it greatly unsafe.

Against Fox, Pigma will say: “Hey Fox, I learned this from your dad!” “There’s a few lessons that rabbit didn’t teach ya.” “You’re just as annoying as your dear old father!” “Who needs allies when I’ve got money?” “You’ll be seeing your old man soon!”

Against Falco, Pigma will say: “What are you some big shot?” “Star Fox’s standards have fallen!” “You’d never make it into Star Wolf!” “Never heard of a bird that can’t fly!” “Peppy’s let in all kinds of scum!” “I’ll teach you about the value of teamwork!”

Against Wolf, Pigma will say: “You’ll regret what you did!” “Time for the wolf to cry!” “I’ll pay you back ten fold for these scars!” “I’d never rejoin if you paid me!” “Huff and puff all you want!” “I’ll teach you how brilliant I am!” “Your team ain’t nothing without the great Pigma!”


Aparoid Rings instead make for a very different final smash. Pigma will absorb the rings into him and laugh along as they transform him in a cutscene into the abominable Pigma Satellite from Star Fox Assault! This is a huge construct the size of Giga Bowser, only so small because it hovers in the background of the stage. After a moment, it starts one of three attacks. The first is a laser very similar to the one fired from the Halberd stage shout out of Pigma’s mouth, only about three times as fast, controllably, slightly larger and doing twice the damage. The second is a bunch of missiles fired from Pigma’s surrounding satellite that deal 5% each, and he fires 15 of them so can do up to 75%, and each missile does huge amounts of hitstun to ensure at least a couple of them combo. The final attack is a massive boulder being fired from 10 different areas of Pigma’s body, each the size of Bowser and deal 10% and high knockback. This will KO at 100%, so is best used last or when the foe’s already at a high percent. These can be chosen in their order by pressing A, B or grab/shield just before each phase starts, or simply be random.

After each phase of attack is done, Pigma will start to explode into a massive laser that hits all around in massive, stage-wide hitboxes that deal rapid 3% damage, up to 4 times a beam, creating 10 beams, but very little knockback so mostly sets up for after the final smash. Pigma will transform back into his normal pig form and angrily stamp on the ground realizing that the new form was not permanent and in no way could be used to make him any money.
 
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DGAMER

Smash Apprentice
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
114
Just writing here to say Merry Christmas! Hope you all spend a good time with your loved ones.

Now I have to get back and finish that set I'm working on.
 

MasterWarlord

Smash Champion
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
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Location
Not wasting countless hours on a 10 man community
CAPTAIN GINYU


Captain Ginyu is the charismatic leader of the Ginyu Force. He unsurprisingly has a big ego given the fact that he named the Ginyu Force after himself, and because of that he is obsessed with posing so that he can show his "magnificence" over others. While the other Ginyu Force members are plenty stronger than any of Frieza's other soldiers, their skin color and varied sizes was probably just as big a factor in Ginyu choosing them to join the force. When Ginyu holds tryouts to join the force, he primarily judges on the ability of the new recruits to pose over anything else actually useful, and ruthlessly disposes those who fail to meet his standards of "style."

While Ginyu is pretty evil for the leader of a "sentai" team, he does actually care about the other members of his team. Ginyu is faster than Burter given his much higher power level, but he allows Burter to think he's the fastest and openly calls him "the fastest in the universe." When the other three members of the team die, Jeice only even bothers to report about Recoome and Burter, whereas Ginyu has to be the one to finally ask what happened to Guldo. Ginyu lambasts Jeice for leaving his three comrades to die, and goes out to get vengeance for his team.

While he's by far the most powerful of his group, Ginyu doesn't do a whole lot of fighting because he quickly realizes he's outmatched by Goku. Instead, Ginyu makes use of his signature move, the body swap, which directly gives him the ability to beat opponents who are "more powerful" than himself. A long string of body swaps later, Ginyu is eventually defeated by Goku throwing a frog in the way of his body change beam. Vegeta considers killing him like the rest of his men, but ultimately decides it's more insulting to allow him to live as a frog.

Ginyu supposedly doesn't know anybody more powerful than himself other than Frieza, and there is some argument he uses his body swap as only a last resort and has never used it before. However, supplemental material suggests that his current body is just the latest in a long string of body swaps throughout his life, and given how frequently he uses it throughout the saga it's doubtful it's his first time using it. With this line of logic, it's likely he would eventually attempt to use the body swap on Frieza after the emperor successfully attained immortality.

Statistics
Aerial Control: 9
Size: 8
Weight: 8 (110 units, 6th below Ganondorf)
Aerial Speed: 7 (1.07 units, tied with Lucario for 20th)
Jumps: 7
Ground Movement: 6.5 (1.75 units, 19th below Marth)
Traction: 4.5
Falling Speed: 1.75 (1.25 units, tied with Luigi for 53rd)

Ginyu has no real disadvantage in his statistics. He's above average in ground speed, air speed, and weight. While a super heavyweight by SSB4's standards, Ginyu doesn't even suffer from an especially large hurtbox. While he has an imposingly tall figure with horns that put him just barely over the height of Rosalina's model (the third tallest character), his horns aren't hurtboxes, and neither are the oversized shoulderpads on his armor. If anything, Ginyu's overall hurtbox is smaller than Rosalina's for not being in a frilly dress.

SPECIALS

DOWN SPECIAL - TRYOUTS



Captain Ginyu taps his scouter to phone in for an ally. This causes a Bowser sized space pod (AKA "attack ball") to spawn 2 Ganondorfs above Ginyu slightly in front of him. The pod goes all the way down to the bottom blast zone from where it was spawned at a rate slightly faster than Captain Falcon's dash. The space pod has transcendant priority meaning it won't interact with other hitboxes, and on contact deals 11% and diagonal knockback that kills at 170% with high base knockback.

When the pod hits the ground, the front of it will open to reveal a generic Frieza soldier inside of the pod as it vanishes shortly afterwards. The appearances of these guys greatly vary and they can come in almost any skin color, with the exception of Ginyu's color of course. All soldiers summoned will have a different skin color from all of them currently out. This is entirely to make Ginyu's team poses look better and is certainly not for racial diversity, given Ginyu's hatred of Saiyans and other lesser races.

The sizes of the minions also vary and has actual effect on gameplay, what with changing the sizes of their hurtboxes and hitboxes. Ginyu summons minions in four sizes generally resembling the sizes of his four other team members - two smaller than him and two bigger than him. From the tallest to shortest, their builds are comparable to Ganondorf, Bowser, Pit, and Wario. The tallest one is very slightly taller than Ganondorf with a lankier build, giving him the greatest reach. Ginyu can only have out four minions at a time and will never summon multiple minions of the same size. If he uses the move with four minions out, he'll just get an empty space pod. By default, Ginyu always summons the smallest minions first, but if Ginyu taps the button multiple times during the starting lag, he'll go up a size rank for each time he presses it.

These minions have weight comparable to Jigglypuff at 35-80% and 18-33 HP with larger ones being more durable. The Bowser sized minion is considered the "largest" rather than the tall one. They also can hover around in the air for 1.5 seconds at Luigi's dashing speed, giving them actual recovery. While they can take punishment, they are entirely vulnerable to all Ginyu's attacks which means they're going to die fairly quickly regardless. The minions are far too scared of Ginyu to hit him back, though.

For their potential longevity, the minions don't actually attack all that often, with the smaller minions acting more cowardly and attacking less compared to the large ones. The minions prefer to not attack when Ginyu or any other minions are attacking - they prefer to go in one at a time like any proper cannon fodder bad guys. Their most basic attack is a rapid punching jab combo where they attack at fairly fast speeds, racking up 6% in flinching hits before knocking the foe away with a finishing kick for 5% and knockback that kills at 200%, but with high enough base knockback it's not useful for comboing. The damage doesn't scale with minion size, but the knockback does, meaning if the short one manages to land his tiny range jab and actually decides to use it, it is good for comboing. In addition, the foe will be stunned briefly during the rapid jab portion, enabling Ginyu to interrupt the foe out of this and punish with something deadlier than just the minion's pathetic jab finisher. The minion will still go through with the entire jab combo regardless of if it hits anybody, leaving themselves plenty vulnerable if they miss.

The minions have a simplistic ki blast they can use the size of a Mario fireball. The projectile travels 1-3 platforms based off the size of the minion, with smaller minions having longer range and preferring the ki blast to melee attacks. Longer range ki blasts travel faster, with all of the ki blasts lasting the same amount of time regardless of how far they travel. This means the big minion ki blasts are useful too as they linger in place longer. On contact, the ki blast deals 5% and knockback that kills at 250% with barely any hitstun, but enough to at least interrupt the foe from attacking.

Their last direct attack is a charged ki blast aimed at the ground in an attack somewhat like Mewtwo's dsmash. This has considerable starting lag. When it hits, it deals 13% and knockback that kills at 150%. More cowardly minions will use this attack as foes are approaching them to try to convince them to leave them alone, though the brave ones will have the gall to use this offensively as they chase down foes to use it, which will pretty much never work out for them unless Ginyu holds the foe down for them.

Since the minions have terrible teamwork and prefer to attack one at a time, they have a lot of time where they're not going to be doing much. The minions don't have actual dodges that give them invulnerability, but do have enough AI to try to evade attacks, especially those aimed from Ginyu. The more cowardly, the more they will attempt to evade. When not doing anything, the minions will regularly scan the nearest foe with their scouters. This has infinite range and the minion can still move while doing this, and cowardly ones will try to avoid attacks while scanning the foe. If the foe performs any attack during the scan, that attack will translate to what shows up as the foe's "power level" on their scouter. If the foe used an attack that did less than 10%, the minion will laugh at them and switch their AI to become brave. If the attack did 11-16%, this has no effect. If it did 17% or more, the minion's very shoddy scouter will overload, causing them to take the scouter off their face and throw it as it explodes as a projectile. The exploding scouter deals 8% with knockback that kills at 185%, doing normal hitstun compard to the weak ki blast. Minions who have had their scouters explode become cowards and obviously can't use their scouters anymore, becoming more likely to spam projectiles.

Aside from attacking and using their scouters, the minions will regularly stand around and do Ginyu Force poses, stealing them from the members who they are obvious rip offs of. If Ginyu taunts next to a minion with his own pose while they are posing, he will get a buff that reduces the starting lag of his next 2 attacks by 5 frames, wearing off early if he doesn't make use up all of his sped up attacks within 5 seconds. This cannot stack and instead renews if Ginyu poses with a single minion again, but if multiple minions pose with Ginyu simultaneously the buff can go up, speeding up by 10 frames with 2 minions and 15 frames with 3 minions. If Ginyu somehow manages to pose with all four minions next to him, the buff jumps up all the way to a 30 frame reduction! Attacks cannot be reduced below 5 frames of starting lag with this buff.



If Ginyu ever inputs taunt, all minions who are not doing something will hastily make their way over to Ginyu to taunt with him. Ginyu can hold down the taunt button to stay in his pose, and all minions will stay in the pose with Ginyu as long as he does. This is useful just to wait for more minions to join in, as the buff only comes on after Ginyu completes the taunt. Most of the taunt's lag is in the start, meaning so long as that's done Ginyu can exit the pose stance fairly quick.

This move has only 6 frames of starting lag, meaning you get out a hitbox very quickly with the space pod, though it's a significant distance away from Ginyu, with it taking around 17 frames before Ginyu is properly defended from foes in front of him. Ginyu has a total of 32 frames of lag before he can act again, only able to move once the pod travels down 2 Ganondorfs. So long as Ginyu gets to frame 6, though, he will produce a minion (assuming he didn't use the move off-stage and instantly kill them). The space pod attack is very useful, though is much more useful off-stage which doesn't get you a minion out of it. Given minions only attack one at a time anyway, only having one minion is still very helpful, with the main advantage of getting to four being the buff. While the payoff for landing the space pod attack isn't huge, landing it is the most natural way Ginyu's going to summon minions without getting set-up time.

NEUTRAL SPECIAL - BODY SWAP



Captain Ginyu extends out his arms to either side as he performs his signature attack, firing a beam out of his mouth that will cause anybody it hits to switch bodies with him! The beam has 43 frames of starting lag and a painful duration as it travels forward a platform before vanishing. If the beam actually hits somebody, though, they will have effectively swapped characters for the rest of the match. As in any stereotypical body swapping episode, the characters will switch voices to make it more clear who is who. While unrealistic, Ginyu and his foe will keep their same damage percentages from their original bodies, meaning he can't heal off all of his damage doing this to a foe on a fresh stock.

When the foe has been put into Ginyu's body, they don't have access to his Neutral or Down Special, greatly limiting them. Ginyu keeps access to his original Down Special by double tapping the input, though cannot Body Swap again. All minions that were out (including those owned by the foe) will remain loyal to their original summoners, though if the foe has minions, Ginyu has the ability to summon new ones loyal to him while the foe doesn't. Ginyu can still taunt next to his minions in the foe's body to get buffs, and if he hadn't used up all of his existing taunt buffs they will still be usable when he's in the foe's body. This potentially lets him speed up powerful moves the foe has to clobber them with, and the main way Ginyu ever lands Body Swap in the first place is to buff its speed. While it might sound difficult for the foe to adjust to playing Ginyu, Ginyu has to be able to adjust to playing every character in the game, so a greater burden of skill is on him. He can't body swap again once swapping into another playable character.

While in the starting lag of Body Swap, if Ginyu presses any button his minions will make sure they get out of the way of the Body Swap so that it actually hits the foe. Swapping bodies with a minion will greatly change Ginyu's stats around based off their body type, but they will all go lower given the logic of Dragonball power levels. The bigger the minion, the less his stats go down, with small minions having no statistical advantages. Ginyu is still able to use his normal moveset as one of his minions with no direct changes, with the only animations that change being his taunts.

Statistics
(Unlisted stats do not change from in Ginyu's default body)
Weight: 95/90/80/70 units
Aerial Speed: 1/0.9/0.8/0.7 units
Ground Movement: 1.55/1.4/1.3/1.15 units
Knockback Strength: X0.96/0.92/0.88/0.84 default
Projectile/Disjointed Hitbox Size: X0.9/0.85/0.8/0.75 default

The only negative that can potentially become a positive here is the lower knockback strength, enabling Ginyu to use the small body for combos. The smaller bodies also have smaller hurtboxes, but it's generally not worth the huge tradeoff in range. The bigger bodies actually increase Ginyu's range on his physical attacks, being the one scenario where something can directly improve. The smallest body in particular has absolutely pathetic range on physical attacks due to it being fat and having stubby limbs, with the second smallest body being more usable.

The primary appeal of putting yourself in minion bodies is to give the foe a terrible, terrible body to all but guarantee their death in it. The tiny body in particular is a huge risk to stay in for very long, but if successful can cause you to put the foe in a body almost as light as Jigglypuff's that dashes as slowly as Robin with horrible range. If at a low percent, you can opt to give them a big body just to give them a huge hurtbox and make them easy to combo.

Minions will retain their personality regardless of body swaps. Ginyu's body has 45 HP and weight comparable to Jigglypuff at 20% when used by a minion. All minion bodies remember their HP in case a minion inhabits them again at some point, but this HP is obviously not used when a playable character is in the body. Swapping out of his original body gives Ginyu a nice head start by at least giving him a more powerful minion, though sacrificing all of those statistics is very bad.

In a Ginyu mirror match, obviously this move becomes less impactful. In the mirror match only, swapping with the enemy Ginyu will cause you to gain allegiance of his minions given how confused they are, and becomes the main point of the move outside of trying to force the other Ginyu into a minion body. This can enable you to go over the usual cap of 4 minions, though Ginyu can still only taunt with 4 simultaneously at most.

UP SPECIAL - TORNADO DRILL



Captain Ginyu spins around fast enough that he becomes a purple tornado. Ginyu will travel at Mario's dashing speed in the direction the top of the tornado is facing, upwards by default, though the attack can be angled 45 degrees to the left or right. As the tornado goes, Ginyu can turn the direction he's facing pretty easily at the start, but over the course of the move's duration it takes longer and longer to the point it becomes very difficult. Ginyu will keep the recovery going for 25 frames by default, but can mash B to keep it going as long as 50 frames similar to some recovery moves like Bowser and Luigi, as well as Mach Tornado.

This attack will drag enemies along with Ginyu, dealing several flinching hits that total to 12% if the foe is kept in the attack's hitbox for the whole 50 frames. While the whole tornado is a hitbox, the top of it is much wider hitbox and you must hit foes with that portion of it for them to get trapped in the hitbox properly. If Ginyu changes direction at all after trapping somebody, he will enable their escape if the foe predicts which direction he's going, and if he changes the angle by a large margin they'll inevitably fall out regardless of how they try to escape. While the attack starts out fast, this attack's hitbox is harder to hit with than it appears and Ginyu will enter helpless at the end of the move.

If Ginyu was dragging anybody along with him on the final frame of the move, he will not enter helpless and will instead perform a kick, sending foes in whatever direction the top of the tornado was currently facing instead of entering helpless while being allowed to use his Up Special another time. The kick deals 11% and knockback that would kill at 160% if it was dealt horizontally at the edge, but can kill much sooner if it's downwards. This attack starts up fast, but is very high risk given he obviously doesn't want to enter helpless off-stage.

Ginyu can drag along his minions before kicking them at the end to save himself from entering helpless. The minions are too stupid to move out of the attack, but if Ginyu changes the angle of the attack much the minions will drop out of it anyway. Ginyu has more leeway to change his angle during the recovery if he's dragging one of the two bigger minions with him, and they have enough HP they can more feasibly survive this attack. With one of the two smaller minions, Ginyu can dump them out before the end of the attack on purpose to try to reposition them slightly, mainly worth it in an off-stage scenario. While the minion won't follow up for Ginyu, they'll provide him some cover fire after he's done attacking if they're cowards, or brave ones will attack foes that managed to escape the tornado.

The size of the body Ginyu is using is directly proportionate to the size of the hitbox that forms around his body, with the tornado's color changing to that of his current body. The tall body is skinny enough that the top of the tornado isn't all that large to be useful, whereas the big body is somewhat easier to land this move with than the default. Surprisingly, the easiest body to pull off this attack with is the smallest one, as its obesity means the top of the tornado is wide, but its short height means there's little to hit with that isn't the "top" of the tornado. The short pudgy body has the biggest freedom to move around while keeping the foe inside the tornado, though the knockback nerf it has is big enough that this won't get kills quite as cheaply early as successfully knocking a foe downwards with this in Ginyu's main body.



Dragonball characters can easily shred through earth and metal like butter. If this attack comes into contact with the stage, Ginyu will drill inside of the stage, becoming invulnerable to 98% of attacks. While inside the stage, Ginyu speeds up to Captain Falcon's dashing speed and will keep going until he exits the stage. Ginyu can still turn around while inside the stage, but as the move goes on it keeps getting harder and harder for Ginyu to turn to the point he will just be going straight forwards after about 4 seconds of keeping this move going. Inside of a typical stage, Ginyu can't stall for more than 3 seconds with this because of how hard it becomes for him to turn as the attack goes on, and staying inside the stage that long makes him stupidly predictable and easy to punish anyway. Most commonly to recover, Ginyu will often burrow through the stage to go to the opposite ledge to make his recovery harder to punish. This is his most direct way to flee given he drills through the stage faster than he can dash, potentially letting him taunt next to a coward on the other side of the stage. If he comes out of the side of the stage without grabbing the ledge, he enters helpless, and he can't drag minions/foes into the stage with him.



If Ginyu pops out of the stage onto walkable terrain rather than out of the stage's side, his top half will burst out of the stage as it lifts a large ground chunk. Ginyu is vulnerable during this time and can be hit, in which case he just drops the ground chunk and it shatters uselessly. After a period of lag where he hefts the ground chunk, Ginyu will throw it straight forwards before popping the rest of his body out of the ground and exiting lag. The ground chunk is as wide as Peach is tall, though only has the depth of Kirby. The sides of the ground chunk deal 15% and horizontal knockback that kills at 115% which is very respectable for a fairly large projectile that travels at Pikachu's dashing speed. The main catch is that for the ground chunk's size, the top of it is not a hitbox and is a platform anybody can stand on, making it likely to be used against Ginyu. The ground chunk shatters on contact with the ground or anybody it can damage, and obeys the laws of gravity. If the ground chunk was thrown on a perfectly flat stage, it would hit the ground after traveling the whole distance of Battlefield. It falls fairly fast, this is more a testament to how quickly the ground chunk travels through the air.

Being able to burrow into the side of the stage minimizes the risk of killing yourself when using Up Special to gimp people, making Ginyu a powerful edgeguarder when right next to the stage, especially when he can dump space pods on people. Ginyu can opt to resurface on the ledge next to the foe afterwards, making getting a ledge trump if he times it well enough. Failing that, Ginyu can go to the opposite ledge to retreat or go to throw a ground chunk at the foe to try to punish their ledge option. The ground chunk can be "delayed" by going further back before Ginyu fires it to try to actually hit the foe with it.

Minions will more often than not choose to jump on the ground chunk in order to "avoid it", though aren't stupid enough to ride it all the way off-stage to their deaths. The minions do not consider the ground chunk an attack they can't attack during, and even cowards will do their best to defend themselves while riding a ground chunk if a foe tries to jump on top of it. The rapid jab attack minions have is very useful here to try to drag foes along with them as they ride the ground chunk.

Burrowing through thin platforms and other ground chunks will just have Ginyu clip through them rather than enter his burrowing phase.

SIDE SPECIAL - LEVITATIONAL PULL



Captain Ginyu extends out his hand and lifts up a finger, causing a Bowser sized portion of air 0.8 platforms in front of him to distort with purple psychic energy. This will cause anything within the distortion's area of effect to become stuck in mid-air for about 15 frames as it moves into the center of the hitbox, floating in place as any momentum it has is canceled. Ginyu then lowers the finger back down towards himself, causing the levitated objects to be flung towards him. Projectiles will come at him with their speed increased by 1.2X without having their durations refreshed. Characters will just be brought directly to Ginyu's feet at Mario's dashing speed, with Ginyu exiting lag soon enough he will be able to act to any foe he just flung at himself. Projectiles will lose their hitboxes while floating in place, but will regain them once Ginyu inputs Side Special a second time. This will not change projectile ownership, but will still temporarily neutralize enemy projectiles.

The levitation hitbox does no damage or hitstun in of itself, but if the hitbox overlaps the stage, some rocks will be ripped out of it. When flung towards Ginyu, the stones do multiple hits that total to 6%, which is very low but enables Ginyu to follow up with something fast guaranteed, such as his grab. Note that the stones are still not hitboxes until actually getting flung, so the foe still has 15 frames during which they can interrupt Ginyu if they have an attack that can reach him.

Ginyu can cancel out of the attack after levitating something up by pressing the shield button during the attack. Foes will only stay stuck in the air for 16 additional frames before being released, only 8 of which Ginyu can act during, but anything else will stay floating in the air for up to 7 seconds before finally being released. If a character/minion is hit while being stuck in place, Ginyu's hold on them will stop, and it will also stop early if Ginyu takes any form of hitstun. Pressing Side Special with something held in place will cause Ginyu to make it take 0.8 platforms of horizontal knockback towards him, or redirect it towards himself in the case of a projectile. Ginyu still has the usual amount of lag for this, 20 frames to make the object start moving again, but it's more than worth it to delay it for an ideal time.

Ginyu can just barely use this attack on a ground chunk or the Body Swap beam before they get out of range/expire. Yes, Ginyu can keep the incredibly threatening Body Swap beam out to linger on for later, but most of the beam will have vanished by the time Ginyu is able to grab it with his telekinesis. All you have is the tail end of the Body Swap beam and all that's left of it is about half Kirby's size. When you reactivate the beam by releasing it from Ginyu's telekinesis, it will only be out as a small hitbox for 2 more frames before it vanishes for good. This is difficult to land when it's super obvious what you're trying to do, and is better used as defensive cover. Keep in mind if Ginyu is hit, the body swap beam will become active again, so punishing Ginyu when a foe's model is overlapping it (or any other hostile projectile) is very bad for the foe. You could also try forcing a foe to recover into it, but you're probably better off with the ordinary Body Swap Beam if you're trying to do that anyway. As powerful as delaying the Body Swap is, if Ginyu has any minions out this can potentially be used against him. If a foe hits you while a minion is stupidly taunting in front of the levitated Body Swap beam like an idiot, they can force you to swap with them.

Levitating a ground chunk in place is useful to use some grounded attacks off the stage, though that can apply to the foe just as well. Ginyu can potentially ride it himself if he sends it towards himself, letting him potentially sweep a large portion of the stage with a single attack, especially useful on an attack with a huge hitbox in front of Ginyu like Body Swap. This is still very telegraphed, though if you have enough speed boosts from taunts it's horrific.

Off-stage ground chunks can enable Ginyu to casually dump Space Pods off the stage while getting minions out of the deal. Better yet, you can just cut out the middle man and levitate the pod towards Ginyu to drop it on the stage. This turns the downwards projectile into a horizontal projectile, though the space pod obeys gravity enough it will still eventually land on the stage to let out its passenger. When the pods hits the stage like this, it will roll along for the remainder of its range which cuts its power in half, which is not entirely a bad thing since it means foes will be getting knocked towards Ginyu with light, comboable knockback. The minion will be dizzy when they get out of the pod and take a while to be able to act, but that's better than them being dead.

Whenever Ginyu Body Swaps to a foe's body, he will lose access to his levitation Side Special (along with everything else besides his original Down Special). This means that after the Body Swap is completed, he will lose his concentration and any Side Special he currently had going will have its pull released on it. If you position your body in such a place to get hit by something set up by Side Special when it becomes the foe's body, you can combo Body Swap into your final use of Side Special for that stock. This will unfortunately not work to combo a Body Swap into a Body Swap, though, as any levitated remains of a Body Swap beam will vanish when Ginyu uses another Body Swap.

SMASHES

FORWARD SMASH - MILKY CANNON


Ginyu's name is derived from the Japanese word for milk, so you'd think the name of this attack would be localized to match his name, but apparently not. For this attack, Ginyu extends his hand in front of himself as he gains a milky white aura of power around himself for most of this attack's extensive starting lag. After gathering enough power, Ginyu fires a large purple beam of ki forwards. Only the head of it its an actual hitbox and is slightly smaller than Bowser, while the beam's tail is only half as tall and trails along behind it. The blast travels along the ground 0.9-1.3X the distance of Megaman's fsmash. It travels at such a speed that it will always take the same 13 frames to reach its target point, getting faster with charge. When it hits a target it can damage or it reaches the edge of the platform it's on, it instantly erupts into a gigantic explosion similar to a Smart Bomb Blast, already starting with a large hitbox and slowly extending out as the hitbox lingers. The overall size of the explosion is exactly half that of a Smart Bomb Blast's, as the explosion radiates out in a dome shape against the ground rather than being a full circle. The explosion is so big that an aesthetic barrage of debris will be shot out into the foreground/background in the attack's wake and the field for 1.5 platforms to either side of this attack will be covered in an aesthetic field of dust for a second before it totally clears.

The projectile's only purpose is to cause the giant explosion, which is the attack's primary hitbox, dealing tons upon tons of flinching hits to the point there's a hit on every frame of the explosion's 60 frame duration. Each hit does 0.5-0.7% for a theoretical total of 30-42%, and these hits have the luxury of ignoring any superarmor that would normally block attacks that do less than 20%. The final hit does radial knockback that could kill at as low as 50-20% if it does horizontal knockback right at the edge, but that should largely never happen. During the 60 hits, foes should be able to move out of the hitbox before it does knockback. The closer they were to the middle of the explosion, the more difficult that will become, but if they were hit within the first 15 frames of the explosion even the biggest characters should be able to get out before the attack does its knockback. Even if they can't get out, they should be able to move far enough away that this attack will not be doing knockback at an optimal angle to actually kill them.

After 40 long frames of starting lag to generate the ki blast, Ginyu will remain in lag for yet another 43 frames before he is free to move as his aura of power goes down and he laughs maniacally. If the projectile traveled its full length before exploding, Ginyu's first frame he's going to be able to act on will be frame 31 of the 60 frames the giant explosion will be up. If the projectile hit something at point blank, the projectile will spend less time traveling and mean Ginyu won't have as many frames he's allowed to act with the incredibly powerful lingering giant explosion at his disposal, potentially as few as 17 while the foe will have more than enough time to escape the blast radius before that. Ideally, Ginyu wants to knock the foe back into the hitbox before they get out. Even better, if Ginyu can knock the foe right to the edge of the blast radius closest to the blast zone, he can control the angle of their knockback and kill them laughably early.

Foes are stunned in this attack long enough it can be feasible to try to hit them with the Body Swap as they come out of it, especially if you have the luxury of super fast attacks from taunting. If you hit the foe as they are trapped in the blast, though, keep in mind you can end up killing yourself. While your minions retain their allegiance to you after a body swap, any lingering hitboxes you generated like the fsmash will become allied to the foe after body swapping with them, meaning you can potentially end up doing an elaborate suicide with this attack. This attack is an extremely real threat to getting Body Swap off, but you need to make sure the foe is going to be able to get out of the blast radius.

Minions are terrified of this attack and certainly aren't going to help keep foes stuck inside the blast, they're likely to go out of their way to get out of the attack's full range as soon as Ginyu starts charging. This often translates to them running behind Ginyu, which can make this attack surprisingly hard to punish as the minions will generally punish the foe's punish on Ginyu. It's still possible for the foe to just hit both the minions and Ginyu simultaneously with a crowd control dsmash, though this can sometimes prevent them from doing an ideal punish.

As far as using this attack at the ledge, the gigantic explosion will always radiate out from the attack's hitbox in a dome shape, meaning it can't hit foes below the ledge. Those without perfect ledge hangs like Ganondorf can still potentially be hit by it while clinging to it, and may be forced into briefly planking to abuse ledge invincibility to avoid the full hitbox while Ginyu ledgeguards with it, opening an opportunity for Ginyu to come chase the foe. If Ginyu successfully manages to ledge trump the foe in a game of musical chairs at the ledge, their brief pushback will be enough to knock them into the overhead blast. Using this attack as a wall against recovering foes is the most common time this attack will get used outside of when Ginyu has a huge taunt buff, forcing foes to recover at very painfully low or high altitudes.

If Ginyu detonates this on top of a ground chunk, it will unsurprisingly destroy it, causing the debris of it to linger for 15 frames as it deals 0.5-0.7% per frame as it disintegrates. The extra damage is nice, but the real appeal is that it will be much harder for foes to move through the debris of the ground chunk to escape the blast, largely blocking foes off from escaping that way.



Minions will try to move out of the attack's radius as well when hit, but if they are disintegrated the remains of their bodies will create a similar hitbox as they scream in horrible pain. According to Ginyu, this is what he does to everybody who tries out for the Ginyu Force and doesn't make it! Disintegrated corpses only do half as much damage as a ground chunk, but the main purpose of these hitboxes is to trap foes inside anyway as their bodies take more time to move through than the regular explosion hitbox. Bigger minions are bigger walls for foes to escape through, though it's a lot harder to kill a bigger minion with this before they escape. Ideally, you'll want to finish off and execute an already weakened minion. While your minions will do their best to avoid this attack, bigger ones are more naturally brave anyway and are more likely to try to chase an enemy off-stage in the first place. If they actually manage to catch a foe in their jabbing flurry of punches, they won't be able to respond to this to get out of the way. Alternatively, you can just levitate the minion in place to prevent them from fleeing the attack. Small minions don't take up nearly as much space, but are easy to execute without having to bother weakening them first.

Ironically, one of the best times to try to use this attack is after doing a full team pose. Not only will you be able to get out the fsmash with 10 frames of starting lag, everybody's all gathered up to get potentially killed by the explosion and block off all potential avenues of escape! Unless the enemy was brain dead, they're probably close and were trying to stop you from performing the team pose. Those worthless recruits have already served their purpose to make you look good, they're more useful to you dead than alive.

UP SMASH - WIND UP PUNCH



During the charging animation of the move, Ginyu near instantly goes into the pictured pose as he holds up an arm in the air behind him and stands on one leg. When the actual attack comes out, Ginyu does a massive sweeping punch in front of himself as the arm goes down low in front of him before going up above him as the punch ends in an "uppercut." The hitbox is similar to Ganondorf's usmash in terms of the raw range of the move, though the hitbox is somewhat less large in comparison. The attack is still fairly slow to come out with 20 frames of starting lag, 4 frames of duration, and 10 frames of ending lag. On hit, the attack does 17-23.8% and diagonal knockback that kills foes off the top around 140-95%.

Any minions next to Ginyu who aren't busy will perform the same pose and attack he does here. The main thing that enables minions to have time to get into position is if Ginyu charges the smash, and like any other smash he can hold the charge down for a full 1 second to make minions get into position. Taller minions will get in front of Ginyu, while shorter ones will get behind him. Any minion standing directly in front of Ginyu will stand far enough away they won't get hit by the attack when it comes out. If all four minions are out, they will line up from the tallest to the shortest, unless Ginyu is at an edge in which case Ginyu will be at the front/back of the line. Each minion's punch is slightly less powerful than if Ginyu was inside of their bodies and did the punch directly, depowered by 0.9X. This stacks additively rather than multiplicatively, though the weakest minion's punch will still have only 0.74X the usual power. Minions will not increase the power of their punches like Ginyu does while they hold the pose and "charge", which is pretty much a good thing as it makes their pathetic hits more comboable anyway.

The dream with this attack is to get a line of minions and to hit with the one in the back to combo the stream of uppercuts into each other. The short minions behind you, with their hideously weak knockback and the fact their hitboxes are against the floor due to their short height, will combo into Ginyu's punch until very, very high percentages, to the point this can potentially be a kill confirm even. You will need the weakest, most pathetic minion to do it with his tiny hitbox, to the point it's easiest to hit foes with Ginyu's personal usmash hitbox directly, but it's super useful when you get it off. Meanwhile, Ginyu's higher knockback can be canceled when he smacks a foe forwards into the taller minions in front of him, lessening the impact of the knockback with the minion's weaker hit to enable the move to combo better in addition to stacking on the damage of the minion's usmash. Even without help from any minions, this can combo if you hit with it at super low percents due to the attack's extremely low ending lag. The vast majority of the time, minions will be busy enough you're only going to get one minion to help you with this in practical combat, so you will have to work with either the hit confirm or the "canceled" weaker knockback based off the minion's size.

If Ginyu is in a minion body, the minions will still line up with Ginyu based off their height. If Ginyu's in the biggest body, he will still have a small power downgrade compared to his regular body, but the potential of a full chain of minions smacking the foe before you get to Ginyu himself smacking them at the end can rack up stupid amounts of damage before Ginyu hits the foe with an attack that's a lot more capable of killing them. Meanwhile, if Ginyu is in the shortest body, he will have more time to react after he gets out of the move as the foe is passed along the "chain" of punches.

If Ginyu wants lineups where he's not in the middle without Body Swapping, he just has to stand at the edge of the stage. The minions will face the same way as he does in the attack, so he can either be at the front or the back of the chain based off which way he's facing. The minions will still attempt to line up in order of height, ignoring Ginyu being otherwise out of order. Ginyu will generally want only minions shorter or bigger than himself in this scenario to make sure all the hits will line up properly, though even getting this off with just two minions is a big rarity anyway.

Minions are so often busy pointlessly checking their scouters, posing, or god forbid, actually attacking, that it's very difficult to get 3 or 4 minions ready for this attack without sitting and charging so long it’s unviable. The main way to get them ready is to do a team pose first. Not only will this make sure they're not slacking off, but minions will speed up to match Ginyu's speed boost when they do this attack with him. Considering how low the ending lag is on this attack, this move can become lightning fast with starting lag reduced, and you only need 3 minions to make it reach the minimum of 5 frames of starting lag rather than all 4.

DOWN SMASH - INTO PURPLE SMOKE



Ginyu turns to face the camera (Yes, always the camera. While he's proud of his rump as well, he wants you to better appreciate his "magnificence.") before crouching down in a pose with his arms extended out to either side. He has his pointer fingers extended out on each hand, from which he fires out purple beams out to either side for a basic dsmash that hits on both sides of him. The beams deal a somewhat pathetic 10-14% while knocking foes out horizontally with knockback that kills at 170-130%. In exchange for this attack's poor power, it comes out fast without any need to bother buffing it in any way, and reaches out a full platform to either side of Ginyu. The duration and ending lag are pretty long, though, so this move isn't exactly perfect.

If a foe actually gets hit by this attack, they will be trapped in a few freeze frames as the beam travels through them before they get sent flying off. Ginyu is still in lag until the beams go away and minions likely generally won't interfere, so this doesn't seem to have too much of a point outside of aesthetics at first.

As Ginyu performs this attack, smoke matching his skin color will be shot up behind him in a pillar as tall as Ganondorf. The smoke has two hitboxes, the first deals an additional 5-7% in non flinching hits over the course of the move. The second hitbox is a wind hitbox that will very weakly push foes outwards from the smoke to the sides, meaning foes can hopefully get pushed away from Ginyu into the lasers he fired from his fingers while maybe even tacking on a bit of extra damage. The fact Ginyu crouches down during this attack enables the pillar of smoke to better defend him than it would otherwise.

If minions are taunting next to Ginyu while he uses this attack, they will generate their own pillars of smoke that's just as big and strong as Ginyu's regardless of their own size and remain in lag just as long as Ginyu does. Like in usmash, the minions will come over during the attack to get in line if Ginyu is charging it. Unlike usmash, if the minion is taunting in the middle of nowhere for no reason and Ginyu goes to use this attack next to them, he'll still get the pillar of smoke from that minion, making cowardly minions more useful for this. With multiple minions out, the foe can be pushed along through the smoke and take extra damage while in the freeze frames of the dsmash laser. The wind hitboxes on the smoke from the minions will strictly push the foe in the direction on the side of Ginyu that minion is. If taunting, the minions will use their flight to float over the beams aimed low at the ground to avoid being hit and comically messing up the elaborate pose. Foes cannot take damage from multiple smoke pillars simultaneously.

The minions prefer to go onto either side of Ginyu if there's only two, so he will need at least three to have the foe get knocked through a full 3 pillars of smoke and to take an extra 15-21% from this attack. If Ginyu finds some minions taunting on their own, this positioning can potentially be overridden if Ginyu takes advantage of the situation, and like with usmash minions will all line up on one side of Ginyu if he's at the edge of the stage.

This attack doesn't rack up nearly as much potential damage as usmash with minions, but is stupidly safe to use by comparison as the smoke pushes enemies away and Ginyu's minions are able to cover for him after the attack is over. Even if he does get punished, the foe will probably have taken a decent amount of damage from the smoke for their efforts. Having such a safe attack to use with multiple minions out makes taunting easier than it otherwise would be when you can threaten with this move. Just keep in mind it's not infallible, as the attack still has a fair amount of ending lag where no hitboxes, not even smoke pillars, are present. For this reason, you may well not want all minions involved in the attack, and unless you were taunting before you did this they're probably not all going to participate anyway.

STANDARDS

JAB - GALAXY BOMBS



Captain Ginyu starts rapidly forming a series of Pokeball sized ki blasts in his hands one at a time as he throws them forwards with impressive speed. These ki blasts are weak, so weak that they can only travel 0.75 platforms before exploding, but this is still very long range for a traditional "rapid jab." The individual hits of the rapid jab deal more damage than that of the average rapid jab, though the hits are less frequent to the point the damage output is fairly average, with the main appetizing part of this being the great range. The ki blasts do nothing but flinch the enemy, with foes having to move back quite a distance to get out of the attack's range.

Like all repeating jabs, if Ginyu successfully hits somebody with this attack, he will be pushed backwards after keeping the foe in the multiple hits for a while. This is going to be a lot more noticeable with this attack than with other rapid jabs, as it prevents Ginyu from abusing the move's full range as well as he could otherwise, but also turns the move into a ridiculously good and easy way to get some space between Ginyu and his opponent. Ginyu still has to hit with this move closeup to get much raw damage out of it, but hitting with it it at any point of that range functions as a very easy spacing reset.

Minions can potentially block the hits of the rapid jab, which can be pretty annoying, but they can also enable Ginyu to use this attack more defensively by causing him to push himself back earlier on in the move before he hits his opponent. If Ginyu abuses his minion like this to space for his jab, ideally the minion should be pushed far enough away from Ginyu by the time the foe is in range to be hit that they do not sponge any hits intended to actually hit his opponent.

The jab finisher has Ginyu place his hands on his head to generate a telekinetic blast 0.75 platforms in front of his current position, dealing 7% with high base diagonal knockback that kills at 140%, which is quite high for a jab. Ideally, the jab is set up so that after foes get pushed out of range of the rapid jab Ginyu can casually finish with the psychic attack. This works great, but is a little harder to pull than it sounds since foes only take flinching from the Galaxy Bombs with zero knockback whatsoever. Foes either have to move backwards in an attempt to escape the ki blasts, or Ginyu has to push himself backwards to get into proper range. Ginyu has to accurately predict the foe's actions with timing his jab finisher, and may well have to settle for less damage if he wants to guarantee he gets it off.

DASHING ATTACK - HIGH SPEED SHOULDER CHARGE



Ginyu continues along at 0.75X his dashing speed for 7 frames as he vanishes as he gathers energy while flying along the ground, then vanishes in the typical Dragonball black blur before reappearing a Bowser width in front of himself, invulnerable for 2 frames as he vanishes. When he reappears on frame 10, he is already in position to hit any would be foes with a big shoulder charge, dealing 14% and knockback that kills at 120% for one of his best casual finishing moves. If Ginyu doesn't hit anyone, he falls over in a heap on his face for terrible ending lag nearly as bad as Dedede's dashing attack, though he will slide forwards an additional Bowser width during that ending lag from all his momentum. Ginyu cannot slide off the edge during this pratfall.

Ginyu can hold A during this attack to move forwards further while invulnerable/invisible, moving forwards an additional Kirby width per frame. You have to be just about frame perfect with when you release A to actually hit your desired target, but the further Ginyu travels before releasing A the more he'll travel with the actual hitbox on him, traveling another 0.15 Kirbies for every additional Kirby he traveled while invulnerable. This means the further you travel, the more leeway you have with when you release A, making the move better to hit foes you've knocked away already for a combo piece or potentially as an approach if you're feeling ballsy. Ginyu's player tag will make a point of prominently displaying where Ginyu is the entire time he's invisible to limit guesswork for the Ginyu player. Ginyu is forced to come out of this state if he reaches the end of the platform he is currently on, and given the fact that Ginyu is flying during his dashing animation anyway, he'll specifically ignore anything on the ground that would otherwise affect his speed during this attack. Using this on a treadmill like the one on Pokemon Stadium 2 or something won't enable Ginyu to stay invulnerable forever.

If Ginyu is in another body, this will greatly lower his dashing speed and will also lower the distance Ginyu moves during each frame of this "high speed" shoulder charge. Each body that's a step down in size will cause Ginyu to move 0.15 less Kirbies per frame. This can potentially let the slow bodies abuse this to stay in invulnerability for longer, but bodies other than Ginyu's default are capped on how long they can stay invulnerable at just 10 frames. The small body struggles to get much use out of this move at all really, while the big bodies are so big that their increased range can help compensate for moving less far. Most notably, spawning on top of a foe with a big body can give you a lot more leeway on when to release A, as your giant model can potentially enable you to "clip" to move back in front of them when it spawns into existence out of nowhere. Ginyu's regular body is big enough this can work to a lesser degree, but will rarely happen with a smaller body.

Using this attack on minions as a cushion to avoid suffering worse ending lag is a decent enough idea, but the move has a couple freeze frames on it similar to the picture that means you're inevitably going to get punished anyway. It's still shorter than falling on your face like an idiot, but not super helpful. The freeze frames can be used to your advantage offensively by ramming into a minion and sliding into a foe, enabling Ginyu to delay his dashing attack and adding a lot more unpredictability to it when used from greater distances. This attack is also useful if Ginyu, god forbid, doesn't want to hurt his minions as he goes out of his way to pass them before using the shoulder charge, giving him a lot of versatility with this attack. Ginyu can also get a small extra "push" forwards if he comes out of dashing attack in the back half of a large minion, as he'll move forwards without hitting them.

FORWARD TILT - DANCE OF JOY



Ginyu performs the dance of "joy" with a completely straight face, as this is the kind of majestic ritual which should be taken very seriously. In contrast to Ginyu's long range jab, his ftilt functions like a more traditional 3 part jab combo. Ginyu first does two kicks at 45 degree angles with the first two presses of A, alternating which leg he uses with each kick. The third and final hit has Ginyu do a kick straight forwards while simultaneously clapping his hands in front of him. The first two kicks just deal 4.5% and tiny knockback in the direction the legs are kicking, just juggling the foe in place briefly. The final hitbox consists of both Ginyu's clapping hands and his kicking leg - the hitbox is generous enough that the space between them is filled in for good measure. The final hit does 6% and knocks foes away with diagonal knockback that kills at 180%, but has a sweetspot on his foot that deal 10% with horizontal knockback that kills at 135%.

Obviously if Ginyu has rage, he can't properly do the dance of joy, that just goes without saying! The tiny knockback on the first two hits will never be so great as to knock foes out of the move's hitbox entirely, but by the time the sweetspot on the third hit would kill, the tiny knockback will definitely be enough to boost foes over Ginyu's leg to instead be hit by his clapping hands on even the heaviest foes.

To get around this problem, Ginyu will have to perform a variety of other dances. Since this is an ftilt and not a jab, Ginyu can angle the first two kicks on this move. The first two kicks are aimed at 45 degree angles by default, so angling up has Ginyu do high kicks like he's doing the can can dance, while angling it "down" will just have him kick straight in front of him like he's doing the stereotypical Russian dance. This will influence the tiny knockback to be more severe by pushing it in another direction, with the downwards angled kicks potentially pushing a foe towards the foot sweetspot on the third kick. At high percents, Ginyu can intentionally do a vertical kick to miss one of the first two hits given this kick has greatly decreased horizontal range before finishing with the third kick. Alternatively, if Ginyu hits two vertical kicks at a high percent then cancels out of the move before performing the third hit, this can combo into the sweetspot on his utilt.

UP TILT - HEADBUTT

Captain Ginyu does a small jump in place as he headbutts above himself, dealing 8% with very low base knockback that scales to eventually kill around 210%. Ginyu's entire body is a hitbox similar to Dedede's utilt, but the size of his horns are exaggerated for this move slightly. The horns are a sweetspot that deals 11% with knockback that kills at 160%, not a huge improvement but still not bad.

This attack is a very basic juggling attack that can be spammed on enemies with no damage for easy damage racking. The catch is Ginyu's horns become an active negative as far as comboing with this move as the base knockback on them is a lot higher, causing them to knock foes out of the combo too quickly. Ginyu has to hit grounded enemies for this attack to juggle properly, though only getting in two or three hits still isn't bad damage output for this move at the end of the day. Aside from damage, one of the main reasons Ginyu would want to juggle his enemies specifically is to try to combo into his Down Special dumping a pod on top of the foe, as it will only combo if foes are a certain distance above him. While this isn't nearly as good of a juggler as something like Mario's, especially at middling percents, it's the prime move to combo into Ginyu's Down Special to enable him to get set-up for free.

If Ginyu is in any body other than his own, this move combos more easily. There is around a 1 in 6 chance of any given minion having horns, and if they don't have horns they won't have Ginyu's horn hitbox on this move. While the horn hitbox can be useful to try to knock foes into range to dump a space pod on their heads, as far as raw damage it's definitely not ideal. Both short and tall bodies work great for this attack, as short minions are so weak it'll work for a good while, and tall minions will take a while to knock foes through them. At the end of the day, the power nerf of a smaller body is the bigger factor of the two for making it combo longer rather than height given foes can just move to the side out of the hitbox, but the taller body has the advantage of more easily knocking foes into the ideal range to dump a pod on the foe's head. The distance a pod spawns from Ginyu when he uses Down Special is based off the location he's standing on, not the top of his hurtbox, so with a tall body Ginyu won't have to knock foes quite as far to get to that ideal range.

This attack is the one scenario where it may be better to hand off Ginyu's real body to the foe rather than a minion body given they'll get access to this move, but keep in mind that when the foe can't use space pods that this average at best juggling move isn't going to get a whole ton of mileage regardless. In the event you summon a short minion with horns, it becomes very hard to hit with anything other than the sweetspot due to how reduced the rest of the hitbox is, and makes a good candidate to shove off to the foe rather than use yourself.

DOWN TILT - STOMP



Captain Ginyu stomps the ground in front of him, dealing 12% and knockback to send foes away at the Sakurai angle, eventually killing at 145% diagonally. The move has too much base knockback to be used for comboing, but it's a competent finisher when high percents roll around. Ginyu's foot is powerful enough to kick up some debris in front of where he stomped in a hitbox the size of Kirby. The debris lingers for a few frames and deals 2%, tiny but not set horizontal knockback, and most importantly causes foes to trip as they slide forwards very slightly. Foes won't be in range to hit Ginyu with a get-up tripped attack, but will be able to act out of tripped slightly before Ginyu gets out of ending lag. If the foe dares to roll behind Ginyu, this can combo into grab, whereas if they roll away at a low percentage or use their get-up attack, the move combos into jab. If you have the luxury of sped up moves, Side Special is great to bring the foe back with just a single taunt boost, whereas fsmash is the obvious answer with a lot of taunts to back you up.

This move is actively useful because of the trip, though the main hitbox is pretty dang good for a consolation prize on a miss. The stomp can't hit most ledge hanging foes (varying based off their ledge hang animation), but the debris can hit everyone. Foes won't trip in mid-air, but they will flinch and be forced to let go of the ledge. This is a lot bigger deal in the SSB4 engine where they won't be allowed to immediately regrab it, letting you potentially pressure them with an fair or dair.

Given Ginyu can body swap into his minions, they have animations for tripping, ledge attacks, what have you, and can be forced into those situations even when they are just minions and not being played as. Minions will always opt to use their get-up/ledge attack over any other option, which makes them stupidly predictable but can enable them to attack when their otherwise ridiculously passive and cowardly AI would otherwise refuse to. This attack directly tripping Ginyu's minions is one of his direct ways to force them to attack without making them directly join him for an attack, and a weak tripped attack is great fodder for Ginyu to try to combo the foe off of. Ideally, Ginyu would want to hit the minion a frame earlier than the foe with the debris hitbox to enable the minion to act before the foe can, as minions have surprising competence here in that they will always use their get-up attack on the first possible frame.

The fact minions can grab ledges also enables them to ledge trump foes, which is something brave minions will prefer rather than cowardly ones who will just recover over the foe. These precious few frames of stun and the period where they're banned from grabbing the edge can be crucial to Ginyu. As far as its relation to this move, knocking a foe off the ledge hanging down on it while a brave minion is humping it can get really annoying for the foe.

If in a small body, the main hitbox becomes so small that it practically feels like a sweetspot compared to the debris. This can help slightly with making it easier to land the debris but makes the move a lot less safe and obviously terrible as an option for killing. A big body, on the other hand, makes it very difficult to land the debris hitbox as the hitbox on the foot overlaps a lot of the debris' regular hitbox. Generally speaking, the default body is a pretty happy medium between the two.

AERIALS

NEUTRAL AERIAL - FURIOUS ASSAULT



Ginyu does a single kick in front of himself similar to Ganondorf's nair. The move has fairly good range, but bad ending lag on a miss as his leg just hangs out for a while without any kind of lingering sex kick hitbox while making his hurtbox a lot more spread out. If he hits, Ginyu goes into a furious barrage of punches and kicks to his foe. Similar to Cloud's Side Special, both Ginyu and his foe will levitate in the air together during the duration of this attack. Ginyu will deal a total of 11% over the course of several hits before hitting the foe with a final hit of 7% and knockback that kills at 160%. The knockback is primarily horizontal but pops them up into the air slightly at a 15 degree angle.

Once Ginyu has hit a target with this move and is rapidly punching and kicking, he can press the A button at any time during the move to "teleport" to the opposite side of his target with Dragonball superspeed as he vanishes in a black blur. When he reappears, Ginyu will resume punching and kicking the foe, as regardless of which side he's on he'll always continue to face them. This allows Ginyu to knock the foe either forwards or backwards, and the usefulness of that alone can't be understated. Grabs are popular at the ledge to try to throw the foe towards the blast zone when you're in-between the foe and the blast zone rather than the other way around, and this lets you extend that beyond the ledge. This gives Ginyu a pretty strong off-stage presence by itself.

Ginyu doesn't take very long to appear when he phases out of existence and goes to the opposite side of his foe, but he can spam it a lot and he is invulnerable during the couple of frames where he does so. Ginyu does not pick up right where he left off with his punches and kicks, though. Any time you spend teleporting to the opposite side of your target is time you are not dealing damage to them. While it is useful to change the angle of the foe's knockback, Ginyu can intentionally use this technique to skip the finishing hit and just do 11% worth of flinching hits while keeping the foe in his face in a frame neutral context afterwards. He can then attempt to just nair them again if he so pleases, potentially able to chain it multiple times if he can outpredict the foe properly. While the move already comes out fairly fast and doesn't terribly need to be sped up, if Ginyu has another fast attack in reserve to use -after- his fair, it can make the frame neutral set-up pretty scary for Ginyu's foe.

Ginyu can use this attack on minions to aid in recovery if he so wishes, but his recovery is good enough that's not really needed. Using it on minions is more helpful as an evasive technique as Ginyu abuses the invulnerability and tries to use his minion as a meat shield for the foe. If Ginyu cares about the well being of the minion, he can mash A to try to minimize the damage dealt to them. The invulnerability as teleporting is helpful, but ideally you're going to want to use a bigger minion to get more space with their body between you and your foe, making Ginyu's teleports take him further distances. If Ginyu's target he hit with the original nair takes knockback, the move will be interrupted as Ginyu comes out of the move laglessly, enabling you to ideally counter the foe and punish them attacking your meat shield. This will also happen if the minion dies of HP loss during the pummeling from nair. On a low HP minion, this means you can stay in the nair a while by teleporting around them to either side while still having the freedom to come out of the move early when the foe refuses to take your bait.

FORWARD AERIAL - FINGER BEAM



Ginyu extends out a single hand before firing a beam from his pointer and middle fingers. The laser is about half as thick as Kirby and goes downwards at a 45 degree angle 0.75 platforms before vanishing. As the beam goes through foes, it will deal 10%, and the foe will be stunned until the beam totally goes through them before finally taking knockback that kills at 150% to a foe at the edge. The knockback is primarily horizontal, though has a slight downward angle on it that means it can potentially kill a lot sooner than it could otherwise to off-stage enemies. The move comes out fast, but the ending lag is long enough that the hitstun on the move is needed to cover the ending lag, just barely making it safe on hit.

This attack is very threatening to use against foes that are off-stage for pretty obvious reasons. In particular, this is a very casual attack to spam at foes approaching the ledge while shorthopping the aerial on-stage. If Ginyu's landing lag is triggered, the beam will explode and just deal slightly weaker knockback that kills at 200% at the same angle with a final hit of 4% rather than keep going. If the foe's at a high enough percent, extending the hitbox out slightly with the explosion and getting straight to the knockback can be helpful if the foe would die from either version of the attack.

If Ginyu fires this attack through multiple targets, they will get "impaled" on the beam like a shish kebab, resulting in more stun for all targets with more freeze frame like flashes. Once the beam goes through a character, they're no longer in hitstun anymore and take their knockback, so ideally you'd want the foe in the middle sandwiched between two minions, preferably big ones so it takes longer to pass through them. While the hitstun can look like freeze frames in terms of aesthetic, in actuality it's just plain hitstun and Ginyu can act out of the move early to punish the foe. If he somehow has a sped up fsmash at his disposal, this is an absolutely ideal time to let it loose when there are minions on either side of the foe to prevent them from escaping that fsmash. More commonly you'll follow it up with something else, such as a grab to superarmor the foe so they still take full damage from the fair laser.

BACK AERIAL - SURPRISE BLAST



Ginyu bends down to look between his legs and strikes a pose before forming a fairly large ki orb between his hands. After he's done that, a tacky anime effect matching Ginyu's skin color will flash in the background behind him. Only after giving the foe the chance to bask in the magnificent glory of his rear end will Ginyu finally decide it's a good time to detonate the ki orb. During the detonation, the move deals 14% and knockback that kills at 125%, during which time Ginyu gets to enjoy superarmor against attacks that deal 9% or less.

While it takes a long time for Ginyu to detonate the orb, as soon as Ginyu forms it the move has a hitbox on it. The ki is still perfectly capable of exploding on contact with somebody without Ginyu manually detonating it, dealing 8% and radial knockback away from it as the blast explodes, killing at 200%. Ginyu also takes 3% self damage as he's blasted away in the opposite direction the foe took their knockback the set distance of a Mario height. This may seem pretty terrible at a glance, but comes out a lot faster than the flashy version with the tacky pose.

Because Ginyu is bending over and generating the hitbox at his feet, this serves as a perfectly fine way to hit foes below him as well as behind him. Shorthopping this move with zero intention to hit with the flashy part of the move can work surprisingly well. If you hit a foe below you, the foe will bounce off the ground up into the air, and the kickback Ginyu takes will propel him up into the air after the foe while providing him minimal lag, enabling him to follow up into nair or uair quite easily based off the foe's percent. If the foe shields this, this will still detonate the ki and cause Ginyu to take 3% for the price of becoming unpunishable. While this move has a lot of potential when shorthopped, the landing lag is still bad if Ginyu hits the ground, so he may need a minion as a backup cushion to land on. Alternatively, Ginyu can actually aim behind him with this attack in order to just make a bigger amount of space at early percents.

Actually hitting with the manual detonation of the ki is not impossible, though is mainly reserved for off-stage situations. Ginyu will still be primarily aiming the attack below him rather than behind him most of the time, and the superarmor on the attack can potentially enable him to hit through a foe's recovery. Ginyu will only want to use this move when he's in a position where if the "dud" version hits, he'll be knocked towards the stage.

UP AERIAL - SPINNING DRILL KICK



Ginyu folds his arms as he quickly turns upside down and extends his legs out to either side before rapidly spinning around. His legs suck people in towards the center of the hitbox and deal several hits that total to 13%, with the final hit dealing vertical knockback that kills at 175%, nothing too impressive. This is a very fast aerial all around because Ginyu transitions into being upside down nearly as soon as the move starts without much animation, with the only catch being horrible landing lag if Ginyu manages to crash down onto the ground upside down in the middle of the attack.

On the final hit, Ginyu's feet are sweetspots that deal a final hit of 8% and horizontal knockback in the direction that foot is outstretched from Ginyu, killing at 130%. This makes the move's total damage reach 20% rather than 13% and makes it a very strong move off-stage where the landing lag isn't going to come in play and that kill percentage will kill people even sooner, given that the kill percentage assumes the foe is at the edge. The issue here is that the move's suction works against Ginyu landing the foot hitboxes, as it pulls foes away from the feet between Ginyu's legs. If Ginyu catches a foe in the hitbox, he has to move in the opposite direction he wants to hit the foe to get his foot in position, and if the foe accurately predicts that they can just move in the same direction to escape the move entirely given the foot sweetspots aren't too big. Ideally, Ginyu has to make his move towards the end of the attack's brief duration to give the foe little to no time to react and force them to make a quick prediction.

The main way to eliminate some of the need for prediction is to use this attack on a foe who has to recover and is forced to travel towards the stage, where this move is at its most threatening as a kill option. If the foe is between Ginyu and the stage, it's even possible for him to move all the way through the foe during this move and hit them with the opposite foot to send them back away from the stage, though unless the foe is a giant and/or has terrible aerial speed, if they just hold against the direction Ginyu is moving they won't be dragged all the way over to the other foot, and can potentially go well past it if they hold the same direction as Ginyu. Using this move on a minion, particularly a large one, can be helpful when using it simultaneously against a foe just to marginally delay them as they have to clip through the minion's large body like a playable character, making it easier for Ginyu to predict and react to their movement to space them however he so pleases.

When this move is so much faster than Ginyu's other aerials, you'll want to be using it on the stage if you can. His falling speed is slightly lessened during this move to the point the last active frame on it will finish before he hits the ground if this is used out of a shorthop, but he will hit the ground afterwards during the ending lag. It's harder for grounded foes to move out of the hitbox compared to aerial foes, which makes it worth the risk of terrible ending lag for the potentially amazing spacing capabilities this move provides to Ginyu.

This is one of the most direct moves to have the range effected by Ginyu's current body. Having huge legs on this attack is pretty nice, but the leg hitboxes are increased a significant amount more than the foot hitboxes to the point it can be harder to land and use this move as such a powerful spacer. The smallest body will struggle to keep the foe within the uair at all with tiny stub legs, but it will be difficult to hit anything but the sweetspot. Still, this move is pretty terrible with a small body because the lesser bodies also decrease Ginyu's air speed, to the point that with even the second smallest body it becomes possible for foes with decent air speed to escape the move even without Ginyu trying to land a foot sweetspot, much less with the smallest.

DOWN AERIAL - GALAXY DYNAMITE



Ginyu rapidly fires a series of thin purple beams from his palms down below himself. The heads of the beams are 0.75X as thick as Kirby is tall, while the tails of the beams are half as thick and trail behind them without being hitboxes. The beams will travel up to 1.3 platforms downward before exploding, or will detonate early if they hit something they can damage/the ground, which expands their hitbox out to be 1.25X Kirby's size. Ginyu will fire 4 beams downwards over the course of 20 frames for this move, with 9 frames of starting lag and 7 frames of ending lag on top of that. Each explosion from the Galaxy Dynamite deals 6.5% and sends foes upwards. Each shot does stronger and stronger knockback, with the first one having pitiful knockback that kills at 350%, while each one after that kills 80% sooner to the point the final one kills at 110%, making it more realistic to finish somebody with after barraging them with the other shots. The base knockback on all hits still remains quite low, making it feasible to combo all the hits into each other at lower percents and get this attack's full potential damage of 26%.

Ginyu's falling speed comes to a halt during this attack, but he still falls during the starting and ending lag for a total of 16/36 of the move's frames. Staying still in the air is important to ensure foes don't get knocked above Ginyu before the attack is entirely over, though the stall sadly prevents him from moving side to side during the move. The attack is still quick enough foes will rarely be able to escape it once they are caught in it unless the knockback directly sends them too high, especially due to the increasing size of the hitboxes as the attack goes on.

At lower percents, it's easier to hit the foe pretty much anywhere other than point blank and still hit them with all four blasts to get a lot of damage. It's still advantageous to hit them lower to try to get them directly above Ginyu at the end, though, so that he can combo this into a uair. The spacing is very specific to pull it off, but the move is pretty fast and you can be looking at one of those 0 to 40% combos that are usually reserved for characters like Mario. Alternatively, if Ginyu ends up with the foe nearly overlapping him, he can try to combo into his fair, and if he hits both the foe and a minion with that fair the combo can go well past just dair into another aerial.

The final hit killing at 110% is very appealing, but as the foe's percent goes up the harder it is to keep them inside. You pretty much have to kill them right at that percent with little leeway to make it work, and you need to hit them with the first hit at the fullest extent of the move's range. You can get more leeway by using this move in a weaker body, but then it's obviously killing later as well. Alternatively, you can intentionally miss the first hit somehow to make the rest of the hits combo at higher percentages than they would otherwise. The main way to miss hits while still standing in a position to actually hit the foe is to waste the first shot on a minion, who should be knocked well out of the way of later hits by even the weakest hit if you hit them at fairly close range. Note that the given kill percentage of 110% assumes you are hitting the foe 1.3 platforms above the main stage, so the knockback isn't the entirety of what's doing the work here. If you're hitting an off-stage foe with this recovering low, one of the most realistic ways to hit with this move, it's not going to kill that fast.

GRAB-GAME

GRAB - RESTRAIN



Ginyu has a fairly average grab where he reaches both of his arms forward. This is probably the most direct thing in Ginyu's set to improve with a big body, to the point his grab becomes as good as Bowser's standing grab while being very slightly faster. Ginyu's dashing grab, on the other hand, is generally preferable to his standing grab for having better range and being the fastest dashing grab within the SSB4 cast (Which is still slower than any physical standing grab). Because Ginyu's dashing speed decreases with body swapping, the range tradeoff on the biggest body only makes it have around the same overall effectiveness for his dashing grab. Meanwhile, the small bodies have terrible dashing speeds and have terrible dashing grabs and standing grabs, making it easy to powershield a lot of their attacks. If Ginyu is playing in a small body with intent to hand it off to the foe later, he at least has minions to help him with the foe's shield, while foes stuck in that body don't have that luxury.

Ginyu can hit his minions with any attack, and that includes his grab. Several of his throws will have different effects if used on one. If Ginyu grabbed a foe, his minions will just watch patiently and maybe do some random taunting until after the foe has already been thrown.

PUMMEL - KNEE/CANDY

While Ginyu has a great grab-game, his pummel is really nothing to get excited about as he does the standard knee into the opponent's gut for 3% in a typical slow heavyweight pummel. With the low speed, this pummel isn't going to help Ginyu refresh many stale moves any time soon.

The main way to refresh stale moves Ginyu has is Body Swap and hitting his minions. Stale move lists are tied to bodies rather than characters, meaning if Ginyu swaps into a minion's body for the first time his moves will be totally fresh. If he swaps into a big body, the power nerf will be small enough that the minion's hitbox can potentially even be more powerful than in Ginyu's main body if the move was very stale. If Ginyu is feeling especially sadistic, he can try to make one of his key KO moves stale before handing off that body to the foe, which he can pretty casually do by just hitting minions with it. While going out of your way to hit minions with moves just to make them stale for when the foe gets the body is pretty silly, Ginyu has a multitude of other reasons to hit minions with moves, so this can be a nice bonus.



If used on a minion, Ginyu won't bother kneeing them and will instead offer them a piece of candy, taking it out from underneath his armor. Ginyu certainly doesn't want to eat it himself after it's been down there that long! The minion doesn't terribly want the candy either, but will eat it in order to not offend Ginyu, healing them of a paltry 1%. While the minion isn't particularly grateful for Ginyu's "reward", they will take it as a sign that they're doing a good job and keep doing whatever they were doing, biasing them towards performing whatever action they most recently performed more often and releasing them from the grab. Making a coward biased to use melee attacks won't make them suddenly start rushing up to attack the foe or anything, but turns them into more of "guards" that will hold their ground, which is something Ginyu can more reliably play off of compared to their more erratic default AI. On the other hand, telling a coward to use their projectile or a brave minion to use a melee attack will make them do little else other than those actions, making them do less standing around doing nothing.

FORWARD THROW - PSYCHO PUSH

Ginyu releases the foe as he opens up both of his palms as they glow with purple psychic energy before the foe is launched forwards, taking 8% and horizontal knockback that kills at 180%. This move's knockback is at the Sakurai angle and will trip enemies as they slide until around 65% when the Sakurai angle kicks in and starts lifting them off the ground, preventing that trip. The trip is what enables this to be Ginyu's one throw with any combo potential.

Ginyu's dashing attack combos into this very easily, though when the foe's percent goes beyond 45% they may be able to react to Ginyu's dashing attack, requiring him to predict the foe's get-up option to land his dashing attack. Ginyu's dashing speed is high enough that he can combo moves into this besides his dashing attack, mainly his jab and usmash. This can also combo into Ginyu's jab given the range on it, though there's not much reason to do so unless you're specifically in that 45-65% window. Around 55-65%, Ginyu will only be able to combo the final hit of the jab specifically, he'll want to start and immediately cancel the jab to quickly get the jab finisher psychic blast attack rather than waiting for projectiles to catch up to the foe. While the knockback of this attack will be lessened if in a weaker body, the lower dashing speed/slower dashing attack means it will not combo nearly as easily.

Performing a dashing usmash can sometimes work if Ginyu predicts the foe's get-up option correctly. If minions happen to be in the way, Ginyu can potentially respond to multiple get-up responses at once. If the minions are a good ways ahead of Ginyu, Ginyu can potentially even combo this throw for slightly longer distances than he could normally dash to in time by making the minions perform the usmash. Given how minions refuse to attack when Ginyu has a foe grabbed, if you just sit and pummel the foe once they’ll inevitably start taunting. Just keep in mind these combos only work at low percents, so you won’t have a lot of time to wait for them to get good and ready. Minions won’t waste their time using their scouters when Ginyu has a foe grabbed since the foe obviously can’t attack while grabbed.

While this throw has powerful potential combos/reads, Ginyu needs a runway of stage for this to combo into anything, as the trip is wasted if the foe slides off the stage and Ginyu can't move nearly as fast off stage to reach the foe anyway. Especially when Ginyu's main kill throw is his bthrow, Ginyu really wants to grab the foe with his back to the edge rather than the other way around.

BACK THROW - CASUAL TOSS



Ginyu abuses his Dragonball super strength to throw the foe off into the distance at a 45 degree angle behind himself, chuckling to himself at how pathetic the foe is. This throw deals 12% and has huge base knockback, though it won't kill until 145%. The throw is incredibly fast, and the victim will be a hitbox to anyone else they hit along the way that deals 10% and knockback that kills at 150%, again with high base knockback. Once the victim gets out of hitstun from taking their knockback, they will no longer be a hitbox anymore. The throw deals far too much knockback to combo into anything in any way, but like the given name of the move, is an incredibly casual finishing option. 145% is a fairly average KO percentage for a kill throw, but the high base knockback means this will be more influenced by extra factors like rage and the foe's weight, making it a great kill option if you put the foe in a tiny body and later on in the match.

While Ginyu's grab is generally pretty good, it gets annoying when he grabs his minions while trying to grab his foe. This throw's speed makes it generally the best option to dispose of the minion you grabbed the most quickly. If the foe avoided your grab by rolling behind you, you're in luck, as you can now throw the minion in their face. If the foe rolls away from you rather than behind you, there's not much you can do about it, but if you're at the ledge the foe's options to escape are more limited. If you're the one with your back to the ledge, your grab is obviously a lot more predictable since you can threaten with a powerful bthrow off the stage, but that's the price you pay for that luxury. Using Ginyu's dashing grab combined with his fairly good dashing speed can enable him to slide through a foe after having grabbed a minion in order to have the foe behind him so he can throw the minion at them. Obviously the primary goal should be grabbing the foe, but the minion's existence provides a nice cushion and limits the foe's defensive options if used strategically.

Grabbing minions to use as direct projectiles to throw at people is a bit difficult given the angle of the throw's knockback, but still very viable. Lighter minions will travel much farther/faster and make much better bludgeons to use on Ginyu's enemies. Granted, with their pitiful 18 HP, this can pretty easily kill them, but if their HP is depleted just from the throw's damage their corpse won't vanish until it stops being a hitbox. This is one of Ginyu's options to punish foes recovering high or as an alternative to his juggling game with utilt and Down Special. If Ginyu summoned a light minion, after he successfully lands a Down Special and launches a foe with a space pod, he can potentially throw the minion that comes out of it straight after the foe for a combo. This pretty specifically requires the smallest minion as a bludgeon to throw them high enough to combo, but will work to surprisingly high percents.

After throwing a minion at the foe, keep in mind that minions are perfectly capable of acting in the air and can potentially attack the foe if they dodged their hitbox from being thrown. Brave ones are a lot more likely to do that of course, which is kind of sad given naturally heavy minions that can't be thrown nearly as far are the ones that are naturally brave. Still, at closer range, this can incentivize using this throw to create a more lingering threat to the foe. The closer a brave minion ends their knockback trajectory to the foe, the more likely they'll start attacking them. On the other hand, if a cowardly minion was thrown far enough past the foe that they feel "safe", they may be willing to throw in a token ki blast at the foe.

UP THROW - SUPLEX

Captain Ginyu flies upwards while holding his victim before smashing them down to the ground below him in a suplex, somewhat similar to Kirby/Meta Knight's uthrow, but he only goes up a Ganondorf height before coming back down. While Ginyu could easily go up all the way like those throws given his speed, he's got to leave -something- for Burter to do that's cool and flashy on his uthrow! After going up a Ganondorf, Ginyu comes crashing back down with his victim, smashing them headfirst into the stage for 13% and vertical knockback that kills at 160%. The base knockback is too high to use for any comboing purposes, leaving the throw's main use as a killing option when Ginyu's too far away from the ledge or not facing the correct way for his bthrow.

When Ginyu crashes down on the stage, a small crater is created before fading out a second later, with debris being shot up around where Ginyu slammed the foe down. This crater is a hitbox to outside foes that deals 16% and radial knockback that kills at 105%. While the graphic lingers for a full second, the hitbox is only present for a couple precious frames as it's first generated. This is a lot more powerful than Ginyu's bthrow as an option to hit people with a minion, but has a lot more lag and isn't a "projectile." The good news is that Ginyu's hurtbox shifts significantly during this, letting this move function as something of a counter as Ginyu ideally evades a foe's attack before suplexing a minion on top of his would be attacker. Ginyu flies up pretty quickly, though it will take a pretty long time before the hitboxes come into play.

Like other throws in Smash, the victim of the throw will be superarmored, letting Ginyu ideally use his minion as a meat shield before he slams them down on top of the foe. If the foe kills the minion by depleting their HP during the throw, Ginyu will still finish the throw on the minion's corpse to generate the usual hitbox anyway. Ideally, you should be using this throw on a minion when the foe is in front of you anyway with the minion between you and the foe, as otherwise you'd be casually using bthrow. Ginyu himself can still be knocked out of the throw if he's hit, so ideally he wants a big meat shield in front of him to take the hit and make a big crater as he slams them down on the foe.

DOWN THROW - LEVITATION FIELD

Ginyu kicks the foe to the floor and stomps down on them with his foot, briefly pinning them and dealing two hits of 3%. While Ginyu has the foe pinned with his foot, this frees up Ginyu's hands to place both of them on his head to focus his psychic energy on them. This causes Ginyu to generate a Levitation Field around the foe's body, after which he kicks them forwards for a final hit of 4% and knockback that kills at 225%, but with too high of a base and too much ending lag to combo to anything. For what it's worth, this is Ginyu's only throw where the knockback is entirely horizontal, which means the knockback can be useful despite how low it is to make it harder for the foe to recover back to the stage. Because of fthrow's Sakurai angle, it will deal diagonal knockback when the foe is over 65%. While fthrow will kill slightly sooner, if the foe has a middling percentage where they wouldn't be sent far by any of his throws, this throw's knockback angle can be preferable to give them a hard time coming back to the stage.

The Levitation Field isn't just for show and is a powerful status effect, lasting for 8 seconds or until Ginyu takes any form of hitstun and loses his concentration to keep up the levitation field, similar to his Side Special. Purple distorted air will surround the foe's hurtbox and will cause any unallied projectiles that pass by the foe to be redirected and aimed towards them. This does not power up the projectiles or refresh their duration, but essentially enlarges the foe's hurtbox against projectiles specifically. If a foe dodges a projectile sent at them when this status effect is active on them, it's not going to do them any good, because after it passes their hurtbox it will just go to the opposite side of the ring and be fired back towards them in the middle, almost inevitably hitting them when they come out of their invincibility frames. The only way dodging will work is if the projectile's duration has almost worn out and it does so before the foe becomes vulnerable again. Speeding up the projectiles can actually be something of a negative here in that it makes them more likely to traverse their maximum distance, but this is a pretty rare occurrence.

Foes with this status effect will be left with little other choice but to shield projectiles, and that's not an option in the air. Ginyu's fair and Body Swap count as projectiles for this move, making it difficult for him to miss them if he knocked the foe off-stage. Only the initial projectile from Ginyu's fsmash counts as a projectile, not the giant explosion generated from it, but this can still potentially redirect it downwards off-stage if a foe is not very careful with their extended "hurtbox."

The Levitation Field takes a while to get going and isn't instantly active, with the purple aura of levitation first spawning in at the center of the foe's hurtbox before expanding out to surround the entirety of said hurtbox. This effect isn't doing much good on a foe when it's overlapping their hurtbox, though it does prevent them from dodging projectiles if they happen to pass by this specific area. This takes longer based off how big the foe's hurtbox is, taking 3.5 seconds to fully surround Bowser's hurtbox. After 2.5 seconds, the Levitation Field will have just barely expanded to the edges of Bowser to make it impossible for him to dodge projectiles, but won't have effectively "increased the size of his hurtbox against projectiles" yet. Against Wario (the size of the smallest minion), this will only take 1.75 seconds to fully surround him, which is the minimum duration it can go down to. The status effect's 8 second duration is still ticking down while the Levitation Field is getting going, meaning it's a lot harder to just casually throw the foe off-stage and instantly barrage them with very hard to avoid projectiles before they have the chance to get their feet on the ground and have access to their shield again and/or to attack Ginyu to end the effect early. That said, this will still scare foes to try to recover/get up from the ledge more quickly, and the effect doesn't do nothing against projectiles when the Levitation Field is first made if you aim your projectiles properly.

Ginyu's jab and dair are super powerful against a foe with this effect. His dair if anything is now improved if the foe dodges one or two of the earlier hits, as when they come out of their dodge and take a more powerful hit, that knockback can be canceled by one of the weak hits bouncing around inside the levitation field. Ginyu will be able to easily take advantage of that weak knockback given he should be out of dair's lag by that point. Ginyu's jab only does flinching hits with the repeating jab, but still does deal shield push. If a foe shields the jab Galaxy Bombs coming back at them, they can potentially be pushed back towards Ginyu to get stuck in the jab for longer. In addition, if they just roll away from Ginyu, they will still collect enough Galaxy Bombs in their Levitation Field that they will take some flinches. This gives enough time to outright react when he sees the dodge to stop his jab to punish with something reasonably fast, such as his grab. If Ginyu doesn't react but instead predicts the dodge and cancels his jab more quickly, he can punish with something bigger, which is pretty crazy for something as casual as his jab.

Ginyu's bthrow will count the thrown minion as a projectile for as long as they remain a hitbox, meaning smaller minions have better potential to hit foes who dodged them as they bounce around inside the levitation field for longer. On the other hand, a heavier minion who comes out of the hitstun more quickly will have time to prepare an attack to hit the foe as they come out of their dodge.

Space Pods have infinite range and aren't used up on hit, but don't last forever when put into this effect. After being redirected twice, though, the minion will frantically get out of the pod as it vanishes, stunned and dizzy for a time (not as long as the real dizzy status effect) like when Ginyu forces the pod to roll during Side Special. If there was no minion in the pod, it will instead just malfunction and explode. Any other misc. projectiles not from Ginyu's set with infinite range that aren't used up upon hitting somebody will be used up after being redirected inside the Levitation Field 3 times.

This attack is more biased against larger enemies, as a larger hurtbox means they will have a bigger Levitation Field circling their bodies to suck projectiles in. If Ginyu gives a foe a large body, they're going to be struggling to avoid much of any projectiles that are launched at them from Ginyu in the foe's original body. While not as directly oppressive against a smaller foe, if Ginyu uses this on them this can help eliminate the advantage of their smaller hurtbox, getting rid of pretty much the only positive thing of Ginyu giving the foe a small body.

Minion behavior will change in response to this throw, causing them to prefer firing projectiles over their melee attack unless already in point blank range. Those pathetic minion projectiles are a lot more threatening to the foe now, as even though they're easy to perfect shield it gives Ginyu the ideal opportunity to go for further grabs. Ginyu can get a lot of offensive pressure off of this throw, though he pretty much has to make use of that pressure, as he'll lose his concentration if even so much as flinches.

If the throw is used on a minion, Ginyu does not bother attacking them and skips straight to generating the Levitation Field. This isn't that slow, but is significantly slower than the near instant speed of Ginyu carelessly tossing the minion behind him with bthrow and has no hitbox on it, leaving him vulnerable to the foe if he only grabbed his minion on accident and the foe isn't in range of bthrow. When applied to a minion, the Levitation Field doesn't suck in projectiles to hit the minion, but instead causes projectiles to be redirected away from them while restoring one quarter of the projectile's lifespan (rather than how most reflectors refresh them entirely), turning them into a mobile reflector.

The Levitation Field still has to expand out from the center of a minion's hurtbox just like with a foe, and unlike with foes it's entirely useless on them before it surpasses the limits of their hurtbox. Bigger minions are bigger reflectors, but will take longer to start reflecting anything on Ginyu's behalf. A cowardly minion isn't going to reflect much of anything and will oftentimes be hiding behind Ginyu, though large brave minions serve as large reflector "hitboxes" and will ideally prevent the foe from firing many of their own projectiles at them. Just like a regular Levitation Field, foes can just deal any hitstun to Ginyu to get rid of it before the 8 second duration is over, though that's harder if the minion is up in their face, given attacking the minion won't do anything to stop it. Ginyu cannot have more than one Levitation Field from dthrow up at a time, regardless of if it's on minions or foes.

Using minions as projectiles reflectors is all well and good against the foe's projectiles, but they will still reflect Ginyu's projectiles as well. Cowardly minions serve as better, more predictable walls for Ginyu to bounce things like Body Swap, fsmash, dair, and jab off of to create longer lingering hitboxes in front of Ginyu, making Ginyu much better at beating out dodges.

Dumping a Space Pod on top of a minion with a Levitation Field can send the pod back up into the sky all the way back to Frieza Planet 79 where it came from, further enhancing Ginyu's juggling game. Given the infinite range of Space Pods, they're generally the most ideal thing for Ginyu to actively go out of his way to reflect. Sending a pod to the top blast zone means you won't get the minion inside of the pod, but a Bowser sized infinite range redirectable hitbox is well worth that. In particular, a nice combo is to summon a pod before bthrowing a minion with a Levitation Field into the path of the pod to smack it off into the distance.

While the knockback angle of bthrow prevents you from throwing minions with Levitation Fields on in the path of much of anything besides Space Pods, you're still very capable of bthrowing minions into each other. Throw a heavy minion with a Levitation Field first, then a lighter minion shortly afterwards to have them get sent back down to the ground next to you, potentially to just bthrow them into the reflector minion all over again. Bthrow a heavy minion first then a light minion with the Levitation Field to have the light one carry the heavy one forwards with the Levitation Field, bringing them up high into the air. The foe is also considered a projectile when thrown by bthrow that can be reflected, so based off the foe's weight/percentage, you can substitute them in for a minion here. Keep in mind that if bthrow depletes the HP of the minion with the Levitation Field, their corpse, and thus their Levitation Field, will persist until they stop taking knockback. Ginyu will be going through tons of his smaller recruits in particular in his desperate attempt to find someone who can replace Guldo after his unfortunate death at the hands of Vegeta - who knew it was so hard to find people capable of stopping time?

FINAL SMASH - MEGA GINYU FROG



Captain Ginyu shows foes the most magnificent body that could ever be imagined, superior to his glorious purple horned visage and even Lord Frieza. A gigantic frog the size of Giga Bowser drops down onto the main platform of the stage or onto Ginyu's current location in the case of ridiculous giant stages, dealing 20% and pitfalling enemies as it falls. After it comes down, Ginyu will become invulnerable and use the Body Swap beam from wherever his current position is towards the frog, gaining infinite range on the beam for this Final Smash. Foes can prevent Ginyu's Final Smash by getting in the way of the beam in which case the frog will jump off the stage into the background and leave, but then they've just Body Swapped with Ginyu and probably screwed themselves anyway. After gaining control of the frog, the frog in Ginyu's body will comically hop around in the background and say the words "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit" and "boing, boing, boing" as hopping around in the background.

As the giant frog, Ginyu is invulnerable and can hop around to crush foes at a dashing speed slightly slower than the slowest character in the game, and contact with the underside of his body as he moves deals 15% and horizontal knockback that kills at 80%. At any time Ginyu can press any attack button to barf purple acid (the best color ever conceived) on top of foes to deal 5 hits of 5% with the last hit dealing diagonal launching knockback that kills at 100%. Ginyu has a massive laggy jump that should enable him to traverse any stage, and when he's falling down he regains the original 20% and pitfalling hitbox that the frog had when it first spawned in. Ginyu can still shorthop in this body for slightly less lag, but he'll still mainly be relying on his ridiculous size to land the pitfall hitbox.



Ginyu will fire any minions he has before performing this Final Smash, and once he switches bodies with the giant frog four space pods will come down to his sides to summon four magnificent humanoid frog warriors alongside Ginyu. These guys are all the usual builds of the regular minions Ginyu can summon, just with faces to match Ginyu's new persona. Of course, they too have a variety of colors reminiscent of real frogs, to be worthy of Mega Frog Ginyu's extremely high standards of style. Ginyu cannot hurt his frog minions in his frog body, and these guys have proper aggressive AIs that don't care about what Ginyu or their other allies are doing.

The frogs have an additional attack where they too will vomit acid that matches their skin color, though it is only a third as powerful as the Mega Ginyu frog's. The acid will stick around on the stage after being vomited for 15 seconds, and the minions greatly prefer the vomit attack over anything else. The stage is likely to be covered in a mess of rainbow colored goop, allowing Ginyu to wallow around in a highly stylish mess of his own bodily fluids. The goop causes foes to have their movement speed very slightly reduced by .05 units as they move through it, but this can stack with the five different colored goops. Ginyu's minions don't really care given they can fly, and Ginyu's jump is so huge he can just jump over it. More importantly, if Ginyu pitfalls a foe standing on top of goop, they will be pitfalled for an additional 1.1X for each color of goop their body was overlapping as they get stuck in a bigger mess of rainbow goop. Now the foe too can know what it feels like to be a Ginyu!



Aside from Ginyu vomiting extremely stylish purple puke, the one other button input he will respond to in a unique fashion is taunt. This will cause Ginyu to stand up on his hind legs and try to pose despite being a giant frog. This has no effect if done alone, but if done with any frog allies next to Ginyu will cause a tacky rainbow colored background flash effect to appear around his body that does 18% with huge base knockback that kills at 50%. If Ginyu taunts at all with other minions during the Final Smash, he will get the usual buff whenever he turns back at the end of the Final Smash.

After styling on the enemy with his majestic frog body for 10 seconds, Ginyu will Body Swap back to his old body and the giant frog will leave the stage. Ginyu will be quick to fire the frog soldiers after going back into his original body, as while they were more competent than the random recruits they don't complement his theme properly! Ginyu already has a frog on the Ginyu Force anyway, that's what Guldo is for!

Dec 27 2017: Posted Moveset
Jan 28 2018: Made usmash ending lag longer (4 frame duration + 10 frames of ending lag), stated/increased starting lag of dashing attack to 10 frames, removed reference of smash attacks being charged for 2 seconds rather than 1 second.
Jan 29 2018: Minor wording change to fthrow.
 
Last edited:

FrozenRoy

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"The Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.

That's the only way to become what you are meant to be."
Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren is a major figure and, all things considered, the main antagonist of the "Sequel Trilogy" starting with The Force Awakens (unless Star Wars 9 throws a MAJOR curveball, anyway). By necessity, this will be giving spoilers out for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but I will be trying to put spoilers for The Last Jedi in spoiler tags for the intro at least. The Force Awakens spoilers will be treated more lightly, as that movie was released two years ago. You have been warned!

Kylo Ren is the second in command of the First Order, remnants of the Galactic Empire which existed under the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, receiving direction from Supreme Commander Snoke, and is the master of the "Knights of Ren", a small force of elite, Force using bodyguards. He is also known as the "Jedi Killer" due to some, well, killing of Jedi in his past. He is devoted to the Dark Side of the force almost like a paladin and has a heavy worship of Darth Vader, with his own armored outfit clearly inspired by the villainous Sith and even consulting the semi-melted remains of his helmet for advice in times of need.

Although Kylo Ren portrays and tries to carry himself as the same stoic, creepy leader as Darth Vader, the truth is that he is significantly conflicted and lacks the absolutionism and certainty of the Sith Lord, although he has the determination down pat. This emotional instability shows in the fact that he cannot restrain and control his anger, amusingly making him much more like Vader when he was younger: He repeatedly lashes out and destroys whatever nearby equipment he has, unable to contain his rage at poor news or situations. He struggles internally with the pull of the "Light Side" much as many Jedi do with the pull of the Dark Side: His attempts to remove the Light Side's influence, ironically, ultimately serve to weaken him.

The identity he conceals is, in fact, that of Ben Solo: Son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, which in turn makes him the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, thus making his extreme idolization of Darth Vader even closer and more familial. His need to prove himself and seperate himself from his past leads him into conflict with his father and to kill him to try and remove the feelings of doubt and thoughts of turning back in his heart: Ironically, this only leads to said doubt increasing dramatically, and to him ultimately being weaker than he once was.

Not being trained in classical styles given this is after the original trilogy, Kylo Ren is not a noted practioner of any true Lightsaber combat form. Both in terms of his impressive Force abilities and lightsaber combat, he has a great natural talent and power for it, but lacks stability and training to refine it and allow him to use it better in times of distress. He displays an impressive ability to freeze enemies and blaster bolts, which ironically is a Light Side based power (The power is very similiar to the ability "Force Stasis" in many works, such as KOTOR, where it is a Light Side ability), in addition to fairly strong Force Push and Pull abilities and, naturally, the Force Choke. His mental manipulation, however, is on the weaker side: Trying to pull information out of Rey's mind ends up harming Kylo Ren much more than her. Likewise, his lightsaber style is very rough, but based very much on raw, overwhelming power and is frequently compared to broadsword combat, large, strong and sweeping strikes that knock people off their feet and unable to defend the next blow. At the same time, the lightsaber itself is designed extremely crudely and with a cracked power crystal, reflecting his lack of actual knowledge in building a lightsaber: The "Crossguards" on his lightsaber are actually exhaust vents which are required due to this energy ineffiency.

Kylo Ren himself has multiple ties to various now defunct EU material: Most noticeably, the idea of a son of Han and Leia's who later turns to the Dark Side as a Jedi obviously draws comparisons to Jacen Solo, showing that apparently Han and Leia are a really good pairing for evil kids. His mask is reminiscient of Darth Revan and other things he say reflect various philosophies from that game and so on. How interesting.


Statistics


Kylo Ren is rather tall, but slender in comparison to the bulkiness of, say, a Darth Vader: His size can best be compared to a more lithe Ike. His weight is on the heavier end, but not especially impressive, being an uncontested 11th with a weight of 105. His ground speed is in alignment with other slower, weighty swordsdman, with a dash speed equal to Ike and Mii Swordfighter's 38th-42nd ranked dash speed. His walk speed retains this same sluggishness, with Ike at 50th. Traction is fairly high for Kylo Ren, equal to Corrin and Falco for a 10th place tie in traction.

Aerially, Kylo Ren is rather sluggish, with his Air Speed equalling Fox and Mii Swordfighter for 39th. He has extremely low Gravity, his 0.0735 Gravity puts him between Marth/Lucina/Luigi (0.075) and PAC-MAN (0.072) for 52nd, but he has a very high maximum fall speed, equal to Roy/Mega Man/Little Mac/Falco for 5th, quite an odd combination. He has quite a high first jump, but his second jump is merely so-so.

Kylo Ren has two costumes for him: One with him masked and one with him unmasked and having the scar from The Last Jedi. This does affect some animations/sounds, but has no actual gameplay value. Kylo Ren's unmasked outfits include one of him shirtless, because everyone who has seen the Sequel Trilogy obviously wants that.


Specials

Down Special: Embrace Pain

Kylo Ren dramatically pounds upon himself with his fist, varying between the center of the chest and the side of his body, letting out a howl if he is unmasked and a tough grunt if he is masked. One of the common powers of the Dark Side is to draw upon pain to strengthen themselves and that is exactly what Kylo Ren is doing here. "Pain" here is based on how many hits Kylo Ren has dealt out and how many he has received in the last 13 seconds, with hits on both sides counting as the same: The buff maxes out at 8 total hits, note that multi-hits count each seperate hit as a hit, and a minimum of 2 hits are required to activate it at all. A faint red aura will surround Kylo Ren when it is ready and it will flair up when the buff is actually activated. The buff lasts for 13 seconds and Kylo Ren cannot gain anything on the buff once it is active, nor do hits while he is buffed count towards the next buff he will use.

The benefits of the buff include some move specific effects. But for the most part, the strength of the buff is contained within three passive effects that it generates: First off, during moves, Kylo Ren gains 3% / 6% / 9% / 12% super armor (each tier is 2 hits, so 2 / 4 / 6 / 8) DURING moves. Note that this doesn't matter during idle states: You need to actively get out and be trying to slam the foe to get the effect, although this can potentially be supremely frightening, allowing Kylo Ren to simply power through the tilts of a ton of characters, and it is ADDITIVE to currently existing Super Armor effects. So, if another move has 8% super armor already, it'll be buffed to 20% super armor with a full strength buff, meaning you can power through even smash attacks with this!

Secondly, Kylo Ren doesn't even take as much damage from opponents while steeled by his pain, gaining passive (even during idle!) damage reduction of 0.9x / 0.8x / 0.7x / 0.6x from all moves that hit him: This is applied after super armor, so it doesn't allow you to tank more moves, but it is still a pretty frightening bonus to simply overwhelm the opponent in damage trades. For a note, this means a move which deals 10% damage normally would only deal 6% to Kylo Ren with a max buff! On the flipside, Kylo Ren GAINS a passive damage bonus on all of his moves, dealing 1.1x / 1.2x / 1.3x / 1.4x damage more than normal through his focused anger, hatred and pain, so if he used a move which deals 10% damage, it'd deal 14% instead: If both him and an opponent hit with a 10% damage move, that's an 8% damage difference!

Note that this damage change does NOT affect knockback calculations, just like it applies after super armor: The damage applied in the knockback formula is the damage before damage reduction is applied. So, while Kylo Ren will be winning damage trades with this, it won't help with survivability.

Opponents will want to stay away from the Knight of Ren if he reaches high tiers of buffs and wait him out: It is Kylo Ren's job, then, to make sure they cannot do so. In turn, opponents may want to employ hit and run tactics at a higher frequency against Kylo Ren and force him to resort to more low and mid tier levels of buffs, while Kylo Ren will instead want to stick close and in the face of opponents. Contradictory to keeping close to the foe, however, Kylo Ren needs to get space to actually use his Down Special, seeing as it lacks any hitbox and while it has swift starting and ending lag, the duration of pounding on himself is rather long, with Kylo Ren pounding himself exactly 4 times dramatically. Kylo Ren may want to, in fact, send opponents flying to apply his buff and then approach again, a bold but potentially rewarding strategy.

Each time Kylo Ren pounds himself, he gains one level of the aforementioned super armor during the duration of this Down Special, up to the maximum of the normal Super armor he'd get from this move, so he can potentially tank a weaker hit with Down Special and come out of it with a buff, maybe even that last hit getting him an extra tier of buff...it is pretty situational, though.

This is based on Kylo Ren's pounding of his wound from Chewbacca's Bowcaster bolt in The Force Awakens: While there are multiple reasons he would do so, one of the more interesting ones is that the Sith have technique to gain power from pain, including their own: Gaining power from one's own pain is most prominent with Darth Sion from Knights of the Old Republic II. This was used as a basis for this move.

Neutral Special: Force Stasis / Stasis Field


Kylo Ren thrusts a hand forward, outstretched like a gripping motion, and puts the Force to good use. Projectiles within a 1.5 Battlefield Platform in front of him, with a height of about 1.2 Kylo Rens above the ground, is stopped dead in its tracks. It retains its hitbox and it's still visible and all, but it can't move. Opponents can be harmed by this stationary projectile, which essentially serves as a trap now, but that doesn't mean Kylo Ren himself is immune, and so opponents can still use it as a space controlling trap against Kylo Ren, as can he...so don't think your Samus Charge Shots are useless, they can still be used as giant traps against Kylo Ren. Projectiles remain for 5 seconds after freezing OR for however long the projectile would normally last, whichever is longer.

Opponents have a will and thus cannot be so easily frozen in place. Instead, exactly how much Force Stasis affects any one person is based on how many hits the opponent has taken within the last 6.5 seconds. The first four hits cause the opponent to be increasingly slowed, to 0.9x / 0.8x / 0.7x / 0.6x their normal speed for 1 / 1.33 / 1.66 / 2 seconds, each hit gets you to the higher tier, obviously. Five hits causes the opponent to be frozen in place, unable to move, but still able to USE moves, although movement attacks keep the opponent in place nonetheless. This lasts for 2 seconds. And six hits? That's flatout a stun, although for only half of a second, with the remaining 1.5 seconds being a 0.6x slow. Hits after that increase the stun, up to a 1 second stun at 10 hits, taking duration from the slow to do so. If an opponent reaches 6 hits AKA a stun state, they additionally have a small amount of frames added to the starting lag of their moves for as long as the slow is on them, 1 frame at 6 hits and 5 frames at 10 hits due to the Force exerted on them. It is totally, utterly capped at 10 hits, but frankly if you hit the opponent 10 times AND got a stun on them, you're kinda crushing them anyway...it is a bit of a dream scenario.

Force Stasis effects all enemies in range along with projectiles, so you can potentially hit an entire enemy team with this, or slow up someone while freezing their projectile or what have you. This move is decently fast to start, enabling it to be used more for combos, but it has no damaging hitbox during its duration and it does have a decent amount of ending lag, so it can be punished, especially if you're only afflicting a minor slow. Opponents afflicted by Force Stasis cannot be afflicted by it again until their current effect wears off and being hit by Force Stasis "clears" the number of hits they've taken for it, so you can't double dip on hitting someone by Force Stasising them and then doing so again without even hitting them again when it wears off.

Having your Embrace Pain buff active with at least a Level 2 buff on it allows Kylo Ren a new option with this move: To upgrade it from Force Stasis to Stasis Field, done by holding down the B button, which will have Kylo Ren close his fist and let out a grunt (if masked) or an impassioned yell (if unmasked). The zone he creates is about the width of the space between the two bottom platforms of Battlefield to the size of the moving Smashville platform, depending on how much Embrace Pain he has, with enough height that it pokes through the bottommost platforms of Battlefield at the zenith of its height in the middle, with the entire zone being dome-shaped. This Stasis Field lasts 6-8 seconds depending on the level of buff Kylo Ren has from Embrace Pain and is indicated by the area having a light, wavy red tint to it.

Any opponent hit inside of this field will begin feeling the effect of Force Stasis for as long as they are inside of it. So, hit them once, and they're slowed to 0.9x of their normal amount. If you get up to 5 hits, they're forced into place for 2 seconds like normal: Get another hit and it's the 0.5 second stun. After that, all subsequent hits while the field is up merely refresh the strongest slow, and refresh the starting lag debuff that hitting 6+ on Stasis has, in addition to increasing it by 1 until it hits the maximum level of +5 frames like normal, although you'll be hard pressed to hit the foe 10 times in 6-8 seconds and not get more out of it than just hitting the foe that much: Again, it is a bit of a pipe dream, although the form of the Stasis Field makes it at least slightly more realistic. The lag is the same as the normal Force Stasis move, with about 2-3 frames more on the move "duration" due to the hand closing animation.

One of the primary purposes of the Stasis Field, as much as it is to actually debuff the foe, is to serve as a zone of control to try and get the opponent into your range: Kylo Ren doesn't really have any projectiles, so camping from inside it isn't too viable, but he can make people nervous to enter its zone or make it risky to do so...and then corner them in their new space and slash them down. Throwing down your Stasis Field near a ledge can be a good strategy, as a lot of the debuffs are risky when you might be forced off stage, and it makes it more difficult for the foe to edgeguard Kylo Ren if they gain the advantage. Kylo Ren can only have 1 Stasis Field out at a time: Trying to make another causes it to fail to materialize, Kylo Ren throwing out his hand repeatedly in frustration at this. While Stasis Field is out, living background elements (such as the villagers in the Animal Crossing stages) will be frozen in place if they are inside the field.


Side Special: Force Choke

Kylo Ren reaches his hand out like he, well, wants to choke someone: What happens next depends on if this move was tilted or smashed. Tilted, it will turn into a flip, while his hand will shake with unstable rage as he exerts the Force forward if it is Smashed. Tilted, this move draws all enemies within 1.25 Battlefield Platforms (up to 2 Kylo Rens in height) towards Kylo Ren, although this does not actually deal damage or hitstun to the foe, a blessing and a curse: Opponent taking lag, but outside of normal punishing range? Pull them close and slash them away! Stunned a foe, but hit them away with you? Well, now you can use the Force to pull them into your move without taking them out of stun! The one thing it does do is take enemies out of helpless, to avoid any potential silly infinite loops JUST IN CASE, although it does not do so until 5 frames after the move's ending lag. This move puts the foe in front of Kylo Ren at roughly the distance to be hit by the mid-section of his lightsaber from most moves, so not right in his face, but not right at the edge either. If the enemy is not in lag or otherwise incapacitated, then the foe is free to use a move and try to smack him right in the face, but Kylo Ren will usually regain control before they get to him, because he takes his ending lag for the move (which is pretty low) during their flight: Note that this attack cannot be used on foes until they land from a previous use. It also has a "timer" similiar to a grab, forcing at least one move to hit a foe it grabs before it works on them again.


The smashed version is more of a variation on the traditional Force Choke and instead functions as a more traditional grab hitbox: Anyone within the same radius as the tilted version is grabbed, gasping for air (if applicable) as their body rapidly moves into Kylo Ren's grip, transitioning into a Command Grab state. This functions similiar to a Cargo Carry, as Kylo Ren can carry the opponent around with half of his normal movement speed plus a single jump of reduced height (can still reach bottom BFP platforms for reference) and throws them by pressing a direction + the B button. Unlike the Cargo Carry, Force Choke also has a Pummel, performed by just pressing B. Opponents must escape at normal grab difficulty and all that jazz. Both it and the tilted version have the same moderate starting lag, but the smashed Force Choke has more ending lag if it misses: It's pretty long ending lag, actually. The pummel is Kylo Ren simply choking the foe with his hand and squeezing more tightly, dealing 2% damage in a moerate speed pummel. Note that Kylo Ren can grab foes out of the air (or even INTO the air, if he's in the air and they're grounded: Shorthopping this move as an approach IS viable.).

Special Down Throw

Kylo Ren's Down Throw out of a Force Choke is very standard, fairly expected, but no less effective: Grabbing them and slamming the enemy face first into the ground, if applicable. If they hit the ground, they take 6% damage and enter prone if they don't tech it, although much likre Mr. Game & Watch's Brawl Down Throw, enemies can tech it even on the ground: And, just like Brawl G&W, Kylo Ren can cover it if he reads it right with a variety of moves, although the enemy can also intentionally miss tech and stall to mindgame Kylo ren...at the risk of opening themselves up to a much more brutal punish from him. Overall, the Special Down Throw lacks instant payoff, but has very large potential to it.

In the air, this move is a not-very-strong spike, but its lack of strength is made up for in range from the grab, plus the fact that since Kylo Ren can air grab foes, this can be used as a gimping tool. Edge guarding can potentially be very dangerous if Kylo Ren grabs them and then drops down with them for a while before Down Throwing, although he might find trouble recovering himself...still, it is a potential Ganoncide-esque move. If the opponent hits the ground while taking knockback from this, they enter the same tech-or-prone situation as when it is used on the ground.

Special Back Throw

Kylo Ren runs the opponent through, impaling them on his lightsaber for 8% damage, before turning around and flinging them off of his saber as he does so, dealing 4% damage and lightly sending enemies flying, making this a surprisingly high damage yet combo oriented throw, opening up opponents for some short combos starting with an aerial, or perhaps Kylo Ren's jab, along with functioning as a solid reversal move, flipping opponents from likely far away and in front of Kylo Ren to close and oriented to the opposite side of him. This is particularly dangerous if Kylo Ren puts his back to a Stasis Field, as he can threaten to toss opponents into it and then start comboing them to further their pain afterwards. Of course, without projectiles, you're gonna be hard pressed to camp foes there...

Special Forward Throw

Kylo Ren releases his grip on the opponent and swiftly grabs his lightsaber with both hands as they fall for just a moment, before he begins to furiously slash the foe with wild, unrefined, rage-fueled slashes. dealing 4 hits of 2% damage each for a total of 8% damage...and, importantly, a total of 4 hits for Kylo Ren's Stasis and his Embrace Pain, allowing him swift access to a Level 2 buff of Embrace Pain and putting opponents a single hit from being rooted up in place, making it pretty frighteningly dangerous, and one of the primary reasons to be wary of the Force Choke when Kylo Ren isn't in some otherwise advantageous position: It can drastically accelerate his progress towards gaining a significant, if temporary, advantage state. This move is one of the most dangerous when inside of a Stasis Field, able to put opponents teetering right on the edge of oblivion if they are not careful.

If Kylo Ren already has Embrace Pain active, then it will add another blow for each level of Embrace Pain as it is fueled by it, dealing another hit of 2% damage per level, up to a total of 16% damage: Very powerful, and if you have at least a Level 2 Embrace Pain, it'll be enough hits to Stasis a foe into stun with it alone. This move's knockback and hitstun prevent it from comboing into pretty much anything, including Force Stasis, so it isn't going to lock opponents up a ton or anything, but it makes a wide swathe of stage in front of Kylo Ren quite a threat to have it looming over the foe's head, like a Lightsaber of Damocles or something.

Special Up Throw

Kylo Ren raises the opponent's body skywards, their body flailing as it is being pushed up and yet held in place by Kylo Ren's choking hand, before he finally releases them and they are sent far into the sky, flung into it by the power of the Force. This deals 14% damage and has the most obvious application of all of Kylo Ren's Special Throws: It is a kill throw through and through, killing at 160% from the ground leve...of course, being a Cargo Throw, it shouldn't ever be used at strictly ground level, and KOs at 140% or so if you add a jump into an Up Throw at the apex of it. Does it lead into combos? No. Does it do the most damage of Kylo Ren's throws? If you don't have max Embrace Pain, yes, but Back Throw will usually do more because it opens combos, although Up Throw CAN make a juggle/landing situation in Kylo Ren's favor. Most importantly, though, it kills enemies ala Mewtwo's Up Throw.


Up Special: Force Pull

Kylo Ren reaches his hand out with a pulling motion: If there is anything solid or an opponent within 1.5 Battlefield Platforms of the direction that Kylo Ren chooses, this uses Fire Fox mechanics, then Kylo Ren will pull himself towards it at a high speed, functioning as a tether without any physical object essentially (given that Kylo Ren is merely using the Force). Like Fire Fox, this has somewhat hefty starting lag as it "charges", the air rippling around Kylo Ren as he charges the Force. If Kylo Ren catches any opponents in this "tether", he will slash with his lightsaber as he charges, dealing 8% damage and low knockback in the direction Kylo Ren is travelling. Kylo Ren always stops at the last opponent he hits, or the first terrain he hits, whichever is first...so you won't rush past a ledge to go smack the dude behind it (or get smacked).

If Kylo Ren lands on the ground, this move has pretty low ending lag, which can make it a combo starter or a good landing mixup, and of course snapping to a ledge has the same lag as normal. If Kylo Ren pulls himself to a wall, he'll automatically perform a moderate strength wall jump off of it. If Kylo Ren wall jumps or remains in the air after this move AND hits a foe, he gets another use of his Up Special without landing, which can allow it to go some extra recovery distance like a Falcon Dive. Note that unless you're hitting terrain, this move has rather poor ending lag, though.


Smashes

Forward Smash: Overwhelming Strike

Kylo Ren leaps forward with his lightsaber swinging around him, going upwards before bringing it down as a brutal, powerful blow in front of him. This move has two hits to it: The first is the obvious powerful forward swing, which hits in front of Kylo Ren a fair deal and smashes opponents for 18%-25.2% damage and some impressive knockback that kills at 85%-62%, being Kylo Ren's primary heavy hitting, heavyweight style murder move. The second hit is actually the back hit, with the lightsaber still being a hitbox during the spin and swing, dealing 9%-12.6% damage with knockback that'll get enemies off of your back, but is otherwise unimpressive: The back hit naturally comes first given, well, how spinning works. The starting lag is fairly long, combined with taking a while for the main hit to come out, the back hit being a bit less crazy. Ending lag is on the longer end, but not nearly as long as the starting lag + time for the main hit to come out.

Kylo Ren has super armor once the back hit comes out, although there's two tiers of it: When the back hit starts, it is 6% super armor, leaving Kylo Ren unflinching against weak hits. The front hit doubles this super armor to 12%, allowing him to tank up a good majority of tilts opponents might use to try and pre-emptively stuff his slam downwards. This is particularly notable when combined with Embrace Pain, as it becomes a deadly KO move that Kylo Ren can threaten opponents with being able to bust out a highly super armored KO move and thus be less commital and then take advantage of their weak replies. The back hit can cause this move to serve as a psuedo-Down Smash, especially because the back hit comes out earlier, and in theory Kylo Ren can actually use it just to smash people far away at the end of some hits to get off a free Embrace Pain, giving it some utility as a way to both start and end Kylo Ren's power cycles. Since the lightsaber has good range and the leap forward provide some quite nice extra range, this can be used as a rather lengthy punish, and potentially even a pretty good prone coverage move given that the back hit can smack, say, a getup while covering a roll.


Down Smash: Outburst

Kylo Ren slashes wildly around himself, his lightsaber slashing against the floor and melting it while sending out sparks every which way. This move has a total of 6 hits, 3 on each side of Kylo Ren: The first two hits on each side deal 4%-5.6% damage and the last hit, a wide sweep around the lower part of himself to both sides, sends enemies flying for 10%-14% although the knockback is not especially amazing, KOs at 150%-125% with enough base to serve as a solid way to get opponents off your back all game. Opponents hit will only be comboed on the side they're hit, not bouncing back and forth, so the total damage in most instances is 18%-25.2%, although you can potentially hit multiple opponents, an opponent and a minion or so on with opposite sides, which is pretty great. The starting lag is not too bad, but it isn't super quick, and it should be noted that the back hit actually comes out slower than the Forward Smash's back hit...however, Down Smash has noticeably less ending lag than Forward Smash, albeit still only average, so which one you want to use to cover your back is pretty situational. Since this move has rather long duration, it can be used to cover spot dodges. While the horizontal range of the last hit is pretty good, the first two hits are rather close to Kylo Ren, so covering rolls is less likely.

The ground that Kylo Ren is on top of as he uses this move will be melted into heated slag for 6 seconds after Kylo Ren uses this move, although it is not quite hot enough to damage people who use it normally. However, it has some interactions with various moves of Kylo Ren's. For example, using any version of Force Choke while opponents are close/on the same level as melted ground will cause Kylo Ren to rake opponents through it for 4% damage, but without causing any hitstun or anything. Kylo Ren has some other interactions with later moves.

Normally, you can't hit with both sides on the same foe, it just doesn't knock the opponent close enough to do so. However, if you get right on top of the opponents, the inward knockback of the first two hits can knock the opponent into the other multi-hits, adding another 8%-11.2% damage (the last hit still won't combo, since the knockback is outwards). This is somewhat difficult to achieve, although one option to do so is to use the non-grab version of your Force Choke and pull people in: If they're the right distance away, you'll have enough time to just walk over where they'll be and start a Down Smash...do remember that this doesn't actually cause hitstun, though, so you need to find a way for the opponent to not just retaliate. This can also be a good way to cover normal getups from the ledge or the prone state, since you can get right up close where they will be, and with Embrace Pain super armor you can power through getup attacks for this effect as well.


Up Smash: Force Smash

Kylo Ren calls upon his greatest display of the Force yet, turning off his lightsaber and focusing with a determined grunt (if masked) or an unrefined howl (if unmasked) as the ground upon him shakes during charge...upon release, Kylo Ren thrusts both of his arms upwards and the ground lifts up around him, flinging above him from both sides and crashing together directly above him. The grounds lifting up and flying up at the first hitbox, which deals 10%-14% damage and moderate upwards knockback as it rises, dealing enough knockback to kill at 170%-140% as it does so. When the ground clashes together, it becomes a large hitbox which deals 20%-28% damage and significantly higher knockback, enough to kill at 125%-90%, although it is naturally more difficult to hit with than the general hitbox. The starting lag on this is pretty long, with the ending lag being much moreso average.

This move, to no surprise, has some synergy with the melty, slagged ground from your Down Smash, it will be picked up by the Up Smash, increasing the base damage to 14%-19.6% damage and the ability to kill at 150%-115%, while the now molten slag that was once the ground will melt and smash into each other for 28%-39.2% damage and kill at 95%-60%...although it is rather conditional and is still the harder of the two hitboxes to hit with. This isn't the only benefit of using Up Smash on this kind of ground, though, as the pressure will cause it to drop into place as little more than a cooling puddle of liquid fire, lasting twice as long as the maximum duration of whatever the melted ground had, 12 seconds in the case of the Down Smash, before cooling back to normal ground. This IS a hitbox, unlike normally, and deals 9% damage while popping up opponents, but Kylo Ren himself is immune to it, using the Force to walk over it harmlessly. This gives Kylo Ren stronger stage control than just his Stasis Field and adds some more interesting combo potential to it. If Kylo Ren uses a Down Smash on top of these pits, then he will splash it out to each side, dealing 9% damage and light knockback to anyone caught in the splash (which occurs only on the last hit), which goes pretty far on the last hit and gives it some pretty impressive range. The pits cannot be refreshed.


Standards

Jab: Post-Imperial March

Kylo Ren performs a vertical slash forward, stepping forward as he does so, followed by a sweeping horizontal slash forward, once again taking a step forward. While it cycles through a few unique animations for this, the hitboxes are always the same, with Kylo Ren moving forward noticeably with each strike. By tapping A repeatedly, Kylo Ren can repeat these 4% damage strikes ad infinitum, however opponents will get pushed out of it decently fast, even with the forward stepping. This move has rather long starting lag for a jab, but on the upside it has rather low ending lag for a jab as well, giving it a bit of a weighty feeling.

Projectiles which deal 6% damage or less will be batted away and deflected from Kylo Ren: This doesn't make them hurt opponents and they can still hurt Kylo Ren if he is hit into them or whatnot, but it'll keep them out of Kylo Ren's path. Combined with the forward movement, this can afford Kylo Ren an approaching option against enemies who use weaker projectiles, for example Fox and Falco classically. This can be further augmented in many ways with Embrace Pain: Remember how the super armor is only active when you're attacking? Well, by jabbing forward, you can keep approaching forward and have your super armor up constantly, powering through weak attacks meant to deter your advance, and causing opponents to be wary about staying "just outside" of your reach due to this approach option.

This is compounded by the two ways that Kylo ren can end this attack. If you just let go of A, you go through the normal fairly low ending lag, which can result in Kylo Ren getting a combo (usually an aerial) off of it, or he can even try to predict the foe to, for example, get off a Force Choke or whatnot from a read. The other option is to hold down A, which is a combo finisher where Kylo Ren holds his lightsaber up high and then brings it down in a single, powerful cutting slash which deals 12% damage and has shockingly high KO power, enough to kill at 140%. The downside is that because of the lengthy starting lag, it actually doesn't combo out of a Jab, although Kylo Ren can himself use this for mind games, because of the fact that the reaction window to this move coming out is so short, opponents need to shield quite quickly or react precisely with a fast move: Since both of these require fast commitment, Kylo Ren can instead decide to not use the finisher, and say...go for a Force Choke or your normal Grab predicting a shield. This is even better when you have Embrace Pain up, as quick attacks will usually go out as an option with just a few ranks of it as Kylo Ren will simply tank the hit and use the Jab Finisher anyway. Ending lag is pretty average on the finisher.


Forward Tilt: Unbalanced Slash

Kylo Ren lurches forward with a wide, horizontal slash in front of him as the exhaust vent crossguards on his lightsaber flair up, very fast to start but the actual stance and technique is quite weak, leading Kylo Ren to a very long ending lag as he much re-balance himself, although the range is at least really good too. It deals a fairly meaty 10% damage with pretty solidly strong knockback, it KOs at 160% but has pretty high base knockback and so will reset neutral even at low percentages, fairly solid for if you're cornered and panicked: This move has some small super armor as well that helps with this, pushing through attacks which deal 5% damage or less when he swings. Since it has a fast start-up, it can be used to stuff approaches, and it can be angled up and down a litle too.

This move has a very precise sweetspot, which is RIGHT on the hilt of Kylo Ren's lightsaber, where the crossguard is. This sweetspot will deal a rather large 16% damage total and has a large amount of impact-freeze frames as it crushes into the foe, sending them flying right off the stage at 110%: This sweetspot being so melee is pretty hard to hit and, of course, is very unsafe on shield, especially given the very bad ending lag on this move. While Kylo Ren can set this up with the non-grab Force Choke situationally (although you might prefer to go Down Smash there), a better option is to consider using it with Embrace Pain: Since it comes out fast, you can use the move on the snap and tank a tilt or whatnot while right in the opponent's face, then slam into them and sizzle them with your sweetspotted lightsaber. The worry, of course, is an opponent who will primarily aim to shield grab you instead, so if you're setting this up, you need to be prepared to expertly play around shields, maybe mix in some Force Chokes, Forward Aerials (we'll get there) and normal grabs.


Dash Attack: Groundshatter

Kylo Ren grips his lightsaber and thrusts it forward for a strong, smashing strike which is fairly similiar to a more exaggerated Ike Dash Attack, Kylo Ren's lightsaber burning into the ground and shooting sparks and debris forward as he rips it out of the earth. The starting lag for this attack is quite long, but if you hit with the main thrust of the attack, it is so worth it! That's 13% damage straight to the foe, without needing to worry about sweetspots or anything, although like a lot of Dash Attacks it has a brief "late" hit near the end that only deals 7% and reduced knockback, with the knockback being enough to kill at 115% (175% late), making it rather powerful. On top of that, Kylo Ren has super armor against attacks that deal 13% or less damage during the duration of this move and the last 5 frames of his starting lag, allowing Kylo Ren to blunt through attacks and smash people hard, although he needs to be kind of predictive due to the lag.

The lightsaber burning through the ground leaves a patch of melted ground just like his Down Smash: It is longer and thus covers more space, but it only lasts 2 seconds comparitively. This move has another use, however, as the debris and sparks which are sent a decent amount forward are a hitbox in and of themselves, dealing 6% damage and light knockback towards Kylo Ren. This is important because while this move has all that starting lag, the ending lag is actually fairly light, and so Kylo Ren can start a combo off of the debris and sparks hitting opponents towards him, giving this move a large amount of potent versatility in all stages of the game: Super armor for powering through attacks even before Embrace Pain also makes it something to consider more than you might normally. If there is already melted ground, then the range of the sparks and debris launched up by this is increased by 50% and it even does some extra hitstun to help with combos. If it is used on a pit from Up Smash, it even deals an extra 3% damage. Juicy! Just be careful when it is so easily interrupted.


Up Tilt: Cold Pursuit

Kylo Ren makes a lunging, leaping and vertical slash above him, as if pursuing someone above him, and fortunately it is pretty good for that! It is rather fast and it doesn't have a lot of ending lag, but naturally, it doesn't do a lot of damage: 6% damage, and low knockback, really good for starting up combos, especially compared to Kylo Ren's much heavier other tilts and smashes. You'll wanna lead this into aerials, primarily, and it isn't low enough to combo into itself and anything. Kylo Ren has a little leap that makes it so the apex of this move is higher than the rest, so you can snag people out of the air a bit easier, but overall it is a really straightforward move, and one of Kylo Ren's primary combo starters, especially on the ground.

The strike becomes somewhat more wild under Embrace Pain, which turns the leap and apex of this move into a sweetspot. which deals 9% damage (knockback unchanged) and causes the opponent to be nicked with a cauterized wound where the attack hit, which sizzles and smokes momentarily, before glowing a light, Sith-y red for the next 3.33 seconds, showing that it is a new weakened spot on the opponent: Striking this wound deals an additional 3% damage to the opponent, which is added to the knockback of the move, a nice buff for hitting the sweetspot of the move. The wound is usually rather small from Up Tilt thanks to how the swing works, but it can still be taken advantage of fairly well.


Down Tilt: Rooted Strike

Kylo Ren roots himself firmly in place, gripping his lightsaber with both hands, and performing a rather clean and strong downward swing of his lightsaber. This is the grounded move with the most super armor in Kylo Ren's arsenal, having complete super armor from the moment Kylo Ren plants his feet until the end of his follow-through with the lightsaber, which is important as it is THE primary move that he has for trading with opponents, something he is quite willing to do since it helps turn on Embrace Pain. Plus, well, having this level of super armor on a move you can throw out is obviously strong on its own. This move deals 8% damage and knocks opponents away with moderate strength, not killing for quite a while (260%, so it CAN kill in Sudden Death!) nor is it especially adept at combos, although if you hit with the tip of the lightsaber, this move sends opponents at a somewhat lower angle and somewhat shorter, which can sometimes (the faster they fall, the higher the percentage) result in a tech situation.

This move had fairly high starting lag, which is pretty common for Kylo Ren, and although a good deal of it is superarmored, it does make it somewhat difficult to just weave into standard combat: Just "throwing it out" in neutral can be stopped by a grab, can give people ample time to run away (debuffing them with Force Stasis is helpful here!) and so on. The ending lag is pretty average, which makes it punishable if they see it coming, but you're not gonna just plain get clobbered. The angle and lack of movement also means it lacks the range of Kylo Ren's other grounded options, but being a lightsaber move it does still have solid enough range.


Grab Game

Grab: Clutches of the Order

Kylo Ren makes a large, sweeping and lurching grabbing motion with a step forward, it has great range...but it is rather punishable when missed, especially compared to a lot of jointed grabs. It's starting lag is not as bad as you might expect for the animation, but it is still very average, nothing to write home about. His pivot grab has somewhat noticeably less starting lag and a bit less ending lag with similiar range, so he gets a good deal of use out of it.

Pummel: Crossguard Torture


Kylo Ren presses the crossguard vents of his Lightsaber into the foe, searing it into them for 2% damage at a slightly faster than normal pace. Subsequent pummels deal only 1% more as Kylo Ren smushes it further into them, but only takes half as long to perform.

Forward Throw: Force Push

The most straightforward of all of Kylo Ren's throws is his Forward Throw: Lifting the opponent from his hand, he pushes forward with an extremely powerful push of the Force. This deals 14% damage and has extremely high base knockback: Think something like Ness F-Throw, with slightly better but still not close to good knockback growth, which keeps it from being much of a KO move. The primary reason to use this throw is a combination of high damage and getting the opponent for sure out of your face: This means it is especially good for ending any combo strings or shield grabbing offensives and then using Embrace Pain, since it is great getting enough distance to safely use it, or perhaps set up a Stasis Field instead. At lower percentages, you can also actually try to follow-up more aggressively by using Stasis or your Force Choke abilities, potentially scaring them into some ping-pong as you throw them back and then pull them back in, forcing reactions while remaining at a safe range. Oh, and having this kind of knockback is pretty good for setting up edgeguards as well, so keep that in mind.

Down Throw: Force Crush

Kylo Ren lifts the opponent up, first with his hands and then with the Force, as he begins to rip and pull at the opponent with said Force, tearing them apart before closing his fist and crushing them into a ball, bringing his fist down and slamming them into the ground! This move has two hitboxes, the first during the crushing which deals 7% damage and then another as the foe is slammed against the ground for 5% damage, bouncing them off the stage for knockback that combined with ending lag is kinda awkward for much combo-ing (although not 100% impossible) but still keeps opponents relatively close.

The opponent's body is crumpled and crushed by this move, hindering the next move they take from this due to their body's wounds: This adds 10 frames of starting lag to the next attack that the foe attempts, with this debuff being used up even if they are interrupted (The reward in that case is that you got to hit them!). This is quite good for Kylo Ren, naturally, but especially so when considering the Force Choke in particular, which can take advantage of the increased starting lag to pull them without interrupting it, allowing him to potentially punish enemies much more devastatingly from long range than normal. And, in particular, it allows Kylo Ren to threaten punishing enemies for the natural reaction of simply going far away from Kylo Ren and using a move to remove it. Longer starting lag helps out with the timing of Kylo Ren's super armored moves and allow his laggier moveset to more strongly dominate in the neutral game. Kylo Ren can rush and approach the somewhat close foe and force them into an awkward position to reply to a shield grab, or to a super armored Forward Tilt or Down Tilt or what have you. It is, overall, a nice advantage state for Kylo Ren.


Back Throw: Branding Strike


Kylo Ren turns around with the foe, slugging them in the face as he does so for 3% damage and turning them around, while turning his lightsaber into a reverse grip and slicing it over the opponent's back, dealing 8% damage and sending them flying away at a low angle. This angle is very good for forcing out tech chases at a lot of percentages, staying close to the ground even as damage begins to rack. The knockback isn't super great for flatout combos, but the low angling can make it pretty good with slagged pits from Up Smash, for your tech chases, and so on. You can run at them and force them to respect Force Choke, to respect a Dash Attack or a Force Stasis (especially since this is a two-hitter!), and then if they start trying to double jump away (possible at mid+ percentages) or mix up their techs, you start following with your Forward Aerials, your Forward Smashes and what have you. It also does fairly solid damage at a base and functions as two hits, so if your opponent is concerned with you following up, you can just go for an Embrace Pain and have a higher level of it from the throw, as well.

Speaking of Embrace Pain, this move has some unique uses if you have higher levels of it, with Kylo Ren's strike getting more brutal and deep with higher levels of it, hightened by his intense rage. The deeper wound in the opponent's back is noticeable, cauterized by the extreme heat of the lightsaber, glows with a light Sith red to indicate the weakness of the wound, which lasts for 6.66 seconds. Opponents who have this wound struck by Kylo Ren take an additional 3% damage, which DOES add onto the knockback of the move in question, making it a fairly nice buff in addition to the normal benefits of the move.

If Kylo Ren uses this move on an opponent who is already wounded, fairly difficult considering the conditions, then the slice will cut with very lengthy and dramatic freeze frames, small trails of blood flowing out as the lightsaber slices down and then re-cauterizes it. This deals an increased 14% damage from 8% (punch is still 3%) and massively increased knockback, enough to kill at around 95% or so...which is a pretty great reward, but it does require landing two Back Throws or precisely placed other wounding moves during Embrace Pain, so it is also pretty dang difficult to pull off. Savor the victory if you do.


Up Throw: Force Wound

Kylo Ren holds the foe up and places a hand on their back, blasting them away with the power of the Force as it courses through their body. This is, by far, the weakest of Kylo Ren's throws in pure damage percentage: 5%. This is because thanks to the low knockback of the move, it serves as Kylo Ren's primary combo throw, leading into moves like Up Tilt, Neutral Aerial, Up Aerial and Forward Aerial. The knockback has limited horizontal elements to it, making it fairly just straight up, and the animation and ending lag are rather brief.

This attack will open up wounds all across the opponent's body briefly as he places his hand and blows the opponent away, adding an additional 2.5% damage to the move for every hit the opponent has taken in the last 6.5 seconds, but NOT adding it to the total knockback of the move, essentially allowing this move to potentially be quite the damage racker AND start a combo for even MORE damage racking! That's a real two-fer.

If the opponent has wounds on them, such as from Up Tilt or Back Throw, then this move will open them up for extra damage, doubling the bonus of the wound's extra damage to 6% while also not adding any of the damage to the knockback still, making it potentially very potent (a single wound deals 11% damage + a combo!). In addition, it refreshes the duration of said wounds, forcing opponents to wait longer for them to dissipate. You don't have a lot of wounding moves, but your opponent must respect aspects of your grab game when you do use them.


Aerials

Forward Aerial: Unbalancing Strike


Kylo Ren performs a swift and upwards-to-downwards slamming strike of his lightsaber, it can be considered similiar in concept to a lot of moves like Ike's Forward Aerial, Donkey Kong's Forward Aerial and so on. It has surprisingly fast startup for this kind of move, with two hitboxes: The first is the majority of the blade, which deals 11% damage and some solid knockback. It can serve as a flatout kill move at 180%, but naturall as an aerial you're probably going to be using it offstage or near the ledge to kill earlier than that. The hilt, on the other hand, serves as a sweetspot where the lightsaber vents powerfully with freeze frames, instead dealing 15% damage and a pretty potent spike. It is no Ganondorf Down Aerial tier, but it is plenty enough to send opponents plummeting to their doom rather frequently.

This move has high ending lag, which is its primary weakness in terms of air combat, very punishable. When going for air-to-ground, this move has autocancel frames which can allow it to be used as quite a solid approaching option, especially combined with how it reacts with shields: While opponents still shield the damage and knockback, they are pushed back a fair deal, and it actually will knock them into prone if Kylo Ren has Embrace Pain active! This makes it quite the solid spacer on shielding and a really good way to get a strong advantage state once your Embrace Pain is active, allowing you to put out a difficult to shield attack combined with super armor to power through some attacks.

The auto-cancel frames are pretty specific: If you just shorthop and fastfall, you'll land too early, and take the full brunt of the terrible landing lag. You need to stall a moment and then fastfall: Don't stall too long, of course, or you'll fastfall too late and miss the window. This gives opponents on the ground a bit more time to react to the move. A fullhop has to instantly fastfall to auto-cancel.


Up Aerial: Drill Saber

Kylo Ren thrusts his lightsaber above him and spins it rapidly, almost like a drill, the hilt a blur of plasma as he does so. This deals 4 hits of 1.25% damage each, followed by a last hit of 3% damage that lightly knocks up enemies, generally setting up for further juggle scenarios. The total damage is 8%, for the mathematically disinclined. The long duration of this move makes it really good at frame trapping air dodges and at controlling space. The lightsaber has mostly vertical range, but the hilt just above Kylo Ren has a fairly wide horizontal hitbox as well. The starting lag isn't the fastest, not super slow either but it definitely isn't "speedy", but the ending lag is on the lower end, which is good for following things up. This is another one of Kylo Ren's "trading" moves, although the nature of the hitbox makes it specific for that, as Kylo Ren has 10% super armor on the move once the hitbox starts until the start of the ending lag that can let him plow through moves and then drill them up.

In theory, this move allows Kylo Ren the most ability to power up Embrace Pain by tanking a hit, then hitting the foe 5 times for a total of 6 hits. In practice, this is more difficult, as it is hard to trade with it if the opponent is not above Kylo Ren, and a lot of "single hit" Down Aerials will out-damage the super armor, so Kylo Ren will do best when countering multi-hit aerialls or some specific Forward or Back Aerials or Neutral Aerials with the opponent a bit above him. Another thing to note is that given the high base nature of the supr armor, having Embrace Pain already active can make this very hard to actually hit through, giving it a lot of utility as a psuedo-aerial-counter.


Neutral Aerial: Blade Flourish


Kylo Ren flourishes his blade around him, much like he does repeatedly when readying for battle, dealing three hits of 4% damage each, the last hit weakly hitting away opponents, keeping them relatively close to Kylo Ren after the end of the move. The dragging knockback of the hits makes it difficult for opponents to escape Kylo Ren's attack, so he can move around to "drag" opponents around and get them in advantageous states. This move is very average in terms of lag, with the ending lag being enough you can land during the move and not be punished, so you can "drag" opponents down into the ground as well. In general, this is kind of a "glue" move for Kylo Ren, mixing together the ability to combo, keep opponents close for future moves, covers his body very well, has a long duration...compared to a lot of your moves, it might not be the best for a specific situation, but it can cover many of them and is very much a bread and butter kind of move, the one area it is the best of your areas is that it gives a lot of coverage, while many of your other aerials have more specific hitboxes.

Landing with this move does have more benefits than just those I've said before, though, and that is another area it is unique among your aerials, as the swinging lightsaber will swing into the ground if you land during the move. If you've paying attention, you probably have a pretty good idea of what effect this is gonna have: The lightsaber digging into the ground heats and melts it up, melting and slagging it in a manner like the Down Smash and Dash Attack. The duration the Neutral Aerial gives is 2/4/6 seconds, depending on if Kylo Ren lands during the 1st, 2nd or 3rd hit of the move, which gives him some incentive to land later rather than earlier in the move. While Up Smash is too slow to directly combo out of this move, Kylo Ren CAN still threaten it if opponents don't react to avoid it. In particular, if Kylo Ren predicts a sidestep to avoid some of his faster options (For example, Forward Tilt), he can Up Smash instead, and he'll usually catch them coming out of the sidestep with the first hitbox! This is risky for Kylo Ren to do, naturally, but the benefits of getting in a fairly strong hit AND your damaging ground pits is pretty great. This is a lot more likely and damaging with Embrace Pain, active, though: Opponents are gonna be pretty scared of trying to attack you out of a potential Up Smash when you start being able to tank their moves with it!


Down Aerial: Force Blast

Kylo Ren pushes his hand down, sending out a strong, pushing blast of the Force below him, a rather strong one. Enemies are blasted out up and to the sides by the force of the move, being dealt 11% damage if hit by the sides and 13% if hit more directly in the middle, with a direct middle hit being significantly stronger knockback-wise and hitting the opponent much more up. The side hits KO at 175%, but the middle hit kills at a juicy 130%! The starting lag on this is a bit above average, and the ending lag is also on the longer end.

If Kylo Ren uses this above the ground, the force of the...well...Force will burst out to the sides, propelling Kylo Ren high enough to land without taking landing lag and becoming a hitbox that flows across the ground, with the size of the hitbox depending on how close to the ground Kylo Ren is. The closer he is, the wider to each side the hitbox gets, but the less vertical range it has, and vice-versa the farther away he is. The further away the blast is from Kylo Ren, the less damage it does, dealing 15%-7.5% depending on distance and very horizontal knockback that kills at 160%-270%...but do note that given the angle, it is a lot more difficult to recover from than a fair deal, so it has the potential to kill earlier.

If Kylo Ren uses this move over ground which has been melted lightly by Down Smash/Dash Attack or flatout slagged by Up Smash, then it will gain a bonus effect. If it is just heated ground, then it will merely send sparks across the air as it does so, adding about 3% damage (applied to the knockback) and little else. Slagged ground, however, will have parts of it lurch and be sent flying the directions that the Force Blast sends (AKA left and right), adding 8%-4% damage based on distance and shaving the KO percentage by 30%-15%! This can be a pretty big boost, and the slagged ground is a lingering hitbox for a moment after the Force Blast itself ends, dealing merely 8%-4% damage and low knockback, which can reduce punishability and punish premature rolls and what have you. It is a good reward for having prepared where you want to land, basically.


Back Aerial: Steeled Strike

Kylo Ren grips his lightsaber with both hands, tensing his body up, before performing a power slash from below him to above him behind him! This, as it sounds, takes a rather long time, dealing 15% damage and killing people at 140% if it hits them, so if nothing else its power certainly lives up to its lag! The ending lag, by the way, is also pretty bad, and it doesn't get better by landing it. This is much more about predictions and patience in landing it...

But Kylo Ren isn't much one for patience. So, one way he can force it is the fact this move has super armor on it! He gains 6% super armor when he first tenses his body, readying it for blows, but he has 12% super armor on the actual swing, so he has some potentially pretty powerful ability to trample on opponents! This is especially true when you have Embrace Pain, which can potentially allow this move to push through essentially any aerial and most Smash Attacks in the game, making a "backwards" approach or Kylo Ren being in a position to throw it out significantly more frightening.

That isn't all of it, though! This move has a good amount of freeze frames as it hits the foe, sparking and heating through the foe in a manner not unlike his Back Throw and Up Tilt, and with a similiar affect: A weakened body and a glowing red wound, ready to be punished with the same mechanics as before, 3% extra damage and so on and so forth. Since this attack goes up and down and is so wide, it can potentially cover the entire front/back of an opponent...at the same time, if you're hitting someone with the tip, it can cover less space than an Up Tilt. In other words, it requires a good deal of spacing, and it rewards it quite a bit in that regard. This wound lasts for 5 seconds.


Final Smash: Blinding Rage

Steeped in the power of the Dark Side...I mean, the Smash Ball, and with a press of B, Kylo Ren raises a single hand up with a choking motion, using the Force to pick up and collect anyone who is 1.5 Battlefields (and a Kylo Ren of height) in front of him. Opponents caught up this way are Force Choked for the duration of the move, the camera briefly either focusing on his intimidating, masked face, or his unbirdled, whining rage depending on if masked or unmasked, before he begins slashing up all opponents caught with his lightsaber for hits of 3%-5% damage, at the same time taking large amounts of repeated damage of 1% from being Force Choked. At the end, Kylo Ren sends all of the opponents flying with a yell and a potent Force Push for 10% damage, which has kill power to kill at 85% or higher. Total damage is 55%.

Playstyle: A Child in a Mask












































"Anything else?"

"W-Well, sir...there were other sets posted just before you..."


"WHAT sets?"
 
Last edited:

Munomario777

Smash Master
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Messages
3,253
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
3DS FC
0387-9596-4480
Switch FC
SW-8229-3157-8114
DOC TO

Doc To (pronounced "dock toh") is the mad scientist behind the Octarian army’s weaponry used in Splatoon and its sequel. Born without the ability to secrete ink, Doc dedicated his life to researching ink creation and distribution, in hopes of implanting it into himself. His attempts so far have proven promising, but unsuccessful, and have resulted in the creation of nearly all of the Octarians’ warfare technology. Doc To closely resembles an Octobomber in terms of general shape, but his legs are much more present since he doesn’t have the propeller helmet. That girth isn’t from what we’d traditionally call “fat;” instead, it’s the built up ink that comes about when you can’t release any of it.

The latest unfortunate Octarian to be the subject of Doc’s experiments is called Jeff. At this point he’s been reduced to a glob of magenta ink with a couple of eyes and, occasionally, a tentacle. Jeff would try to escape, but it’s a bit late for that given his physical predicament. So he’s conceded to being Doc’s half-guinea-pig, half-assistant.

Recovered audio logs from Doc To’s experiments; [1] [2]


<5k word, one-day, OC moveset>

Stats
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Height, Weight: Dedede

Ground Speed, Air Movement, Jump Height: A notch above Ganon

Midair Jumps: Charizard

Doc stands pretty tall, and weighs a ton – which you’ll feel both in his launch resistance and his poor movement. He can crouch super-low thanks to his boneless body. Doc also has two midair jumps, thanks to his wing-like tentacles. (Normally, his tentacles are less big and flappy.)

In battle, Doc by default keeps Jeff in the grasp of his right arm-tentacle (referred to from here on out as Jeff’s “held” state).
SPECIALS

Neutral B
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Held State:

Doc flings Jeff straight forward like a frisbee, traveling two platform distances and dealing 8% with moderate knockback. Upon reaching his maximum range (he keeps going even after hitting a foe), Jeff hovers in midair for 1.5 seconds. Here, he deals rapid hits of 1% as he spins, pushing foes out with his knockback but keeping them trapped for a little bit. After 1.5 seconds, Jeff returns to Doc.

Tap up during startup, and Doc lobs Jeff (not like a frisbee) at a 45* upward angle as he flies in an arc. He still hovers in place after the end, and still deals the same damage. Tap down and he does the same thing as the up version, but starts at a straight horizontal angle instead of an upward one.

The projectile and hovering states Jeff takes after Neutral B are called the “thrown” state. While Jeff is hovering, Doc can land on him to bounce up off of him, canceling attack animations.

Thrown State:

Tap B while Jeff’s been thrown, and he’ll reach out a long tentacle toward the nearest foe within one platform of range. This quick strike deals 5% and pops the foe up, perfect for Doc to land a follow-up. You can control a lot of space with this move! However, Jeff has a “lag” animation after this attack during which he’ll neither be able to act nor return to Doc’s side.

Down B
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Held State:

Doc stretches poor Jeff out into a big, spherical “bubble” shape, retaining this barrier for as long as you hold B. It has low-ish lag on both ends, and protects Doc from one non-grab attack before popping (where Jeff returns to Doc’s side). Down B is an awesome defensive option, and also inexplicably grants Doc fantastic aerial sideways movement. It’s one big option you lose when throwing Jeff as a projectile.

Thrown State:

Jeff drops straight down in a raindrop shape, dealing 3% and flinching. If there’s no ground, he’ll go off the screen and reappear at Doc’s side, respawning as a little octopus ghost like the respawn animation in Splatoon. If there is ground, he’ll enter the third state: the puddle state. Jeff becomes a puddle of ink with eyes about 1 SBB wide, and can stay in this form forever. Press Neutral B to perform a tentacle attack identical to the one from the thrown state. Press Down B to yell at Jeff and get him to get back over here, which does have an animation tied to it (unlike the way Jeff returns on his own from the thrown state).

Side B
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Doc uses his bulbous form to roll across the ground at high speeds, with a bit of startup. Doc barrels through opponents he hits while dealing 12% and moderate diagonal knockback, great for a follow-up. Doc also has the choice to skip this move’s bad endlag and jump-cancel it, but only if he hits an opponent (or Jeff). Otherwise, it’s terribly unsafe on block or whiff. Jump-canceling also retains tons of horizontal momentum from the roll!

When you hit Jeff (either thrown or puddle), he’ll initially let out a little burst of ink to signify the hit. Then you’ll start to smear him across up to two platforms of space, essentially acting as a “wide puddle” state. Neutral B with a wide puddle is the same as with a regular puddle, but the added area means that Jeff can attack from any point in the puddle to reach other areas. This “wide puddle” effect also happens if you use Side B while holding Jeff, but this doesn’t grant you a jump-cancel.

In the air, Side B doesn’t start moving right away, since you don’t have any ground to push off of. Instead, you’re free to move left or right as normal. When you hit a foe with an aerial Side B, you’ll start moving at regular Side B speed.

Up B
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Held State:

Doc flings Jeff straight upward, traveling up 1.5 platforms before hovering in place, exactly like the Neutral B throws. By either holding B during Up B or tapping B again after the throw, you’ll have Jeff reach out his tentacle toward Doc, straining and struggling to pull him upward. Doc retains some upward momentum after this bungee-jump-like recovery, and doesn’t enter helpless. After the recovery, Jeff returns to Doc’s side. Side note: if you have sideways momentum when using Up B, you’ll keep it after throwing Jeff. If you’re moving to the left, then, you’ll be pulled up and to the right, meaning sideways momentum post-bungee!

Thrown State:

This is exactly like the second half of the previously described move (the bungee-jump pull). It only works within 1.75 platforms of Jeff, and if you hold B, you’ll bounce upward off of Jeff. Also, note that the tentacle used here deals the same damage and knockback as the Neutral B tentacle strike.

Doc can only be pulled by Jeff once in midair before landing or getting hit. After that, Jeff will still stretch out his tentacle but fail to grab hold.

Puddle State:

Doc and Jeff switch places as they both turn into ink, acting as an effective teleport. Doc has a hitbox upon reappearing for 15% and strong knockback, but there’s punishable lag.

If Doc was in the air before using this move, Jeff will appear there as an orb and return to his side. If he was grounded, Jeff will become a puddle and stay there instead.

If Jeff is in the wide puddle state (from Side B), you can hold left, right, or neutral on the control stick to control where Doc reappears.
STANDARDS
Jab
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Doc lazily flaps his left tentacle and then his right in a two-hit combo, for 3% each. The second hit has moderate knockback, and both jabs have good range thanks to the stretchy tentacles. If you’re holding Jeff, you’ll slap the opponent with him in the second jab, dealing 6% instead of 3% along with added hitlag and more upward knockback, great for combos. Uniquely, your Jab hits a little bit behind you, so it’s a great get-off-me tool. If Jeff is already hovering and you hit him with Jab, you’ll launch him forward in an upward arc, acting exactly like the upward version of the Neutral B throw.

Forward Tilt
.
Doc stretches his right tentacle forward in a quick poke that’ll prove quite prominent in your gameplay. It deals 8% and pops opponents upward, great for follow-ups. Forward Tilt stretches forward 3 SBB, and the tentacle actually stops and retracts immediately upon hitting a foe – great for follow-ups, since the move ends soon after hitting. If you hit a shield, you instead get the regular bad endlag.

If you’re holding Jeff and you hit an opponent, you’ll stick Jeff onto the foe as a blob. The foe can knock him off with any attack that deals decent knockback, and pressing Neutral B has Jeff attack the foe for 5% and knockback a bit weaker than the tentacle attack from thrown / puddle Neutral B. You can also use Up B or Down B while Jeff is in the “stuck” state, which has the same result. If you’re grounded when you use Up B, you’ll actually pull Jeff + the opponent straight to you, putting them in hitstun for a follow-up.

If you hit thrown Jeff with Forward Tilt, you’ll grab him with your tentacle and keep going with the move, able to stick Jeff to a foe in the same Forward Tilt.

Up Tilt
.
Doc puts his weight on his arm tentacles and does a backflip by pivoting on his “shoulders”, hitting with his stubby legs to pop foes up and deal 10%. This short-ranged move offers awesome follow-up potential, and excels at putting foes into a high-pressure situation. It also works as an anti-air option. If you hit a thrown Jeff with Up Tilt, you can knock him upward, acting exactly like the Up B throw in terms of distance and damage.

Down Tilt
.
From his squishy crouch, Doc spins around to cover a wide area with a multi-hit. Down Tilt deals 11% total, and sends foes diagonally up and away from Doc at the end. It’s awesome for dodging under an aerial attack while packing a lingering surprise for the attacker! Due to the move’s noticeable endlag and knockback, you can’t really combo off of Down Tilt outside of having Jeff hit the launched foe.

If you cover a puddle Jeff with Down Tilt’s area, you’ll “absorb” him into your whirlpool attack, addling 6% of extra damage. The knockback also changes to upward knockback, setting the foe up for a scary juggle situation.

Dash Attack
.
From his stubby-legged run, Doc holds his right tentacle up in the air and then slap-slams it onto the ground in front of him, dealing 10% and moderate diagonal knockback to launch opponents. It has good range, and mainly serves as a quick “burst” punish, or the closest thing Doc has to it, to quickly capitalize on an opening. If you’re holding Jeff, you’ll deal 14% instead along with knockback at a more vertical angle.
SMASHES

Forward Smash
.
Doc winds up for this attack, bringing both of his tentacles behind his back, before slamming them together in front of himself kinda like DK’s forward smash. This move deals a mighty 18% and strong KO knockback. Forward Smash has moderate startup lag, and its endlag is very punishable on shield. You can angle Forward Smash up or down if you want, covering the ledge or the airspace with a scary hitbox! Doc’s tentacles are invincible during this ranged move, too, making it even scarier.

If you either use Forward Smash while holding Jeff or hit a thrown Jeff with Forward Smash, you’ll squish the poor fella in between your girthy tentacles! This proves beneficial overall, since he adds an extra hitbox of 8% to the move as he explodes in a burst of ink. This hitbox has more range than the normal move, so it lets you cover a huge area with this move! The burst hitbox also pops foes up, so you can continue to pressure the foe as they fall to the ground. The two hitboxes also overlap, so you can hit with both for big damage and increased knockback from the normal Forward Smash!

After being exploded by this move, Jeff will regenerate after one second, just like when he plummets off the bottom of the screen from Down B.

Up Smash
.
Doc slaps above himself with a big, girthy tentacle, putting quite a bit of effort into this attack! He deals a whole 15% and powerful vertical knockback, and like with Forward Smash, his tentacle is invincible during the move. It’s a supreme anti-air move – so now those upward-hitting moves have a lot more weight to them, eh? Up Smash has shockingly low lag on both ends, but can’t hit grounded foes outside of Ganon and other MYM super-tall characters.

If you’re holding Jeff, Doc will “spin” him around above his head during Up Smash, like preparing pizza dough. If you like pizza made of ink, anyway. This deals 20% instead of 15% over a long duration of multi-hits, and has slightly stronger vertical knockback than the regular Up Smash. Despite its increased duration, Up Smash gains no additional ending lag, as Jeff continues even after Doc has already lowered his tentacle! That means you can’t use him for about a second after using Up Smash, but also gives Doc access to some of the deadliest, yet safest landing / juggling traps in the game.

If you charge Up Smash, you can increase its already impressive range! It’ll reach a whole Ganon height above Doc’s head when fully charged.

Down Smash
.
Doc charges up while facing the camera, looking rather uncomfortable, before “sucking” his tentacle limbs into his girth and expanding like a balloon in the blink of an eye. He grows to be super-wide during this attack, becoming a hitbox that deals 18% and pretty strong semi-spike knockback. At the top, Down Smash instead launches opponents straight upward. Down Smash covers tons of space with a strong hitbox, but has super-long startup lag and is punishable on shield. You do have a bit of invincibility right after releasing the charge, so use that to your advantage!

If you hit a thrown Jeff with this move, you’ll send him flying either sideways or upward, with 1.5x the distance and damage of the Up B / Neutral B throws. Doc himself also bounces backward at high speeds, and his endlag from this move decreases hugely, meaning you’re free to act with sliding momentum! Uniquely, Doc To can use Down Smash out of a dash, which helps a lot here.
AERIALS

Neutral Air
.
Doc stretches out both of his tentacle arms, very similarly to Mauru’s midair attack from Waku Waku 7. This move deals 8% and moderate knockback at first, and has a bit of a lingering late hit which deals 4% and weaker knockback. The late hit is awesome for comboing into moves, especially thanks to Neutral Air’s low landing lag. The move has pretty noticeable startup lag, though. Doc’s tentacles are also a full hurtbox throughout this move, so you make yourself a bit of a large target.

Forward Air
.
Doc balloons his large stomach in front of himself kinda like Down Smash, dealing damage to foes in front while having a couple of invincibility frames on startup. Forward Air has lengthy startup lag, but deals a whole 16% and has a strong semi-spike attached. It also launches Jeff forward and sends Doc into recoil momentum just like Down Smash does. Normally Forward Air has long landing lag, but if you hit Jeff, it’ll be reduced to only ten frames! So it’s a very useful way to launch a hovering Jeff into battle against his will, or to give yourself some momentum.

Back Air
.
Doc kicks behind himself with his stubby legs for 4%, pretty much the best attempt he could make at attacking behind him. This move is pathetically short-ranged, but does have the benefit of extremely low lag. Back Air’s low knockback is also amazing for combos, mainly if you’re near the ground and able to turn around. If you’re high up in the air, it’s not the best for combos, since you can only connect a second Back Air or Jeff’s attack.

Down Air
.
Doc’s attempts to give himself the ability to secrete ink have seen some limited success. In Down Air, for example, he shows his odd ability to spit out giant globs of ink from his mouth, leaning far forward and spitting one down at a 45* angle. It travels slowly through the air in a straight path, dealing 9% and super-weak horizontal knockback upon hitting a foe. Down Air stalls Doc in the air when used, and has low-ish lag. However, if the foe predicts that you’ll use it, that stall often ends up giving them more time to prepare a landing punish! Down Air’s stall and projectile only work once in midair (they refresh upon getting hit); after that, you’ll just deal 3% and unsafe-on-hit flinching.

If the projectile hits a thrown Jeff, he’ll get absorbed into the glob of ink, keeping its diagonally-downward path. Its damage is increased to 14%, and it gains increased hitlag. Note, by the way, that the Down Air projectile is “piercing,” meaning that it keeps going even after hitting a foe. While hitching a ride with Down Air, Jeff acts the same as his thrown state in terms of interactions / special moves. Upon hitting the ground in this state, Jeff turns into his puddle state.

Up Air
.
Doc leans forward slightly before whipping his head backward for a headbutt attack, kinda like DK’s or Bowser’s in terms of the overall “feel.” It deals 12% and upward juggling knockback, and thanks to Doc’s two midair jumps, you can juggle a foe two or three times with Up Air before having to land if you execute it right. At the very top of the screen, Up Air can be viable as a KO option!
GRAB GAME

Grab
.
Doc grabs forward with his right tentacle for good range but poor, *poor* frame data. If you’re holding Jeff, he’ll help out with the grab, extending his own tentacle to give this grab tether-tier range. For his pummel, he lazily slaps the foe for 4% in a slow pummel animation. Don’t expect to get more than one or two pummels in before the foe breaks free.

Up Throw
.
Doc grips the foe in his feet and flaps his wing-arms forcefully, rising up into the air a couple of Ganondorf heights. He then slams back down to the ground, sitting on the foe and dealing a massive 12% with vertical KO knockback. This gives a ton of reward right off the bat for landing a grab, but it does have slow frame data… try using Jeff as a projectile to more easily land a grab!

Forward Throw
.
Doc shoves the foe forward with a stubby foot, dealing 4% and sending the foe reeling across the ground a moderate distance. It’s not very useful on its own, but Forward Throw is amazing for sending a foe into a hovering Jeff’s multi-hit trap! Alternatively, try forcing a foe to slip off the edge of a platform (which forces an untechable prone state, as per Smash’s rules).

Back Throw
.
Doc swings the foe backward above his head, slamming them into the ground behind him as his tentacle swivels all the way to his back. This deals 9% and pops the foe upward with combo knockback. This is kind of awkward since your Back Air isn’t very good, and the foe is behind you after a Back Throw. Neutral Air also works, though, and the other application is of course punishing the foe’s airdodge in this sticky situation.

Down Throw
.
Doc slams the foe into the ground in front of him using his right tentacle, dealing 8% and a semi-spike that causes a tech-chase or an awkward recovery angle. It’s downright frightening when you combine the tech-chase with a hovering Jeff to limit the foe’s tech-roll options! If you’re already holding Jeff, Down Throw, with his added force, instead forces the foe directly into prone, which cannot be teched. From here, you can have a really fun time following up on the move! Try using Down Tilt for a guaranteed punish, or go for a riskier Smash Attack if you’re feeling lucky.


</5k word, one-day, OC moveset>
 

Munomario777

Smash Master
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Messages
3,253
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
3DS FC
0387-9596-4480
Switch FC
SW-8229-3157-8114
Happy New Year, MYM-ers! To celebrate the occasion, I've got a proposition for you lot. I'm [EXPUNGED], CEO of- well, that's not important. Anyway, I-

Wait, what do you mean King Dice already booked the thread for tonight?!

Bah, doesn't matter. I'll cut to the chase before he steals my stage – I'm looking for fighters to work for my company, and you lot seem like the perfect place to look for fleshed-out, combat-ready employees. So I want YOU, yes you, to write up
movesets for characters for me to hire. I haven't got all day to hear your elaborate proposals, though. So you'll need to get it done in four sentences per move or fewer! The "stats and unique mechanics" section also counts as a "move," ya hear?

Now, I don't want y'all trying to f'naggle your way into making long movesets, so there's an additional rule against
"conjoined sentences." You know, stuff where two separate thoughts are conjoined into one sentence by a semicolon or ", and" or something like that. As an example, "The minion kicks the ball, and the character punches" counts as two "sentences." The contents of one sentence have gotta be directly linked to justify that! No blatant run-ons here, got it?

If ya really need to, I'll let it slide if you want to go for
five sentences per Special Move (and the stats + mechanics section) instead of four. Don't count on me paying attention during that whole board meeting, though. And if you wanna REALLY wow me, you can go for three sentences per non-Special Move (and non-stats / mechanics)! If you do, you'll get a gold star for effort.

I'd tell ya to mark your sets as for the contest or something, like that easy-peasy 5k / 10k challenge you lot are doing – but I don't think it's gonna be hard to pick these sets outta the crowd. Also, don't think you're obligated to include stuff like
exact numbers or anything – I don't care about those.

What're you standing around for? Get crackin' already – only
two months left in MYM20!
 
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