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

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502


The Fantasy Moveset Design Contest



This is a moveset making contest, where you can make a moveset for any character you want and pit it against other creations to see what comes out on top! We do mean any character, whether they're from a video game, TV show, movie, book, comic, original characters, even mythological figures and real-life people have seen movesets before. There's no real rule or guideline on what you want to pick, just as long as you can put it into a set for an existing Smash game. Smash 4, Brawl, Project M are all fair game. Whatever you want to try to translate into Smash, no matter how unorthodox, you can do it. We want to see what you can come up with!​


Moveset Creation
Movesets are made up of a 23 mandatory inputs: 4 specials, jab, dash attack, 3 tilts, 3 smashes, 5 aerials and the grab/pummel plus 4 throws. You will need these and a picture or solid description of your character at the very least, or else we totally unfortunately won't be able to count your set (and we like to have lots of movesets on our list!). We also urge you to provide a brief summary of your character and their stats, but those aren't absolutely necessary. A final smash is also highly recommended. Note that Custom Specials are entirely optional, as are situtional attacks such as ledge attacks or get-up attacks, though most people won't care whether you include them or not. If you're having trouble with your moves for whatever reason, be sure to send us leaders a Private Message.

Below are our leader's funkiest, lengthiest movesets to date. From the long and complex to the straightforward yet deep, we've got a repitoire of movesets that everyone can enjoy!
Oh, and for those having trouble figuring out the right numbers or feel for their character's stats (size and weight and what have you), KuroganeHammer has collected data in Smash 4 [LINK]. This is the most commonly used and accepted source for stats and it even has character frame data!

Comments
A great man once said: "Famous writers got to where they are due to reading a large amount of literature, and it’s the same with movesets. Commenting forces you to articulate that knowledge and put it to word; the helpfulness of this exercise cannot be overstated.". Unfortunately, there's been a bit of a deficit of comments lately, so we're making a new change to the voting requirements. Rather than advertisements, a total of 10 comments will be necessary over the course of the contest to be able to vote. If you're not really sure how to comment, just say what you were thinking while reading the set, what you enjoyed and think could be done better. Your thoughts are always appreciated. For that matter, we can promise you that giving feedback and exchanging conversation back and forth with moveset creators will be very helpful to the ability to develop your own sets.

If you liked a moveset, be sure to click the Like button. That tells people you read their moveset and liked it, even without a comment. But do try to comment, because no one likes being neglected.

Rankings
Some movesetters take commenting a step further (or outright skip it) and actually rank the movesets they've read, usually posting these lists on the opening page. These rankings can give you a good idea of what's hot and usually come with funny pictures, but don't be offended if your set is ranked low - that just means there's room for improvement. Can you get that glorious Warlordian 10 star and make his favorite set of all time?

Smash Daddy, MasterWarlord, FrozenRoy, ForwardArrow, Bionichute, Munomario777 and Reigaheres all run their own rankings, but anyone can really if they're feeling like an entrepreneur. Ask us if you do make some and we'll add you to the list too! All rankings posted in this thread are advised to be put in collapse tags to not only prevent unnecessary page-stretching (we get enough of that with movesets), but also because the collapse tags will automatically reduce the size of images to make them look more consistent.

Aside from your typical rankings, FrozenRoy also runs the User Rankings which tally the thread activity of all users in sort-of mini competition, a concept originally created by Smash Daddy. This is another, less prominent competition where winning shows a great deal of contribution to the contest.

Deadline
For most of Make Your Move's history, the contest has ended when we had 100+ sets no matter how long it took. But for Make Your Move 19 and now 20, we will be using a set ending date, and barring exceptional circumstances be holding it. The submission period of Make Your Move 19 will specifically be 5 months long, ending on February 1st. Make sure to get your sets out before then!

Voting
This the part where you vote for other people's sets and feel awesome when yours gets lots of votes. A vote is the best compliment you could give, but be sure to put some thought into it and take every set in the contest into account when doing so. Also, no voting for your own set, because otherwise everyone would do that.

As mentioned before, you cannot vote until you've made 10 comments. That being said, there will be time to read and get in comments before voting begins, though it would be preferable if you made as many comments as possible and sooner rather than later. If you've already commented a set but feel it has not gotten the recognition it deserves due to being left unread or underrated, you can always advertise a set to draw attention to it as well.

When voting, you get 35 votes, including "Vote Plus":

8 Super Votes - 9 points (1 Super Vote Plus - 11 Points)
12 Regular Votes - 5 points (3 Regular Vote Plusses - 6 Points)
15 Weak Votes - 2 points (3 Weak Vote Plusses - 3 Points)

You may choose, as stated, 1 Super Vote, 3 Regular Votes and 3 Weak Votes to make into "Plus" votes, which get more points than a normal vote of its type. These are 100% optional, but mostly intended to give points to your favorite set each contest (the Super Vote Plus) and to sets which just miss your Super Vote (the RV Plusses) or Regular Vote (the WV plusses) list. You can of course distribute them as you want, though, if you even do,

Which are then distributed accordingly to the sets you thought were super-totally-fabulously-awesome, and those you thought were kinda cool. You don't have to use all your votes, but try to use at least half of them. Once you're done voting, send your list to BOTH FrozenRoy AND ForwardArrow, the Vote Gurus, through Private Message/Conversation on Smashboards.

Top Fifty
With 100+ sets no longer a guarentee in Make Your Move, the Top 50 has changed as well. Sets will now place if they receive two votes of any kind or one Super Vote, up to a MAXIMUM of 50 sets, at which point they'll begin dropping off like flies. If less than 50 sets do this, then it simply becomes a Top equal to that number, for example a Top 46 like we got last contest. Competition is frequently fierce, but there is little as joyous in Make Your Move as to see hard work rewarded with a good placing. Leadership will break ties, but otherwise rarely makes changes, and a Raw Top 50 showing the exact point totals and votelists is posted to The Stadium every contest.

Beyond the Thread
There's more to Make Your Move than meets the eye: as a longstanding community, we've taken the liberty of establishing a few sites to meet our movesetting needs, so if you really wanna get in on the action you'll want to take a gander at these. We used to have fancy banners for all of them, but unfortunately Photobucket decided to start charging $400 a month, so until we get replacements we'll have to make due.


Skype is where we chat, as for the purposes of those in the contest it serves as the most effective communication device. We talk a lot about movesets here, but also generally whatever's come out that's relevant to the contest, though its perfectly fine to talk about your favorite fiction here. Or your least favorite, mockery has become an important element of the contest. Things get particularly fun around E3 and major Nintendo directs, so look out for those.

The Stadium
The Stadium is the home page of Make Your Move where you'll find the current contest's moveset list, raw Top 50 data and MasterWarlord's set rankings. Announcements may pop up from time to time, but these rarely show up nowadays.

The Bunker
The Bunker is more or less the encyclopedia of Make Your Move, filled to the brim with links to past movesets, contests and even useful articles to make you smarter. Smash Daddy and Warlord hold administrative powers on this site, so message them if you want to get on.

The Whiteboard
The Whiteboard is where you go to preview movesets or look up sets that couldn't be finished. It also contains image sets that were unfortunately shrunk down by the advent of Xenforo.

Leadership
The organizers of the thread, general decision-makers for major issues and more, Leadership helps make sure to keep everything running like a well-oiled machine and consists of some of the biggest and well known names in the contest, with multiple members having been here since nearly Make Your Move's inception. If you ever want to talk to us, just give us a ring via Smashboard's Conversation system or through Skype: We're always happy to help!



MasterWarlord has been around since Make Your Move 3, and has been a pillar of the community since its inception. He has been in the leadership and placed Top 10 in every contest since its inception, as well as having the most Top 10 placings of anyone in the community by far. When you see a Warlord set, you should usually expect a villain, usually a large one that varies between goofy and very imposing. Perhaps in response to the lack of villains in Smash 4, he's made enough to fill up the entire Smash 4 roster twice over! He's also as harsh a critic as you'll find in this community, but he also has plenty of valuable advice and entertaining commentary that makes him plenty worth listening to. Can you impress our Great Heavyweight King?

First Contest: Make Your Move 3
First Set: King K. Rool
Highest Placing: 1st (Make Your Move 6 - The Count, Make Your Move 8 - Dark Bowser, Make Your Move 18 - Yangus)
Notable Franchises: Dragon Quest (Yangus - Make Your Move 18 - 1st), Fist of the North Star (Lord Morgan - Make Your Move 17 - 5th), Ultimate Muscle / Kinnikuman (Blocks - Make Your Move 17 - 11th), Warcraft (Varimathras - Make Your Move 18 - 10th), One Piece (Arlong - Make Your Move 16 - 10th), Donkey Kong (Bashmaster the Brash - Make Your Move 15 - 5th), Fullmetal Alchemist (Father Cornello - Make Your Move 16 - 2nd), Crash Bandicoot(N. Brio - Make Your Move 19 - 3rd)



Smash Daddy is another member with immense achievements, having won four contests in history and only missing a couple Top 10's in an early, irrelevant part of his history. He's also been fairly instrumental in assisting in the development of many members of the community, including yours truly, who was practically brought up as his student. Smash Daddy makes sets from a wide variety of source material, but tends towards more comedic yet villainous figures. Beneath the comedic exteriors of this characters lies a consistently impressive depth to his movesets that makes for a very interesting read that will most likely surpass your expectations. It should be mentioned how important he's been to the last three contests in particular, producing an almost overwhelming quantity of movesets ranging in quality from solid to fantastic, as well as giving commentary on basically everything. Truly a man you would want on your side.

First Contest: Make Your Move 3
First Set: Vivi
Highest Placing: 1st (Make Your Move 5 - Raiden (Posthumous), Make Your Move 11 - Death, Make Your Move 12 - Ameno-Sagiri, Make Your Move 17 - Fassad)
Notable Franchises: Dragon Quest (King Korol - Make Your Move 17 - 4th), Ace Attorney (Kristoph Gavin - Make Your Move 18 - 4th), Shin Megami Tensei (Ameno-Sagiri - Make Your Move 12 - 1st, Matador - Make Your Move 18 - 5th), Final Fantasy (Jecht - Make Your Move 18 - 6th), Resident Evil (William Birkin - Make Your Move 17 - 6th), One Piece (Vander Decken - Make Your Move 16 - 3rd, Magellan - Make Your Move 19 - 4th), Illbleed (Michael Reynolds - Make Your Move 13 - 5th), CD-i (Hotel Mario Roy - Make Your Move 19 - 9th)



As for me, I'm among the newer members of leadership though at this point that's not really saying much as I have 8 contests worth of experience on the job. Like Smash Daddy and MasterWarlord, my sets tend toward villainous characters, though I tend to prefer edgy and brutal characters with the occasional ironic comedy one thrown in. It sometimes overlaps. While I'm not as harsh as Warlord over there, I would say I'm still a pretty blunt critic and if you made a mistake I will make that much clear to you. While I tend not to produce large quantities of sets, what I do post is usually considered to be of high quality. In fact, I've gotten 2 out of the Top 3 spots in every odd numbered contest I've participated except for Make Your Move 17. That one was me giving all my power to Smady, and was most definitely not a showing of inconsistency and incompetence.

First Contest: Make Your Move 10
First Set: Hoppip
Highest Placing: 1st (Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Make Your Move 13, Vector - Make Your Move 15 and Three - Make Your Move 15, Iguana - Make Your Move 19, Three - Tied for first in Make Your Move 15 but lost the tiebreaker)
Notable Franchises: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Vector - Make Your Move 15 - 1st), Magic: The Gathering (Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - 1st), Original Characters (Iguana - Make Your Move 19- 1st, Knight - Make Your Move 19 - 2nd, Metireon - Make Your Move 19 - 2nd), Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Homura Akemi - Make Your Move 10 - 22nd), Dark Falz (Dark Falz Remix - Make Your Move 14 - 20th), Drakengard (Intoner Three - Make Your Move 15 - 2nd), Cookie Clicker (The Grandmatriarchs - Make Your Move 16 - 5th)



FrozenRoy has only been around since MYM12, and yet he's made over 70 movesets, and if that's not impressive dedication I don't know what is. A man of somewhat unorthodox tastes as far as movesets go, he is very over the top and an entertaining figure within the community. While famous for his quantity of sets, his quality is not to be underestimated as there's almost always something to like about each of his many movesets. He tends to make a lot of MOBA and card game sets, but also has a particular passion for making Touhou characters, intending to make every character in a 100+ character franchise one day. With his passion, he might just succeed. While I call him over the top, he's also quite down to earth, and another good mentor and commentator within the community who can give loads of helpful advice.

First Contest: Make Your Move 12
First Set: Scizor
Highest Placing: 1st (Sho Minamimoto - Make Your Move 14)
Notable Franchises: Touhou (Remilia Scarlet - Make Your Move 14 - 8th), Warcraft (Baron Rivendare - Make Your Move 16 - 13th), RWBY (Weiss Schnee - Make Your Move 15 - 14th), League of Legends (Viktor, Machine Herald - Make Your Move 16 - 8th), Dark Souls (Artorias the Abysswalker - Make Your Move 18 - 11th), Defense of the Ancients 2 (Anti-Mage Make Your Move 18 - 17th), Yu-Gi-Oh! (Night's End Sorcerer Remix - Make Your Move 15 - 21st), The World Ends With You (Sho Minamimoto - Make Your Move 14 - 1st), Star Wars (Count Dooku - Make Your Move 17 - 18th)



Munomario is by far our most recent addition to leadership, but over the course of this contest he's gone out of his way to step up his game and produce sets of much higher quality. Having a preference for very mainstream character choices, his skill has recently developed in such a way that he can make those characters interesting even to a community that usually dismisses them as bland. Aside from that, he has some of the most impressive game knowledge of anyone in MYM, being one of the best people to consult if you want to know the technical details of Smash 4. There's clearly a bright future ahead of him.

First Contest: Make Your Move 16
First Set: Sonic Heroes
Highest Placing: 15th(Zenyatta - MYM19)
Notable Franchises: Overwatch(Doomfist - Placing TBA, Zenyatta - 15th, Tracer, Sombra), Splatoon(Inkling MYM16, Inkling MYM17 - 43rd, Inkling MYM19 - 29th, Octoling, Doc To)

Rules
There are [RULES] out there set by the powers that be, and should be followed so you don't get sent to the naughty corner. Please remember to report before replying to posts that break the rules.

And with that, have fun everybody! No seriously dude, Make Your Move is meant to be fun...and also educational if you read a set for a character you've never heard of. With that in mind, go on out and carve your own legacy!​
 
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

DOOMFIST

"Only through conflict do we evolve."
Originally a renowned martial artist skilled in numerous fighting styles and the ability to read his opponent in the ring, Akande Ogundimu lost his right arm, cutting his career short. Now ineligible for competitive fighting due to the strength-enhancing prosthetics he used to recover, Ogundimu took up work as a mercenary under Akinjide Adeyemi as a new way to use his strength. Not content with the scale to which his teacher aspired, Ogundimu killed Adeyemi and became the new Doomfist, complete with trademark gauntlet. Doomfist strived to launch the world into a massive conflict that he believed would strengthen humanity, just as the loss of Doomfist’s right arm led him to enhance himself cybernetically, but was defeated by a strike team from Overwatch before this plan had a chance to play out. Now that he’s broken out of prison and stolen back the gauntlet, Doomfist is back in action and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal of worldwide conflict.

As a hero in Overwatch, Doomfist thrives off of combat, packing an arsenal of melee abilities which can combo into each other while also dealing a ton of damage apiece. His abilities also give him a ton of movement options, allowing him to cover entire spaces with devastating attacks and demanding respect from even far away opponents. Doomfist can swoop in and unleash a devastating combo, or charge his Rocket Punch and wait for the time to strike with a potential one-hit-KO. His unique passive even grants him enhanced defenses whenever he hits an opponent with a melee ability, allowing him to benefit greatly from getting up close and personal. However, Doomfist’s abilities are also his best escape options when things turn south, so he needs to be careful to save them for when he needs them most.

To see footage of Doomfist's abilities and gameplay from Overwatch, visit this page.
Stats
Doomfist is quite the bulky guy – his gauntlet puts his weight up there with the likes of Captain Falcon, but Doom’s intense physical training gives him a good amount of movement speed nonetheless. His dash speed is a touch above Bowser’s, but his jumps are kinda short. In the air, Doomfist has a high max air speed but very low acceleration and deceleration, and falls pretty quickly. So basically, Doomfist excels at rushing in with no fear due to his scary movement speed and ability to tank hits with his weight, but has a hard time choosing non-committal options due to his lack of aerial control. For example, he has trouble spacing an aerial at max range by fading back, so it’s hard for most of his tools to be safe on shield. Also, Doomfist’s height makes him a bit of a big target.

The Best Defense
This emphasis on all-in, aggressive attacks is brought even further by Doomfist’s unique passive ability, The Best Defense. Whenever Doomfist connects a melee attack on an opponent (not a shield, construct, minion, etc) using his gauntlet – which has a unique, satisfying hit sound effect – he gains 1.5 seconds of super armor which blocks only a single attack, denoted by a red aura / glow. It’s similar to Ryu’s Focus Attack in that regard, but isn’t negated by multi-hit moves; multiple parts of the same move (whether it be a drill kick, jab combo, or Dancing Blade) count as only one hit, and all of the move is blocked by The Best Defense. Another difference is that unlike with Focus Attack, which blocks half of an attack’s damage, Doomfist takes the full damage of the blow; he’s just immune to flinching, knockback, stun, and the like. Landing multiple gauntlet attacks in a row doesn’t “stack” The Best Defense, but it does refresh the duration. During The Best Defense, attacks using Doomfist’s gauntlet also gain trample priority.

The Best Defense is designed to severely limit the options available to the opponent after Doomfist lands a hit. They can’t really attack Doomfist, as he can just throw out a move of his own and beat out the opponent’s retaliation completely. So right after Doomfist hits an opponent, he has the ultimate tool for pressuring the opponent and forcing them into choosing a defensive option. Assuming the opponent is in the air, this boils down to jump and airdodge – an airdodge has endlag that’s easily punished by a delayed attack, while a jump forces the opponent to land right after without the option to jump again. This way, Doomfist can easily cover the opponent’s landing, as we’ll see later on.

Jumping away, however, might in some situations allow the opponent to “stall” until The Best Defense runs out, staying in the air for too long for Doomfist to both cover the landing and have the super armor to protect him. So a more guaranteed punish off of a jump would be just jumping up and hitting the opponent during the jump itself… but then you can’t wait there in case the opponent airdodges.

Bottom line: The Best Defense is super scary once Doomfist has any sort of advantage state, so take advantage of that. Doomfist’s attacks revolve around putting himself into a variety of different advantage states, where he can use The Best Defense to severely limit the opponent’s options. In neutral, however, Doomfist’s attacks are all very high-commitment, so patience and finding the right opening are also key.

SPECIALS

Neutral B: Hand Cannon
Well actually, Neutral B is one of the main lower-commitment attacks in Doomfist’s arsenal, as well as his ranged attack. Doomfist raises his left arm – the one without the gauntlet – and extends his fist forward, firing a shotgun-like volley of four small projectiles from his four knuckles. These travel at the speed and distance of Sheik’s needles and have similar lag to one of Megaman’s lemons, but deal a whole 8% of damage and aren’t a piercing projectile (they disappear upon hitting an opponent). Hand Cannon, unusually, deals weak downward knockback on hit which doesn’t scale with the opponent’s percent. In midair, it won’t properly “spike” the foe; rather, its effect is more like Zelda’s dair sourspot. On the ground, meanwhile, this weak downward launch means it’ll sort of “stun” the opponent on the ground; again, like Zelda’s sourspot dair.

Hand Cannon is designed to open up a careless opponent to Doomfist’s approach options. Its low lag and its “stun” effect on the ground mean that Doomfist has a small amount of time to rush toward the opponent, making his high-commitment attacks safer. Hand Cannon also has transcendent priority, meaning it’s ideal for completely stuffing and canceling out approaches and attacks. And offstage, it’s obviously great for setting up a drop-zone edgeguard.

The other thing about Hand Cannon that you’ll need to know is that after firing the four-shot volley, Doomfist does have to recharge the move (which happens passively). After using Neutral B once, it recovers one bullet every two seconds. To show this, Doomfist flashes blue whenever he recharges a bullet. You’re left with a single bullet immediately after firing, and the maximum is four.

The damage and knockback I described earlier is for a max-charge Hand Cannon, or what you get when you’ve got all four bullets on hand. Each bullet accounts for 2% of the damage, meaning the damage dealt varies between 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%. Additionally, the knockback on Hand Cannon deteriorates the fewer bullets you have left. With two bullets left, it only deals flinching; and the single-bullet version doesn’t even do that much, essentially acting like a Fox laser. With three bullets, meanwhile, you’re mainly just getting a weaker version of the full-power Hand Cannon’s downward knockback.

So basically, you can’t just spam a projectile as good as a max-charge Hand Cannon as much as you want. And since Doomfist’s camping / keep-away game isn’t very good (so you can’t just wait for it to recharge every time), you’re gonna have to learn how to find openings without it when necessary. When you do have Hand Cannon, a lot of your gameplan revolves around looking for an opportunity where the opponent isn’t respecting Hand Cannon. For example, look for a window where they’re putting themselves in lag from a distance (so they can’t shield), especially when they’re getting close enough for you to get a big reward off of landing the projectile.

Side B: Seismic Slam
On the ground, Doomfist leaps forward about 1.5 platforms’ distance, swinging his gauntlet above him as it surges with a trail of electricity. This deals a multi-hit of 5% total throughout the initial leap, dragging foes along to the end unless they SDI out. Upon hitting the ground, he’ll slam the backhand of his fist into the earth, causing a couple of things to happen.

First, Seismic Slam has a hitbox on the gauntlet’s fist itself, dealing 15% of damage and a decently powerful spike. Ledge-hanging opponents should say their prayers, while a grounded opponent is forced to either tech (which can be tech-chased) or be launched up into the air a short distance, ripe for a follow-up. Both of these situations are really scary for the opponent, since The Best Defense removes their ability to get Doomfist off of them with an attack.

This massive impact also creates a shockwave of electricity that reaches 1.3 SBB in front of Doomfist, dealing 10% and mild Sakurai Angle knockback toward Doomfist. At low percents, it sends the opponent reeling across the ground toward you, while at high percents it pops them into the air too. Either way, they’ll be launched with their backs towards you (since they’re getting launched towards you), so it can be tricky for them to retaliate.

The shockwave counts as a projectile, so its doubled hitlag (due to being an electric hitbox) isn’t something that Doomfist himself will suffer, putting him at a big frame advantage on hit. However, only the sweetspot and the initial multi-hits during the leap will trigger The Best Defense – so in order to have it active after connecting with the shockwave, you’ll need to first connect with the multi-hits, OR use Seismic Slam immediately after connecting with another gauntlet attack. If you are able to use The Best Defense here, though, the fact that the opponent is knocked toward you makes it an incredibly powerful position for Doomfist to be in.

At low percents, the electric multi-hits combo into the spike sweetspot. At higher percents, meanwhile, the last one launches the opponent a bit further away, causing the shockwave to connect instead. While it’s tricky to pull off due to low SDI and hitlag multipliers, it is possible to SDI out of the initial multi-hits to avoid the landing hits.

In the air, Doomfist extends the gauntlet in front of him in a fist, basically a Superman-type pose, launching downward at a shallow 30* angle while moving at Falcon’s dash speed. You’ll deal 13% and a low-angle semi-spike if you hit an opponent, and upon landing, you’ll still create the spike sweetspot and the shockwave. This is a pretty awesome landing mixup, but note that the landing hit for either version of Seismic Slam is pretty laggy – so it’s pretty punishable on whiff or block. The sweetspot eats away at an opponent’s shield, but the shockwave actually sends the shielding opponent toward Doomfist, opening him up for a shield-grab.

Either version of Seismic Slam won’t stop until you actually hit the ground. Well, okay, if you hit a wall you’ll rebound off of it at a slightly upward angle, and it’ll stop after five seconds to prevent MYM teleportation portal shenanigans or whatever. The only other way to cancel the dive, though, is by using your midair jump, which can be used at any point after you’ve traveled at least 2 platforms horizontally. Of course, you need to still have your jump available, so if you’ve already jumped in midair and use Side B off the stage, you’re kinda screwed. If you do have a jump, though, Seismic Slam becomes pretty favorable as a recovery option. Which is pretty important, given your Up B:

Up B: Meteor Strike
Yes, Doomfist’s recovery move is something other than Rising Uppercut. We’ll get to that in a minute. Anyway, Meteor Strike is Doomfist’s ult in OW, and in Smash, it’s similarly devastating. After a brief delay, Doomfist leaps all the way up to the top of the screen – yes, all the way. He doesn’t care about ceilings or anything, unlike Kirby / Charizard / MK’s uthrow.* Then, one second after the leap began, he comes crashing down at a distance up to two platforms to either side (based on how you tilt the control stick to aim it), slamming into the first floor he meets and causing a 2-SBB-wide explosion. The explosion deals 16% of damage and KOs vertically beginning at 100%. That’s… pretty dang powerful.

*But if Doomfist is able to “ride” the side of the stage, such as with most of the right-hand underside of Battlefield or almost the entire underside of Smash 4’s version of FD, he'll just do that instead of going through the terrain.

Meteor Strike is far from perfect, though. Its biggest weakness, perhaps, is that initial leap; while Doomfist ascends pretty quickly, he has neither intangibility nor a hitbox during the initial part of the move. So you can just throw out a hitbox above Doomfist as he uses Meteor Strike, and he’ll get hit and sent back offstage again as he’s trying to recover. Same goes for the descent before the explosion, but that’s a bit riskier to punish – especially since you can't really tell where Doomfist is going to land.

Doomfist also can’t grab the ledge at any point during the move, so the heavy endlag (a bit higher than that of Dedede’s recovery move) is something he can’t really avoid. The explosion is pretty damaging to shields, but doesn’t have enough pushback or shieldstun to make it unpunishable or anything. The one thing that makes this recovery really safe is hitting with a melee attack right before using it; it works out so that The Best Defense just about lasts throughout the landing lag (especially if you land on a high platform), so you can shield before the opponent hits you. The counter to this is using two attacks in quick succession… or just grabbing to bypass the super-armor. But depending on the character and situation, that punish might not be as powerful as what you’d be able to connect otherwise, such as a slightly-charged smash attack.

Outside of recovering, Meteor Strike isn’t very useful as an actual attack, since it’s the definition of telegraphed. However, it does make for a very unique recovery move, with its own set of strengths and weaknesses that aren’t really comparable to any other character’s recovery. For example, Doomfist can land anywhere on the stage he wants, due to the ability to both aim his landing and go through ceilings (for example, you can start it from underneath the middle of Smashville). This is also pretty useful on stages like Temple, for getting to higher-up areas.
Down B: No Escape
Raising his gauntlet into the air, Doomfist then pounds the ground with a powerful punch as a blue reticle appears around the nearest opponent. There’s a spike hitbox on the fist itself which deals 15% and a powerful spike, but the impact also creates a cracked stone pillar “behind” the targeted opponent. That is to say, the opponent ends up between you and the wall. The wall blocks normal movement like a wall (1.25 SBB tall) and can be stood on top of, but dodge-rolls and even airdodges can be used to pass right through it. Any attack will destroy the wall in one hit, outside of moves with no knockback (like Fox’s laser) or very weak knockback (like most first-hit jabs or Sheik’s needles / Doomfist’s Hand Cannon). When destroyed, the wall breaks into several small chunks which then go flying to deal 7% over multiple smaller hits, traveling a pretty decent distance depending on the attack. Only one wall can be onstage at a time; using Down B again simply doesn’t create the wall.

Some characters might use walls to prevent the opponent from approaching, or to block attacks / projectiles. Doomfist, however, is not interested in avoiding combat. Instead, by creating a wall on the other side of the opponent, he forces his foes to fight according to his own style – he forces them to approach rather than retreat. Spacing moves is no longer an option, as you can’t simply fade back with an aerial when there’s a wall behind you! You could try breaking the wall, but then Doomfist could simply punish you for essentially “whiffing” an attack (which is very bad in Smash’s neutral game). Or you could roll behind it… in which case you can expect to take some rock chunks to the face. Doomfist’s best way of doing that is with his Rocket Punch (Forward Smash), but more on that move later.

One other interaction based on the properties we’ve talked about so far, by the way. If you use Seismic Slam (Side B) and hit the wall with the shockwave hitbox, it’ll actually send the rock chunks from the wall toward Doomfist, hitting opponents behind him – since that's also the direction it launches opponents in. So even if the opponent dodges the hitbox that occurs during the leap, they still have to watch out for that second hit!

The other application of your wall is knocking opponents into it. Doomfist’s wall doesn’t act like a normal wall. If a character is launched into it during hitstun from a hit that would cause a tumble state, they’ll be “embedded” into the wall, with no window to tech. They’ll remain flattened into the wall for the duration of their “hitstun timer” – in other words, the rest of the hitstun that they had left is instead spent stuck in the wall. Then the character will fall out of the wall, once again able to perform actions. If someone’s already been launched into the wall once, it’ll appear much more crumbled / cracked, and will simply be destroyed by someone being launched into it, having no effect on the launched fighter.

Being stuck to a wall has a few unique properties. Firstly, a character can be hit by attacks while stuck to the wall, and any move will deal as much damage and knockback as it normally does, while also destroying the wall if applicable. Another quirk is that if you’re hit into the wall by a hitbox of a move, it’s possible to get hit a second time by that same hitbox while stuck in the wall, which normally is not possible (see Link’s Spin Attack when shielded). The main example is moves that cause movement and have a long-lasting hitbox, such as Fox’s Fire Fox. Or Link’s Spin Attack, if you were to get pushed toward the wall by F.L.U.D.D. or something. Doomfist has a move like this in his own arsenal, but more on that in a second.

So as if having a wall behind you weren't already scary enough, huh? This basically makes any move into a combo move with the right positioning and setup, and with The Best Defense, you're even kinda safe using a move after the opponent is unstuck from the wall (if you're too slow to get that true confirm). Doomfist himself is vulnerable to these effects, but since the wall is created in an advantageous position for Doomfist, he doesn't have to worry quite as much. Just watch out for back throws. Oh, and the opponent also doesn't have The Best Defense, so it's not quite as powerful for them even if they do launch you into the wall.

Speaking of The Best Defense, Doomfist’s own wall is the only construct that actually grants him The Best Defense when he attacks it! For some reason. Kinda situational due to where the wall is actually created, but it's pretty powerful as an approach when the stars align.

Oh yeah, Down B is kinda laggy overall, so that's the main weakness here. You can use The Best Defense to tank a hit while using Down B, or just use any general breaks in the action. By using The Best Defense to get away with a Down B, you’re essentially giving up the momentary advantage offered by The Best Defense in exchange for a long-term advantage, in the form of the wall.

In the air, Down B acts just like the grounded version – it's not a stall-then-fall or anything – so it's a viable spike option in the air. Unless you land back on the ground before the punch comes out, though, it won't create the wall. Try jumping backward to make some space, then using Down B mid-jump to create a wall when you land – but be careful, since this also forces you to give up a ton of stage control.

SMASHES
Forward Smash: Rocket Punch
Finally we get to Doomfist’s signature move: Rocket Punch. Wind up, reeling your fist back as it charges up with electricity. Then unleash a devastating dashing punch, traveling anywhere from 1.3 platforms’ distance to the entire width of Battlefield in a split-second depending on the charge. As for damage, it deals 16%~22% based on charge, which is pretty hefty – but Rocket Punch has considerable startup lag.

If you hit at the very beginning of the dash, you’ll deal a moderate-power semi-spike, but it’ll still be able to KO at higher percents with a bit of charge. You’ll keep going with the dash if you land this up-close hitbox, so you can potentially get a follow-up or tech-chase after the move by chasing the knockback with Rocket Punch’s movement.

Hitting after that deals significantly stronger knockback but still at a semi-spike-like angle, though it won’t really allow for tech-chases. It does however KO from 130%~100% from the center of FD, or earlier if you catch a foe near the ledge. Doomfist will halt his dash upon hitting an opponent / etc or shield with this type of hitbox, acting more like in Overwatch itself. This is pretty handy for creating space or knocking opponents far offstage, but in general, you’d typically want to connect with the early hit instead for combo opportunities. So it’s really a tradeoff between distance and follow-ups. At very low percents, though, even the late hit of Rocket Punch (which stops you dead in your tracks) can potentially combo into something like Seismic Slam.

Rocket Punch’s most obvious application is covering landings, since it allows you to threaten with a powerful KO option at long distances. The majority of Rocket Punch’s startup lag takes place before the charge, meaning that you can hold the charge and then have the punch come out as soon as you release the button – ideal for timing it to cover different landing options! Also, if The Best Defense is active and the opponent is near Doomfist, Rocket Punch gets a lot of benefit out of the added protection. Not only does it have a lot of vulnerable windup for the passive ability to cover up, but you can even afford to charge it up a bit for a devastating blow / combo starter!

In Overwatch, Rocket Punch is unique in that the opponent is dealt extra damage if they’re launched into a wall. So in Smash, Rocket Punch and Doomfist’s wall have synergy as well, since by first hitting with the startup hitbox with a wall nearby, you’re able to hit them into the wall and continue the attack / dash. Depending on the spacing and charge, from here you can either get into position using the dash for a follow-up of your choice, or just auto-combo the foe with the later hit of Rocket Punch for a devastating 28%~40% combo that can potentially KO super-early! That’s scary.

Up Smash: Rising Uppercut
Up Smash is Rising Uppercut, and it acts about as you’d expect. After charging up, Doomfist leaps up into the air with, well, an uppercut. Rising Uppercut’s height ranges from 0.75x to 1.25x Dolphin Slash’s height depending on charge, and its startup lag is similar to Rocket Punch’s. It deals 15%~21% depending on charge. As for knockback, Rising Uppercut is a bit unusual: when uncharged, its knockback doesn’t scale much at all with the opponent’s damage, putting the opponent roughly right in front of Doomfist after the move ends. Like, they might end up a bit below or above you, but you’ll still be able to get some kind of follow-up, especially with The Best Defense active. If you charge it for a little bit, though, Rising Uppercut begins to KO from 100%~70% at the beginning of the punch, or 130%~100%* later in the animation.

*Or earlier if you hit high up in the air!

Rising Uppercut has a few other properties I oughta mention. After the uppercut ends, Doomfist hovers in the air for a moment, kinda like in Overwatch. During this time, you can cancel into any aerial attack or special move, but can’t airdodge or use a midair jump. So while Rising Uppercut seems like a really good escape option – since it can be used out-of-shield, poses a combo / KO threat to the opponent if it hits, and doesn’t cause special fall – there is that punishable window you want to be wary of. For this reason, it isn’t really safe on shield unless charged.

This move also has a surprising amount of horizontal mobility in a couple of ways. If you use Rising Uppercut out of a dash (especially via jump-canceling), you’ll retain quite a bit of that speed into the ascent. Also, the “hover” at the end of Rising Uppercut allows Doomfist a decent amount of aerial mobility, as he’s able to control his speed (slow down / speed up / turn around) more effectively than he normally can. So you do have that going for you at least, in terms of making it less punishable, and the mobility from Rising Uppercut also allows Doomfist to go kinda deep offstage for edgeguards. He can, after all, recover surprisingly well by using Side B, canceling it with a jump, and then using Up B to recover an unlimited vertical distance – especially if there’s no opponent around to cover that landing. Similarly, a charged Rising Uppercut allows Doomfist to reach new heights vertically too, whether it be escaping to a top platform or juggling a midair opponent.

It’s kind of awkward to talk about combo applications since I haven’t gone into aerials yet, but there are a couple of things to mention. First off, Rising Uppercut is an awesome follow-up after the initial hit of Rocket Punch – y’know, the one that lets Doomfist keep going after the hit rather than stopping in his tracks. Since the opponent ends up right in front of you, it’s a pretty obvious follow-up to go for. Same goes for the shockwave hit of Seismic Slam, since that brings the opponent right into melee range. As for follow-ups out of Rising Uppercut, the main one out of the specials is Side B, which connects especially well at lower percents since the opponent is likely to end up below Doomfist. At high percents, your best bet is to bait out an airdodge (since the opponent will try to avoid some other attack), wait for it, and then punish with a Side B. Since they fall during the airdodge, it should catch them quite effectively! And that low knockback angle is pretty dang handy for setting up edgeguards and the like.

Finally, Rising Uppercut also shines in terms of an anti-air threat. The “threat” is the main part of that, since it essentially makes it so that Doomfist can punish any potential mistake from the opponent if they’re above him. The foe is above you and airdodging in anticipation of a potential full-hop aerial from Doomfist? Rising Uppercut to punish the dodge’s endlag. Whiffs a move above you thinking that you’ll jump? Rising Uppercut. Jumps away to try to escape the situation? Dash after them. ...And then use Rising Uppercut.

Down Smash
Charging up his gauntlet once again, Doomfist then performs a powerful, low-hitting hook of sorts, covering a decent amount of area in front of and slightly below Doomfist. Down Smash deals a hefty 19%~27% of damage, KOing at center-stage from 110%~80% with a nice semi-spike angle. At low percents, it’s awesome for setting up tech-chases. Once you get any kind of damage on the opponent and get them close to the ledge, though, Down Smash becomes a constant KO threat when charged. It’s one of Doomfist’s best heavy-hitting moves, and basically acts as his “normal smash attack” compared to the more movement- / combo-oriented Forward Smash and Up Smash.

The main thing to watch out for about Down Smash is its endlag, which makes the move super-unsafe on whiff. If the opponent has just jumped away from Doomfist out of fear, though, then they might not be able to punish in time – same goes with some other escape options. Another thing to note is that, like Lucas / Zero Suit Samus / Mewtwo, Doomfist’s Down Smash only hits in front.

When blocked, the shield pushback and shieldstun on Dsmash actually make it pretty dang safe: the opponent is out of range for a shield-grab or most other attacks, so they have to commit to a defensive escape option. You as the Doomfist player can then observe which option the opponent chooses, and use that knowledge later on in a variety of situations. If the opponent tries to jump out of their shield, for example, you can remember that and then punish the opponent if they jump out of a combo (since you’ve learned jump is a bit of a “panic button” for them). Or just the next time you Down Smash their shield again and they jump. Down Smash is actually very similar to Ike’s nair and dtilt in this way! And Down Smash also has the added bonus of dealing lots of shield damage, so the opponent might just panic and act hastily out-of-shield.

Down Smash also has noticeable startup lag, but like Forward Smash and Up Smash, the majority of the startup lag takes place before the charge. So it’s nice for timing it on reaction to punish certain options, e.g. an airdodge.
STANDARDS

Jab
Doomfist’s Jab is similar to his melee attack in Overwatch: a quick-ish, simple jab with his left fist (the one without the gauntlet). It deals 7% of damage to opponents it hits, while the knockback actually varies based on whether the opponent is grounded or airborne. A grounded foe is sent backward with Sakurai Angle knockback, while midair foes are popped straight up instead. Jab isn’t a three- or two-hit combo – since it only consists of one punch, it’s easy to “jab-cancel” it. That is, you can use a tilt or smash attack directly after the Jab without worrying about accidentally continuing the jab combo, much like Roy’s jab for example.

Whether you hit a grounded or midair opponent, Jab is amazing for follow-ups and putting the opponent into a bad spot. Aerial opponents are popped up a varying distance depending on percent, but Doomfist can almost always land some kind of conversion if he plays it right. At low percents, the foe is right in front of Doomfist, so follow-ups are rather straightforward if you’re willing to settle for something like a grab. At high percents, meanwhile, Up Tilt is your best choice (more on that later). But if you want to land something like a smash attack, you’ll need to take advantage of the 50-50 situation that Jab creates. The foe could airdodge to escape most quick options (e.g. Utilt), but then they’ll fall to the ground with the airdodge’s landing lag. Your job is to be ready to punish that landing lag with another Jab, or maybe even hard-read the airdodge by charging a smash attack instead of using the Up Tilt in the first place. Or they could jump away from that, which is punished by Up Tilting them before they’re able to jump away.

Grounded opponents, meanwhile, have to worry about Doomfist’s unique ability to use Hand Cannon immediately following a Jab – since his fist is already extended. That’s mainly at low percents, since Jab to Hand Cannon actually ends up being a true combo as the foe is sent reeling across the ground. At certain higher percents, the angle is low enough for Hand Cannon to still be a threat, even when the Sakurai Angle starts properly launching the opponent. However, past that point, the opponent can airdodge the Hand Cannon to escape it, but depending on positioning and the situation at hand, the landing lag might give Doomfist some positional advantage or stage control. If the opponent airdodges, your best bet is probably to go for a Rocket Punch instead of Hand Cannon – not only does it punish that airdodge hard, but it also has some chance of covering a jump away too, since it can then cover the foe’s jump-less landing. It’s a bit risky though.

The main drawback to Jab is the fact that, since it’s not a gauntlet attack, it isn’t able to activate The Best Defense on hit. So while it’s potentially Doomfist’s best single attack for both quick get-off-me plays and putting the foe into a terrible position, he doesn’t gain his unique passive ability for landing it. In order to take advantage of both Jab’s awesome advantage state and The Best Defense’s reduction of options available to the opponent, you’ll have to land Jab immediately after connecting with another move, such as launch the foe → read an airdodge → punish with Jab. For this reason, Jab is best at carrying momentum rather than creating it. In other words, it works best if Doomfist has already landed a hit and is continuing his advantage state. If you use Jab out-of-shield, as an example, you don’t have The Best Defense active, since you’ve been in shield and haven’t yet connected another move before the Jab.

Up Tilt
OK, since I mentioned Up Tilt so much during Jab, I should probably go over it next. Up Tilt is actually similar to Ryu’s held up tilt: an uppercut above and in front of Doomfist, using his gauntlet arm. While it has a decent amount of startup, Up Tilt covers a big area due to the gauntlet’s sheer size. Dealing 10% on hit, it also pops opponents up a distance that varies quite a bit depending on the opponent’s percent. At low damage levels, Up Tilt just barely pops the opponent up, keeping them up close and personal. Nearing high percents, it launches them further into the air, setting up a juggle and an opportunity to threaten the opponent with a Rising Uppercut. Up Tilt actually has pretty low ending lag compared to its startup, meaning that it’s great for keeping the pressure going after you connect. For example, Up Tilt → read the airdodge → punish with Jab at mid percents, or Up Tilt → read the jump away → dash in / charge Rocket Punch to cover the landing.

Up Tilt is amazing as an anti-air too, and while it doesn’t actually have the type of disjoint a sword would, it covers a big area in the airspace that Doomfist doesn’t usually occupy during his idle stance. So while it’s possible for an aerial to beat the attack out while Doomfist is still punching by hitting the gauntlet, after the move ends Doomfist’s hurtbox leaves that area entirely. For this reason, it’s amazing at stuffing many aerial approaches, as well as punishing jumps and landings by themselves. Empty-hopping has never been so risky an option!

There’s really not that much else to it; Up Tilt is a pretty simple move. In terms of Doomfist’s ground game, however, it and Jab play crucial roles in terms of pressuring the opponent with follow-ups and spacing around the foe’s options. Just note that it’s not entirely safe on shield, since there is still a decent amount of endlag despite how I might’ve made it sound earlier.

Down Tilt
Winding back his gauntlet fist yet again, Doomfist forcefully punches the ground in front of him, kind of similarly to Samus’s dtilt in a way – but with more emphasis, and with the “impact” of the move coming from Doomfist hitting the ground rather than from an explosion. Down Tilt normally deals 10% of damage and Sakurai Angle knockback, but it has a sweetspot at the tip – right where the fist hits the ground. By catching an opponent right at this range, you’ll instead deal 16% of damage and a pretty strong semi-spike. At low percents, it can set up for an edgeguard or a tech-chase – and of course, at high-end percents it can kill outright. When you consider that Down Tilt can punish a two-frame with good timing, it just gets scarier!

Another use of Down Tilt is as a less risky version of Down Smash, in terms of pressuring a shield. It’s unpunishable in a similar way, but in exchange for less lag, it’s only truly unpunishable when spaced at maximum range. There is, after all, still a decent bit of ending lag to the move!

But that’s not all: by holding the A button during the first bit of startup (before Doomfist begins the actual punching motion), you can add about 15 frames to the wind-up on Down Tilt. Note that this is a set amount; it’s either you add 15 frames, or you don’t. You can’t vary the charge time. In exchange for speed, not only does the damage on Down Tilt increase by 3% for either of the hitboxes, but it also adds an earthshaking hitbox in front of Doomfist which stretches a platform’s distance across the ground. It only hits grounded opponents, popping them straight up while dealing 8% of damage. Base knockback is moderate, but it doesn’t scale much at all, meaning that it consistently pops the opponent up a small distance across all damage levels.

The main application here is to force a landing from the opponent after connecting with the earthshake. Since the shockwave counts as a gauntlet attack, The Best Defense invalidates attacking as an option immediately after getting hit, so the opponent must choose a defensive option. You can’t actually act quickly enough to directly punish a double-jump away from or towards Doomfist. However, you can very much punish landing with either an airdodge, an attack, or just landing normally – by simply attacking with the shockwave again. So you can basically force the opponent to jump either away from or towards you (if they land, they just get hit), and then cover that landing Doomfist-style. Since the foe has now used up their jump, their landing is now more predictable and linear, and thus easier to punish.

Down Tilt’s shockwave, like the Seismic Slam shockwave, pulls / “pushes back” shielding opponents toward Doomfist, oddly enough, leaving him open to a punish if this hit is shielded. So while the second Down Tilt shockwave after the first one can punish landings quite easily, if the foe keeps their head in the game – and if Doomfist isn’t TAS enough to punish the three-odd frames of normal landing lag before the shield can come out – there is a way to counter this strategy. But good luck keeping a level head against someone like Doomfist!

Forward Tilt
Doomfist lunges forward in the blink of an eye, letting out an outstretched punch with his gauntlet similarly to Bowser’s ftilt (both in terms of basic animation and startup lag). Forward Tilt boasts pretty fast startup compared to some of Doomfist’s other attacks (such as Down Tilt), while also having a lot of range due to the way Doomfist takes a big step forward. The gauntlet deals 11% of damage and sizable knockback with high-end BKB but kinda low scaling, launching the foe at an angle a bit above the semi-spike window. As far as KO percents, it’s just a bit weaker than Cloud’s ftilt. You can also angle Forward Tilt up or down if you'd like.

Since Doomfist throws pretty much his whole body into the attack, Forward Tilt’s big weakness is endlag. While it's a very quick poke indeed, the immense endlag makes it unsafe on shield, since most opponents can punish it with something like a dash attack. It's mainly useful for stuffing approaches and other committal actions from the opponent, especially with The Best Defense active. And that relatively quick startup combined with range means that Forward Tilt is ideal for catching the opponent off-guard!

Dash Attack
Out of his dash, Doomfist performs a shoulder ram with his gauntlet – it’s pretty similar to Captain Falcon, Samus, and Ganon’s dash attacks as far as the animation goes. The main difference at first glance is the fact that Doomfist lunges forward a noticeably longer distance, but the properties of each hitbox are also different. The initial hit of Dash Attack deals 14% and knockback that KOs from center-stage beginning at around 110%, serving at lower percents to simply launch the opponent and give Doomfist stage control. At kill percents, Dash Attack’s sweetspot is a great way to cover landings. Compared to Rocket Punch (Forward Smash), it’s less of a commitment to run up and then Dash Attack; but in exchange, it’s not as powerful nor does it cover as much ground at once. Plus, Rocket Punch’s semi-spike angle is pretty dang handy even if it doesn’t KO outright.

Hitting later in the move, meanwhile, pops the opponent straight up. Unless you hit at the very end of the Dash Attack, this means that the foe will end up behind Doomfist. From here, he can simply jump up and pressure the foe with his Back Air. We haven’t gone over that move yet, but keep Dash Attack in mind for when we go over it. Basically, you can use Back Air to essentially force the opponent to airdodge, and then follow that up with a grounded punish. You could also hard-commit to charging a smash attack and not use the Back Air at all – relying on the simple threat of Back Air to make them airdodge – but that’s a bit risky, and gives them a chance to just jump away.

GRAB GAME

Grab
Normally, Doomfist actually grabs opponents with his left hand (no gauntlet). Doomfist’s grab is actually one of his few quicker moves, having nice frame data and decent reach for a grab. The exception here is ending lag, which is actually kinda long and punishable on whiff. As for the pummel, it’s a meaty punch with the gauntlet, since Doomfist holds the foe in his other hand. This is by far the most powerful pummel in the game, dealing a massive (for a pummel) 6% as well as activating The Best Defense. However, it’s obviously quite a bit slower than other pummels in the game, so make of it what you will. Going for a pummel at all is a bit risky, since the opponent might be able to break out before you even get a chance to throw at low percents. However, given that some of Doomfist’s better combo / follow-up throws don’t actually use the gauntlet, getting The Best Defense active is also invaluable.

When pivot-grabbing, Doomfist actually uses his gauntlet to grab the opponent as he turns around. Like most pivot-grabs, this has more reach than a normal or dash-grab – for Doomfist, this makes sense because of the gauntlet’s added size. This also changes Doomfist’s pummel, since he now holds the opponent in his gauntlet and pummels with his left fist. It’s now a more standard 3% pummel, but with the speed of Little Mac’s pummel (15 frames). This ends up having more damage potential due to the speed of the pummel, but in exchange, you don’t get to activate The Best Defense. Doomfist’s pivot-grab actually has noticeably less ending lag than his normal or dash-grab, but in exchange for the added range and reduced ending lag, you can’t inflict The Best Defense by pummeling.

As for the actual throw animations, pivot-grabbing doesn’t affect them at all; he holds the foe in the same hand at this point regardless of which grab was used.

Down Throw
Holding the opponent in his gauntlet, Doomfist lifts them up briefly before immediately slamming them onto the floor – as in, slamming his open palm onto the ground with the opponent along for the ride. Right upon hitting the ground, the foe is dealt 12% by the impact to the ground, along with a meteor smash. That spike is actually pretty dang powerful, treating the opponent as “grounded.” So it can be teched instantly, but if you don’t tech it, it’ll launch you upward. Down Throw actually begins to KO beginning at around 160% if you don’t tech, while at lower percents it can actually lead to some follow-ups. The combination of a low knockback-to-hitstun ratio (since it’s a spike) and The Best Defense being activated by the throw makes this quite potent indeed!

As for the tech-chase element, that’s kinda basic. The main thing to note is how, since Doomfist has a lot of high-committal attacks, it’s a bit tricky to cover multiple tech options at once. And you might get punished if you try to commit too hard to a given tech read. Down Throw is pretty dang tricky to tech in the first place, since it’s kind of a quick animation. Using a pummel, however, might give the foe more time to react; especially with the non-pivot-grab version.

Forward Throw
Gripping the opponent tight in his left arm, Doomfist winds up a big punch with his gauntlet. Then he lets it rip, dealing a meaty 16% on hit! In terms of damage, this makes it among the most powerful throws in the game. As for knockback, a good comparison is Pit’s forward throw but with an increase in knockback across the board. So it KOs from the ledge at around 130% with DI, and at low percents it’ll launch the opponent something like a third to half a stage width away.

Forward Throw’s knockback angle isn’t quite low enough to set up tech-chases outside of very low percents, but it can hit the opponent into your wall construct with good positioning. Given the throw’s damage, comboing out of it via a wall can lead to devastating damage output. But since you need to have the wall there in the first place, it’s very situational. Typically, Forward Throw is great for getting the opponent offstage for an edgeguard, or as a direct KO at very high percents. It also activates The Best Defense, which is especially handy when going for an edgeguard. Certain characters rely on the hitbox on their recovery move in order to return to the stage safely, so this tactic can really mess with them!
Up Throw
Keeping things a bit simpler, Doomfist delivers a swift uppercut with his left fist, dealing 9% of damage and knockback similar to Ike’s up throw. Like Ike’s, this throw is amazing for follow-ups, keeping the foe relatively close at any percent. At kill percents he can get 50-50s, while at low percents he has a couple of guaranteed follow-ups. Your main follow-ups are Rising Uppercut and various aerial attacks, but for punishing airdodges, a lot of your grounded moves can also work depending on percent. The main thing to note is that Up Throw does not activate The Best Defense, so while it’s awesome for setups, the opponent might have the ability to attack Doomfist as an escape option. Compared to Down Throw, Up Throw is simultaneously more and less consistent. It’s more consistent in that the opponent can’t choose to tech, but less consistent in that the foe can potentially hit you since it doesn’t activate The Best Defense.

Back Throw
Doomfist grabs the foe in his gauntlet hand, but instead of pummeling them, he heaves them backward with a pretty “heavy”-feeling throw. This deals 9% and upward-backward knockback, which has somewhat high base knockback and low scaling. So the knockback sends them something like half a stage width to the side, and 1.5 platforms into the air. Since Doomfist doesn’t actually “hit” the foe with the gauntlet, Back Throw doesn’t activate The Best Defense. However, immediately after the throw, Doomfist then takes aim and fires a round from his Hand Cannon. Back Throw doesn’t need to recharge like Neutral B does, and also doesn’t use up Neutral B’s charge. It always deals 6% of damage, while also halting the opponent’s initial knockback from the throw and sending them downward much like in Neutral B.

Back Throw is designed for a couple of things. First, it puts the opponent into the air relatively close to Doomfist, forcing a reaction. One nice thing about this application is that, due to the distance between him and the opponent, Doomfist can potentially charge Rocket Punch with safety even if The Best Defense isn’t active. From here, he can punish an airdodge by releasing Rocket Punch. However, Rocket Punch’s charge usually can’t be held for long enough to also punish the landing after a midair jump, so you’ve gotta be ready to punish with other things too.

Uniquely, this throw is also designed to get the opponent over a wall and then put them on the other side of it. This is your main way of getting your wall construct between yourself and the opponent, in order to pressure them with either the rubble created by hitting the wall or the threat of hitting the wall to gain The Best Defense and then approaching with that super-armor active.

If you actually hit the foe into a wall with Back Throw (by being very close to the wall), then the Hand Cannon follow-up is also kinda handy for tacking on extra damage. However, you should be wary when doing this. Normally with Back Throw, the Hand Cannon’s hitstun allows Doomfist to still have a frame advantage. But when you hit the foe into a wall, the wall “uses” the initial throw knockback to determine how long the foe is stuck in the wall; the Hand Cannon’s knockback and hitstun basically have no effect once the foe is stuck in the wall. So unless The Best Defense is active, at low percents the foe might actually be able to punish Doomfist for sending them into a wall with Back Throw!

AERIALS

Neutral Air
Doomfist delivers a swift punch from his left arm at a downward 45* angle, acting as a quick air-to-ground poke. Nair starts very quickly, but has a decent bit of endlag in the air. Its landing lag is low, though, so by using Nair right before you land, you can potentially make it less punishable at the end. Upon hitting a shield, Nair doesn’t have a lot of shieldstun or shield pushback, so you’ll need a bit of timing and spacing to avoid an out-of-shield punish.

When it actually hits an opponent, Nair deals 9% of damage and actually pops the opponent up a short distance. So it’s awesome for follow-ups, since Doomfist’s grounded / midair jumps are usually enough to connect with another aerial outside of higher percents. Like with Jab, however, Nair’s setbacks are its poor range and lack of The Best Defense. In this way, Nair is perhaps best used for continuing combos and strings, rather than starting them on its own. However, you can potentially catch an opponent by surprise due to Nair’s quick startup, and it still puts Doomfist in a pretty dang good advantage state.
Up Air
Gripping the wrist of his gauntlet with his left hand, Doomfist thrusts his gauntlet in an attack somewhat similar to Cloud’s uair in terms of animation. Basically, Doomfist’s forearm replaces Cloud’s sword, as he attacks with the blunt side of his forearm for a wide-coverage attack. Unlike Cloud’s uair, the hitbox doesn’t cover Doomfist’s body below the final location of the arm, only hitting high up. Additionally, it has more endlag than Cloud’s uair, but rather low landing lag. So it’s a pretty good idea to land after an Up Air rather than trying to stay in the air when trying to juggle. Because of this, Up Air is also best for ending strings rather than starting or continuing them, unless you’re already close to the ground.

Up Air deals 11% of damage on hit, while its upward launch has high base knockback but low scaling. It sends the opponent up pretty far across the board, but it won’t KO at reasonable percents unless you’re already high up. Given this attack’s high knockback and ending lag, Doomfist’s juggle game is based around single, isolated interactions rather than multiple consecutive hits.

The Best Defense comes into play in a big way here; upon hitting with Up Air, The Best Defense should last long enough for you to have it active the next time the opponent falls into you. So you can safely wait for an airdodge without fear of being attacked, or Up Air without fear of a trade from the opponent. The foe could expend their midair jump in order to avoid The Best Defense by “stalling” in the air and outlasting the 1.5-second timer. However, this means that they then have to land without having access to a jump, giving Doomfist a big advantage and an opportunity to punish. So basically, the opponent loses the option to jump away but gains the ability to attack Doomfist.

Aside from that, Up Air is a solid confirm off of several of Doomfist’s other attacks, such as Rising Uppercut (Up Smash), Seismic Slam (Side B) at higher percents, Down Throw, Up Throw, and a late-hit Dash Attack. It’s also his main way to punish jumps in general, acting as a bit less of a commitment than Rising Uppercut (Up Smash) – but it’s still punishable, of course.
Forward Air
Forward Air is another cornerstone of Doomfist’s punish game along with Up Air, acting as his best way to capitalize on an airdodge. It’s basically a mini-Rocket Punch, as Doomfist winds up for nearly a full half-second before unleashing a devastating punch from his gauntlet. This is probably the slowest aerial attack in the game in terms of startup, but in return, it has a few notable properties.

First and foremost is Forward Air’s ridiculous damage output, dealing a whole 19% of damage – the same as a half-charged Forward Smash, or Captain Falcon’s hard knee. Its knockback is similarly over-the-top, with similar strength to the knee and a semi-spike angle to boot. Forward Air is ridiculously laggy, so you might think that this isn’t very viable to land. However, the startup lag is tuned to line up with the ending lag of an airdodge – so if you input Forward Air right when the opponent uses an airdodge, they’ll be eating that charged punch to the face!

Like the Forward Smash variant of Rocket Punch, Fair gives Doomfist a boost forward, similarly to Ike’s uncharged Quick Draw – except Doomfist starts falling immediately after his momentum is reset at the beginning of the punch. Doomfist covers a good amount of ground – er, air – with the punch’s hitbox, and doesn’t stop upon hitting a foe. However, it’s weakened to “““only””” 15% and still rather strong knockback during the second half of the travel. This property is very handy against floaty characters with high air speeds, since they can’t just drift away from Doomfist to avoid a punish. Given Doomfist’s poor aerial acceleration, this is very welcome indeed! And obviously, it’s also nice for recovery. Just be wary that it leaves you open to an edgeguard due to the startup! You’re also gonna fall kinda far down due to that charge, but given Meteor Strike’s infinite vertical recovery, that’s not really a concern for Doomfist.

This move’s landing lag is normally pretty high, if you land during or shortly before / shortly after the punch itself. However, if you land at any point while Doomfist is still charging up the punch – that is, at any point before a few frames prior to the hitbox – it actually autocancels! It’s similar to Ness’s down air in that regard, allowing Doomfist to land laglessly. While this doesn’t make Forward Air any safer on shield when you do choose to use the punch, it does give Doomfist a very powerful mixup in neutral. By shorthopping and immediately performing a Forward Air, the hop gives Doomfist just enough time to get the punch out immediately before landing. By fast-falling at any time during this hop, you can land before the attack comes out, get the autocancel, and potentially play off of the opponent’s fear. If they shield in anticipation of the Fair, for example, you can grab. Or you could instead punish what the opponent does *after* shielding, e.g. punish a jump OoS with an aerial.

There are, however, a couple of drawbacks to this mixup. First and foremost, the startup lag creates a very big window during which you can be punished for attempting the mixup. So if you go for this mixup a lot and get too predictable, there’s definitely a very viable counter-strategy. Additionally, if the opponent holds shield and you go for the punch, it’s ridiculously unsafe on shield. It sends you rocketing forward right into their shield-grab range – not to mention the landing lag! Forward Air can take out a decent chunk of a foe’s shield health, but it’s not worth the trade. Overall, this move is extremely deadly in the right hands, but leaves Doomfist wide open if the player doesn’t know how or when to use it.
Back Air
After his unorthodox Forward Air, Doomfist’s Back Air is a decidedly simpler move, and a very welcome one for those times when you just need a strong, long-ranged poke. He turns around with a swinging punch from his gauntlet arm, similarly to Ganon’s or Falcon’s back air. It’s a decent bit slower than those attacks, and its power isn’t a significant upgrade or anything, as its 15% of damage is actually a touch lower than Ganon’s. Instead, Back Air boasts impressive range due to the size of Doomfist’s gauntlet, able to poke at opponents from long-range with a pretty powerful KO move.

Bair autocancels from a full-hop but not a short-hop, and has kinda high landing lag. However, by using it right before landing with the right spacing, you can actually make Bair unpunishable on shield! Of course, if the opponent dodges preemptively, they can get a punish – but then you can read *that* and punish them for, say, jumping over or spotdodging the Bair. If you do hit a shield, you can predict which escape option the opponent will choose. And of course, hitting the opponent directly with Back Air means death at high percent, due to the move’s knockback. As I said, Back Air is pretty simple, but it acts as a good “glue” move, giving Doomfist an all-around spacing and pressure tool to use in certain situations in between some of his fancier gameplay.
Down Air
Finally, Down Air is a very threatening attack in Doomfist’s arsenal, unique in that it’s an aerial that behaves like a command-grab. Doomfist turns upside down, reaching downward with his gauntlet hand in an attempt to grab an opponent. This stance lasts as long as Link’s down air, including the period of time after Doomfist grabs an opponent. That is to say, the earlier into the move Doomfist grabs the opponent, the longer he’ll have them in his grasp.

After grabbing a foe with Down Air, Doomfist’s maximum falling speed is also noticeably increased. This has a pretty immediate effect due to Doomfist’s rather high gravity, so it’s almost like a semi-stall-then-fall without the stall. Other than that, you can move just like a normal aerial attack both before and after landing the Down Air. A fun way to use Down Air is immediately after jumping – it’s one of those things in Smash that looks kinda weird, but is pretty fun to play around with. You can actually grab an opponent while rising upward from the jump! Just be wary of Down Air’s landing lag, which is pretty dang heavy if you miss the grab.

Speaking of missing the grab, *not* missing the grab has Doomfist simply hold the foe in his grasp, preparing to slam them into the ground below. Upon hitting the ground, the result is basically a weaker version of Down Throw, dealing 10% and a spike that isn’t as powerful but can still be used at higher percents to launch the foe upward for a combo. At low percents, the opponent is simply put into prone, like Ganon’s Flame Choke. And of course, at any percent the opponent has the option to tech, which Doomfist is well-equipped to punish. Like with Down Throw, it’s all about reading the opponent’s tech option (or lack thereof) and punishing with a heavy-hitting blow. Down Air’s advantage when compared to other aerials is its ability to directly counter shields, but in return, you need to read a tech.

If you fail to land after grabbing an opponent, i.e. if the Down Air ends before you hit the ground, you’ll simply release the opponent much like a normal grab release. Unlike a normal air release, though, this sends the foe at an angle reminiscent of a semi-spike, meaning that Doomfist can continue to pressure the opponent! While you probably won’t have The Best Defense active (since only the slam into the ground triggers it, not the grab itself), the ability to drag an opponent offstage and below the ledge like this is very powerful indeed. Doomfist, after all, has no fear of going this low below the stage due to Meteor Strike!
 
Last edited:

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
AKU, THE SHAPESHIFTING MASTER OF EVIL!

AKU, THE DELIVERER OF DARKNESS!

AKU, THE SHOGUN OF SORROW!

AKU, THE MASTER OF MASTERS!


Aku (From Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion)

Aku is the main villain and main character of Cartoon Network’s Samurai Jack. A godlike being with shapeshifting powers and GREAT FLAMING EYEBROWS! Aku is potentially one of the most powerful characters in fiction, being nigh-indestructible, and his shapeshifting powers giving him an incredible amount of versatility. He even managed to take over the entire universe in the show, and actually kills Jack at the end of the series! That’s what actually happens!

That’s what happened in my heart.

Anyway, this is a set specifically remixing his set from Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion, an absolutely dreadful Smash Bros. clone that is both amazingly unbalanced, and amazingly glitchy. You know all that shapeshifting stuff and invincibility I mentioned above? Yeah, Aku has none of that in this set.

Aku is, fittingly enough, considered the, ahem, “best” character in the entire game, entirely due to how unpolished he is. He has the best jumps in the game, which shapeshifts him into a bat form. If you use his Neutral Special during this, Aku will fire out an infinite range beam attack with zero lag. It just blinks in. There’s also a glitch involving the bat form where he’ll end up stuck in bat form even while on the ground. Its hilarious.

Anyway, this set basically aims to take his set from PTE, and basically just make it better. There won’t be much deviation from the general concepts, so don’t expect Aku to do anything really cool during this. You’ll have to wait for an actual Aku set to come out for that.


STATISTICS!

Weight – 108
Run Speed – 1.6
Walk Speed – 0.8
Air Speed – 1.7
Fall Speed – 1​

Aku is a heavyweight with really good jumps. This is thanks to him transforming into a bat during the jumps, which also happens to give him three aerial jumps. While he falls down, he’ll flap his wings, slowing his potential fall immensely. However, he will not become a bat when knocked into the air, and must get out of stun before turning back into a bat. His other stats are not much to talk about, fitting for a heavyweight. Size wise, Aku has a very thin model around his middle, and puffs out at the top with his chest. He stands slightly taller than Ganondorf, making him one of the tallest characters in the game.


SPECIAL ATTACKS!

Neutral Special – Eye Lasers of EVIL!

AKU’S MOST INFAMOUS ATTACK! The GRAND MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE stares at the ground, firing a red laser beam OF EVIL directly at the ground. If the button is tapped, then this is all that happens, but when the button is held, Aku will move his head, causing the laser to skim across the ground. It can travel a total of 1.5 Battlefield platforms forward. The beam technically has infinite range, though this is only relevant when the laser goes offstage. It will deal 10% damage, and directly upwards knockback that can KO at 120%.

The normal tap is fairly useless compared to the held version, but it comes out rather quickly, a very small number of frames. The tapped beam also only fires 1/3rd of a Battlefield platform in front of Aku, making it somewhat of a decent poking tool at the very least. The tapped version is also significantly weaker, only dealing 3% on contact with the opponent, and much weaker knockback.

The moving version is very obviously better, but it does move at a very slow speed, around Ganon’s run speed to be exact. Its larger range helps, and it can be an especially effective edgeguarding tool in a few places as well. It does, unfortunately, leave Aku rather open, and he can easily be knocked out of it. But in the right place, it can be one of Aku’s DEADLIEST WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION!

Of course, the real showstopper is the infamous aerial version. Unfortunately, it’s no longer an unavoidable wall of DEATH AND DESPAIR, but rather, has Bat Aku shooting out a quick laser beam forwards, roughly twice the size of Falco’s laser. While this makes it incredibly long, it only moves at around 1.5x the speed of the grounded laser sweep. It also actually has a definite range now, at around 2 Battlefield Platforms before vanishing.

The laser can still be used out of a shorthop, but it now has actual lag to it rather than being instant. The lag is still fairly quick, but out of a shorthop you’ll only be able to fire a single laser out. And don’t go thinking you can just spam the lasers, Aku can now only have three out at a time. They also only deal 5% damage now, with weaker knockback as well. The attack is much weaker now, but still considerably spammable, and still a major part of Aku’s overall playstyle.

FOOL! AKU DOES NOT GROW WEAKER, HE SIMPLY PREFERS TO GIVE HIS OPPONENTS A CHANCE! HAHAHAHAHA!


Side Special – Ramming Speed
Aku enters a rather speedy morphing animation, transforming into a ram. The ram is much shorter and a lot wider than Aku normally is, the model coming in at around half his height, and twice as wide as the upper half of his body. When on the ground, Aku will charge forward at roughly 2 units of speed, the same as Charizard’s dash. Aku will only remain in ram form until he charges 2 Battlefield Platforms forward, but can exit it at any time by jumping.

The start-up animation has very little lag to it, being a remarkably fluid transformation effect. The hitbox becomes active as soon as he’s in ram form, which takes up the entire front half of the ram model. The hitbox deals 3% damage, with weak knockback, but the hitstun is rather good. At low percentages, ranging from 0% to 20%, Aku will be able to ram into the opponent multiple times, with the most being 3 hits for 9% damage.

Either when the attack ends, or when you press the attack button, Aku will perform another attack in his ram form. He’ll grind to a halt, and then swing his head upwards. This is a powerful launching tool, capable of KOing at 130%, but is remarkably laggy. Its most effective use is to use it out of a previous ram hit, before the hitstun wears off and the opponent can react. The hitbox of the headbutt behaves more like an uppercut attack, launching foes directly into the air and dealing 10% damage.

This can be hard to pull off at, well, any point that isn’t when the opponent is at 0% damage. Even then, a smart opponent can probably see it coming and dodge out of the way. Using the headbutt practically requires using the ramming attack first, but there are some circumstances where it can land a good hit by itself. Finally, using the headbutt will instantly stop Aku, and cause him to suffer some severely punishable endlag, lasting around 30 frames. Even when cancelling out of the move, he’ll end up suffering some endlag, but only 20 frames of it.

When used in the air, Aku will enter a fairly similar start-up animation, with the same lag, and transform into a ram. After this, the rest of the attack behaves much differently. Instead of running forward on air like he would in PTE, Aku will enter a downward falling motion, flying down in an arc. Aku still has forward reach, depending entirely on his height. He travels in an arcing motion, and at the top of the screen in Final Destination, can travel 3/4ths of it.

This, combined with Aku’s already impressive aerial maneuverability, can result in some impressive saves from Aku. However, if he ends up being hit during the attack, he will be put into helpless. And Aku is pretty open during this attack, his low fall speed coming into play here. This still does function as an attack, however, and Ram Aku’s front half still functions as a hitbox, though now its pointing diagonally downwards rather than forwards. If it connects with a foe, it’ll deal meteor smash knockback and 10% damage.

But as said before, Aku is still very open, due to how aerial priority works. If he is hit during the attack, even if he also hits the opponent, he’ll end up knocked back into his normal demon form, and enter helpless. The fall also has some very punishable endlag, like the normal variant. Ram Aku will fall on his face, and then shift back to normal. When the ram hits the ground, it will wriggle about a bit before shifting back to Aku, coming in at around 30 frames.


Up Special – Octo-Whirl

Aku leaps into the air, performing the same transformation animation, transforming into a circle with multiple tentacles coming around it (Hereafter called an octopus for simplicity’s sake), all of which begin to spin around in a counter-clockwise motion. This is one of Aku’s safer attacks, as it creates a hitbox on all around him. The tentacles spread out fairly far, there are a lot of them, and they spin around very fast. This only lasts for 20 frames before he reverts to normal.

On the ground, the transformation will bring Aku up… an Aku into the air, basically. Once the attack stops, Aku will transform back in midair, not in helpless. This means it counts as an aerial attack, and will suffer the same priority as an aerial, but you will most likely be able to hit the opponent first before they hit you. As a hitbox, its range is fairly astounding, and its actual attack is even better. The tentacles will deal 8% damage if the opponent comes in contact with them, with directly upwards knockback that can KO at 150%.

While this might not SOUND astounding, it is. We’ll get there in a moment. The tentacles don’t deal multiple hits despite how the move looks, but it is easy to combo into itself. If an opponent is hit from the tentacles on the bottom, they will fly up through Octopus Aku, and hit the tentacles on the upper half, which will then launch them further. If Aku uses this while directly on top of the opponent, they will actually end up suffering 3 hits due to weird hitbox placement, but this can be difficult to pull off.

When used in the air, Aku will do a similar transformation animation, but won’t actually leap into the air. He’ll instead only jut upwards about half a Kirby high, meaning this is NOT good for recoveries. But why would Aku need a recovery if he already has some of the best jumps in the game! Combined with his Side Special, recovery is a walk in the park for our emperor of chaos.

This move DOES have some uses regarding recovery, mostly that it completely stops Aku’s momentum when used. When the attack ends, Aku will also be put back into bat form without going into helpless either, allowing him to use however many jumps he had left. And that isn’t all this can be used for! In fact, the main purpose of the attack ultimately comes down to how its used in the air.

Aku has an amazing aerial game, its his main feature, and this move is one of the catalysts. The jut upwards helps give it some reach while in the air, and can easily allow it to hit a juggled opponent. Its knockback is good enough that it can KO an opponent at 80% from just above Battlefield’s highest platform! This makes it a great way to KO off the top screen, and one of Aku’s primary KO sources in general.


Down Special – Scorpion’s Sting

Aku, much like the last two attacks, goes into a smooth shapeshifting animation. This time, he transforms into a large scorpion. The scorpion has a completely different hurtbox from Aku’s normal form, being slightly shorter, but much wider, nearly a full Bowser in size. In contrast with his other transformations, Scorpion Aku actually HAS a hurtbox, and this is for a specific reason.

By holding the special attack button down, Aku can remain in his scorpion form for however long he wants. Unfortunately, the scorpion has no jump, and moves at Robin’s walk speed (Considerably better than Robin considering the size). The scorpion doesn’t have armor to it either, and an opponent hitting Aku will cause him to revert to normal, suffering a bit of endlag as well.

The only way to get out of the scorpion transformation without being hit is to let go of the button, causing it to perform its attack. The attack consists of Aku performing 15 punches in a row with his claws and stinger tail, 5 for each of them. Aku will then finish with a much stronger sting from his tail, which deals 5% damage, and backwards knockback that can KO at 150%. This attack is relatively fast, functionally having the same hitbox as a rapid jab, catching opponents in it. But like a rapid jab, it will also push opponents away after a few hits. It also has jab level reach as well, Aku’s actual jab having better reach.

The best, and only, way to use this move is to back an opponent into somewhere they can’t escape, and then use it to deliver the full 20% damage combo to them. This can be decent for knocking opponents offstage, but it also works well when they’re pressed up against a wall, as they’ll have no way to escape. The knockback will turn into upwards knockback when used against a wall as well, due to the bounce. This can easily open the opponent up for aerial combos.

Overall, this move kind of sucks unless used in very specific situations. Only use it when it seems like an absolutely good idea.


STANDARD ATTACKS!

Jab – Combo of Darkness

Aku performs a pretty standard 3 hit jab. The first hit has him swiping towards the screen with one hand, the second has him swiping in the opposite direction with both, and then the final hit has him slamming both hands into the ground. These all have pretty average range, with the final hit having the most as Aku stretches out nearly half a Battlefield platform to perform it.

The first hit deals 2%, the second hit deals another 2%, while the last hit deals 4%, totalling to 8% damage in total. There isn’t amazing knockback to the move either, but its backwards and gets the job done for a jab.

Infamously, the jab is nearly impossible to fully combo with in Punch Time Explosion, unless used at a very specific range. This is made up for here, as the knockback dealt by the second hit, while small, is enough to push it directly into the third hit. This is also helped by an extra bit of lag on the last hit as well, guaranteeing that the third attack will always hit the opponent.


Forward Tilt – The Long Reach of Evil
Aku pulls his arm back, and then slashes it forward, the arm extending out farther than it usually can due to his shapeshifting powers. This attack has some very good range to it, nearly being able to reach a full Battlefield Platform in length. The hand expands slightly too, giving it that extra edge on reach. The entire arm acts as a hitbox as well, though the actual hand acts as a sweetspot, the expansion helping to make it easier to hit with.

The sweetspot deals 8% damage with somewhat decent knockback, but the hand is also the least active of the move’s two hitboxes, as the arm will come out first due to the loose animation of the attack. The hand deals somewhat decent knockback to it, while the arm only deals 4% damage, and light knockback, but the hitstun is decent enough to make it safe on hit. Finally, the lag of the move is mediocre, as it has a fairly slow start-up, but ends quickly.


Up Tilt – Clap for your Master!

Aku lowers his hands to his sides, and then quickly claps upwards. This attack has a bit of lag at the start of it, but the hitbox itself activates very quickly, though it also disappears very quickly as well. The lag can be somewhat useful, however, as it can be used in advance and such. It also isn’t that terrible in general, but more along the lines of noticeable.

When Aku swipes his hands upwards, a brief red effect comes from them, and reaches out onto both sides of his model. These act as hitboxes, performing 3% damage each, and launch opponents up into the air, most likely to be comboed by the clap. This can be used as a good combo starter, but the lag near the start will generally be a bit of trouble when performing it, keeping it from being too reliable. The hitboxes at the side are small as well, and can only really hit if the opponent is right next to Aku.

Finally, the clap’s actual hitbox is fairly large, as Aku’s clawed hands will expand slightly. This isn’t a cartoonish exaggeration, since Aku is a shapeshifter and can just do something like that if he wanted to. Anyway, its large size is decent for catching airborne opponents, and it deals 8% damage with upwards knockback. As said before, this can be used as a decent combo starter, and can be comboed fairly easily into air game or the Up Smash.


Down Tilt – Sweep of Doom

From his awkward looking crouching position (Aku’s body curves in so he can give the illusion of crouching), Aku will swipe one of his hands at the ground. This has remarkably bad range, reaching just in front of Aku, but deals 8% damage and upwards pop knockback. It also has very little endlag, making it another decent move to transition into air game with.

In PTE, this attack is a pain to actually hit with (Warlord speculated that the hitbox is place lower than the actual attack animation), but that’s been fixed here! The attack can now actually hit opponents without them being at a ridiculously specific range. Of course, this also removes anything truly interesting about it, turning it into a fairly standard DTilt.


Dashing Attack – The Hands of Destruction

Aku leans forwards while dashing, and thrusts his fists forward, both expanding slightly in size due to his shapeshifting powers. This is a VERY standard dash attack, which still retains all momentum as he travels forward. The attack has decent range to it, thanks to Aku’s long, evil arms, the entirety of which counts as a hitbox, and activates fairly quickly, preventing the blind spot it had in the original game. The punch comes out rather quick, the hitbox only activating once the arms have fully extended.

However, the only interesting property the move has is its sweetspot and sourspot. The sweetspot consists of the fists, which, while dashing, are the easiest to hit with. These deal 8% damage, and decent backwards knockback that can KO at 170%. The sourspot consists of his actual arms, which deal 3% and weak knockback. The knockback will is incapable of actually knocking the opponent back, making it very unsafe on hit.


SMASH ATTACKS!

Forward Smash – GREAT FLAMING BREATH!

Aku leans backwards and takes a deep breath, before blowing out a stream of fire from his mouth. This smash has some decent range to it, stretching forward half a Battlefield Platform. The flames last a while as well, 25 frames, remaining an active hitbox the entire time. The flame breath deals a fairly standard 13-16% damage, with decent knockback to it that can KO at around 140% when fully charged.

Aku can aim the flame breath up and down, making slight adjustments with the control stick, though they move rather slowly. The direction can be changed more… directly, by doing a normal Smash tilt, aiming it diagonally upwards, or diagonally downwards. These have their own practical uses, as the hitbox is difficult to hit smaller characters with, and the upwards diagonal version can help with aerial opponents.

Aku does have a few vulnerable spots during this, however. First is that the lag of the attack is fairly bad, specifically the ending lag, where Aku stops to catch his breath. The start-up lag is fairly quick, on the flipside. Aku is also fairly vulnerable when he attempts to use the attack up close, as there is a small gap between his mouth and the fire which doesn’t count as a hitbox. This will make it unable to hit certain characters when up close, making it easy to punish him.


Up Smash – Stab of the Dark

Aku bends down slightly and stretches his arms out for the charging animation. He then spikes them upwards, shapeshifting them into more of a spike rather than a clap like the UTilt. This spike has some ridiculously long reach to it, stretching up nearly a full Ganondorf, even without Aku’s alright tall height to it. The entire thing acts as a hitbox as well, making its killer reach even more dangerous.

On top of that, Aku will deal 17-21% damage with the attack, alongside some fairly decent upwards knockback that can KO at 170%. There are a few downsides to this move, however, most notably the lack of ability to hit opponents at the side. This does, in turn, make it a decent follow up to the UTilt. The other major problem is the lag. While it isn’t bad enough to hit opponents that have been comboed, its bad enough to easily see coming if you’re attempting to hit an airborne opponent.

And despite its incredible horizontal range, it has no vertical range, making it fairly easy to avoid if the opponents do see it coming. This is mainly a combo move, as its short endlag help shows. Aku actually has a potential true combo involving UTilt, USmash, and any follow up aerials.


Down Smash – Spikes of Death
Aku braces himself during the charge, and then thrusts his body downwards, his little tentacle tings at the base of his body suddenly jutting out in a circle as spikes. Two of the spikes jut out on the actual stage, creating the actual hitbox for the move. They reach out very far, a full Battlefield Platform, but due to spiking out at a diagonal angle, the full length isn’t fully reached.

The spikes deal 14-18% damage, and will cause diagonal upwards knockback that can KO at 160%. The attack has decent start-up and end lag, neither of which are particularly awful, but don’t let the attack become spammable. The hitbox for the spikes are sort of wonky, however, as they will tend to hit only taller characters, shorter ones like Kirby and Pikachu being difficult to hit unless they’re at point blank range. Aku has a way to get around this however.

Uniquely, Aku’s DSmash can be angle as well, depending on where you flick the control stick during the start-up lag. With this, Aku can shoot the spikes directly upwards, or flat across the floor. Like the FSmash’s tilt, this has several different uses. Flat spikes have much greater reach, can actually hit smaller foes at any range, and deal horizontal knockback. The downside mostly comes from it being very easy to jump over.

The upwards version deals upwards knockback, and unlike the USMash can actually hit opponents at the sides, but unfortunately still has the same reach as a normal DSmash, making it nowhere near as good as the USmash, while still functionally having the same width. It can be used as an alternative combo starter thanks to how quick the move is, but unlike the USmash, this isn’t a true combo, and can be harder to pull off successfully.


AERIAL ATTACKS!

Neutral Aerial – Bat Spin

As mentioned before, while Aku is in the air, he will transform into a bat. The bat is significantly smaller than Aku’s normal model, but its hurtbox is a lot more akin to Kirby’s making it still very easy to hit, even with the good jumps. He remains in bat form throughout all of his aerials as well, and specifically uses the bat’s unique attributes in his own attacks.

For his NAir, Aku will spin around, in an actually practically identical to Kirby’s NAir. This move is practically a clone, and as such isn’t that noteworthy by all accounts. The hitbox surrounds the entirety of Aku’s bat model during this time, and he can even move slightly while performing it. The attack will deal 10% on contact, alongside fairly decent knockback in whichever direction Aku was currently travelling.

This is one of Aku’s go-to aerials, as it has a decently large and easy to hit with hitbox, while also having barely any lag to it. It isn’t spammable due to the knockback, but used correctly, it can easily be the start of an air combo, and perhaps eventual finisher.


Forward Aerial – Flappy Bat

Aku turns to face the screen slightly, and then flaps his wings forwards, both of them expanding thanks to SHAPESHIFTING! This is another remarkably basic attack, but it has somewhat decent reach to it, around a third of a Battlefield Platform away from Aku in reach. It has somewhat bad endlag to it as well, though the start up is good, in a sort of reverse from the UTilt.

The hitbox does remain active for a bit, but not long enough to be a full sex kick. This is what consists of the endlag, and can tend to get in the way of Aku’s jumps in certain situations. The wings deal 13% damage, and have surprisingly good backwards knockback that can KO at 155%. This makes it fairly worthless for Aku’s general air combo game as a transitional attack, but it can be a decent finisher if your cards end up played right.


Up Aerial – Wings of Darkness

Aku rapidly flicks his wings upwards in a rapid hit attack. The wings will slightly expand with each swing, thanks to Aku’s shapeshifting, you know the drill. In the original game, a problem with this attack was that it couldn’t hit directly above Aku, only slightly above and to the side. This is fixed here, as the wings gain enough reach to fully strike above Aku’s bat head, and as such have more range, and are generally better at protecting the Master of Darkness.

The rapid hits total up to around 12% damage, with weak knockback that KOs at 190%. The rapid strikes definitely help with combos, but the weak knockback and decent range help it a ton as well. This is Aku’s best juggling move, and its use as a transitional attack in combos is second to none. One of the most invaluable parts of his set.


Back Aerial – Claws of the Night

Aku tilts over so that his feet are facing behind him, and he quickly thrusts them outwards. This is functionally a sex kick, as Aku will hold his bat legs out for a while, before pulling them back in. At the start, they deal 14% damage, but after around 10 frames after the initial hit they will switch to 8% damage. Not a major drop-off, but it can be nice to hit with them.

The attack comes out relatively quickly, minus Aku having to tilt over, but like most sex kicks, it obviously has a tiny amount of lag at the end. The knockback of the attack is fairly decent, though not comparable to the FAir’s. It can still be used as an effective combo ended if the opponent ends up behind Aku, of course.


Down Aerial – The Winds of Evil

Aku raises his wings upwards, and then swipes them down in a fairly ferocious looking flap. The attack has decent reach to it, mostly because it creates a small hitbox of wind below him, giving it a curved hitbox directly below him, in addition to the actual wings being a hitbox The wings, as a hitbox, only come down at the side, and stretch out slightly to give them a more pronounced hitbox. It isn’t a remarkably powerful move, dealing 11% damage with downwards knockback that isn’t even a meteor smash. Its also somewhat hard to fit this into combos, but it does have its own use.

When the attack is used, Aku will gain a bit of an upwards push. It isn’t very strong and it doesn’t help Aku travel far, but it is noticeable. This functions as a bit of an extra jump, even when Aku has so many jumps at his disposal. While it definitely can be used as a mobility tool, its main purpose comes in making specific height jumps during aerial combos, especially ones from the UAir. Another important piece of Aku’s air game.


GRAB GAME!

Grab & Pummel

Aku reaches forward with a single arm, it not stretching out at all. This is a bog-standard grab, but it does have any reach to it, and is more comparable to some of the better melee grabs in Smash 4. However, it is also fairly slow, and has some ending lag, making it easy to punish if it misses

When Aku grabs the opponent, he will clutch their body in his entire hand, lifting them up and into his menacing gaze. From here, Aku can use his pummel, which has him shooting his eye lasers directly into the foe’s eyes (Or other equivalent), dealing 3% damage. This is one of the stronger pummels in the game, and is suitably slow, though that’s less in the lag and more in the animation taking a long time. Other than that, it does nothing much else.


Forward Throw – Ramming It

For most of his throws, Aku will actually use his transformations again, making those new models not completely worthless. Aku will quickly slam the opponent into the ground, dealing no damage and dealing a set knockback that bounces them off the ground for a moment. He then transforms into his ram form, and gives them a swift headbutt, launching them off.

This is a decent KO throw, as the ram form’s headbutt will deal 8% damage, along with knockback that can KO at 130%. Its relatively fast as well, but the slam at the start can definitely be interrupted very easily if someone else gets in the way of it. There’s also bad ending lag, as Aku will shapeshift back to normal, leaving him slightly open for any potential attacks.


Up Throw – Lazy Throw

From his grab animation, Aku will quickly toss the opponent upwards and… Well, that’s it. Aku cares not for putting effort into his throws! This emulates the terrible throws from PTE itself, complete with it taking under 5 frames to fully complete. To make up for its quick nature, it only deals 5% damage, but the knockback is fairly decent, enough to make it so that the opponent can’t be grabbed again, and for the throw’s other main purpose.

Its main purpose is as a fairly quick combo starter, but only when the opponent is at very early percents, as the knockback is just good enough that at higher percents, it can be a difficult feat to go into a decent combo with it. That’s mostly how this move’s quick and upward nature behaves.


Back Throw – Octo-Punch-Out

Aku tosses the opponent backwards, and then shapeshifts into his octopus form. He then quickly lashes at the opponent with all fo his tentacles, rapidly hitting them and keeping them in mid-air. He then finishes with a punch with all of his tentacles, finally launching the opponent off.

This is a very simple throw, mostly existing for throw reasons, but that’s better than the original game gave us, which was nothing. Each hit technically counts as a separate hitbox, with the first few punches each dealing 1% and totalling up to 8%. The final hit deals 2%, giving the move a total of 10% damage, and knockback that can KO at around 150-160%. The attack comes out fast, but like his FThrow, has a bit fo endlag to it that could possibly be punished.


Down Throw – Arachnophobia

Aku drops the opponent to the ground, and shapeshifts into his scorpion form, pinning them down with his many legs. He then begins to slam his stinger into the pinned opponent, before throwing them back into the air with his pincers. For the final hit, he slams the stinger down again, bouncing the opponent off the ground and into the knockback.

Again, very simple throw attack. This deals rapid hits as well, as Aku hits 3 separate times over the course of the attack. The first two come while the opponent is pinned down, both from the stinger hitting them, which deal 2% each. The final stinger slam deals 4%, totalling the entire attack’s damage up to 8%. The knockback of the move is decent, but it’s the weakest of Aku’s throws KOing at 165% or over. Like the other transformation related throws, it has bad endlag.


Final Smash
Dragon of Darkness

Aku filled his special meter! got a Smash Ball! With its power, he transforms into a dragon (Totally not something he could’ve done without one!) and start breathing fire. He starts out by breathing it directly in front of him, in a massive burst that can easily cover the entirety of the second half of Battlefield’s main platform. The fire breath deals rapid hits of 5% damage, and an opponent trapped in it could easily be dealt 30%+ damage if trapped.

Aku then stops breathing fire, before spinning around to the other side, and doing the exact same thing again. He then points his dragon head up into the air and starts to shoot flames up there as well, but this time he waves it back and forth. Once Aku has basically covered the entire stage, he’ll transform back, ending the final smash.

In total this lasts around 10 seconds, and Aku is completely invincible during this time.
 
Last edited:

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513

Real Name
Jesse McCree

Age
37

Nationality
American

Occupation
Bounty Hunter

Base of Operations
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA


A hero from the popular new Blizzard IP Overwatch, he was once a member of the dreaded Deadlock Gang, a roving band of criminals who solicited illicit weaponry and military hardware throughout the black market of the American Southwest. but they were busted by the original Overwatch members. Given a choice between life incarceration or joining the covert ops section of Overwatch, creatively named Blackwatch, he chose the later, gaining tutelage under Gabriel Reyes (who would go through his emo phase while going through a midlife crisis, resulting in him rebranding himself Reaper, adding about 200% edge to himself and modelling himself off of Drake of the 99 Dragons). However, McCree saw the cracks forming in Overwatch as the original organization hurtled towards its end and jumped ship before then, hiding underground as a vigilante known for only taking jobs he found just, alongside incidents such as vigilante justice on some robbers at a ramen shop and a robbery attempt on a Houston hypertrain by possible ex-Blackwatch members. If McCree will rejoin Overwatch after Winston recalls them is unknown, but given he's in the game...seems possible!

McCree's primary shot is the Peacekeeper, a six shot revolver which is deadly accurate at close ranges, but...not so much at longer ranges. He can Fan the Hammer in desperate situations, unloading all of the ammunition in his pistol for a high-power volley which loses accuraccy rapidly. His Combat Roll not only provides movement, but he reloads his Peacekeeper while doing the roll. He can throw a Flashbang grenade as well to stun his targets, which can potentially set up a strong Deadeye: A channeled ability where McCree lines up the perfect shot, gaining damage as he waits, before unleashing it at all enemies still in range. Focus. Mark. Draw.


Six-Shot Statistics


McCree is not noticably durable or large, unsurprisingly, being slightly bulkier than Pit in size while being about Cloud in weight. Dude's got body armor on, after all. Speed can be compared to Ryu and he has solid traction, overall, he can be said to have a very baseline kind of stat line.

Aerially, Mccree is about average in fall speed (slightly faster), while his aerial control is below average with slightly above average air speed. Both of his jumps are above average, but only just. He's got a wall cling (See: OW comic Train Hopper) and a slow crawl, but nothin' else of a Smash speciality. He can be considered a bit of an average character, with a small bent towards heavyweight.


Sharpshooter Specials

"Step right up."

Down Special: Flashbang


McCree takes out one of his Flashbang Grenades, those're those cylinder things you can see hanging from his belt, and holds it much in the manner of Snake's Grenades. Upon releasing the input, McCree tosses the Flashbang forward, and like Snake can choose either default, up, down or forward. Default is your standard throw forward, going about a Battlefield Platform in range. Forward has McCree throw it harder (much like Snake): This gives it some extra time before he throws it, but doubles the distance that he does (the Flashbang will naturally bounce for extra distance on the ground after 1.5 BFPs). Upwards has McCree toss it pretty much straight up, going 1.5 Ganondorfs into the air before falling back down. And, finally, pressing down has McCree simply lightly roll it forward, causing it to go half a Battlefield Platform forward on the ground at an extremely slow pace: essentially a slightly mobile ground trap. Like Snake, McCree can also do grenade drop shenanigans with his shield: When shielding, McCree will drop the Flashbang to the ground like Snake's hand grenades in Brawl, which can be a strong defensive and setup option.

The Flashbang detonates upon contact with any character, although McCree himself will not trip it for half a second after it is thrown, to keep him from, say, instantly blowing himself up when he uses the slow roll of the move. After that, though, McCree can trip it just like anyone else. The Flashbang is an item like Snake's grenade and therefor has all the normal tricks associated with that, such as the ability to grab it with air dodges, so keep that in mind. Unlike Snake's Grenade, it does not trigger or get destroyed by attacks after the throw (or during the throw, like Snake's isn't), and instead allows McCree and others to smack and bat around the Flashbang if you'd like. The Flashbang lasts 5 seconds and McCree can only have two out at any given time, being unable to procure a new one if he has two out.

Okay, okay, I'll tell you what it does now: Flashbangs, naturally, blow up in a flash when triggered, which stuns opponents briefly. The stun isn't very long, you can get off a tilt or a not very laggy smash attack during it but not really more than that, but is naturally multipurpose in either allowing McCree to get into his preferred melee range, help with his Neutral Special or set traps to force opponents to dance a l'il to get to him. McCree should be very aware that he himself can be stunned by his Flashbangs, just like Snake's Grenades can damage him: Since these can be picked back up, McCree should be especially wary of this fact. It also means that unless he shields/sidesteps, grenade dropping out of shield largely results in a frame neutral, usually very close range situation, which McCree does not necessarily like, making it a lot less of a cheap stalling tactic than Snake's was.

McCree also gets a lot of use out of using this as traps, as while his revolver doesn't have the best range, the ability to knock a pre-placed Flashbang forward can be a ranger "extender" of sorts. Anyone who is stunned by a Flashbang will become immune to further Flashbang stuns for 1 second, although they will still trigger Flashbang explosions: Both McCree and enemies can use this time after stunning to try and turn tables or as a sort of brief defensive measure over the other Flashbang if so inclined, just make sure not to still be on it when the immunity runs out. Throwing a Flashbang out is not an especially laggy process, but reaching back to grab it means McCree still has some lag on it. The normal throw has average ending lag, the up throw has the same ending lag as normal, the forceful forward throw has somewhat laggy ending lag and the down roll through has ending lag between the normal throw and power throw. Generally, lightly punishable if McCree misses, but not hugely so.


Side Special: Combat Roll

McCree performs a dashing and daring combat roll in the direction this move is used! Quick to start up and fast to finish, McCree moves in the direction of King DeDeDe's roll (Roughly 3/4ths of a Battlefield Platform), but significantly faster, although he also does not have invincibility frames on himself. This is a bit unviable for long range movements due to the lag, but for close-mid range skirmishes McCree can use this to quickly reposition himself and strike back due to the low amount of natural ending lag it has on it. McCree can pick up any items, such as his Flashbang Grenades, as he is rolling during this move by pressing A while overlapping them, which he can launch during his ending lag by pressing A at any point before the ending lag begins but after the item is picked up. This doesn't add ending lag to the move, as McCree is throwing the item as he finishes the roll but before he begins to return to combat stance. Items are always tossed at normal throw strength. Note that McCree can perform his Combat Roll in the air as a recovery move, although it has dimishing returns on distance until hit by a foe.

Simple and effective, this move has a deeper purpose within, as it is a Combat Roll after all! McCree is free to input any command during the start of his Combat Roll, although not the duration or ending lag (meaning McCree needs to commit to what he'll use fairly early), and if he does so, he will have the move prepped and use it right out of the Combat Roll with half the starting lag! The ability to combine positioning with the ability to fire off potentially quick and potent attacks is certainly very strong, but it isn't like that lag just vanishes, as McCree firing off an attack means he takes longer to get to his feet and ready, adding ending lag equal to the amount of starting lag he cut off. For example, if halving the starting lag reduced it by 12 frames, then he will have 12 frames of ending lag added to the end of this move. This means that McCree should think carefully about if he wants to actually utilize this effect, as it can potentially leave him very punishable.

McCree can grab and chuck a Flashbang while performing this, although it requires quick fingers/timing, and if he does so, McCree will toss the flashbang at the end of the combat roll and then perform the move as he normally does after a Combat Roll. This allows McCree to potentially pull off some pretty sick setups with proper Flashbang placement, forcing foes to avoid the Flashbang and possibly get smacked by the move, or just plain hit them with the Flashbang for the 100% follow-up (unless, for whatever reason, you chose a move that won't follow up on it: A failed prediction they'll dodge?). The stronger moves in McCree's arsenal are preferred if you think they'll get hit, but be careful if they have a good chance to shield or dodge, as McCree can potentially have a lot of ending lag to just get punished. Its all about the risk and the reward.


Up Special: Above The Law

McCree rears his mechanical arm back, before performing the staple of all fighting games: The rising uppercut! This goes a touch higher up than Mario's Super Jump Punch, with two hitboxes depending on when foes get hit. If you get hit right at the start, it is a sweetspot as McCree's fist solidly impacts them, you may imagine specifically in their jaw like an action movie, dealing 14% damage and solid knockback that'll end up KOing at 160%, while the rest of the move is a more glancing punch that deals 10% damage and knockback more suited to setup than space or knocking fools out. Starting this move up is slightly faster than average, while the ending lag is pretty average all things considered, and McCree does not enter helpless afterwards, although naturally he must go through all the normal steps to gain his recovery once more.

McCree can follow-up this move ala Link's Forward Smash with one of two options, by either pressing B or by pressing A. Pressing B will have McCree fire a single shot from his Peacekeeper, which travels diagonally-down by default and deals 10% damage, along with light knockback away from the shot. McCree can angle this up/down like a tilt, angling it down will cause McCree to fire it straight down, which turns the knockback into a a spike of somewhat weak strength, although this can be a rather interesting way to reverse gimps as you fly above them, they air dodge and you fire it off or you go above them before they get to you or what have you. Up causes McCree to fire only slightly down and mostly forward at a shallow angle, which only hits people lightly up and mostly forward and of course deals the same damage, knockback is light. Ending lag on this is somewhat long.

On the flipside, hitting A will cause McCree to raise his mechanical arm in a fist before slamming it down, driving down in a small stall than fall specifically equal to how high McCree went up with the Up Special. This brief stall than fall deals only 11% damage, while being a moderate-weak spike on the way down, hitting at the point of impact is a weak knockback upwards which McCree has a decent chance to actually follow-up on, since the ending lag is actually more average than the usually quite bad stall than fall lag, possibly due to the lower distance?

McCree WILL enter helpless if he is still in the air after using either of the follow-up options, so be careful about that, although you will rarely use the fall if you're going to remain in the air after it is done. McCree's Up Special is a notable out of shield option, especially when combined with McCree's Flashbangs, McCree can actually shield drop a Flashbang into an out of shield Up Special as a very good defensive option, and his Down angled B followup can shoot the Flashbang to send it flying up towards them or what have you. That is also the best place for McCree to simply not use any follow-ups at all, as the ending lag is not too bad on it and it is a good way to bait foes towards your Flashbangs.


Neutral Special: Deadeye



McCree does a classic Clint Squint, says the above line and begins to carefully aim with his Peacekeeper, his mechanical hand steady on the hammer of the gun. Anyone within 2/3rds of a Smart Bomb explosion's radius of McCree will have a bullseye on them, which steadily fills redder and redder. Enemies who move outside the radius have the bullseye go dim and it does not get redder and closer to a bullseye, enemies who enter are marked by the bullseye/have it continue where it left off. McCree automatically fires off the shot if all enemies move out of range at the last enemy who moved out of range as they move out and cannot store nor cancel this charge, although he can hit B to fire the shot prematurely. If the shot is fully charged, then it fires extremely quickly (faster than Fox's laser!) at all foes in range, with the shot automatically firing if everyone in range has a "killshot" lined up. McCree will not auto-fire if all targets are not able to be killshot, but pressing B will have McCree fire off those bullets too, and McCree fires as many shots as he has targets lined up...even in 8-man Smashes. I thought your revolver only had 6 shots, McCree?

How long McCree charges depends on how early the foe can be KO'd, as McCree charges until he lines up a killshot: In other words, until the bullet does enough knockback to send the foe clear off of the sides of the blast zone from where they're standing. Technically, it is slightly more than that amount of knockback, to account for the fact that foes can move slightly/move downwards Bowser at 0% takes a full 20 seconds to line up a killshot, while Jigglypuff at 300% is essentially instant to use two extreme examples. Mario at 80% takes about 2/3rds of a second to charge up, as a comparison point, making it a solidly strong but not godly KO power...but the fact it is essentially only stoppable by not getting hit, stage configuration or what have you makes it incredibly potent, especially because as the foe goes up, this move will charge up very quickly, essentially capping how long someone can reasonably survive. It can also just be used as a way to force opponents to either approach and try to interrupt McCree before he gets the Killshot off, or back off and force McCree to uselessly fire a weaker shot. The fully charged shot always deals 18%, a dead man's hand, but the mechanics of the KO power of the move means it is usually useless.

Another thing to note is that it makes your Flashbangs much scarier: If the foe is close enough to let you start charging up when they get Flashbanged, it can give them very little time to react, or even no time if they are especially high up! Do note that McCree can charge this move in the air, which can help him line up shots on high up opponents. McCree auto-aims at the center of the hurtboxes of targetted foes.

Uncharged, the projectile only goes half the normal speed, deals 9% and has rather low knockback no matter how much you charged it: It isn't useless, but it is not especially good, so you shouldn't start this move trying to fire it. The starting lag on Deadeye is not long at all, meaning Combat Roll barely benefits from it (doesn't affect charge, obviously), and the ending lag is quite long and punishable, although with different animations. If he is fully charged, then he will blow the smoke off his gun, dramatically spins it twice in his fingers, then reloads the bullet(s) he fired and re-enters his combat stance. If he fires off early, then he'll say "Dagnabbit" and other such words and appear clearly annoyed, taking a longer time to reload rather upsettedly for the same ending lag.

Some other animation notes: If McCree uses this move on the ground, a tumbleweed will blow past him in the background 50% of the time (just like in the games). If McCree uses this move on a stage where it is blatantly not high noon, such as with the night sky visible, he'll go "Well...its high noon somewhere in the world." when he fires the shot. If McCree uses it on a foe he hit with a fully charged shot, but did not manage to kill (including if it got countered, but not shielded), he'll go "You know what time it is." when starting the move instead. The color of the bullseye changes with the color of his outfit, allowing multiple McCrees to be distingushed.


New Smashes In Town


Forward Smash: Fan the Hammer


McCree points his Peacekeeper forward and fans the hammer, if you wanna see what that looks like see the GIF above, causing bullets to spray out in a very tall but not very wide cone in front of McCree. The horizontal range of this move is pretty small for projectiles as it only goes about the distance of an Ike Forward Smash, which isn't nothing but it means you're mostly using it at close range. This move also suffers from slight damage falloff, as the edge of the hitbox is actually a sourspot, do note that the vertical hitbox is pretty tall and covers McCree well though. Most of the hitbox deals quite a lot of damage, specifically dealing 25%-35% damage but only Koing at 110%-90%, making it the most damaging Forward Smash outside of a max aura Lucario Forward Smash (albeit by only 1% over Ganondorf and Bowser), but lacking the strong stopping power of those moves. The edges are also a sourspot that only deals 15%-21% and knockback that KOs at 180%-150%, so you generally need to be pretty close for this move when McCree usually operates at a more midrange.

One of the key plusses of this move is the surprising starting lag on the damage, which is that it is actually slightly below average. The downside of having such a strong damage move with not long starting lag is McCree's extremely punishable ending lag on this move, as McCree must spin his revolver once and open it, empty the spent bullet shells out, shove 6 new ones in, spin it again as he closes it and then get back to combat ready. This is some of the most punishable ending lag of any Smash Attack in the game and only a bit less than Ike's absurdly bad Up Smash ending lag, so just trying to abuse this by fishing for hits is asking to take more punishment. The hitbox front-above McCree comes out a few frames later than directly in front of him, so opponents in the air have slightly more time to react. Still pretty solid shorthop defense, though!

You can use this move, much like Deadeye, as a threatening tool to try and keep foes in your optimal range, not committing to actions that'll keep you from firing it off if they go in for something punishable. It is your best single damaging move, but for KOing it isn't that great, and you can follow up one of your Flashbangs with this one for damage...if you're close, anyway, as the limited range makes following up from further distances impractical. If an opponent's shield is low, you can also throw this out to do pretty sweet damage to it, covering the ending lag with the shield break and thus gaining advantage.


Up Smash: Three Bullet Monty

McCree aims his Peacekeeper upwards and fires a shot upwards, then one to one side of it (left/right) and then the opposite side. By default, McCree fires up first, then the direction he is facing, then finally the opposite direction, before performing a quick spin and 3-bullet reload. However, McCree can aim left/right to start from that side and then works towards the other. So aiming right has you go right shot -> middle shot -> left shot for example, left is the reverse. How much the bullets deal depends on the distinct factor of how far McCree's bullets fly. Getting hit within the first 0.5 Ganondorfs of travel time products a hitbox of 12%-16.8% damage and somewhat low KO power, KOing at 180%-155%, but the bullet amps up in power for 1 Ganondorf after from the speed, dealing 18%-25.2% damage and knockback that KOs at 120%-100% which is pretty solid. Finally, the move has a 0.5 Ganondorf sourspot after that, dealing only 6%-8.4% damage and pathetic knockback.

This, essentially, means this is a rather aerial midrange move, McCree wants to either knock people a moderate distance up or use this when they're coming from much higher than shorthop distance, as this move is not especially good vs. them. The wide angle of attack, plus ability to choose the order of fire, makes it ideal for knocking your Flashbangs around after they are launched in the air. McCree should also keep in mind that the variable order can also be a great way to bait out air dodges: If someone's straight above McCree and he uses this, then a natural inclination is to air dodge, if McCree delayed it by aiming left/right first, he will most of the time hit them as they come out of their air dodge. Be aware that this move has spots it won't each between each bullet's path (each one is fired a bit diagonally and to the side) past a range of about 3/4ths a Ganondorf, so McCree needs to make sure he doesn't just fire it off into nothing. This move has above average starting and ending lag, with the starting lag being only a bit longer than normal while the ending lag is a bit longer than your normal laggy end. Using a Combat Roll can make this a surprisingly fast anti-air move, but he needs to be aware that makes him noticably more punishable.


Down Smash: Sweep the Area

McCree takes his more armored leg and performs a strong sweep with it, dealing a strong 18%-25.2% damage that'll KO at 105%-80%. The coverage is fairly good to both sides of McCree but, of course, not using his Peacekeeper for this move means it'll still be outranged by many other moves like a sword wielder or projectiles. The starting lag on this move is pretty long, but the ending lag is surprisingly short on it, which makes this move one of the most interesting ones you can actually utilize with your Combat Roll, as it allows you to essentially choose between two moves: A laggy move best suited for hard punishing foes, especially those who say roll or sidestep an expected Fan the Hammer, or a surprisingly strong move for how quick it comes out with impressive side-to-side coverage but with exploitable ending lag and the predictability of doing this out of a Combat Roll. Opponents who can see this move coming can usually defend against it, although it IS a good hard punish to bad rolls, so mixing up what "flavor" of Down Smash you use can be important.

In general, this is also pretty good for being McCree's primary secondary KO move, while also being a solid damage racker, but being noticably below either Deadeye (for KOing) or Fan the Hammer (for damage), allowing McCree a nice midpoint and not extreme reliance on those two moves. The side-to-side coverage is useful for his Flashbang grenades, as he can potentially knock both in opposite directions for coverage, guard from multiple angles or even kick a Flashbang at a foe while using the Down Smash coverage to deflect the enemy Flashbang!


Ain't Big Enough For TWO Standard Sections


Jab: Melee

McCree performs a quick and simple punch forward with his robotic arm, similiar to Ganondorf's jab, except it is a punched over an open palmed strike. This is a jab that deals 7% damage and for a jab has solid knockback, but it has few follow-up chances, and so is better for spacing opponents into a midrange area. For lag, it can be imagined as quite similiar to Ganondorf's, but with the lag evened out some, somewhat laggy on both ends. It is best used at mid damage percentages, as it leads very well into Forward Tilt for pressure at those percentages. If you want to just nudge a Flashbang forward, this is also your go-to move.

Something to note about this move is it is one of your fastest options out of a Combat Roll and puts opponents into your midrange game, but it also can be somewhat easily shielded and the extra ending lag makes it abusable if spammed.


Forward Tilt: Peacekeeper

McCree takes out his peacekeeper and fires a quick shot from it, which travels two Battlefield Platforms and is pretty small as far as projectiles go, although quite noticably more visible than something like a Sheik needle. Similiar to the Up Smash, McCree's Forward Tilt has three hitboxes attached to it, the first is "point blank", defined here as a hit within the first 0.5 Battlefield Platforms of the shot, which deals 9% damage, not bad for a tilt, but the knockback is only average and it has decidedly below average hitstun. The next 1 Battlefield Platform is the midrange sweetspot of the shot, which deals 12% damage, KOs at 170% and has solid hitstun, making it quite a good tilt when you consider this means it has pretty slick range. The last 0.5 Battlefield Platforms are a sourspot that deals only 6% damage and nearly non-existant damage + knockback, so McCree just trying to camp with this move from long ranges is pretty pathetic. The projectile moves a bit faster than a Falco laser, but noticably slower than a Fox laser.

This is one of McCree's larger payoffs for keeping foes at midrange, with the great damage, good knockback and safety in starting lag + distance, although McCree should be careful of the fact this move has quite long ending lag for a tilt, as McCree spins his Peacekeeper and reloads a bullet. Never wanna run outta fire in a duel, after all. McCree can angle this move a fair deal, which is important because McCree can do some fairly different tricks with each.

Angling it down causes McCree to make a shot that is shallowly angled down, going 3/4ths the distance (sweetspot/sourspots change with this ofc, 3/4th the size for each) and, 2% lower damage on all hitboxes and lower knockback, however the ending lag is also reduced to 2/3rds of the normal amount, making this a slightly more "combo-able" version of it. Near the ledge/against aerial foes, this serves as a shallow semi-spike instead, which can actually be a fairly strong gimping option for McCree, although he really needs to hit with the sweetspot for a good gimp with it. If McCree hits a Flashbang on the ground then it will end up popping mostly vertically but a bit forward and can either be medium (close range), high (sweetspot) or very weak (sourspot) in height, giving McCree surprising variability in how he sends the Flashbang up. Aerial Flashbangs are sent at the same semispike angle as the knockback, which can be pretty interesting: In particular, the speed the Flashbang travels will depend on the strength (medium for close, strong for sweetspot, weak for sourspot), so McCree can potentially send a Flashbang flying quite quick at a foe to still gain advantage of a sourspot hit with a sweetspot Flashbang.

Angling it up causes it to be angled shallowly up, going the same distance, damage and what have you, except the knockback is more shallow-ly up. It is shallow enough to hit not-too-small opponents on the ground, which will actually cause enemies to enter prone if they are hit up close or in the sweetspot, although at the sourspot it mostly just causes even worse knockback than before. Flashbangs can't exactly be tripped, but instead suffer a spiking effect, allowing McCree to quickly shoot his Flashbangs out of the air. It is also pretty good to fire off against people who shorthop, although full jumps can go over, and crouching also becomes a quick dodge when you angle it like this. The knockback is also at a worst angle for KOing, Koing at around 200% on the sweetspot.


Down Tilt: Lowdown

McCree, from his crouch, powerfully thrusts his leg forward in an animation which is reminiscient of Ganondorf's Down Tilt, which deals pretty high damage, dealing 12% all things told. It actually sets up pretty well for combos, with Forward Tilt being the lowest reward but also lowest risk one, with specific ranges based on stats to hit the sweetspot, although it never really happens in KO range. Aerials are more common setups, and considering it does a lot of damage, it can lead to some pretty strong combo strings. The range is less than Ganondorf's Down Tilt, but not a ton worse.

This doesn't mean the move is without downsides, most noticeably, it is pretty dang laggy on both ends, so throwing it out in neutral is a pretty punishable affair. If you want to try and do so, consider combining it with Combat Roll to come out faster: Be warned, however, that it makes this move even MORE punishable, especially if McCree is in kill range of the foe. It is more of a move specifically for reads, to lead into high damage combo strings. The high damage and knockback can also sometimes make comboing late awkward, most noticeably on high damage floaties.


Dash Attack: Under Fire

McCree slides forward feet first, a single hand holding on to his hat while his other fires his pistol upwards about half of the way through, three shots in very quick succession. If you know the scenes where people slide forward under doors or gunfire, its like that. The slide itself is a constant hitbox that deals 8% damage and knocks people towards McCree, the direction he was dashing from, with mediocre knockback. The gunfire itself is fired as a cone above McCree which is about half of a Battlefield Platform wide and 3/4ths of a Ganondorf tall, which deals 14% damage and rather impressive knockback which KOs at 125% or so, but ofc if they're a bit higher in the air (or floaty) it can kill earlier.

Depending on percentage and when you hit in the move, the first hit of this move can actually combo into the 2nd hit, which is a pretty slick 22% damage strike with high knockback! This is pretty specific, but strong. This move is also one of McCree's better coverage moves, covering a decent portion above himself and a decently long portion of the ground with the slide. A downside to this, however, is that the strong hitbox is pretty specific, and that McCree doesn't really have follow-ups unless he hits with the two hits or near the tail end of the move, owing to the move's very long ending lag, making dash attack punishes somewhat awkward. Starting lag is fine, though.

This is one of the more interesting moves to combine with your Flashbangs, as depending when you hit, you can either send it flying high into the sky with the gunshots, or you can knock it just behind you by not hitting the gun sweetspot. The latter is particularly useful when crossing up shields, as it can keep them from properly punishing McCree lest they eat a Flashbang to the face, and can sometimes even catch spotdodges. Not the most common setup, but something worth keeping in mind.


Up Tilt: Spin On

McCree raises his pistol to the sky, performing a quick and cool spin with it, before returning it to its previous state. This is a very fast move, dealing 3 hits of 1% damage each, and finally a fourth hit of 3% damage as McCree stops the spin and returns to combat ready, with light knockback. Compared to the higher risk and reward Down Tilt, your Up Tilt is the cheap and reliable combo option, being a pretty solid anti-air and setting opponents up for an aerial or, rarely, an Up Smash or another Up Tilt. As you may have guessed, this is a pretty fast move on both ends. If you spam it on a Flashbang, you can juggle it for a bit, and it leads right into a jump + item grab after hitting a Flashbang.

It isn't without weakness, however, such as the fact it has pretty small range, and getting up close to shields and whatnot is pretty unsafe. Against smaller characters, moreso when they crouch, it can miss and you can be punished. And its combo strings aren't as strong as Down Tilt's in general, especially since that move deals double this one's damage even if you hit with all of Up Tilt and don't catch an air dodge or something.


A Fistful Of Throws

Grab: Stir Up

McCree reaches out with his mechanical arm for the opponent, overall a pretty average grab in terms of stats, having slightly more range in most regards but it isn't anything noticeable. McCree will squint at the opponent while they are within his grasp.

Pummel: Pistol Whip

McCree takes the butt of his hammer and smacks the foe upside the head with it, dealing 2% damage for a pretty average pummel. Wrack up damage when you can, naturally.

Forward Throw: Combat Roll

McCree rolls forward, dragging the opponent along for the ride for three hits of 2% each, before kicking them forward in front of him for 4% more damage as he stands up. The 10% damage is pretty solid itself, while it pretty much resets neutral for the two characters, moving each of them around 3/4ths of a Battlefield Platform forward. This is particularly useful when you are near the ledge, such as recovering, so that you can use it as a situation reverser. This also just generally puts McCree in a good place to, for example, utilize his Forward Tilt and Flashbang grenades. If you wanna do damage and reset neutral, this is the throw for you.

Back Throw: Draw, Partner

McCree whips the opponent around, throwing them behind him for 5% damage, then firing a bullet from his gun which is aimed at the for and also does 5% damage, the throw tossing them a decent amount away while the shot is mostly hitstun and light knockback. Think of this as similiar to Fox and Falco's Back Throws. The bullet will usually hit the foe, its aimed at where they'll be with DI and all when it is released, but the bullet can be caught by things like McCree's Flashbangs, so with proper setup (usually throwing it into the air before a grab), you can hit the Flashbang into the foe with the shot and so get more of a reward out of it. Aside from that, it deals 10% damage and decent knockback, and it is pretty useful for setting up edgeguard situations which is something good for Back Throws, what with grabbing foes with your back to the ledge to start it and all. It also turns McCree around, like the Fox/Falco throws, which can be helpful for said edgeguard followups.

Up Throw: Quick Draw

McCree raises the foe up in his grip and shoots them with his gun with incredible speed, dealing 8% damage. This animation is incredibly fast and so essentially impossible to react to, a true quick draw. Now, obviously, a throw is gonna hit either way, so it doesn't matter for that...but it DOES matter for DIing, because it means the opponent basically has to predict you'll use it and DI pre-emptively, which can lead to incorrectly DIing other throws, which will be particularly important for our last throw.

This move's knockback is primary combo-based, primarily comboing if they don't DI at all or DI to the back: However, follow-ups can largely be avoided by DIing frontwards. At low damage percentages, you usually go for a combo, while at higher enough percentages, you can follow-up a non-forward DI'd throw with a Back Aerial for a kill.


Down Throw: Line In The Sand

McCree quickly throws the foe to the ground and kicks them behind them. This is also a very quick animation, you can barely react to it if you stay very on top of things, which deals 2% then 4% damage for 6% damage total. The knockback is what it is interesting here, as at low and mid percentages, it can force opponents into a tech situation, unless they properly DI: Specifically, if they DI back, then most characters will have enough time to jump out of it, or perform an other option, although this is still somewhat helpful by forcing an option, which McCree might be able to cover in some way. Tech situations can also be naturally made stronger with proper Flashbang Grenade placement and timing.

At higher percentages, they'll be too far to be teched, but the increased hitstun will still net McCree combos, making this his high percentage combo throw...as long as they don't DI back. At this point, you probably see how this works: McCree mixes up Up Throw and Down Throw to mess up with the foe's sense of what to DI and then take advantage of this with some fairly strong combo and KO setups. And when you're not going for this, you can always do resets with F-Throw or B-Throw. All things considered, its strongs, but you gotta keep on top of the foe's mental state.


No Country For Old Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Longshot Kick

McCree kicks out one of his legs pretty strong for a move almost as old as the concept of cowboys, the sex kick. Coming out decently fast, this attack begins by dealing a pretty strong 12% damage and radial knockback away from him, not strong enough to really kill on its own, but a pretty strong edgeguarding kind of tool. This goes down to 6% and pretty light knockback. It can lead into some combos, although this move actually has somewhat high ending lag. As with many sex kicks, this is pretty good ledge coverage as well. Starting lag is pretty average.

This is one of your moves you can combo with out of throws, such as Up Throw, and frequently you can choose which hit to use by delaying the follow-up slightly. You'll want to go for the later hit more against fast fallers, potentially opening up more combos, while slow fallers may prefer the stronger hit to instead cover their landing options. The long hitbox can also cover air dodges, which is pretty important.


Up Aerial: Flipspurs

McCree flips above him, kicking and smacking foes with his legs, a pretty quick move which deals only 6% damage, but is naturally fast on both ends, and is pretty much McCree's premiere combo aerial: If you see an aerial McCree combos into, this one probably counts. At low percentages, and longer on fastfallers, McCree can chain a few Up Aerials in a row for damage racking. While fast, this move does NOT have a lot of range, and while it combos well, its KO potential is precisely nil, which actually means McCree has a lot of problems killing off the top outside of well done Dash ATtacks or Up Smash sweetspots.

The very end of this move is a different hitbox, which lightly hits things downwards and deals 4% damage. As a spike, it is pretty pathetic, although it can in certain situations bring enemies closer for a combo, most notably Up Aerial Sourspot to Neutral Aerial. The other key, though, is just to knock down your Flashbang Grenades, which can potentially protect you from retaliation with a double stun, or be setup perfectly to be item grabbed out of this move's lag or launched away by your other aerials, adding in some nice versatility.


Forward Aerial: Bullet Spray

McCree takes his pistol and jams the hammer of his pistol as he fires off shots, shooting in a narrow but long aimable cone in front of him which can be angled up and down. It only has a maximum height of about Pikachu at the edges, but it goes a full Battlefield Platform, dealing 10-5% damage and set knockback which pushes enemies to the end of McCree's cone range, with less damage the further away you are from the move. The starting move on this is slightly below average, the ending lag is above average, but the move has some autocancel frames at the start of the ending lag. This is rather strict: McCree needs to commit to the move early and fastfall in order to autocancel, which makes it more reactable for a really good GTFO move.

This can be a pretty solid edgeguard early, but your other options are better later, and it isn't like this snags air dodges or anything. The aimability is usually pretty important in this context, since it is pretty narrow especially at closer/mid ranges. Can also sometimes be used for shield pokes.


Down Aerial: The Stomp

McCree leans one of his meaty legs up, before stomping it harshly down! Well, it ain't no Ganondorf spike, but it is solidly strong. 14% damage and it sends people plummeting down with an above average, good strength spike, even if it certainly isn't the strongest. The starting lag on this is somewhat long, as is the ending lag, but neither are ESPECIALLY punishable, just generally somewhat laggy. While the spike aspect of this is important, another important thing is that McCree has autocancel frames on the start (and the tail end of the ending lag): This allows McCree to "A-Land" and land pretty much laglessly by starting the move.

While this can be used to help skip out on some ending lag from doing other stuff, one important thing is that if you fastfall or even delay and fastfall, you can do so out of ground jumps. In addition to normal mindgame purposes in this regard, it is particularly useful with the Forward Aerial, a move with strong commitment if you wanna autocancel it, as you can mix up Forward Aerials, fastfallen Down Aerials which cancel out and dry jumps to mess with the opponent, adding to McCree's ability to wall the opponent out without actually being a long range move! It goes without saying the ability to spike something down is pretty nice with Flashbang angles, too.


Back Aerial: Spray and Pray

McCree points his pistol behind him and unloads while spraying up and down, creating a wide but short cone behind him. This bullet covers 1.2x McCree's height, but only goes about as far as a sword user's kind of back aerial in terms of actual distance, so not THAT long. It is one of McCree's stronger kill moves, dealing 15% damage and killing at 115% (which when you consider edgeguarding applications is impressive), but it is let down by pretty bad ending lag, as McCree has to reload the entire chamber afterwards, and the starting lag is only about average. It is your strongest edgeguarding option, obviously, but it also leads into stuff like Up Throw KOs when done properly. The damage is consistant through the cone.

Combined with the Forward Aerial, McCree has disjointed options in front and behind him, giving him a pretty solid ability to wall out foes, especially combined with his defensive Flashbang. A key weakness, however, is that he doesn't deal with pressure above him well: Use that to your advantage and counter his horizontal range advantage. Getting under him on stages with platforms can also be a pretty good idea. It's high noon, not low noon, after all.
 
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Munomario777

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JUNKRAT

"It's a perfect day for some MAYHEM!"
Exposed to nuclear radiation while roaming the wasteland that used to be known as the Outback, Junkrat is an unhinged demolitions expert obsessed with things that go boom. He went on a huge crime spree, building up a huge fortune... only to sneak a bomb into it to get revenge on some town in the middle of the desert, which doesn't even end up working. You do you, Junkrat.

In Overwatch, Junkrat's obsession with explosions is crystal-clear in his gameplay, as he can plant mines around the map, launch bouncing grenades that explode on contact with an enemy, and even send a remote-controlled tire after opponents! ...And then it explodes, of course. Were you really expecting anything else?

Junkrat's other focus is on controlling a certain area of the map, covering key choke points and preventing enemies from getting to objectives. His Concussion Mines both give him a means of propulsion and the ability to plant a remote trap, while his Steel Trap denies a certain area of the map from enemies. His bouncing grenades can also cover an entire hallway, since they linger for a while before disappearing and explode on contact. He's kind of like a madman with an insane master plan: he often likes to fill a hallway with a scattering of bouncing, explosive grenades and various traps, but have some sort of intent behind it. Launch yourself through the air with a mine here, throw a trap on the ground there, and shoot grenades like there's no tomorrow.

To see some footage of Junkrat's abilities and gameplay from Overwatch, visit this page.

Stats
Junkrat’s movement is very erratic, as a general theme. His dash speed and traction are both high, so he can turn around or stop pretty quickly out of a quick burst of speed. He’s, uh, gotten used to the pegleg by this point. Adding to this is Junkrat’s high aerial acceleration and deceleration, leading to air movement that’s basically a slightly toned-down version of Wario’s. His falling speed and fast-falling speed are both similar to Link’s, meaning he shares the property where his fast-falling speed is a higher-than-usual increase over his normal falling speed. So basically, he can switch between being a normal-faller and a fast-faller at will, reaping the benefits of both as well as mixing up aerial timings unpredictably.

As for jump height, you can actually leap pretty high, perhaps due to the suspension on that pegleg. He can also wall-jump, gaining a good bit of height from it. Junkrat’s main stats-related weakness is his tall frame, giving him a large, tall hurtbox for opponents to hit. He’s also pretty dang light, being launched about as far as Fox. So while Junkrat’s stats allow him to stay just outside an opponent’s range with quick, erratic movement, he also suffers pretty hard if the opponent does manage to catch him.

SPECIALS

Neutral B: Frag Launcher
Readying his cobbled-together, cannon-looking weapon, Junkrat fires an explosive round at a bit of an upward angle that bounces once off of the ground before exploding (and can also bounce off of walls or ceilings). It deals 7% within a blast radius a bit lower than that of Toon Link’s bombs, with similar knockback to a Tink bomb’s direct hit except with slightly higher base knockback. Up to three grenades can be onscreen at a time.

Grenades don't explode upon hitting an opponent; instead, they explode the second time they start moving downward. What this typically means is that they bounce once off the ground, then explode at the peak of the bounce’s arc. Until then, they’re harmless; and even when they do explode, they won’t hurt Junkrat himself. To signify that unusual explosion trigger, by the way, a grenade will begin to flash red after bouncing off of the ground.

On flat ground, a grenade travels just over halfway across FD before exploding, and the peak of its arc is 1.25 SBB above the ground. A bouncing grenade retains all of its momentum from a bounce, meaning that the bounce’s arc reaches the same height that the grenade fell from; so used from the air or a higher platform, it can bounce super-high. Either way, grenades travel pretty dang fast across the screen, so they might be able to punish a whiffed move at a distance.

The animation for firing a grenade has rather quick startup, but it's obviously not unpunishable or anything at close range. It's not like you'd want to really fire them at close range, though, since they explode far away. Really, the main use of grenades is to pressure an opponent from a distance. You can pressure the opponent to stay up close by firing a grenade behind them to cover an escape option, or to keep their distance by lining it up so that it explodes in between you and the foe.



One thing that helps with this is Junkrat’s ability to angle Frag Launcher either up or down by holding up or down on the control stick. By holding down, Junkrat can angle the launch at a pretty steep angle toward the ground, causing the arc to cover less distance and height. So the grenade ends up exploding much closer to the ground, and only travels 1.5 platforms’ distance. This is good for putting the grenade between yourself and the opponent, but the opponent can still avoid it by getting up in Junkrat’s face. It’s also a bit easier to jump over with something like a short-hop.

By angling it up, you can fire it at a 45* upward angle. The height of the arc now almost reaches the height of Battlefield’s top platform (it goes just a smidge under), while the grenade explodes after traveling the width of Battlefield horizontally. This is basically your main anti-air version of Frag Launcher, since it hits very high up in the air. Another more situational use is to set up a preemptive follow-up off of other moves; for example, you can combo a normal-aimed grenaded into an upward-aimed one by firing the upward one first (since it explodes later). Junkrat has more moves that can be used for this purpose too, but more on that in a bit.

By getting good with your aim and stage positioning, you can land some really tricky shots! For example, if you want to get an explosion hitbox onto Battlefield’s top platform, just short-hop and time an upward-angled shot from near the ledge. The grenade will land on the top platform, and then bounce up; but since it’s that soon after the peak of the arc, it won’t get much height. So it’ll start falling again almost immediately, thus exploding while still on the top platform! Since Frag Launcher is rather low-commitment for Junkrat, this is pretty safe to go for if your positioning is lined up. However, you’ve gotta be careful as far as spamming it goes, since it has no way of hitting opponents who get right up in Junkrat’s face. As such, a rather simple counter is just dashing toward Junkrat; but Junkrat also has ways to punish that kind of approach.

Frag Launcher, then, is probably best used by kind of spamming it and using it to cover options when at a distance, baiting an opponent into a hasty approach which you can then counter. As far as “spamming” it, you can either just shoot a ton of them all over the place, OR you can take your time to line up more precise shots which cover specific options that you predict the opponent making. Another angle to this “precise shots” playstyle is using Frag Launcher in combination with other moves, covering multiple options. For example, by shooting a low-angle Frag Launcher, you can make the opponent jump and punish that jump with an aerial.



Let’s shift gears a bit. In Overwatch, Junkrat’s passive ability is called Total Mayhem. Whenever he’s KO’d, he drops a handful of live grenades, which can damage or even one-shot certain heroes if they stick around for too long after dispatching him. In Smash, this ability is tied to Frag Launcher. Basically, if Junkrat is interrupted during any point in Frag Launcher’s startup lag – beginning on frame one, – he’ll still take the attack’s damage, but he’ll also drop a live grenade which instantly explodes. Unlike the normal grenades from Frag Launcher, this grenade will damage Junkrat himself (as well as the opponent, of course), usually sending him and the foe in opposite directions.

Total Mayhem acts like a less powerful version of Duck Hunt’s can, since it can be used to escape some combos and setups. It requires good timing due to the rather short activation window, but the fact that it comes out on frame one is very handy! In terms of Junkrat’s playstyle, it gives him a bit of an extra “safety net,” allowing him to play more recklessly – since if you do get caught, you might still be able to escape. This makes Junkrat more unpredictable not only during a combo string, but also in the neutral in that he might not have to play as “safely” as other characters. The counter to Total Mayhem is to slightly delay an attack, outlasting the activation window and hitting Junkrat during Frag Launcher’s ending lag. It’s not like he’s really gonna be able to aim the grenade toward you most of the time… but watch out if you’re trying to hit him directly from the side!
Side B: RIP-Tire
Junkrat hoists that giant tire off of his back, revs it up, and sends it rolling forward along the ground at Charizard’s dash speed. It can also climb up walls, and falls if it goes off a ledge, with middling gravity but a pretty high maximum falling speed. Unlike in Overwatch, Junkrat has no control over the RIP-Tire after releasing it; it always explodes after the time it’d take it to travel the width of Smashville, dealing 14% of damage and KOing vertically starting at 100% or so. It won’t explode on impact, though. Instead, it’ll simply ram into opponents and then keep going, dealing 9% of damage and moderate upward knockback. Neither of these hitboxes can damage Junkrat.

RIP-Tire has a considerable bit of startup lag to it, though the animation isn’t as long as in the video clip. Also, only one can be onscreen at once; when the current one leaves the screen / explodes, a new tire appears on Junkrat’s back half a second later, indicating that ”MY ULTIMATE IS READY” he can use the move again. If there’s no tire on Junkrat’s back, it isn’t available to use. Simple!The main purpose of RIP-Tire is to control the ground, which is kinda obvious from looking at it. Once it gets going, the opponent is pretty much forced to either dodge, shield, or jump, or perhaps to reflect the RIP-Tire. Then you can punish the option the opponent chooses; for example, that upward-launched Frag Grenade is perfect for covering a jump! And then you can grab in case they shield, or you can punish a dodge. Basically, a lot of Junkrat’s game revolves around using combinations of projectiles and melee moves to cover multiple options at once, getting lots of hitboxes out all over the screen in a somewhat erratic-seeming manner. A good Junkrat player is often defined by his ability to appear unpredictable while actually remaining calculated – place every Frag Grenade, RIP-Tire, or melee attack in a seemingly random spot while actually having some sort of insane master plan behind it all.



But we’re getting a bit off-topic here. Another use of RIP-Tire is more stage-dependent, but very handy. Similarly to something like Pikachu’s Thunder Jolt, RIP-Tire’s ability to climb walls makes it pretty handy for recovery, since it can hit an opponent who might be waiting for you at the ledge. You do kinda need a walled stage though. Conversely, RIP-Tire is also an amazing edgeguard, able to cover low recoveries with ease. If you space it right, you can even use that explosion to your advantage!

If it actually hits an opponent on the main stage – typically because either they reacted really badly or you confirmed into it with another attack or setup – RIP-Tire’s ramming hitbox creates an awesome follow-up opportunity for Junkrat. And of course, the explosion at the end is pretty dang scary too. In neutral, this mainly serves as a threat to make the opponent want to avoid it; it’s your job to punish their reaction. If Junkrat already has the advantage, you can actually use it as a situational trapping tool. After launching the opponent, for example, throwing out a RIP-Tire can sometimes force the opponent to jump, acting similarly to something like Tink’s boomerang. By dashing after the RIP-Tire, you can cover the airdodge directly by covering the ground with a melee attack, forcing the foe to jump – and then you can punish the foe’s landing.

Down B: Steel Trap
Down B has Junkrat pull out his Steel Trap, basically a mean-looking bear trap, and casually throw it underhand at a 45* upward angle. Its arc reaches 1.5 SBB in height, and the Steel Trap hits the ground 2.25 SBB away from where Junkrat threw it (on flat ground). Steel Trap deals 6% of damage and a bit of upward knockback if it connects during the flight itself, but more uniquely, upon hitting the ground it spreads its jaws open, waiting for its prey.

Once it’s deployed on the ground, Steel Trap is active for two seconds. When an opponent steps on it, or after those two seconds are up, its jaws will snap shut, which takes five frames and deals 9% of damage. More importantly, this also snares the opponent’s foot (or equivalent), keeping them trapped for half a second, which cannot be mashed out of; the character is already giving all their might toward escaping. Once the Steel Trap releases its grasp on the opponent, or if the snap shut missed in the first place, it’ll be destroyed, and if the opponent is trapped, they’ll be grab-released just like a normal grounded grab-release, sliding across the ground a small distance in the direction opposite to where they’re facing.

Only one Steel Trap can be deployed at a time, and it can always be destroyed by any attack from the opponent. Junkrat can attack the Steel Trap while it’s in flight, but his attacks won’t destroy it. Exactly once per each fresh Steel Trap Junkrat pulls out and throws, he can also catch it out of the air and throw it as an item, much like Diddy’s banana peel. You can’t grab it again after throwing or dropping the Steel Trap, meaning you can’t use some of the tricks that Toon Link or Diddy can such as instant-regrab-tossing and z-drop aerials, but it’s still very handy as a projectile.

When thrown at an opponent, either off of the initial Down B throw or after being caught and thrown again, the Steel Trap deals 6% and pops the foe up, as mentioned before. The trap also bounces straight upward off of the opponent, meaning that it’ll land directly below where it hit the opponent to act as a trap, which can potentially pressure the opponent as they land from the small pop-up. If you’re using the initial Down B throw to hit the opponent, this small “bounce” upward by the trap also allows Junkrat to potentially regrab it and extend a string of attacks, since you can regrab it with an aerial to put a hitbox out at the same time as you regrab the Steel Trap.

When deployed on the ground, Steel Trap instead serves to force a reaction from the opponent. It basically denies a small area from the opponent, much like Diddy’s banana. So the most obvious option is to jump, in which case Junkrat can shield the opponent’s aerial attack and punish out-of-shield with his Up B (more on that later). Since it takes five frames for the Steel Trap’s jaws to shut, another option is to activate the trap and then immediately shield; like Corrin’s pin, Steel Trap can indeed be blocked. You could also simply attack the Steel Trap with a low attack in order to get rid of it. Depending on the attack used, Junkrat can of course punish this if he sees it coming.

So basically, you can use RIP-Tire and Frag Launcher to pressure the opponent at long-range and force an approach. You can then simultaneously use a Steel Trap to make approaching more difficult for the opponent; this combination of being forced to approach and having an obstacle in the way of an approach can force a predictable or hasty option from the opponent. Or you could use Steel Trap as a throwing item, which can be used for combos as well as giving Junkrat a quick projectile that actually has a hitbox up close. You can also use this to deploy Steel Trap a bit further away, or throw it upward for a delayed trap (similarly to Link’s and Toon Link’s bombs).
Up B: Concussion Mine
Junkrat pulls out his Concussion Mine from Overwatch, but instead of throwing it as a projectile / trap, he detonates it immediately, directly underneath him. The blast has a radius of 0.75 SBB in all directions, dealing 10% of damage and moderate upward knockback with sizable base knockback but very low scaling. Junkrat also takes this same knockback from the blast, but is able to cancel the hitstun significantly earlier than normal and takes no damage. It’ll send you about as far as Marth’s Dolphin Slash at 0%, while at 100%, it goes about 1.4x as far – since the self-knockback scales with percent. This acts like normal knockback in that you could potentially stage-spike yourself if you’re not careful, but you can always tech if your timing is good. In fact, Junkrat is not affected by any untechable-hit rules when using Concussion Mine, so weird stage geometry or proximity to the underside of the stage don’t hinder his ability to recover.

Opponents take this same upward knockback, and since Junkrat can cancel his hitstun earlier, he can potentially get a follow-up by hitting both himself and the opponent with Concussion Mine. This move also deflects projectiles like a power-shield, while throwing items (like Steel Trap) as well as Frag Launcher’s grenades are launched sideways at high speeds with a small upward arc. Frag Launcher’s grenades also gain an entirely active hitbox during this special launch, i.e. they explode on contact with a foe or the ground, repurposing them as a direct projectile. This also works with RIP-Tire, which – due to its much stronger explosion – is extremely scary indeed!

Shielding opponents, meanwhile, receive an unusually massive amount of shield pushback, sending them sliding about half the width of Smashville (this varies with traction). This allows Junkrat to go completely unpunished if the foe shields Concussion Mine, as well as putting the opponent on the other side of the stage to set up for Frag Launcher pressure.

Thanks to recent buffs in Overwatch, Junkrat can actually use Concussion Mine twice per air trip. If you use Concussion Mine from the ground to launch yourself, that counts as one of those two uses, meaning that you can only use it one more time after that. Landing or grabbing the ledge will restore both uses of Concussion Mine, while getting hit by an attack will restore you to a minimum of one use. That is, if you have no Concussion Mine uses left, getting hit will restore exactly one of them; if you already have one or two uses left, getting hit doesn’t have any effect on it. If you try to use Up B without any uses left, it just won’t do anything.

By angling the control stick, Junkrat can also angle Concussion Mine in any direction, much like Fox’s recovery move; he’ll basically throw the mine in the opposite direction from where you hold the stick. This changes the direction in which Junkrat himself is sent flying (e.g. if you hold right, he’ll fly to the right), but the Concussion Mine’s effect on other objects and opponents is unchanged. No matter which direction you angle it, opponents are still sent up, projectiles are still deflected at an angle, items and Frag Launcher grenades are still launched to the side, and shields still receive lots of pushback.

There are many applications here; one application is hitting a shield with Concussion Mine and angling it to the side to “chase” the shield pushback, continuing your pressure. You can also angle it downward and then tech on the ground to land quickly and escape a juggle situation, or use your two Concussion Mine uses in general for tricky, quick movement. And by angling it down from the ground and teching with good timing, you can launch things with the Concussion Mine without committing to the movement. To make this less abusable, if you launch yourself into the ground with Concussion Mine and tech on the ground, there’s a one-second cooldown where you can’t use Concussion Mine again.

AERIALS
Back Air
The next most important set of moves for Junkrat is probably his aerials, since he’s gonna be jumping around the stage a lot in order to evade the opponent.

Anyway, Back Air is a kick behind Junkrat with his pegleg, similarly to something like Sheik’s or Fox’s bair. It’s not a sex kick, but the animation itself looks similar to Sheik’s. Anyway, Bair deals 12% of damage and a semi-spike which KOs at the ledge from 110%, setting up handily for gimps and edgeguards even if it doesn’t KO outright. Its startup is very quick, and its endlag isn’t too bad either.

Landing lag is a bit more problematic, being a bit longer than you might expect on a move like this. However, to offset this, Back Air has a unique property. Upon hitting a hurtbox, hitbox*, shield, or wall, the suspension on the pegleg will kick in, bouncing Junkrat forward similarly to Corrin’s bair. The main difference is the increased speed, as Bair propels Junkrat at a speed even higher than Yoshi’s maximum air speed. He can’t normally travel this quickly in the air, so this is a pretty big bonus!

*Bair has trample priority like Palutena’s bair, meaning that it can negate attacks if its hitbox collides with that of the other move while bouncing Junkrat away to safety.

The first purpose of this recoil bounce is to make Back Air safe on shield. Upon hitting the shield, Junkrat will be sent away from the opponent, sliding a bit after landing on the ground in addition to the aerial movement. So it’s usually unpunishable on shield due to the distance. However, depending on how high or low you hit with the Back Air, you’ll spend more or less time in the air. If you’re too close to the ground, for example, you’ll hit the ground earlier, diminishing some of the momentum. As such, you should try to hit the opponent’s shield as high up as you can.

Since Back Air is safe on shield, the best response from the opponent is to evade it entirely, such as with a jump or spot-dodge. Junkrat, then, can predict which option the opponent will choose and punish it. It’s like a tomahawk grab*, but instead of punishing a shield, you’re punishing a dodge. If the foe jumps, you can jump after them with an aerial, while a spotdodge can be punished by simply landing and then attacking.

*You jump at the foe, they think you’ll use an aerial attack so they put up their shield. You predict this, and instead of using an aerial, you land immediately with a fast-fall and grab to counter their shield.

This bounce also has other applications. Junkrat can bounce off of the underside of the stage to go deep offstage for edgeguards, and when stage-spiking an opponent using Bair, the boost away from the ledge can also help you avoid stage-spiking yourself with Concussion Mine. After throwing a held Steel Trap upward, you can Back Air off of it for a boost forward in order to approach. This is possible due to the fact that you can attack (but not destroy) your own Steel Trap, and since you can only catch a Steel Trap once as an item, after throwing it you won’t have a chance of accidentally regrabbing it when you use the Back Air.
Forward Air
Forward Air is similar to Back Air in many ways, almost like its more explosive brother. By explosive, by the way, I mean that Junkrat grips his Frag Launcher in one hand, aims it forward, and pulls the trigger without a grenade in the barrel, letting out a close-ranged explosion that deals 17% of damage and KOs from the ledge at 90%. That’s massively powerful, but in exchange, there’s a TON of startup lag and a hefty amount of both ending lag and landing lag. So this is basically one of Junkrat’s best punishes off of a hard read in the air.

This move also has recoil similar to Back Air’s, but it has a good deal more force / speed behind it and happens whether or not you hit something. And, obviously, it also sends you backward instead of forward. Back Air and Forward Air have a good amount of small differences, giving them strengths and weaknesses as far as utilizing the recoil goes.

Back Air, when used to gain momentum for an approach, has the lower amount of startup and ending lag, meaning it’s the less committal option and allows for more mixups. However, it also requires the prior setup of having a Steel Trap ready to throw and bounce off of. So basically, it has a longer “startup period,” but you can “cancel” it at any time in order to do something else. Back Air as an approach means that you’ll also be facing the opponent, which can be useful for using moves like Nair (more on that in a bit) to approach. It also means that you can use Forward Air, which has a guaranteed recoil whether or not the opponent evades the move. Forward Air also deals more damage than Back Air; however, its longer lag on both ends means that the opponent has wider windows to both react to and punish the Forward Air. One other mixup you can use in this scenario is using Forward Air before you’re actually near the opponent, allowing you to easily back off while putting out a strong KO hitbox in case the opponent decides to run after you.

The opposite of this – using Forward Air for the boost and Back Air as the poke – has its own advantages and disadvantages. Forward Air, first off, is a guaranteed boost, so you don’t need a Steel Trap ready in order to use it. However, it’s significantly more telegraphed due to the longer startup. As for the attack itself you use on the opponent as the poke, which is Back Air in this case, you can’t use any front-facing attacks such as Nair since you’re facing away from the foe. Additionally, Back Air can be dodged or evaded in order to negate the recoil bounce, and isn’t as powerful. To compensate, however, Back Air’s lower startup lag means that you can use it more effectively for mixups, since you can delay the Back Air input more (and thus have a larger window during which you could instead choose to jump / etc). And from here, you can punish the opponent’s response to the Back Air, as described before.

So basically, it’s about gauging the situation and choosing your choice of boost approach depending on what you want to accomplish. Back Air and Forward Air also allow Junkrat to make his movement even more unpredictable, since he can reverse his direction on the fly or simply use the speed boost to traverse the stage more quickly.
Neutral Air
Junkrat winds up his left fist before delivering a rather meaty-feeling hook in front of him at a bit of a downward angle, dealing 12% of damage and popping the opponent straight upward to allow for follow-ups. Nair has a noticeable amount of startup lag, but its ending lag and autocancel window allow Junkrat to act almost immediately after connecting with the attack. This means, of course, that Nair is pretty much your best combo tool in the air, especially considering how your Forward Air and Back Air both send you directly away from the opponent (which isn’t great for follow-ups).

Nair is also a very nice poking or pressuring option against an opponent’s shield due to its low endlag and early autocancel window. The actual landing lag on the move is a little bit long, but the generous autocancel means you can easily avoid it. Really, Nair is mainly lacking as an escape option / get-off-me tool, since it doesn’t cover Junkrat’s whole body and has kinda long startup lag. So do watch out for that.

Up Air
Up Air, meanwhile, is a simple headbutt, kinda like Ness’s in terms of the basic concept behind it. It’s actually a really quick move, with the startup lag of a standard flipkick Up Air, but its ending lag and range are kinda lacking. Where Up Air excels is as a quick surprise KO option, as it deals 12% of damage and can KO a bit earlier than Ness’s uair! That’s actually kinda powerful, especially for that kind of startup lag. Its autocancel window is also quite generous, but in the air, the long endlag means that one way to counter Uair is just airdodging past it. Since you can’t just Uair, get them to airdodge, and then punish it with another attack – the endlag is long enough to where the foe has time to escape.

It’s a decent juggle tool, but Up Air is really designed to catch the opponent off-guard with a quick KO move if they ever end up above Junkrat. It’s also quite good as a follow-up off of combo moves, such as RIP-Tire, thrown Steel Trap, Concussion Mine, or Nair, to name a few that I’ve already talked about. For moves like Nair and a thrown Steel Trap, though, it’s more of a 50-50 than a true kill confirm. Since Up Air’s hitbox starts a bit behind Junkrat, it can also cover a small area behind him.

Down Air
Junkrat kicks downward and in front of him with his pegleg, coming out quickly and dealing 11% of damage. Midair opponents are spiked at a diagonally forward angle, while grounded foes are popped straight up. Down Air, like Back Air, also has recoil momentum if it hits anything, bouncing Junkrat upward a bit further than Link’s dair as well as giving him backward momentum. This allows Junkrat to recover more easily after spiking someone, potentially combo off of the grounded pop-up, or move away from the opponent after hitting their shield to make it a bit safer.

Down Air’s landing lag makes it very punishable when evaded, however, and the opponent can almost always punish the shield-bounce with a dashing aerial attack due to its endlag. And even if they don’t quite manage to punish it, this recoil does force Junkrat away from the opponent, meaning that he gives up pressure and stage control. Dair also serves as Junkrat’s primary landing tool, since it hits at a very handy angle below and in front of you.
STANDARDS

Jab
Jab is a very simple move: a straight punch forward, dealing diagonally-upward knockback with moderate base knockback and lower scaling – oh, and it also deals 7% of damage. Jab is a little bit slow for a neutral attack, but its endlag is much lower than most jabs. Its knockback is also awesome for setting potential traps. For example, by using Jab immediately followed by a neutral- or up-angled Frag Launcher (depending on percent), you can cover the airspace immediately behind the opponent at a delay, meaning that if they jump after getting hit by Jab as an escape option, they’ll be punished. So at that point you’ve basically forced an attack or airdodge, which you can then easily punish.

As for the effect its frame data has on how Jab is used, it’s actually a pretty poor out-of-shield option due to kinda long startup lag. Instead, Jab is best used as a shield-poke, since it has decent range and low ending lag. In fact, this is probably your go-to spacing move in neutral, though you’ll also want to use your other mixups often. If spaced at maximum range, it’s actually rather hard to punish! Especially when Junkrat has extra mixup options like Total Mayhem on top of the ability to shield or use a quick tilt.
Up Tilt
By “quick tilt,” I mainly mean Up Tilt, since this move comes out on frame 3! It’s a quick uppercut in front of Junkrat, dealing 4% of damage as well as – unusually – weakly knocking the foe backwards. So outside of incredibly low percents, the opponent will typically end up behind Junkrat, which allows him to land a follow-up due to Up Tilt’s low endlag. Short-hop Up Air is probably the best follow-up at low percents, since it’s his quickest option that hits behind him. As percent and hitstun increase, though, you can go for slower moves, such as Forward Tilt (more on that in a sec) or Back Air.

The main weakness of Up Tilt is its extremely low range; it’s only really useful as a punish tool, rather than a viable poke in neutral. While it has very short endlag, it doesn’t send a shielding opponent anywhere, so they can still land a shield-grab most of the time. Junkrat’s only answer to this would be a spotdodge, since it’s his quickest option in this situation, but the opponent could throw out something like a multi-hit jab combo instead to punish the spotdodge.

Forward Tilt
Ftilt has Junkrat channel his inner Ganon, thrusting his pegleg forward in a straight kick attack much like the King of Evil’s ftilt. It only deals 11% of damage and launches the opponent more weakly – KOing from 120% near the ledge – but makes up for it with a bit of added speed and range. The decreased knockback also allows Junkrat to tech-chase more often even at high percents, leading into his true kill moves such as Forward Air and Up Air, or when near the ledge you can still get an edgeguard in.

Pivoting with this move out of a retreating dash also proves quite handy, since its long range, speed, and nice advantage state on-hit make it a nice surprise option for when the foe is trying to chase you down. If you connect with the Forward Tilt, there is a small recoil effect, but unlike the aerials, Junkrat’s foot touching the ground (i.e. him standing on the ground) adds a considerable amount of friction, meaning that he only slides a small amount. Still, IF spaced properly, this makes Forward Tilt completely safe on shield! ...That’s kind of a general theme, if you couldn’t tell. One of Junkrat’s biggest strengths is his ability to poke at the opponent’s shield with ease, forcing some other kind of reaction such as a jump or spotdodge – which he can then easily punish with his killer aerials, slow-but-strong moves, or even a delayed trap like a grenade or Steel Trap!

Down Tilt
Anyway, Down Tilt is a stab downward at the ground in front of Junkrat with the pegleg, packing decent reach as well as dealing 6% of damage. Its speed is about average for a down tilt. As for endlag, that’s the unusual part: Junkrat bounces backward up off the ground upon using Down Tilt (regardless of whether or not it connects), reaching the peak of his arc at 1 SBB off the ground after traveling 1.5 SBB backwards. The move’s FAF is also right at this peak, meaning you can cancel the rebound with an aerial action of your choice (attack, jump, airdodge, etc). So Down Tilt is actually a kind of situationally handy mobility tool. Its main use is for covering rolls; you can put out the Down Tilt’s hitbox, and if they roll in the same direction you’re bouncing, you can punish it on reaction with an aerial.

As for knockback, that’s Down Tilt’s biggest strength as well as its biggest weakness. It actually deals moderate knockback backward at the Sakurai Angle, launching the opponent in the same direction as the bounce itself. This allows for combos at any percent, with the opponent sliding across the ground at lower percents for something like a Down Air to connect, while at higher percents they’ll be popped up for a Forward Air, Neutral Air, or Up Air follow-up. On shield, though, this also means that the opponent is pushed toward you in their shield, meaning that you’ll be eating something like an up smash out-of-shield during your endlag. So basically, Down Tilt is a riskier tool that allows for killer follow-ups but also loses hard to shields. If the opponent spotdodges it, you’ll generally be able to escape. In combination with how moves like Back Air distinctly win against shields and lose against dodges (the opposite of Down Tilt), you can condition the opponent to favor one option and then use the inverse to throw them off.

Dash Attack
Junkrat stops in place on his pegleg and flip-kicks with his foot, covering a wide arc while dealing 10% of damage. After that, Junkrat actually ends up facing the opposite direction, which can prove quite handy due to how Dash Attack’s knockback works. Basically, hitting near the start / bottom of the kick knocks the opponent straight up, while the late / top hit deals backward knockback in the form of a weak semi-spike; it’s kinda like a weak version of Fox’s up smash. So the early hit lets you combo into something like Back Air or Up Air, while the late hit leads into front-facing moves. Fast-fallers are especially vulnerable to grounded attacks off of the late hit; it often leads into a grab against them!

Since Junkrat stops immediately upon using Dash Attack, it also gives him the unusual ability to space his Dash Attack safely against shields. It sends the foe too far for a shield-grab, and if they try to rush in and attack Junkrat, he has Back Air to easily punish their attempt. So after shielding Dash Attack, the opponent pretty much has to retreat, which you can then cover. The other option is to block the Dash Attack and then spotdodge the Bair to punish its landing lag, but then Junkrat can just not use Bair and instead punish the spotdodge. This ability to pressure shields right out of a speedy dash is quite unusual, and can be tricky to deal with.
SMASHES

Up Smash
For Up Smash, Junkrat starts off (before the charge) with a pseudo-headbutt attack, jerking his head upward like the beginning of a Mario-style up smash. This deals 7% of damage and low upward knockback with barely any scaling, and only hits behind Junkrat. After that small headbutt, you can charge the move. Junkrat’s head is normally angled about 35* forward from a normal, upright position, but by holding the control stick, you can either angle it straight up (by holding backward) or angle it 70* forward (by holding forward), or any angle in between. Since this is reflected in real-time by Junkrat’s animation, it can look pretty funny if you wiggle your control stick really quickly, almost like a pseudo-taunt.

Anyway, during this time, Junkrat also pulls out that little detonator thing you see him holding, and actually emits a flame from the lighter hidden inside of it. When you release the charge, he’ll set his hair on fire to create a big inferno / explosion of fire in the direction you angled the attack! He’s done this before, clearly – his hair is visibly singed in his design, and headbutting attacks like Uair and the initial hit of Usmash deal fire damage. Leave it to Junkrat to set his hair on fire if it means getting a big, disjointed anti-air hitbox!Speaking of the hitbox, Up Smash deals 14%~20% depending on charge, with KO power similar to Mario’s up smash. Since the direction of the knockback changes depending on how you angle it, however, it can also KO significantly earlier with good positioning! The blast of flames extends about one Junkrat forearm length from his hair, expanding out a little bit as it gets further away for a “cone” shape. Usmash is Junkrat’s premier anti-air tool, thanks to its massive disjoint and ability to be angled to cover any aerial approach. Its main weakness is its startup and ending lag, and opponents can also easily crouch under the move even if Junkrat angles it downwards. Short foes like Pikachu or Kirby can avoid it by just standing there! So don’t spam Up Smash, or you’re asking to eat a big punish.

That little headbutt at the start is also pretty handy, since at low percents, it essentially sets the opponent up for a 50-50. Releasing the charge right away is too fast for the opponent to jump or attack out of, while if they try to airdodge, you’ll need to delay the Up Smash to cover that. At higher percents, as the move’s knockback increases, the hitstun actually makes headbutt → uncharged Up Smash into a true combo! But if the foe panics and tries to spam airdodge anyway, there’s nothing stopping you from taking a gamble and charging the move for that extra bit of disrespect and KO power. Since the headbutt hits behind Junkrat, he benefits from reverse dashing Up Smash in a similar way to Mario.

Forward Smash
Of course, it does help to have just a simple, reliable KO option in your arsenal, without anything too fancy or convoluted – which is where Forward Smash comes in. Junkrat thrusts his Frag Launcher forward and lets out an explosion from the end of the barrel, overall similar to Samus’s forward smash. He also takes a huge stride forward, which helps increase the attack’s effective range but leaves Junkrat vulnerable to a shield-grab unless he spaces the move from a long distance. Anyway, that explosion deals 16%~22%, KOing at 80%~50% from the ledge. Meanwhile, the thrust itself before the explosion also has a small hitbox, dealing a flat 3% of damage and hitting the opponent into the sweetspot. Junkrat will still miss foes who are right up in his face, but the dragging hitbox can help in certain scenarios.

The big thing to watch out for here is how dang unsafe Forward Smash is. If the opponent shields it, they can connect a shield-grab, or oftentimes even a smash attack! The startup isn’t too bad, similar to Mario’s fsmash, but you’ve gotta make sure they don’t see it coming. Forward Smash basically serves to allow Junkrat to, after chipping cracks in the opponent’s head with his unpredictable movements and attacks, exploit that crack and rip it wide open for the kill.

You can also angle Forward Smash up or down, making it into more of an advantage state starter than a straight-up KO move handy at lower percents when the normal Fsmash wouldn’t KO anyway. Angled up, it becomes a multi-hit as Junkrat kind of swings the Frag Launcher in an upward / uppercut-like arc, dealing the same amount of damage as normal but across multiple smaller hits / multiple smaller explosions. Along with the increased vertical coverage, one big difference here is the significantly reduced knockback on the final hit, reminiscent of Melee’s version of Raptor Boost in that it leaves the opponent right above and in front of Junkrat. This version of Forward Smash also has lower endlag than usual, allowing you to really capitalize on this and pressure the opponent. At high percents, it becomes less useful, but its lessened ending lag is still nice, and it can set up juggles.

Angled down, meanwhile, Junkrat curves his thrust downward, with the normal-strength explosion being released when the barrel makes contact with the ground. This is a less radical change than the up-angled variation, but its angle is also changed to a very low-angle semi-spike. This allows Forward Smash to set up god-tier edgeguards near the ledge while also catching two-frames and foes hanging on the ledge. After connecting with a down-angled Forward Smash, Junkrat can really bring on the hurt, since tools like RIP-Tire’s explosion or Frag Launcher are pretty much designed for long-ranged edgeguards, not to mention his variety of powerful aerial attacks. When used in the middle of the stage, meanwhile, it forces the opponent to tech, which you can augment by covering tech options with a Steel Trap. Its main weakness is the fact that the opponent can easily jump over it, since it only hits very low to the ground.

Down Smash
If you’re cornered at the ledge and want to turn the tides of battle off of a single opening, look no further than Junkrat’s Down Smash! He’ll grab a couple of those cylindrical bombs lining his chest-belts, one in each hand, and after you’re done charging the move, he’ll thrust his arms down and out to either side, releasing a large explosion hitbox on each side of Junkrat. Along with dealing 10%~14% of damage, these explosions also send the opponent toward Junkrat; the one on the right launches to the left, and vice-versa. Their knockback is nothing spectacular, on par with the average dsmash in terms of kill power, but it’s pretty potent because it allows Junkrat to send an opponent offstage even if he’s being cornered at the ledge. This is helped due to its range, allowing you to capitalize on a mistake without needing to get up close and personal.

The startup lag on this move is kinda noticeable, but the other really neat thing is that you can act almost immediately after the hitbox ends, which makes it pretty insane to deal with! Unlike some of Junkrat’s other moves, such as Down Tilt, Dsmash actually pushes shielding opponents AWAY from Junkrat despite its knockback. So basically, this is a really powerful move during disadvantage, and your opponent needs to respect it by either attacking from above or hitting you during your startup lag. In neutral or your own advantage state, though, there are better, more rewarding options available – the main use for Down Smash is covering both sides of you at once. It can also be a kind of alright pressure tool near the ledge, since you can act immediately after to stuff out any out-of-shield retaliation attempts from the opponent.
GRAB GAME

Grab
Junkrat’s grab is probably the only really “ordinary” move in his kit, as he simply reaches out with his left arm for a standard grab with average range and speed. When pummelling an opponent, he’ll simply do a pistol-whip-like attack with his Frag Launcher, dealing 3% of damage with average pummel speed.
Special Pummel
Junkrat also has a second “pummel,” activated by hitting B during the grab state. He’ll simply grab a grenade and forcefully stick it onto the opponent, being extremely slow for a pummel animation and only dealing 1% of damage. The real advantage is that this acts as a time-bomb, exploding after five seconds and dealing 5% of damage and knockback similar to a grenade from Neutral B.

The only way to get the grenade off of you is to hit Junkrat with a non-projectile attack, transferring it to him instead, but you could also just shield or dodge it. This primarily serves to force the opponent to approach after you’ve launched them with a throw, which you can take advantage of by punishing their hasty approach. Junkrat’s throws are good at stacking on multiple layers of pressure when combined with this time-bomb, while his projectiles can augment the time-bomb’s ability to force an approach. The main drawback to the Special Pummel is its duration, giving the opponent more time to potentially mash out of the grab.
Down Throw
Down Throw is Junkrat’s combo throw, as he slams them into the ground and then stomps / stabs them with his pegleg. This deals an initial 2% for the slam, followed by the stab’s 5% and moderate combo knockback. You’ll actually send the foe a decent distance at a forward 45* angle, which is kinda far compared to other combo throws, but you can still connect a follow-up due to your mobility stats. Forward Air, a reversed Up Air or Back Air, or Neutral Air are some guaranteed follow-ups. Reading an airdodge, meanwhile, can allow you to connect with a Down Air or smash attack depending on the opponent’s percent. So basically, this allows Junkrat to get big damage or a kill off of a single grab, which is very potent and scary given his ability to force shields with his projectiles and quick pokes.

Forward Throw
Junkrat simply performs a swift elbow attack on the held foe with his right arm, dealing 10% of damage and launching the opponent at a low angle with rather low knockback scaling. It forces the opponent to tech, but the timing is rather easy due to the telegraphed startup on this throw. You can obviously use this to tech-chase, but the more powerful application is sending the opponent into your Steel Trap, which is unavoidable and leads to powerful follow-ups! With no Steel Trap active, moves like RIP-Tire or Frag Launcher can still be used to cover tech options thanks to Fthrow’s low endlag, or you could obviously just chase the opponent with your dash speed.

Back Throw
Let’s get into something a tad more interesting now. Junkrat spins around and launches the opponent a moderate distance with a normal knockback angle, dealing 6% of damage. He then immediately launches a grenade from his Frag Launcher, chasing the opponent’s DI. This grenade is timed to explode immediately after the end of the opponent’s hitstun, and can only be avoided by airdodging, since every other option would be too slow. It deals the same 7% of damage as a normal grenade from Neutral B, as well as similar knockback.

Anyway, since the opponent is forced to airdodge, that’s Junkrat’s opportunity for a punish! Problem is, it launches them too far for you to really capitalize on it outside of gaining the positional advantage. ...Unless, of course, you plan ahead and lay a Steel Trap, RIP-Tire, or even another grenade where the opponent is about to land! So that’d be deploy trap / projectile → grab → use Bthrow to force them into it → etc. Now the opponent is in more of a catch-22, since both options will lead to taking a hit! You just need to be smart about your setup and trapping game.
Up Throw
Finally, Up Throw has the same general idea – Junkrat throws the opponent up a similar distance to Pika’s uthrow at high percent (high base knockback, low knockback scaling; so it launches them pretty far even at low damage levels), dealing 4% of damage. He also launches a grenade upward, but this time, it explodes before the foe even has a chance to airdodge! This one deals 7% of damage too, but deals downward knockback, with just enough force to where the opponent is forced to tech on the ground and can’t act before that point. So basically, you’re putting the opponent through a tech-chase, but with the added twist of you also being able to catch them with another attack!

At low percents, your follow-ups are more limited. As the foe’s percent increases, however, they’re sent further up – which means you have more time, and can potentially use slower attacks such as a smash attack! The opponent can DI both launching hitboxes, but can never escape the grenade itself by DI’ing the initial launch. So basically, the opponent has to mix up both their DI and tech options, which can definitely get a bit overwhelming. As Junkrat, your job here is to use that to your advantage and find any cracks in the opponent’s mixup game! And, of course, you’ve also gotta be unpredictable yourself.
 

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Name: Blaster-Tron
Catchphrase: “Target Acquired!”



Blaster-Tron is a robot from the future. Captured by the Trap Team when they went to the future to stop the evil Wolfgang, they ended up catching Blaster-Tron as well. He was taken back to the present to see if his technology could be reverse engineered, Master Eon discovered that Blasty had an actual Good/Evil switch on him. When the switch was flipped to good, Blaster-Tron became a monotone, sarcastic hero to all. That wasn’t all that changed, as Blaster-Tron also gave up his trademark laser bazooka for a laser sword. No one was sure why, but he was incredibly good at using it, so Eon made Blaster-Tron a Sensei of the Knight class.


Section: Stats

Weight: 106
Running Speed: 1.79
Walking Speed: 0.85
Air Speed: 1.15
Falling Speed: 1.7

"Accuracy of numbers confirmed. Only attribute that cannot be measured is this thing you call 'love'."

Blaster-Tron is a fairly squat robot, only measuring slightly taller than Wario, not including the antenna. Fitting a robot like him, he is suitably heavy and slow. His Walking animation has him slowly and mechanically plod each foot forward, making him one of the slowest characters, only above a handful of others. His running animation has him using that jetpack of his to boost forward, increasing his speed dramatically.

His first jump is rather mediocre, comparable to Kirby’s first jump. Even then, it looks like he only gets that air with his jetpack’s help. The second jump is much better, with his jetpack kicking into overdrive to propel him upwards at about 1.5 his usual height. Blaster-Tron’s jetpack also lets him move around the air with a decent pace, and holding the jump button will activate his hover.


Holo-Shield:

Blaster-Tron actually has his own special shield! Not a shield special, but his very own unique shielding effect. When Blaster-Tron activates his shield, instead of a colored bubble surrounding him, a yellow force field made out of hexagons will surround him instead, even spinning around him for as long as he holds the shield button down. This behaves mostly like a normal shield, aside from one key difference.

If Blaster-Tron Perfect Shields an incoming projectile, it will instantly reflect back, turning the projectiles into his own. This has a few applications, mostly when regarding the Down Special, which we’ll get to in a bit, of course.


Section: Special Attacks
Neutral Special: Beaming with Delight


Blaster-Tron raises his sword up into the air, He-Man style, causing a glowing light to move up the sword’s red markings until it reaches the tip. The light builds at the top, and Blaster-Tron then slashes the sword forward, shooting out a beam of energy. Because, even if he has a sword, Blaster-Tron still needs to blast something.

This functions as a charge move, in fact it behaves identically to the Charge Move in everything but animation. You can fire the beam at any point during the charge up point too, the movement of the light just makes it easier to tell when its full. The size and power of the laser will change depending on what the charge was, like any good charge attack. The total amount of time the charge takes is well, basically the same as it takes to charge a Charge Shot.

All lasers retain the same shape, a Ray Gun shaped, purple laser shot, with a size difference dependant on the charge. They also all only move 3.5 Battlefield Platforms forward, good range for a projectile. The lowest charge is the weakest of the laser’s variations, obviously, and has it at a slightly larger size than a Ray Gun shot, not a major difference, but it is noticeable. This is also the fastest of the charge shots, moving at around Captain Falcon’s speed. It only deals 3% damage, with functionally no knockback, though it obviously can KO at incredibly high percents.

Skipping to the fully charged laser, it becomes much larger, comparable in size to a full Samus Charge Shot, except, like, wider and shorter and not ball shaped. The laser moves much slower, 2/3rds the speed of the lowest charged laser, which still means it moves fast enough to get a decent hit out. This deals great knockback, enough to KO at 110%, and deals 20% damage on contact.

You might think that this is just a charge shot copy, and as an attack it pretty much is, but there is a lot more to it. For one, the sword slash itself is also a hitbox. The hitbox only exists briefly, and can pretty much only hit opponents directly above or below it, but its still there. The sword has decent range to it, comparable to Link’s despite the sword’s exaggerated size. This isn’t as powerful as it is on some other moves, but it isn’t the main focus of the move after all. The slash deals 10% damage, and deals middling knockback, but can be a good way to punish opponents who make a pre-emptive jump over a laser.

The other other function of this attack is what makes it one of the most important attacks in Blaster-Tron’s set. During the charge, you can cancel out of it, keeping whatever charge you have, much like what Samus can do with the Charge Shot. With another press of the button, Blaster-Tron can fire the charged laser out, or charge it up even more. Well, that’s all fine and good, but how is this one of the most important attacks, you ask?

That’s because this isn’t the only attack Blaster-Tron can put the charge into. In fact, every sword attack has him able to use the charge! Every attack has a different effect when the charge is applied, but the level of charge also changes how many times in a row Blaster-Tron can use the applied charges. It maxes out at 3 uses per full charge, and with 1 at the lowest charge. Even if a use is used up, Blaster-Tron can simply charge the blade up again, this simply makes it so that he can’t do any crazy combos.

The charge effects will be listed in the individual moves it works on.


Side Special: Taser Tether Rockets


Blaster-Tron points forwards with his free hand, causing two cartoony rockets to materialize in front of him via purple particles. One rocket is spawned at Blaster-Tron’s feet, while the other is spawned around his head… dome-thing. They then proceed to fly forwards after a few frames, the lower one travelling in a straight line, while the higher one flies at a slight upwards diagonal slant. The two rockets are fired at the same time, and have the exact same speed, around Mario’s dash speed. In other words, average movement speed.

The reason the two rockets need to keep pace is because they create an electric tether between them. The tether is created as soon as the rockets start moving, and will gradually grow taller as the rockets spread further apart. By the time they’ve 3/4ths of Final Destination, no jump besides multi-jump characters will be able to get over them.

This isn’t as OP as it sounds. For one, the rockets are weak as cardboard. They count as structures, and have 2% HP, meaning most moves will be able to destroy them. Rockets are also destroyed on contact with any hard surface, excluding thin platforms, which they pass through. This counts towards other opponents however, where they explode with 2/3rds the strength of a Bob-Omb, and deal 15% damage as well.

When one rocket is destroyed, the electric tether is destroyed along with it, leaving the other rocket to continue along its lonely path until it either hits something, or goes off-screen. Its still a viable projectile on its own, however, as hitting even a solid wall will activate its hitbox, it’s just not as good as normal.

The other reason this isn’t as strong as it sounds is because the tether doesn’t deal any knockback. It deals damage, of course, but only 5%. This means that opponents would probably prefer to jump through the tether rather than get hit by a stronger rocket. However, the tether doesn’t just cause a measly amount of damage.

No, it has a secondary effect as well. When an opponent jumps through it, they will take an electric shock. This doesn’t stun them, but rather stunts their movement for a moment, making them lose 10% of their speed. This only lasts 3 seconds, but can still be crippling. Blaster-Tron can’t stack this effect, however, and will have to wait a bit before the effect can be used again, since only one pair of rockets can be on stage at once. So it will either take the rockets leaving the screen, or them both getting destroyed in order to do it again.

This is one of Blaster-Tron’s main sources of crippling his opponents, by forcing them to make a difficult choice, both of which leaves the opponent in a bad spot.


Up Special: Threatpack Jetpack

Blaster-Tron has already used that jetpack of his a lot, but what if he could use it EVEN MORE? That’s what his Up Special lets him do! The move starts out similar to Diddy Kong’s Up Special, Blaster-Tron going into a brief charge up period before launching up into the sky. Unlike Diddy Kong, this can’t actually be charged, it just has considerable start-up lag to it.

The launch turns Blaster-Tron’s body into a hitbox, dealing upwards knockback and 10% damage on contact with any opponent. The hitbox lasts until Blaster-Tron reaches his peak, which is about 2 Ganondorfs into the air. Once this happens, Blaster-Tron will enter a freeflight mode, his jetpack still propelling him upwards with Future Technology.

This is a pretty standard freeflight mode, allow Blaster-Tron to move in every direction for 4 seconds. During this time, he can use his aerial attacks, to be described later, with the Down Air specifically being able to cancel him out of freeflight. Once the four seconds are over, Blaster-Tron will enter freefall, meaning you better be above a platform before it runs out.

This is a rather standard recovery move, with the added bonus of having more to work with than just his initial boost. Being able to use his aerials during it can lead to some fun tactics, which will be revealed once we actually get to the aerials. Charge from the Neutral Special is also carried over when this is activated, meaning you can get even more of it once you factor in sword-based aerial attacks as well.


Down Special: Hologram Field


Blaster-Tron’s antenna blinks for a second, before it spawns a large purple forcefield made out of hexagons. The size of the field depends on charge, but there’s only a very, very slight difference between no charge and full charge. No charge results in a field roughly 2.5 Blaster-Tron’s tall, and able to reach the sides of the lower two Battlefield platforms. Full charge results in the field being able to cover half of the lower two Battlefield platforms, while barely covering the top platform.

The field takes a moment to fully come out, however, during which the opponent can cancel Blaster-Tron out of it by attacking him. The field doesn’t deal damage to the opponent either, but what it does do is potentially even more devastating to them. While an opponent is moving through the field, they will be reduced by 15% speed, slowing them down immensely.

This, of course, causes a lot of problems. However, the problems pile on when Blaster-Tron enters the field, something he’s already doing when the attack starts up. Blaster-Tron will gain a major buff while inside the field, boosting all damage by 0.5x, and increasing his speed by a few decimals. The only downside to being in the field is that Blaster-Tron takes 1.5x knockback while in the field, which returns to normal knockback as soon as he exits the field.

Blaster-Tron will also deal normal knockback to opponents as well, cancelling out their slowed movement for a moment while they fly away. This is more a downside for Blaster-Tron as well, since the opponents are more likely to exit the field by your hand than remain inside.

The field also affects projectiles. It retains the slowdown on opponent’s projectiles, but Blaster-Tron’s rockets and lasers get buffs thanks to them. The major buff being their speed, instantly boosting any projectile that enters the field to 1.5x Sonic’s speed, making them nearly impossible to avoid unless you’re ready.

This flows well with the Taser Tether Rockets, as their electric field because an almost necessary thing to jump through. It retains the downsides of the regular missiles, however, as they return to their normal, sluggish speed once they leave the field. The Beaming with Delight laser behaves exactly like how you’d expect, however, mostly just being an incredibly hard projectile to dodge no matter the charge. This also affects any projectiles you reflect with the Holo-Shield, which can get crazy if you manage to reflect a particularly strong projectile. In fact, the Holo-Field makes it even easier to do this!

The field doesn’t last long, only around 6 seconds before it peters out of existence. Blaster-Tron will have to wait a while before he can put another one up, however, around 3 seconds before he finishes recharging the holo-field.

This is Blaster-Tron’s other main crippling move, as it leaves the opponent at a serious disadvantage, if only for a brief moment. Combining this with other crippling attacks can leave devastating damages on an opponent, but there enough downsides that using it often will end in trouble for the future robot.


Section: Standard Attacks
Jab: Saber Slash


Blaster-Tron has a sword, so obviously his Jab involves swinging it around! This is a pretty basic 3-hit combo by itself. The first hit has Blaster-Tron swinging the sword downwards and into the ground. This has a bit of a push to it, resulting in Blaster-Tron moving forwards a bit, increasing its range as well. The animation itself is similar to Beaming with Delight’s, but it comes out much faster. It deals 4% damage, and little knockback in order to help it combo into the other hits.

The second hit has Blaster-Tron slashing the sword to the side. This also pushes him forwards, but the range between this and the previous hit are functionally the same. It also deals a weaker 3% damage, with around the same knockback.

The third hit is the finisher, and has Blaster-Tron spin around, and then slash with his sword. While in the other two attack’s cases, the forwards push was active while the hitbox was, the movement her exists only when Blaster-Tron spins around, with the hitbox only activating at the end. It still comes out quickly, however. This slash is the one that deals knockback, though it still isn’t particularly strong. It also deals 5% damage.

Since this is a sword attack, Blaster-Tron can use that charge of his to add a bit of extra oomph to this jab. When he swings it while holding a charge, a small laser will shoot out of it, a bit shorter and a lot more purple than a standard Ray Gun shot. This is a fairly weak projectile, dealing 3% damage with functionally no knockback, but Blaster-Tron can shoot up to 3 of them per full combo, which is a decent way to build up damage.

Well, it would be if he didn’t use up all three charges during the attack. That’s right, all three of the projectiles cost a full charge each, meaning Blasty will have to charge back up if he wants to use another charge attack. This makes these somewhat useless, but they still have utilities. They function nearly exactly like Fox’s blaster, basically, meaning you can stun an opponent for a moment.


Forward Tilt: Pulling the Plug

This is the first of Blaster-Tron’s “main attacks”, if you will. When performing the attack normally, Blaster-Tron will simply thrust the blade forwards. This is a relatively decent sword based attack, having more range than most sword-based attacks due to how the blade is thrust. It comes out quick as well, but has a few frames of ending lag. The blade will deal 9% damage on contact, and relative mediocre backwards knockback.

However, the real purpose of this attack becomes apparent when used with a charge. When the blade is thrust forwards now, a purple orb will fly out of the tip of the blade. The orb is connected to the blade by a series of purple electrical bolts, and is roughly around the size of a fully charged Charge Shot. The orb travels forwards 2 Battlefield Platforms before it disappears. This actually isn’t a projectile, like it might seem, but instead it’s a grab of sorts.

When an opponent is hit by the orb, they will become stunned by it, and then reeled back in towards Blaster-Tron. This takes a few frames, and during this time Blaster-Tron is vulnerable. Once the opponent is in front of Blaster-Tron, the orb will burst, dealing 4% damage to them. This explosion will also stun the opponent for a few frames, allowing Blaster-Tron the opportunity to follow up with a few more attacks. Also, if the opponent is hit with it at close range, they will be comboed into the standard hitbox as well thanks to its end lag.

Unfortunately, using this costs a full 3 charges, meaning that if Blaster-Tron misses, those 3 charges will be wasted. The speed of the orb, slightly faster than the rockets, doesn’t help with this either. The orb is also not considered a projectile, and does not speed up when shot through a Holo-Field. This is one of Blaster-Tron’s best attacks, as the stun leaves opponents open for a lot of potential punishment, and the range of it, for a grab, is astounding.


Up Tilt: Simply Slashing

Blaster-Tron brings his blade to his side, and then slashes upwards in an arch. This is similar to the upwards slash attack most sword using characters have, and is pretty much the exact same in concept. However, this variation is much slower than most of them, Blasty taking a rather deliberate amount of time to swing it. That isn’t to say its slow, just not as fast as the animation would imply.

This is pretty basic in most ways, being a launching move. The main difference, besides its speed, is that it’s generally more powerful than this type of attack normally is, dealing 8% damage with above average knockback. The attack can actually KO at 125%.

With a charge, the sword slash will fire 3 lasers upwards in a fan shaped pattern, the three spreading out as they fly upwards. They look exactly like the shots from the Jab, only tilted to match their directions. The beams do act differently however. They’re slightly faster, but only deal 2% damage, but also have slightly stronger upwards knockback. Using one of these actually only counts towards one charge, meaning you can use this three times in a row if you want. It’s a wonderful anti-air tool.


Down Tilt: Dub-Pulse


From his crouching position, Blaster-Tron sudden sends out a hexagon shaped pulse of energy around him, which is accompanied by a loud “WUB” sound effect. Dubstep is still popular in the future, apparently. Anyway, this pulse only exists for a very small amount of frames, in fact, its shorter than any other attack in the game, and deals a pretty pathetic 1% damage with little to no knockback. Its range is also pretty lacking, reaching just beyond Blaster-Tron’s model in a hexagonal shape, obviously, but I can go through platforms. Overall, pretty useless.

Well, unless you see the obvious. This thing is a combo machine, as it comes out incredibly fast, and is able to be spit out again shortly after. It can rack up a small amount of damage in no time. But eventually, after rapid use, most likely after 10%, the opponent will break loose, again, leaving the move in a potentially bad position.

But again, there’s more to it. After a bit of mashing the button, around 3 inputs in a row, you will actually be able to start moving Blaster-Tron around. You can keep the attack going as long as you mash the button (Don’t worry, the more it goes on, the quieter the WUB gets), and the move is actually able to come out directly after another. However, Blaster-Tron is stuck walking at his walk speed, and this doesn’t last forever. You can perform approximately 35 pulses in a row from this, but you need to keep up the mashing, a single pause will cause Blaster-Tron to return to his normal state.

The 35th pulse is the strongest one, even have the loudest WUB of them all, having a much larger radius than the normal once, to nearly twice their normal size, and deals 10% damage. The knockback can KO at 110%, which is definitely easy to get to using the attack. Unfortunately, once this pulse is used, Blaster-Tron will enter a brief recharge state where he not only suffers a horrible amount of endlag as his systems reboot, but you also won’t be able to use anything but the basic single use from the normal Down Tilt.


Dash Attack: Attack Pack

From his dash animation, which already involves his jetpack lifting him off the ground, Blaster-Tron goes into a spinning rocket dash, his entire model spinning around as he jets forward. This will always go a set distance of 1.5 Battlefield Platforms forward, though it can be cancelled out by double tapping the opposite direction. Unlike most dashes, this will go over cliffs, though if you cancel out of it, you will retain your second jump.

Stat wise, the jetpack attack travels at a pretty standard dash attack speed, nothing remarkable or special, but its hitbox is good since it uses all of Blaster-Tron’s model as a hitbox. Due to his bulky frame, this attack actually hits hard, dealing knockback that can KO at 120%, and deals 10% damage on contact. Cancelling the dash will actually give you access to other attacks as well, meaning that you can easily cancel into a normal standard or aerial.

Pressing the shield button while the attack is active will cause something interesting to happen. Blaster-Tron will summon up the Holo-Shield, but only in front of his antenna, where it projects from, coincidentally. Normally, the attack can be cancelled out by any normal attacks, but this shield prevents exactly one attack from hurting you during the flight. This acts as armor of a kind, and specifically blocks from any attack that deals under 12% damage, meaning most projectiles and standards. Any attack that does more than that will knock Blaster-Tron out of his flight no matter what, however. The downside to using this is that the attack slows down a bit, and its range is decreased as well.


Section: Smash Attacks
Down Smash: Launching Program


Blaster-Tron raises his sword above his head, holding it with both hands, and then swings it downwards in a downwards motion. This is a pretty standard attack, even with a similar animation to some of Blasty’s other attacks. However, this one is distinguished not only by the two-handed strike, but also by a bit of an extending hitbox on the attack. It only hits a bit forwards, but it does slightly increase the sword’s general reach.

This is also one of Blaster-Tron’s more potent attacks, dealing 20-24% damage depending on charge. To compensate for this, it also has horrendous start-up lag, but relatively quick endlag, for a fairly specific reason we’ll get to in a moment. The knockback is also powerful, capable of KOing at 110%, but the start up lag puts a hamper on its usability at lower percents.

However, the attack’s purpose becomes revealed when used with charges. At the cost of three charges, the sword slam will now create a massive field in front of Blaster-Tron, around 2 Battlefield Platforms wide. This field comes out with a pulse that deals 8% damage, and fixed knockback that flings the opponents upwards around a Ganondorf and a half. As soon as the pulse happens, the field begins to disappear but it vanishes a bit slower than Blaster-Tron’s endlag.

That’s because of the pulse’ very interesting knockback. Once they reach the maximum height of the launch, any opponent hit by the attack will hover in place for a handful of frames before they start to fall. This gives Blaster-Tron enough time to leap up into the air and perform a follow up attack. This can be doubled on thanks to a Holo-Field, giving you even more time to perform the attack. It can even be boosted more if you stun them with the Taser Rockets beforehand too.

However, there is a downside to this. Any attack that Blaster-Tron throws on them will deal no knockback, it will only activate if hit after the bit of freezing. This still makes it good at dealing a lot of damage at once, especially if you come into the play prepared to strike. A good play can easily rack up potentially over 70% damage in a single go.

The other major downside is that it’s fairly hard to actually hit with. The pulse lasts for only a few frames, meaning that you can only activate this attack during those short moments. This is made worse with the start-up lag as well, but a well-timed shot can lead to some great things. And a missed shot leads to three wasted charges, and an opponent ready to punish you for it.


Up Smash: Get to the Point


For the start-up animation, Blaster-Tron only clenches one of his fists, no real sign of an attack. However, a pulse of energy travels up Blasty’s body, and to the tip of his antenna in only a few frames. Over the charging period, the pulse gets larger and larger, before Blaster-Tron fires it up into the air as a laser beam. This is actually rather instantaneous as an animation… but the laser itself is not a hitbox. It can’t hurt anyone as it flies up into the air.

The actual hitbox doesn’t become apparent until roughly a second after the laser beam goes off-screen. A purple light will suddenly shine down from the top of the screen, hovering over on of the opponents. The light will then shoot down as a laser. The laser’s stats depend entirely how long you charged it for, though range isn’t changed, it’s infinite and can pierce through thin platforms, but it can’t go through solid platforms.

With no charge, the laser will be relatively thin, the size of two baseball bats stacked next to each other. All of the lasers act as a solid hitbox rather than any other comparable laser attacks… that just being the Zero Laser, but whatever. Functionally, the laser acts as a wall with a hitbox on it. The uncharged version only deals 10% damage, but has pretty decent backwards knockback on its own. An uncharged laser will last for approximately 1 second before it finishes.

A fully charged laser acts mostly the same, except its boosted to around a Crate’s size, and deals 15% damage. The knockback is only slightly better, however, but is still good enough for what the attack is used for. The fully charged beam lasts for 1.5 seconds. The main use of the beam is to make use of it as a bouncing tool, the opponent being flung back from the wall and hopefully into one of your attacks. A follow up Taser Rocket to slow down the opponent can be pretty great to extend the combo as well.

There is a bit more the laser can do. If you hold down on the control stick while the laser flies up into the air, the beam will instead direct itself towards Blaster-Tron rather than the opponent. This doesn’t hurt Blaster-Tron in any way, so what’s its use? If Blaster-Tron uses his Holo-Shield while standing under it, it will be reflected off the shield and fly and turn into a horizontal projectile!

The laser retains all of its normal stats during this, but its knockback is turned into upwards knockback rather than backwards. Of course, the laser’s timeframe is too short for it to get a potential second hit off. Anyway, the positioning of the laser depends on where Blaster-Tron is standing. If he stands directly under it, nothing will happen, but if he stands slightly to the right of the laser, the shield will reflect it to the right, and vice versa.

The laser will appear instantly once it hits the shield, giving opponents very little time to dodge it. But that also means you have very little time, since your opportunity to do this only comes while the beam is coming down.


Forward Smash: Saber Sweep

Blaster-Tron pulls his blade in, and then spins around in a circle with it, in a similar animation to Link’s Up Special, except this can’t be used in the air, obviously. Like most spinning attacks, Blaster-Tron can move forward or backwards a bit when he uses the attack, giving it a teensy bit more range. The rest of the attack behaves almost exactly like you’d expect, any opponent hit by the sword will be hit multiple times, before a final hit that launches them off.

Specifically, each hit of the spin deals 3-5% damage per hit, and it manages to get off 4 hits before finishing. The knockback of the attack is decent as well, being able to KO at 125% when fully charged. That’s the most the attack does by itself, however.

But, it is a sword attack, so that means it can use charges. When used, Blaster-Tron will spin around and fire out 6 laser blasts, 3 in each direction. They fire out in an alternating pattern, firing first in the direction Blaster-Tron is facing, and then in the opposite direction. These lasers behave like the ones from the Jab, but they have a bit more versatility to them, considering they can hit opponents on both sides.

This does use up all 3 charges at the same time, however, though it is actually fairly difficult to miss when you cover so much ground. Also, the sword’s hitbox actually starts up before the first laser fires, which means if you manage to chit an opponent with the blade and trap them, you can top it off with a bit more damage courtesy of the lasers.

This attack is actual special in that it actually has a second interaction with the charge mechanic. If the attack is used while inside a Holo-Field… well, you’ll just use the attack. BUT, if you tap the special attack button during it, the Holo-Field will shrink down to around the size of the Holo-Shield (It’s still purple to differentiate it) and begin to follow Blaster-Tron around.

While the Holo-Field follows Blaster-Tron around, he retains all the buffs and debuffs the field usually gives him, though it can’t affect opponents any more. This costs 3 charges, and cancels out the normal charge effect when used, though the attack itself does continue. This Holo-Field is a risk-reward kind of deal, you get to deal a lot of extra damage for a short time, but also have to worry about the extra damage you yourself take, and don’t have the crutch of them being slower to fall back on. This does count as a Holo-Field still being out, so you can’t summon another one during it’s time. Also, it will instantly break if you’re hit by an attack that would KO you, which, considering the field’s major downside, is a lot.


Section: Aerial Attacks
Neutral Aerial: Pocket Rockets


Blaster-Tron tucks his arms and legs in as best he can with his stubby body, and then spreads them out, creating a small explosion and firing out 5 small rockets in a star pattern. Before we cover the rockets, we’ll cover the explosion, which is a hitbox itself. This has a very short hitbox with very minimal range, only covering the area around Blaster-Tron’s model. This acts primarily as a keep-away move, with rather mediocre knockback, and deals 10% damage

The rockets themselves are the interesting part of this move. They resemble the rockets from the Side Special, but much smaller. The most comparable description is Samus’ missiles, specifically the super missiles. They are nowhere near as powerful as the super missiles, however, dealing 7% damage each, with above average upwards knockback one they explode.

The missiles move in a very erratic pattern, constantly zigging and zagging around the air. They spread out in the star shaped pattern they were fired in, and have infinite range. They’ll explode if they come in contact with anything, including thin platforms, though they can phase through the bottoms of them like most objects. They’re relatively slow, however, travelling at the speed the super missile starts at, and never really speeding up beyond that.

The missiles also have an interesting effect when used in the Holo-Field. When fired, they still come out in the star shaped pattern, but now have a purple glow around them. Instead of the zig-zag pattern they moved in before, the rockets fire out smoothly, and move around in any direction they wish. The rockets are now homing, and will chase after random opponents. Their properties do change from the normal rockets, however.

Aside from their flight pattern changing, their damage output also changes, as they now only deal 3% damage rather than 7%. The knockback remains the same, however. They also no longer have infinite range, and will instead only travel a full Final Destination before exploding. Their speed is also considerably different, with them being much faster than before, around the speed of a normal missile. This variation of the missiles can also be used with the portable Holo-Field, and is potentially the best way to use it if you want missile spread faster.

However, there can only be 5 missiles on screen at a time, with the explosion acting as the hitbox whenever you use it while they’re on-screen. The attack also has a significant amount of start-up lag to it, though the endlag is decently fast. The start-up lag isn’t terrible, but it prevents the attack from being used after a short hop. Short hops would be the worst way to use this attack anyway, since you would basically be cancelling out two projectiles from the start. Its best to use the attack around the middle of the field.


Forward Aerial: Have a Slice

Blaster-Tron pulls his sword back, and then swings it downwards, striking anything in front of him. The hitbox of the attack is rather large, and again, rather similar to a few other of Blasty’s attacks, but the difference in animation here is… it’s in the air. This isn’t a copied move, however, and does behave fairly differently. For one, it actually has a fast start-up allowing it to be used from a short hop, but the hitbox will be a bit gimped due to the ground cancelling it out.

The sword strike has the usual range to it, and is otherwise fairly powerful, dealing 12% damage, with decent knockback that KOs at 130%. Overall, it’s mostly just used to rack up some aerial damage and not much else. At least, without the charge effect.

If you have charges on you, that means that Blaster-Tron can activate the special effect for this move. Similar to the Up Tilt’s Blaster Tron will fire a few lasers forwards in a fan-shaped pattern. Though instead of firing 3 lasers, this will fire 4, giving it a bit more overall coverage. The lasers are weaker, however, dealing 1% damage with admittedly surprisingly decent knockback.

The knockback has a bit of an upwards arch to it, which potentially allows for a second hit from a laser higher than the one that hit the opponent. However, the knockback is reduced to full backwards knockback if it combos into another laser, but if you play your cards right, this can help Blaster-Tron combo the foe into one of his own attacks. Using this only takes one charge, so you can use it three times in a row at most.


Up Aerial: The Future is Up

Blaster-Tron pulls his sword down for a moment, before quickly jabbing it upwards in what seems like a rather standard aerial attack. And, well it is. The attack is most comparable to Mii Swordfighter’s UAir, and has around the same range to it, though Blaster-Tron obviously doesn’t spin around during it. The attack is fairly strong, however, dealing 13% damage and upwards knockback that KOs at 135%.

The attack itself is mostly fast, but has both bad start and ending lag, as Blaster-Tron pulling the sword down takes a few extra frames. The sword remains stationary in the air for a few frames as well, and does remain an active hitbox, but the knockback is cut down massively if the jab doesn’t connect. However, the start-up lag isn’t bad enough to not use the attack out of a shorthop.

Being a sword based move, this attack can also use up a charge for an extra effect, this being a directly upwards laser attack. It behaves pretty much exactly like the rest of the lasers, though this one deals 4% damage with slightly higher knockback than the rest of the lasers. This only uses up one charge, and is good for using out of shorthops, making it a superb anti-air tool.


Back Aerial: Back Pack

Blaster-Tron leans back, and then rockets in the opposite direction he was facing. This is similar to the Dash Attack, only aerial and going in the other direction, but there are more unique things to it. For one, its start-up time is a bit shorter, and is actually able to be used out of short hop, but without any real purpose to it, though it can potentially be used to combo into something.

This also has slightly different range to it. It still retains having a set amount of distance to it, which in this case is only half a Battlefield Platform. The jet deals a pretty healthy 13% damage, with knockback that can KO at around 140%. While the damage is decent, it obviously isn’t great at KOing.The lack of range is also a bit of problem, but it has uses.

For example, this move makes a very good extra recovery attack, and can even be comboed from the Dash Attack, making them a fairly good pair in combination. Also like the Dash Attack, Blaster-Tron can activate his Holo-Shield during the attack’s length, where it acts the same. This is slightly less useful due to the attack’s much shorter length.


Down Aerial: Future Fall

Blaster-Tron aims his sword downwards in an animation similar to Link’s DAir, only with Blaster-Tron facing forwards rather than towards the screen. This behaves like a stall then fall, with Blasty pausing in the air for a moment, before falling down, activating the hitbox. This is comparable to Toon Link’s DAir as well, rather than something like Vanilla Link’s DAir, with Blaster-Tron going directly through the opponent rather than bouncing on them. It does come out at a slightly slower speed, however.

Like Link’s DAir, this functions as a Meteor Strike as well, meaning the knockback can be fairly great if hit in the right way. Unlike Link’s attack, this is capable of hitting at any point during the move. The attack is also a pure stall then fall, Blasty not being able to move once the attack is activated. If the Meteor Strike does hit, Blaster-Tron will bounce off of the opponent rather than go through them, but either way using it off-stage is generally not recommended, unless you’re planning to suicide. The attack deals 14% damage, and backwards knockback if the Meteor Strike doesn’t hit.

As a sword based attack, this also has a special interaction with the charges. When the sword strikes into the ground, Blaster-Tron will create a small shockwave on either side of himself, represented by two purple pulses popping up from the ground. These pulses are rather small, 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform each, but deal 7% damage, with decent upwards knockback. This functions mostly as a way to clear out opponents surrounding you, or making up for a missed attack. The endlag to the attack is bad, however, meaning you can’t follow up with a combo.


Section: Grab Game
Grab & Pummel: Beam Snare

Instead of grabbing forwards with his oversized mitts, Blaster-Tron will shoot a quick beam of electricity out of his antenna. When it hits an opponent, they will become stunned, and lifted off the ground by the beam. During this time, Blaster-Tron barely moves out of his idle animation, though the attack is fairly telegraphed. It’s a slower grab, and highly telegraphed, however.

This is one of the stronger grabs in the game, however, taking 1.5x the amount of usual mashing to escape from it in comparison to most other grabs. This makes up for the pummel, which consists of a very brief surge of electricity that deals 1%. Unlike most weaker grabs, this behaves like a normal pummel, so you won’t be able to get as many as you might like out.


Forward Throw: Blast and Back Again

Blaster-Tron lets the opponent go from his beam trap, and quickly swings his sword into them, launching them off. This is an incredibly basic throw, and causes 6% damage with knockback that can only KO at 170%. So, this is basically worthless, right? Well, Blaster-Tron has an extra bit of animation at the end of the attack, where he quickly jabs it in the opponent’s direction, though obviously it doesn’t do anything. It isn’t even a hitbox if another opponent is in range of it.

This is because it specifically ties into the charge mechanic. It’s a sword based move, so of course it uses it. When this version of the attack is used, the opponent will actually take set knockback, launching them up in the air much like in Fox’s BThrow. This deals set knockback, however, forcing the opponent about 2.5 Warios in the air. Blaster-Tron then thrusts his sword forwards and shoots a laser out. This is more comparable to Falco’s BThrow, as the laser actually deals knockback. Specifically, the laser deals 6% damage on top of the 6% already caused, and deals knockback that KOs at 120%, making it a much better option for actually KOing opponents. This only uses one charge.


Up Throw: Rocketeering

Blaster-Tron, with the opponent still trapped by the beam, suddenly cancels the beam out, tossing the opponent up into the air. He then activates his jetpack, launching himself up into the air. The toss from the beam slightly launches the opponent above his head, with the rocket boost acting as the actual hitbox, launching the opponent at a directly upwards direction.

This is below average for a throw, though it deals a decent 8% damage, the knockback can only really KO past 150%, giving it rather limited utility on that front. However, once the attack is finished, Blaster-Tron will still remain in the air, and can even use his second jump, allowing him to follow after the opponent and deal a swift air combo to them to rack up more damage.


Back Throw: Do the Robot

Blaster-Tron starts to lean downwards at a very awkward and stuff pace, imitating the robot dance, taking a few moments to fully bend over. During this, the opponent, still trapped in the beam, will move downwards alongside Blasty. Once Blaster-Tron reaches his apex, he will then jolt back up, launching the opponent off in the actual throw part of the attack. This is a fairly standard throw by itself, having directly backwards knockback and dealing 9% damage.

The gimmick with this attack relates directly to the animation. Blaster-Tron bends downwards in junctures, pausing every few frames before moving on. There are three specific moments, the first being one where he stops at a 160-degree angle. This is followed by a 125-degree angle, and then a full 90-degree angle. At any of these points, you can press the attack button to activate the attack from there.

Each drastically changes the knockback of the move. The 160-degree on will fling the opponent straight upwards, and the 125-degree bend will fling the opponent at a more diagonal-upwards direction. The only one that doesn’t change is the 90-degree angle, that being the throw’s default end point. The throw is laggy because of this, but the ability to end it early can certainly protect from any potential threats remaining on the stage.


Down Throw: Shock Therapy

Blaster-Tron releases the opponent from the beam, leaving them on the ground in front of him. He them slams his sword into the opponent, launching them off. This acts mostly as a fairly standard throw for the most part, hitting for a respectable 8% damage with harsh upwards knockback that can KO at 130%. It comes out a lot faster than you’d expect, though the start-up manages to be laggier than the rest of the move.

Since this attack uses Blaster-Tron’s sword, this attack uses the charge effect. Instead of just slamming the opponent with his blade, Blaster-Tron will now hold it over the opponent, and let out a spark of electricity. This deals a rapid series of hits to the opponent, totalling in at 12% damage. This happens over the course of only a few frames, though it is significantly laggier than the normal version of the attack. The knockback is much stronger at well, KOing at 100%, making this one of Blaster-Tron’s strongest attacks.


Final Smash:
Kaiju Believe It!


Blaster-Tron has the Smash Ball! When used, it will trigger a brief cinematic scene, where Blaster-Tron raises his fist up in front of a purple background, flying towards the screen. When it cuts back, Blaster-Tron has become a GIANT! Roughly around the size of what Giga Bowser would be if Bowser was the size of Wario. As soon as it returns to gameplay, Blaster-Tron pulls out a large future-y looking gun. After that, you regain control.

Blaster-Tron can stomp around the arena like the giant mech he now is, moving at a fairly mediocre speed, even slower than his usual walk speed. His steps actually cause a short hitbox at his feet, similar in size to the Down Smash’s launching field, though these deal 4% damage and normal upwards knockback. This isn’t likely to kill any opponent, but Blasty still has some tricks up his space-age sleeves.

Blaster-Tron has two more attacks using his attack buttons. For the standard attack button, he’ll fire out a quick blast of energy from his gun, forming two large energy balls that fly forwards in a criss-crossing pattern. They’re very large, making them hard to dodge. Each ball deals 5 hits of 5% to any opponent that gets ensnared by them, with the last hit launching them out with upwards knockback.

The special attack button is here too, and pressing that will cause Blaster-Tron to fire out a massive laser beam from his gun, around the size of Samus’ Zero Laser (Though that’s only because its already so large, if he used it normally it would be much smaller). It behaves pretty much the exact same way, though Blaster-Tron can’t aim the laser beam up and down. It deals rapid hits of 3%, trapping the opponent before firing them off.

During the time the Final Smash is active, Blaster-Tron is also surrounded by his Holo-Shield, completely protecting him from danger. Though, this is more of an aesthetics thing, as he would be invincible without it as well. Opponents can still move through the shield as well. Another bit of aesthetic note is that the borders of the screen gain purple wavelength details, and they tint the edges of the screen purple slightly.

The Final Smash lasts around 12 seconds before it runs out. Once that happens, Blaster-Tron will instantly start shrinking back to his normal size, and quickly put his gun away, pulling his sword back out in the process.


Section: Extras

Entrance: Blaster-Tron appears in a burst of yellow light, flying with his jetpack. He slashes his sword two times and says his catchphrase before landing.

Boxing Ring Title: Master of Blaster

Up Taunt: Blaster-Tron shoots a small purple orb from his antenna, which floats up and explodes into fireworks.
Side Taunt: Blaster-Tron lets out a quick piece of dubstep music, banging his head along with it. While he’s doing this, his face will pulse along with the music.
Down Taunt: Blaster-Tron enters sleep mode for a moment, all of his lights going out. He then quickly wakes up and glances around a few times.

Victory Pose A: Blaster-Tron floats down with his jetpack, and touches the ground, pulling out his sword as the freeze frame hits. He then slashes his sword forwards.
Victory Pose B: Blaster-Tron presses some buttons on his gun, and aims it at the camera as the freeze frame hits. He then pulls it back and holds it upwards.
Victory Pose C: Blaster-Tron holds his blade towards the sky in both hands, a purple light shining down as the freeze frame hits. He remains in this pose.

Losing Pose: Blaster-Tron robotically claps his hands at an awkward pace.

Costumes:
1 – Future Finish:
Blaster-Tron’s standard futuristic purple coloring.
2 – Blaster-Tron 2.0: Blaster-Tron’s color scheme becomes several different shades of blue and white, though his red eye-face remains the same.
3 – The Other Tron: Blaster-Tron’s coloring becomes a series of different shades of neon blue, including his line eye thing, mimicking a certain other cyber-hero.
4 – Blaster-Kun: Blaster-Tron’s color scheme becomes noticeably lighter, becoming much more pink.
5 – Blaster-Robo: Blaster-Tron’s colors become more harsh red, with white and yellow highlighting.
6 – Heavy Metal: Blaster-Tron becomes a duller red, along with black and grey highlights, matching Wolfgang.
7 – The Future is Learning: Blaster-Tron’s color scheme becomes almost entirely black with gold highlights.
8 – Electro-Lights: Blaster-Tron becomes nearly entirely white, with yellow highlighting.
 
Last edited:

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Judy Hopps


Judy Hopps is the real main character of Disney’s Zootopia. Growing up in a bumpkin country area, Judy grew up knowing well what she wanted to do, become a police officer. Despite her parents and basically everyone else just telling her to be a farmer, Judy managed to get her dream job after years of studying and preparation, and is even put in the Zootopia Police Department’s precinct 1 in the heart of the city.

Unfortunately, her first day of the job had her put in the role of a meter maid, where she ends up meeting Nick Wilde, the conman. Mammal. Nick gives her a rather harsh talking down to, which results in her going against orders and capturing a criminal… causing massive amounts of property damage as a result, nearly getting her fired on only her second day. She pleads with her boss to get a real case, which ultimately leads to her partnering up with Nick and solving a massive conspiracy.

Also she has to overcome institutionalized racism and stereotyping, but that gets in the way of the fun mystery plot.


Stats

Weight – 75
Run Speed – 2.1
Walk Speed – 0.94
Air Speed – 1.25
Fall Speed – 1.95​

Judy is very, very tiny. In comparison to her already very small partner, she’s even shorter. She’s only slightly taller than Kirby, though her rabbit ears make her around as tall as Nick in general, if only a teensy bit shorter. Her ears aren’t part of her hurtbox, however. She’s also remarkably light, nearly reaching balloonweight but missing it by only a tiny bit. Her speed, all around, is great, considering she’s a rabbit.

Her walk speed is the only one that can be considered slow, however, and has her slowly walking forwards, dart gun at her side. Judy’s aerial game is her main focus, with both of her jumps being some of the best in the game on both ends, and combined with her amazing amount of aerial control can come in handy. She is a rabbit, after all, and rabbits love to jump.


Specials
Neutral Special – Dart Gun

Unlike her partner, Judy trained for most of her life to know how to use police weaponry. As such, she can use the dart gun much more effectively than Nick can. The attack starts with Judy pulling out the dart gun, hers with a carrot-looking design, and aims it forwards. She then fires the dart, which flies forwards at a decent speed, and can travel 2.5 Battlefield Platforms. It’s very tiny, however, around the size of Megaman’s lemons.

When the dart hits an opponent, multiple things will happen. First, the opponent will take a rather paltry 5% damage, with functionally no knockback. However, they will also be inflicted with a special status effect. This starts out with the opponent taking a brief amount of stun and turning a shade of purple. The stun lasts only for a few frames, and the effect becomes apparent directly afterwards.

The opponent’s speed will be cut down by 15% of their usual speed. This directly relates to the character’s actual movement, as jump height and speed will remain the same, as well as their aerial control. It does effect attack animations as well, but also doesn’t affect projectiles. This only lasts for 2.5 seconds, with the last few frames of it gradually speeding the opponent back up to normal.

This isn’t as spammable as one would like, as, though Judy CAN fire a second dart at the opponent before it wears off, it won’t stack. The gun’s firing rate is also fairly bad as well, taking around 20 frames to perform a second one if you attempt to follow up directly afterwards. When it comes to this, it is ultimately better to leave this for good openings rather than using it willy-nilly.

Due to Judy’s short stature, the dart travels only slightly above the ground, making it easy to jump over, but impossible for any character that isn’t a pink puffball or a fitness trainer to duck under. By holding down the input, you can have Judy aim the gun in any of the 8 cardinal directions. Being hit by the dart while in the air will not inflict a stun, but the effect will only activate once the opponent lands. This makes the dart a somewhat decent anti-air/off-stage attack.

The move has downsides, however. The first being that opponents hit rapidly by the dart will grow a resistance to it, resulting in the time limit of the effect being cut down by 0.30 seconds every shot, lowering the timer out to 0.35 seconds in total. This isn’t a permanent effect, however, as after 10 seconds of not being hit by the dart, it will reset. It also resets after a KO.

If the input is held for 15 frames without moving it, then the dart will “charge up”, signified by a slight glint and the dart growing slightly bigger. Judy can continue holding the attack, but cannot move it around after this. This doesn’t just apply to the straight directions, holding it for that long on any direction will cause the charge to activate.

When fired, the dart will travel at around the same distance, but it will be slightly bigger and also travel at a much faster pace. On contact, it will deal 7% damage, as well as inflicting a different type of stun on the opponent. While this behaves like normal for the most part, the opponent will also be put into much worse stun, which, while it still doesn't last long, is long enough for Judy to take advantage of. Of course, that isn't just it.

When inflicted with this special status effect, the opponent will now not take knockback for a short while. Specifically, for 1.5 seconds after the stun, and only for around 35% total damage. Once that damage total is broken, then the next attack will deal its normal knockback. This is incredibly helpful for Judy, as it allows her to get in a lot of hits, and most likely directly lead into a full combo using some of her ground-to-air attacks. Overall, this is one you'll be wanting to use whenever you can.

While Judy’s speed already lets her outrun most opponents, her ridiculously light weight still leaves her open if she attempts her melee game, which is a whole lot of the set. The dart gun helps with that by slowing opponents down, letting her quick moves interrupt any other attempted attacks. Its uses come against faster opponents like Marth and Fox (Too bad she didn’t bring the Fox Away spray), letting her get in while avoiding their already fast attacks, which the stun has less effect on than heavier opponents. The charged version is even more useful for racking up heavy amounts of damage.


Side Special – Under Arrest

Judy pulls out a pair of handcuffs, and lashes them forwards. They don’t reach forwards too far, around the distance an uncharged Laser Sword swing would reach. They also don’t deal any knockback or damage once they hit a foe, only dealing a small amount of stun on both ends. This is because, as soon as the handcuffs hit the opponent, they will latch onto their wrist, and then onto Judy’s.

This functions basically like a tether between the two, and behaves like a tether in most different ways. The handcuffs will stretch out to compliment the size differences between the two characters (And there usually will be size differences), and will prevent opponents, and Judy, from moving farther than a single Battlefield Platform away from each other, whether that been vertically or horizontally. It will break boundaries if attack animations and such go beyond the maximum distance, mostly to keep things fair.

The vertical distance can get in the way sometimes, but you can simply let the opponent hang off ledges for a bit, though this isn’t anything TOO special in terms of Judy’s own kit. Like other tethers a stat value determines who ends up pulling who around, and as usual its weight. This can be a bad thing in basically every case for Judy, but she does have many ways to avoid it.

The first being hitting the opponent with a dart. When this happens, Judy will always be the one with dominance movement wise. This only lasts for a short while, however, but a lot can be done in a short while with this rabbit. There are other ways to get around the pulling effect, but the dart is one of the more effective ways, especially when an opponent is stuck close to you for a while.

There are two ways to get rid of the handcuffs. The first is to simply wait 10 seconds, when the handcuffs will automatically detach, freeing both. The other is to perform an attack on the opponent that launches them at least 2/3rds of the way across Battlefield, when all knockback checks are calculated for. This functions on both ends, and will most likely be easier for the opponent to perform on Judy, though you’d be surprised.

When a handcuff is broken, however, the opponent won’t take all of the knockback attributed, instead only taking roughly half of it. This acts as a safety buoy for Judy, and also a bit of a downside for her when she ends up dealing that should-be fateful blow.

When a handcuff is broken or the timer runs out, there will be a small cooldown period of around 2 seconds before you can use the attack again. This isn’t a major flaw in the attack, but using a handcuff at the wrong time can definitely ruin your gameplan if this happens.

The start-up of the attack is rather quick, but the actual hitbox doesn’t last that long, making it require a bit of effort to hit with. Its short range doesn’t help either, and there’s some fairly bad endlag as well, though not terrible, it is enough to be punishable. The best way to carry out this attack is to stun the opponent first with a charged dart, and then use the handcuffs while they can’t move.

Unlike a lot of smaller characters in Smash, Judy can’t play a long game, and needs to get up close and personal with the foe. The handcuffs are a main tool in that, as they allow her to get close to the opponent without as much of a threat of knockback for the most part. This is one of Judy’s most important attacks, but it has limitations that need to be overcome by certain other moves.


Up Special – Jackrabbit Jump

Judy tenses up, before launching herself up into the air, a blue trail following behind her, at around the speed of a Fox Fire. This looks like a rather standard recovery move, and it basically is, that’s one of its main functions, but it also might be one of the best recovery moves in the entire game.

From Battlefield, Judy can actually travel almost entirely off of the screen itself, leaving only her feet visible, making it one if the highest physical jumps in the entire game. During the jump, Judy can move left and right at around 1.5x her walk speed, allowing her to cover ground remarkably quickly. Unlike a lot of launching recoveries, Judy can’t aim the direction, and will always go upwards.

After reaching the apex of the jump, Judy will gain back her usual aerial control. This plays into the attack’s second use, as a good segue into the aerial game, which is something Judy will want to be doing whenever the opportunity presents itself. As such, the attack has a few tools to play into this. The first is that she can cancel out of the jump by pressing the special attack button again, resulting in her entering the fall state prematurely, but still have access to her aerials, allowing her to hit any aerial opponents without having to wait the entire move.

Another tool comes in the form of the handcuffs. If the jump is used while an opponent is handcuffed to Judy, it will override any weight stat factors, and instantly drag the opponent up into the air with her. This is where the real potential for serial follow-ups presents itself, as most of Judy’s aerials are built around racking up damage fast, and having an opponent near you can definitely make that an even faster process. The main downside is that opponents can attack you during this period too, and that you’ll need to pick moves wisely if the opponent is already high in damage.

The jump has a few downsides as a recovery, however. The first is that it has a significant amount of start-up lag to it, even if used in the air. Speaking of in the air, if the jump is used while in the air, Judy will only travel 2/3rds of the usual distance due to not having any ground to propel off of, nerfing it ever slightly as an amazing recovery by itself.

That isn’t all there is to this move, however. While the initial jump doesn’t have a hitbox to it, there is still a hitbox to the move. At any point during the jump, you can press the standard attack button to activate a special aerial attack. This will cancel out the jump at the exact point its pressed, and cause Judy to perform a diving kick attack.

This kick has practically infinite range to it, and allows Judy to travel large distances at a fairly brisk pace while in the air, though its nowhere near as fast as her actual run. The kick is a hitbox, and behaves how you would expect a diving kick to perform. However, the hitbox is rather odd, as it functions as a sweetspot in its entirety… until around 1.5 Battlefield Platforms have been passed, where it will downgrade. Due to the diagonal direction, this doesn’t allow much room for Judy to hit with it.

The boosted version of the kick deals 15% damage, and can KO at 120%, making it an incredibly powerful attack. The downgraded version only deals 8% damage, and has rather weak upwards knockback to it. The kick, in either of its forms, can help start up an aerial chain, even without a lot of power to it.

It can also act as another form of recovery. The stuff movement of the normal recovery can be overcome when this is used, allowing Judy to make a rather safe landing even if she’s far away form the stage. However, the kick’s infinite distance can be a problem in some cases, as it could potentially lead to Judy flying right off stage. Fortunately, by double tapping down, you can cancel out the kick as well.

In both the jump and the kick’s case, Judy can be knocked out of them both by any attacks that hit her, instantly putting her into freefall. Also, if the kick hits someone connected with handcuffs, it will always break the handcuffs off, no matter what the opponent’s damage currently is. Technically this only works for the boosted version, but if you connect with a handcuffed opponent, you probably won’t have travelled long enough for it to have worn off.

This is Judy’s other most important move, as its quick speed easily gives her an incredibly recovery, and an incredible aerial combo starter. The main downsides of the move are few but critical, and the jump requires good timing and an aware of when to properly use it to its fullest advantage.


Down Special – Three Wheeled Joke Mobile

Judy pulls out a keyring, with a key fob on it. She presses one of the buttons on the key fob, which summons the meter maid vehicle that she used on her first day of the job in a puff of smoke. She lets out a sigh as it appears, apparently she didn't really expect this either. This opening animation is longer than most of Judy's other attacks, and might be one of her longest base animations. The... car... thing, doesn't cause any damage when it appears, simply just appearing in front of her with a vary small distance between the two.

The car is very small, only slightly taller than Judy herself, but is as wide as Kirby. It actually acts as a completely solid object, and functions similarly to a wheeled crate, as opponents can hit it, stand on it, and pick it up and slide it around the stage thanks to its wheels. Fortunately for Judy (And the police funds), this vehicle is remarkably slow no matter how hard the opponent hits or throws it, as it will always move around at Ganondorf's walk speed. This slow speed means that all it can really do is harmlessly push the opponents around, and even then that's only if they're very lightweight. The only way to get rid of it is for it to be knocked into a blast zone.

By using the DSpec while next to the car, she'll hop in and start to drive it. Well, as best she can. Even while driving it, the car can still only move at Ganondorf's walk speed. All this really does, on a surface level, is let Judy position it better... which is something that she can already do just by hitting it around. About the only noticeable boost this gives is that it acts as a shield of sorts for a single hit. If the car is hit while Judy is in it, she'll be knocked off it, but won't take any damage from attacks that deal less than 10%. She can use the input again to jump off of the car as well

The real purpose of the move is revealed when it comes to Judy's bread and butter, combos. Due to the car being a solid object, opponents will be able to bounce directly off of it, and when combined with the charged dart shot, this can lead to some ridiculous combos and damage. However, the car will be pushed when opponents hit it, meaning that you won't be able to lock them into a constant combo. You'll still be able to get in a lot, though.

There's also some extra uses when the handcuffs come in. If Judy is handcuffed to a foe, she can still hop into the car by using the DSpec while next to it. This allows her to drive it around while still handcuffed, though this isn't the particularly useful part of this. Heavier opponents will still be able to tug her around, albeit at a very slow pace as the car still won't go past its normal speed. Lighter opponents will simply just be tugged around at that speed as well. There isn't much opportunity to this.

However, if Judy hops back off the car while handcuffed, she'll do something else beforehand. She'll attach the handcuff to the steering wheel, and THEN hop off. This will leave the opponent attached to the joke mobile, and as such burdened with its extra weight and lack of speed. This changes some of its properties, as heavier characters will be able to drag it around easier (Though that only pushes it to Ganon's run, rather than walk), and lighter characters are basically screwed. The car's weight also factors in, with it reducing jump height by half. In order to break away from the car, opponents will either have to hit the car with an attack that deals more than 10% damage, or wait until the cuff's usual timer runs out.

Despite this vehicle being completely useless in the ways you'd expect a vehicle summon to be, it excels at helping Judy with positioning, combos, and even at handicapping the opponent for a short while. These uses make it significantly more useful than as a meter maid vehicle. In fact, this might be the most use this thing has seen ever.


Standards
Jab – Quick Kick Combo

Judy’s standard jab is fairly standard by most accounts, consisting of a three-hit jab that segues into a rapid jab. The first hit of the jab has Judy kicking forwards, followed by a spinning kick with her other foot, and then another twist around to the next kick, before starting up the rapid jab by kicking forwards rapidly. The jab is rather fast, befitting her general quick nature, so it can be rather easy to hit with in most cases.

The first hit deals 2%, the second 3%, and the final hit another 2%, totaling at 8% damage. The rapid jab will deal rapid hits of 1% damage, but like most rapid jabs it will push opponents away after a few hits. The attack will finish with a finishing strike, which has Judy perform a kick with a bit more “oomph” to it than the others, dealing 4% damage, and the knockback of the attack. If an opponent with no damage is hit by the full combo, it can total up to around 16-17%, a fairly remarkable number for a jab.

The knockback makes up for the damage, however, by not being that great. Even for a jab the kick launches opponents a short distance, though still long enough to not be able to catch them in a second jab. Specifically, the knockback can only KO at around 220%, meaning it will take a rather long while for it be useful as a finisher, if at all.

During each of these hits, Judy’s feet well extend and expand in an exaggerated manner, similar to a lot of the cartoonier characters in Smash 4. This helps with her range, with the overall range being close to Mario’s range, with the rapid jab specifically hitting at Kirby’s jab range as well. The jab isn’t a remarkable part of Judy’s set, but it can be used to rack up quick damage early on in a match, though its uses outside of simply hitting the opponent remain non-existent no matter the interaction.


Forward Tilt – Hopp Kick

Judy rears back for a moment, before hopping up in the air a slight amount. She follows up with a kick as she flies forwards. This is a fairly simple attack on its own, but the start-up lag is what makes it most noteworthy. Its relatively slow for a character as speedy as Judy, taking around the time a 1/4th charged Smash Attack takes to come out. This lack of speed is poor, but that changes as soon as Judy leaps into the air.

She will instantly hit her full running speed while leaping through the air, letting her cover a short amount of distance in an equally short amount of time. Judy will travel forwards around half a Battlefield platform before going into a standard aerial fall, though the amount of time doesn’t give her enough to perform an aerial. There is a bit of free space between Judy and the ground, slightly taller than Kirby’s duck.

The actual hitbox of this attack is the kick, obviously, which has a decent range to it, for her size. The added travel distance helps a lot with this, of course. The kick will deal 10% damage, with above average knockback that KOs at 140%. The move will ignore edges, which can be a blessing and a curse, as it can lead to some easy offstage combos, but of course a wrong use of the move will lead to Judy’s death.

Being attached to an opponent via handcuffs has a few interesting properties to it. Like most moves, this is based around weight value, but the opponent being stunned will automatically make Judy the dominant one. Anyway, if the opponent is heavier, Judy will jump as far as she can, which in most cases in the entirety of the moves duration, or if at the end of the handcuff’s reach, she won’t move at all, keeping it a stationary hitbox. If the opponent is light/stunned, They will simply be dragged along by Judy during the kick’s duration.

This, alongside her Dash Attack, makes up Judy’s ground approach game, a vital part to her strategy. The travel distance of both attacks, along with their odd hitboxes, can allow for some fast travel across stages. Another use of the attack is as a fake-out, specifically if an opponent attempts a ducking attack. A correctly timed use of this attack can lead to cancelling it out, but the speed can become a hindrance.


Up Tilt – Out of the Burrows

Judy performs a quick arching kick above her, in an animation almost exactly copying Lucario’s UTilt. This is slightly different for a few reasons, the first being its speed. While Lucario’s UTilt is already very fast, this attack comes out slightly faster, but has worse end lag to it, making it not completely spammable. The second major difference is the animation itself, as it starts out in front of Judy rather than behind her.

This has some utilities to it, as Judy will usually go for a direct approach rather than anything else, but that isn’t the attack’s real purpose either. First the attack deals 8% damage with upwards knockback that KOs at a fairly high 170%, which means it won’t be launching opponents most of the time. But this knockback level is fine, as this is mostly a juggling attack.

When the opponent is knocked into the air by one of Judy’s attacks, they will obviously start falling. In certain cases, this means that she can follow up with this attack, knocking the opponent back up into the air. Due to the end lag, it can be hard to perform the juggle again, but it is possible. However, the more practical way of using this is to follow up with an actual aerial attack, as the added hitstun will keep the opponent weakened for a follow up.

While you might think this would be incredibly useful against a handcuffed opponent, and it kind of is, the endlag does present more of a problem for potential spamming after a few hits. The increase will eventually reach out of her range, and the attack has low priority, meaning stronger hits can easily break through it.


Down Tilt – Sweep the Leg

From her crouching position, Judy goes into a spinning kick similar to Mario’s Down Smash. It comes out much faster, being a tilt and not a smash, but is obviously a lot weaker than Mario’s, dealing 7% damage. The overall range of the attack is close to Mario’s due to slight exaggeration of Judy’s model however, as her feet stretch out slightly as she spins.

The lag of the move is overall decent, with it coming out almost instantly, but with some slight ending lag, though it is still very minimal. The knockback of the move is an interesting case, as it will flick the opponent directly up into the air. This can allow Judy to follow up with an aerial attack almost instantly afterwards, allowing it to be a rather good combo starter.

There are a few downsides to this, as it isn’t fixed distance, and the sweep will be able to KO at 180%. The endlag is bad enough that the opponent will have most likely escaped by the time you can do anything, whether it be jumping or even the Up Special. Ultimately, this move acts as a good combo starter only when the opponent is at low percentages, but can be used effectively throughout the match as a quick damage dealer.


Dash Attack – Hop and Slide

During her dash animation, Judy performs a small hop in the air, which turns into a ducking slide similar to Megaman’s. This attack has slightly less range than Megaman’s version due to Judy’s much smaller size, though it travels nearly the same distance. The attack turns her entire body into a hitbox as well, which basically functions like Megaman’s but with a much smaller model. This isn’t a remarkably strong move either, dealing 6% damage on contact, and considerably weak knockback that takes until around the 200%s in order to do any reasonable launching, but the start-up time is remarkably fast.

When Judy hits an opponent with this slide, she will perform a small bounce off of the opponent, the small amount of knockback pushing the opponent back, and Judy being launched a bit into the air in an entirely controllable state. This can’t be used to perform easy aerial combos on the opponent from the ground, but it can be a nice segue into aerial game.

There are a few extra bits and pieces to this slide attack, the first being a way to increase its duration. If the slide is used while on any sort of liquid or liquid based platforms (EG. Ice, ink, popsicle juice…) the slide’s distance will be increased by double, though this doesn’t actually change much else, mostly just giving Judy more of a chance to use the attack effectively, and the situations when this can be used are rare.

The size of the slide can be an asset as well, as it puts Judy closer to the ground. This allows her to avoid any incoming projectiles with a relatively quick tool. But Judy can increase this attack’s avoidance potential even more by double tapping down while using it. When this happens, Judy will duck her head down until its just barely not touching the ground. If she comes into contact with a character’s hitbox at this point, she will instead slide under their legs, allowing potential escapes from tricky moments, though it negates all damages.

However, this only works on characters who have legs, and if attempted on a character like Kirby or R.O.B., will simply activate the normal hitbox. (Note that this only happens on characters without legs, period, despite things like Peach’s dress being a part of her hurtbox, the slide will ignore that and continue.)

Finally, this can be used with handcuffed opponents as well. In the case of a handcuffed opponent, the launch on either end of the attack won’t be as extreme, which means that Judy can perform some trickier aerial attacks on them. This only really applies to when its being used against the opponent, however, as a different effect will be applied if done in the opposite direction, given the right circumstances.

If used in the opposite direction of the opponent, Judy will pull them along, granted they have lower weight. Of course, most characters in the game are heavier than her, and this effect becomes null. That is, unless you stun them first. As described before, stunning an opponent with the dart gun will make it so that the weight stat is negated during moments like this, allowing her to drag the opponent across the field. When this happens, the opponent will enter their tripped animation, and be pulled along for half the duration of the attack. After a moment, they will stand up, but still be dragged along. This effect is also applied when standing on a slippery surface, even without stun in play.


Aerial Attacks
Neutral Air – Multiplying Kick

Judy pulls her foot back, before thrusting it forward in a rather standard sex kick position. This attack is mostly a rather generic sex kick, as Judy will hold her foot out after the initial animation, with the hitbox still remaining active during this time. The damage for the hitbox after the initial animation is fairly standard, with the kick dealing 8% damage on contact with the opponent.

The animation, with Judy’s first kick, is rather fierce looking, with her foot extending out in an exaggerated manner to give it a bit more reach. Once it finishes, her foot will return to normal as she enters the sex kick fall.

There are a few non-standard things about this, however. For one, as long as you hold the button while you remain in the air, the hitbox will remain active, retaining its same damage output throughout. The downside of this comes along with the other odd aspect, as hitting the opponent with the kick will cause Judy to bounce up into the air, the direction depending on her current momentum. The knockback itself is weak, but this can be a decent start-up for a recovery or a combo.

However, that’s not the main purpose of this move. Its main purpose comes with the initial hit, which I’ve neglected to talk about. The initial hit is one of the best KO moves in Judy’s arsenal, and is her main way of finishing off an opponent. When the opponent is hit by it, they will take 15% damage, and knockback capable of KOing at around 110%. This isn’t Judy’s absolute strongest move, but it is the one she will most likely end up using to KO most of the time.


Forward Air – Rabbit Footsies

Judy starts rapidly kicking her feet forwards. This attack comes out fast, but lasts a long time, especially for an aerial. Precisely, it will last from the top of the screen in Battlefield, to in between the top and middle platforms. Despite it’s length, it can’t be considered a sex kick, however, due to it dealing the same amount of damage over its entire run.

This attack behaves much more like a rapid jab than a standard aerial, though it isn’t an exact match either. When the attack hits an opponent, they will be drawn into it much like a rapid jab, with each kick counting as a separate hitbox of sorts. Each kick will deal 3% damage, but like a rapid jab, the opponent won’t remain stuck in it forever. After taking 5 hits in a row from the kick, which is a process that happens rather fast, the opponent will be launched off, taking knockback that can KO at 160%.

The attack overall is capable of dealing out around 24 hits in its lifespan, but the attack will usually instantly cancel out once 6 hits have been dealt to an opponent. In order to not make this an obnoxious waste of time if it whiffs, Judy can cancel out of the attack at any time, suffering a tiny bit of end lag in the process. If the attack actually makes it through its whole animation, Judy will practically instantly go into FAF, only she won’t be able to perform the aerial again until hitting the ground. If she hits the ground while using the attack, she’ll go into fairly bad endlag as she crashes into the ground, making near-ground uses of the attack not recommended, despite it being able to be used out of short hop.

That doesn’t mean it has zero uses while close to the ground. First off, when Judy hits an opponent in the air, they will both continue their normal descent at the same time. This factor changes when used against a grounded opponent, as Judy will instead halt her own movement to rapidly kick the opponent. There’s a bit more endlag at the end of the attack when this happens, factoring the potential for a bounce back upwards, denying Judy the chance to continue the combo. This lag also factors in when attacking a handcuffed opponent as well.

This is one of Judy’s prime aerial attacks, and one you will end up using a lot, whether it be on aerial threats, or incoming ones from the air. It can rack up damage quickly as well, but is not the most adept at KOing, which she should leave to other moves.


Up Air – Bunny Flip
Judy performs an aerial flip kick, as seen on a lot of other characters. The animation is, obviously, fairly similar, but it has differences. Like a lot of Judy’s attacks there’s a cartoonish exaggeration to the animation to give it a bit more range, and the attack itself comes out slightly faster than most other flip kick type attacks. This isn’t an amazing speed difference, but it is notable in comparison to ones such as Mario’s. The hitbox starts out in front of Judy, and travels all the way around her, much like most others of its kind, leaving an open spot underneath her.

The specific range of the attack is close to Mario’s, but is slightly shorter, to make up for the speed. The actual damage of the attack is 12% on contact, with directly upwards knockback. It isn’t amazing knockback, but it helps play directly into the attack’s general purpose, that being an aerial juggling technique. The kick is powerful enough to KO opponents at around 150%, and while this isn’t the most amazing move in Judy’s aerial game, it works as a good combo ender to create space between you and the opponent.

The major downside of the attack is that it has fairly bad knockback, worse than most other flip kicks, in an inverse of its start-up speed. This means that juggling opponents repeatedly, while not impossible, is a difficult feat. It can be easier to perform on handcuffed opponents, though the knockback will tend to be null and void due to how the handcuffs work, but it can deal some quick damage. The distance between her and the cuffed opponent will still make it difficult to land more than one in a rown, however.


Back Air – Rabbit-house Kick

Judy lifts her foot up, and then spins around, performing an aerial roundhouse kick. This attack has fairly decent range to it, as it extends out a bit in an exaggerated way. It also comes out rather quick as well, and even has very short endlag, which will actually play into how the move works in a second. The attack also deals a rather pitiful 4% damage, and knockback that barely exists.

The knockback does exist, mind you, its just very hard to notice at first. While none of this seems decent on paper, the move is actually amazingly good for the most part. It functions mostly as a quick damage dealer, as secondly as a combo starter. If an opponent is hit by the attack once, they will receive very little knockback, as mentioned above. The knockback is so poor that it actually doesn’t move the opponent out of the attack’s range at lower percentages.

This allows Judy to instantly follow up with a second kick, which also won’t push the opponent out of the way of the attack’s range. Performing a third kick in a row, however, will cause set knockback (In addition to the normal knockback of the move, if you get it to the point where it can actually KO) that will push the opponent just out of the attack’s reach, functionally ending the combo. The third hit will total at 12% damage.

The main way to take advantage of this is to attack the opponent twice for 8% damage, and then follow up with another attack. This can be a tiny bit difficult due to having to turn Judy around, but the easiest combo to perform from this is BAir, BAir, UAir, but other combos are definitely possible, and just require a bit of practise. The hitstun caused by the attack will generally tend to help with follow ups as well.

This same thing generally applies to handcuffed opponents as well, without much of a change.


Down Air – Rabbit’s Foot

Judy pauses in midair, and brings her feet up, before thrusting them, and herself, downwards. This attack behaves like a standard Stall than Fall for the most part, but is actually faster than most of them, though only by a few frames. While it is odd to see this type of move on a near-balloonweight like Judy, it is a remarkably important part of her kit.

For the fall itself, it comes out at around the speed of Fox’s maximum falling speed, meaning very fast, faster than Judy herself can pull when falling. When the attack hits an opponent, it will deal a hefty 15% damage, with downwards knockback that tends to turn into upwards knockback thanks to the bounce. The knockback is one of Judy’s best, and would be able to KO most opponents if they were offstage, but the bounce lessens this, making it so it can only KO at around 130%, which is still fairly decent.

Like most attacks like this, if Judy hits the opponent dead in the center with the attack, it will cause a meteor smash effect, making it even more powerful. The unfortunate part of the attack is the endlag, specifically if the attack misses. When this happens, Judy will be stunned for a few frames due to slamming into the ground feet first. This will leave her open for attacks, and is one of the worst endlags on a lightweight character, period.

The endlag when Judy hits an opponent is nowhere near as bad, however. When that happens, Judy will perform a small hop off the opponent, mostly caused by the propulsion of the attack. When this happens, Judy will enter a sort of stunned fall if she’s above ground, where she won’t be able to jump, but can perform an attack. The hop itself only happens once the opponent has been launched, making this impossible to cheese, and mostly acts as a defense during the lag. If used while there is no ground, the jump will be slightly higher, and Judy will have access to any jumps she has left.

However, if Judy inputs a jump command as soon as the opponent is hit, it will automatically allow her to jump upwards, which behaves exactly like her standard jump. This comes in addition to restoring her second jump as well, I guess the opponent counted as ground when the attack connected apparently. This is a prime form of recovery for Judy, allowing her to prevent any unnecessary suicide kills. However, the timing of this is remarkably precise, the chance only lasting for a few frames.

This attack is difficult to use on handcuffed opponents, mostly due to the lack of space. Like in most cases, activating the jump while a stunned opponent is attached will drag the opponent along with you. What is interesting is that, if Judy manages to land a meteor smash on them, it will instantly break the handcuffs off. This happens in a lot of cases with this move at higher percentages, actually, and is probably best to avoid in a lot of cases, though some fun offstage KOs are possible.


Smash Attacks
Forward Smash – Taser Tag

For the start-up animation, Judy pulls out a standard looking taser, and pulls it back. She holds it there for the charge, and then thrusts it forwards as the actual attack. There isn’t any exaggeration to this attack, meaning it has very little range to it, only slightly extending past one of Mario’s punches due to the taser extending her arm forwards a bit.

The move most comparable to this is Luigi’s FSmash in terms of how it works. It has around the same speed, though the reach is still worse, as mentioned above. The start-up lag is noticeably slower, however, but only when Judy pulls the taser out, the rest of the move behaves the same. This means that an uncharged version of the attack will come out slightly slower than Luigi’s FSmash. Like that attack, the taser can also be aimed in three directions.

As an attack, the taser is surprisingly weak, especially for a Smash Attack. It will deal 10-15% damage depending on the charge, and deals very little knockback, only acting as a slight push rather than launching. Overall, when using the taser for combat focus, it can be a fairly ineffective tool. But that, of course, isn’t actually its main function.

When the opponent is hit by the taser, they will become stunned for a short moment. This is similar to the stun on the charged NSpec, but is somewhat different, mostly in how its weaker. The starting stun is slightly shorter, mostly because Judy is already in front of them. Like with the charged NSpec, this will function like the normal stun, but with only 1 second of the normal stun. The added effect of not taking knockback for a certain amount of damage is there as well, but its reduced to 20% before they'll be launched again.

The taser is, functionally, an easier to pull off but slightly less useful version of the NSpec. That isn't to say its useless, as it still has a lot of the same utilities, but on a much less direct level. Combos are still very possible, and are arguably easier to pull off in regards to the DSpec vehicle placement, but this brief stun can be used to help with escapes, mainly from direct melee encounters. Its lack of knockback is a problem, but its still useful.


Up Smash – Spinning Bunny Kick

Judy stretches her leg out a bit during the charge, before leaping into the air and performing an upside-down spinning kick. The kick actually has fairly terrible start-up lag, as the animation for Judy leaping into the air takes quite a few frames to come out, though it still isn’t absolutely terrible. The kicks have decent reach to them, thanks to some more exaggeration that stretches her legs out. While the move is active Judy can move around slightly to the left and right, at a very, very slow speed, making any travel with it basically useless, but it can help with readjusting yourself.

The attack behaves like most spinning attacks tend to do, having a small vortex effect that can draw opponents in, though on this specific move its hardly noticeable. It also deals rapid hits, the damage of each kick changing with the charge. At the lowest charge, the attack will deal 2% damage per kick, while a fully charged one will end up dealing 3% damage. The move, no matter the charge, will deal 10 hits to an opponent if they’re caught in it from the start.

This can total to 20-30% depending on charge, each hit specifically happening every other frame the move is active, making it a rather long move to fully perform. It also comes with some fairly bad endlag as Judy spins back around to land on her feet. The knockback of the move is pretty strong, being able to KO at around 125%, but the endlag results in it being very hard to combo with… in most cases.

The main use of this attack comes from being used against handcuffed opponents. When the opponent is launched, and isn’t stunned, Judy will be dragged along with them, negating the distance limit of the cuffs. This allows her to follow up with a combo, most likely ending with a FAir to fully break the cuffs off. While a similar feat can be achieved by using the USpec directly after the attack, this can still be difficult to properly pull off, and is usually best to handcuff the opponent before going for a full combo.


Down Smash – Dive Kick

Judy braces herself during the charge, before leaping upwards and performing a diving kick back down to the ground. The attack has fairly bad start-up lag, though its mostly relative, still being fairly quick to pull off. The bulk of the lag comes from the jump itself, with the actual hitbox itself becoming active basically as soon as the kicking stance is entered.

The kick will deal 18-21% damage depending on charge, and deals fairly standard bouncing knockback to the opponent that can KO at around 150%, making it a bit weak. The actual interesting part of the attack comes from the hitbox itself, or rather, the many ways it can be angled. By default, the kick will travel at a 70-degree angle, but this can be changed by inputting either a forward direction, or a downwards direction with the control stick. The base angle is fairly standards, lasting for a brief moment while covering a very short distance.

The forward tilted version will travel at a 45-degree angle, giving it considerably more range, though not amazingly so. This makes it a bit more potent, making the hitbox last slightly longer than usual. This version of the attack can be used for edgeguarding, or even offstage plays. The directly downwards angle does exactly that, having Judy perform more of a stomp attack, which is considerably different from her actual stomp attack. This is the fastest of the attacks, but its lack of any range, requiring opponents to be directly under or next to her to hit, makes it harder to use.

The jump itself launched Judy upwards about 1.5 times her own height, giving her considerable distance. She travels the jump in a brief moment before activating the attack, as noted above, but the space gives considerable space for opponents to travel or dodge underneath. This can lead to fun mind game situations, as Judy can very easily trick the opponent into rolling under her before performing the stomp, or having the opponent roll back before activating the long-distance kick.

This can be similarly applied to handcuffed opponents.


Grab Game
Grab & Pummel

Judy has a relatively simple grab, as she simply reaches forward with one of her paws to grab the opponent. There isn’t much special to this, as it’s a fairly basic, fast speed, mid range grab attack, comparable to Mario’s but slightly faster, and with slightly less reach. Like with other smaller characters, Judy will pull the opponent down when she grabs them, mostly to keep them level with her during the throws.

Her actual grab has her gripping the opponent by their shirt collar (Or where one would be, anyway), holding them down, presumably to give a lesson about laws or something. From this, she can transition into her pummel, which has her jabbing her knee into the opponent’s face, dealing 2%. This is a standard jab, with standard jab speed.

The only other thing to note applies to all of Judy’s throws. While the throws can obviously be used on handcuffed opponents, and considering the range limit, you’d expect them to be a bit overpowered, right? Well, if you use a throw on a handcuffed opponent, the handcuffs will break, no matter the distance thrown. As a consolation, the opponent will take all the knockback of the throw in return.


Forward Throw – Rabbit Kick

Judy pulls the opponent downwards, slamming them against the ground and putting them into a purely cosmetic stun animation. She then quickly hops onto her hands, and kicks the opponent with both of her feet, launching them. This is a fairly average throw by all accounts, having somewhat slow speed and dealing 8% damage.

However, its launching power is great, capable of KOing at around 130-135%, making it a fairly primary KO move. Its speed is the main downside, as it takes a moment for Judy to actually perform the kick. If she’s attacked during the kick’s start-up animation, she’ll be knocked out of it, and the opponent will be knocked out of the cosmetic stun as well.


Up Throw – Bunny Bouncing

Judy tosses the opponent in the air, and then leans back, catching the opponent on her feet. She then kicks them upwards, and proceeds to do it two more times, as the opponent will fall back down into her range after the first. This attack deals multiple hits, 3 to be exact, with each one dealing 3% damage, totalling up at 9%.

The knockback is only factored in during the last kick, with the first two sending the opponent flying a small set distance of around roughly Kirby’s height. The knockback itself is fairly strong, KOing at 140%, though it isn’t amazing. The attack is actually fairly quick considering its animation, though the start-up is laggy. The endlag is very minimal however, and can let Judy easily head into an aerial combo.


Back Throw – Bunny-Sault

Judy grabs the opponent and jumps up. She then lets go of them as they spin around, the opponent ending up on the opposite side of her. She then kicks them off, before flipping back around and landing on the ground. This attack is fairly quick, its start-up period being pretty fast, and the endlag not being bad either. The hitbox itself only comes in late in the attack, however, allowing opponents to potentially knock her out of the attack.

There isn’t much to the throw past that, as it deals a fairly decent 7% damage, and straight knockback that can KO at around 145%. Its fast nature renders it useful in general, though its rather weak knockback limits its use that much.


Down Throw – Burying it Deep

Judy slams the opponent into the ground, putting them into prone, before leaping on top of them and performing several quick stomps. She finishes off by performing a stomp on them with both of her feet, activating the knockback of the attack. This is one of Judy’s fastest throws, taking only a few frames to start up, and having the damage come out at nearly mach speed.

Judy performs 4 alternating kicks, each dealing 1% damage, before the stomp, which deals 4% damage, totalling up at 8%. The opponent will be launched, taking heavy bouncing knockback that can KO at around 140%. The endlag, however, is the move’s downfall, as Judy have to take a quick breather for a few frames. This means that comboing into the move ranges from hard to impossible in some cases.


Final Smash
Calling in Backup

Judy has the Smash Ball! She pulls out her walkie-talkie, and radios in for back-up. This comes in the form of her massive police cruiser, which she quickly hops into. Seriously, its massive, its size coming very close to around the Landmaster itself, though a bit smaller. The animation itself is nearly identical to Fox’s Final Smash as well. Its also a lot faster compared to the land master, comparable to the Wario Bike in speed, but that just makes its absurd size even more of a problem for opponents.

The cruiser’s only real “attack” is ramming into opponents directly, the entire cruiser acting as a hitbox, meaning it doesn’t have any blind spots like the Landmaster does. The thing can turn on a time as well, though falling off the stage can still be a problem on smaller arenas, though those are also where the attack becomes much deadlier as well. On contact, the cruiser will deal 25% damage with massive knockback that can KO well below 100%.

During the move, the cruiser’s sirens will be wailing, though its very muted to not be annoying. The attack itself only lasts 10 seconds, and once that’s finished, the Cruiser will vanish in a puff of smoke, leaving Judy behind.


Extras – Funny Animal Duo

Judy has some fairly interesting interactions with Nick when both of them are in the same match together, whether it be against each other or teamed up. The interactions mostly consist of various idle animations, which actually change depending on which costume Nick is wearing.

See, one of Nick’s costumes is his police uniform, which is technically a spoiler but the movie’s a year old by now. Anyway, the idle interactions change depending on whether Nick is wearing his tacky green floral print shirt and tie (And its recolors) or his police uniform. These all require Judy to be near him, though there are various forms that change the animation.

There’s even variations within the standard idle, depending on which direction each character is facing. If Judy is teamed up with green-shirt Nick, and both are facing each other, he’ll start silently mocking her in a very smug way. Judy will get very upset at this, of course, crossing her arms and glaring at him while tapping her foot.

If Judy is looking at Nick while he’s turned away, she’ll reach for something at her belt, before deciding against it and returning to her normal idle animation. If Nick is facing Judy while she’s looking away, he’ll pull out his phone and make the peace sign, or rather, bunny ears, and snap a picture, which causes Judy’s ears to perk up. If both are turned away from each other, then they just perform their normal idles.

With police Nick, there’s a bit less to it, with them having a single idle animation. If they’re near each other, Nick will pull out his phone, and take a picture of both of them. Nick holds up the peace sign, the actual peace sign and not bunny ears, while Judy gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

There’s a special idle animation while the two are handcuffed as well, though this one is only visible when they fight each other. With green-shirt Nick, he’ll tug on the chain of the handcuffs, attempting to break free. Judy feels that, and then tugs him forwards herself, causing him to fall to the ground. With police uniform Nick, if the two are close enough, they’ll both perform a fistbump, even if they are fighting against each other, they’re still friends.

Another special idle can happen when Finnick is next to either of them. With green-shirt Nick, Finnick will start laughing at him, while Judy gets a rather smug look of her own. Nick gets very clearly annoyed by this. With police Nick, Finnick will go up to him, and nudge him towards Judy while giving a mischievous laugh. The fox will quickly shoo him away and return to his normal idle.

In addition to Nick’s police uniform costume, Judy also gets a casual wear costume consisting of a pink flannel shirt and jeans. Interacting with Nick with this costume will result in the police Nick idles, no matter which costume he’s wearing.

Changelog:
-Edited charged NSpec behavior
-Completely changed DSpec
-FSmash's behavior is edited as well
 
Last edited:

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Captain Metal


Yar mateys, let me sing ye the tale of the dread pirate Captain Metal! The Cap’n first appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, as the main villain o’ a 4-part tale that took place in the Sonic Universe spinoff series. Captain Metal was once jus’ a normal Metal Sonic unit, who ended up destroyed and left for Davy Jones’ Locker in th’ Sol Dimension by Shadow the Hedgehog. His remains were found floatin’ ‘round the sea by a robot doctor, and he was rebuilt, inta Captain Metal! Metal started becoming th’ most feared pirate in the entire Sol Dimension, and gathered a crew t’ enact his evil schemes!

Captain Metal remains the sole survivor of the Super Genesis Wave, as th’ Sol Dimension wasn’t affected by its time resettin’ powers! While his memories of the old world remain vague, he remembered Blaze the Cat clearly enough t’ know about her hunt fer the Sol Emeralds. Using the Sol Emeralds, Metal plans on powerin’ a mysterious war machine, and conquering the entire universe!

He now joins the world’a Smash Bros. to compete against all other pirates who dare challenge him! An’ that includes th’ purple dragon AND th’ crocodile!


Scurvy Stats

Weight – 99
Runnin’ Speed – 1.6
Walkin’ Speed – 0.9
Air Speed – 1.1
Fall Speed – 1.5​

Captain Metal, bein’ a Metal Sonic, is around the same size as that pesky blue scallywag himself, though he has a slightly bigger hitbox. However, he’s lost th’ abilities that make ‘im similar t’ the hedgehog at all, bein’ a lot slower than th’ blur due to his peg leg. He’s also a lot heavier than ‘im, bein’ a robot ‘an all that. Th’ Cap’n retains above average aerial speed, however, ‘longside decent fallin’ speed s’well. Metal’s jumps ‘r rather weak, once again thanks t’ th’ peg leg. They’re still manageable, howevarrrr.


Scallywag Specials
Neutral Special – Blunderblaster


Captain Metal holds out his cannon arm, ‘n charges up energy at its barrel. Tis’ a very standard animation by itself, behavin’ nearly exactly the same as Samus’ Charge Beam start-up, but with the Cap’n only holdin’ one arm out, ‘rounds about nearly as far as Samus’ cannon sticks out ‘swell. However, it adds in a bit o’ ol’ Star Wolf’s Neutral Special as well, activatin’ a brief hitbox at the blade on Metal’s arm. Lasts fer only a few frames, however, but deals 2% damage with li’l knockback.

Fer the actual blast itself, it behaves a teensy bit different from Samus’ Charge Beam, only havin’ two levels of charge t’ it, rather than multiple. Th’ attack also ain’t storable, meanin’ you gotta fire it no matter what, like a good pirate! Th’ first charge is at no frames, actin’ similarly to a Ray Gun blast. Metal will fire out a small yellow projectile that flies forward ‘round 3 Battlefield Platforms at th’ speed o’ a Ray Gun fire, before it dissipitates inta thin air! The blast ain’t be anythin’ too scary, dealin’ 5% damage, with mediocre knockback that can only really KO ‘round 300%. Lag ain’t anythin’ too bad on this, again, ‘kwivalent to a Ray Gun.

Full charge happens ‘round 30 full frames of chargin’. Once Metal is ready fer a blastin’, he’ll fire out a massive blast, ‘round as tall as a mid-charged Charge Shot, but with bit o’ a tail to it, makin’ it nearly a full Battlefield Platform wide! It travels at Sonic’s speed fer around 3 Battlefield Platforms of distance, much faster than the dinky li’l thing when uncharged! This blast has got a lotta power t’ it, dealin 10% damage, and is fully capable at KOin’ near 150%! The endlag is fairly worse with the fully charged one, more considerable t’ the lag from a fully charged Charge Shot.

This be one’a the Cap’n’s better killin’ moves, but tis a very simple thing. Only other things t’note be that it can be aimed upwards n’ downwards while chargin’, makin’ it at all decent fer ledge guardin’. The blast has a hook-full of other uses, howevarrr, which we be bringin’ up later.


Up Special – Buccaneerin’ Boost

D’spite heavy modifications to his body aft’r bein’ rebuilt, Captain Metal retains a bit o’ remnants from he previous body. One of those bein’ his jetpack, though it hardly functions as well as it used ta. Usin’ th’ attack has Metal pull ‘is body in, then thrust it upwards, activatin’ the jetpack. This comes out as a blast o’ smoke from his back, directly under his there cape.

The blast be decently large, ‘swell, ‘round the size of Samus’ bombs. This, howevarrr, lasts a bit shorter of a time, with the hitbox bein’ slightly smaller than the blast itself, makin it a bit hard to hit with. The blast be fairly powerful, dealin’ out 12% damage, with downwards knockback. Again, th’ attack be fairly hard to hit with, unless specifically used in that type o’ manner.

Tis good at recovarrry, though! The blast will propel Captain Metal upwards, round two ‘n a half Ganondorfs inta the air. This doesn’t put the Cap’n in helpless, unless he already used up all’a his jumps before hand! Considerin’ Metal’s lack’a decent jumps, this can easily be used t’ survive any precarious drops he suffers. It can also be used on the ground, a’course, where it acts a bit different.

Due to th’ added leverage of the ground, the blast will propel Captain Metal up a bit farther, ‘round 3 Ganondorfs rather than the two ‘n a half compared to th’ aerial version. The hitbox also b’comes larger, though it retains the same size fer the animation, th’ hitbox just grows to fit it all in, y’see. This can be used to keep other buccaneers away, make a quick escape from a bad situation, ‘r transition into Metal’s aerial game. The move stays versatile, while still bein’ fairly simple.


Side Special – Avast, Me Hearties!

Arr, now here’s where we get to the good stuff, mateys! Usin’ this move, Captain Metal will point forward with one of his claws, summonin’ one of his crewmates to participate in the battle! The crewmates appear in a puff of smoke, similar t’ most Smash 4 summons, and have very little lag fer appearing.


The first crewmate be Buckle, a large golden robot. Buckle be around the size as the penguin, and has a similar weight to him as well. Every crewmember appears with an attack, Buckle’s bein’ that he performs a slashing combo with his massive hook hand! The robot pirate slashes forward left and right fer the first two hits, an’ then slams it into th’ ground for the final hit. The attack has decent range to it, due t’ Buckle’s large size, but’s got a bit’a lag between each swing. Damage output be good ‘swell, dealin’ 3 hits o’ 3%, totallin’ at 9% damage, an’ powerful knockback that can KO in th’ early 200%s.

Once the attack is performed, Buckle will give a quick salute to his Cap’n, which functions as endlag, though he gains invincibility frames for it, then becomes an independent minion, goin’ around and attackin’ opponents as he sees fit. Buckle’s also got two jumps, neither of which r’ very good. Buckle’s AI is fairly aggressive, going after opponents directly, but tendin’ to retreat when his health gets low enough, knowin’ when he can’t take a fight himself. D’spite his bulky frame, Buckle be fairly speedy, runnin’ at near Bowser speeds. Buckle has 40% HP as well, makin’ him a tough blighter.

Buckle has a few attacks, th’ first bein’ his combo mentioned above, which, fer purposes we’ll get t’, functions as a jab. His other attacks function as USmash, UTilt, DTilt, FAir, n’ DAir. That’s a lotta moves t’ cover, so let’s get on it. Fer Buckle’s USmash, He’ll bring his hook downwards, and then thrust it upwards, dealin’ 17% damage with heavy upwards knockback that can KO near 170%. It be a slow move, however, and difficult to hit with, but it be lessened a bit by Buckle’s tremendous reach. The hitbox can also hit near th’ sides of Buckle as well, opponents just need t’ be close to him for the bot to pull it off!

Fer standards, Buckle’s UTilt has him swingin’ his hook upwards, in one’a his more quicker attacks. The swipe acts similarly t’ Dedede’s USmash animation wise, th’ difference bein’ that the hitbox activates fairly early in the upward swing. It deals 8% damage, and can KO at 210%, makin’ it fairly weak. DTilt has Buckle swingin’ his hook around in a circle, goin’ a full 360 degrees. The attack also be quick, and gots a decent range thanks t’ Buckle’s size. It deals upwards pop knockback that KOs late, an’ deals 6% damage, but its reach makes up fer some’a its weaknesses.

Buckle’s terrible in the air, a’course, but that doesn’t mean he can’t protect himself! Fer FAir, Buckle will swing his hook at a downwards arc, similar t’ a lotta fairs, if we’re bein’ honest with ‘rselves. Still gotta lotta range t’ it, an’ comes out fairly quick, but a bit slower than eitharr the UTilt ‘r DTilt. It has better damage output, however, dealin’ a meaty 12% damage, with decent knockback that can KO at 180%. DAir be a rather standard stall ‘n fall, only Buckle uses his hook rather than his body! He’ll raise it up, and then swing it down, hurtlin’ down to the ground. This be one’a his more powerful moves, dealin a hefty 16% damage, an’ actin as a meteor smash knockback wise. It has considerable start-up and endin’ lag, however, and Buckle’s none too bright AI might decide to suicide with it on occasion.


The second minion be Swash! Either Buckle or Swash will appear, dependin’ on a random chance. Though this only applies t’ the first use, the use after that will always summon the one that ain’t on the field at th’ time. Swash be scrawny, but also fairly light, havin’ better jumps than Buckle by a long shot. His model be around as tall as Buckle, but a lot thinner. D’spite bein’ skinnier, Swash is slower than Buckle, havin’ to hobble ‘round on his cane at around Robin’s run speed, though he can occasionally gain a burst’a speed when encounterin’ a foe at lower percents, around Link’s dash speed. His AI have him be keepin’ away from other scallywags on the stage, only really attackin’ when he be cornered. Swash also only have 20% HP.

Swash has a few attacks to him as well, namely FTilt, Dash Attack, FSmash, UAir, BAir, n’ NAir. FTilt be the move Swash come out swingin’ with, havin’ him swing his cane forward. A decently fast attack all considered, with a bit more range t’ it than even some’a Buckler’s attacks. It be much weaker, however, dealin’ 5% damage, with knockback that can only KO early in th’ 200%s. Once this is done, Swash will perform a salute, having the same amount of lag as Buckle’s salute, and retainin’ the invincibility frames. FTilt is also the move Swash will tend t’ use when on the ground ‘swell.

Swash’s Dash Attack can only be used durin’ his burst’a speed while runnin’ away from yer foes. With it, he’ll spin his cane around in’a circle, with the same lengthy reach as his FTilt. The spin lasts fer a decent bit, n’ comes out decently quick, but has fairly bad endlag, as Swash will get a bit dizzy. Th’ attack can hit multiple times in a single use, 3 t’ be exact, n’ will tend to throw opponents back in the opposite direction Swash was runnin’ in! Th’ spin deals 3% damage, n’ can total up t’ 9% if all the hits connect. The knockback, ain’t very good, KOin at the early 200%s at the earliest, but it be good for keepin’ opponents off his back! Swash will only use this move while runnin’ away from opponents, makin’ it a decently rare occurrence due t’ th’ burs’a speed not happenin’ too often.

FSmash has Swash pullin’ back his cane, and then thrustin’ it forwards, the cane emittin’ an electric shock at its tip! The thrust itself is a hitbox on its own, dealin’ 3% damage, and will knock the scallywag it hits inta the electric shock, which deals an extra 10% damage on top’a it! This move is remarkably laggy, the laggiest of Swash’s moves, takin’ both a both a bit to get out, and a bit more to end with, though the endlag is better than the start-up. The electric shock only deals a bit’a knockback, KOin’ near 220%, but the electric shock will tend ta add a bit more hitstun than normal. Swash will tend t’ use this attack before his runnin’ but will use it as a normal attack occasionally.

Aerially, Swash is far better’n his brother in pirating, managing to get off the ground decently with his two jumps. This makes Swash’s aerial game a better thing s’well, totalling to 3 attacks compared t’ Buckle’s 2. UAir has Swash swing his cane upwards in an arc, similar to a few other attacks in Smash. It’s got decent range t’ it as well, but deals a lackluster 7% damage, alongside weak knockback. BAir be Swash steppin’ outside the norm, an’ performing a back kick. The bot’ll tend to use this attack outta jumps fer the most part, as it has decently long range thanks to the rest’a his skinny body, n’ deals a decent 10% damage. Knockback is decent as well, KOin’ near 170%, makin’ it Swash’s strongest attack. NAir, finally, has him spinnin’ his cane ‘roud again. This behaves nearly identical t’ the dash attack, but without the movement, and a different hitbox. Th’ hitbox can only hit once, dealin’ 8% damage, with forwards knockback that can KO at 190%, makin’ it another strong move. You’ll tend’ta see this move used out of aerials ‘swell.

Swash ‘n Buckle are two robotic peas in a pod, as they say. Once both’a them are on stage, they’ll team up. Swash will tend’ta use his better aerial movement t’ knock opponents into Buckle fer a beatin’, or use his cane t’ stun them while Buckle goes in fer a beatin’. Buckle will also tend’ta protect Swash when he gets low on health, with Swash getting’ a confidence boost when Buckle’s around.

Captain Metal has only a few interactions with these (As of right now). The first bein’ his Blunderblaster, which he can use t’ punish his minions if he wants’ta. A normal shot will only send them inta a bit of lag, leavin’ them a bit open. This ain’t be a bad thing, however, but that’s fer later. A fully charged blast will send th’ two flyin’, turnin’ them inta projectiles. Buckle, with his heavier frame n’ all, travels a shorter distance, set t’ one n’ a half Battlefield Platforms, but deals a hefty 20% damage, with knockback that can KO at 150%. Swash, bein’ lighter, will fly 2 Battlefield platforms, and only deals 10% damage, with knockback that only KOs at 180%.

When either Swash or Buckle ends up bein’ scrapped, they won’t vanish like other minions. No, they’ll instead explode inta scrap, and remain on the stage. They cannot be interacted with by opponents, but remain useless for th’ most part. If Captain Metal uses his Side Special while nex’to them, he’ll use his electrical powers (Another remnant of his Metal Sonic body) to rebuild them. It takes a long 65 frames to complete, and Metal needs to go through the full thing in order t’ get them active again, and a single hit to the Cap’n will revert them back to scrap. Once they are, they’ll give the salute, n’ get off to battle. The scraps won’t be left if they fall off th’ stage, a’course, n’ Metal will have to re-summon them again.


Still ain’t done yet, mateys! While Swash ‘n Buckle are out on the field, whether they be alive or not, Captain Metal can use the attack again to summon up a generic robot pirate crewmate. They come in a few different shapes, but all remain the size of one n’ a half Kirbys, and only wield a single sword. These fellas r’ much simpler than Swash n’ Buckle, their AI only stating that they go after th’ closest foe.

Pirate henchbots only have a single move, cannot jump, and have 10% stamina, makin’ them very pathetic. The attack is a simple sword sweep, with mediocre range t’ it. The attack also only deals 5% damage, with very li’l knockback to it. These guys are plankton compared to your opponent, and will tend to be knocked out very quickly because o’ it. However, Metal can have up t’ 3 of the blighters on stage at a time, and they don’t have to perform the salute once summoned, rushin’ off instantly into the fray. They have rather decent speed, as well.

The henchbots ain’t great at dealin’ with a opponents, but will also leave scrapheaps behind once they get destroyed. Unlike with Swash n’ Buckle, Metal can’t revive them, n’ they’ll vanish after 5 seconds. These scrapheaps hav’a use to them as well, but that’s fer a bit later.


Down Special – Feelin’ Crabby!


Captain Metal will hover in the air for a few frames, usin’ his electric powers to summon up some spare parts from off-screen. The parts will swirl ‘round him for a few frames, b’fore formin’ into a set a crab legs!

The crab legs alter Metal’s stats a fair bit. First of all, he’ll end up slightly taller than usual, only by a hair, though. His model will also b’come a bit wider, but even less than his height makes him tall. The Cap’n will gain superior speed and jumpin’ abilities while the legs are on, boostin’ him to a 1.9 runnin’ wise. His walk speed will remain the same, however. His jumps are boosted to near Sonic levels, coincidentally. On the bad side, his weight will lower substantially, lowerin’ down all the way to 94.

The crab legs don’t provide much. The claw attachment in the picture be a bit misleadin’ as Captain Metal will retain his blaster arm during this as well. The only major change besides stats are a number of moves changin’ while he’s in this form, which we’ll be coverin’ as we get to them. All specials remain th’ same, however. Lastly, the crab legs have a timer t’ ‘em ‘swell, lasting only 10 seconds b’fore they vanish.

The lag of the move is a bit of a problem, as well the endlag is instantaneous t’ make gameflow better, the starting lag can be interrupted. It be best to have minions out b’fore you attempt the move, as you’ll have to go through its 35 frames of activation b’fore it fully activates. The crab legs easily help out with Metal’s mobility issues, but arrrrrr mostly limited to early game, though a number of its unique attacks are useful.


Swashbuckler Smashes
Down Smash – Ye Be Scrap Metal!

Tapping into his electric powers yet again, Captain Metal uses it t’ create an electrical pulse ‘round himself, floatin’ in the air fer a brief moment, and performin’ a classic Metal Sonic pose. The electric pulse has some decent range t’ it, reachin’ ‘round th’ entirety of Metal’s model, and out a bit as well, makin’ it fairly easy t’ hit with. The pulse comes out fairly quick ‘swell, though the ending lag be fairly bad as well, as Captain Metal has to recover from the energy drain, ‘n land back on the ground.

Damage wise, the attack will only tend to be dealin’ 13-18% dependin’ on the charge, with knockback that KOs near 210%. It be fairly weak, but its speed makes it a bit useful, actin’ as a decent keep-away move ‘n all that. The move be havin’ a lot more uses t’ it than just that however, and this be one of the Cap’n’s more important moves!

When used while standin’ in a pile o’ scrap yer crewmates leave behind, Metal will use the power to magnetically reshape th’ scrap inta somethin’ extra! We’ll start with the less complicated henchbots. With each henchbot absorbed inta Captain Metal, he’ll gain back 5% HP, a rather decent buff all considerin’, especially with how easy the henchbots are t’ destroy! As long as Captain Metal keeps sendin’ out his crew, he’ll be set fer healin’! This also be the quickest of the uses, as the scrap will just absorb inta the Cap’n’s body, takin’ roughly 25 frames t’ pull off!

Fer the more advanced techniques, you’ll want to use Swash and Buckle’s remains! Absorbing them changes how Captain Metal plays significantly. We’ll start with Buckle, since he be listed first! When buckle’s remains be used, they be formed into a mighty golden hook hand that covers Captain Metal’s regular hand, leavin’ his blaster arm free fer whatever it can do. The hook be fairly detailed, havin’ Buckle’s signature belt buckle ‘round its wrist. What this does is add a bit’a weight to Captain Metal, round 10 extra units, pushin’ him t’ Heavyweight levels!

This be a bit of a problem, a’course, as the extra weight also decreases Metal’s jumps by a few units as well. Speed also be decreased by a fairly bad 0.3 units, leavin’ him near the bottom of the speed rankings! But the real meat of the bonus is that yee can now use Buckle’s own attacks. Jab, USmash, UTilt, DTilt, FAir, n’ BAir all be changed to match up with Buckle’s moves, though now they be slightly different in a few instances. Aye, this reminds me of a lizard somehow…

The same can be used on Swash’s remains, only this time Captain Metal forms a new leg t’ replace his peg leg. The leg model is also very detailed, colored in Swash’s brown and grey, with his can forming the basis of a new foot. This increases Metal’s speed by 0.4 units, increasin’ his overall speed t’ a 2 thanks to havin’ an extra joint now! Walking speed remains the same, howevarrr. The Cap’n’s jumps arrr increased by a few units, and thanks t’ havin’ a lighter leg, his weight be decreased by 5 units, puttin’ him at Sonic’s weight.

This also be a problem, obviously, as bein’ lighter makes Captain Metal a lot easier to knock around! Like with Buckle’s remains, this also changes a few o’ his moves t’ match that of Swash. FTilt, Dash Attack, FSmash, NAir, UAir, n’ BAir all be changed to match Swash’s, though they also be havin’ heavy animation changes since the cane now be in Captain Metal’s foot. The leg makes him agile enough to pull it off, however, so don’t fear.

Both Buckle and Swash’s buffs can be used at the same time, but they will cancel each other out, leavin’ the Captain at a very peculiar set of stats, with a net worth in speed, a net loss in weight, and his same ol’ mediocre jumps. When you have both on, nearly the entirety of Captain Metal’s set will be changed, leavin’ only Specials and the Down Smash. It is mostly requested that ye only have one bot attached to ye at a time, since the Cap’n’s moves are decent in their own right.

Both Swash and Buckle have their uses when like this, Buckle actin as a good way t’ KO opponents late in the game, n’ Swash acting as a good mobility boost to keep the Cap’n limber. Creatin’ these limbs takes a bit o’ time, however, around 45 frames to fully complete. N’ Metal can be knocked out of these at any point, even for the henchbots. Metal can also continue absorbin’ the parts of henchbots while either is active, helpin’ with his health.

When the Down Smash is used away from’a scrap heap, Metal will instead demagnetize the parts, causin’ them to drop back to the ground. Captain Metal can then go on t’ use these again and again as he pleases, without any real downsides other than it takin’ a long time to do! A rather mediocre attack in its own right, Down Smash can be a useful tool fer Captain Metal’s whole game, and can keep opponents weary about destroyin’ the Captain’s own minions.

Finally, Captain Metal be unable to use these upgrades, minus the henchbots, while wearin’ his crab legs. The attack itself changes slightly as well, givin’ it a bigger hitbox, but when attempted on a scrap heap for Buckle and Swash, the parts just won’t do anything.


Forward Smash – Off with Ye Heads!


Captain Metal pulls back his blaster hand, preparin’ to strike with the cutlass attached t’ it. He then slashes forward in a large arc in front’a him, similar to Marth’s FSmash in terms o’ animation, but with slightly less reach t’ it, and a bit more start-up and endin’ lag s’well. On hit, it’ll deal a decent 14-20% damage t’ th’ opponent, while also launchin’ the scallywags, KOin’ them at 170%, makin’ this one of Metal’s few true KO moves.

Obviously, there be a a lot more t’ this move than just it being a decent slashin’ attack! If ye hit one of yer crewmates with it, the Cap’n will directly slash their heads off! Bein’ robots, they can all survive without their heads, but the AI tends to get a bit confuzzled. Crewmates, whether it be Swash, Buckle, or the henchbots, will tend to stumble around n’ perform attacks at random, even if there’s no one around them! It’s like they be wearin’ TWO eyepatches!

Once the head is cut off, it will land on the ground, offline, but still functional, and can now be used as throwin’ items. They behave like a harder hittin’ Mr. Saturn, dealin’ 3% on contact, and having fairly substantial knockback fer something like that, with enough hitstun to usually prevent the opponent from grabbin’ the head as soon as you hit ‘em. Never lose yer heads, they be important!

But these heads ain’t just fer throwin’ around! If ye use the item while next to one of yer crewmates, you’ll end up screwin’ their heads back on… the trick bein’ that it doesn’t matter which head ye screw on! Ye can attach a henchbot’s head to Buckle’s body, Buckle’s to Swash’s, and Swash’s t’ a henchbots if ye like! The heads will retain their standard AI, but the bodies will retain their movesets! So ye can make a more cautious, but still hard-hittin’ Swash-Buckle combo, or a Swash who prefers to run into combat without thinkin’! This has a ton of different applications to it, but you can always just screw the heads back on if ye don’t feel like it.

Losin’ heads only be a slight problem, howevarrr. While a head bein’ tossed off-stage certainly makes the crewmate a lot less valuable for their time on the stage, just restorin’ them with Side Special will cause their head to return to them. Henchbot heads, alongside henchbots themselves, cannot be revived at all, but ye got a million of them, no big deal!

When a crewmate is reduced to scrap, the head will drop off ‘swell, unlike normal where it’ll be reduced to scrap ‘longside the rest of the body. They can continue bein’ used as items, though henchbot heads will only remain on stage ‘til their scraps vanish, though they won’t vanish if thrown, or if attached to Swash n’ Buckle’s bodies, until that body is reduced to scrap. There be tons of different ways to play around with yer crew, so keep yer own head screwed on while goin’ over the possibilities.

Arr, that brings us to the FSmash when used with the Swash Leg! While similarrrr in concept, it changes pretty drastically in practise. Instead o’ poking a cane forward, Metal will instead kick forward with his new leg, activatin’ the cane’s electric stun effect once he kicks. The hitbox remains functionally the same, but the damage of the move is changed, instead simply dealin’ 8-15% damage dependin’ on charge. Other effects of the move remain the same, including the large amount’a hitstun. The move also be a bit faster, due to Metal bein’ more agile than th’ ol’ hobbler. It be best to plan out yer head swappin’ before ye decide to create the Swash Leg, as ye can’t use the head cuttin’ attack whilst it be attached. Remember, ye need t’ use your head before ye use your blade.

The attack also changes slightly when ye bring in the Crab Legs, but not in a positive way. The boost in height makes th’ attack harder to hit shorter opponents with, and that be includin’ yer own henchbots! Taller opponents be fine, and both Swash and Buckle can be decapitated to yer pleasure, but be careful when usin’ it round the li’l fellas.


Up Smash – A Pirate’s Favorite Tools

This attack has Captain Metal use his two favorite weapons, th’ blade, n’ th’ blaster! Both conveniently connected t’ a single arm! Fer the start-up animation, Metal will pull his cutlass down, b’fore slashing it upwards in an arc, then stops directly above his own danged head! Instead’a completin’ the arc like a borin’ swordsman, Captain Metal will instead start firin’ his Blunderblaster! He’ll fire a single shot from it, comin’ out as a large explosion from th’ tip o’ his blaster.

We’ll go over this in parts, like takin’ the path on a treasure map. Th’ sword slash be similar to the slashes made by other characters who be usin’ swords, resemblin’ the first half o’ Link’s USmash, behavin’ in a similar manner an’ even comin’ out at nearly the same point, though it be havin a tiny bit more start-up t’ it. Th’ sword’s got decent range t’ it, but lesser’n the normal swordsman fare. The slash be dealin’ a rather mediocre bit of damage, however, only causin’ 4-7% damage depending on charge! Th’ knockback also flings th’ opponent back and upwards, directly over the Cap’n’s own head.

This, a’course, transitions t’ th’ second part’a the move, where Metal fires a shot from his Blunderblaster. The blast comes out as a big cloud o’ smoke, with no actual projectile t’ it. The smoke be actin’ as the hitbox, however, dealin’ upwards knockback that can KO at 170%, while dealin’ an additional 7-12% damage based on charge! The hitbox be a large cone shape slightly wider than th’ blaster itself, makin’ it easy to hit with, especially when th’ opponent has been comboed from th’ sword slash. The blast takes a moment t’ come out, though, and at higher percents, can be difficult to fully combo with. Late game, Captain Metal will prefer to use the blaster on its own as a juggling ‘r fakeout technique usin’ the sword.

The USmash when usin’ the Buckle Arm doesn’t change much from when Buckle be usin’ it, but an important thing t’ note be that the Buckle Arm is significantly shorter than Buckle’s actual arm, meanin’ it has less range t’ it. In exchange, the arm’s b’come more powerful, dealin’ 15-20% damage dependin’ on charge, and can KO near 140-150%. With th’ Crab Legs, th’ move gets a bit o’ n’ an upgrade, n’ a bit o’ a downgrade. With the extra height, it be easier to hit some opponents with th’ blaster, but th’ height also makes it more difficult to hit opponents closer t’ th’ ground.


Shiver Me Standards
Jab – Cap’n’s Combo

Captain Metal’s jab be a very simple one. Fer the animation, the Cap’n will swing his sword hand t’ his right, then follow up with a quick swipe from his normal hand, n’ then finish by choppin’ downwards with his sword hand again. This functions entirely as a standarrrd jab combo, each comboin’ inta each other very nicely, n’ the last hit bein’ th’ one to cause knockback. Damages are 4%, 3%, 4%, totallin’ t’ 11% damage. Knockback is decent ‘swell, KOin’ near ‘round 210%. All three attacks come out at a decent pace ‘swell, with very minimal endlag or startlag. Overall, a decent combo.

Aye, n’ when ye have the Buckle Arm equipped, ye can use Buckle’s jab instead! Th’ attack remains rather slow, but the damage be boosted alongside Metal equippin’ it. All hits r’ boosted t’ 4%, with knockback that can KO at 185%, makin’ it fairly powerful fer a jab. The lag between each attack still be there, however, but it can still combo nicely if ye manage.

Arr, this also be th’ first move where the Crab Legs change the move entirely! It changes th’ move into a rapid jab, as Captain Metal will continue to thrust the front legs of his crabby torso forward. Th’ claws have decent reach t’ them all considered, though they have less than any of the Cap’n’s normal jab attacks. Each hit deals ‘round 2% damage, n’ after 3 hits it will start to go into the infinite jab. The finisher has Metal thrustin’ both legs forward at th’ same time, dealin’ 5% damage, n’ launching the opponent away, able to kill round 200%.


Forwarrrrrrd Tilt – Cap’n’s Claw

Captain Metal pulls his metallic hand backwards, n’ then slashes it forward. The animation be similar t’ somethin’ like Bowser’s Side Special, but a bit more telegraphed thanks t’ Metal holding his claw fer a moment. D’spite th’ start-up lag, th’ attack be fairly quick, and covers a decent area in front o’ th’ Cap’n, comparable t’ that of a sword usin’ character doin’ a forward sword slash. The slash be fairly powerful on its own, dealin’ a healthy 8% damage with diagonally upwards knockback, launchin’ the opponent t’ their demise at ‘round 190%. Overall, it be a decent attack on its own, without too much t’ it. Th’ move be havin’ a slightly different effect when the Buckle Arm be equipped. While th’ animation be th’ same, it hits slightly harrrrrder, dealin’ 10% damage, and boostin’ th’ knockback to bein’ able t’ KO at 170%. In exchange fer this, th’ start-up n’ ending lag both get a few extra frames.

When Usin’ the Swash Leg, Captain Metal will ‘nstead throw a quick kick, with roughly the same basic speed as Swash’s cane swipe. It be a tiny bit faster, however, thanks t’ Captain Metal’s more nimble state, n’ deals 9% damage, while KOin’ ‘round 200% still. Arr, a thing ye might’ve noticed is that Swash’s attacks ain’t be the best, n’ that’s because they ain’t s’pposed t’ be! The Swash Leg be a trade-off, gettin’ rid o’ some decent moves fer the added mobility. Buckle be in the same camp, ‘cept in reverse. Fer added strength, ye get lessened mobility. It be very simple, ye see.

The move also changes a bit while wearin’ th’ Crab Legs. While th’ base o’ the move remains the same, Metal will now bend back while performin’ the start-up, n’ step forward as he swings his mitt out. This grants th’ attack a healthy bit o’ range t’ it, even more than it already had. Th’ hitbox also starts t’ come out while Metal steps forward, which be havin’ a dip t’ it, allowin’ the Cap’n to strike at lower opponents, ‘swell as higher ones thanks t’ the added height o’ the Crab Legs themselves.


Down Tilt – Peg-Leg Poke

From his crouchin’ position, Captain Metal swiftly kicks out his peg leg, in a rather standard lookin’ kickin’ attack. The attack be fairly fast all considarrring, and has a decent reach t’ it, perfect fer pokin’ opponents’ shields. Arr, but that not be all, as the attack comes out fairly quickly too, makin’ it a very good kick attack in general, compared t’ even the likes’a Mario’s. It deals a fairly standard deal o’ 7% damage, while poppin’ th’ opponent inta th’ air with only a slight bit’o knockback t’ it. Overall, a decent pokin’ tool. Th’ attack behaves nearly exactly the same when wearin’ the Swash Leg, the main difference bein’ that it just has a slight bit more reach t’ it, n’ that it deals 5% damage, with less knockback. In exchange, th’ attack be slightly faster.

While wieldin’ the Buckle Arm, the attack changes fairly drastically, as mentioned above. It is, however, a much stronger move, n’ though th’ reach be a bit poorer, it covers more than just th’ front o’ Metal, makin’ it a good sweepin move ‘swell. The power be fairly decently boosted from Buckle’s version, goin’ up to a very good 12% damage, with high knockback that can KO at nearly 160%, makin’ this remarkably good, even fer just a DTilt.

Due t’ Metal not havin’ his peg-leg while equipped with th’ Crab Legs, th’ move changes completely. Fer his crouchin’ animation, Metal squats down a slight bit n’ slouches forward, keepin’ most of his height in tact. Usin’ the attack now will cause the Cap’n t’ slide forward ‘cross the ground, ‘round 1/4th of a Battlefield Platform, his front crab legs stickin’ out. These are the hitbox of th’ attack, n’ can deal a fairly decent 7% ‘swell. The knockback is directly backward, a’course, n’ can KO ‘round 200%, makin’ it rather lackluster as a KO move, but decent as a get away move.


Up Tilt – Slash n’ Blast

Captain Metal performs a more standard sword sweep, similar t’ th’ likes a most other sword swingin’ characters. It be a fairly simple move, havin’ slightly less reach t’ it, though it still not be a bad move range wise. The meat’a th’ move comes in at the midpoint of th’ swing, where Metal will take advantage of havin’ a gun-sword arm t’ fire a shot out as he slashes. Th’ blast comes out similar t’ th’ USmash, a cloud’a smoke n’ fire comin’ out of the barrel in a cone shape, but this hitbox be much smaller than th’ one on th’ USmash ‘swell. This counts as a separate hitbox from the sword swing however, meanin’ that you can easily combo inta it from the start of the move itself.

Th’ swing deals 6% damage, while th’ blast be dealin’ 4%, totallin’ t’ 9% damage. Th’ knockback on the slash be hard to measure, since usually hittin’ the opponent with it will combo inta th’ gunshot, but th’ slice continues on ‘til it reaches th’ other side o’ the Cap’n, and can still deal damage. Th’ knockback of the slash alone is weak, KOin’ near 300%, while dealin’ upwards diagonally backwards knockback, comboin’ it into the blast. Th’ blast on th’ other hand, has directly upwards knockback t’ it, bein’ able t’ KO at 190%. As stated multiple times, th’ slash combos inta th’ blast fairly well, leavin’ it mostly with th’ upwards knockback. Th’ blast can be used on its own as well, fer aerial opponents n’ such.

Arrr, now we be getting’ t’ th’ Buckle Arm section! Th’ attack remains mostly th’ same, but again with slightly less reach t’ it in comparison t’ Buckle’s version. In comparison t’ Buckle’s version, however, th’ attack deals more damage, 11%, n’ can KO at 160%, thanks t’ Metal’s ferociousness with th’ attack. Fer the Crab Legs, the only change in th’ move be that it be slightly harder t’ hit grounded opponents with, but the blast has added range thanks t’ Metal’s new height. Somehow this feels familiarrrrr.


Dash Attack – Scoundrel’s Slice
As Captain metal runs forwards, he drags his cutlass across th’ ground, b’fore swingin’ it upwards in an arc. The swing causes the Cap’n to come t’ a halt, however, but the actual animation still be takin a few frames of autorunning b’fore it comes out as a hitbox. It be a fairly laggy move in that regard, as Metal will have t’ run ‘round 1/4th of a Battlefield Platform before th’ actual hitbox even starts up. Once that be done, however, th’ attack be havin’ some decent range, thanks t’ the autorun, ‘swell as th’ attack behavin’ more like a sword move from another swordsman type. Th’ slice be dealin’ a rather fancy 9% damage, with upwards knockback that can KO by 210%, basically functionin’ like an uppercut. Endlag be decent as well, compared t’ th’ start-up lag, as Captain metal will get back inta his neutral stance fairly quickly.

Fer th’ Swash Leg, th’ attack actually be changin’ fairly substantially from when it’s used by Swash. Like with Swash, Captain Metal will start spinnin’ around rapidly a few times, but this behaves more like a traditional Dash Attack instead. It only gives off a single hit of 11% damage, but dealin’ a decently better amount’a knockback, this time bein’ directly forwards knockback rather’n backwards. It also be slightly slower ‘swell.

Finally, th’ attack changes when used with th’ Crab Legs. Due t’ the height increase, Metal can’t drag his sword along th’ ground without it lookin’ a bit awkward, so he instead performs a leapin’ slash. This be similar t’ Link’s Dash Attack, except it be havin’ slightly more reach thanks t’ th’ Crab Legs havin’ a better jump. Th’ blade also doesn’t hit th’ ground either, instead Metal just lets out a large swipe in front’a him, which still has th’ same reach as Link’s Dash Attack. Th’ Crab Legs will jump forward ‘round 1/3rd o’ a Battlefield Platform, essentially actin’ as an autorun thanks t’ how close he keeps to the ground durin’ th’ jump. Th’ slash deals 9% damage, with more traditional knockback that can KO at 230%, makin’ it fairly weak.


Aerial Pirating
Neutral Aerial – Shock n’ Awe

Tappin’ back inta his electrical powers, Captain Metal turns t’ward the screen, and thrusts his limbs out, shootin’ out an electrical pulse. D’spite soundin’ similar t’ th’ DSmash, this move be a lot different, as the pulse flies outwards fer a few frames, b’fore dissipatin’. This be lastin’ only a few frames, however, actin’ as a quick “Yarr, get away!” move. Th’ hitbox be large enough, stretchin’ out for a decent bit past Metal’s body, and both start-up and ending lag be short at most. Th’ attack only deals 9% damage, and th’ knockback be fairly mediocre, KOin’ near 300%.

With th’ Swash Leg, th’s attack be mostly th’ same as when Swash uses it, bein’ a spinnin’ attack. Th’ difference is that the Cap’n will use his leg to perform th’ spinnin’ kick. It also be faster, and’s got a bit more range t’ it comparatively. Th’ attack deals a decent 12%, with knockback that can KO at 190%, still makin’ it a very weak move. When hit, however, th’ attack will deal a decent amount’a hitstun, due t’ th’ electric shock. With th’ Crab Legs, th’ on;y real change be that th’ electric shock has a bit more range t’ it, due t’ th’ increase in size of Captain metal himself.


Forwarrrd Aerial – Clean Cut

Captain Metal prepares t’ strike with his cutlass arm, n’ then quickly slashes it. This move has a bit o’ lag t’ it at th’ start. N’ by a bt I mean a lot o’ lag! Metal will spend quite’a few frames preparin’ t’ strike b’fore actually strikin’ with it, maybe ‘round 10 frames. Th’ slash comes out fast once he finally finishes, n’ hits hard once it does. Th’ slash acts like Mario’s FAir, but deals 13% damage and KOs at ‘round 170%, makin’ it a fairly decent KO move. Th’ lag makes it a bit hard to time, but overall it can be very useful when comboin’. It has very quick endin’ lag t’ it as well, but th’ start-up prevents ye from usin’ it too much in th’ air.

Th’ Buckle Arm version o’ th’ attack be fairly decent, though it be slower, though not laggier, than th’ Cap’n’s base FAir. Th’ swing be dealin’ a hearty 16% damage, n’ can KO at around 140%, all that n’ the attack’s considerable reach makin’ it one o’ th’ best KO moves in Metal’s entire set. Th’ problem comes with how slow th’ move is, havin’ both dreadful start and end lag, makin’ it easy to counter if ye whiff it. It still be worth usin’ despite tis, due t’ its shear power and range. Th’ Crab Legs don’t do anything of note durin’ th’ attack.


Up Aerial – Blunderblaster Bluster

Captain Metal aims his blaster arm upwards, before firin’ out a shot. This time, he be actually firin’ a blast from it, a small yellow projectile ‘kwivalent t’ one o’ Megaman’s shots in size, though it be rounder. This projectile flies upwards at a quick pace, havin’ infinite range t’ it, while dealin’ 8% damage and fairly weak knockback t’ th’ opponent it hits. Captain Metal can only have one blast on stage at a time, but that doesn’t stop him from usin’ it more! While th’ projectile is on screen, ye can use th’ move again t’ just fire th’ smoke blast. Ye can also fire this for a few seconds after th’ projectile disappears or hits an opponent as well. Th’ hitbox be a lot similar t’ th’ USmash, but it also be slightly smaller, while dealin’ 12% damage with high upwards knockback. Th’ move be fast enough t’ use out of a shorthop, allowin’ ye to combo from th’ shot inta th’ blast, givin’ ye a good jugglin’ opportunity.

Fer th’ Swash Leg, th’ move changes in animation. Like with other leg based moves, the Cap’n uses his leg instead’a swingin’ somethin’. In this case, he performs a generic kickflip, which be havin’ better range than th’ cane swipe that ol’ Swash performed. It also deals a few extra frames o’ hitstun, while also dealin’ a fairly enhanced 13% damage, with decent upwards knockback. Th’ crab legs do not effect th’ move itself, but th’ height increase allows jugglin’ t’ be much easier.


Back Aerial – Aim, Fire!

Captain Metal points his blaster arm behind himself, and fires out a quick shot. Th’ attack behaves like a few o’ th’ other blaster based attacks, havin’ a bit o’ start-up b’fore it fully fires. Th’ time between input and firin’ ain’t that bad, but it be a noticeable effect. Th’ blast has a similar hitbox to th’ USmash’s hitbox, but it be a bit smaller t’ compensate fer bein’ an aerial. Th’ endlag be quick as well, as th’ blast causes Metal t’ spin ‘round midair, puttin’ him back inta his normal aerial stance. Th’ blast be powerful a’course, dealin’ out a healthy 14% damage, with knockback that can KO at 180%, makin’ it a decent kill move. Th’ lag be a problem with hittin’ it consistently, however, but it isn’t a major problem.

Fer th’ Swash Leg attack, it be basically th’ same as it was when Swash uses it, but with a few bits extra. Th’ main differences are that it has a bit o’ extra reach, though it isn’t faster, n’ that it can add a few extra frames o’ hitstun to th’ attack, as it sends out an electric shock. Th’ attack also changes t’ bein’ a sex kick type move, dealin’ out 14% damage at th’ start o’ th’ move, b’fore degradin’ t’ 11% after a few frames. It still be decently strong, though it be a bit less strong than Swash’s version, only KOin’ at 190%. Th’ Crab Legs don’t do anything unique fer this move.


Down Aerial – Peg-Leg Pound

Captain Metal juts his peg-leg downwards, actin’ as a bit o’ a kickin’ move, similar t’ Ganondorf’s in terms of animation n’ hitbox, ‘cept it be a lot shorter due t’ th’ size difference b’tween th’ two. It also has less lag at th’ start, but also be a lot faster, meanin’ it’s a bit harde t’ time fer a suicide kill. How ever, th’ attack gains a bit more when ye actually manage to hit with it, as th’ peg-leg will let out a burst, much like th’ BLunderblaster. The Cap’n’s peg-leg also be a gun! This function only activates once it hits an opponent, but it behaves as th’ same hitbox as th’ rest o’ th’ leg. It’ll deal out 15% damage, with Meteor Smash based knockback.

When ye have the Buckle Arm equipped, there won’t bee too much of a change t’ th’ move. It deals th’ same damage, same knockback. However, th’ attack changes substancially when th’ Swash Leg be equipped. Instead’a causin’ a blast when it hits an opponent, it’ll instead send out a shock o’ energy through the opponent, stunnin’ them fer a small bit. Th’ damage be reduced t’ 12%, but it still be a good offstage move t’ perform.

And, a’course, th’ move changes when ye have th’ Crab Legs on. Th’ attack will change t’ Metal slashin’ his four legs downwards rapidly, similar t’ Yoshi’s DAir. Th’ crab legs have an extra bit o’ reach t’ them thanks t’ them bein’ longer than Yoshi’s legs. Th’ legs swing out a total o’ once for each leg, but th’ attack be quick enough fer this t’ not last that long. Each leg swing acts as its own hitbox, with each leg bein’ able to deal 2% damage, totalling t’ 16% damage, remarkably high fer an aerial. Th’ move mostly behaves like Yoshi’s DAir beyond that.


Crab Game
Grab & Pummel – Crab Claw

Arr, that title, ain’t just a pun! When grabbin’ an opponent, Captain Metal will briefly replace his blaster hand with a large crab claw-like clamp! This be what he uses t’ grab, thrustin’ th’ claw out forwards, n’ quickly clampin’ it down. Th’ attack be havin’ some decent reach t’ it, slightly longer than th’ NSpec’s reach, since th’ claw is fairly large itself. Once Metal grabs th’ opponent, he’ll hang ‘em by th’ neck.

From there he can use his pummel, which has the Cap’n sendin’ an electrical shock through them, dealin’ a quick burst’a 3% damage. It comes out fast, n’ its high damage ratio makes it one’a th’ better pummels. Every time ye use a pummel on an opponent while they’re grabbed, they will enter a few frames of stun once they escape, allowin’ ye to follow up. Th’ stun doesn’t stack when ye grab them again, and in fact, cancels out all stun if ye attempt it a second time, allowin’ opponents t’ get away scot-free.


Forwarrrrrd Throw – Crustacean’s Grip

Fer th’ base throw o’ this, Captain Metal tosses th’ opponent upwards, before changin’ his crab claw back t’ his blaster arm. As th’ opponent comes down, he fires a blast from th’ blaster, shootin’ them off n’ dealin’ 8% damage, with knockback that can KO at 180%. It be a fine, powerful move, perfect fer KOin’, but it be havin’ a bit o’ lag issues at th’ start.

Th’ move changes considerably when ye have th’ Crab Legs equipped. When used now, th’ attack will change t’ a cargo grab, similar t’ DK’s, th’ extra power of th’ new legs helpin’ him move around more. Metal will hold th’ opponent behind him, potentially draggin’ them across th’ ground if they be tall enough. Like with DK, Metal will lose speed while draggin’ th’ opponent around, but he still be considerably faster than th’ monkey. Like with DK, th’ Cap’n gains a few extra throws while usin’ this, but they all be similar. Th’ cargo throws consist of Metal tossin’ th’ opponent in th’ inputted direction, dealin’ 5% damage with low knockback. It still be useful fer all th’ same reasons DK’s is.


Back Throw – Cat By th’ Tail


Fer th’ normal version o’ this attack, Captain Metal flings th’ opponent back, causing them to stumble behind him. He then quickly transforms his hand back t’ th’ blaster, though instead o’ blastin’ he slashes with his cutlass, launchin’ th’ opponents off. This be aother basic throw, dealin 9% damage, n’ bein’ able t’ KO at a decent 190%. It overall be very standard.

This attack also changes when th’ Crab Legs are equipped. Metal will grab th’ opponent by their leg (Or tail if they got one), and repeatedly slams them inta th’ ground. He slams them in front’a him first, then behind him, then in front of again, b’fore flingin’ th’ opponent off mid swing fer th’ last one. This move be fairly powerful, each pound causin’ 4% damage, totallin’ up t’ 12% damage. Th’ knockback be decent ‘swell, bein’ able to KO at 180%.


Down Throw – Facin’ De-Feet

Captain Metal slams th’ opponent down t’ th’ ground with his claw, b’fore turnin’ it back inta his blaster arm. He then fires a shot from it, point blank inta th’ opponents face, launcin’ them upwards. Another very simple throw, dealin’ 7% damage, but th’ bounce be good, n’ it comes out fairly quickly. Not good enough t’ be a KO move however, but it can help combo inta a few moves.

With th’ Crab Legs, th’ start-up motion will be th’ same as usual, but as soon as th’ opponent hits th’ ground, it’ll change completely. The Cap’n will lift his front two legs up, and begin rapidly jabbin’ them inta th’ opponent, finishin’ with a double leg stab, which deals bouncin’ knockback. Each leg strike deals 1%, totallin’ up t’ 8%, before th’ double leg strike adds in an extra 2%.


Up Throw – Really Shockin’

Captain Metal quickly tosses th’ opponent upwards, inta th’ air, n’ then transforms his arm back inta his blaster arm, b’fore firin’ out several shots at th’ opponent. This attack be behavin’ like most projectile based throws, in that each projectile be a different hitbox someone could interrupted and get hit by. Th’ shots resemble th’ shots from th’ UAir, but travel at a much faster rate, each’a them dealin’ 3% damage. There be 3 shots fired, with th’ last one dealin’ decent upwards knockback. Again, this be good fer comboin’ inta th’ aerials.

Fer th’ Crab Leg version, Metal will lift th’ opponent up into th’ air, b’fore shockin’ them with his claw. Th’ force’a th’ shock is strong enough t’ launch th’ opponent upwards. This attack be faster than th’ base version, but it only deals 8% damage, though it has some decently high hitstun thanks t’ th’ shock. Th’ knockback be weak as well, only KOin’ round 220%.


Final Smash
Egg O’ War


Captain Metal has th’ Smash Ball! Usin’ its power, he calls upon his weapon of mass destruction, th’ dreaded EGG O’ WAR! Th’ giant egg shaped fortress appears in th’ background… n’ then Captain Metal himself disappears in burst o’ digital particles! A large, glwin’ red eye appears in th’ Egg O’ War’s eye, meanin’ th’ Cap’n has assumed full control!

An aimin’ reticle appears on th’ screen, n’ th’ Egg O’ War starts t’ fire its cannons. Ye control th’ aiming reticle, aimin’ where th’ cannonballs will start t’ fall. Th’ Egg O’ War fires 5 large cannonballs, each ‘round triple th’ size of a Party Ball, makin’ them massive n’ hard to avoid. Th’ cannonballs fall from th’ top of th’ screen, automatically, from th’ place th’ reticle was in when th’ cannons fired. Th’ cannonballs deal 20% damage on contact, along with knockback that be able t’ KO at 100%. They be destroyed on contact with solid ground, meanin’ they go through thin platforms.

As th’ attack goes on, th’ reticle will start blinkin’. Once th’ final cannonball is destroyed, ‘round a second after, th’ Egg O’ War will fire a massive laser from its center cannon, causin’ th’ reticle t’ disappear as it fires at where it was. Th’ laser be massive as a hitbox, takin’ up a ridiculous amount of space, nearly th’ entirety of Battlefield, and deals damage much like Samus’ Zero Laser, which also means it be incredibly easy t’ KO with.
 
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Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Bomb King
His Majesty


Bomb King is one of the champions in Paladins, a first-person multiplayer made by those guys who made Smite. The game, unlike a lot of FPS games, takes place in a more fantasy based setting. Bomb King himself appears to be one of the more technology based character, as he might be a robot.

Yeah, none of the characters in this game have any kind of extensive backstory, which kind of leaves a lot to interpretation. Bomb King is functionally the mascot of the game, most likely due to having the most unique design in the game. However, it’s entirely possible he’s a villain, or at least an anti-hero, due to his arrogant and egotistical behavior, and tendency to call his teammates “meatbags”. The best I can surmise of his backstory is that he’s a very delusional bomb making robot.

Bomb King, in the game, behaves practically like the Demoman from Team Fortress 2 (R.I.P.). He’s based around placing bombs around the arena, and then blowing them up when the timing is right. He brings this gameplay style to Smash, but unlike the Demoman’s foray into this genre, he isn’t held back by a terrible gimmick, or someone taking ages to finish.


Kingly Statistics

Weight – 115
Running Speed – 1.5
Walking Speed – 0.85
Air Speed – 0.90
Fall Speed – 1.7​

Bomb King is a pretty hefty fellow. Roughly around the same size as Bowser, but maybe a bit taller, and even slightly wider, he’s a considerably large target, fitting his equally large personality. The King also has a cape attached to his model, but this doesn’t act as a hurtbox, though it does have physics to it. Purely an aesthetics thing, however. How could he be a king without his cape?

Stat wise, Bomb King is pretty miserable. He edges at the lower end of Super-Heavyweight, but being that large is for his own good, as you’ll soon see. Speed wise, Bomb King is terrible. His running and falling speed are decent, but walking and aerial speed are pretty abysmal, especially for a character who will be constantly on the move. Of important note is the King’s fall speed, which will be fairly important when we get to his attacks. Bomb King’s jump are fairly mediocre, but better than most for a Super-Heavyweight. This will help the hefty heaver a lot.


Explosive Specials
Jab Special – Sticky Bomb

Yes, Bomb King has a total of FIVE special moves! He’s the king, of course he gets better treatment. Okay, technically this is just a normal jab attack, but its placed here for a very important reason. That being that this is the most important move in Bomb King’s entire repertoire, and he’d be functionally worthless without it. Its also coming first because most of Bomb King’s specials revolve around it as well.

So, for this move, Bomb King will toss one of his bombs forward (He carries one in each hand). The bombs are rather cartoonish, and have faces on them. They look very happy to be serving their king! The animation is fairly quick, on par with a normal jab attack. Anyway, the bombs will be tossed a surprisingly far distance, 2 full Battlefield Platforms before they start dropping to the ground, the drop giving them a further extra 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform of distance. From then, the bombs will connect to the floor. This is why they are called Sticky Bombs.

Before we get into more of the detail of what makes these Sticky Bombs so sticky, we should probably talk about the bombs as actual projectiles first: They suck. Sticky Bombs are roughly the size of a Pokeball, and deal an abysmal 1% damage on contact, with nearly no knockback. The knockback does technically behave like a Pokeball’s, being incredibly weak, but doing even less damage than one just makes it even worse. One bomb can only be in air at a time, however, limiting its use as a spamming projectile even more. Avoid using Sticky Bombs as direct projectiles unless you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. They aren’t meant to be used as projectiles anyway. Well, there is one way, but there are a few drawbacks to that. But that’s for later.

Back to the Sticky Bombs being sticky. They can stick to nearly every surface, except for player characters, which they just bounce off of. This extends to a wide variety of objects, including the bottoms of thin platforms (We’ll get to how you put them there in a moment). They can also stick on moving objects, solid items such as crates and barrels, structures made by opponents, and even minions. On all of these, but the minions, the bombs will behave the same, clinging to it from whichever direction they were thrown in (Again, in a moment), and will remain there completely indefinitely. No timers or anything. The only time they will stop clinging is if an object disappears, like when an item or construct disappears or is destroyed. The bomb will fall to the ground at the speed of a normal item, and then cling to whatever object it hits next.

On minions, however, Sticky Bombs won’t be able to cling to them for very long, roughly only 4 seconds. This happens because the bomb is trying to cling to something that’s moving more consistently. After the 4 seconds pass, it will start to drop like normal. Hitting a minion with a bomb will deal the 1% damage, but it will not deal any of its already pathetic knockback. On the upside, minions won’t be able to attack the bombs while they’re attached to them.

Oh yes, Sticky Bombs have weaknesses. They act as constructs themselves, and will be able to take 15% damage before exploding. This explosion is weak, dealing 5% damage, with rather mediocre knockback that can keep opponents away, but won’t KO until very, very high percents. Bombs will also completely vanish once Bomb King is KOed, preventing him from performing any suicide edgeguard planning. Despite being constructs, Sticky Bombs can’t cling to each other, and will tend to go through each other. Any number of bombs can be clung to a non-AI controlled construct, but only one can be placed on minions and such until they fall off.

As you might be able to tell, Bomb King will need to place bombs around the stage. How can he do that when he can only throw bombs forwards, though? Ha ha, how DARE you underestimate the King! By holding the Jab button down, Bomb King will hold one of his hands up (He alternates between each hand with each bomb thrown), which will allow him to move around in the same way other characters can move around while carrying guns. Hah, guns, ineffective against the mighty bomb!

While the button is held down, Bomb King enters a remarkably precise aiming mode. Like with the Cracker Launcher from Brawl, Bomb King can aim the bomb up and down by tilting the control stick, shown by him tilting his body in the appropriate direction. This isn’t all, however. While doing this, Bomb King cannot jump when tilting the control stick, but he CAN jump by pressing the jump buttons! He only gets to use his first jump, however, but without any limitations beyond that. He can even throw bombs while in the air in this aiming mode! This can allow Bomb King to place bombs in some REMARKABLY odd places on the stage, obviously to the King’s benefit.

The last important note is that Bomb king can only have 6 Sticky Bombs out on a stage at once. Once all six are out on the stage, Bomb King will no longer have any bombs left in his hands. So, he just can’t use his Jab anymore? What a cop out, 0/10! Wrong, knave! Bomb King DOES have a normal jab! He can only use it when all 6 bombs are on stage, and will be covered soon enough.


Neutral Special – Detonate

You might notice, throughout the entire nine-hundred words of the last move, there was only a brief mention of these bombs actually exploding. That’s because, technically, that is only half of an attack. This is the other half.

By pressing the Neutral Special button, Bomb King’s eyes will briefly light up, and he’ll press his fists together (The bombs disappear during this motion, before reappearing directly after). This is a very fast motion, taking only around 8 frames to perform. The effect activates before the animation finishes, which will cause the bombs you have planted around the stage to instantly combust all at the same time!

Now THAT’S what we want! BOOM! The bombs burst it explosive clouds 2/3rds as large as a Bob-Omb explosion, fittingly enough. They are much weaker than a Bob-Omb, of course, since there’s 6 of them at most around the stage. They have fairly large range, but only deal 10% damage, with knockback that can easily KO at around 120%. The knockback is strange, however, as the direction will entirely depending on where the opponent is coming from, and will knock them in the opposite direction. This is a very important thing to note.

With this, you can easily cover the entirety of smaller stages… but keep in mind bombs are mostly limited to the ground. Opponents, if they know its coming, can easily leap out of the way from the blasts, especially if they have better jumps than Bomb King does. They can also shield from the blast as well, which Sticky Bombs are very ineffective against, as they only cause 2/3rds of the damage, and protect them from knockback. The opponent has a few options to avoid them, but what if you want to play a bit more… tricky?

Bomb King will only cause the bombs to explode all at once when the button is tapped. By holding the button, Bomb King will make the bombs explode in the order you placed them! In order to do this, you need to hold the button down until the first bomb explodes, from there you can continue on with other inputs. The bombs will explode fairly quickly during this version as well, exploding roughly 2-3 frames after the previous one. This is a very fun move to use, as in some cases you can cause some amazing combos thanks to the odd knockback.

Of course, there is somewhat of a downside to this, of course. That being that, well, the bombs can hurt Bomb King as well as the opponents. He gains no benefit when bombs hit him, taking the same amount of damage and knockback as when an opponent is hit. Its best to play safe when planting bombs, usually leave somewhere open to escape to. Running is generally the best way to avoid bombs, and why Bomb King’s fall speed is important to his gameplan, as it allows him to traverse stages quickly to avoid his own bombs in some occasions. He can also shield, which behaves the same to him as it does to opponents.

Bombs are an amazingly fun tool to playa round with, and can lead to tons of interesting set ups and payoffs along the way. However, Bomb King will need to remain vigilant, which he always is, in order to survive his own explosive minions. They’re not turning on him on purpose, it’s just their nature.

And now we can actually talk about Detonate as an actual input and not just as a way to describe bomb hitboxes. As mentioned, this move is remarkably quick, but is also not actually an attack on its own. It has no actual hitbox or anything, but there is lag, as you can’t use any attacks out of it while its going on. You can, however, move around while using it, without any actual noticeable changes.

Now while Bomb king can’t use any attacks while this is going on, he sure as hell can use it when other attacks are going on! Remember when I mentioned that Sticky Bombs have a way of being used as an actual projectile? Well, this is how! By pressing the button when throwing a Sticky Bomb, it will instantly explode in mid-air. It behaves the same way as normal, but the bomb will halt all momentum when it explodes. Due to how the attack works, you can only have one flying explosive out at a time, unfortunately.

The attack can even be used out of the bomb throwing animation itself, where only the King’s eyes will light up. This is generally not a good idea, however, as the bomb will most likely be in your range when this happens, which means… yeah. It can potentially be used to some effect however, as it will cancel out any endlag, and allow Bomb King to move on to other kingly duties.

That’s just the uses it has with the Jab! Detonate is the absolute most useful move in Bomb King’s moveset, as it works with basically every other move in the set, and increases Bomb King’s use in both mindgames and spacing. Each will be covered in detail later, be patient, knaves.


Down Special – Grumpy Bomb

Bomb King reaches behind himself to pull something out, in a fairly laggy animation, taking about 25 frames for the King to pull it out. What he pulls out is a MUCH larger bomb, this one red, spiky, and a lot grumpier looking than the cheerful Sticky Bombs. This is a Grumpy Bomb.

Grumpy Bombs are carried around more like items than normal bombs are, as Bomb King will continue to hold it in his hands while moving around. Technically, this replaces Jab for a moment, as hitting the standard attack button will cause Bomb King to place or throw the Grumpy Bomb. Placing it is the simplest form, taking only a few frames to do, while throwing the Grumpy Bomb in any direction turns it into a strong projectile that deals 7% damage with knockback that can KO at 190%. Once either of these has been done, the Grumpy Bomb’s fuse will be lit, and it will start counting down to explosive end.

That’s right, Grumpy Bombs, unlike Sticky Bombs, actually have a fuse. This means they can’t be exploded instantly by Detonate, making them the ONLY bombs in this entire set that are unaffected by it. In addition to their timers going down, Grumpy Bombs will become a construct as well, roughly the size of a Party Ball, except slightly larger due to the head spikes. They also act as solid objects, though Sticky Bombs cannot cling to them. They also have 25% HP, and go out with no bang when the opponent destroys them. They don’t do much of anything else, really, but if they explode, BOY do they go out with a bang!

Grumpy Bombs are far more powerful than Sticky Bombs, with a blast radius of almost exactly a Bob-Omb’s, and deal a killer 20% damage with knockback that can KO at 80%! Despite this absolutely amazing power, Grumpy Bombs have one major weakness that prevents them from being more useful than the Sticky Bombs. They are incredibly telegraphed.

In addition to the start-up lag on pulling them out, Grumpy Bombs also require an additional 6 full seconds before they explode. Its an agonizingly long time for something you’re not even guaranteed to hit with, and even worse is that you can only have 1 Grumpy Bomb on stage at a time. Despite this incredible drawback, it can help with mindgames and such, but there’s a bit more to these angry explosives than just that.

See, Grumpy Bombs deal EXTRA damage to shields, about 1.5x their usual damage, though they still don’t deal any knockback. This is a shield destroyer, but again, a lot of problems come from how long it takes to explode. Luckily, there is also a way around that. If a Sticky Bomb explodes while a Grumpy Bomb is in its blast radius, then the Grumpy Bomb will explode alongside it alongside the other bombs. Pretty simple, right? It will only explode alongside the bomb its been placed near if you use the bomb sequence detonation, so it won’t explode in the order you placed it.

Again, despite the simplicity, there are still problems with this. Mostly in how the hell you’re ever going to get your opponent to shield it. The main way is to play mindgames with them. Trap them in a corner, then quickly throw down a Grumpy Bomb and escape to safety while detonating it. The opponent will have to decide which is worse, getting hit by all these bombs at once, or getting their shield busted. Another thing the opponent will have to take in is if you go for an “all at once” or “sequence” detonation style, adding another layer of mindgames to it. The most likely thing the opponent will do is take the shield damage, leaving them open for ample punishment.

Of course, things aren’t totally terrible for the poor opponent, as they can always try busting the Grumpy Bomb, and then try to shield the rest of the blast to avoid any repercussions. Or they could just jump on out of there and avoid everything. It really depends on how much pressure you’ve put the foe in.

Grumpy Bombs are an invaluable, if hard to use, tool for Bomb King. They require ample timing and set-up to properly use, but when they are put to good use, they can reap massive rewards. But the difficulty of them is both a worry against using them, and a tantalizing drive TO use them. Bomb Kings are made and broken by how effectively a Grumpy Bomb is used.


Up Special – Poppy Bombs

Bomb King will hold his hand up, holding anew kind of bomb, and throw it down at his feet. The starting animation is very short, being a recovery move and all, with the bomb exploding as soon as it hits the ground. This is the Poppy Bomb, which, unlike the other bombs, doesn’t explode into fire and such. Instead, the bomb explodes into a burst of air, launching Bomb King upwards.

Poppy Bombs functionally as a brief, powerful windbox, with most of its power going upwards. Whoever is on top of it, most likely being the glorious Bomb King himself, will be launched upwards a rather set distance of 4 Ganondorfs high, making it fairly ridiculous in terms of launching power. When Bomb King is hit by the blast, he won’t take any hitstun (His bombs would never betray him like that!), but the opponent will, though it’s brief. The Poppy Bombs also don’t deal any damage to anyone. Functionally, its entirely possible for his majesty to launch both himself and an opponent up into the air to transition to aerial attacks, but it’s a bit hard to do.

Alternatively, Bomb King an hold the button to aim the bomb in one of three directions, down, diagonally left, or diagonally right. This will change the general trajectory of the Poppy Bomb’s main windbox, launching Bomb King in the opposite direction it was thrown from. The knockback on any of the windboxes, outside of the main one, is powerful enough to KO at 200%, making it fairly ineffective as a KO tool, but that isn’t really its main purpose.

The Poppy Bomb can also be “set”, as it were. By double tapping the special attack button, instead of the Poppy Bomb exploding as soon as it hits the ground, it will instead be placed on the ground as a sort of trap. This brings up another of Bomb King’s mechanics, which brings us back to Detonation. If Bomb King has a bomb that isn’t a Sticky Bomb on stage, that counting Poppy Bombs and any bombs he may or may not throw during other attacks, the Detonation ability will redirect to those bombs instead. This allows Bomb King to make even more preparations, as the Poppy Bomb can be instantly exploded with the press of a button now!

However, when a Poppy Bomb is set, it will lose the main hitbox, acting similar to other explosion hitboxes, but not dealing any damage. This changes if Bomb King detonates it while he’s near it, however. The other downside is that you can’t have more than one Poppy Bomb on stage at a time, so if our glorious king attempts to use another Poppy Bomb to save his steel skin, it will instead cause the one you planted to explode. You can whip out another one fairly quickly, but if you use it from the bottom of the screen… long live the king, and all that. A grounded Poppy Bomb also only has 15% stamina, like a normal Sticky Bomb, though it won’t explode when destroyed, giving opponents less of a worry..

And with that we come to using the Poppy Bomb in the air. When used in the air, Bomb King will throw it downwards… where it will keep going. The Poppy Bomb will only explode when it hits the ground, remember? This might make it seem useless as a recovery tool, but it instead just requires simple timing to pull off. You just need to press the special attack button at the right time in order to activate the bomb’s effects, giving you the same launch power as it does when grounded. You can’t press it too early, though, as that will cause the bomb to be “set”, meaning it can be placed on the ground without exploding. This is something that can easily be overcome, but actually detonating it while in the air can be fairly disorienting at first.

To go a bit more in-depth, the bomb can be set at frames 1-10, which is the period Bomb King has the bomb in his hand. It can’t be detonated until frame 16, however, which happens slightly below Bomb King’s feet.

Anyway, Bomb King can still aim the bomb in the three directions, with those acting like they do on the ground as well. Finally, while in the air, Poppy Bombs can actually be used as a projectile. They deal a measly 3% damage, more than the Sticky Bomb, admittedly, and will explode on contact with an opponent, dealing the same knockback it usually does. A set Poppy Bomb can also hit an opponent, dealing minimal hitstun as it bounces off of them and then to the ground. Opponents can actually disrupt your placement with this.

Poppy Bombs are amazing mobility tools thanks to its windbox, allowing Bomb King to escape tight situations, whether they be enclosing opponents, or even his own bombs. As a recovery tool, its decent, if a bit awkward to use, and can function as a good trap as well. An all-around bomb for every possible occasion!


Side Special – King Bomb

Bomb King isn’t the king of bombs because he wanted to be, he’s also a King Bomb! One of the most explosive weapons ever devised, Bomb King can turn into a King Bomb at any point he wants! To perform this move, Bomb King will jump up a bit and curl into a ball, before starting to roll around, though his fuse remains centered at the top no matter how fast he’s spinning. This behaves nearly exactly like Yoshi’s Egg Roll move, as Bomb King will roll around at the same fast speed for the entirety of it. The King Bomb is as large as a Party Ball, and deals 3% damage if it hits someone, with very little knockback, but will cause the king to be knocked back slightly.

It lasts slightly longer, however, as shown by the fuse, which gradually burns out the longer King Bomb remains as a bomb King, er, Bomb King remains as a King Bomb. This is around 7 full seconds, and once that runs out, Bomb King will face his own punishment. Rather than a horrible amount of endlag, Bomb King will instead explode, taking 5% damage himself, but also creating a massive explosion, slightly larger than the explosions of the Sticky Bombs. If exploded prematurely, the attack will deal 10% damage, with fairly decent knockback. However, if you wait until Bomb King explodes naturally, the damage gets a boost. It now deals a ridiculous 20% damage, with knockback that can KO in the early 100%s. There’s also a tremendous amount of endlag to this, in both forms, around a full second of Bomb King looking dizzy after the explosion clears. The explosion at least prevents this from being basically unusable as an attack… but if it misses, Bomb King can be heavily punished. This can also activate a Grumpy Bomb’s explosion.

Compared to the Egg Roll, however, this is much easier to control, Bomb King’s traction only lessening a tiny bit, but enough to make it feel loose. You an still jump with it too, going roughly half as high as a normal jump. The hitbox when rolling remains the same while in the air, but is slightly more useful as it has a bit more hitstun to it. Performing a second jump will actually cause Bomb King to cancel out of the move, jumping around as high as his first jump. The fuse’s length will remain the same, however, and will resume until its time is completely up. You can, however, use Detonation to explode early, resetting the timer.

When used in the air, the King Bomb will behave basically like the Egg Roll does in anything past Melee, having no momentum to it and just causing Bomb King to fall down. The King Bomb form is also still affected by the Poppy Bomb, and can detonate it while rolling. This will cancel out the ability to detonate the King Bomb until the Poppy Bomb explodes, however, but can also lead to some impressive maneuvers.

The King Bomb is another movement tool, but one with slight more effective combat applications than the Poppy Bomb. It will mostly tend to be used to escape from Sticky Bomb/Grumpy Bomb detonations, or even start them up if you’re willing to feel a bit risky. This can lead to some incredibly cool moments, no matter what application is used.


Bursting Standards
Normal Jab – Kingly Combo

As mentioned 4000 words ago in Bomb King’s Special Jab, he has a normal jab as well! This can only be used while all 6 Sticky Bombs are on the stage, as Bomb King will no longer have any left in his hands to throw. The combo is remarkably simple, and uses the basic throwing animation of Bomb King throwing bombs, only with clenched fists. So, he throws out multiple uppercuts in a fairly fast way, only really enough to get a two-hit combo out of.

Each uppercut will end up dealing 3% damage, and due to the move having fairly weak knockback, even for a jab, you’ll only get 6% damage, as mentioned above with the two-hit combo. The second hit will tend to knock the opponent away, just far enough to be safe on hit, but not enough to ever be worth really using. This jab mostly functions as a jab, and has no real connection outside the special version.


Forward Tilt – Jolt

Bomb King pulls his arm back, a Sticky Bomb appearing in his hand if he wasn’t holding any, and then thrusts it forward in what amounts to a fairly standard punch animation. There are some key differences, however, like Bomb King’s arms being very large, leading to decent range, even farther than Bowser’s FTilt. The attack has some start-up lag to it, but it is quick. The attack does have some endlag to it as well, much more substantial to it than the start-up lag, as Bomb King will hold his fist out. The fist doesn’t even remain a lingering hitbox, it simply just hangs around for a few frames.

The attack itself is fairly decent, dealing 8% damage on contact, with knockback that can tend to KO at 230%, making it above average for this kind of attack. It can also be aimed up and down, for extra variety. It acts decently as a poking tool, but won’t be used too much by itself. Well, that can be fixed by the bomb that Bomb King is holding! Thought that was just because he was holding one? Nope, this Sticky Bomb is used for a bit more!

The king isn’t an idiot, and knows when to make use of the right tactics. In most cases, that tactic is explosives. By using Detonate at any point of the move that isn’t the start-up lag (EG. Any point where the fist is out), you can make the bomb explode! As mentioned in Poppy Bomb, Detonate will tend to go for bombs that aren’t from the Special Jab first before detonating them. It works on layers, kind of, with Poppy Bomb going first, King Bomb second, bombs from other attacks third, and finally the planted Sticky Bombs.

When detonated, the bomb in King Bomb’s hand will explode, creating a rather small explosion hitbox around his hand. This is a lot more powerful than the usual punch, dealing 10% with knockback that can KO at 180%. While still not amazingly impressive, the range of the bomb makes it a good poking tool as well, as the boosted reach can easily help a whiffed one. Speaking of whiffs, this is where some mind games come into play. Using the endlag of the move, which still counts as a bit where you can activate the bomb, you can easily fake opponents out with a punch, then an explosion! Unfortunately, you cannot combo the punch into the explosion, as the knockback is good enough to knock the opponent of the way before it detonates.


Up Tilt – Uncontrolled

A bunch of smaller bombs appear in Bomb King’s royal mitts, as he then tosses them up into the air. The bombs form a small cloud when tossed, the cloud functioning as a hitbox. The bombs don’t deal a ton of damage, only 6%, but the hitbox is fairly large all considering. As an upwards hitbox, it can hit at the sides as well, Bomb King’s own magnificent hands acting as the hitboxes there. Its very small, only being able to hit opponents directly next to you, and the hands dealing a paltry 2% damage, but it can combo directly into the bomb cloud itself.

The bomb cloud is weak knockback wise as well, dealing upwards knockback that really only KOs at an abysmally late 270%. The bomb cloud hangs in the few frames, however, though like with the FTilt, this doesn’t act as a lingering hitbox. The bomb cloud, on the initial throw, travels up to slightly above Bomb King’s head, and is nearly as wide as the king himself. The cloud hangs around for 5 frames after the throw, before the bombs drop to the ground and explode not into flames, but into useless puffs of smoke. The endlag isn’t nearly as bad as it seems like, as once those five frames are up, and the bombs start to fall to the ground, Bomb King can start moving around again. Start-up lag is fairly quick as well, just to note.

As you might have guessed, these bombs can be detonated by using Detonation. However, as the name states, this is a bit uncontrollable. Once Detonation is activated, the bombs will start to go off in a random order, creating 5 explosion hitboxes in a cross-shaped pattern. They come out randomly, which makes it a bit hard to hit with in a few cases, but comboing an opponent from the toss into the explosion guarantees a 6-hit combo. The extra explosions only deal 3%, but this can easily total up to 17% damage if you pull it off correctly. The first four explosions don’t deal much knockback, but the final one will deal upwards knockback that can KO at a much better 180% damage.

Like with the normal toss, Bomb King will be able to move around once the bombs start going off, turning this into a disjointed hitbox. He cannot, however, have two of the explosive clouds out at the same time, but can still perform the normal toss. The explosion can be used in a few ways, one being a decent KO tool, or even a juggling tool.


Down Tilt – Countdown

From his crouching position, Bomb King throws a small bomb forward. This is around the size of a normal Sticky Bomb, but has no face on it, or any other added details, just a simple black sphere. The bomb acts as the hitbox for this move, as, compared to the other bombs, its fairly heavy, and being hit with it causes 5% damage. Bomb King lobs the bomb in a small arc, reaching about 1/3rd of a Battlefield platform in front of him. The attack actually has more start-up lag than endlag, as Bomb King will pull his arm back before throwing the bomb out. The endlag happens as soon as the bomb hits the ground, signified by it bouncing a bit. After it lands on the ground, the king can roam once more!

The arc the bomb is lobbed in is rather high, making it easy to hit with, but the hitbox doesn’t last that long before the bomb hits the ground. When on the ground, the bomb does… nothing, apparently. It sits there, and occasionally blinks red… Wait, did the king just plant a time bomb!? Indeed, he did, that little black orb will explode 3 seconds after it hits the ground, letting off a noticeable red aura along with a loud bleep every second. Once the timer runs out, the bomb will explode… in a rather lackluster explosion. The hitbox is very tiny, only the size of Kirby, if not smaller. It also only deals 4% damage, with barely any meaningful knockback.

That’s because you’re supposed to detonate it yourself! With each second, the bomb grows in power, before it finally explodes with a dud due to it not being able to hold all the power for that long. It’s Bomb King’s duty, as king, to detonate the bomb. Each tick the bomb has results in a different effect. The first is no ticks, because you decided to detonate it early, since the bomb can be detonated as early as the first frame when Bomb King isn’t holding it. This causes it to just explode into a burst of smoke, since it hadn’t been able to build up any power. Good job. The first tick, however, does give a boost. It isn’t much, but it is better than the default explosion, as it has a fairly large blast radius, around a party ball large. It also deals 7% damage, with knockback that can KO at 210%. Not very strong, but definitely better.

The second tick grants an even better boost, blowing up to around half the size of a Bob-Omb explosion, making it far better at actually hitting anything. The explosion grows more powerful as well, dealing 10% damage, with knockback that can KO near 180%. This is the most general, and easier to perform, of the boosts, sitting exactly in the middle, and tending to hit opponents very well. The final tick, right before the bomb explodes, is the most powerful one, obviously. When detonated, the explosion will be the full size of a Bob-Omb blast, and deal a rather massive 15% damage, and can KO at 130%! This is one of Bomb King’s easier KO moves, but even then, you’d still have trouble activating it. See, the final tick happens just before the bomb explodes with a dud, requiring some serious timing to pull off well, but it can be incredibly rewarding as well.

The time bomb is a good trap, though obviously a bit more limited than the Sticky Bombs. It will tend to be used in conjunction with the other bombs to full effect. Very tactical, but also very hard to use. Timing is everything with this one.


Dash Attack – Bombing Run

Time for a much simpler move. As Bomb King runs forwards, he will quickly reach to the side that isn’t facing the camera, and pull something out. That something happens to be a few bombs, three to be specific, that he quickly throws behind him. The bombs stick close together, roughly the size of three Bob-Ombs in a triangle and function as a hitbox, dealing 5% damage with mediocre knockback, the bombs disappearing as soon as they hit the opponent, or the ground when they miss. Bomb King’s own hand motion is also a hitbox, which deals 2% damage, and will kind of push any opponent in front of his majesty behind him, like they deserve. This push cannot combo into the bombs, however, due to the arc of the bombs usually going over them (Unless they’re very tall).

Bomb King will continue to run as he throws the bombs, meaning that the distance the bombs are thrown is a bit strange. They fly at a fairly fast speed, at around 1-1.2 Battlefield Platforms in length. Once the bombs are out of Bomb King’s hands, he can move around as he pleases, but will auto run while throwing them. As you might expect, you can detonate the bombs while they fly through the air, at any point before they touch the ground. All three bombs explode at the same time, creating a decently large hitbox, though it isn’t as large as a few other explosions, roughly slightly larger than a Part Ball. This deals 10% damage, with knockback that can KO at 180%. This CAN combo from the push knockback, you just need to time it right, and is the preferred way of using the attack.

The attack is a spacer, functionally, and can help get runaway opponents back in place for a decent bomb set-up. The attack will tend to be used mostly while running away from your own bombs, however.


Smash BOOM!
Forward Smash – Mad Bomber

For the charge animation, Bomb King leans backwards in a rather overexaggerated manner, spinning his arm around in a wind-up pitch. Once the attack is let loose, Bomb King will reveal he was going to throw… more bombs! Of course he is, isn’t his majesty so creative? Anyway, the number of bombs thrown depends entirely on the amount of charge. At no charge he’ll throw three bombs, while at full charge he’ll throw 5… but he doesn’t throw them all at once.

Instead, Bomb King will begin to throw them rapidly, taking moving in a brief, choppier manner in order for the endlag to not be too abysmal. The endlag is already fairly abysmal when you use all 4, however, the king gaining an extra 4 frames of endlag, on top of an already fairly sour amount, with every bomb he uses for the move. The endlag animation has Bomb King spin his arm around, stretching out his muscles from the throws. Onto the bombs themselves, unlike a lot of bombs we’ve mentioned so far, these bombs will explode by themselves as soon as they hit the ground. When they explode, they resemble the hitbox of the Dash Attack mentioned above, slightly larger than a Party Ball, but deal 5% damage, regardless of charge, and knockback that can KO at 160%.

Every bomb will be thrown a set distance of 1.5 Battlefield Platforms forward, and can explode on contact with an opponent. The move behaves sort of like a rapid jab or something similar, as only the final bomb in the attack will deal any of the knockback, and can total up to 20% damage very easy… but the attack is fairly telegraphed, and can be easy to whiff due to its odd behavior. Unlike with most moves relating to bomb throwing, Bomb King can’t move until its completed, making whiffing it even more of a pain. The bombs move very fast however, and Bomb King throws them fast enough that there will always be 2 on screen no matter the distance between him and the bombs.

However, you can get a lot more out of the attack by using detonate. Why would you want to manually detonate bombs that already explode? Well, to play tricky! By using detonate while the first bomb is throw, it will cause it to explode without any real changes. However, when more bombs get thrown, they will explode at the point that the previous one exploded at automatically, meaning you don’t have to press the button anymore to activate it. This has some good applications, like opponents who attempt to roll under the bombs’ arc and into their blindspot, or even tricking someone into opponents into running into bomb fields. Like I said, you only have to press it once, meaning that pressing the button again will cause your planted Sticky Bombs to explode.


Up Smash – Fallout

Like in the Dash Attack, Bomb King reaches for something to his side, the one facing away from the screen. This acts as the charging animation, and like with the FSmash, this doesn’t change the damage, but rather the number of bombs thrown. The rest of the attack has Bomb King quickly tossing the bombs upwards. With no charge, there will only be 2 bombs, while at full charge it will cause him to throw 6 bombs. No matter how many bombs, they will all tend to fly up in an arch shape above Bomb King’s head, before dropping back to the ground. Like with most of Bomb King’s moves, once the bombs have reached a certain point, Bomb King can start to move around again. In this case, his majesty will be able to move around again once the bombs start to drop from the air.

The bombs, like the rest of the set, act as disjointed hitboxes, well, one hitbox, depending on how many Bomb King throws. 2 bombs will only be tossed to his sides, while 4 bombs will cover above him fairly well. 6 Total bombs will cover him completely in a sort of shield, though they still behave like normal hitboxes, and are around the same size as the normal Sticky Bombs. The bombs actually deal a fair amount of damage, 4% on contact while being thrown upwards, and can cause decent knockback that, while hard to KO with, can keep opponents out of your way for a moment. The bombs lose their hitbox properties once they start falling, though they hang in the air for a few frames before this, still retaining their hitbox. Once the bombs hit the ground, they’ll vanish into a puff of smoke, like a few other bombs in the set. The animation of the attack, while fast to get out, does take a bit before Bomb King can move again thanks to how the bombs behave.

Of course, you can also detonate the bombs as well. This plays a bit into how each of the bombs is placed, as they will fall straight down when they end their hitboxes. These bombs, despite losing their hitbox, can still be detonated while falling as well. Anyway, when detonated, the actual explosion doesn’t act as the hitbox. The bombs will explode, but will soon begin to drop fire down from the clouds, directly onto the ground beneath them. This forms a fire patch, which cover around the same width that a normal Bob-Omb, or Sticky Bomb, does. These behave like fairly normal traps, dealing rapid hits of 1% for however long an opponent stands in it. They will vanish after a few moments, however, but those moments can be vital. Bomb King can easily trap an opponent in with his bombs thanks to this move, and being able to 2 on stage at once, making it very useful for the king’s entire gameplan.


Down Smash – Doomsday

Bomb King quickly pulls out two small bombs, and for the charging animation, continues to hold them as they expand in size. The bombs growth is basically a way of showing the current charge of the move, with them fully expanding out to the size of a Party Ball when at full strength. Bomb King even struggles a bit at the end of the move. Anyway, once the attack is released, his majesty will slam the bombs into the ground, causing them both to explode. Believe it or not, this is another move you don’t actually need to use Detonation for, though it still can be used. The attack’s lag actually changes depending on how much you charged it, with it being remarkably fast with no charge, to near Falcon Punch levels of lag at full charge. Endlag remains fairly brief, however.

The lag isn’t without reason, though. With no charge, the bombs that the king slams into the ground will explode into fairly small hitboxes, around the equivalent of some normal DSmashes, really. Just very unimpressive compared to the other bombs in Bomb King’s arsenal. They also deal a rather pathetic 7% damage, but the knockback is at least decent. When you get to full charge, however, well… There’s a reason this attack is named Doomsday. The hitbox explosions will be as large as a Bob-Omb blast, and deal a massive 40% damage, capable of KOing well before 100%. Of course, from there comes the problem of the lag, as it can easily get in the way of ever performing this at all. The safer bet is to use the mid-charged version, where the bombs have decent, but not incredible, hitboxes, have rather average heavyweight attack lag, and deal 30% damage, while still being a good KO move.

Then Detonation comes in. This acts less as a way to boost the attack, and more as a safety net for yourself. You can press the Detonation button at any point, including during the charge animation itself, to cause the bombs to go off. This explosion is slightly different and remains the same no matter the charge. When used, the bombs will explode into decently sized explosion hitboxes, though worse than even the mid-charged version of the attack, while dealing 18% damage to the opponent, with decent knockback. Basically, this acts as a way to cancel the move out when you know that an opponent is about to knock you out of it. It can also be used for confusing the opponents and getting in an easy hit, but that tactic is a bit risky. See, due to holding the bombs during this, they will go off directly in Bomb King’s face, dealing 7% damage to him, with comical endlag consisting of him shaking off soot from his face.

This is primarily one of Bomb King’s KO moves, and the only smash that functions as a normal smash in any real capacity. The lag can make it hard to truly use effectively, if you want to go for full charge attacks, but it can be worth it. Also, a full charged one can be a good way to detonate a Grumpy Bomb from decently far away. This is one of the few moves that can detonate a Grumpy Bomb on its own, however.


Nuclear Aerials
Neutral Aerial – Bomb Shelter

Bomb King pulls his hands in, and then quickly throws out a ring of bombs around himself. There are around 6 bombs thrown out, in a decently fast animation all things considered. Like most of the bombs in this set, the bombs are disjointed, but they will actually follow Bomb King’s aerial trajectory fairly well, and like with other moves, once the bombs are out, Bomb King can start moving around again. They don’t cover him for that long, and vanish after 20 frames of being out, or until his majesty hits the ground. The attack’s start-up is actually fast enough to come out on shorthop. The bombs come out in a circle, kind of like a shield. It functions a tiny bit like a sex kick in terms of how long its able to be held out, but the damage remains consistent, only dealing 10% damage on contact with the shield. The knockback is a bit weak, however, only being able to KO at over 250%. Not a remarkable move, but there is more to it.

The first being that this is technically a shield… but only once you detonate it. Bomb king, like the genius he is, threw the bombs out in a way that they explode away from him when detonated. This was totally on purpose, and not just by accident! But yeah, the explosion hitboxes will burst out away from Bomb King, giving them some remarkably good range, not really seen on any NAirs before, though it still isn’t remarkably amazing. The blast doesn’t boost the damage up that much, just to 13%, but knockback is increased to being able to KO at 160%, a massive boost. The explosions can also block projectiles, any that are thrown his majesty’s way will dissipate once they hit the hitbox of the explosions. The explosion will also halt Bomb King’s downward momentum for a moment, letting it be used in tandem with Poppy Bombs for recovery.


Forward Aerial – Air Blast

Bomb King pulls his fist back, a bomb appearing in it if he didn’t have any, and then swings his fist forward. This is basically an aerial version of the FTilt, except, well, obviously very different thanks to it being in the air. The punch resembles Mario’s FAir, being a big laggy punch downwards. However, it has a few key differences to it, the main one being that it doesn’t have a meteor smash effect to it, limiting its use as a KO move. It’s actually a bit slower than Mario’s FAir as well, but is also a bit stronger, dealing out 15% damage on contact, and can KO well before 200%. It has the same, rather fast, lifespan, however, but hitting with it is very satisfying.

Of course, since Bomb King has that bomb in his hand, means he can detonate it. This, again, behaves a whole lot like the FTilt does, expect it’s a bit harder to pull off due to the lack of endlag. Detonating the bomb will cause it to explode into nearly the same hitbox as the one from the FTilt, but with slightly more horizontal reach to it. The hitbox is mostly just generically stronger than the normal one, dealing 18%, but the knockback remains relatively the same, if only slightly stronger. The explosion will cause Bomb King to halt all his current momentum, however, causing him to stop in midair until the blast completes. The hitbox lingers a bit, though again, it still doesn’t act like a sex kick besides that.


Up Aerial – Clink, Clank, Boom!

Bomb King pulls out two bombs, or just using the ones in his hands if he has any, and then clinks them together rapidly above his head. The clinking shoots off some exaggerated sparks, which acts as a hitbox. The sparks shoot out each time, one for each clink, and are roughly around 1/3rd of Bomb King’s height in size, making them fairly large. The sparks are fairly standard, all considered, dealing 12% damage, with upwards knockback. Only one spark can hit an opponent, as all of them behave exactly the same, except with slight animation differences. This also means you can hit with any one of the sparks, making it fairly versatile. The sparks also come out fairly fast, with only short breaks between them, but its still easy to hit with.

And of course, the Detonation effect. When the button is pressed, the bombs will explode, with fairly weak hitboxes that deal the same damage as the normal move, but with standard explosion knockback rather than directly upwards knockback. This is fairly underwhelming, but you can make it a lot more interesting. This hitbox is only created when the attack isn’t in the middle of the bombs hitting each other, and y pressing the Detonate button just before the bombs clink together, you’ll cause the explosion to travel up the sparks you created from the clink. This doesn’t increase the hitbox, technically, as the explosions and the exploding sparks act as different hitboxes, but the sparks will now deal 15% damage, with much stronger upwards knockback. The explosions cannot actually combo into the sparks, unless the opponent comes from directly above, which in turn makes this a decent juggling move.


Back Aerial – Backdraft

For his BAir, Bomb King doesn’t even turn around to face the opponents behind him, like the knaves they are. Instead, he thrusts his arms behind himself, each hand holding a bomb. Bomb King is able to make this a lot more flexible, performing it similar to a punch, due to being a robot/construct/golem and having no bones. This is a very standard double punch attack, coming out fairly quickly all considered. However, his hands stay extended out for a moment, and guess what, this actually DOES act like a sex kick! At the start of the move, Bomb King will deal 14% damage, but later in the move can only deal 10%, making a pretty sharp decrease, but the range is nice due to his majesty’s meaty arms. Knockback is average as well.

As you might be able to tell, the endlag is fairly bad due to the attack hanging out for a bit. This actually applies directly into the Detonation effect. Pressing the button will (of course) cause both bombs to explode. These are more fairly standard explosion, comparable to the explosions from the FAir, except… in the reverse direction, basically. They look the same and behave the same, except they only deal 15% damage, with around the same knockback. However, their own unique effect is that they will blast Bomb King forwards a bit, yet another recovery/movement tool for Bomb King to play around with… except you can only use one of the air boosts while in the air, and will have to land to recharge it. Other than that, it can help run away from bombs, as it can be used out of a sharthop if you’re good at fast inputs.


Down Aerial – Explosive Entrance

Bomb King, being a heavyweight, of course has a fairly standard heavyweight stall than fall for his DAir… Well, it isn’t exactly standard. Bomb King will curl up into his King Bomb form for the stalling part, before quickly falling down towards the ground, spinning all the way. This part of the move behaves like the normal stall than fall. This move technically consists of two hitboxes, the first being the King Bomb, which will deal 8% damage if it hits an opponent in the air, and has meteor smash knockback. Unlike some stall than falls, it will continue until hitting the ground, making it easy to suicide with. But, like with the King Bomb special, jumping can cancel it, but you need to actually have jumps, of course. The second hitbox happens when Bomb King hits the ground, as he’ll pound both his fists into the ground. Due to the momentum of the attack, he slams down remarkably hard, creating a hitbox around him that deals 15% damage with high upwards knockback. Endlag on the attack is rather bad, but start-up lag is decent enough for a stall than fall.

Just because it SEEMS like there’s no reason to use Detonation, doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason. However, it isn’t an immediate thing like most. Instead, by activating the effect during the attack, Bomb King’s King Bomb form will start to blink red. It will remain like that until it hits the ground, where instead of pounding the ground, Bomb King will explode! This is a rather large hitbox, covering the entirety of Bomb King’s model, and a bit outwards as well. It deals 20% damage, with heavy knockback that can KO at 130%... Unfortunately, it will also deal Bomb King himself 10% damage, and has worse endlag than even the normal version, meaning a whiffed one is extremely punishable. Its actually better to hit an opponent in the air with the attack, as it WILL actually make you bounce off the opponent AND activate the explosion, putting you in helpless, but saving you from the endlag. This explosion can also detonate a Grumpy Bomb.


Majestic Grab Game
Grab & Pummel – Playing with Explosives

For his grab, Bomb King simply sweeps his hand forward, attempting to grab the opponent. If he had a bomb in his hand, it will vanish, because he can’t hold two things in one hand. Once grabbed, Bomb King will hold the opponent by their chest, as seen in most grabs, and raise a hand, still carrying a bomb, to the sky. His pummel has him rapidly whack the opponent on the head with the bomb for 2% damage, and standard jab speed.

Oh, but we’re not done yet. See, Bomb King can use the grab… to pick up his bombs! Seems fairly standard, hm? Well, the king has a few tricks up his metal sleeves. The first is that, instead of just placing the bomb back in his hand and moving on, Bomb King will enter a unique grab stance, as he holds the bomb up and stares at it. From there, Bomb King can input any direction to apply a new effect to his bombs. We’ll go into more detail in a second. The simplest is inputting down, which will cause Bomb King to shake his head, and go back to neutral. He still has the bomb in his hand, and it’s a remarkably quick animation, meaning that you can head back to planting bombs as soon as you want. Bombs aren’t healed by being picked up.

So, now we can move on to the actual special effects. They all have the same animation, with Bomb King’s fuse, no matter how short it is, popping up, and him getting a smile on his face. The king’s figured something out! That something is the idea to add some special effects to his next set of bombs. The effects for each input won’t be applied until you use Detonate on planted Sticky Bombs, meaning that you’ll have switched to a new set of bombs, technically. The only way to remove the effects is to, of course, detonate again, resetting it. You can’t stack effects, one will replace the other until you use Detonate to move on. You can also set up the same effect for the next set of bombs, which follows the same rules described before. Also, whenever a direction is inputted, Bomb King will automatically place the bomb he picked up back into his stock, without the new effect. These effects only affect Sticky Bombs from the Jab, and not any other bomb in the set.

So, now we can actually cover the effects themselves. The first is for the forward input, that being the Reinforced Bombs. Each effect changes the color of the bombs as well, this one changing them to grey. As you might be able to tell, this grants the Sticky Bombs more HP, boosting it from 15% to 40%, allowing it to take a decent beating. The bombs themselves also become a bit heavier, being thrown only 2/3rds of their usual distance, and now being able to deliver 4% damage to any opponent they hit. Of course, there are still downsides, the biggest one of all being that the explosives are a bit less… effective. The explosions when destroyed remain the same, but the Detonation explosions have a much smaller hitbox, 2/3rds as large as normal. Damage and knockback remains the same, but sacrificing the range of the bombs is a pretty big deal, as it can easily ruin combos.

Inputting up will result in Ablative Bombs. Ablative Bombs are green in color, and their special effect is something. Bombs remain the same stat wise, with no major buffs or debuffs to the throwing distance or damage. However, what it does do is potentially more dangerous. Once you detonate the bomb, it will explode… into two smaller bombs, which in turn explode. The initial explosion actually deals very little damage, 2%, and knockback, acting more as a “pop” than a “bang”. The smaller bombs, however, will fly out in an arc, and then explode into rather small explosions once they hit the ground, roughly 1/3rd the size of the normal explosion. The smaller bombs travel a set distance of 1 Battlefield Platform in either direction from where the original bomb exploded. The bombs deal reduced damage, 7% now, with equally reduced knockback… but using this, you can functionally have TWELVE different explosions on stage, setting up some great chaos.

Finally, there’s inputting back, which result in the blue Shock Bombs. Shock Bombs are a bit odd, as they’re actually lighter, able to go a complete extra Battlefield Platform before starting their drop. They still only deal 1% damage, because you can’t get any lower than that, but they deal basically no knockback, behaving completely like Mr. Saturns. When detonated, instead of exploding into… explosions, they will instead burst into fields of electricity! The electric fields are basically the same as the explosive hitboxes, its just with a slightly different skin. They’re even the same size as the normal explosion hitboxes from normal Sticky Bombs. However, they are considerably different knockback wise. That being, they don’t deal knockback. Instead, they cause a stunning effect, and 5% damage. This stun is particularly bad, but it can be good for Bomb King, and can easily help him set up his next bomb plan. Unlike a lot of bombs, a single Shock Bomb can be useful, rather than setting up a lot of them. Using it as a standard projectile is around as useful as well.


Forward Throw – Stickier Bombs

Remember how Sticky Bombs couldn’t stick to opponents for some reason? This is why. Bomb King will let go of the opponent, before shoving the bomb he’s holding into their chest. The bomb is actually a Sticky Bomb, and unlike normal, this one actually sticks! The sticky bomb here acts a bit out of the way from Jab Sticky Bombs, as it isn’t affected by Detonation in any way. Instead, the bomb will start ticking down on a timer, around 7 seconds. Once those five seconds are up, BOOM! They go up in an explosion, dealing 10% damage. The knockback is actually rather weak despite blowing up directly in their face, however.

But that isn’t all! The opponent obviously needs a way to get out of this, ahem, sticky situation. Well, they can shake it off like a Pikmin, except its MUCH harder to get off than a Pikmin is. The opponent will have to focus on that for at least 3 seconds before it drops off. Once it drops off, the bomb will be transformed into a normal Sticky Bomb, if there’s enough room for one on the stage, and if Bomb King is currently armed with normal Sticky Bombs. If neither of those requirements are met, the bomb will vanish in a puff of smoke. This is mostly a distraction tool, but the explosion from that bomb can actually set off normal Sticky Bombs, as well as Grumpy Bombs.


Up Throw – Royal Decree

Time for some more conventional throws. None of Bomb King’s throws interact with the Detonation button, letting you know that in advance. Though, it might be obvious with the lack of it in the last two moves. Anyway, this attack has Bomb King let out a laugh, before tossing the opponent up into the air. He then lobs the bomb he was holding at them, which explodes upon contact. The bomb deals 9% damage, with upwards diagonal knockback. The bomb is technically a projectile, meaning that anybody who gets in the way of it and the thrown opponent will be hit instead. Throws are spacers, basically, which is something Bomb King has enough of throughout his set, but a few more won’t hurt, obviously.


Back Throw – King’s New Cloak

Bomb King quickly spins his arm, and the opponent, around so that they’re behind him. He then leaps up and crushes the opponent under his back, launching them off. The crush deals around 8% damage, and has some of the better knockback of Bomb King’s standard throws, being able to KO at a still relatively high 170%. Bomb King has a bit of endlag, as he has to get up from the move, but it isn’t bad enough to be truly punishable.


Down Throw – King’s Court

Bomb King slams the opponent into the ground, and then lets out a laugh. He then pulls out a pile of tiny bombs, dropping them down onto the opponent. He steps back, and plus his ears (Well, places his fingers at the side of his head) as the bombs explode, launching the opponent. The bombs deal 11% damage, fairly high for a throw, and cause upwards knockback that can KO at 180%. The bombs function as a hitbox for every opponent, actually, taking up around half a Battlefield Platform worth of space once the explosion goes off. Opponents who are hit by the bombs will take a reduced 7%, with much weaker knockback.


Final Smash
Emperor Bomb

Bomb King has the Smash Ball! He lets out a heart laugh as he pulls out a Grumpy Bomb, which steadily starts to grow in size. As it grows, the Grumpy Bomb turns from red to gold and silver, showing that it has transformed into an Emperor Bomb, the most powerful explosive known to bomb-kind! The bomb grows at a steady pace, with its final size being able to cover most of the main Battlefield Platform. As the bomb grows, Bomb King goes from holding it in one hand, to holding it with two, to balancing it on his shoulders, to holding it up Atlas style. Once it reaches its maximum size, his majesty will collapse under its weight.

And then the Emperor Bomb, of course, explodes. The explosion is massive, being able to cover literally the entirety of Battlefield’s ground, and behaves like a heavily supped up Smart Bomb, dealing rapid hits of 5% to any opponents trapped in its blast. Once the blast subsides, the opponents will be flung around, able to be KOed at around 70%. Once the Final Smash has concluded, Bomb King will sit up, unharmed by the blast, before shaking his head and getting back into his neutral stance
 
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Reiga

He sold diddy for a switch
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
1,256
Location
White Noise
3DS FC
1461-7646-7368
REIGARANKINGS EHEHE

TABLE OF RANKINGS
10: Unlike some who may prefer to only give out ten out of tens to the ultimate set, I'm a bit more open towards what can receive a ten. As long as the set is very, very enjoyable and fun, with very minimal problems scattered through it. For example, something like Mr. Badd from MYM17 merited a 10/10/10/10.
9: In this rank are my personal favorite sets, if one of your sets has placed here, you've done a mighty good job. A set which places here will most likely be in my SV list.
8: A set in this tier is still mighty fun and is still a very well constructed set, and while still problem-scattered enough to not get a 9/10, a set which places here is a fun favorite of mine even if some things don't click as well as something above.
7: At seven stars a set is pretty good yet still with its noticeable cons. I'm rather open with 7s in all honesty, and with me the spot isn't usually coveted solely by leader sets or the ilk.
6: Six star sets are indeed good, but not as good as they -can- be, in other words, it still has a ton of room for improvement. Either way, sets in this tier still have a high chance of getting on my vote list, even if not at the highest.
5: Five points is of course the mid-way between these sets, in between good and bad, with many areas that are improvable and at the same time still pleasant enough for some fun moments with a non-garbage writing style or characterization. At this point I still like the set, but dang, fix the damage on that FAir already!
4: At this point I start truly disliking a set, maybe because it's a bit clunky or maybe because its got some boring stuff, either way, with my reigahawk vision I can still see some promising bits, don't give up!
3: Yeesh, alright, at this point, don't expect me to exactly like the set a lot.
2: At this point, yeah, the set is indeed bad, but at least it isn't that broken or uncharacterized, right?
1: At good old numero uno, any sets in this rank are incredibly unpleasant, be it an out of character nature, broken mechanics or moves or maybe a writing style comparable to Springtrap. But hey, at least most sets here are probably memes.
0: I do indeed give out zeros, and this rank is reserved for sets that can't even be classified as sets, ungodly abominations like Geno and The Spanish Inquisition have had the -special- opportunity of entering the below one group. Yay

THE RANKED SETS
Enter the spoiler below for maybe good sets, maybe bad sets, but an around 100% chance of meme images.
If I have commented on a set, -COMMENT- will appear below the set's ranking, linking you to the set's comment made by muah. This is of course way better than needing to go to page 20 something to see some comment on your precious set.
Enjoy.
nothing
 

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
BIONIRANKINGS NUMBER FOUR

One to ten, you know the deal, nothing fancy here

Ghostface

9/10

Ribby & Croaks

9/10

Guldo

8/10

Recoome

8/10

Supreme Emperor Snoke

8/10

Doomfist

8/10

FANG

8/10

Werner Werman

8/10

Pigma

7/10

Anaxa

7/10

Balrog
7/10

Dr. Kahl

7/10

Medea

7/10

Bunny the Honeywhite

7/10

Djimmi the Pretty Good
7/10

Dyspo

7/10

Kylo Ren

7/10

Grim Matchstick (Warlord)

7/10

Ziz

7/10

Baroness von Bonbon

6/10

Burter

6/10

Haunter

6/10

Jaina

6/10

Root Pack

6/10

Cuphead

6/10

Goopy Le Grande

6/10

Hee-mo

6/10

Junkrat

5/10

Captain Ginyu


5/10

Hockeym'n

4/10

Peacock

4/10

Iris

WHAT AM I FIGHTING 4/10

Hilda Berg

4/10

Scourge the Hedgehog

4/10

Grimm Matchstick (Peanut)

4/10

Mr. L

3/10

McCree

3/10

Cala Maria

3/10

Omega Metroid

3/10

Mania Eggman

2/10

The Devil

2/10

Pong

1/10

Minimalist Jay

???/10
 
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Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
757
Location
taco bell, probablyn't
ALOHA!

Welcome to the official licensed site of
SLAVIC'S HOSPITAL OF RANKINGS
your one-stop shop for all relative rankings of the sets in this contest (eventually). As always, I use my personal 3-criteria ranking system on an arbitrary 1 to 5 scale, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, with a set's final placing coming from an average of each criterion. The three criteria are Writing, based on the style, prose, and mechanical aspects of a set's writing, Gameplay, based on the completeness and interactions that occur within the set, and Creativity, how much a set stretches the envelope and explores an idea. Throwing it here so that the planets (by which I mean the rankings) will align in a row on the first page. Neato!

MEDEA
FrozenRoy
4.5


RECOOME
MasterWarlord
4.5


DOO
MFIST

Munomario777
4.5



F.A.N.G.
Smash Daddy
4.5


BALROG
FrozenRoy
4.5


Ghostface
Katapultar
4.5


Ribby & Croaks
MasterWarlord
4


Pigma
Smash Daddy
4


Djimmi
Smash Daddy
4


Ginyu
MasterWarlord
4


Ziz
Katapultar
4


Werner Werman
Smash Daddy
4


Guldo
MasterWarlord
4


Cronus
Bionichute
4


MCCREE
FrozenRoy
3.5



KYLO REN
FrozenRoy
3.5


Burter
MasterWarlord
3.5


BOMB KING
Bionichute
3.5



JUNKRAT
Munomario777
3.5



Bunny
UserShadow7989
3.5


ANAXA
Professor Lexicovermis
3



Haunter
FrozenRoy
3


JUDY HOPPS
Bionichute
3



Baroness von Bonbon
Professor Lexicovermis
3


BLASTER-TRON
Bionichute
2



Sonic Mania Eggman
Professor Lexicovermis
2


CAPTAIN METAL
Bionichute
2



AKU
Bionichute
1.5



Omega Metroid
der Rabe
1

 
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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
Aku, HIGH NOON, and Judy Hopps have been ranked in my rankings post! (found above)

Here are my comments for these sets (which can also be found in the rankings themselves):

Aku by Bionichute Bionichute kicks off the rankings with a bit of an unusual project: after Warlord recorded memetic gameplay videos of Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion, Bion set out to complete the daring task of remaking one of the game's movesets in the Smash engine. And, well, it's about what you'd expect. It's honestly not very interesting, without much of a clear or coherent playstyle as well as a lack of really unique or inventive moves. A couple of more specific nitpicks include Side B causing helplessness when he's hit out of it, which seems really weird and random (this also applies to Judy's Up B, by the by); and Down B apparently being entirely useless unless there's a wall nearby, if I'm reading that right?
McCree by FrozenRoy FrozenRoy has been in the works for quite some time indeed, and it's a pretty solid moveset all around. At a Four Star ranking, it stands out above your average fare, with fun and inventive move ideas and a nice focus on midrange combat. I quite like how the Flashbang is used here to give McCree an opportunity to position himself, lending it more interesting implications than if it were only an opportunity for a free smash attack. It's a fun twist on the conventional stun trope, and plays nicely into the mid-range sweetspots on several of his moves – though I also have to mention that it's kinda odd how his revolver deals *less* damage at point-blank.

Combat Roll is an interesting but kinda odd move imo. The idea of basically half-canceling it into attacks is neat, but the distance seems really short for a mobility tool, especially when perfect-pivot also exists. So the main benefit to using Combat Roll is the ability to halve the startup lag on an attack – except you still have the lag on the Combat Roll itself "added" to the startup, and the reduced startup is just added to the attack's endlag (which not only makes the move unsafe on whiff, but also limits follow-ups). The way I see it, Combat Roll's benefits don't quite outweigh the drawbacks, so it might not see a lot of utility in its current form. If McCree is about mid-range combat, then maybe Combat Roll could serve as a quick approach option / combo starter? So it'd travel a bit farther, and could either just have a hitbox + the ability to cancel into moves on-hit with no reduction in startup / increase in endlag, or could just no longer add additional endlag to the attack used out of it in order to aid combo potential. But that's just my take on it.

Flashbang's input placement also seems kinda odd, primarily due to the aiming aspect of it. Holding down on the control stick causes McCree to do something other than the "default" action (default: throw it; hold down: roll it), so it'd probably be a better fit on Neutral B, since the "default" action is used when the control stick is neutral. HIGH NOON also seems pretty fitting as a Down B. Speaking of HIGH NOON, it's a fairly neat idea, but it seems a little... odd to me. I dunno, maybe it's just the wording that makes it a little confusing? I quite enjoyed McCree overall, though, and my gripes with it are rather minor tbh. Also I should mention the fun little touches throughout the set, such as quotes and of course HIGH NOON's tumbleweed.

tbh the biggest disappointment is that there AREN'T two standard sections, should've been a stance changing moveset imo
One of Bionichute Bionichute 's impressive lineup of five opening-day sets, Judy Hopps is a return to Zootopia after last contest's Nick Wilde. It's an interesting character choice for sure, but I do think some of the gimmicks fall short. The emphasis on a CQC-based playstyle is pretty appropriate, and the specials do go for some interesting twists on that theme... but imo, stuff like the handcuffs comes across as rather tacky. There's the aspect of handcuffing yourself to someone not being a logical thing you'd want to do in a fight, but the mechanic itself is also kinda odd imo. It's strange that it's a pretty big hindrance to have active unless you use Neutral B to get rid of the weight-based pulling mechanic, and it also eliminates what I would think is meant to be one of her biggest strengths – hopping / dashing around the opponent to evade attacks. On that note, it's also weird that she's a floaty imo, combined with her jump height. I'd probably make her a fast-faller, giving her more of an emphasis on hopping up and down as well as making her full-hop into a strength like Melee Fox's is.

There are some other things I could nitpick about, but the set honestly didn't leave much of an impression outside of the odd handcuff mechanics. I didn't get a big sense of cohesion throughout the set, outside of Neutral B and Side B and how they interact with the playstyle. Some of the specialized inputs (like canceling Up B and turning Down Air into a footstool jump) are kinda unintuitive too, as an aside. I honestly don't have much more to say about this set, if I'm being honest. I think it mainly just doesn't have a very solid base to work off of, and the whole set suffers pretty hard as a result.
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,251
Location
Australia
I was intrigued by this set as Froy said he really liked it (presumably a 9-10 star rating given the bolded emphasis on really), especially given how simple it is.

I was not disappointed.

Simple as it is, this is a very good set with a lot of awesome moves, with my personal favourite being that amazing F-air. It all plays off a simple mechanic where he gets 1.5 seconds of super armour against one attack and uses this to make his follow-ups deadlier or make his unsafe attacks safer. Amazing that we've never had a set do this kind of thing before . . . some fun potential to be had in different bonuses for set inspiration (healing when you attack with a sweetspot or buffing your next move, for instance?). The Specials all have great synergy with the gameplan (the Up Special being surprisingly "daring" with the super leap aspect), and even past them you don't forget what your basic moves can do for you and how they can get just as much, if not more emphasis to them than the Specials. It really made me think about some of the aspects I overlook when set designing myself and how they could improve the quality if elaborated upon, like even taking account the character's size and stats like you do. The Standards were probably the weakest part of the input sections for me (though it's perfectly understandable given Standards aren't easy to make super-interesting with this type of set and character), but the Aerials shine as they are well-executed in accordance with his attempts to exploit air dodging attempts then The Best Defense kicks in.

Also, I enjoy your unique, conversational writing style that carries between the attacks. The descriptions are pretty long for simple moves, but they're still shorter than more "complex" sets and actually help to put a move's use into perspective in ways that don't feel too redundant or could have been figured out by straight-up common sense. I think. Maybe the Jab is a little overbearing, but that's really all.

Complaints-wise, I have practically nothing to offer. I was somewhat uncertain on the D-air, for the fact that you could potentially drag a foe towards the abyss and then just recover via Up Special, but you still have to be within 2 platforms of the stage horizontally to do that so opponents can still recover from such if they're released, not to mention you have to land the darn thing in the first place.

A great set Muno, and another testament to the effectiveness of simplicity. Learned a few things from reading this set too. I'm not sure if I absolutely LOVE it, but if I had my own Rankings (which I'm not going to start up because everyone else will have better pictures than me) he would most certainly be around a low-mid 8 and within Super Vote range. Assuming this doesn't become the best and most competitive contest in the entire universe. Congratulations my boy, you've stepped into the territory of the elite.

It's pretty funny that you would straight-up make a set specifically for PTE Aku in response to the memes from that game Warlord posted in the chat (read that Jab if you haven't already, people), and it's all worth it just to have a set for Aku in the first place. Reminds me of the canonically powerful Lich and Darkseid from you in the old days. Having followed those chatlogs with the memes from Warlord, it would have been way cool if you could have linked some videos to show how terrible the game is but given its obscurity I wonder if they even exist.

I doubt this is meant to be a serious set given it IS a port of a crappy set. There isn't a great amount of flow or self-awareness of such with the moves, which feel stand-alone and not often connected to one another so they're not as interesting as they could be. You also do casually bring up somewhat scary KO percentages like with the Aku laser . . . not that it isn't fitting for the most powerful villain in all of fiction! I'm also not sure if this set is as good or as fun of a read as it could be for a joke set, in that the moves mostly read like they're trying to be down-to-earth and serious like a regular moveset. That being said, I appreciate you toning Aku down from his original broken set to be more balanced like Ganondorf, and there are some ideas I like - namely the Up Special in how it can hit multiple times if you first connect from the bottom (obviously at lower percentages where opponents won't get launched out of range for a second hit), that's some real fun stuff.

This set is somewhat mediocre for me, but that's inevitable given the approach you took and of course I have more to get through from your impressive opening day. It's a good contribution of course, and one that could still very much get a WV from me if I felt it was one of the 40 best sets in the contest that wasn't made by me. Hope we get some more NV memes!
 
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Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
757
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taco bell, probablyn't
I'll be honest, I was a little concerned about seeing Doomfist as a set, mostly from being a very melee biased character which tend to have the most trouble translating into an interesting MYM set. Despite this, Doomfist is an incredibly enjoyable set that really stretches out his abilities in meaningful and interesting ways. The Best Defense translates really well here as both a heavyweight ability and a close range melee character which is very scary. Even Hand Cannon, which is one of the most boring aspects of Doomfist, is done very well here and plays very well into the style. The set's quality carries over into almost the entire set, though a few of the throws and standards fall off, honestly a minor complaint given the rest of the set. No Escape is a little odd for me, just punching a wall into existence seems odd, but I can't complain because a set I'm working on does the exact same thing and it plays very well into the overall set, again, a minor gripe that really is overshadowed by the set. Honestly, all the complaints I've had about your previous sets, either too sterile a writing style, too in-smash a set, or just not interesting moves, have vanished, leaving a very nice opening set which is also a good size for potential newcomers to enter on (no offense to Acid Loli). All in all I am very pleasantly surprised by how this set turned out. Great work Muno!

However, no Final Smash unfortunately, and I can't give this set anything higher than a 2.00 cumulative :/

Writing - 4
Gameplay - 5
Creativity - 4
Overall - 4.33

So, this is an obviously odd set, something Bionichute exclusively chooses, but I unfortunately am oft absent from chat and did not partake in the meming about PTE. This seems like a set which Bion made just so Aku from PTE would have a set and seems somewhat carelessly made. Ranging from small things, like the description saying he can't shapeshift in this set despite several instances of such in the set, to larger issues, such as his Up Special carrying him significantly higher when used on the ground than in the air for no real reason, to there honestly not being a cohesive playstyle in the least in comparison with your sets last contest. I imagine this set was never meant to be a real serious contender, as a decent chunk of the writing is just dedicated to saying issues with the moves in PTE that have been 'fixed' in the MYM port, but even the writing style suffers a heavy drop-off past the specials and generally make this a very uninteresting set to read through compared to if it used humorous, over the top writing throughout. I don't know if this set is really repairable, as most of my input is just on the boringness of the set, and while I understand the joke I think you could probably do an actual Aku set and have it be both better and more fun than this set. Personally, I probably would have posted Aku last out of all opening day sets, rather than first, so not to serve as a bad omen.

Writing - 2
Gameplay - 2
Creativity - 1
Overall - 1.67
As one of my favs from Overwatch, I'm glad to see a competently made set for McCree by Froy. Similar to Doomfist, McCree does a good job of altering and translating the cowboy's abilities from OW into MYM. A lot of this comment will echo what Muno's comment says, because it holds a lot of truth. I don't necessarily agree about taking Flashbang off of Down Special, though given all the similarities with Snake's grenade it would make sense to have the same input. Personally, I am fine with using the DSpec to summon the grenade, but after that I might make it so holding the input throws it normally, while tapping it will just have McCree hold onto it with unique throws to match to help clean the input up a bit. Like Muno, I enjoy ignoring the low-hanging fruit of Flashbang stun to make a lengthy, annoying stun period in lieu for a brief window for spacing on McCree's attacks, giving a much more interesting and fun playstyle.

Despite Combat Roll not really resembling its in game effect at all, I really like the move as a concept, though I would agree with Muno that it's quite detrimental as it is, and comes off pretty UP. I echo that adding a hitbox and/or removing some of that extra lag would help make this move viable, or perhaps adding a hitbox and not forcing the player to commit to an action at the beginning of the move, allowing McCree to force the opponent to respond to a damaging Combat Roll and reading and reacting to the situation as it develops. Above the Law isn't a super interesting move, though honestly McCree has zilch for recovery unless one wants to finagle Combat Roll into a recovery, and it doesn't detract from the set which one can always appreciate. As apparently every OW character uses their Ultimate as a Special rather than a Final Smash, we come to Deadeye, which I personally think makes plenty of sense and is a fun move to use, though I will say I actually think the effective range is a little on the low side potentially, having a potential instant kill move is tricky to balance perfectly.

The moves past the Specials that shine the most are actually the ones where McCree uses his firepower, not always the case in gun sets where the moves can become stale. Conversly, the moves where McCree performs just punches and kicks fall off a bit, especially towards the throws and aerials. That being said, I still quite like this set, and changing a couple of the details in the Specials would be an easy way to boost the set up in my rankings a bit.

Writing - 4
Gameplay - 4
Creativity - 4
Overall - 4.00
Yet another OW character, Junkrat is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three posted. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of fun stuff in the set, especially with the Specials, but as a whole the rest of the set tends to be less interesting or developed than either Doomfist or McCree. As I said, the Specials are the highlight of this set, with some fun constructions and traps. The Frag Launcher provides excellent pressure as mentioned, and gives a great interpretation of Total Mayhem at the same time. Concussion Mine is well done and gives a very fun method of kicking off into Junkrat's Aerials, and the multiple mines gives a pretty fun and solid recovery. Something weird about the mines is their ability to deflect projectiles and objects, and I would possibly omit that entirely as it doesn't seem like something an explosion would do, though that's just my take on it. Similar to McCree, Junkrat takes the high route with trapping or stunning foes with his Steel Trap, not giving enough time to simply charge up a Smash and fire it off, requiring more interesting tactics. Unlike McCree, however, Junkrat's set doesn't get quite as much mileage out of the trap as Jesse does with the Flashbang. I actually really enjoy the application of the RIP-Tire in the set as, essentially, a very powerful Thunder Jolt. Like I said, the set starts to falter quite a bit later on, with most of the Standards and the Grab Game being very lackluster and some very weird choices of moves such as Junkrat setting hit hair on fire or sticking his bouncy grenades onto foes (I would personally use a concussion mine here instead of a grenade). This set could do a lot more given the setup the Specials provide, but the later parts of the set really drag Junkrat down and hinder it compared to the other two Overwatches.

Writing - 4
Gameplay - 4
Creativity - 2
Overall - 3.33

This is a... weird set. It's not as offensively boring as Aku to be sure but it really lacks a lot about what made Bion's sets greater last contest. First and foremost, the writing is weird and confusing in this set. The charging mechanic is convoluted and hard to understand until you get into the Jab, since that's the first time it becomes relevant outside of a minor increase in range on Hologram Field. I actually like the idea of having practical use for a stored charge aside from typical Smash applications, but here it's weird and a little underwhelming, not contributing to any particular playstyle and instead usually just adding projectiles onto Blaster-Tron's later moves. Even more tragically is the fact that there seems to be no trigger to whether charge is used up when an attack is thrown out, meaning just using FTilt will deplete an entire charge, which is not great. On top of that, the vast majority of moves that gain charge effects don't really have a reason to differientiate three separate charge uses, as overwhelmingly moves in this set use up all three uses anyways.

Even if you took away the charging mechanic and just gave every move the buff they got by default, Blaster-Tron has very little going for it. The most it attempts to do is try and be a stage-controlling bullet hell fighter. Unfortunately, the odd charging mechanic really forces Blaster-Tron away from a playstyle like that, as he only has a few projectiles he has constant access to, and the fact that 90% of the charge projectiles drain all uses in one go means Blaster-Tron has to spend too much time charging attacks and putting up his short term Hologram Field to keep constant pressure on foes. I think there is potential in this set for sure, but it would require a lot of reworking. Having a more permanent Hologram Field would be a good start, exchange some of the penalties to foes for more lasting effect and make it a more central aspect of the set. Secondly, lowering the charge cost for the majority of sword move projectiles would make this a viable playstyle to chase, which would, along with a longer Field duration, allow him to spend a bit of time setting up early and then riding that for a good while rather than having to regroup and recharge after every couple of attacks. On top of that, the projectiles aren't particularly interesting as is, and could do with more pinache to bring this set forward on top of the other changes I've mentioned.

Ultimately, I don't detest this set like I do Aku, thanks to any semblance of a serious playstyle, but it still is hard for me to be a fan of Blaster-Tron as is without some major reworking. I think the concept might be enough to get a good moveset out of if you're willing to put in the editing time, but for now it resides low on my rankings I'm afraid.

Writing - 2
Gameplay - 2
Creativity - 2
Overall - 2.00
 
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Professor Lexicovermis

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
273
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Pop Star
Last thread, I got some comments regarding the formatting of my sets. Would someone with experience writing sets please give me a hand with improving my formatting? I currently use the template provided on The Plaza.
 

WeirdChillFever

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
6,493
Location
Somewhere Out There
Last thread, I got some comments regarding the formatting of my sets. Would someone with experience writing sets please give me a hand with improving my formatting? I currently use the template provided on The Plaza.
Judging from what I saw of your last moveset, it's generally wiser to have the text of the main color be in white.
Any other color gets hard to read and puts off people from reading a set, since it's generally an asking task to plough through a moveset in general.
Generally, the best example is looking at other sets to see how they handle it when it comes to the size of the text and use of color.
(Size of text is almost always slightly bigger than the default, and colors are relegated to headlines and even then be sure to pick a color that's easy on the eye)

Again, not the best guy for answering this since I'm new here too.
 

Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
Joined
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Messages
757
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taco bell, probablyn't
Professor Lexicovermis Professor Lexicovermis

At the very basic level, the most useful ways to format your moveset for the reader is logical placement and division of inputs which are clearly labled. Typically the order for most people goes Specials, Smashes, Standards, Aerials, Grab Game, and Final Smash in that order, but really your moveset should be organized in the order of importance for moves. If the aerials are an essential thing to understand the context of the set, go ahead and put them ahead of the Smashes. This is arbitrary but it makes reading sets easier. Additionally, putting the inputs within each section in a similar order is important, though going Dash Attack, Forward Tilt, Down Tilt, Jab, and then Up Tilt would be an objectively bad order to put moves in. It is also helpful and visually attractive to make the headers for your sections and moves visually distinct, using different size font, different typeface, or a different color (or all three if you're frisky like yours truly).

Looking at most recently Father Canine for more specific help, there are two glaring issues that pop up beyond just visual appeal as far as the formatting on the set. First, the font color, like WeirdChillFever says, makes the set a little bit of an eyesore. I know people here vary on whether they use colored font or default font within a set, even among leadership, but if you choose to do so it is best to pick a light color comparable to the default used on SmashBoards. This makes the set much easier to read and helps retain reader attention. It also lets you be more powerful when using colors when they are sparing, allowing your headers to pop much more from a design perspective. The second major issue is that I am assuming you copy your sets in from a third party program? There are an extraordinary number of new lines between paragraphs, something that I had a problem with when bringing in sets back when I used Google Drive. This isn't as deterring as a bad font color, but is still pretty unsightly and unprofessional looking. If that is the case, just spending a little more time in editing on SmashBoards before posting would help clear that up and make it more presentable.

Other than that, a lot of formatting choices are person specific. Muno likes to put custom image headers (although he seems to be going through a stylistic paradigm shift right now), Warlord doesn't rely on gaudiness of his formatting to distract from the set at hand, I use a lot of pictures in my set. You'll develop a style as you make more sets, especially once you start delving into longer sets that are more obviously just homogeneous blocks of text. I am definitely not a qualified individual when it comes to giving perfect set-making advice, and others here are better at formatting than I am for sure, but I think my advice and criticism will help you out on this front. Hope this was helpful!
 
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Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
Location
California
Updated: 9/26/17
Due to additional information about the Omega Metroid from Metroid: Samus Returns, I have made new changes. These include the following below.

  • Wall Cling and Wall Jump have been included in the character data.
  • Ram is now called Tackle and has a new mechanic.
  • The name and details of forward smash have been changed. It is now called Tripartite.
  • Plasma Beam now auto-charges and doesn't produce lingering flames.
  • Damage is decreased by 0.5x from attacks when facing away.
  • Damage is increased by 0.5x if hit in the chest. Additional information has been given for Carapace.
  • Queen Metroid still retains Plasma Beam, which can also be angled.

--------------------

In the spirit of the upcoming Metroid titles, especially Metroid: Samus Returns, I thought I'd create the Omega Metroid. Originally, I thought about making just a Metroid, but I thought of how difficult this would be, due to the very limited options in terms of offensive tools. I then looked for another option. I found a concept art of the Zeta Metroid, and although I wanted to work on the Zeta Metroid, I really wanted to work on the Omega Metroid. I then found a concept art of the Omega Metroid.

The Omega Metroid seemed like it would be difficult to create as well. Sure, it would have more options than a Metroid, but I wasn't sure where to begin. I then found a video of Metroid: Samus Returns, which showed a number of things the Omega Metroid can do. I decided I'd try to implement these concepts into the character for a potential Super Smash Bros. character. I wanted to remain faithful to the character's ability and decided that since the Omega Metroid would become the Queen Metroid, I would make the Omega Metroid another female character.

Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated. I had fun with this character and am glad to have finally completed her.

Omega Metroid

1. Character data
  • Air acceleration: Base: 0.03; Additional: 0.06; Max: 0.09
  • Air friction: 0.02
  • Air speed: 1.25
  • Crawl: Yes
  • Falling speed: 1.75
  • Gravity: 0.1
  • Rolling: Intangibility: 4-15; Total frames: 30
  • Run speed: 1.55
  • Traction: 0.08
  • Wall Cling: Yes
  • Wall Jump: Yes
  • Walk speed: 0.85
  • Weight: 125

2. Features
The Omega Metroid receives no damage if she's facing away from her opponent. This is based on the fact that the Omega Metroid in Metroid: Samus Returns doesn't receive damage from Samus' beams or missiles. This doesn't seem balanced, but I am balancing this out in two ways. First, if the Omega Metroid's chest is hit, the damage received is increased by 0.5x. So, if an attack does 10% damage, it will now do 15% instead. Second, the Omega Metroid can be grabbed if she's facing away.

On stages where there are ceilings, rocks of varying sizes will fall from the ceiling, ranging in damage from 1% (small), to 5% (medium), to 10% (large) if Quake is performed. This is unlikely to be seen in competitive gaming, but for those who don't mind casual gaming or don't mind goofing off every now and then can enjoy this feature.

The Omega Metroid is the first large character able to stick (technically bore its claws) to the sides of stages. I thought it would be interesting to add this feature for three reasons. 1. This would be the first and only known large, heavy character capable of doing this. 2. Her previous stage of growth is the Zeta Metroid, which is able to hang from ceilings. 3. This pays homage to the original inspiration of the Metroid series: Alien. Additionally, the Omega Metroid is able to use Scratch as a way for edge-guarding while sticking to the side of the stage.

If the Omega Metroid drops from a sufficient height, perhaps about two Omega Metroids high, she will generate a small quake. This quake isn't as large as her down smash, Quake, but it is noticeable enough to cause a very brief stun on anyone nearby. The opponent won't take damage, but will be stunned very briefly, maybe about 3 frames. I thought this would be an interesting idea, since the Omega Metroid is a large character.

3. Entrance and Taunts
Entrance: When a match begins, the Omega Metroid is seen molting from her previous form, the Zeta Metroid.

Up Taunt: The Omega Metroid will raise her arms above her head and slightly lean her head forward to roar.

Side Taunt: Pressing either side on the d-pad will cause the Omega Metroid to swipe her right claw. Just like Luigi's down taunt, this taunt can cause 2% damage on anyone who comes into contact with it. It won't cause a meteor smash, but will instead cause one to be launched at a 20° angle. This is based on what happens to Samus when she's hit by the Omega Metroid's swipe in Metroid Fusion.

Down Taunt: The Omega Metroid huffs and drools. This is based on the animation in Metroid Fusion where after the Omega Metroid swipes at SA-X, she begins to huff and drool.

4. Abilities
Neutral
Scratch (A)

The Omega Metroid's Scratch attack has two parts. The first attack will cause 3% damage, with the second causing 9%. The initial Scratch is 3 frames with the final being 6 frames. This attack has sufficient hitstun so as not to be useless. If the opponent takes a hit from the initial attack, he or she will take a hit from the final attack. Scratch isn't the best attack in the Omega Metroid's offensive tools, but it does come in handy should the Omega Metroid find herself close-up and personal with her opponent.

Dash
Tackle (Dash+A or Dash+A, A)
Tackle is the only dash attack with two options. This unique feature will allow the Omega Metroid to either set up aerial combos or grab the opponent and deal damage while losing the option to follow up. Tackle causes 10% damage, while press A again after performing Tackle will cause 15% damage. The former option is risky, since the Omega Metroid could end up being shielded and then countered. This option does have its rewards if Tackle is successful. If Tackle succeeds, the opponent will be launched in an 80° angle and can be KO'ed at high percentages.

Tilts
Tail Flail (Up+A)
Tail Flail swings back and forth in an arc above the Omega Metroid as she lowers herself. This can be useful if there are any opponents next to her. It behaves in a fashion similarly to Zero Suit Samus' up tilt that anyone who is hit by it will be tossed into the air. This can lead into combos, as the opponent isn't launched too high, but is high enough for aerial combos to be followed. This attack causes 9% damage, but the knockback isn't high for the aforementioned reason. Or the Omega Metroid can continue to use Tail Flail to deal extra damage, similarly to Mario's up tilt. Alternatively, the Omega Metroid can use Tail Flail and follow up with Under Fire for additional damage and a potential KO.

Slash (Forward+A)
Slash is heavily based on the Omega Metroid's attack in Metroid Fusion. This attack is strong in spite of being a tilt, but it comes out 10 frames. Slash produces 6% damage, followed by a freeze frame, and then an additional 9%, giving it a total of 15% damage. Angling the attack upward increases the attack's damage by 1% (17% total), whereas an angled downward attack reduces the damage by 1% (13% total). Recall the double attack of Slash, which is why the highest damage is 17% instead of 16%, and the lowest is 13% instead of 14%.

Sweeper (Down+A)
With the Omega Metroid crouched, she'll swipe with one arm and then the other, making this a two-hit attack. The initial attack produces 4% damage, followed by the final producing the same amount, totaling to 8%. The second sweep can cause her opponent to trip, which can lead into following up with strong attacks like Thwack and Slash or even grabbing the opponent to set up combos. Because the Omega Metroid is big and her arms are long, Sweeper offers quite a range to attack safely against grounded opponents. This attack is also useful if the opponent is hanging on the ledge, as this attack will force the opponent to jump over the Omega Metroid, rather than get directly back onto the stage or roll.

Aerials
Ring of Fire (A)
The Omega Metroid will perform a somersault, bringing in her arms, legs, and tail, while spewing flames as she does so, producing a literal ring of fire. The initial and subsequent hits cause 3% damage with the final causing 9%. The attack begins in the direction the Omega Metroid is facing and makes a full 360, covering her entirely as a result. This attack has enough knockback to push her opponent away from her. Because this attack covers the Omega Metroid entirely, it can be used safely, regardless of the position your opponent is in.

Ring of Fire isn't necessarily a KO move, but like some characters neutral air, if this attack is performed close to the side of a blast wall, it can KO. The higher the percent damage, the more likely Ring of Fire will KO the opponent. This attack can also be used for wall-spiking. The effectiveness depends on the direction the Omega Metroid is facing, since the front of Ring of Fire has more knockback than if the opponent was hit from behind. Still, regardless of the direction, wall-spiking is possible.

Arc Slash (Up+A)
This attack is similar to Bowser's up air, except instead of a headbutt, the Omega Metroid swings her left arm over her head. This provides additional range to ensure contact. Arc Slash can be used to KO the opponent, a common feature among most up air attacks. Because of this commonality, I thought I would make Arc Slash somewhat different. Arc Slash has a hitbox that covers 70° to 110° angle. If the opponent is hit between 85° to 105°, he or she will receive more damage and knockback, enough to KO at double digit percents. This range is Arc Slash's sweet spot.

Arc Slash produces 10% damage, but 20% if hit at the sweet spot. What makes this attack even riskier for those who are hit by it are stages that have platforms or lower ceilings. This wouldn't be the only attack in the Omega Metroid's arsenal that grants her some control on stages with these features, which means that anyone who uses the Omega Metroid should strive for stages that offer these to ensure a victory in their favor. While this may seem unfair, it would be something for professional players to look out for and work around to the best of their ability.

Arc Slash is best used when the Omega Metroid has set up an opening for a KO. If she misses, there will be a bit of delay for the opponent to escape or even counter. Still, since the Omega Metroid is a heavy character, some players might find it worth the risk to attempt an early KO with Arc Slash. Otherwise, it's still best to be cautious, since the Omega Metroid will be able to rack up damage on her opponent relatively quick with other attacks.

Claw Assault (Forward+A)
This aerial will make the Omega Metroid strike her opponent in a one-two hit manner, while maintaining enough range to follow up with. Of course, the more damage the opponent receives, the farther he or she will be launched. This attack is useful early on against lighter opponents, while still useful against heavier opponents of up to 150% damage. While it will be possible to hit lighter opponents once with this attack when they're at higher percentages, the Omega Metroid won't be able to continue her combos this way.

The first and second strike cause 6% damage, totaling out to 12%. Setting up a combo and using Claw Assault is best used by throwing the opponent downward and then following up with short hop forward aerials. It's somewhat similar to Sheik's forward air combo. This combo can force the opponent off the stage and eventually lead into a potential KO. The Omega Metroid has range while perform this attack, and the frames are quick enough to make it possible to follow up.

Tail Smack (Back+A)

Tail Smack starts out low and swings upward to cover a 68° angle. This attack is meant to knock the opponent away from the Omega Metroid, and it comes in handy when the opponent is off the stage. It's kind of like Mewtwo's, and deals 15% damage, but doesn't suffer from the lag that Mewtwo's back aerial does. Furthermore, the tip of the tail will deal an additional 2% damage. Because the tip of the tail is a sweet spot, if the opponent is hit by this part while off the stage, he or she risks the possibility of being KO'ed.

Kick Thrust (Down+A)
Kick Thrust is the Omega Metroid's equivalent of spiking her opponent. She'll somewhat stretch her arms away in a pose as if she's flexing her biceps. Her left leg remains close to her body, while her right leg goes for the downward strike. The opponent will be launched downward, regardless of whether or not he or she is hit with the sweet or sour spot. If hit with the sour spot, the spike won't be strong enough to ensure the opponent's defeat and will only produce 10% damage instead of 14%. Still, the opponent will be stunned enough to put him or her at a risk of recovering late.

Smashes
Under Fire (Up+A)
When the Omega Metroid spews her flames, she'll begin by spewing diagonally downward in the direction she's facing, then arcing until she breathes her flames diagonally downward opposite of its initial setup. If the attack is charged, the width of the flames will increase, including the damage from it. Because of this arc and the hitbox it covers, Under Fire is very useful at preventing the opponent from getting too close. If the opponent is caught in Under Fire, he or she will be carried along until reaching the final frame, regardless if the initial frame connects.

Unlike Samus' up smash, Cover Fire, if Under Fire is charged, the flames will travel slightly outward before they fade away. These flames will produce less damage and negligible knockback. The total amount of damage from this attack is 18% with each frame equaling 2%. Because of this short duration, Under Fire is a very fast smash attack consisting of only 9 frames, or 150.03 milliseconds. Because this smash attack is best used against large opponents or aerial opponents, getting caught in it is a guaranteed KO at sufficient percentages.

Thwack and Slash (Forward+A)
This smash attack has a deceptive hitbox and has two parts. An opponent behind the Omega Metroid will take a bit of damage if standing next to her. This is because the tail begins from the back and must swing toward the opponent in from of her. In a way, Thwack and Slash is almost similar to Quake in that it covers both sides, although that isn't the purpose of this attack. It's just a useful strategy for anyone who wishes to implement it. Of course, because it's not at its peak during that time, the damage and knockback aren't significant, only being 5% damage.

The force of the Omega Metroid's tail is high enough to KO. This attack causes 25% damage total when uncharged. The initial hit does 10% damage with the Omega Metroid swinging her tail forward. She can follow up with a final hit as she does a spin and comes at the opponent with her claw, dealing 15% damage. If Thwack and Slash is charged on an opponent, the opponent has four options: shield, dodge, roll, or take the hit. Only dodging or rolling is safe, since shielding (unless performed perfectly) will cause the opponent's shield to break.

Whether the opponent takes the hit or fails to shield perfectly, Thwack and Slash will KO the opponent, even if he or she is at the center of the stage. A character's weight does play a role, but even a charged Thwack and Slash is guaranteed to KO anyone as heavy as Bowser. This makes getting close to the Omega Metroid risky.

Quake (Down+A)
The Omega Metroid slams her tail against the stage, producing a noticeable quake to nearby opponents. Although this attack occurs from behind the Omega Metroid, the shock can be felt from the front, giving this attack a wide range. Characters with even the longest roll like Samus cannot avoid this attack if the opponent's intent is to roll toward or behind the Omega Metroid. While rolling can help avoid Quake, this is only useful if the opponent rolls away from the Omega Metroid. Quake works similarly to Donkey Kong's Hand Slap, but the difference is that if the opponent is hit by the Omega Metroid's tail, the opponent will be buried.

Of course, Quake is ineffective against aerial characters for the most part. Because of the tail's disjointed hitbox and the angle at which it travels, anyone short hopping will likely be hit by the tail. However, they will not be buried into the stage, but instead slammed against the stage, only to bounce off of it. It's possible to tech this to avoid being bounced up. Nevertheless, opponents off the stage should be careful of this attack, since it will spike in the same way Captain Falcon's up tilt will spike. And because the tail is a disjointed hitbox, the Omega Metroid can feel safe while edge-guarding. A hit from the tail will cause 15% damage, while Quake itself will cause 5%.

Specials
Plasma Beam (B)
The Omega Metroid fires a beam of plasma that crosses the entire stage. This beam auto-charges every 2 seconds. If uncharged, the beam will produce 10% damage. The knockback for an uncharged Plasma Beam isn't sufficient for KOs, but it can stun recovery animations. This is especially useful against vertical recoveries, such as Donkey Kong's, Fox's, Falco's, and even Luigi's. When charged, the width of the beam will increase, resulting in more damage up to 20% and knockback sufficient to KO.

The Omega Metroid can angle Plasma Beam. Although Plasma Beam wouldn't seem effective to angle downward on stage like R.O.B., whose Robo Beam will deflect, doing so will cause the area to linger with flames. A charged beam will cause the flames to linger for a longer duration and cover more area. This is based on the way the plasma beam works in Metroid: Samus Returns, at least with regard to the Queen Metroid. I thought since the Omega Metroid is the last stage of a Metroid's life cycle on SR388, I'd grant the Omega Metroid this feature as well.

Plasma Beam's damage and knockback is reduced the farther the Omega Metroid is from her opponent, similarly to Sheik's Needle Storm. Damage will be increased by 1.2x if the opponent is directly in front of the Omega Metroid with Plasma Beam is fired, however. This means an uncharged beam would produce 6% damage instead of 5%, and a fully charged beam would go from producing 25% to 30%.

High Jump (Up+B)
The Omega Metroid can leap high vertically into the air. She can take this vertical distance and launch herself diagonally. If the Omega Metroid uses this special and is next to an opponent, whether on the ground or in the air, she will grab the opponent, do an energy drain, dealing 5% damage on her opponent, while reducing 5% damage of her own. This is the only attack the Omega Metroid has where dealing damage is equal to the damage she reduces for herself. Once the Omega Metroid does this, she will leap off her opponent, doing a backward somersault with her tail inflicting additional damage on her opponent as she spins once in the air, similarly to Captain Falcon's Falcon Dive.

The tail will cause an additional 12% damage and launch the opponent at a 45° angle. If this attack is used below the stage, the opponent will be launched against the wall and bounce diagonally downward if he or she doesn't tech. This is similar to most attacks with a strong knockback capable of using the stage as a means to KO the opponent as he or she falls. Similarly, if done high enough in the air, the opponent will either hit the ceiling or end up being star KO'ed. This attack can be performed if the Omega Metroid is successful at hitting the opponent in the air in a manner similar to both Samus' and Zero Suit Samus' combos. This is ideal on stages with low ceilings like Battlefield or Dream Land 64.

Absorption (Forward+B)

Similar to Wario's Chomp, but different in purpose. The Omega Metroid will lunge her head forward as she leans, gripping the opponent with her teeth. Because this special behaves more like a grab, it's impossible to shield. It doesn't linger like Wario's Chomp. If the Omega Metroid successfully uses Absorption, the player can tap neutral B repeatedly to absorb, reducing damage while causing damage to the opponent. For every 2% caused by Absorption, the Omega Metroid reduces her own damage by 3%. The more damage the opponent has received, the longer the Omega Metroid can hold her opponent.

Also similar to Robin's Nosferatu, but not quite exactly, if the opponent is facing away, the Omega Metroid will reduce her own damage by 6%, where the opponent will receive 4% damage per drain. Although this might seem high, it's not necessarily so, since the Omega Metroid would need to find a way to get behind the opponent or take an advantage for when the opponent is facing away. The reason for this is because when someone is facing away from his or her opponent, he or she is left vulnerable. I thought it would be best to use this reason for the additional damage and health recovery. If Absorption is used off-stage, both the Omega Metroid and opponent will be in a helpless animation, though the Omega Metroid can still absorb. This can cause suicide.

Carapace (Down+B)
Because the Omega Metroid receives 0.5x more damage if hit directly on the chest, she has a way to mitigate this. Aside from simply turning away to reduce damage by 0.5x, Carapace is a feature that reduces damage to the chest by 0.25x. This also increases shield health by this much. If the Omega Metroid shields, or if she is hit on the chest during this time, Carapace will begin to falter. The stronger the attack, the sooner Carapace will be compromised.

Carapace doesn't offer 0.25x for any other area except the Omega Metroid's chest. This means that if the player turns away from the opponent during an attack, the damage won't be reduced by 0.75x. If an attack does 10% damage, for example, the Omega Metroid will receive 15% damage if hit on her chest. At the same time, with Carapace active, this doesn't mean the Omega Metroid will only receive 8% damage. Rather, she will receive 11% damage, since increase the defense by 0.25x doesn't ignore the original 0.5x. This can be explained mathematically.

An attack doing 10% damage multiplied by 0.5 provides 15%. Since an attack dealing 10% damage would increase to 15%, multiplying 15% by 0.25 gives us 3.75%. 15% minus 3.75% gives us 11.25%. Since the game may translate this as a whole number, the Omega Metroid would instead receive 11% damage, not 15%. To reiterate, the rest of the Omega Metroid's body doesn't decrease damage by 0.25x. Only her chest receives this reduction, and her shield receives 0.25x more health.

Grabs
Energy Drain (A)
When the Omega Metroid grabs her opponent, she can reduce her damage while increasing her opponent's damage. While Energy Drain seems like significant damage in the beginning, the higher the percentage of the opponent, the less the Omega Metroid can recover. To illustrate, imagine drinking soda through a straw. The more you drink, the less soda there is. So it is with Energy Drain. If the opponent's damage is 0 to 9%, the Omega Metroid will recover 10% per drain. 10% to 19%, she'll restore 9%. Thus, by the time the opponent is at 100% or higher, the Omega Metroid will only be able to decrease her damage by 1%. Of course, being at higher percent will extend the duration of being grabbed.

Carapace Catapult (Up+Throw)
The Omega Metroid throws her opponent onto her back, launching him or her with her carapace at a 90° angle while dealing 10% damage. Because the launch isn't too high, the Omega Metroid can follow up with aerial combos. She could use Claw Assault, or if she's on a high platform, she can use Arc Slash to try guaranteeing a win.

Plasma Stream (Forward+Throw)
The Omega Metroid will throw her opponent at a 45° angle and release a stream of plasma. This throw causes 9% damage, but the beam will cause additional damage of up to 3%, totaling in 12% damage. This is the Omega Metroid's strongest throw because of a unique feature. This unique feature is that if the Omega Metroid has Plasma Beam fully charged, the beam will cause 6% damage instead of 3%, resulting in 15% damage.

Rumble (Backward+Throw)
This throw almost resembles Tail Slam, but there is a difference. Once the Omega Metroid slams her opponent against the ground, she'll fall backwards while her opponent is still in the air and strike him or her with her tail, launching the opponent at a 20° angle. This is a useful throw against those near the stage because of the distance it launches them. At sufficient percent damage, the Omega Metroid can KO her opponent. Both the slam a tail whip that follows up both produce 6% damage, granting a total of 12%.

Tail Slam (Down+Throw)
The Omega Metroid will use her tail to slam her opponent against the ground, producing 10% damage. This will launch the opponent in an 80° angle, but not too far for the opponent to escape from avoiding a potential combo. Of course, the higher the percent, the more likely the opponent can escape by jumping or air-dodging.

Final Smash
Queen Metroid (B)
The Smash Ball is the key to altering the Omega Metroid's genetic make-up, allowing her to become the next stage of her development. As the Queen Metroid, she has drastic increases in damage output and defense akin to Giga Bowser. When the Omega Metroid becomes the Queen, she'll remain immobile, but her special attacks can be used. Plasma Beam (B) will remain unchanged, although damage and knockback will be increased. Those who manage to avoid this can be dealt with by summoning Metroids (Up+B). Alternatively, the Queen Metroid can shake the ground (Down+B), stunning those who are grounded. She's able to then lunge her head forward with a bite (Forward+B), which possesses a freeze frame. This attack is successful at KO'ing, delivering 40% in a single hit. The range of this lunge is half a stage.
 
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FrozenRoy

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I'm In CHAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGEEEEE Now! (Captain Metal Bionichute Bionichute )

'Tis the season to be commenting! I started off with Captain Metal, in part due to meaningful and complicated reasons involving Pirate English, which I am a master of (never heard of " ‘kwivalent " and am pretty sure that isn't pirate.). Captain Metal actually, I feel, starts with a pretty solid basis, some simple yet effective minions that you can blast around with your laser cannon NSpec, and then when they're dead, you can fuse them to yourself with bonuses. The crab legs present a bit of an issue, I feel, and would have been better if they more just popped out/up for specific moves, as Swash 'n' Buckle provide plenty enough with moveset changes and stat changes that the Down Special often comes off as superflous and unnecessary.

The Smashes are fairly good, but Down Smash really just should have been a Special and the crab legs done differently like I said. I would say an issue with this set is just that I did not think that the Standards/Aerials/Grab Game were especially interesting, which for a set like this is absolutely vital. I feel like part of this is probably due to the 3x weapon switch, which makes each move less detailed, thought out and interesting. Not all of the moves are without depth, but the standards are pretty standard, and the grab game is really bad with the underelaborated cargo throw and a lot of similiar animations without much discussion on what actually makes the grab game worthwhile in the moves. I feel like it would have been better if instead of a weapon switch, Swash and Buckle were instead mostly relegated to buffs or stronger properties (as they are at points in this set) and more focus was just on solid use of his cannon-cutlass combo, hook and so on. This would have likely produced a stronger moveset.

Another thing I will suggest is that the mix and matching of minions probably should have gone beyond just the head swap. This is especially true if you gave the generic pirate robot anything and made it more of fodder of parts to give yourself, Swash or Buckle, which could have led to more interesting gameplay in terms of the minions. The set often isn't super bad, but it drops off hard after Specials/Smashes, the pummel is also issued and the grab game is very blah IMO, without enough good points to counteract it.
 
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Munomario777

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Ranked and commented the rest of Bionichute Bionichute 's sets, as well as @der Rabe's entry into the fray!

I agree with a lot of what Slavic said about this set, overall. It's not really got a lot going for it, and didn't leave much of an impression tbh. The first part of that is how the core mechanic is kinda poorly executed. While the basic idea of a "universal" Charge Shot does have some potential, it's not built upon in a very compelling way – most of the moves simply add a standard beam projectile to the attack, while others like Fsmash are unintuitive. Also, the fact that you can't choose whether or not to actually use / waste the charge doesn't help much.

Ultimately, the set also suffers from a lack of cohesion. I can't really pin down any kind of clear focus or playstyle, and so the set just ends up as a collection of disconnected moves rather than a cohesive whole. Hologram Field's scattering of buffs and debuffs, for example, do make it beneficial for Blaster-Tron to have himself and his enemy inside the field... but it doesn't do anything beyond that to make it more interesting. There's an odd emphasis on slowing the opponent down on both Down B and Side B, which sounds quite annoying to fight against, as an aside. The writing is also pretty unpolished and kinda unclear in a lot of spots, and a number of moves have kinda interesting ideas but don't expand upon or utilize those concepts in meaningful ways. Back Throw is a good example – there is some potential in a throw where you can choose the angle of its knockback to be pretty scary, since that's a really big DI mixup. But if it's just a generic launching throw, then there's no reward for Blaster-Tron for reading the opponent's DI in the same way that a combo or KO throw would allow.

Overall, Blaster-Tron mainly doesn't have a clear focus from what I could discern, and the exception to that – the big charge mechanic – suffers from a flawed execution and a lack of ideas that expand upon it in meaningful ways.
Captain Metal as a set is rather on the ambitious side of things. Not, perhaps, in that it introduces a lot of earthshattering concepts to the world of MYM, but more in that it has a lot going on. Three different minions, a crab-leg transformation, the ability to absorb dead minions to augment / replace your own moves, swapping the AI of minions via a throwable decapitated-head item, nearly two sets' worth of attacks when accounting for the various transformations... That's a lot to juggle within one moveset, not to mention some of the move-specific properties. In the case of Captain Metal, they make the set pretty dang cluttered, and a decent amount of the time, I found, these potentially interesting ideas stepped on each other's toes as well as those of the set's pacing.

In other words, the mechanics kinda conflict with one another and make the set too cluttered with ideas. The main area of direct conflict is between the crab legs and the Buckle and Swash transformations, since you can't use them both at the same time. Additionally, the crab legs have a bit of an overlap with the Swash transformation, since they share the basic function of enhancing movement speed at the cost of lighter weight and changing some attacks. I definitely agree with Froy that the set could've benefited greatly from an increased focus on Captain Metal's base form and his unique weapons such as the gunblade, rather than having two or three different attacks for each input with less care put into each individual attack. Because as it is, I have trouble pinning down what Captain Metal's focus – or "hook" – really is, in terms of both playstyle and creative appeal. And I think the set definitely suffers from that lack of focus overall.

Arr.
Bomb King is, in my opinion, the strongest of Bion's opening-day lineup by quite a wide margin. It's got creative ideas, but it has more of a defined focus than Captain Metal does. The first thing I want to talk about is the Jab and Neutral B, which I really really like. It's a very nicely executed mechanic imo, from its surprisingly-fitting placement on Jab to the fun visual indicator of how many bombs he has left. It actually reminds me of Rivals of Aether of all things, a game which has a lot of similarly-executed core mechanics. The various types of explosives also keep things fairly fresh as the set goes on, with some exceptions, and the set does a good job at enforcing the basic playstyle of covering the stage in bombs. ...Though one of the big weaknesses of this set is how potentially annoying / OP that ability to cover the stage might be in practice, given he's able to lay down six normal bombs plus the ones from all his other moves. Sure, they might cause damage to Bomb King, but he can easily set them up so that he doesn't actually get hit. And the fact that you could just jump over the bombs is kinda nullified when you're playing on stages with platforms, since then he can also cover the airspace by placing bombs on top of the soft platforms.

Aside from the balance of Bomb King's ability to cover the stage in hitboxes, the other main issues arise in the nitty-gritty details. For example, the priority for Detonation is kinda weird; the fact that it prioritizes two different things over the move you're currently using seems unintuitive. I'd probably make it so that Up B in particular just detonates when you use that input again (like it does currently in the set), and have it be entirely separate from Neutral B. Other small things are how Up Smash's bombs are randomly incapable of hitting opponents as they're falling (which seems like it'd be a pretty obvious application of the move), the specialty bombs activated via Grab seeming kinda tacked-on, or how Down Smash gains massive starup lag *on top* of the smash attack's actual charge when you charge it. also forward smash should summon 1.4 bombs at full charge, not 4
OK, so the set itself is alright but I want to gush about the writing real quick

This is probably the best reading experience I've had so far this contest. That's probably in part because of the bite-sized move descriptions, but this set just made me smile so many times with its quirky, charming writing style. It's such a departure from normal modern MYM sets that it's kind of refreshing, and it kind of subverted a lot of my expectations. For example, in a handful of moves, the set doesn't list any damage numbers. This is of course something you'd probably want to change, of course, but to me, it also says that Dryn cares less about a rigidly-defined moveset and more about giving the reader a good time. Stuff like this pops up throughout the set, such as how a lot of the special mechanics are included not because of some complex, interwoven set of behaviors and playstyles, but just because he thought they'd be fun to add. Or how for moves such as Forward Smash (first paragraph) or Neutral B (third paragraph), he devotes a proportionally large amount of the writeup to a fun little touch that often put a smile on my face as I read it. The entire thing honestly reads like a post from the Brawl website, which is honestly one of the better compliments I could give to a set's writing style.

Of course, it wouldn't be one of Dryn's Metroid sets without a lot of passion for the series put into it, and Omega Metroid has a lot of little touches that reflect this knowledge of the series's small details. Things like the reduced damage to Omega Metroid's rear, as well as the wall-cling which references not only Metroid but the original Alien films, show a lot of devotion to Metroid as a series, and definitely prove that this set got a lot of love put into it.

With that said, the moveset itself wrapped inside this great writing does have some flaws. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty dang solid in-Smash set, but there are some rather large flaws. First off, the Down B is probably too strong with its current stats, given there's no downside for activating it and its defensive buffs exceed the Shield Monado's by a decent margin (especially when Omega Metroid's weight already rivals that of Shield Shulk). Also, moves like the Up Air (20% on a relatively quick aerial!) and Forward Tilt (17% on a frame four move!) are probably too strong. The main thing that makes that tricky to say, though, is a lack of detail on a lot of these moves. For example, I'd assume that Forward Tilt has a lot of endlag to balance its high damage and speed, but the set doesn't clarify that. I very much enjoyed the short-winded move descriptions, but clarifications like these (as well as the aforementioned missing damage numbers) would help out. I should also note that Omega Metroid doesn't really have a big "hook" in terms of a core playstyle or gimmick, so it's mainly a collection of detached moves that don't play into each other in a lot of ways.

Even with these issues, though, I very much recommend Omega Metroid to anyone looking to have a good time while reading a moveset – it's refreshingly brief and a joy to read.
 
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Crystanium

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Munomario777 Munomario777
Thanks for the comments and critiques. My biggest thing about movesets is that I don't want to make them overpowered, even for a character who is a heavyweight and a heavy hitter. I looked at a few of Bowser's damage percentages just to make sure some things weren't unreasonable, but with strong attacks and few frames, that is definitely a flaw that I'd like to go back and work on. I will be sure to put the damage percentages for each attack as well.

One thing that really stood out to me was what you said about the Omega Metroid not really having a big "hook" in terms of core playstyle or gimmicks. When you said it's a connection of detached moves, are you saying that the moves don't seem to work in ways to set up combos? Anyway, I appreciate what you said and will make changes on the Omega Metroid when I have time.
 

Munomario777

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@der Rabe

Off the top of my head, Up Air and Forward Tilt were the main overpowered moves, since they specify that they're pretty quick moves (Ftilt is frame 4, Uair is compared to Bowser's uair). The main thing I'd recommend is making sure to describe the damage, knockback, and startup / endlag of all the attacks (out of those three, damage is the only one you really need to give an exact number for). If, for example, Ftilt had its current properties in addition to high endlag and mediocre knockback, it could work quite nicely as a quick, threatening move to keep the opponent on their toes without being overpowered.

As for the "coLLection (my typo, oops) of detached moves" bit, I'd not say it's about combos; the main thing is that I didn't get a sense of a really defined playstyle here. "Playstyle" is pretty awkward to explain, and it's largely something you pick up as you go – but the main idea is that it's how the moves in a set connect to form some sort of overarching strategy, or something of that sort. It's not so much about moves that can combo or string into each other, but more about how moves can set up for each other in different ways.

For example, a playstyle might consist of a character who's good at throwing projectiles in order to pressure the opponent from a distance, and also has the tools to capitalize on what the opponent does in response to the projectile. If the opponent shields the projectile, the character can rush in and grab, and then use a potent throw to capitalize on that opening. If the opponent jumps over the projectile, the character might have a powerful aerial to punish that, or have some other way to cover the opponent's jump. The projectile, throws, and aerials don't necessarily interact with a combo, but they still set up for one another in ways that form a fighting style or general strategy for the character. In this case, the playstyle would be zoning the opponent out and perhaps kind of frustrating them, and then predicting how they'll react to your projectiles in order to swoop in for the kill.

That kind of synergy is largely what I'm referring to, and it's a very open-ended aspect of moveset design; there's a ton of room for creativity here. If you haven't already, I'd suggest checking out Izaw's "Art of Smash" series for examples of playstyles in actual Smash characters, particularly the guides on Ike, the Links, Marth, Roy, and Ganon. And of course, reading some of the more successful MYM sets couldn't hurt.
 

Professor Lexicovermis

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My next set is progressing quite nicely! Here, have a teaser with their name redacted:

A unique aspect of REDACTED is the ability to Ruby Chain. By simply inputting another summon during a summon's animation, Ruby Chaining allows REDACTED 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 THEY stops; each subsequent summon after the second adds to this lag. There is no limit on how long a Ruby Chain can be, but REDACTED cannot use the same summon twice in one Chain.
 

Crystanium

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Munomario777 Munomario777
I made changes and added damage percentages for each attack. The only attack that was said to be 4 frames was the Omega Metroid's forward tilt, but I changed that to 10 frames. Up air didn't have anything mentioned, but I noted that it's best used if the opponent has been set up for a KO, since missing would have a bit of delay for the opponent to escape or counter. I also changed the down special from 0.5x to 0.25x. I wasn't sure if this would make this special balanced. I also made it so that when the down special has been used, there's a 12 second delay instead of a 10 second delay.

I'm really not sure what playstyle I would put the Omega Metroid under. Her only long-range attack is Plasma Beam, which could be used for forcing her opponent to approach her. But I would probably say she's supposed to be more of a zoner who pokes and waits for the right time to punish. Or simply a grappler because that's really where her abilities shine the most. I really never thought about playstyle before. In fact, even the idea of combos is put in the back of my mind. I try to work on that after once I have the moveset down.
 

Munomario777

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@der Rabe

The changes to Forward Tilt and Up Air seem alright. Such fast, powerful moves are still kinda "broken," but that's also part of what makes characters in Smash more interesting, and might fit in with Smash 4's top-tiers who have pretty pronounced strengths. For Down B, the main issue with it is that there's not much of a choice involved. Since it's purely beneficial to have the armor active, the objectively most optimal way to use it is generally to just reactivate it as soon as the cooldown ends. So I'd probably add some sort of debuff to go along with the defense buffs. There are a lot of ways you could do that, but off the top of my head, it makes sense to perhaps reduce Omega Metroid's movement speed, or perhaps add startup lag to her attacks – as a couple of possible suggestions.



As for playstyle, it's something you generally want to think about while you're writing / brainstorming for the set. The best playstyles are ones which incorporate nearly every move in the moveset into a specific goal, so it definitely helps to design the moves with those goals in mind. For example, a zoning- / projectile-baiting-focused playstyle like I described in my last post would use these types of moves in the core zoning / baiting gameplay:
  • Projectiles
  • Moves to punish an opponent's reaction to a projectile; examples include:
    • A grab / good throws to punish a shield (perhaps even a command-grab?)
    • Strong aerial attacks to punish a jump (or some other type of move, such as for example Palutena's up smash)
    • A good dash attack to punish a retreat / roll away (or a stronger projectile, perhaps a Charge Shot-type move?)
But not every move in the set would fall into one of those categories; instead, they might serve to build upon the concept in other ways. There are a lot of different possibilities, but some examples include:
  • Quick get-off-me moves, which launch the opponent far away so that you can zone them out with projectiles
  • Semi-spike moves, which launch the opponent into a tech-chase so that you can throw a projectile to cover tech options (and also create space by launching the opponent)
  • Mobility tools such as command-dashes, which allow the character to reposition quickly in order to zone the opponent out
  • Stationary traps like Snake's mines and C4, which give the character added area control in addition to the projectiles (traps can also cover options in response to a projectile, e.g. if they roll away after a projectile hits their shield they might get hit by the landmine, and can also augment the aforementioned tech-chasing semi-spikes in the same way)
This would make for a rather diverse kit, but the key here is how they all tie into the core zoning / baiting gameplay of throwing a projectile and punishing the opponent's response to it. Some moves, like get-off-me attacks and mobility tools, serve to create the space needed to optimally zone the opponent out with projectiles. Others, like the traps and semi-spikes, are designed to play off of the projectiles in different ways. So the whole set ends up feeling pretty cohesive, despite the decent variety in moves. In order to make the set feel this cohesive, though, you'd pretty much need to go into the set with that playstyle in mind from the beginning, so a big part of designing a solid playstyle is having a good idea of what you want to achieve early on. That's not to say that you need to have all the moves planned out before you start writing the set – just having the general idea of "I'm going to make this character into a zoning-based character" is a good basis.

Side note: This is actually similar to how a lot of classic games manage to feel cohesive while having a lot of different elements. For example, when the team responsible for the original Super Mario Bros. set out to create the game, they decided at the beginning of development that the game would be about jumping. Every subsequent element of the game was designed to tie into this core mechanic. Mario needs to jump over pits to cross them, while jumping into blocks can earn him a coin, power-up, or path to a secret area via beanstalk. A jump is also Mario's way of dispatching enemies – there's no "punch" button, and the Fire Flower is only available via power-up – and he even needs to jump to get past the one-block-high "stump" atop which the end-of-level flagpole rests. The original design documents for this game outline air-combat sections with Mario riding a cloud, but the team decided to scrap these sections, as they diverged too far from the game's core focus – which I think is something to learn from when making movesets too.

Other side note: Sometimes, a way to make a more interesting playstyle is by merging a couple of different playstyle ideas together into sort of a hybrid, or a character with a dual-focus. For example, one basic example might be a hit-and-run character who also has aspects of projectile zoning. So this character might, perhaps, always want to stay outside of melee range by default, and then poke at the opponent with either a melee move (after which he can retreat due to movement speed) or a long-range projectile. In this case, it helps to find two playstyles that play into each other in interesting ways.



Anyway, aside from building upon a playstyle with the various moves in a moveset, the other big part of that is coming up with that playstyle in the first place Here, there are a few sources for inspiration. If you've decided on a character already (or have an idea for a character you might want to write a set for), then I find that the biggest sources of inspiration are abilities and personality. A character's abilities can sometimes lend themselves quite naturally to a certain playstyle. A character with a lot of projectiles in their home series, such as Samus, is a natural fit for a zoning archetype (perhaps with a bit of an emphasis on melee combat?), while a speedy character like Sonic suggests more of a hit-and-run style due to his speed, letting him weave in and out of an opponent's attack range. (Both of these are ignoring the actual Smash sets, of course.) Other times, a single ability might translate into Smash in a really cool way, such as how the Inkling from Splatoon has ink that would lend itself to a unique territory-based fighting style in Smash – and so, one "key" or "core" ability can in some cases heavily influence the entire playstyle. This kind of playstyle-defining ability is typically a special move (or, perhaps, a passive / universal trait), so special moves are often listed first in a moveset – to give context to the rest of the set.

Personality is another area from which a playstyle can come, and it's a bit more abstract. This might not really apply in the case of a character like Omega Metroid, who's more of a monster than a fleshed-out character with a lot of personality from what I'm aware. But the basic idea is that you take a character's personality or other similar traits and see if there's a way to represent that in Smash. For example, in the Zelda games, Ganon (or rather, Ganondorf) often strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents by cornering them, oftentimes by manipulating them or lulling his foes into a false sense of security. The ending of OoT is a great example of this. So in Smash, his playstyle is that of a momentum-based powerhouse. His slow frame data and movement may make the opponent think that he's a pushover, but once Ganon lands a hit and shows his true power, that confidence turns into fear. When he has an opponent cornered, Ganon can cover an opponent's options more effectively; the opponent can no longer roll away, and Flame Choke's tech-chasing limits the opponent's options even further as a result of the limited space. (more on this)



Not to self-promote, but using Doomfist as an example, I used elements of both of these approaches when deciding on a playstyle. In terms of abilities, his heavy-hitting gauntlet, heavyweight status, and even The Best Defense as a mechanic made it clear that he'd be focused on in-your-face melee combat, rather than being a zoner for example. Doomfist's core belief as a character, furthermore, is that the only way for humans to evolve as a species is through war and conflict; his entire motive is plunging the world into a global war. So in the moveset, I used The Best Defense as well as Doomfist's other abilities to give him a playstyle where he, similarly, "evolves" or gains a lot of perks, from "conflict" or being in an advantage state and hitting an opponent. His gauntlet attacks give him the power he needs to back up that claim, while The Best Defense limits an opponent's escape options after a hit. And in the end, Doomfist's playstyle is one that kind of focuses on the momentum of a match, with an incredibly strong advantage state and powerful punish tools but a rather poor disadvantage state.

But that's just one example, and I've been rambling for a while so I guess I should stop lol. The TL;DR version is that a playstyle is, basically, an idea. More specifically, it's an idea of how a character plays, and what kind of overall "style" the character might have. That idea can come directly from a character's abilities, be an interpretation of a character's personality, or both; and for best results, you should have this playstyle in mind as you're writing the set. As I said, though, it really is something you pick up as you go, so the best way to learn it is to start experimenting with different ideas, writing movesets, and building up an understanding of playstyle over time, through experience. Also, as I said, it might not hurt to look at other MYM sets (or even examples from Smash itself) and seeing what kind of playstyle they have, and how they achieve it.
 

MasterWarlord

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GULDO


Guldo is one of the members of the Ginyu Force of Dragonball Z, a group parodying sentai teams, but with the twist that they're a team of villains rather than heroes. While the ranks of the three middle members are roughly equal, Guldo has always been the clear runt of the litter and has minimal training with the traditional universal Dragonball fighting style. While lacking in martial arts, Guldo makes up for it exclusively with his psychic ability and power to stop time, most famous for his technique to hold people in place. Most notoriously, Guldo's ability has hypothetical synergy with Ginyu's body swap to defeat anyone, to the point this was even finally acknowledged and used successfully in Dragonball Xenoverse.

This would make Guldo a tremendous asset to the team and the most useful member besides Ginyu with an actual role in the team beyond hitting people hard, but the Ginyu Force are so used to effortlessly killing everyone that stands in their way that they just fight their enemies one on one. People in Dragonball don't understand the definition of a "support", and prefer to rush head first into the enemy team's carries and tanks. The other members of the Ginyu Force are all clearly good friends, and Guldo's the only one who never really got into the whole "sentai" thing with the posing and just does it to appease Ginyu. When it's Guldo's time to fight, the others make bets on how long it's going to take him and even if he's going to lose in some of the dubs, mocking him for taking so long with such weak enemies.

Guldo is sensitive about his hideous appearance and diminutive stature, and hates being underestimated. Despite having experienced firsthand being relatively low on the totem pole, Guldo has no sympathy for those in similar positions and just takes his chance to exert his own authority over others. When he attempted to do this to "common monkey" Vegeta, he mocked and humiliated Guldo in front of Frieza, causing Frieza to pick Vegeta for a planet genocide job over Guldo. This seemed to happen quite some time ago, but Guldo is still incredibly bitter about this when he meets him next. In his fight, he is going to defeat Krillin and Gohan with minimal effort, having stunned them in place and just about ready to impale them, but Vegeta interferes in his fight and decapitates him while he's focused on the weaklings. Guldo lives as a decapitated head (four eyed aliens are weird) just long enough for Vegeta to mock him one last time before he dies. Vegeta was supposed to be fighting Recoome, but recognized this as his chance to kill Guldo (He certainly didn't do it to "save" the weaklings). In a fair fight with Vegeta's current strength at that period, it is very arguable Guldo could still also beat Vegeta if he hadn't resorted to his sneak attack.

STATISTICS
Aerial Control: 10
Aerial Speed: 9 (1.25 units)
Jumps: 8
Size: 5
Traction: 4.5
Ground Movement: 3 (1.47 units)
Falling Speed: 2 (1.2 units)
Weight: 1 (73 units)

While Guldo has a massive ego, he is a coward in battle, and for fairly good reason. In canon, he essentially loses if anybody gets into melee range against him and lands a remotely decent hit. While Guldo is tiny by Dragonball standards, Smash Bros standards for size are fairly pathetic by comparison, and as such he's the same size as Wario. He should realistically have more "weight" because of being fat, but he is left insanely light to properly translate how frail he is, especially in combination with his very low falling speed. His aerial statistics are all excellent. While his first jump doesn't take him far, his second jump is as good as Yoshi's. On top of that, he has a float activated the same way as Peach's, but it lasts for 0.75X the duration and allows him to move in any direction during it.

SPECIALS

NEUTRAL SPECIAL - PSYCHO JAVELIN



Guldo levitates up a "javelin" made out of earth from the stage underneath himself. It doesn't matter if Guldo is standing on the stage, it will be produced from the source of ground nearest to Guldo so long as it's within 2 platforms. Both ends of the javelin end in pointed spikes designed to impale people. Guldo stalls in place during the lag of this move and will levitate it up a Marth height above the ground, during which time he can rotate the javelin at any angle because only the sides of it are hitboxes. Levitating it up a Marth height into the air takes 23 frames, and after that it's thrown in the direction Guldo input with a final 12 frames of ending lag. If Guldo is further from the source of ground in question, 1 frame of starting lag is added per Marth height he is away from the stage.

The javelin flies at Mario's dashing speed in the direction input without changing angle or being effected by gravity. The main hitbox is the end of the javelin that's pointed in the direction it's going, with the other one just being a hitbox that does a token 4% and radial knockback that kills at 300%. The front end has a unique hitbox where it deals 9% and several freeze frames to stun the foe as the projectile keeps traveling through them. After this occurs, the usual weak back hitbox transforms into a new hitbox that does 9% and knockback that kills at 130% in the opposite direction the javelin is moving. Each time one of these hitboxes occurs, a blood splatter comes out of the foe's model as they're "impaled", taking knockback after the projectile has traveled the entire distance through their body.

The projectile will vanish after traveling Final Destination's width, and can't hit the same person twice normally. Inputting Neutral Special with one of these already out will cause Guldo to redirect it. He has 13 frames during which he spins around and reangles it slightly lesser 9 frames of ending lag. This will enable it to hit enemies it has already hit, though if Guldo isn't right on top of it 1 frame is added to the starting lag for every Marth height away he is. Guldo can't redirect the javelin while it's in the process of "impaling" someone, only after it's passed through them, and doing this will not renew the maximum amount of distance the javelin can travel, still vanishing after moving Final Destionation's width.

Guldo can impale one end of the javelin into the stage. If anybody's hit by that hitbox on the front of the javelin, they take 15% and vertical knockback that kills at 100% immediately from it given the second half of the javelin can't go through them anymore. Javelins embedded in the stage will become walkable terrain if at an angle of 10 degrees or more, but the spiked tip that is still above the surface of the stage will remain a trap hitbox that deals 4% and knockback that kills at 300% to foes. In this state, the javelin functions as a drop through platform. The javelin will fade out of existence after 5 seconds of remaining in the stage like this, though will function as a wall with 18-45 HP during that time. If Guldo uproots the javelin from the stage by pressing Neutral Special yet again, the starting lag is cut in half from ripping out an entirely new javelin, and the duration of it will be entirely renewed. The projectile's HP will be remembered it if becomes impaled into the ground again, but while functioning as a projectile has transcendant priority.

When the javelin is first ripped up out of the ground, Guldo can optionally charge the move by up to 30 additional frames by holding down the button. By default, the width of the javelin only has a Wario width between the two pointed spikes on either end, but with a full charge there's a full platform's worth of space between them. This also very slightly boosts the power to do 2 hits of 11.5% with knockback that kills at 100%, though doesn't boost the power of the hitbox when it's impaled into the ground given only the first tip goes into the ground in that scenario (About a quarter of the javelin is submerged into the stage). The longer nature of the javelin means that it will deal a lot more stun as it travels all the way through a foe, though also makes it easier for foes to dodge without being punished by the sourspot hitbox on the back spike. A javelin being longer also can make it a potentially much larger alteration to the stage, most notably sticking out from the side of the stage far enough to help Guldo and any allies recover.

DOWN SPECIAL - PSYCHIC ROCK THROW



Guldo levitates up a small rock from the nearest source of ground in a similar fashion to his Neutral Special. It's pretty similar all around to that move at a glance, with Guldo able to perform an unstorable charge to rip out a bigger "rock" to make it into an outright boulder. At minimum charge, Guldo will throw the rock in the chosen direction on frame 10 with 12 additional frames of ending lag, throwing the rock significantly faster at Captain Falcon's dashing speed in whatever direction he pleases. The Pokeball sized rock does a token 5% and knockback that kills at 300%, and shatters upon hitting a foe. If it comes into contact with the ground, it will roll along the ground until it comes to a stop, becoming weaker until it comes to a total stop after which it vanishes. If the rock goes down a slope such as one produced from an earth javelin, it will build up speed/power rather than losing it, potentially becoming up to twice as powerful (10% knockback that kills at 150%). Unlike with the javelin, inputting Down Special with a rock already out will just produce another one rather than Guldo grabbing the javelin out of the air.

If Guldo charges the move to produce a bigger rock, he'll add up to 30 additional frames to make a boulder up to Dedede's size, dealing up to 11% and knockback that kills at 185%. When going down a slope at top speed, it can deal up to 22% and knockback that kills at 92.5%. This is Guldo's main spammable projectile, but the interaction with having it roll down javelins is difficult to use given they're only platforms when embedded in the stage and last a token 5 seconds there. Still, it's not impossible with Guldo's great degree of control over the javelins by moving them around in mid-flight and to renew their duration. A place Guldo naturally embeds his javelins a lot is the side of the stage, and if Guldo has a rock roll off the side of the stage with built up momentum it will keep the power/speed boost, using the javelin as a ramp.

SIDE SPECIAL - PARALYSIS



Guldo uses his psychic powers to freeze whatever's in front of him in place as they get surrounded by a light green aura. If he hits a foe, he'll hypocritically yell "Now you can't run away!" or something along those lines. If Guldo holds down the button, he can channel the attack to keep the foe totally stunned for up to a full second, enabling any extraneous projectiles/allies he has out to be able to hit the foe during this time. The hitbox is 1.3X Bowser's size, making it possible for him to hit multiple enemies, and even if team attack is on this hitbox will ignore any allies.

While this attack has bad ending lag if Guldo doesn't hit anything, if Guldo lets go of the button after having successfully frozen the foe in place he'll cancel out of it with ease. The foe will still be frozen in place and unable to move, but can do anything besides moving. This will deal a token flinch at least to save foes from helpless when they enter it, but this can and will freeze foes in place in the air. If the foe takes knockback, they will be knocked out of this early. Movement options like rolls and Up Specials will still work, but all movement from them will be removed as the actions are performed in place. Foes will also have a slight lag increase as they are restrained by Guldo, adding 3 frames of starting and ending lag to all their attacks while stuck in place, and 2 frames of starting and ending lag to their dodges. While foes can't move, things like rolls and B reversed moves will enable them to turn around. They're definitely vulnerable from behind, but aren't totally defenseless. If Guldo is somehow incompetent enough to get hit while the foe is restrained, his concentration will be broken and the foe will be freed from the effect immediately.

Guldo can restrain projectiles in addition to characters, freezing them in place. Enemy projectiles will unfortunately retain their hitboxes, so Guldo may well be doing more harm than good by stopping them. Projectiles can potentially stay like this forever, and Guldo can freeze as many projectiles as he wants. Freezing a projectile is still very fast and counts as "hitting something", not triggering the long ending lag. Whenever Guldo inputs the move as a smash, he'll release his grip on all of them at once with only 5 frames of lag, causing them all to resume business as usual. While this is very powerful, Guldo again loses all his concentration if he ever takes hitstun, causing them to all be released the moment he does. This isn't entirely a bad thing, as this can be used to punish foes who hit Guldo, though prevents Guldo's set-ups from getting quite as elaborate as he would like. If Guldo hits a foe with Paralysis, no allied projectiles will be frozen by that instance of it to enable them to still hit the foe properly.

Allied projectiles that would make a remote amount of sense to be walkable terrain, such as Guldo's rocks and javelins, become drop-through platforms when frozen by Paralysis and lose their hitboxes. While frozen, javelins and boulders have 18-45 HP based off how charged they were. The rocks have to be charged up enough to be at least Kirby's size for them to become platforms, though that isn't too much to ask. Projectiles that don't qualify for this, like fireballs and generic ki blasts, remain hitboxes while frozen and will be used up when they hit something, even if they wouldn't be used up normally. When Guldo inputs Neutral Special, he will ignore the existence of javelins hit by Paralysis and just produce a new one, enabling him to go over the cap of only having out one at a time. While this is mainly only usable to make more platforms, when Guldo releases his telekinetic grip on any javelins he has out they can potentially all go to skewer the foe at once. If the multiple javelins exist that aren't frozen in place, Guldo will prefer to redirect the oldest ones when he pushes Neutral Special. The fact Guldo redirects the oldest ones is a good thing, because he'll have control over the new one before he releases his grip on the old one.

Obviously having multiple frozen objects out at once makes it possible to have a lot more ramps and slopes for your boulders to travel around on. In addition to making more objects on the stage to traverse, simply freezing the boulder in place allows Guldo to conserve its momentum while giving Guldo all the time he wants to put another javelin in the way of it to alter its trajectory.

While it would be highly in-character for Guldo to stall and win a match by cowering away on a technicality, platforms produced 1.3 platforms away from the stage through this move will only remain frozen for up to 4 seconds to prevent such abuses. If you want to maximize this range, only the tip of the projectile matters, so you can have a long platform width javelin to reach out significantly further away from it. Guldo cannot produce javelins and rocks out of javelins and rocks whether they're walkable terrain or not, and cannot produce new javelins and rocks when more than 2 platforms away from a source of ground he can produce them from.

UP SPECIAL - TIME FREEZE



Guldo screams the name of the move as he goes to hold his breath. He is able to keep time frozen for as long as he can hold his breath, but unfortunately fat four eyed toad men don't have as great of lung capacity as humans. In addition, Guldo can't use any of his psychic powers at all while time is frozen, so it's not nearly as great as it's cracked up to be. If an enemy was close to Guldo and in the middle of an attack, he will let out a comical muffled scream of terror and sweat profusely after time has been frozen.

This move comes out with 14 frames of lag, and after it's complete everything is totally frozen besides Guldo. Unlike Paralysis, this will disable the hitboxes of enemy projectiles and traps, enabling Guldo to pass right through them unless they're solid. If Guldo has full breath, this lasts for 70 frames in total, though he'll waste 9 of those frames on the comical scream if this was used in the face of an attack. Guldo is holding his breath for a lot longer than that realistically, but we don't want to sit around and leave the foe out of the action for all of that time. To convey the passage of time, Guldo gains "super speed" as all of the time quickly passes at once and several after image effects are made of him as he moves around, moving about at 1.65X Sonic's dashing speed with his air speed increased by a small amount, though is not nearly as fast as his ground speed given he can't use levitation to move along. His first and second jump are pretty pathetic when he can't use levitation to help him move around, but all javelins and rocks that are out become platforms Guldo can use during this time to help him move around. Guldo's recovery is already very good even without this move with his large second jump, float that goes in any direction, high aerial movement, and low falling speed, but this can potentially make it quite difficult to gimp him.

While Guldo will not respond to any button inputs during this time other than moving, jumping, and dodging, if Guldo is within melee range of a target that can be damaged he will automatically start punching and kicking away at them with his stubby limbs. While this would be so pathetic as to not be worth Guldo even trying to attack with normally, the punches and kicks play at an incredible speed here and quickly rack up the foe's damage. If Guldo uses Up Special in the foe's face and beats on them the entire time, they'll take a fantastic 26%. Guldo only has to hit the foe once for them to be flinched when Time Freeze stops, but Guldo has a lot of ending lag when time is unfrozen and will enter helpless if used in the air. Guldo will often want to cancel said lag into grabbing the ledge, such as when recovering. The ending lag is long enough that beating on the foe is definitely not safe on hit. Guldo has about 10 frames of ending lag to get out of the animation of rapidly punching and kicking the foe even during Time Freeze, so he can't afford to stay in the foe's face for long unless he has an uncharacteristic amount of bravery. The main way to actually land all of those hits is to have a projectile lined up to hit the foe as soon as Time Freeze stops to knock the foe away far enough to cover you.

Guldo cannot use Up Special at all for 3 seconds after it was first used, and using it immediately after the 3 seconds are up will make time only remain frozen for 10 frames. Guldo must go a full 9 seconds without using the attack to regain all of his breath. If Guldo wants to exit Time Freeze early to conserve his breath, he can do that by pressing B at any time. Even if Guldo has breath left, he still must wait at least 3 seconds between uses of the move.

SMASHES

FORWARD SMASH - EYE LASER CLASH

One laser comes out from each of the large fish eyes on either side of Guldo's head as they go bloodshot, the lasers coming directly out of the pupils. The laser beams extend out a ways in front of Guldo before they clash together and "explode", making a Wario sized hitbox that is the primary hitbox of the attack. The beams deal weak hits of 3.3-4.62% and very weak knockback to push foes forwards, while the clashing hitbox deals 13-18.2% and knockback that kills at 150-115%.

The attack comes somewhat quickly on frame 15 and while the ending lag is quite short, most of the move's time is spent in the duration. As the move's duration goes on, Guldo will push the lasers forwards, extending the hitbox as the beams hitbox directly becomes longer while the clashing hitbox is simply pushed forwards to the end of the hitbox. This will extend the hitbox by 1-2 platforms over the duration of the move. Because of the clashing hitbox being pushed forwards, this unfortunately mean that the forwards knockback from the beams will very rarely push foes into it unless they were very close to it already. Still, this can be useful to space enemies away from Guldo, and if the foes remain in the beam hitbox for the entire time they'll be hit 4 times which is just as much damage as hitting them with the primary hitbox anyway, actually beating out that damage by miniscule fractions of percents.

If Guldo is standing on level terrain and the eye lasers would go into a slope, they will not wrap around the stage and simply go directly into the terrain like any other attack. This prevents the clashing explosion hitbox from being pushed any further forwards, letting slopes function as "walls" and making it possible to push foes further back in the beam hitbox into it.

If the lasers hit a Down Special rock, the lasers will slowly vaporize said rock to reduce its size and HP, making pieces of it fall into the stream of the two lasers behind it as they're shaved off of the rock and become hitboxes, adding in several more flinching hits. While Guldo unfortunately won't have a laser clashing hitbox while pushing a boulder, this will boost the momentum of the rock up as if it was going down a slope as it is pushed by the lasers, up to its maximum by the end of the fsmash's duration. The boulder needs to have initially been going below average speed for it to stay in the fsmash the whole time. The boulder essentially replaces the clashing hitbox, and will lose a Kirby's worth of its size as it's being shot at by Guldo, becoming destroyed entirely if it was small enough by the time it was hit by the fsmash. If the boulder had enough mass to survive the entire fsmash and a foe was in the laser beam hitbox for the entire time, 5 hits of 3% will be added on to the hitbox to boost the fsmash's damage further.

If Guldo pushes a boulder into a slope with fsmash, the boulder will roll up the side of the slope while the lasers stay in place firing against it. Without the boulder in the way, the clashing hitbox can finally be reformed, potentially enabling Guldo to get the damage boost from the shards of the rock he was pushing and still push the foe into the clashing hitbox. With a stupidly elaborate enough set-up, it is even possible to have a second aerial ramp angled in such a way that the rock would then be fired back at the foe who was hit by the fsmash, though that finisher is much less practical.

UP SMASH - ROCK RAIN

Guldo levitates up a stream of jagged pointy stones from the ground directly above himself. This doesn't go quite as high as Palutena's usmash, but it's getting there, and it traps foes in a multitude of flinching hits that total up to 9-12.6% as the foe is dragged up with the rocks. This is a two part smash attack like Link's fsmash, and after pressing A for the second time Guldo will flip the stones over so that their pointed edges are pointing downwards, then thrust them downwards at the ground. This deals the attack's damage a second time, with knockback that kills at 160-125%.

While the attack starts quickly, it has a long duration if both parts of it are executed. The ending lag is longer if Guldo only does the first half (though of course not as long as doing the whole attack), meaning the attack is going to be fairly punishable no matter what. If Guldo chooses to perform the second half of the attack, he can angle the attack to the left or right to send the stones in that direction at a 45 degree angle rather than directly back down on top of him. The rocks will change the angle of their knockback in the direction they're sent. If the rocks are sent down to a lower elevation than where Guldo is standing, they will vanish after they move down about a platform's distance below where Guldo initially used the attack, not traveling forever. In this scenario, Guldo has enough time to use Paralysis on the pointy stones if he feels like it. This won't renew their duration and their hitbox will significantly weaken down to each stone individually dealing 1% and flinching, dealing up to 8%.

The pointy stones are capable of impaling themselves into projectiles that are currently functioning as platforms like Guldo's javelins and rocks when they're under the effects of Paralysis. If this is done while the usmash stones are going up into the underside of them, Guldo won't have any ending lag if he doesn't perform the second half of the usmash. If he does choose to perform it, then the pointy stones will drag along the platform they've impaled along with them! This works better on boulders, as javelins will only remain hitboxes if one of their spiked ends are going in the same general direction that the rocks take them. Bigger rocks/javelins make it easier to land this, of course. This will release the Paralysis' hold on the object automatically as the object is thrown.

If Guldo is standing on a rock/javelin when he uses this attack, he will have to take the rocks out of what he's standing on in order to perform the attack. This will lessen the size of the object by 1.2X Kirby's size in the case of a boulder, or 0.4 platforms in the case of a javelin as it decreases the HP by a proportionate amount. If this causes what Guldo's standing on to be entirely destroyed, he will skip the ending lag if he only does the first half of the usmash, but will float in place until he's done with the usmash's duration, this not interrupting him.

The stones will only impale into objects from below, not from above, as they just shatter on contact with things during the second half of the usmash. If the object they're impaled into is destroyed, the stones go with them. If stones are impaled into an object, whenever Guldo next uses the second part of usmash he will also throw the object the stones are impaled into (In addition to performing whatever usmash he is doing), though he must be within 2 platforms of the object for this to work. This can allow Guldo to redirect multiple projectiles towards a certain target simultaneously as they will be released from Paralysis when he does this, and it also lets him keep a projectile in reserve given it doesn't release -all- projectiles under Paralysis like smashing Side Special does.

DOWN SMASH - EYE LASER SWEEP

Guldo turns to face the fore/background as two lasers again come out of the two large eyes on the side of his head. He is focusing a bit less intently this time to make the move comes out faster, levitating just barely off the ground and spinning around quickly to make one and a half rotations. This means Guldo ends the attack facing the opposite direction of where he was looking originally. The eye lasers are aimed at 45 degree angles downwards into the ground, carving up the earth underneath Guldo. The lasers deal 15-21% and knockback that knocks foes past Guldo onto his opposite side, killing at 130-90%.

This attack's lag is mostly located in the somewhat long duration with little lag where a hitbox isn't present. If Guldo hits later on in the move's duration at lower percents, it becomes possible for this attack to combo into itself. This attack can potentially combo into more moves than just itself as well, though Guldo has to account for which way he's going to be facing at the end in order to make that happen given the lag to turn around can potentially rob him of his combo, making the spacing pretty specific. Still, this is a potentially reliable way to land that coveted Paralysis or grab if it actually works.

Guldo will carve out a circular indent in the stage with his eye lasers, not just attacking foes. This has no immediate effect on gameplay despite there being a visible circular cut in the stage, but If Guldo uses Down Special on top of this terrain, he will rip out a rock charged 0.2-0.55X the maximum charge for size, and with significantly less lag for ripping it out even compared to an uncharged Down Special. Beware, though, that the dsmash is still laggy enough that it is faster to just charge Down Special manually to produce big rocks than to do dsmash than Down Special, this simply enables Guldo to multitask.

If Guldo smashes Down Special while within 2 platforms of a rock mold he's made with dsmash, he will pull up the ground from the nearest dsmash mold rather than the ground that's nearest to him. This not only gives Guldo faster access to Down Special, but gives him a variety of options with where he can pull up rocks from to assault the foe from whatever angle he pleases. Guldo can even potentially bring up a rock as a foe is going to get knocked past it for a combo.

If Guldo is standing on top of a earthy platform from a frozen rock or javelin, this will have different effects. This will cause the middle of the object to fall to the ground and form a rock from down special equal to one charged for the minimun duration or up to 0.25x that duration. This will only work for as many times as there's a reasonable amount of terrain to be shifted out of these objects, and the spiky ends of a javelin cannot be terraformed out by this move. Guldo will be left in the air at the end of the dsmash here, though can casually move to the side to touch down on what remains of the platform.

If Guldo unfreezes an object while a foe is standing in a carved out hole from that object, the earth will constrict around them for an aesthetic somewhat similar to a pitfall. Because the objects float in the air and are destroyed anyway on contact with the ground, the foe's lower torso is completely visible unlike a traditional pitfall, so they are free to use all attacks from this position with some limited clipping of their model through the object that's constricting them depending on what attack gets used. Like when foes are under the effects of Paralysis, they will still not be able to move while being constricted, even with movement based attacks. They will fly along at the projectile's trajectory it was going at, immune to its hitboxes, and will destroy it whenever they break out of it. If the foe takes hitstun/knockback while in this state caused by anything other than the object they're in, said object will also shatter.

Foes can deplete the earth projectile's HP to get out of it, and the projectile is going to have lower HP than normal because of Guldo having had to carve out a piece of it to make a hole to trap the foe inside of anyway. If foes don't destroy it manually, they will burst out in 15 frames + 6 frames for every 10% on their damage percent.

The size of the hitbox is slightly exaggerated from the size of the hole, as the earth expands out to make a bigger hole for the foe to try to fit inside of when the object becomes unfrozen. You still need to make a hole about 0.8X as wide as the foe for them to become vulnerable to this effect. This animation isn't instant, providing a brief bit of lag after the earth projectile becomes unfrozen before they get "pitfalled" in the middle.

This is a potentially very powerful effect that can make it daunting for foes to use your platforms against you. A foe who has to recover up through a hole is obviously in a very bad position, and you become a lot more mobile around your platforms in comparison to a foe who has to be more wary of you potentially springing this trap on them in addition to the earth projectile's natural hitbox when it's unfrozen. Making ramps for a boulder to go along also now potentially have the advantage of rolling off a foe stuck inside of one off the stage more quickly. While certainly not always preferable to just hitting them with the boulder directly given it's harder, it will generally kill foes sooner if they don't have perfect recoveries/aren't lightweights. In a mirror match, for example, just hitting the other Guldo with the boulder would kill him more quickly.

GRAB-GAME

GRAB - TELEKINETIC GRIP

Guldo reaches his hand forwards, but foes are held a distance in front of him similar to Mewtwo's grab. It's not like Guldo could physically restrain anyone himself, after all. This grab is most comparable to a tether as the hitbox is huge, though the ending lag is a cut above physical grabs. The hitbox isn't quite as big as most tethers, but Guldo's advantage is the entire hitbox spawns instantly once it comes out rather than having to expand out from his body.

PUMMEL - PENT UP RAGE

Guldo punches the enemy right in their smug face! It does 1% and is a slow pummel as Guldo gets good and ready to punch at the foe. It would be slow enough if Guldo wasn't laughing at the foe so hard as he did it, reveling in the fact he has the foe right where he wants them as he finally gets to take out his aggression on them.

To make up for this pummel's horrible damage output, Guldo gains Smash Bros rage when he hits the foe with this attack. This increases his rage in a comparable fashion to if he'd taken 5% damage. This is actually a pretty huge deal for a featherweight like Guldo, as even with his excellent recovery he's rarely going to live to see max rage at 150%. If Guldo's rage is maxxed when he uses this pummel, it speeds up to a reasonable speed and deals 2.5%. Nothing amazing, but it doesn't become useless. Just don't use this at the start of the match when trying to combo - even if you want rage you wouldn't get in many pummels anyway.

The knockback from the laser beams on Guldo's fsmash, while small, isn't set. As the foe's percentage climbs, it becomes more possible to push them into the sweetspot clashing hitbox from further and further distances. The knockback barely scales at all through damage given most of all of the tiny knockback is in the base value, and as such rage will boost this knockback more notably than the foe's damage.

FORWARD THROW - LASER FOCUS

Guldo focuses his two primary eyes directly on the foe as the two gigantic eyes on the side of his head focus their pupils as far apart to either side as possible, generating lasers into the foreground and background. Guldo then generates two lasers out of his primary eyes which explode as they hit the foe, blasting them forwards with 5% and set knockback at a 45 degree angle upwards. The foe ends about 1.25 platforms away from Guldo, still in stun before Guldo brings the pupils on his large eyes in to focus on the foe, bringing their two lasers with them as they slice together and connect in the middle, generating a larger explosion that deals 8% and downwards knockback that kills at 230% as the foe bounces off the ground (teching is not possible).

This obviously kills much, much sooner at the ledge if the foe gets knocked downwards into the abyss, though the fact the foe starts the move with set knockback upwards and the pathetic strength of the downwards knockback means this won't kill the vast majority of the cast until well past 130%. This is still a very potentially threatening attack and will put the foe not just past the ledge, but at least a bit below it, something very few characters can claim to have. If Guldo gets an earthy platform lower than the main stage and uses this throw, it's almost guaranteed death, though that's already a position he and the foe can easily kill each other from without this throw.

If the two large lasers cut through a frozen object, they will slice it totally in half and turn it to rubble with the explosion from the throw. This causes the remains of it to fall as a multihit hitbox dealing 15% worth in flinching hits as the pieces fall to the ground. The size of the object doesn't make this hitbox any more powerful, but increases the width of the stream of falling debris to make it much harder for the foe to get out of meaning they will take more damage by proxy. In addition to taking more damage, being stuck in it for longer gives Guldo a lot more time for a follow-up. To give Guldo enough time to really do anything, it's going to have to be a pretty big chunk of earth, though.

BACK THROW - RIP APART

Guldo blasts the foe forwards with a simple ki blast, dealing 5% and knockback forwards that will kill at around 200%. Before the foe takes all of that knockback, this is interrupted by Guldo grabbing them with his telekinesis as said knockback gets canceled and the foe gains Guldo's green aura of psychic energy, then is flung behind him with 7% and knockback that kills at 120% and high base knockback. Guldo is still in lag as he moves his hands around until the foe begins taking the backwards knockback, yelling "I'm not done with you yet!" or "Get back here!" Killing at "120%" would be if the knockback was taken at Guldo's location next to the edge with his back to it, which it obviously doesn't because of the forwards component of the knockback, making it kill a fair while later.

At low percentages, this will not combo because the knockback done in front of Guldo is so small that it won't matter as the foe is still taking the knockback from a position just barely in front of Guldo. At high percentages, this won't combo because the backwards knockback obviously scales much harder than the forwards knockback, as the foe goes flying past Guldo more quickly than he can react. This is a combo throw that can enable Guldo to land close range moves like Paralysis at very specific middling percentages that vary from foe to foe.

In addition to providing combos, Guldo will still perform the whole throw regardless of what is happening to the foe. While the throw might initially sound like it's terrible at killing, if Guldo knocks the foe into a boulder or something coming at him from the front, the foe can actually be a fair distance behind Guldo before he ever gives them the foe's backwards knockback, which turns it into a fantastic KO throw. The large distance the foe can potentially cover during this move is good in general for knocking them into multiple lingering hitboxes.

UP THROW - DEBRIS BARRAGE

Guldo levitates the foe around his body like Mewtwo's uthrow. While doing so, he levitates up several decent sized chunks of earth out of the ground next to him slightly smaller than a Neutral Special javelin. Guldo then throws the foe up into the air, dealing an immediate hit of 3% and knockback that kills at 170%. Guldo then throws up the 5 ground chunks up after the foe at very high speeds one after the other, each one dealing 5% and knockback that kills at 150%. These hits don't all combo into each other, with foes being able to move to avoid getting hit by more than one without much problem most of the time, maybe getting hit by two if they have a big hurtbox and/or have poor aerial movement.

The ground chunks fly up very, very quickly and go off the top blast zone, never to be seen again. Guldo can't move quickly enough to try to use Paralysis on these objects, even though the move has quite low ending lag. If Guldo uses Time Freeze, though, the ground chunks will all stop and become frozen instantly, and are big enough for Guldo to jump onto as platforms. They are spaced out far enough apart that Guldo can jump up the 5 of them to reach the top even with his limited jumping ability in this state. At lower percents, Guldo can put on some pummeling on the foe with his Up Special as reaches them in mid-air quickly, assuming he timed Time Freeze properly so that a ground chunk was next to the foe so he can stand on it and beat on the foe. At higher percents, this still enables Guldo to get up into the air to reach after the foe for further combos.

The bad ending lag of Guldo's Up Special can be circumvented by standing on any temporary platform. When Time Freeze stops, the ground will be whisked out from underneath him because it's no longer a platform and interrupt the ending lag instantly, meaning he doesn't have ending lag. Note that projectiles that were frozen in place by Paralysis before Guldo used Up Special will stay that way when it ends, so they don't count, making the casual throwaway ground chunks that are only there for a brief instance during uthrow ideal to use for this purpose here.

At higher percents, Guldo will not be able to make it to the foe in time to hit them given his jumps aren't nearly as fast as his ground speed during Up Special, and eventually won't be able to reach them at all. Getting close enough to the foe to be able to use Guldo's regular midair jump/float once Time Freeze stops can be enough to try to combo with another attack regardless. Guldo can hypothetically hit these fast moving ground chunks with Paralysis after he uses Time Freeze, though this is a pretty high price to pay to keep just one of these fast moving projectiles around for future use, and they only have 10 HP when frozen.

If this attack is used while standing on a Side Specialed object, this will take a hefty 28 HP out of the object, using it up if it had less mass left than that and producing less chunks. This is a big price to pay because this attack can obviously kill a lot sooner off the top when already standing on an aerial object, especially with combos involving Up Special. Guldo pretty much needs all of the chunks in order to form a proper ladder of stones he can climb when using Time Freeze.

DOWN THROW - GINYU FORCE POSE



Guldo telekinetically slams the foe into untechable prone as they're stunned and unable to move briefly for the throw animation, dealing 7%. Guldo then goes to stand on top of them and turns to face the camera (yes, the camera specifically) before performing a Ginyu Force pose on top of the enemy as tacky anime flashing effects show up around him as he says his name. After finishing the pose, he casually kicks the enemy, dealing 2% and terrible knockback that can never kill until like 500%, knocking them out of prone. Guldo has too much ending lag to capitalize on the tiny knockback so he can't even take advantage of it, though it's not punishable on hit or anything.

This throw causes Guldo to gain a much needed self confidence boost, causing his next attack to deal 1.35X damage, which of course boosts the knockback by proxy. Guldo can't just do this at any time by taunting because he's gaining the confidence by taunting right on top of the foe's corpse as he lets them know their place, under his boot. The catch is this is for Guldo's next attack, even if it misses, which will make foes particularly wary. Any extraneous hitboxes that were already out produced by Guldo before he performed the dthrow won't count, so you can't just hit confirm this attack into an incoming projectile to get the power boost for free.

If Guldo grabs the foe successfully with this boost up, the next throw he uses will get the boost, not the grab or the pummel. If he chooses to use dthrow again, the damage won't be boosted but the damage buff will instead stack for the next attack he uses. This can theoretically stack infinitely if you can somehow land enough grabs without missing which is stupidly predictable.

Using Neutral Special and Down Special won't count as a "missed attack" unless you impale them into the ground or the projectiles become used up for one reason or another without damaging a target. Side Special doesn't use up the boost if you hit with it because it doesn't do damage, and hitting a projectile with it still counts as a "hit." Hitting nothing with it, despite the fact it can't do damage, will still use up the buff. Up Special will boost the power of all punches and kicks Guldo performs with time stopped, potentially getting Guldo 35% if he lands all the hits somehow, and Guldo won't be afraid of the foe anymore when he uses the move so he won't waste 9 of the 70 frames if he activates it at melee range. Guldo can pretty much use his 3 specials besides Up Special freely without wasting the buff, so he'll want to set up a chance to do major damage with Up Special if he can without being punished afterwards. Foes, meanwhile, will want to pressure Guldo heavily with the buff up to force him to waste the buff on a weak defensive move. Keep in mind the throw ends with only a 2 frame advantage to Guldo with them right next to him, so Guldo won't have time to instantly activate Time Freeze even if he had some good projectiles positioned.

Even if they can't get the boost themselves, having extraneous set-up already out before using the throw can help to enable you to land the move that's actually been boosted by the Ginyu Force pose. The ability to somewhat use Guldo's core stage construction specials without using the buff makes this an ideal time to try to set something up to get into a more reliable position to land a boosted move instead of just casually throwing something out and praying the foe doesn't dodge.

STANDARDS

JAB - KI BLAST SPIRAL

Guldo fires a standard ki blast in front of himself the size of Mario's fireball that deals 4.5% and knockback that kills at 220%. The projectile has the same range and movement speed as Megaman's fsmash with power more appropriately weak and pathetic for how wimpy the attack looks. Of course, the attack is a lot faster than an fsmash and is very fast. The ending lag is long enough if the jab is stopped here that the projectile isn't spammable, but he can go into the rapid jab very quickly after firing the projectile if he so chooses. During the "ending lag", Guldo can choose to transition into the repeating portion of the jab for most of the frames.

If Guldo holds/rapidly presses the jab, he will begin levitating the ki blast around in a circle big enough for Bowser to fit inside of it. Guldo levitates it around a lot quicker than it naturally moves, causing it to move at 1.2X Captain Falcon's dashing speed in the circular motion, dealing 6% and outward knockback away from the ring that kills at 170%. When Guldo releases the jab for the jab finisher, the projectile will fly off in the direction it is currently going, retaining its speed if it completed at least one full rotation in the repeating jab and increasing the range to be a full Battlefield. The ki blast is not used up if it hits the foe during the repeating jab portion, but will be if it hits a foe as a projectile. Without a full rotation, the ki blast just gains the usual weak hitbox that does 4.5%, but with a rotation it powers up slightly to 8% and knockback that kills at 155%.

During the repeating portion of the jab, Guldo can levitate around the ki blast at the speed of Ganondorf's dash freely with the control stick. While this is a bit slow, this is a very precise projectile that can let Guldo hit people wherever he wants. The rotating nature of the hitbox in particular is useful to hit foes on any side of a platform Guldo is currently standing on. If the platform was too big for the projectile to go all the way around, Guldo can have it go through a hole created by the dsmash. Beware that Guldo cannot levitate the spinning ki blast more than 2 platforms away from himself, in which case he will automatically release the jab.

A particularly threatening technique is to levitate the ki away in front of you, then to throw it back at you to hit any foe who made their way past it and/or to combo the repeating part into the finisher. This is also the only real way to reach the projectile in order to use Paralysis on it, which is useful given this projectile's nature as not being made up of earth makes it remain a hitbox while frozen. Foes can pretty casually shield this thing if it's on the ground to get rid of it, so you will probably want to make it in the air.

Guldo can potentially catch jab ki blasts if he forms the levitation hitbox from the repeating jab again before they reach him. If he levitates it 1.5 platforms away during the repeating portion and fires it back at himself, this will be enough time for him to start up the jab again up to that point to be able to catch it. This enables Guldo to levitate around multiple ki blasts at once with the jab, which isn't too impressive for him to go out of his way to set it up, but can be a nice bonus if Guldo has hit one with Paralysis and it's coming his way. If Guldo has multiple ki blasts in the repeating jab, he can release A briefly before pressing it again to only release the "lead" ki blast while keeping the repeating jab going, enabling him to potentially hit a foe who dodged the first shot or simply to spread out the projectiles.

DASHING ATTACK - GINYU RIDER

Guldo levitates up a small chunk out of the ground barely large enough for him to stand on very quickly and rides it forwards for a brief time. Guldo angles it downwards towards the ground at a 45 degree angle, with the chunk sinking into the ground as he goes as he travels forwards a very small distance further than any other dashing attack, though not by much. The move has two simultaneous hitboxes, one of them is a small stream of dirt in front of the ground chunk that does multiple hits of flinching that total up to 10% over the move. The chunk itself smashes the foe against the ground with one hit of 9%, spiking them against it with knockback that translates into vertical knockback against a grounded enemy and kills them at 200%. The attack is fairly slow overall for a dashing attack given the rather elaborate animation, though still servers its purpose as a punish with servicable starting lag and a decent sized hitbox in front of Guldo.

Foes are not going to get hit by all of the debris and the main attack unless they're wider than an existing Smash Bros character or they specifically try to move into the hits. The one exception to this is if the attack is used at the ledge, as this attack will not cause Guldo to go off of ledges as the ground chunk grinds against the edge in place. This turns the debris sprayed up into a wall of flinching hitbox. In addition, the edge of the ground chunk will protrude from the edge during the attack's animation as it pierces through, still a hitbox and potentially capable of dealing its downward knockback to enemies! The move's long duration works in its favor here to make this a very obnoxious ledgeguard against such enemies who can't afford to spend enough time to wait out the attack's usual vulnerable lag. The debris hits also block foes from recovering over the ledge and can tack on some damage with a much larger hitbox, though in this case won't combo into the main hitbox due to Guldo performing the move in place and can potentially make the move unsafe on hit. Most foes will fall onto the ledge afterwards and have to punish you from there, though, so you're not going to get punished by much.

If this is used on a frozen javelin, Guldo will just use that chunk as the platform, making the move overall much faster as he unfreezes the chunk. Instead of the usual hitbox, the projectile just unfreezes and rides it along its trajectory it was already going before Guldo used the move. While riding it while unfrozen, the javelin isn't a platform foes anyone else is capable of riding on, never having the "platform" status except when frozen. Guldo is only able to ride it while moving after getting good and ready to through this method. He can jump off of it at any time by pressing any other button, at which point he uses his first jump and can't get back on it unless he immediately goes to use Paralysis on it again. This obviously makes it a lot more feasible to use the javelin specifically for recovery in certain situations, though Guldo probably has to set it up in advance given he has to get it off-stage, sent it back towards the stage, use Paralysis on it, then use his dashing attack while standing on it.

This is going to find use a lot more commonly for comboing, as while the javelin can't hit the foe again, Guldo can catch up to the foe pretty quickly. Most notably, Guldo can jump off of the javelin to hit the foe as they're in the middle of being impaled by the javelin, giving him more and more time to confirm another move based off the length of the javelin, or ideally doing it just after they take the second hit. If the foe is hit out of the javelin's freeze frames where they're in the middle of being impaled, the second hitbox will cease to function. While it might look like it at first glance, the freeze frames don't magically last until the javelin goes through them fully, they're just a set duration of frames that roughly match how long it would take the javelin to pass through Bowser. This is the easiest way for Guldo to take advantage of the stun into an aerial, or even more notably Time Freeze. This will turn the javelin into terrain Guldo can stand on once again briefly, though you will need a long javelin to cover Time Freeze's starting lag. As with uthrow, this is ideal because the platform falling out from under Guldo will remove the move's ending lag and potentially let him even land something else afterwards off of the foe's brief flinch. Time Freeze's starting lag prevents Guldo from being able to time the move in such a way that he hits the foe with the javelin's second hitbox and the punches during Time Freeze simultaneously.

If dashing attack is used while standing on top of a frozen boulder, Guldo will not do what he does while standing on a javelin and instead perform the ordinary dashing attack. The reasoning for this is Guldo would have to logroll on top of the boulder after unfreezing it rather than casually standing on it, and given his physical incompetence he'd just comically fail to do that - that's not something he's going to give his foe the luxury of seeing. Trust him, he tried it.

The "ordinary" dashing attack rips out 10 HP worth of ground from the boulder as it remains frozen. Used on a boulder, the small ground chunk won't stop at the "ledge" of the boulder, and instead wrap all the way around said boulder! The hitboxes are the same as usual, but the amount Guldo rotates around the boulder will depend on the size of it. At minimum size, he will rotate around it slightly more than a full rotation, meaning if he started it at one edge and uses dashing attack, he'll end at the opposite edge and still be on solid ground when the move ends. With a max size boulder, even if Guldo stands at the edge when he activates the move, he can only make it two thirds of the way around before the move stops.

Guldo ideally does -not- want to end the move on top of the boulder, as that lets him skip the move's ending lag. Another thing that can stop the move early is if the frozen boulder is close enough to the ground that Guldo cannot fit in-between it and the ground when upside down on it, causing the move to interrupt with minimal lag and potentially be used to Guldo's advantage to strike at foes on the main stage as he barrages foes with the debris. The edge of the ground chunk that protrudes out from the boulder will pop out at varying angles depending on the size of the boulder, and can be used to knock foes at whatever angle the tip is facing, most ideally for gimps or potentially follow ups if Guldo doesn't land on top of the boulder at the end. Aside from the ending lag being potentially cut, Guldo's hurtbox can shift significantly with this move and make the move potentially very safe if the boulder was large, though spamming this attack is obviously impossible given it makes the boulder smaller and smaller with each use. Note that because small rocks can't be stood upon in the first place, this attack can't be used if the boulder has 10 HP or less anyway since he can't stand on it.

FORWARD TILT - PSYCHO DROP

Guldo performs a dropkick in place for an animation somewhat similar to Bowser's fsmash in SSB4. While Guldo's move is faster than Bowser's obviously, much less given it's not on a forward smash, you only get 8% and knockback that kills at 175% out of this attack which is pretty pathetic at the end of the day. The range is a lot worse given Guldo isn't nearly as big as Bowser, and while definitely faster overall than Bowser's fsmash (What an accomplishment) Guldo still has a very elaborate endlag animation where he collapses on the ground and painstakingly takes the time to get up as if he landed from a stall then fall or something. He really needs to lay off those space burgers.

This is a two part ftilt like Snake's if another button input is made, which causes Guldo to place his hands on his head as he yells out and moves forward a platform with great speed, not interrupting whatever else he's doing. The window to input the second half of this move never stops until the ending lag is totally finished and can even be done during the starting lag as well after the first couple frames. Guldo can attempt to slide away during his ending lag, though the ending lag is so long that this isn't going to save him most of the time unless they were under the effects of Paralysis themselves. While this boost has no hitbox of its own, if Guldo boosts forward while he's actually doing the dropkick, the power of the attack will be boosted significantly to something even slightly beginning to compete with the move Guldo is pathetically trying to imitate, dealing 14% and knockback that kills at 125%.

This psychic push can move Guldo off the stage, in which case the horrible ending lag is skipped and Guldo can potentially follow up with an aerial. Guldo still has to wait for his boost to completely finish at least before he can do anything which is still a form of ending lag, and has to go back to what he used the move off of before he can just spam the move out again, but it's another move that transitions great into aerial combat at the ledge/on a frozen platform. While most people will just use the boost during the drop kick every single time (computer Guldos certainly do), waiting to use it until after the drop kick is over can enable the move to combo a lot better with the weaker knockback as he rockets after the foe with no hitbox and hits them with an aerial or whatever.

Guldo's push forwards is just a single concentrated one forwards, and if he goes off the stage his falling speed will still come into play and not be prevented by it or anything. This lets him hop off to attack foes attempting to jump up onto the ledge or whatever other surface Guldo was on. This is another attack good for gimps like dashing attack, though the hitbox itself is a lot more easily avoidable, more about catching the foe's predicted dodge in this scenario. If Guldo manages to somehow land on the ground during the falling after boosting himself forwards (such as by using it on a frozen platform barely off the ground), the move will be interrupted immediately as Guldo experiences "landing lag", which is even worse than the regular ending lag.

This attack is certainly useful at ledges, but Guldo will feel the pain of not having a more reliable ftilt spacer when not at one given this move functions more like a smash attack otherwise. Guldo's aerials provide his primary fodder for spacing, and as such he can expect a lot of air to ground trades which aren't going to turn out too favorably due to his weight. Guldo needs to keep his foes a reasonable distance away from him out of his face with his many "disjointed" moves, only coming in close for reliable follow-ups most of the time.

UP TILT - CROSS EYED LASER

Guldo fires two laser beams out of his regular, small eyes. The laser beams quickly connect directly above Guldo's head and form a small explosion there for a nice fast attack all around, dealing 9% and knockback that can kill people at 165%. Guldo extends the lasers up to keep the explosion going as it travels 0.85 platforms into the air at a very fast rate, though the move isn't capable of hitting people twice. Animation wise, it's similar to his fsmash, but angled upward and using his weaker eyes to produce much weaker lasers. As such, the beams are too weak to even be hitboxes, only the explosion itself.

This attack comes out very quickly and even has a significantly quicker duration than you'd expect, though the hitbox is only the size of a Pokeball at any one place at a time. The hitbox travels up almost a platform's distance in just 6 frames after the initial startup, so this definitely isn't only a melee range move despite coming out more than fast enough to suffice as one.

The main unique property the hitbox has is that rather than dealing simple vertical knockback, the explosion deals radial knockback away from the center of the explosion, always knocking the foe away in the direction they came in towards the hitbox from. This attack's potential vertical range in tandem with its speed make it a good potential combo ender when nothing else will hit, but this radial knockback means it can start combos as well. While the hitbox spawns above Guldo, he's still pretty short, so foes attempting to approach with a shorthopped aerial can potentially be knocked down at Guldo's feet by this attack with good prediction, or back off the ledge if they were attempting to recover high over said ledge.

If this attack hits an earth javelin/rock from below, Guldo's lasers won't carve out a hole in it like dsmash. Instead, they will only deal very light damage to the object, only 4 HP worth, as some light debris falls out from it downwards up to 1.5 Ganon heights before vanishing. The debris deals a handful of hits that totals to just 2.5% and a series of very brief flinches, leaving the foe directly in Guldo's face at the end in a roughly frame neutral state. While far from ideal, it makes the move at least a tiny bit safer. The lasers will not go through an object in the way, and will just explode against the object for as long as it is in the way or the move's very brief 6 frame duration (Again, not counting starting or ending lag) expires. This can be a good thing to make the move harder to dodge, and the explosion's radius is increased slightly when it hits a surface like this, enough to hit anybody who was standing on the platform from below. If the surface did have a hole in it from dsmash, Guldo's range on the object is pretty versatile based off where he utilts it from below.

DOWN TILT - PSYCHO CRUSHER

Guldo lifts up his hands to levitate up two fairly small rocks from the ground in front of himself, then makes his hands into fists and smacks them together which causes the rocks to smash into each other, shattering them both to pieces. This is a fantastic move all around as it deals 11% and knockback that kills at 125% straight forwards against foes while being fast and having good range.

The catch with this move is the good range is too good. Guldo levitates up the rocks about 1.3 Bowser widths in front of himself, meaning even Bowser can very casually stand in front of him while the move happens with plenty of leeway and little to fear, let alone a more normal sized character. The hitbox itself is still pretty large to threaten foes off in the distance, and foes on the other side of the hitbox who attempt to roll past it will definitely not be able to punish Guldo given the speed of the move. While a foe in front of Guldo can easily punish him if they were too close to him, a foe who dodged will end up the one getting punished most of the time. While it takes some getting used to, this is one of Guldo's most important "melee" ground moves and should make foes greatly respect this specific distance away from Guldo. This moves is a very common combo ender, as the great distance the hitbox spawns from Guldo enables him to get combos a lot of characters couldn't.

With this move's speed, a bad player can try to awkwardly run away to try to get the foe into the precise range this move hits at which is a rather poor idea and isn't going to work well if they're dead set on landing this specific attack. However, Guldo actually has a way of decreasing this move's range to make it more spammable. If there is not enough ground in front of Guldo to perform the attack, he will perform it at the edge of the surface he's standing on, potentially directly underneath himself if he's standing right at the ledge. When close to the edge of the stage, this move becomes insanely threatening as Guldo gains a lot more control over the move's range based off which direction he faces and how close he is to the ledge. This can be one of Guldo's primary ways to knock enemies off of the ledge to begin his ledgeguarding/gimping game, becoming a very offensive attack here rather than a space controlling one elsewhere. Unfortunately, this attack won't actually hit people trying to grab the ledge itself, but Guldo's dashing attack and ftilt, along with his air-game, provide more than enough edgehogging pressure.

Earth platforms are another way to artifically limit this attack's range for spammable purposes, though using the dtilt will take 10 HP out of it. If the dtilt destroys the platform outright, Guldo will complete the attack normally but not be interrupted from the ending lag without ground under his feet anymore. While this isn't a lot of ending lag to get rid of, with how fast the attack is it's practically coming out at lightning speed and shouldn't be underestimated.

Moreso than aerial platforms, having a javelin impaled into the stage is useful. For the purposes of this attack, a slope on the stage from an impaled javelin will count as part of the same platform Guldo is standing on. This can enable Guldo to limit the range of his dtilt to be closer to him when near one as if he was close to the edge right in the middle of the stage, giving Guldo great control over his dtilt's range if he just walks a bit in nearly any direction.

AERIALS

NEUTRAL AERIAL - BANISH

Guldo braces himself as he tucks his stubby limbs into his fat body, gathering energy. This causes a very large area around Guldo to distort in the air, affected by Guldo's levitation. The kind of range we're talking about is if a circle of Bowsers were around Guldo. In exchange for this great range, all the levitation does is pull foes in towards Guldo weakly, functioning as a "wind hitbox" as enemies are pulled in slightly less forcefully than Dedede's inhale. After a brief period of this of this, Guldo extends out all of his limbs as far as he can, creating a burst that only reaches out slightly from his body. This outwards push deals 11% and radial knockback that kills at 135%, pretty respectable.

This aerial is faster than it sounds, the wind hitbox coming out quickly and the move's ending lag not being bad either. The only thing that's slow is getting to the actual hitbox that does damage, knockback, and stun. In order to use this move properly, Guldo will want to catch foes at the edge of the move's range and move away from them with his high aerial movement so they can't attack him until the primary hitbox comes out. Getting a proper balance of this is quite difficult, as foes can potentially just move away to evade the hitbox or rush in to try to hit you depending on what they're feeling like. The first part of the move is fast enough there's not much time for either party to really react to the other one, they have to make a decision and stick with it. This is very, very powerful against enemies recovering into you from below, though the movement from most recoveries, when combined with the boost, should be enough for them to interrupt you out of the attack if their recovery has a hitbox, or at least get above you.

A foe attempting to move in towards Guldo when he uses this attack will require Guldo to predict the foe's actions pretty heavily in advance and activate the move from a distance. The best thing Guldo can hope to predict with this attack is an air dodge, because wind hitboxes are capable of hitting enemies in dodges. Dodging is the last thing the foe wants to do when responding to this attack, and with extraneous hitboxes around it should be fairly obvious when the foe is going to dodge. A foe who can't move because of Paralysis is also prime fodder to be hit by this move, though beware even hitting with just the wind hitbox will be enough to count as a hit to free them from their effect.

The main hitbox does radial knockback away from Guldo's body, so by default most people are going to be sent away from Guldo in the direction they were sucked in from. Guldo can attempt to move to choose where he's going to knock them away with his superior aerial movement and fairly small size once they get sucked in, but the timeframe for this is very, very brief unless Guldo sucked them in when they were already close to him and he hit them early on in the move. If Guldo has time to move to change where the foe is going to be knocked away, the foe is almost always going to have time to interrupt him out of the move. If the foe was stuck in lag from a dodge, though, Guldo is more free to redirect them wherever he pleases, such as into a projectile that caused them to dodge in the first place.

FORWARD AERIAL - PSYCHO PUSH

Guldo performs the Kamehameha/Hadouken motion with his hands, but nothing shows up in his hands. Instead, Guldo simply uses his levitation to push foes forwards with it directly as hard as he can. This deals 7% and knockback that kills at 150% with very high base knockback. This is one of Guldo's fastest attacks and the hitbox in front of Guldo is about as big as he is, so this is Guldo's main way to casually knock enemies out of his face and/or off the stage. Guldo's ledge hogging game is powerful enough that he'll often want to send foes there who have no realistic chance of failing to make it back just to better damage rack them or use the time for set-up.

This attack's low damage scaling and high base knockback makes it scale greatly with both rage and a dthrow pose boost. Having either one of these things is enough for the foe to be wary of this attack, having both will make foes be panicked outright. For what a great KO move this is, it's hard to resist the temptation to use it regularly during the stock when it's Guldo's single most casual move to throw out at any time. Even if you don't hit people with it, Guldo needs to at least throw it out enough to make people respect it and remind them of its existence.

The attack has a sourspot on it that can slightly dampen it, that being Guldo's hands. The hands deal 4% and pitiful knockback that kills at 500% while canceling out the move's threatening hitbox. At low percentages, this makes the attack unsafe on hit as the foe just punishes Guldo outright for the attack! In the least, Guldo's great aerial movement/float means he can often escape the punishment, so it's not nearly as bad as it could be.

The hands hitbox eventually stops being unsafe on hit around 100% due to scaling (even if Guldo does not move away), and at around 225% actually starts being usable to combo into stuff. This percent can be brought down to earth by making use of Guldo's rage and dthrow buff, which when combined can make it combo a lot sooner, say 60% with both at once. The most obvious thing to combo this into is just another fair, though with enough it can potentially combo into Side Special. While Guldo can't keep the dthrow buff for more than one attack, with max rage and a bit of damage on the foe the sourspot can actually wall of pain into itself before Guldo finishes the foe with the move's very powerful sweetspot.

BACK AERIAL - EYE BEAM

The nature of Guldo's eyes enables him to see behind himself without turning around. Who needs ki sensing anyway? For the move, Guldo clenches three of his four eyes shut to try to focus his vision, only keeping open the eye on the side of his head that's currently looking at the camera as it glows with energy. Guldo then proceeds to fire a fairly thick single concentrated laser beam out of said eye that reaches back a platform, dealing 15% over a handful of flinching hits before the final hit does big knockback that kills at 110%. Not only does this attack have considerable starting lag for an aerial, but Guldo will keep the laser going for a good while before he stops.

This would struggle to see a ton of use on characters with weak aerial statistics, but on Guldo it's feasible to get past the lag in order to use it reliably. The long duration obviously can be bad, but having a platform wide hitbox stapled to Guldo's eye for a while is pretty nice with his great aerial movement and his float. Guldo can reliably bypass the starting lag against off-stage enemies before moving it around to threaten enemies, and for all the lag throughout the rest of the move the ending lag is low enough to easily punish foes who casually dodge the attack. The landing lag isn't nearly as generous, but it's pretty easy for Guldo to avoid that with his float.

This attack is different from normal multihit moves in that the specific hits don't occur at specific times during the move. Instead, anybody who is hit by the laser's hitbox gets hit by the "first hit" and so on no matter where in the move's duration it is, meaning if foes get caught in the move a bit further in they can still take all of the move's damage potentially, given the move goes on for so long. On the other hand, if Guldo does hit the foe towards the end of the move, it becomes possible the move can end with the foe just taking a lot of damage and stun without taking the move's powerful knockback. While it's sad that the foe won't take the move's powerful knockback, this true combos into Guldo's Side Special at any percentage. Because the foe is behind Guldo, basically nothing will combo into them in this scenario outside of a B Reversed Side Special to turn around. While very powerful, the move is already slow to start, and Guldo has to wait even longer and treat part of the move's duration as "starting lag" if he wants to use this powerful combo. This is rather impractical to actively strive to hit with much, but can sometimes happen "accidentally" when Guldo throws out this move as a powerful "wall" of a hitbox behind himself, as hitting with the regular move is hardly something to complain about. Overall, it makes using the move as a space controller that much more potent if the lag is bypassed.

While this attack is much too slow to "combo" out of anything else, using it after dsmash while standing on a frozen platform is a decent trick. Guldo's dsmash in that scenario will leave him in the air given he's removed the ground out from underneath himself and it also turns him around. This is decent as an evasive attack as the foe attempts to pursue you down through the hole you made, rushing away during the move's starting lag.

If this move's long duration is unwanted, it makes a very potent edge hogging move given Guldo fires it behind himself and can just cancel out of the attack by snapping to the ledge during it. This is a very strong gimping technique at the ledge in addition to Guldo's grounded ones, but in this scenario the way the move hits people kind of works against him, making him unable to casually poke foes with the super strong knockback hit. The stun from the early hits isn't long enough for Guldo to combo Side Special out of anymore (or anything else) after going through the ledge grabbing animation. Still, at worst it can safely tack on some damage before Guldo gets ready to hop off and attack the foe again, and if the foe air dodges Guldo might have enough time to do something about it even with the ledge grab lag.

UP AERIAL - LEVITATIONAL LIFT

Guldo raises both of his hands above his head as some air distorts above him. This creates a levitational effect above Guldo's head about Bowser's width, but the height of the hitbox is smaller than a Pokeball. At the start of the move it doesn't have a hitbox, but instead this portion of ground functions as a non drop through platform. The main purpose of this is to trigger the foe's landing lag and interrupt them out of an attack. After keeping this up for a brief moment, Guldo will then put more force behind the attack for an actual hitbox, dealing 7% and vertical knockback that kills off the top at 160% with a decently strong base. If the foe triggered landing lag of an attack, Guldo will reverse the momentum of their attack to send them further away, boosting the damage and knockback by a third of what their own attack would have done if it hit. If this triggers, Guldo will let out a grunt as the foe gets spun around in an animation like Mewtwo's Side Special during their knockback animation.

The psychic "platform" will not refresh jumps and recoveries beyond a first jump, which can potentially give allies a small boost or be a nice way to knock them out of helpless, or just enable allies to briefly use grounded moves in the air on demand (Obviously moves like Guldo's that directly use the stage as a resource won't work, and people can't be pitfalled or whatever into thin air). Foes, on the other hand, can potentially have their hitboxes reach through the psychic platform down to hit Guldo and knock him out of the move before they experience landing lag if he's not careful.

Guldo can angle the move 20 degrees to the left or right to hold it up at an angle. While moving to the side to not interrupt the foe's landing lag with the actual hitbox might sound like a good idea, that in of itself will interrupt the foe's landing lag given you've just removed the "ground" from underneath them. The move instead comes across as a fairly direct counter. A lot of aerials may seem great with next to no downside, but the hidden landing lag that no good player ever experiences, when brought to the forefront, can be their downfall. Use it to bring out the worst in the foe's air game with landing lag and use their strongest moves against them to ensure your aerial dominance. While the attack is considerably faster than a normal counter, you have to keep in mind a normal counter makes the user's entire body a hitbox. On the plus side, this can potentially hit foes who did nothing.

In the case of enemy projectiles and javelins, the platform won't "use them up" and they will instead just float against it for a while, being temporarily halted. Boulders will treat these as fully solid ground and roll against them, potentially building up momentum if the attack is "angled" to create a slope and/or changing the trajectory the boulder was rolling at. Given the width of this attack isn't nearly as large as a full length javelin, this won't get it to full momentum by itself, but is still a handy boost and mostly useful for redirecting the boulders. While the foe's potential landing lag will mostly keep them in place for the move's hitbox afterwards, it's possible to keep them there to instead be hit by the boulder which can often be more powerful.

DOWN AERIAL - EYE LASER SHOTS

Guldo fires a pair of tiny laser projectiles from his regular eyes. The lasers are parallel to each other and take up about a Pokeball's space when they're next to each other, though are still separate hitboxes as they head down towards the ground. Getting hit will cause them to explode into Wario sized hitboxes, and getting hit by any explosive hitbox (such as the other one's hitbox) will cause them to explode. Each projectile deals multiple hits that total up to 6.5%, with the last dealing knockback that kills at 170% horizontally.

The projectiles are fired at a slight angle forwards, about 20 degrees. Guldo can exaggerate the horizontal range by floating forwards if he wants, though is mainly going to be raining these tiny shots down on his enemies. The starting lag isn't too quick, but the ending lag is brief enough Guldo can pretty casually freeze it with Side Special despite the projectile's very brief duration, only traveling a platform downwards before vanishing early. This is one of Guldo's most reliable ways of controlling space in mid-range combat and is an obvious way to encourage foes to come up into the air with him and/or onto his floating construct as he pressures foes with this move during his float. At the ledge, obviously the foe doesn't have choice.

This attack can be detonated early by any explosive hitbox, which for Guldo means his other eye laser attacks. This is only going to come into play when the laser shots are frozen and as such requires set-up, but the fact these tiny shots stick around as a trap like the jab shots while frozen in place makes them pretty great even without going out of your way to interact with them.

If Guldo uses fsmash on these shots, they're going to pile on raw damage as Guldo pushes the foe through them with the weaker beam hitbox, at least if the foe has a percent over roughly 55% or Guldo has some rage. With these two factors combined, it's very rare the foe won't get pushed past the explosions before the final hits that do knockback, with wider foes actually having an advantage here as they become less likely to be pushed past the shots in time. Just barely pushing the foe past the hitbox is ideal to get a full bonus 12% without the final hit connecting so they don't get knocked out of the fsmash, though Guldo's not going to complain about a lesser bonus if he has too much rage/percent on the foe. If Guldo really wants to use this technique super early in the match or the foe is super fat, dthrow boost is more than enough for the lasers to knock foes past the dair shots in time.

If Guldo uses dsmash on these shots, it can be used as a very simplistic damage boost if the foe was hit by the dsmash and the explosion from the dair at the same time. This isn't enough of a payoff to really be worth your time in most cases. Unlike the fsmash, Guldo may well actually want the dair hit that does knockback to occur to cancel out the foe's knockback. This can be accomplished by having the frozen dair shots behind you and knocking the foe back there into them with dsmash, potentially providing low enough lag to combo off of. Dsmash can already combo at low percents, though this can potentially extend it further. Even during ranges where dsmash combos by itself, tacking on a hit in the middle isn't a bad thing.

Hitting the frozen shots with the large, primary hit of Guldo's fthrow will cause the foe to get hit downwards past the explosion from the dair. Assuming there was ground underneath the foe, they'll bounce off of it back into the dair explosion, which will be stronger than the dthrow's knockback after it's been greatly reduced by the foe having been bounced off the floor and add on some more damage to the attack. While this will increase the knockback, this will increase the overall time the foe is in stun and potentially enable a combo Guldo couldn't get off of just the fthrow alone.

FINAL SMASH - GULDO FORCE

Guldo uses a more powerful version of his paralysis on the foe to the point they can't even move at all if he successfully hits the enemy in front of him. Should he hit, he'll quickly knock the enemy to the ground with a two handed punch, dealing a whopping 5% as they remain frozen. After that, he'll do a full elaborate Ginyu team pose, doing the parts of all five members single handedly as doing all of the signature poses. He accomplishes this by freezing time briefly to get into position for each pose and unfreezing it so that his enemies can see, then freezing time again to get into position for the next pose, all happening very quickly. This happens quickly enough that afterimages will be left behind of where Guldo was, so that Guldo can actually be seen doing all 5 of the poses at once. Guldo says his own name each time he does a pose, rather than the name of the person who's pose he stole. After he's finished, he skewers the enemy with multiple javelins simultaneously, sending them flying off with 37% and knockback that kills at 60%.

If he uses the attack on an unallied Ginyu Force member, he'll say "See? I didn't need ANY of you!" On Vegeta specifically, he'll have a long list of different burns he can say to him that he's been practicing to himself for years that probably sounded better in his head.

September 12 (Early Morning): Posted Moveset

September 12 (Afternoon):Removed a paragraph from dsmash that enabled it to semi spike - it now no longer reaches below edges when used at the edge of a stage/platform.

November 7: Removed conflicting message about impaled javelins being unattackable.

February 5: Increased ending lag of Javelin and Rock, made it so javelin will always go in the same direction it's facing, added some token lines to jab and utilt. The projectile jab just has more ending lag so it can't be casually canceled out of rather than what was there previously. The utilt hitbox always sends foes "away from where they came from."

May 9: Fixed error that says fsmash laser knockback is set.
 
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ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
Doomfist
I have not been shy about my support for this set in chat because at least as far as I'm concerned, this is way better than any other moveset you've made. The concept of gaining a brief single hit worth of super armor for a small period of time every time you land a gauntlet attack is a fun one, but it definitely takes a bit of work to sell how interesting it can be. Unlike your Overwatch sets last contest however, this one actually manages to take the Smash engine and utilize it to the fullest in a way that makes the set feel deep and satisfying, as Doomfist's Ganondorf-style bruiser moves are actually stylized in a way that makes them synergize incredibly well with the mechanic. Its a bit hard for me, personally, to describe why it works so well as this isn't a style of moveset I usually approve that strongly of, but the set does a great job of detailing the nuances of advantage states created by the super armor in a way that's actually very compelling and had my attention through the entire set. Despite having a fair few simpler moves, they usually have enough of an interesting role in supplementing the constant super armored assault that its hard to complain about it. Also the one construct in the set, the wall, does some very cool things with knockback that I'm probably going to end up stealing at some point in the future because that's among the best uses I've seen for a simplistic wall. Its not perfect, I did think Dair having an outright grab hitbox on it was kind of bizarre, but its probably the best move of that(admittedly highly questionable) type I know of, but while I say that it is very hard for me to come up with complaints. I can't say I find the style consistently fascinating and I'm not 100% sold on the "fear" element of his playstyle in a more competitive setting, but that's really about the most I can find to complain about. Very good set.

Punch Time Explosion Aku
The idea behind this set is a bit of a confusing one to be perfectly honest. It takes an absolutely awful set and tries to fix it by mostly just taking out the very obviously bad things like the lagless death laser and often nonsensical ways his attacks worked. It mostly succeeds there, but honestly there are some things that were left in that still struck out to me as pretty bad. Aku turning into a bat whenever he's in the air is honestly a very awkward and stupid idea to begin with, and is definitely something from the original PTE that should have been scrapped. For that matter, the scorpion move still comes across as really poorly executed, and the set randomly adds some ability for Aku to infinitely stall via Up Special's lack of helpless and the Down Aerial of all things. The main thing is with all its flaws stripped away, what does the PTE set really have to offer? There's very little if anything to even like here, even with all the worst of the original set removed, and the comedy mostly comes down to referencing a log of things wrong with the set that is much funnier to actually read itself. Its interesting to see you trying an experiment like this, don't get me wrong, but I don't think much of anything came out of it. At the very least, the "Aku is one of the most powerful characters in fiction" line made for some very chat discussion so for that reason alone I'm perfectly happy with this set's existence.

McCree
I've always been partial to Snake's grenades as a move and McCree does at least a few decent things with them by modifying their properties. While nobody's really fond of stun in modern MYM using them specifically as a very controlled kind of it for setups is pretty fun. Combat roll is also pretty neat in how it affects McCree's spacing game, which is focused around middle ranges being better than longer ones. This combination is at least decently well-emphasized in the earlier parts of the set, with stuff like FTilt and Up Smash as solid rewards for staying midrange and some decent spacing tools to get there, kind of functioning like a weird hybrid of Marth and Snake in terms of playstyle. Those are two sets that I do feel are good sources of inspiration, but sadly the aerials and throws here just feel kind of lackluster, not really adding much of anything that what's already been established. The other thing is I sadly wasn't much of a fan of Down Special, as while it was a plenty clever way to incorporate a mechanic from Overwatch that sounds broken on paper it comes across more as baggage in the actual set where its barely mentioned past its original appearance compared to the flashbangs and combat roll. Its solid enough that its worthy of a weak vote, but I think with better use of the Down Special and better throws and aerials it could've been more than that.

Junkrat
I'm sort of amused two of the Overwatch sets posted thus far have Snake's grenades as one of the main mechanics, with Junkrat's being a little closer to the original in terms of application. That's fine by me as Snake's grenades are a plenty cool move and there is room for different takes on them, though Junkrat actually has his own stun-type move in the steel traps. I find Junkrat a bit more fun though, as the little "self-destruct" bit on the grenades is a rather nice touch in terms of making him fight in an erratic, sometimes hard to predict manner and on a whole I think the set stayed a bit more consistent. The aerials here are actually pretty fun with how the peg leg aerials play off mobility and avoiding punishment on the opponent's shield while the Fair gives him a "big threat" of sorts, and then the Standards and Smashes go on to give the opponent actual reason to throw up a shield against Junkrat when he's such a good shield poker, as there are some very useful moves there that get punished hard by shields. I do feel that despite having a solid set of specials, the set could have done a bit to acknowledge them later on as by comparison to Doomfist's wall I don't feel any of the specials really got as much mileage in later inputs as they could have. Its also admittedly a little dry, as the set doesn't have an extremely strong core mechanic to tie its playstyle together like Doomfist does and more tries to play off "chaotic movement", which isn't a terribly compelling concept by itself even if its executed fine here. All in all it is another solid set from you Muno and gives a sense that you're actually developing the style you wanted to have back with Tracer and Sombra into more of a reality, just lacking a strong enough core to really push it to be anything more than "solid".

Blastertron
Sadly, this set is kind of a mess which unlike Aku at least has ideas, but ultimately never really succeeds at playing off them in any noteworthy fashion. The concept of a charge which can be used on any move of a specific type in a set is neat, though it usually needs some other concepts to play off as sets try not to use this alone as it doesn't create a playstyle by itself. Blastertron does not succeed at providing anything else for the "charging" concept to play around with simultaneously, as the other ideas the set offers mostly amount to a weird and not particularly well balanced hologram field and some movement restricting stuff. Movement restriction is at best something to throw on as a bonus status effect which you have to be pretty aware of to utilize and at worst something to be avoided outright, using it as the secondary core concept doesn't really work all that well. Not that it ends up amounting to much of anything, as the set's actual playstyle seems to mostly just amount to the fact that "my sword can shoot lasers when I have a charge", which is done repeatedly throughout the moveset and is definitely not much of a selling point. When its not doing that, its doing things like allowing an instant 70% combo(which sounds pretty broken and unfun to play against) and creating weird pillar lasers which act like walls even though they shouldn't. By the end the set never manages a coherent playstyle and mostly just comes across as not really managing to get anything out of its ideas.
 

Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Dear Smashboards Forums, I never thought it would happen to me. My computer died. I won't be on basically anything for the next while, until I get a new one. Which will be around a day. Hopefully I can recover everything.
 

Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
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Never mind the question. I just simply increased the durability for the Omega Metroid's back by 0.5x, while the chest area will receive 0.5x more damage from attacks.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
This is for the Make Your Move 19 Final User Rankings.

Smash Daddy
Sets: Hotel Mario Roy*, Magellan*, Pinstripe*, Goldman and the Emperor*
Points: 428

Munomario777
Sets: Isaac*, Agatio*, Tracer*, Sombra*, Min Min*, Inkling*, Zenyatta*
Points: 349

Bionichute
Sets: Pain-yatta, Silent But Deadly*, Jestro*, Genis, Kizaru, Blitzwing, Nick Wilde*, Shockwave*
Points: 337

JOE!:
Sets: Captain America*, Cyclops*, Iron Man, The Beast, Thor, Storm, The Hulk, Wolverine*
Points: 321

Katapultar:
Sets: Liz Eird*, Izuna*, Miss Kobayashi*, Ohana Matsumae*, Marion Quinn*
Points: 228

ForwardArrow
Sets: Iguana, Knight*
Points: 161

Dr. Slavic
Sets: Ira Gamagori, Sucy Manbavaran*
Points: 152

Professor Lexcovermis
Sets: Shovel Knight, Plague Knight*, Father Canine*
Points: 140

FrozenRoy
Sets: Fortis*, The Six Samurai - Nisashi*
Points: 138

MasterWarlord
Sets: Jr. Troopa, N. Brio*, Necrid*
Points: 129

Reigaheres:
Sets: Turtonator
Points: 88

IvanQuote
Sets: Ray
Points: 76

Chris Sifnoitis
Sets: Commander Keen, Sailor Moon*
Points: 76

WeirdChillFever
Sets: Daisy
Points: 50

Rychu
Sets: President George Washington*
Points: 47

Jamietheaurauser
Sets: Magearna
Points: 45

Conren:
Sets: Andy*
Points: 45

UserShadow7898
Sets: Butterfree
Points: 38

der Rabe
Sets: Samus Aran (Improved)
Points: 37

Altais
Sets: Celica
Points: 34

Brostulip
Sets: Wario
Points: 30

BKupa666
Sets: Petey Pirahna
Points: 30

Ghirahilda
Sets: Mimikyu
Points: 30

Rootspread
Sets: Alien Hominid
Points: 30

Beets
Sets: Muffet
Points: 30

ChaosKiwi
Sets:
Points: 10

-Plazzap-
Sets:
Points: 5

lordvaati:
Sets:
Points: 2

Kholdstare
Sets:
Points: 1

majora_787
Sets:
Points: 1

Current End Point: GAME OVER END OF MAKE YOUR MOVE 19

---

Okay, so, those who are paying attention may remember that I promised a reward for us hitting 60 sets during Make Your Move 19. It's taken me a while to gather everything, but we've come to the point which I can definitiely say what it is and has always been planned to be. I meant to do this on the 1st but BUSY AAA.

To be specific, the reward for reaching 60 sets is for the "winner" of the User Rankings, which by a fairly large margin ended up being Smash Daddy. As for the reard, that is One set or one article topic of his choice, to be delivered by the end of Make Your Move 20.

Now, I'm not exactly going to go and say it'd be absolutely anything, in part because that's how deals pretty much always died before. So, here's some basic rules/guidelines.

1) It should be something discussed that I'd be interested in and feel I have a realistic feeling I can finish. Trying to get me to make King Cold from Dragon Ball Z or PTE Flapjack or something, then it probably isn't gonna happen even with a prize, since I'll never get the motivation to get off my ass and do it.

2) You don't have to list one thing, if you don't want. I am perfectly willing and indeed happy if, say, you did a Top 10 most wanted sets, a list of article ideas you'd find interesting, both sets AND article ideas and so on. The more information you give me, the more likely I am to actually finish anything! It does mean odds of getting a specific option are a bit lesser, but it is still helpful.

3) If one wants me to make something I am unfamiliar with or have a lot of difficulty with, I may ask for a joint on the project.

4) The deadline for this is during MYM20 in general, so it won't necessarily be out instantly, but I will try to not make you wait forever.

Now, you may have noticed that despite knowing that Smady is the winner, I wrote that as if anyone could have this victory. Why would I do that? Well, wait a little bit, and you'll find out...next time (on Dragon Ball Z!).
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
On November 11th, Make Your Move will celebrate its 10th anniversary. That's right, a decade of making fake movesets for Smash Bros. At least it is really productive making of fake movesets, am I right?

While the Make Your Move contest allows any movesets, it is not all that surprising that one thing that brought it popularity early was people wondering what newcomers would be in Super Smash Bros Brawl...yes, Brawl, not even Smash 4, we're that old. However, recently, it seems like we haven't had much in the way of "realistic" (which is to say, "Smashboards Realistic", because we all guessed stupid crap that wouldn't get in too) newcomers.

Feeling nostalgic for this, I deciced that for Make Your Move's 10th anniversary, I decided to run a little extra on the side to tap into that, similiar to JOE's add-ons or the Iron MYMer. Your task is to make sets for "realistic" newcomers and come on top among those who do as well for a reward. This is a contest long event.

Qualifications

So, how does one determine a "realistic" newcomer? There's no easy way and I am pretty open to people suggesting stuff, so if you're unsure, just hit me up for a Smashboards PM, on Skype or whatnot and ask! Below, though, I will list various criteria and example for entry.

- Just like Sakurai, we are only allowed to pick characters who originated in video games, not things like anime or live action movies/TV. Sorry, Frank Underwood, you're just not viable.

- For the most part, Smash 4 has required characters who appeared in Nintendo games or whatnot, but Cloud breaks that trend given he only appeared on a 3DS Rhythm game and in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and so has no major appearances and whatnot. Therefor, the criteria is only that their franchise must have appeared in a Nintendo game, in any way, shape or form, even if it is a crappy random racing game or something. That's right, Crash Boom Bang! qualifies Crash Bandicoot to appear. For the purposes of simplicity, plus we have no idea how realistic it is anyway, issues of character rights and getting them is ignored and we just will assume that Nintendo can get any character we want.

- Relating to the many Smashboards theories on Assist Trophies being possible newcomers or increasing odds, any character who is an Assist Trophy automatically qualifies for this. Pokeballs are exempt. Note that this allows a lot of characters who normally wouldn't qualify. For simplicity and less burden on you, I have included a list of all Assist Trophies in Brawl + Smash 4 in the spoiler below.

Andross (Star Fox)
Barbara (Jam With The Band)
Devil (Devil World)
Dr. Wright (SimCity)
Excitebiker (Excitebike)
Gray Fox (Metal Gear)
Hammer Brother (Mario)
Helirin (Kururin)
Infantry and Tanks (Advance Wars)
Isaac (Golden Sun)
Jeff (Earthbound)
Jill (Drill Dozer)
Kat & Ana (Wario)
Knuckle Joe (Kirby)
Lakitu (Mario)
Little Ma-WAIT A MINUTE
Lyn (Fire Emblem)
Metroid (...Metroid)
Mr. Resetti (Animal Crossing)
Nintendog (Nintendog)
Ray Mk II (Custom Robo)
Saki Amamiya (Sin and Punishment)
Samurai Goroh (F-Zero)
Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Starfy (Starfy)
Tingle (The Legend of Zelda)
Waluigi (Mario)
Ashley (Wario)
Chain Chomp (Mario)
Color TV Game 15 (Color TV) - PREPARE THE PONG SET
Dark Samus (Metroid)
Dillon (Dillon's Rolling Western)
Dr. Kawashima (Brain Age)
Elec Man (Mega Man)
Ghirahim (The Legend of Zelda)
Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde (Pac-Man)
Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
Magnus (Kid Icarus)
Midna (The Legend of Zelda)
Mother Brain (Metroid)
Nightmare (Kirby)
Phosphora (Kid Icarus)
Riki (Xenoblade)
Sable Prince (The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls)
Sheriff (Sheriff)
Skull Kid (The Legend of Zelda)
Starman (Earthbound)
Takamaru (The Mysterious Murasame Castle)

- Generally speaking, common sense knowledge of importance will determine if a character makes sense, unless they're an AT or something in which case all caution is thrown to the wind and you can make Pong if you want. Koopa the Quick is pretty unlikely to get in, as a random one off in Super Mario 64 who isn't especially remembered, and someone like Parakarry is more likely to get in then a generic Paratroopa. Recurring characters, even in more minor roles past their initial one, obviously create more appeal and possibility than random one-offs, and characters widely popular within their games/within big games are more likely as well.

I will use The Legend of Zelda as an example. Vaati was a major antagonist in 3 Legend of Zelda games and is considered decently memorable, despite the games being more spin-off-y. While Vaati probably has a low actual chance of getting in, they're a charcter who gets guessed a good deal (as anyone within the Brawl community back in the day would remember), and so would count for our "realistic" choices. Zant, Ghirahim, Yuga and Skull Kid are all major antagonists in each of their respective, main line games with following and appeal, and all would be obvious choices to be allowed. Dark Link is not much of a character, but has appeared quite frequently and has a good deal of fandom appeal, plus even though the set probably would not be cloned the possibility of them being a clone would raise their chances, so they would probably count.

By contrast, Bellum and Malladus may have been main villains in their games, but they did not recur, Bellum has no dialogue and the games are not as mainline important and remembered (Bellum gets no dialogue!), nor are they as villains, thus they would be incredibly unlikely to get in before lots and lots of other people, and wouldn't count. Agahnim is in a similiar boat, however, he would probably get a bonus as a possible "retro" option, so I could potentially be persuaded to include him. Moblins are common, recurring enemies in the series, but it is also incredibly unlikely a random Moblin would appear in Smash before many other characters had been exhausted, so they're also right out. Phantom Ganon would be in a similiar boat to Dark Link, but has appeared in less games and has a good deal less notoriety, therefor he would be much more borderline.

- Series which are already within Smash 4 or Brawl are all fair game: Series outside of them can be included, if logical, and if they have any nintendo appearances or history. Any character who has appeared in the Smash Bros series is fair game, even if they are cut like Wolf: Freaking Dr. Mario came back, after all. Remix sets of characters inside of the Smash Bros series are allowed. Characters who fit repeated Sakurai trends also may be more allowed: The most obvious example being Sakurai's joy of including "retro" sets allowing more room for "retro" characters. Characters like Balloon Fighter who may normally have a chance might become an option due to trophies and retro appeal, for example. Characters who appear in big multi-character games for the series, like Musou games (Hyrule Warriors) or other Nintendo fighters (Pokken), also makes them a lot more likely to show up.

- Alternate/specific game versions of existing characters are definitely allowed, considering Dark Pit, Dr. Mario and so on. So for example: Paper Mario, Toon Ganondorf, Toon Zelda/Tetra or Classic Wario (going for the platformers and stuff).

- So, then, what about that competition stuff? Well, this is a bit more of a competition than the Iron MYMer contest, although it actually does related to the Iron MYMer in one sense: Any set posted for this counts as an Iron MYMer entry, and if it counts for the Iron MYMer entry normally, then it'll count twice.

For the contest specific to this, however, we're using a different system. To be specific, we shall look towards the Every Moveset By Franchise List and most specifically its point system for franchises. Every set made which qualifies for this gets 5 points, for its existance, and then gets points based on where it places on the Top XX. While the Franchise List scales to 50 so that earlier contests don't get an unfair advantage, we don't need to do that here, so every placing is one point, up to 1st. So, in a Top 46 like last contest, 1st place gets 46 points, 2nd gets 45 points and 46th gets 1 point, for example. If the set you made wins, then it gets a 5 point bonus, for being the contest winner.

So, what's the point of this competition? Well, it is for a reward, specifically a reward like the Make Your Move 19 User Rankings which I posted one post above. Except obviously, since this takes all contest, the reward is for Make Your Move 21. Of course, if I win, I get nothing except keeping all of your grubby hands off of my setmaking and articles...unless anyone would like to throw their hat into the ring as a reward as well, of course. Get to it!

- Below, in spoiler tags, I have included example characters for pretty much every franchise in Smash Bros. This list should NOT be taken as "these are the only allowed characters", but rather definitely allowed characters who set base guidelines on what might be allowed. Note that these are not ordered in any way.

Paper Mario
Mr. L
Dark Bowser
King Boo
Fawful
Petey Pirahna
Daisy
Waluigi
Birdo
Rawk Hawk
Vivian
Parakarry
Lady Bow
Larry Koopa
Morton Koopa Jr.
Wendy O. Koopa
Iggy Koopa
Roy Koopa
Lemmy koopa
Ludwig von Koopa
Geno
Mallow
Smithy
Grodus
Dimentio
Count Bleck
Shadow Mario
Toad
Toadette
Captain Toad

Kamek
Baby Bowser

King K. Rool
Dixie Kong
Cranky Kong
Funky Kong

Kat & Ana
Mona
Ashley
Captain Syrup
Rudy the Clown

Toon Ganondorf
Toon Zelda/Tetra
Ganon (Humanoid Pig Ganon, to be specific, like the old games. Retro style.)
Impa
Zant
Skull Kid
Vaati
Yuga
Ghirahim
Tingle
Midna
Dark Link
Phantom Ganon
Lana
Cia
Linkle
Darunia
Ruto
Saria
Medli
Ravio
Princess Hilda

Ridley
Dark Samus
Kraid
Mother Brain
Rundas
Sylux

Galacta Knight
Dark Matter
Knuckle Joe
Kracko
Nightmare
Bandana Dee
Marx
Magolor
President Haltmann

Wolf O'Donnel
Peppy Hare
Slippy Toad
Krystal
Andross
Pigma
Leon
Panther Caruso

There are SO MANY Pokemon with arguments to be made that I'll mostly be explicitly calling ones out with larger than average roles. I will also note that I will add non-stupid "Fakemon" as an option, in lieu of a "Next Gen Pokemon" option.

Meowth
Pichu
Squirtle
Ivysaur
Machamp
Gengar
Suicune
Sceptile
Blaziken
Gardevoir
Garchomp
Weavile
Chandelure
Braixen
Darkrai
Scizor
Croagunk
Empoleon
Decidueye
Cubone
Marowak
Espeon
Mew
Raichu
Clefairy
Zoroark
Golem

Samurai Goroh
Black Shadow
Blood Falcon
James McCloud
Dr. Stewart
Pico
Jody Summer

Masked Man
Porky
Jeff
Kumatora
Flint
Ninten

Anna
Eliwood
Chrom
Lissa
Lyn
Micaiah
The Black Knight
Tharja
Alfonse
Sharena
Berkut
Alm
Celica
Azura
Ryoma
Hinoka
Takumi
Sakura
Camilla
Elise
Xander
Leo

Medusa
Hades
Viridi
Phosphora
Magnus

Louie
Alph
Brittany
Charlie
Titan Dweevil
Waterwraith
Plasm Wraith

Tom Nook
Isabelle
Mr. Resetti
K.K. Slider
Tortimer

Shadow the Hedgehog
Knuckles
Tails
Amy Rose
Blaze the Cat
Silver the Hedgehog
Dr. Eggman / Dr. Robotnik
Chaos
Rogue the Bat
Metal Sonic

Solid Snake
Raiden
Big Boss
Liquid Snake
Solidus Snake
The Boss
Gray Fox
Senator Armstrong
Revolver Ocelot
Psycho Mantis

King Hippo
Doc Louis
Glass Joe
Bald Bull
Von Kaiser
Soda Popinski
Don Flamenco
Mr. Sandman
Super Macho Man

Metal Face
Riki
Dunban
Elma
Rook
KOS-MOS (Not Xenoblade, however, the series stipulation allows her to count + KOS-MOS is by far the most common Xeno crossover character)

Most Robot Masters probably have some level of claim to this, so...yeah.

Dr. Wily
Protoman
Mega Man X
Zero
Sigma
Yellow Devil
Roll
Mega Man.EXE
Roll.EXE
Protoman.EXE
Bass.EXE
Mega Man Volnutt

Dan Hibiki
Ken
Sagat
M. Bison / Dictator
Balrog / Boxer
Vega / Claw
Guile
Chun Li
Akuma
Cammy
Zangief
Juri
Gill
Rashid
Karin
Sakura

Ms. Pac-Man
Blinky
Pinky
Inky
Clyde

Sephiroth
Tifa
Terra Branford
Kefka
Squall Leonhart
Ultimecia
Zidane
Kuja
Tidus
Jecht
Lightning
Bartz Klauser
Exdeath

Jeanne
Father Balder

Ice Climbers (Ice Climbers)
Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
Balloon Fighter (Balloon Fighter)
Takamaru (The Mysterious Masamune Castle)
Isaac (Golden Sun)
Excitebiker (Excitebike)
Mike Jones (StarTropics)
Ray MK II (Custom Robo)
Lip (Panel de Pon)
Starfy (Starfy)
Saki Amamiya (Sin and Punishment)
Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight)
Shantae (Shantae)
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
And, finally, to finish off the trio of posts I should have done a long time ago...

Iron MYMer Announcement!

Given I did not make one to start the month, but I want one every month, this month's Iron MYMer will go until the end of October as well. In addition to that, all sets posted before this post will be retroactively counted if they apply.

Lets get right into it, then. What is this month's, mmm, secret theme...?

Tttttturn the beat back! It's Repeat Month!

What's that mean?! Well, it is pretty simple: If you make a set for anyone who has previously had a set, as seen on the Every Moveset Listed By Franchise List, then you qualify for this Iron MYMer. There is no limit to the # of sets which can be done for this Iron MYMer, so get those disc jockeys ready to scratch some tapes and TURN THE BEAT BACK!

This Iron MYMer will continue into October, but don't make that think you're off the hook: October will get its own Iron MYMer as well on the first. We're gonna be up for a Double Iron MYMer month, folks! Stay tuned!
 

Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
Location
California
Space Pirate

1. Character data
  • Air acceleration: Base: ; Additional: ; Max:
  • Air friction:
  • Air speed:
  • Crawl: Yes
  • Falling speed:
  • Gravity:
  • Rolling: Intangibility: ; Total frames:
  • Run speed:
  • Traction:
  • Walk speed:
  • Wall Cling: Yes
  • Wall Jump: Yes
  • Weight:

2. Features


3. Entrance and Taunts
Entrance: A

Up Taunt: A

Side Taunt: A

Down Taunt: A

4. Abilities
Neutral
Scratch (A)



Dash
Ram (Dash)


Tilts
Tail Flail (Up+A)


Front Kick (Forward+A)


Sweeper (Down+A)


Aerials
Ring of Fire (A)


Arc Slash (Up+A)


Claw Assault (Forward+A)


Tail Smack (Back+A)



Kick Thrust (Down+A)

Smashes
Under Fire (Up+A)


Thwack and Slash (Forward+A)


Quake (Down+A)

Specials
Accelerator Cannon (B)
The Space Pirate fires three yellow beams simultaneously. The diagonal beams will fire in a 10° angle and each beam does 3% damage. If the opponent is hit by all three beams, he or she will receive a total of 9% damage. The angling of the beam will allow for the Space Pirate to provide a wall, making it somewhat difficult for the opponent to approach. The beam, when uncharged, has about as much hit stun as Falco's Blaster. There is also a bit of latency for the Accelerator Cannon to prevent the Space Pirate from repeatedly being fired and abused so as to keep the opponent from approaching.

When the Accelerator Cannon is charged, the beams become purple and increase in width, length, and cover more distance, whereas the uncharged beam only covers half the stage. When charged, the Accelerator Cannon's angling beams will go from 10° to 15°. Damage will end up being 10% as well, making it so that if all three beams hit the opponent, the total damage will be 30%. This can only truly be achieved if the Space Pirate is near his opponent. Furthermore, when the beam is charged, it will pass through shields like Lucas' PK Thunder 2. This doesn't mean the opponent will take damage.

Jet Pack (Up+B)
The Jet Pack is similar to R.O.B.'s Robo Burner. This grants the Space Pirate excellent recovery, should he end up too low or too far from the stage. Like Robo Burner, the Space Pirate is free to cancel and continue flight at will. Unlike Robo Burner, the Space Pirate doesn't require this cancellation in order to fight back. With Jet Pack active, the Space Pirate's aerial attacks change during this mode, technically giving him two different sets of aerial attacks. Jet Pack can be canceled either by air dodging, landing, or running out of fuel. Air dodging or running out of fuel won't lead to helplessness.

Grenade Launcher (Forward+B/B)
The Grenade Launcher will launch an EMP grenade linearly before angling downward at 35° after a certain distance. It will blow up on contact with the ground, the opponent, or the opponent's shield. If there is a wall, or if Grenade Launcher is used against another Space Pirate who uses Battle Shield, the grenade will ricochet. The Grenade Launcher can be charged depending on the duration the player holds down the B button. When the input is given, the player can release the analog stick and hold B, increasing the launch distance, speed, and damage. Knockback is also increased, but this is only noticeable if the Space Pirate leaves the opponent alone or misses an opportunity to follow up.

When the EMP grenade explodes, it will generate a small blast radius, stunning anyone who is hit about the size of Kirby. A charged EMP grenade will produce a larger blast radius about the size of Mario in terms of length. Like any ability capable of stunning, the Grenade Launcher's stun effect will only last briefly based on the amount of damage the opponent has. The higher the damage, the longer the duration of the stun will last. Of course, charging will make a difference as well. An uncharged EMP grenade causes 5% damage while a charged grenade causes 8% damage.

Battle Shield (Down+B)
Battle Shield neither reflects, nor absorbs. Rather, it deflects, which means that with this special active, projectiles may or may not return to the opponent who fired. Just like Pit's Mirror Shield in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Space Pirate will be able to angle the shield upward or downward, which can affects the angle at which any projectile is deflected. The Space Pirate will also be immobile while using this special. Battle Shield only protects the front of the Space Pirate and can only receive up to 50% damage before breaking while active.

If an opponent hits Battle Shield at the time it is brought out, it will cause the opponent to face the opposite direction in the same way Mirror Shield does. This is due to the shield's deflective nature. Z-airs are immune to this effect, although they cannot bypass Battle Shield itself.

Grabs
Energy Drain (A)


Carapace Catapult (Up+Throw)


Plasma Stream (Forward+Throw)


Rumble (Backward+Throw)


Tail Slam (Down+Throw)


Final Smash
Omega Pirate (B)
 
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Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Kamen Rider Cronus


Dan Masamune, also known as Kamen Rider Cronus, former president of the GENM Corporation, is the main villain of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. Father of Dan Kuroto, a previous villain in the season, Masamune was framed by his son for starting the event known as Zero Day, when the deadly Game Illness infected and killed hundreds of people. However, this was all part of Masamune’s plan. With the supposed death of Kuroto, and his name cleared, Masamune took up the mantle of president from his son, and continued where he left off: Finishing the game known as Kamen Rider Chronicle.

With Kamen Rider Chronicle taking Japan by storm, Masamune’s plan is nearly complete. An augmented reality game that kills you in real life when you get a game over, Masamune aims to control the lives of everyone on the planet by absorbing the lost lives into a master control cartridge. While in the form of Cronus, Masamune is gifted with remarkable strength, the combination chainsaw/gun weapon known as the BugVisor II, alongside all other weapons in the series, and the ability to freeze reality at will. With all these powers, Cronus is a force to be reckoned with, and a true Final Boss.


Stats

Weight – 107
Running Speed – 1.97
Walking Speed – 0.9
Air Speed – 1.1
Fall Speed – 1.8​

Cronus is a rather standardly built human character, standing just a bit shorter than Ganondorf, and around as wide. His weight is rather heavy, but he makes up for it with some rather great jumps, one of the best starting jumps in the game, and a fairly good second jump as well. His aerial speed is decent, but his falling speed can become a hindrance when combined with his weight. His ground speed is decent as well, but his walk speed is menacingly slow, fitting his evil character.



Specials
Neutral Special – PAUSE



By default, the BugVisor II is strapped to Cronus’ arm. However, when this attack is used, he will take it off, and place it on his belt. This takes quite a few frames, around 60 so in total for this part, and is one of the slower moves in the game, though Ganondorf’s slowest attacks are still much slower. Once he places the BugVisor on his belt, Cronus will then press both buttons on the device. The belt will let out a yell of “PAUSE”, causing everything around Cronus to freeze in place. Before we cover what that means, this added animation of pressing the buttons makes the attack last around as long as Ganon’s UTilt, if not a bit longer, animation wise. The effect of the attack comes out practically instantly as soon as Cronus presses the buttons, however, before the “PAUSE” can even end.

The implications of what the Pause means is remarkably terrifying. Everything freezes, opponents, projectiles, minions, even the timer freezes, nothing escapes the Pause. Except for Cronus, that is. Cronus is allowed to do anything he wants while time is frozen, and that includes attacking whoever he sees fit, and even advanced set-up techniques.


The attack has a few odd peculiarities to it, the first being that Cronus can’t deal knockback during it. When an opponent is hit, they will enter their hurt animation, but only the first frame of it. Once time resumes (Which we’ll get to in a few paragraphs), they will take whatever knockback has been applied. Unfortunately for Cronus, opponents can only be attacked once per Pause, any effects the attack might have only being applied once time starts up again. Damage will be applied during the Pause, however, and all opponents will become vulnerable again as soon as the Pause ends.


The second is that, while time is frozen, projectiles don’t act as a hitbox for Cronus. If he walks into a projectile, he will enter an animation where he swats it away, functionally erasing the projectile from existence. This can be a good way to… clean up stages, if you will.

This move is remarkably intimidating, but it does have its own weaknesses. The first is the above-mentioned lag. The move has no hitbox to it, and Cronus can only cancel out of it during the first few frames. If Cronus is hit during this time, then he will be knocked out of the attack, preventing him from freezing time. To use the Pause effectively, Cronus will need to space enemies out decently, and he has a few tools to do so.


The second weakness comes from the fact that the Pause has a time limit itself. After 4 seconds of time being frozen, Cronus will automatically go through the same animation as he does when the move starts, placing the BugVisor back on his belt, and pressing the buttons. Once this is done, the belt will let out a shout of “RESTART”, causing time to resume. Cronus needs time moving to complete his plans, you see. Once time Restarts, everything will start back up, opponents, the timer, everything that was previously affected. This is when knockback and damage is applied. This can also be activated by pressing NSpec at any point during the Pause, however.

However, Cronus cannot simply go straight into another Pause. Instead, he’ll need to wait a while, as the move has a sort of “ammo bank” to it. With every hit Cronus connects, he’ll gain half a second of time for his next Pause, maxing out at 4 seconds after 8 hits. However, Cronus has very easy ways of getting by that, the first of which being that it can be remarkably easy to combo with the use of Pause. There are other ways of easily building your time back up, though some moves don’t always grant the half-second addition. Using Restart will preserve any seconds remaining, however, rounding it down, or up, to the closest half or full second. If Cronus is KOed, any seconds he had in reserve will be reset to 0.

Cronus will need to consider his time during the Pause. 4 seconds might sound like a lot of time, and it is in Smash, but most of Cronus’ more powerful attacks are very slow. Getting to ridiculous levels of knockback and damage is practically impossible. Playing it safe isn’t an option either, since the move is tough to get out. Setting up your attacks is key to using Pause to its fullest. Cronus has a lot to work with however, and we aren’t done with Pause completely, just for right now.

There is one more weakness Pause has, but it’s a bit… rarer. If a player manages to collect a Super Star and becomes invincible, they won’t be affected by the time freeze for the entire time the Super Star lasts. This is much more difficult for opponents to pull off, considering the circumstances needed to make any use of it (Items need to be on, star needs to spawn before Cronus uses Pause, etc.), and exists more as an Easter Egg than anything truly useful to the opponent.


Up Special – RESET


Cronus lets out an angry yell as he holds the BugVisor up into the air, holding down one of the buttons. A swirl of orange and green energy surrounds him, as the outline of a clock appears behind him. This move has a lot of lag to it, taking nearly 1.5 full seconds to fully use, though it acts like a charge, and can be held. The charge is represented by the clock behind Cronus, the hour hand passing by each of the twelve roman numeral numbers. The downside to the held charge is that Cronus will have to do the start-up animation, which is fairly long, before continuing with the clock’s charge.


Once the hour hand passes 12, the clock will then materialize onto the stage. It’s a massive construct, larger than Bowser in both size and width, around 2/3rds the size of a Bob-Omb explosion. This clock, however, isn’t a solid construct, and can be freely passed through. Despite this, it can be attacked, having 40% stamina, rather massive for a construct that doesn’t seem to do anything. The clock counts down the time as well, starting from 12, and with the hour hand counting down minutes rather than hours, and the minute hand counting down seconds instead of minutes. This doesn’t mean much, and is just a detail.

The clock doesn’t do anything, at least it doesn’t at first. The noticeable effect happens when Cronus gets KOed. The same voice that yells out “PAUSE” and “RESTART” will yell “RESET” as time freezes, and starts to rewind. In a flash of black and white frames, Cronus and the opponent that KOed him will appear at the point where the killing blow was dealt, all other opponents simply being frozen for a few frames, and any constructs that had been created remaining. Once Cronus appears back on the stage, he will perform a kick as time resumes its normal course. This is a bit like a counter, and something the opponent cannot avoid, the kick dealing 10% damage, with rather weak knockback, mostly just to get the opponent away from Cronus. When this happens, the clock’s hands will rewind as well, in another bit of detail.

There is one major downside. The use of Reset can only be achieved as long as Cronus has at least one full second in his ammo bank. Without any seconds left in reserve, Cronus will be KOed as usual. This turns it into a bit of a balance between using Pause and using Reset. Reset is better to start late in a game, when Cronus is getting low on health, but by that point you have probably used Pause a lot of times as well, and is running low on seconds.

This is another one of Cronus’ terrifying powers, as long as the clock remains on the stage, Cronus is practically invincible. Opponents will need to focus on destroying his clock whenever he summons it, and its massive stamina makes this something much easier said than done. Luckily for opponents, Cronus can harm the clock with his own attacks as well. Opponents are fairly capable of preventing his recovery using Reset by simply avoiding him, but this can also help Cronus set up a decently timed Pause.


When the clock is out, the Up Special gains a new use. When used, Cronus will leap up into the air, and then perform a classic Rider Kick. This is visually similar to when Captain Falcon uses his Down Special while in the air, except for green, stylized particles instead of flames. It behaves similarly as well, in fact, as a hitbox, its almost the exact same. It deals a hefty 15% damage on contact as well, with knockback, again, similar to Falcon’s Down Special.

The thing to note here is the jump, which is pathetic, only boosting Cronus up into the air as far as Little Mac’s Up Special does. The kick itself goes at a diagonally downward direction, and is only active for around 2 Battlefield Platforms worth of travel, but this is a bit of a problem when actually using it as a recovery. Like with Little Mac’s USpec, this provides even less of a boost when used in air, with Cronus nearly instantly going into the kick. The direction the kick heads is a problem when combined with this, making it fairly useless as an actual recovery.


Down Special – GAME START


Cronus lets out a laugh as a large, black screen reading “KAMEN RIDER CHRONICLE” appears behind him. He then snaps his fingers, causing stylized words reading “GAME START” to appear, which are read out by the same voice as the previous phrases. Once the GAME START appears, four new beings will materialize onto the stage in a digital effect, each one spawning in a place a normal player character would spawn in from at the start of the match.


These new characters are Ride Players, the people who have decided to risk their lives by playing Kamen Rider Chronicle, all for the chance of being the earth’s hero. Cronus has summoned them here for a chance to fight him, and potentially take his powers. The Ride Players are around Cronus’ height, but slightly shorter. They’re also significantly slower and lighter than Cronus as well. Each Ride Player carries a brown sword weapon called a Ride Weapon, which aren’t particularly powerful. From the start of the move to the Ride Players spawning, there is around 80 frames. However, Cronus can move around again once he performs the finger snap, which takes only 40 frames into the attack.

In a mirror match, each Cronus’s Ride Players gain an outline similar to the 3DS version of Smash 4, the outline being colored like the player color of whoever spawned it.

A Ride Player only has a few attacks. The first being a sword swing, which has remarkably mediocre range to it for something like it, even with a stylized trail slightly extending the hitbox. The sword swing is incredibly weak as well, only dealing 5% damage, but comes out fairly quick. Ride Players are left open by the attack as well. Their second attack is a kick, which is even weaker than the sword swing, only dealing 4% damage. The attack is a bit slower, but has more range to it, and doesn’t leave the Ride Player as open.

Their last grounded attack has them turning the Ride Weapon into a gun, firing out three quick projectiles. These behave functionally exactly like a Ray Gun’s projectiles, but only deal 2% damage each, and are fairly spaced out from each other, leaving them open still. The final attack a Ride Player has is an aerial attack where it swings the Ride Weapon downwards. This behaves like the grounded sword swing, but with slightly better range. All of these attacks deal pathetic knockback, and won’t be able to KO any character, even the lightest, until they reach the damage cap. That isn’t to say they can stun lock you, their horrible amounts of lag also prevent that from happening.


Ride Players also have a pitiful amount of stamina, 10% in total. This means that most attacks in the game can kill them in one hit. Even if they weren’t killed easily, their light weight and lack of good jumps would make it impossible for them to recover from even the most average of knockback. Ride Players are pathetic, and practically have no chance of defeating a normal Smash character, let alone Cronus himself. That’s right, Ride Players will attack Cronus as well as other opponents, and Cronus can attack them in return.

Ride Players have odd AI as well. They will actually focus on attacking Cronus rather than any of the other characters… at least, at first. Ride Players have evolving AI, kind of. Once the first Ride Player is killed by Cronus, the rest will start to play a bit smarter and attack other characters on the stage, thinking that defeating them will help them get stronger (It won’t). They’ll tend to go after other players once this happens, but will also tend to work with players when Cronus has his clock on stage to destroy it. This is a bit of a negative for Cronus, but you don’t want to actually keep the Ride Players around. They’re but pawns for you to show your power.

As more Ride Players are summoned in, their AI will start to change a lot more dramatically. By around the tenth wave, the Ride Players will begin actively working with each other to take Cronus down, combing their attacks together to make… still very weak attacks. A few waves after that, Ride Players will begin working with opponents in order to take Cronus down, and in general will tend to focus on the clock more than Cronus.

When Cronus kills a Ride Player, it will count as adding a fourth of a second to his ammo bank. Considering how powerful a lot of Cronus’ attacks are, and how pathetic the Ride Players are, you can easily rack up a few seconds via this. Hitting Ride Players will not add seconds onto Cronus’s stockpile, however, only KOing them directly. This is the best way for Cronus to gather his power back up and prepare for a Pause. Ride Players can also help keep enemies away, of course. Destroying a Ride Player while time is frozen, however, will not give Cronus any seconds.

Ride Players come onto the stage in waves, four for each wave. Four more will spawn in once the four that had been summoned in previously are defeated, and then four more once those four are defeated, etc. This will continue on for the entire match if you let it, but Ride Players are very capable of getting in the way of your set-ups, and due to their evolving AI, will gradually get smarter and smarter the more waves come in. If Cronus wants to stop them, he can input the Down Special again, causing the words “GAME OVER” to appear, signifying that he’s finished with the game. This will cause the box summoned at the start of the move to disappear as well.


Side Special – INFECTION

Orange energy builds up at the tip of the BugVisor as Cronus pulls it back. He then thrusts it forward, in the fastest of Cronus’s moves so far, and the first to function as an attack. The punch is still fairly slow, but not to the par of a Falcon Punch, the delay at the start taking around 30 frames. During the animation, a stylized orange trail follows the punch, though this is only stylistic. Another stylistic detail is that, when any of Cronus’ attacks hit an opponent or Ride Player, a stylized “HIT!” will appear for a few frames, right where the attack hit the opponent.

This isn’t a standard punching attack, and actually functions as a command grab of a sort. Range wise, it has the same range as a Falcon Punch, and when it hits, it will deal 12% damage to the opponent, and lock them in place for a few frames as Cronus injects something into their body, shown by the orange energy from the tip flowing into the opponent. Once this is finished, the opponent will then be launched off, with knockback that can KO at 190%, making it fairly weak.

What did Cronus just do, exactly? Well, he just infected the opponent with the dreaded Game Illness. The virus acts as a poison status effect, dealing 1% damage every second, without any flinching animation. This lasts indefinitely, potentially lasting through the entire match. This is rather scary, and can build up to an amazing amount of damage, but hope isn’t lost for the infected. All they need to do is attack Cronus, since he is the instigator of the virus. After dealing 30% damage to Cronus, the infection will be cured, and the opponent that was infected will be unable to be infected for the next 15 seconds, though other opponents are fair game.

This isn’t remarkably useful when used on opponents. It can be a decent pressuring tool, and the opponent having to get in close to hit Cronus reliably also opens them up to Cronus’ own attacks, and the ability to build up his stocked seconds. There is more utility applied when used against Ride Players, however.


When a Ride Player is infected by the virus, instead of just suffering the poison effects, or even just being killed due to how low their health is, they will instead transform into Bugster Viruses. The only real change to their model is their heads, which are now the orange creature shown above. Bugster Viruses are actually incredibly capable of adjusting to their surroundings, and take on the form of Ride Players more effectively than the Ride Players themselves.

Bugster Viruses have 20% stamina, and all of the attacks a normal Ride Player has, as well as far better jumps and speed, though they still retain the pitiful weight. All of their attacks are functionally similar, but far improved. The Ride Weapon swing instead turns into a three-hit combo that deals 9% damage, and can KO at 210%. The kick is a bit slower, but deals 8% damage, and knockback that can KO at 190%. The gun attack is similar, but comes out faster, though it deals the same damage. Knockback is improved to being able to kill at 200%. Finally, the aerial attack is mostly the same, now dealing 7% damage, with rather standard aerial knockback that can KO at 180%.

Bugster Viruses also have very different AI, acting more directly like minions than normal Ride Players. They will go after opponents as they see fit, and even defend Cronus’ clock if capable. Cronus is capable of having 4 Bugster Viruses on stage at a time, and 4 more Ride Players will spawn in if all four Ride Players from the previous wave have been transformed. Ride Players will tend to go after Bugster Viruses, but they’re still far too weak to do anything.

Obviously its nice to have a minion, but there are a few problems, the main being that Cronus can no longer hurt them. This means he can’t grind extra seconds off of them, and no, the Bugsters won’t give him seconds if they hit opponents, and Cronus needs to directly kill Ride Players to get his reward. When a Bugster Virus is killed, all you’re left with is a minion you could’ve used being killed.

If Cronus wants, he can use the attack on someone already infected with the virus to reabsorb it into his BugVisor. This includes Ride Players, who will be returned to normal. Though, if there are four Ride Players on stage already, the infected Ride Player will die as soon as the virus is drawn, with no benefit to Cronus. The reason why you will need to draw the virus is because you cannot infect Ride Players while an actual player is infected. Drawing the virus from Ride Players makes it an easy way to have a minion, and reap your second from it as well.

If you double tap the Special Attack button when Cronus grabs an opponent (Not a Ride Player) with his BugVisor, he will instead eject even more of the Game Illness into them. This deals an extra whopping 20% damage, and will cause the opponent to be launched off, KOing at around 150% damage. The timing on this is a bit hard to pull off, however, being very frame specific. If the second injection hits an opponent over 300%, then it will instantly kill them, shown by them disappearing into data particles.


Smashes
Down Smash – CRITICAL SACRIFICE


Cronus grabs the Bugvisor in his right hand, the chainsaw part now acting as the active weapon. He slaps a button during the charge, causing a voice to yell out “CRITICAL SACRIFICE!”. He then lowers the chainsaw to the ground as stylized green energy forms around it, before shifting into a large sawblade half embedded in the ground. All this happens during the first bit of the charge, taking only a few frames, and the rest of the charge consists of the sawblade revving up.

Once the attack is let go of, Cronus will fling his arm forwards, causing the sawblade to cut through the ground as a projectile. Before we get into the that, I need to note that the sawblade will grow as its charged, starting off somewhat small, around as tall as Kirby, and can grow to around half Cronus’ height, and stretching out well past his model. This is worth noting not just for the obvious effects it will have in a moment, but the sawblade acts as a hitbox during the charge as well. Its much weaker than it will be when unleashed, dealing only 4-7% damage with rather weak upwards knockback. This isn’t amazingly practical due to how slow the move’s start-up is, but in certain situations it can be useful.

Now, the sawblade as an actual projectile. Its obviously as large as it is when charged, but its speed changes as well. When smaller, it actually becomes faster, travelling at the speed of an uncharged Super Scope, while the fully sized sawblade only moves at the speed of a fully charged Samus Charge Shot. Still very fast, but noticeably slower. The sawblade will travel forward at infinite range, until hitting a wall or falling off the stage. Cronus throwing the fully charged sawblade is a rather slow process, taking around 20 frames to pull off, not including the charge. The smaller one comes out a much faster speed, however.

The sawblade can hit as many opponents as it comes across during its brief journey, dealing 10-28% damage depending on charge/size. It delivers upwards knockback that can KO at around 200-170% damage. This is also one of Cronus’ best “set-up” moves. See, whenever Cronus summons a projectile while in a Pause, the projectile will become frozen as well, and only begin its hitbox duties once time returns to normal. Once the sawblade is released during this time, Cronus can move around normally, and continue setting up in other places. As such, this can be a very easy trap for Cronus to set, but another downside of the Pause comes in here. Opponents can see your set-up in advance, and unless you planned it perfectly, will tend to avoid your attacks once the Pause ends.

Other than that, Critical Sacrifice is fun to mess around with, and one of the best combo starters in Cronus’ entire arsenal. It can especially play well with his other smashes, and projectiles located in his standards. Outside of Pause, Critical Sacrifice is one of the best moves in Cronus’ arsenal for clearing out Ride Players, and getting a lot of time saved up. Its range and damage help a lot with this.


Up Smash – CRITICAL JUDGEMENT


The opening animation of this move is lot faster than the previous one, as Cronus already has the BugVisor in its gun form for his idle, so he doesn’t have to switch it. He instead pulls his arm down during the charge, and then swings it upwards in an arc, firing off several green projectiles as he does so. Like with Critical Sacrifice, using the move causes the BugVisor to yell out “CRITICAL JUDGEMENT”. This move is much faster than the Down Smash, as noted before, and behaves more like Samus’ Up Smash in terms of how it works, though its still very different.

First of all, the arcing sweep itself acts as a hitbox, though it can only really hit when used right next to the opponent. This functions practically like Samus’ USmash in terms of hitbox, almost exactly. Oddly enough, for a Smash, the damage does not increase for this particular hitbox, as it will always deal 12% damage, with rather middling upwards knockback. It will, however, almost always combo directly into the projectiles. This is more easily applied during a Pause, as the sweep’s hitbox will activate before the projectiles do, leaving them hanging in a limbo, spawned but not active, until Restart.

For the projectiles themselves, they are fairly large, resembling, almost exactly a mid-charged Buster Shot from Mega Man, rather thin, but still fairly large, if that makes sense. Cronus will always fire three of them, one at the start of the move, heading diagonally upwards behind Cronus, one directly above him, and one at the end of the move, heading diagonally upwards in front of him. On contact, they deal explosive damage that causes 10-17% damage, making them rather weak for smashes, but strong for projectiles.

They are powerful KO wise, however, able to KO at 180%, and will tend to deal upwards knockback. The projectiles move at fairly fast speeds, but also have infinite range, meaning they will only disappear once they hit the edge of the screen, or hit a wall. If they hit a wall, they will explode, creating a hitbox that acts like what happens if the projectile hits an opponent itself. There is very little endlag to the move as well, allowing Cronus to begin moving around shortly after the projectiles are fired out. He can move around for a long time as well if used during a Pause, due to the reasons stated above.

The odd properties that the attack has while Pause is active makes it good for set-ups as well, and it particularly plays well with Critical Sacrifice, with a decent set-up allowing for some ridiculous projectiles. Its use outside of Pause is decent as well, making a decent anti-air attack. Unlike Critical Sacrifice, however, its not as good at taking out Ride Players, though that isn’t a major point against it.


Forward Smash – CRITICAL CREWS-AID


Cronus places the BugVisor back on his belt, causing it to yell out “CRITICAL CREWS-AID”. As this happens, the clock silhouette from the Up Special appears as Cronus charges the move. The attack’s animation has Cronus spin around, the clock behind him matching with his spin, before performing a roundhouse kick. This is one of the slowest moves in the entire game.

That isn’t hyperbole, this comes out even slower than Warlock Punch. Performing the move takes an extra 20 frames compared to the Warlock Punch, meaning it takes around two full seconds to perform. Whenever the move is used, you’re required to go through the entire animation, even if you let go of the attack while charging. See, the charge of the move is held during the attack’s animation, none of which is considered a hitbox until the actual kick comes out at the very end. Letting go of the charge at any point will not stop the attack from performing the full animation, though it will change damage output.

This exists to make the move not completely unviable. It is still mostly unviable in most situations due to its speed, obviously, but I can potentially be used while opponents are distracted. The hitbox of the attack only comes out near the very end, as Cronus performs the kick, which comes out in a rather large wave of green energy, around as tall as Cronus, and stretching out half a Battlefield platform. Its shaped like a wave, or a stylized slash, starting out small at the top, and growing larger as it heads towards the ground.

This gives the attack fairly phenomenal range, thanks to Cronus already kicking his leg out fairly far. It doesn’t last long, however, only a few frames where its at all active. Hitting with this wave will cause 20-30% damage, with knockback that can KO at 130%. Rather underwhelming considering the start-up, but there is a more to it. This hitbox is large enough that t can actually potentially hit multiple characters, making it a fairly decent clearing move… if you can get it off.

This move has a sweetspot, only activated when Cronus manages to hit an opponent with his actual leg. Doing this will deal 40-60% damage, and can KO at 90%! This is one of the most powerful basic attacks in the entire game, but is even more difficult to hit with than the wave hitbox, lasting even fewer frames than it. In contrast to the other hitbox, the leg hitbox can only hit a single opponent, making it a very definitive kill move more than anything else.

You might think that this move would be perfect to use while in Pause, but it isn’t, at least, by itself. When the attack is used in Pause, the clock won’t start. Cronus will go through the animation as normal, but the attack will also be noticeably weaker, dealing only 20-25%. The knockback power is cut down as well, KOing in the early-mid 100%s. This, however, is not a bad thing. Once time resumes, the clock will remain in the background, and begin counting down. Once it goes through all of the attack’s normal ending lag, the wave hitbox will suddenly appear, behaving as usual.

This makes Critical Crews-Aid one of the most useful tools while Paused. Despite being slow, it makes for an excellent starter, and ender, when performing an elaborate combo. This is Cronus’s premiere kill move, but a completely unreliable one, and not one you’ll want to be using very often due to how inconvenient it is. But when you do manage to pull it off, it feels incredible.


Standards
Jab – GASHACON BUGVISOR II: CHAINSAW


Unlike with the Down Smash, despite both using the chainsaw form of the Gashacon BugVisor, Cronus will instantly have it ready when the input is pressed. For this jab, Cronus swings the BugVisor forward three different times. The first slash has him slashing it to the side, the second has him slashing it downwards, while the final slash has him swing it upwards. The attack is fast, comparable to most normal jabs.

Its range is decent as well, though it wouldn’t seem like it judging by how small the BugVisor’s chainsaw actually is. This is rectified by the actual hitbox being a trail of green energy that comes out with each attack in the same direction that Cronus swung the weapon. These reach out decently far, though not enough to make it break from melee range, and not nearly as far as most sword attacks. With each swing, Cronus will take a slight step forwards.

As an attack, there isn’t a huge amount to say. Each swing deals 4% damage, totalling up to 12%. The final hit is capable of KOing at around 180%, making it rather average for a jab. However, there is some fun you can have with it in Pause. When the attack is used on a Paused opponent, they will only take the first hit, and the green trail also won’t appear. Once the Pause is over, depending on how much of the combo you used, the green trails will appear, acting as hitboxes that continue the rest of the combo. Only the second two trails will show up, however.

Also, there is another aspect of this move, something which applies to any attack involving Cronus using weapons. Any of Cronus’ weapon based attacks, which is most of them, will deal 1.2x their normal damage and 1.2x their normal knockback on opponents infected with the Game Illness. The weapons are designed to cure the illness, however, which means that only 3 weapon based attacks will affect the opponent at a time. Once the third attack hits, they will instantly be cured of the virus, though still take the extra damage and knockback. In the case of jab, all three hits only count as 1 hit if you pull them all off, though cancelling during a hit before it ends will register only as 1 hit as well. This effect is not applied to projectile based attacks, or the Smashes.


Forward Tilt – GASHACON BUGVISOR II: BLASTER


Cronus aims the Gashacon BugVisor forwards, and then fires a laser blast from it. This is a rather quick move to start, taking even less time than the jab to perform, but it has a brief amount of endlag that makes it slightly slower than the jab. Cronus will be able to move around almost as soon as the blast has been fired, however, giving it very little endlag. The blast that’s fired is similar to the blasts from the USmash, except slightly smaller in scale.

The range of the attack is interesting as well. Cronus will extend his arm out fully, giving the attack a slight more edge to it. The blast will travel forwards around 2.5 Battlefield Platforms before it vanishes, not counting the extra range provided by Cronus himself. The blast is fairly powerful, dealing out 9% damage on contact with an opponent, and can KO at 160%. It isn’t a very spammable attack, however, as only one blast can be on-screen at a time, and the overall speed of the blast is fairly slow, moving at around the pace of a fairly basic dash.

That isn’t all there is to the attack, however. Using it more requires activating a Pause, and introduces a slightly more unique effect. When the blast is fired, it will come out and then instantly freeze, not even acting as a hitbox, much like the projectiles on the USmash. Once time Restarts, however, the blast will explode into 4 much smaller shots, each one heading out in a fan-shaped trajectory. These shots are only around 1/4th as bit as the normal blast is, but they travel much quicker, and have infinite range. They also only deal 3% damage, and very weak knockback, but their use comes in terms of positioning, as they can easily be used to knock grounded or aerial opponents right into the way of another projectile you might have set up. Being a projectile attack, this attack also does not have the buff against infected opponents.


Up Tilt – GASHACON BREAKER: JA KIN!


As mentioned in the opening, Cronus has access to the weapons of the main four Kamen Riders from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. For this move, he uses the Gashacon Breaker, a cross between a hammer and a sword, which is the main weapon of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid himself. When Cronus uses the Gashacon Breaker, he performs a quick upwards swing in an arc, specifically using the weapon in its sword mode, which behaves much like similar sword-based moves.

However, the Gashacon Breaker doesn’t start while in sword mode. Instead, it starts off in hammer mode, the sword activating with a cry of “JA KIN!” around the mid-point of the arc. The blade acts as the real hitbox of the attack, but it doesn’t come out late enough in the attack to be completely useless. The sword slash creates a pink trail behind it, much like the rest of Cronus’ melee focused attacks, and it functions as a hitbox as well, covering around just over half of the swing’s distance. This gives the attack a technically bad amount of start-up lag, on top of the lag before Cronus actually swings the weapon.

When the Gashacon Breaker hits the opponent, it will deal upwards knockback that can KO at 170%, alongside 12% damage, fairly high for a UTilt. The start-up can be a bit of a reason to avoid using the move, but by double tapping the button during any point before the blade pops up, you can cause it to pop up prematurely. This will cause the same arcing trail, only now it will cover however much distance it would cover if unsheathed from that point. This makes the lag far more bearable, but comes at the downside of making the attack slightly weaker, now only doing 9% damage, alongside knockback that can KO at 190%.

Much like most other attacks in Cronus’ arsenal, this has a special application when used in Pause. The trail that is created, like others acts as a hitbox, while the sword blade itself does as well. In Pause, only the blade will act as a hitbox at first, but as soon as time Restarts, the trail will appear, most likely hitting the opponent again. Without the trail, the attack will do the weaker form, and the trail will apply knockback and the added damage, keeping it at 12%. The size of the trail matters as well to this, as the sword will now only do 7% damage at first, before the trail adds in another 2% alongside knockback. In addition to this, the weapon also deals buffed damage against infected opponents.


Down Tilt – GASHACON SPARROW: ZU PAN!


For this attack, while he’s ducking, Cronus pulls out the Gashacon Sparrow, a crossbow-esque weapon that can split into two different sickles, and the main weapon of Kamen Rider Lazer (Who worked as a double agent against Cronus for like, two episodes). For this attack, he uses the sickle mode, Cronus quickly sweeping it at the front and back of himself, each with a different one of the sickles. He starts by sweeping at the front of himself, and then at the back with the other sickle. Animation wise, this behaves similarly to Link’s DSmash, but in this case, Cronus’ comes out much faster due to it being a tilt, rather than a Smash.

It comes out remarkably fast, all considering. The hitboxes aren’t that large, however, having around half the reach as the sword characters tend to have on this kind of attack. Its speed makes up for the reach however, coming out lightning fast. Both sickles deal 6% damage, but they cannot be comboed into each, and have rather weak knockback. Its main use can come from how fast it is, making it a decent poking tool, but the lack of reach doesn’t help much. The attack also has yellow trails following it, as they sweep out, but are considerably less helpful with range compared to others, almost veering into pure aesthetics.

However, this can be improved rather easily with the help of pressing the button twice. Like the rest of Cronus’s standards, this will help activate a special effect. When done, the weapon will yell “ZU PAN!”, and the attack will let out two waves of energy. These are similar to the wave from Critical Crews-Aid, but much smaller. They don’t cover a massive amount of distance, but boost it to around the usual range of the sword attacks its similar to. The waves are rather short, but reach up around the height of Cronus, while he’s ducking, of course. The downside is that the attack becomes slightly slower, more on the level of Link’s DSmash rather than its usual speed. This helps the attack become a much more efficient poker, but the lack of speed can damage it.

This boosts the damage as well, knocking it up to 8%, with slightly better, though still rather poor, upwards pop knockback. Like with other attacks, this has its own use while in a Pause. In this case, it only becomes apparent while the attack has its special effect activated. Like with other attacks, only the normal hitbox of the attack will function, rather than the trail effect. Normally, the attack will deal 4% damage, with the small trails adding in 2% more, but the special effect will boost the base damage to 6%, with the trail adding in 2%. The knockback of the attack is decent for getting opponents into the air so they can be comboed. Like other weapon based attacks, this has a buff against infected opponents.


Dash Attack – GASHACON SWORD: KA CHIN! KO CHIN!


For his Dash Attack, Cronus uses the Gashacon Sword, the main weapon of Kamen Rider Brave. This is a much more normal sword weapon; which Cronus uses in a rather standard downwards sword slash. Like most Dash Attacks, this propels Cronus forwards a bit. Unlike most sword based moves, however, the movement only exists while Cronus is swinging the sword. This is like most sword attacks in terms of range, except slightly better thanks to the movement. It can be a decent approaching tool because of this.

The slash is rather simple as a hitbox, and like most of Cronus’ attacks, is followed by a colored trail of energy, in this case a red trail due to the red blade. When the attack hits, it will actually deal a fire based effect to the opponent, alongside 7% damage, and backwards knockback that can KO at 190%. When swung, the blade will also yell out “KA CHIN!”. Not a remarkably powerful move, but if you couldn’t guess, the attack has an extra effect. Unlike the rest of the attacks, this can only be activated at the end of the move, during its rather considerable endlag, specifically at the point when Cronus stops moving.

When the attack button is inputted during this time, Cronus will perform a second slash, this time upwards, and with the blade yelling out “KO CHIN!” as its blade suddenly turns blue. This signifies that the blade has switched from Fire Mode to Ice Mode, and the effect changes to match, with the trail turning blue and the fire effect being replaced by an ice effect. This doesn’t actually freeze the opponent, and is purely cosmetic. This slash has near identical hitbox to the first one, except in the reverse direction. It also deals less damage, 4% damage in total, but has higher knockback, KOing at 170%.

Again, this attack is also capable of being used during a Pause. Like with most attacks, when its used, the trail will not appear until after time has Restarted, but this one is slightly more unique. As mentioned, opponents can only be dealt the damage of one move, and this only applies too the first sword slash, which now only deals 5% directly. The slash trail from the second hit will still appear and deal its normal damage if it was used, however. Finally, the weapon deals buffed damage to infected opponents.


Aerials
Neutral Air – DUAL GASHACON BUGVISOR


For this attack, Cronus equips a second Gashacon BugVisor, this one colored purple, but otherwise looking exactly the same. This is the main weapon of his own son, Kamen Rider Genm. Both BugVisors are in their chainsaw mode. To start the attack, Cronus turns to the screen and crosses his arms, showing off both weapons, before raising his arms and slashing them both downwards. The usual trails follow them, but these are both green and dark purple trails in this case. This opening gives the attack some fairly terrible start-up lag, but it is still fairly fast in practice. Endlag is mediocre.

The hitbox itself is fairly simple, a large slash on either side of Cronus. They both behave the same, though you cannot combo one side into the other unless directly on top of the opponent, which is difficult to do. The overall hitbox shape is circular, though Cronus’ head and legs are left vulnerable during the attack. The attack is fairly powerful, dealing out 10%, dealing backwards knockback that can KO at around 170%. This attack would be decent as a get-away move, but it’s difficult to use out of short-hop due to the start-up lag.

This attack can be used during Pause as well. As you might expect, this does what most other attacks do, the trails not spawning in until after time Restarts. When the attack is used, it will deal 7% damage instead, with the trails that spawn in dealing the extra 3%. Its impossible to knock the opponent into the other half of the hitbox in this case, so any more damage than the usual 10% is difficult unless comboing. That’s this attack’s main purpose, anyway, as its one of the larger aerial “traps” he can place during Pause, and is very good for bouncing. Like other weapon attacks, this has the usual buff to it.


Forward Air – GASHACON BREAKER: BA KON!


Cronus summons the Gashacon Breaker again, this time using it in its hammer mode. He swings the hammer down in an over-exaggerated arc, similar in animation to Mario’s FAir. The hammer swing is fairly slow, mostly in the endlag department. The hitbox activates fairly fast, but Cronus will be left hanging for a noticeable few frames. The hitbox is similar to DK’s FAir in terms of size, but is made slightly larger thanks to the energy trail. As Cronus swings the hammer, it yells out “BA KON!”.

Unlike with most moves, the energy trail is less an extension of the hitbox, and more a sourspot. It’s the largest part of the move, but not particularly easy to hit with, dealing 8% damage and weak backwards knockback. The “sweetspot” hitbox acts as the actual hammer itself, which is actually easier to hit with during normal combat. It deals 12% damage, and deals rather strong downwards diagonal knockback, and unlike the aforementioned Aerials, this attack does not have a Meteor Smash hitbox to it, for a very specific reasoning that we’ll cover in a moment.

Like other attacks, the trail will not be activated during a Pause, but unlike most moves, due to the trail having different properties, the Gashacon Breaker will still deal its normal damage, while the trail will deal its normal damage. The reason why this happens is because its impossible to hit the opponent with both the trail and hammer at the same time, due to the knockback of the hammer going in the opposite direction. The trail can be used strategically to knock back any opponents that you don’t need to use the hammer on, however. The main use of the hammer in this time is as a positioning tool, as the diagonal knockback is a decent way to knock out of alignment opponents into your traps. This attack also has the buffing ability on it as well.


Down Air – GASHACON MAGNUM: BA KYUN! ZU KYUN!


In this attack, Cronus summons the Gashacon Magnum, a handgun/rifle combo gun, and main weapon of Kamen Rider Snipe. He aims it towards the ground, while in handgun mode, and fires out several quick shots before the attack ends. As the attack starts, the gun will yell out “BA KYUN!”. This is relatively fast, being a projectile attack. Cronus will fire out around three bullets automatically, each coming out a moment after the other. The bullets are around the size of Mega Man’s standard buster shots, and travel just around as fast as them as well. They’re a rather dull yellow-green color.

They do not have infinite distance, however, and will travel down at a diagonal angle around 3 Battlefield Platforms, which is a lot more distance than it looks like due to the angle. The bullets will also disappear once they hit the ground as well. The bullets are fairly weak, each deal 3% damage, though if they catch an opponent, they will most likely all end up connecting for 9% damage, relatively low for an aerial. They have low knockback, however, but the range of the move makes it safe on hit.


Like other attacks, this has a special input when used. If the standard attack button is inputted at the end of the attack, the magnum will yell out “ZU KYUN!” As it springs out into a much larger rifle. After a brief amount of lag where Cronus pulls the gun in to use it more accurately, he then fires a much larger shot, comparable to the ones from his USmash, except slightly smaller and wider. It fires forwards even faster than the previous shots, and deals an extra 4% damage, along with actual knockback that can KO at around 160%, though it deals downwards knockback. During this, Cronus hovers in the air for a moment so he can fire it, before returning to normal momentum.

When in Pause, there is a unique effect. Due to the bullets only forming at the start of the attack, like other projectiles in the set, the bullets will now gather up into a single, larger bullet. This flies at a much faster pace, and is slightly large, comparable to a mid-sized Super Scope shot, but it still only deals around 9% damage. It does, however, have better knockback, and can KO at around 220%. If the rifle shot is added in, then that will make the shot even larger, around the size of a fully charged Charge Beam shot. This behaves mostly like the rifle shot does, but does 13% damage, though knockback remains the same. Being a projectile attack, this does not have the buff effect on it.


Back Air – GASHACON SPARROW: ZU DON!


Cronus summons the Gashacon Sparrow, this time in its crossbow mode, and aims it behind himself. He then fires out several lasers from it. The start-up animation for this is fairly fast, since Cronus doesn’t need to really press anything in order to fire the lasers. The lasers themselves are thin, and resemble arrows. They also follow an odd pattern of firing, as Cronus will fire four out, the first coming from the top of the Gashacon Sparrow, while the second comes out at the bottom, the third form the top, and the fourth at the bottom. They fire almost instantly after the previous one has fired, making the attack very fast. The endlag is fairly bad, however, but not terrible. When Cronus fires the weapon, it will yell out "ZU DON!"

The arrows travel remarkably fast all considering, and can also only travel around half a battlefield Platform from where they’re originally fired from. The speed and lack of distance means that this is functionally a melee move, though its still counted as a projectile attack for convenience. They will also tend to all hit the opponent as well, if they get caught by the first one. Each arrow deals a rather pitiful 3% damage, but that can total up to 12% if all the arrows connect. Unlike the DAir, the last arrow deals knockback, though a rather pitiful one that can only KO at around 250%, but its better than nothing.

There is also an added effect when pressing the button at the end of the attack. This is a bit simpler, as it will simply cause Cronus to fire off two more shots, one from the top and one from the bottom, at the same time. They deal the same amount of damage, but that still boosts total potential damage to 18% damage. However, the knockback from the initial attack makes it hard to hit them with it at anything but the lowest percentages. The knockback from these is increased, however, allowing the two additional arrows to KO at 220%, still rather weak, but better. Like with the DAir, Cronus will hang in the air as he fires these.

Like other projectile attacks, there’s a bit of a bonus when used in Pause. Like with the FTilt and DAir, the arrows will gather together instead of firing, and once time Restarts, they will turn into a more powerful projectile. In this case, the arrows will become slightly bulkier, and be able to fly forward 1 full Battlefield Platform instead of just half. The two arrows both only deal 6% damage, but can KO at 220%. When the other two shots are fired, this will combine them in as well, making the arrows even larger, to the point where the small gap between them has been covered. Each arrow now deals 9% damage, and can KO at 190%. They also can now travel forward 1.5 Battlefield platforms as well. As a projectile attack, this does not grant the buff when used on infected opponents.


Up Air – GASHACON BUGVISOR II: RIPPER

Going back to basics, Cronus only uses the Gashacon BugVisor II for this attack, specifically in its chainsaw mode. He quickly thrusts the weapons upwards, it letting out a loud chainsaw revving noise as he does so. This is a rather fast attack, as Cronus doesn’t need to switch arms for the weapon, much like with the Jab. The attack has some considerable range to it as well, due to Cronus jutting his entire arm upwards as he does so.

The attack actually deals multiple hits, around 10 in total, with every hit dealing 1% damage. When an opponent is caught by the chainsaw, they will take flinching damage, until the absolute last hit, where they will take upwards knockback that can KO at a rather bad 200%. This isn’t a remarkably special attack, as it doesn’t have a special effect to it, but it is definitely good for juggling. Its secondary use comes during Pause, except its practically useless during Pause.

As noted, you can only hit an opponent once during Pause, and only the first hit of this attack counts when Pause is active. Using it on an opponent during Pause is a waste of time, but using it once time Restarts is one of the best finishers in Cronus’ repertoire. Its speed lets it catch flying opponents easily, and even its rather bad knockback is made up with due to Cronus most likely dealing heavy damage during the Pause.


Grab Game
Grab & Pummel

Cronus quickly jabs his hand forward, before pulling it back in a decently laggy grab. This isn’t particularly special in any way, being a rather lackluster grab. When Cronus grabs an opponent, he will grab them by their collar (or equivalent of), and lift them slightly into the air. While in a Pause, the grab behaves as normal. If the opponent escapes from it, they will end up frozen as soon as they return to their neutral stance, and the grab will count as a hit. Overall, the grab is basic, ranging into poor considering the bad endlag. Cronus will always use the hand that doesn’t have the BugVisor on it.

That’s because he uses the BugVisor for his pummel. Instead of jabbing them with the chainsaw like you would expect, he instead jabs the blaster pieces into the opponent, in a motion mostly resembling the Side Special. On the surface, it even seems to do the same thing, as with each hit they gain more and more of the Game Illness. This is done via the same visuals from the Side Special as well, with the opponent gaining an orange aura.

However, this behaves far differently. This is a lesser version of the Game Illness, which will instantly go away once the opponent breaks free from a grab. Each pummel deals 2% damage, and injects the opponent with one third of the Game Illness, and if three pummels are landed on the opponent, then they will catch the Game illness as well, which behaves like normal. However, you will need to pull off a throw in order for it to be full implemented. If the opponent breaks away, as mentioned, the illness will break away, and they will not be infected.

This is a bit of a problem, as you need to land three hits to fully infect them, but the pummel is rather slow all considering. You can barely tend to get 3 hits in against an opponent that’s heavily damaged, but that will basically be it. However, the lesser infection will remain if you DO throw the opponent, but will not have any effect on them. It will have more of an effect on Ride Players, however, as they become even slower in every aspect. With one infection they become 0.2x slower, and with two they become 0.5x slower. At a third infection, via this method, they will instantly become Bugster Viruses.

An infected opponent, if they have taken a few blows from Cronus’ attacks, can’t be re-infected with the pummel until the cooldown they get after its been cured has vanished. However, opponents who have been successfully infected via the pummel can take buffed hits from Cronus’ weapon based attacks thanks to their infection. This also applies to Ride Players. The virus will remain in the opponent until the third infection, or the Side Special, is applied, remaining dormant. This potentially allows you to put the final infection piece into them later in the match.


Forward Throw – PERFECT COMBO: GASHACON BUGVISOR II

All of Cronus’ throws have a fairly unique ability to them. They all function as combos, each activated by pressing a button at the end of the previous attack in the throw. For example, the FThrow. The attack starts out with Cronus dropping the opponent back to the ground, before spinning around and slashing them with the BugVisor, in chainsaw mode. This deals 3% damage, and if the combo is not continued, deals backwards knockback that can KO at 270%, making it rather pitiful for a throw.

However, if you press the attack button before or while Cronus is slashing the opponent, the knockback will instead be replaced by another attack. For the second hit, he slashes the BugVisor downwards, dealing 4% damage, and knockback that can KO at around 220%. This attack is slightly slower than the first one, but is overall stronger. The attack’s slower speed also helps it combo into the next and final hit, which requires the button to be pressed before or during the downward slash.

The final hit has Cronus quickly switch the BugVisor to its blaster mode, and fire a shot at the opponent at point blank range. This deals 3% damage, totalling the entire throw to 10% damage. The blast has the best knockback of the three hits, able to KO at 170%, and is practically the only way to truly KO an opponent with the throw. Once a full combo has been performed, a voice will yell out “PERFECT!” to congratulate you.

Each throw takes a while to complete, but they will all “seal” the virus you inputted with the pummel into the opponent, locking them with the virus. The buffed bonus damage will apply when available, but it will not take away any of the infection from the harmed opponent. However, you can’t benefit too much off of this, as only infections you inputted into them that particular grab won’t be affected. Ones carrying over from previous grabs will be taken off by the throws.

When used during a Pause, throws become a bit less useful. Due to how Pause works, only the first of the hits will affect opponents, though you can still input the other two hits if you want. Trails here are entirely cosmetic, but things like projectiles WILL be carried over. For example, the blast from the final blow will usually be flung directly into the opponent after time Restarts, encouraging you to get that perfect. It will, unfortunately, not help in giving any extra knockback, and still deals the same amount of damage, a constant for all projectiles in the throws. In addition to this, a simpler use can come from the throws being good positioning tools by nature.

There is, of course, a bit of difficulty when performing the combos. Like normal combos, they require very quick reflexes, and can’t be overcome by mashing the buttons. The moves give you leeway for when to input the extra attacks, however, but it can be hard to figure out for a newcomer.


Up Throw – PERFECT COMBO: GASHACON SPARROW

Now that we’ve gotten through the things that apply to all the throws, we can cover the rest of the throws themselves. This throw starts off with Cronus tossing the opponent up and summoning the Gashacon Sparrow in its sickle mode, before quickly slashing at them with one of the sickles as they fall back down towards Cronus from the toss. This deals a rather basic 3% damage, making it weak, and deals upwards knockback that can only really KO at 290%, making it the worst out of the four starting hits in the throws.

However, the opponent will fall back down soon after if you inputted the next attack, which requires the standard button to be pressed before or while Cronus slashes the opponent. This second hit has him slashing with both of the sickles in a cross shaped motion. This is much better, dealing 5% damage, and even being able to kill at around 190%, a major boost compared to the previous attack.

The final attack can be performed by pressing the button during or before Cronus slashes the blades. This will cause him to combine the Sparrow back together into its crossbow mode as the opponent flies up. He will then fire two simultaneous shots, similar to the added attack from the BAir, directly at the opponent. This deals 4% damage, totalling the amount of damage from this attack to around 12% damage, making it decent for a throw. The knockback buff is significantly lessened here, only being able to KO at 180%. Like with the FThrow, the projectile here will activate when time Restarts if it is performed while in Pause, and behaves the same as well.


Back Throw – PERFECT COMBO: GASHACON SWORD

Cronus uses the Gashacon Sword for this throw, and by extension, that means that this attack has no projectiles in it. To start the move, Cronus flings the opponent behind him, and then summons the sword, delivering a series of three slashes while the sword is in its fire mode. This deals an aesthetic fire effect to the opponent, as well as 3% damage. The last swing of the sword is the one that deals the knockback if not comboed into, and can KO at a rather respectable 220%, making it rather strong for a first hit, but not amazing.

The second hit requires pressing the attack button during the second or third swing of the attack. Cronus will quickly switch the sword to its ice mode, and slash upwards. This deals an aesthetic ice effect to the opponent, and 2% more damage. This is slightly stronger as a KO move, KOing at 190%, but is overall not the most impressive. It is a bit slower than the first attack, however.

The final hit requires pressing the button before or during the sword swing. Cronus will swing the blade back down, dealing an ice effect to the opponent. He then switches the sword to fire mode, and slashes back up, creating an x-shaped mark in the air, and dealing a fire effect while also launching the opponent. This attack deals 4% damage, and can KO at 160%, making this the strongest of all of Cronus’s throws. This also means that this throw is the best of the throws as a general KO move, and its general uselessness while in Pause reinforces this.


Down Throw – PERFECT COMBO: GASHACON MAGNUM

To start this attack off, Cronus drops the opponent to the ground, and quickly summons the Gashacon Magnum, in its rifle mode. He aims it at the grounded opponent, and fires at near point blank range, causing the opponent to be launched off the ground and into the air. This is rather simple, though it deals a whopping 5% on this hit, making it the strongest of the first attacks in these combos. Without inputting anything, the launch that’s caused will be able to KO at around 240%. As a base, this is useful as a positioning tool, as its diagonal knockback lets it be a bit of a reverse of the FAir.

There is a bit of extra things to this move involving Pause. When this first hit is used, instead of the usual first frame freezing, the opponent will begin the launch until they are exactly half a Battlefield Platform away from Cronus, and are directly diagonally across from him. The second attack can be activated at any point while Cronus is firing the gun, or before the opponent reaches this point.

The second hit has Cronus transforming the Gashacon Magnum back into its handgun mode, and firing 3 shots at the opponent. These behave exactly like the bullets from the DAir, but travel a bit faster in order to act as a more functioning throw. Each bullet deals 1% damage, with the final shot also being able to KO at 200% if the next combo isn’t inputted. If another opponent gets in the way of the shots, then they will take the damage instead.

The final hit can be activated by pressing the attack button at any point that the three previous bullets are on screen. When used, Cronus will flick the gun back to its rifle mode, and fire another shot, which behaves almost exactly like it does on the DAir as well. It deals 3% more damage, totaling to 11% for the entire throw. It can also KO at 180%, making it one of the weaker throws.

Like with the DAir, and most other projectiles, the projectiles will freeze when used in Pause. Once time Restarts, they will combine together to create a more powerful, single projectile. The applications here are almost exactly the same as they are in the DAir, with the three bullets combing into one, and the rifle blast being able to combine into that. In comparison, this does less damage, with the combination of the three bullets dealing 3%, and them all combined together only dealing 6%.


Final Smash
TRUE FINAL BOSS


Cronus has the Smash Ball, now he can inflict the purest form of judgement on his opponents! With its power, Cronus briefly transforms into a golden state, before glowing even more and transforming into the monster know as Super Gamedeus. Gamedeus is massive, and only appears in the background of the stage. He starts the Final Smash by unleashing a storm of orange mist from his two dragon hands. This covers the ground of the stage almost instantly, infecting everyone on the stage with the Game Illness, and instantly turning any Ride Players into Bugster Viruses. This version of the Game Illness is instantaneous in how it acts, and hangs around for the normal time when the move ends, without any time from the Final Smash being counted.

That isn’t all, as more Bugster Viruses start to appear from the mist. They behave like normal Bugster Viruses, but Gamedeus will summon up 10 of them, minus however many Ride Players were transformed. Once the attack ends, all but 4 of the Bugster Viruses will die, while the remaining ones stay on stage.

Gamedeus doesn’t just hang out in the background either, as has his own set of attacks as well. Inputting a standard attack will cause him to slam one of his dragon head hands on the ground. These are absolutely massive, and can cover around half of Battlefield in a single strike. They will also go through thin platforms, and deal a massive 20% damage, with high knockback. Gamedeus can control which head is slammed by inputting left or right.

Pressing the special attack button will cause Gamedeus to fire out a massive laser from one of his dragon head hands, which have infinite range, and will automatically sweep across the stage in the direction the dragon head is facing. They have infinite range, and can basically cover entire stages, including Final Destination. These are terrifying as well, as they can deal a hefty 25% damage, with heavy knockback, but are slower than the head slam attack. You can input both a head slam, and a laser at the same time.

The attack lasts for 15 seconds, and once it is finished, Gamedeus will let out a laugh as he transforms back into Cronus, who is still in his golden form. The mist clears quickly as soon as he returns to the stage, and most of the Bugster Viruses will die off. For the rest of the stock, Cronus will remain in his golden form, though he still uses his normal weapons.


BEHOLD, THE FORM OF THE ULTIMATE BOSS!




In a stunning event not seen since the likes of Tutankoopa, Kamen Rider Cronus has a BOSS MODE!

In Boss Mode, Cronus takes on the golden form seen above, and mentioned in his Final Smash. This is his super form, Gamedeus Cronus, a form created when Cronus absorbed the DNA of Gamedeus himself. Gamedeus Cronus doesn’t use his Gashacon BugVisor as a weapon, but rather a new sword and shield weapon. Gamedeus is the final boss of Kamen Rider Chronicle, and is functionally a raid boss, with the plan having been for millions of players to gather and defeat him in real life. Unfortunately, Gamedeus’ release also causes everyone who played the game to become infected with the Game Illness, in a move that Dan “The Man” Kuroto apparently overlooked.

So, why not take this raid boss in-canon, and make him into a raid boss here?

Boss Mode requires 3 separate players fighting against Cronus. They must take down his three stocks before their own run out. Pretty simple conceptually, but much more difficult to actually do, as Cronus’ set has been pushed from “borderline OP” to “practically unbeatable”. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t forces out to help the players.


The main gimmick of this fight involves items that occasionally appear, resembling the coin seen above. They’re an intangible item, though they are around 2/3rds the size of a Party Ball, and will automatically be picked up when a player’s hurtbox passes over them. These are Save Coins, and collecting one will cause the player who collected it to have “saved” their game. What this means is that, when they run out of stock, they will return to however many stocks they had when they picked up the item. Which players currently have the item are shown via a small icon next to the player icon. Cronus can destroy these save items by passing over them, however.

Trust me, you’ll need more than 9 stocks just to defeat Cronus, so collect those save items.


Changes
General
- Cronus’ stats remain mostly the same, except he has slightly better jumps. Other than that, no real changes.
- Cronus, instead of using any of his weapons, now simply uses the sword and shield he has gained. Animations are fitted accordingly, and will be described as each move is covered.
- All colored trails are changed from their previous colors to blood red.
- Cronus gains a similar shield effect to Link’s, though it is active for less frames than it is on Link.
- If a colored trail were to hit an opponent again once time Restarts, then it will deal the same amount of damage as the base move does.
- Weapon buffs behave exactly the same, but are boosted due to nearly every attack they’re applied to having added damage.

Specials
- Pause has been buffed massively. Cronus no longer requires to save up time, and can instead simply pause time for a buffed 5 seconds when he performs the attack. Despite Cronus’ BugVisor being on his belt, the attack is still massively laggy, with the start-up animation of him putting the belt on replaced by him laughing for a while. Opponents can still knock him out of it, but the attack is even more dangerous now.
- Reset retains its heavy start-up lag, but the animation has been changed to Cronus simply yelling, instead of holding up the BugVisor. The clock construct has now been buffed to 50% health. When Cronus is KOed now, instead of just the opponent who KOed him being reset, the entire stage is reset to how it was before he was KOed, resulting in any constructs built within that time to be erased, or any damage caused to opponents to be reset.
- The kick version of the Up Special has a significantly higher jumping distance, and now deals 18% damage. Other than that, it is exactly the same.
- Down Special has been changed massively. Instead of summoning Ride Players, Cronus will instantly get into summoning Bugster Viruses. The start-up animation for Cronus remains the same, but instead of the Kamen Rider Chronicle screen appearing, or the Game Start being yelled, a cloud of orange mist will appear on either side of him, and summon up 4 Bugster Virus minions. This takes around as long as summoning Ride Players does.
- Cronus must now use the input whenever he wants to summon Bugster Viruses, meaning he’ll have to go through the opening animation every time. Once the mist appears, however, opponents cannot stop the Bugster Viruses from appearing.
- Bugster Viruses now have 20% HP, but their attacks remain the same.
- Side Special is changed massively as well, and now has Cronus pointing his sword forwards, causing it to shoot out a cloud of orange mist. The mist is around the size of Bowser, and hangs on the stage for around 10 seconds. If an opponent walks through it, they will instantly become infected with the Game Illness. Cronus can only have one cloud of mist out at a time, however.
- If the Side Special is used while next to an opponent infected with the Game Illness, Cronus will stab them with his blade, and launch them off. This acts as the more powerful hit from the base Side Special, except now it deals 25% damage.

Smashes
- Down Smash gets a simple buff, alongside turning completely red, boosting its damage output to 14-32% damage. Its speed is also increased, and its slightly larger when at maximum charge as well. The sawblade is now summoned by Cronus’ sword.
- Up Smash remains the same, except now the shots are fired from the bottom of Cronus’ shield. Their speed is also increased, and they now deal 13-20% damage. The shots are now slightly larger, too.
- Forward Smash is mostly the same, with the sweetspot having the exact same damage as normal.The attack now deals 30-35% damage while in Pause, however, making it even more dangerous. The wave effect remains the same, but deals 35-45% damage.

Standards
- Jab is now a combo with Cronus’ sword, with damage boosted to 15% in total. It is also very slightly faster, and has better range, having both similar trails to the base Jab, but the added reach of the sword.
- Forward Tilt has Cronus firing the blast from his shield now. The blast is slightly larger, and deals 12% damage.
- The Pause effect on the Forward Tilt will cause the blast to instead fire out around 8 shots in a circle. The shots are the same size as they were in the base attack, but now deal 4% damage.
- The Up Tilt behaves the same, even retaining the same concept of swinging a sword, except with the hitbox being active during the entire animation, making it feel faster. In addition to that, it deals 12% damage, and acts as a combination between the two forms of the attacks. Trying to input an extra effect does nothing.
- Down Tilt is now two sweeps with Cronus’ sword, first to the front, and then in the back. The attack still consists of two hitboxes that deal 6% damage, but they are now capable of comboing into each other.
- Down Tilt’s added effect is now much larger, both waves now going well above Cronus’ crouching model, and stretch out an extra bit as well. The downside of this is that the attack cannot combo into itself when this is used.
- Dashing Attack remains almost exactly the same, except for the removal of the fire and ice effects from the two slashes. Both attacks deal 8% and 6%, respectively.

Aerials:
- Neutral Air now has Cronus slashing downwards with both his sword and shield at the same time, replacing both BugVisors. The attack now deals 12% damage, and the two sides still can’t be comboed into each other.
- Forward Air now has Cronus swinging downwards with his sword. Behaves functionally the same, but now deals 14% damage.
- Down Air now has Cronus firing the shots from his shield. They are slightly larger and faster now, and the extra effect is still retained. Shots now deal 5% and 8%, respectively.
- Back Air changes significantly, as Cronus will now fire six shots from his shield, all of them at the same altitude. The lasers are also slightly bigger than normal, and deal 4% damage. Due to Cronus firing out all six shots without needing the added effect, when the shots come out of Pause, they will be the strongest variant.
-Up Air’s animation changes completely. Cronus will now rapidly slash his sword above him ten times, with the range being much better than on the base attack. Damage has now been buffed to 2% per hit.

Grab Game
- Grab is changed completely. It is now a tether grab, with the bottom of Cronus’ shield flying out in the form of a tentacle. It can reach forwards around 2 Battlefield Platforms, and drags in opponents it hits almost instantly. Once the opponent is dragged to Cronus, the standard grab animation starts up. This grab is significantly slower, but its range makes up for it.
- Pummel now just has Cronus sending the Game Illness directly through his body and into the opponent’s. This will always result in a full infection, even if the opponent manages to escape.
- All throws now automatically do the three hits. The throws remain the same inside of a Pause as they do outside of it.
- Forward Throw now has Cronus using his sword for the first two hits. The final hit is replaced with hi jabbing it directly into the opponent, launching them off. Damage boosted to 12%.
- Up Throw now has the first two hits involve Cronus’ sword as well, with the projectile attack having him fire a much bulkier projectile from his shield. Damage is now 14%.
- Back Throw is now just a series of sword slashes, fairly obvious. Damage is now 15%.
- Down Throw now just has Cronus firing all the blasts from his shield. Damage is now 13%.

 
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Bionichute

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2,151
Terry Crews

Doomfist is, as other people here have stated, one of your best, Muno... however, I'm a lot less enthusiastic about it than most of the others, it seems. I like the base concept of him, being a heavyweight bruiser with good airgame, and the passive ability is great too. Actually, the set has very little FLAWS to it, the biggest being that the Up Special is weird and kind of useless. But the set also doesn't particularly have much... pizzazz to it? There isn't really much here beyond the passive ability and the wall, which does kind of hurt it for me.

Its still very good, its just that I really feel there could've been more. The place I mostly get this is the grabs, like, you have a guy with a really big hand, and there's not that much to them. Maybe that's just me though. Another thing I don't like is how long the passive lasts, it seems slightly too short, especially for how weak its described. Overall, still decent, but not my kind of thing.


Alpha & Omega 9: The Metroid Invasion

Omega Metroid is definitely... a set. There's a lot of strange things to this set, which is especially odd considering its also incredibly mundane. The animations themselves are poorly described, if described at all, and the writing style is awkward in a few places. The weirdest part of the writing is the grab, which describes it via a bizarre soda metaphor that actually makes it harder to understand.

I can offer a few tips, however, because I do feel like you have potential @der Rabe. The obvious thing is to put Specials first, as they can be allowed to played off much better during the rest of the set. The second is to try to come up with some more creative ideas, and I don't mean that in an insulting way. The rock falling mechanic on the Down Smash is actually a fairly interesting concept, but its not actually described in the move itself, only when you have no context for it. If you could come up with more ideas like this, and put them in the relevant moves, then you can probably come up with something good!

Finally, try to make the grabs better. That's just a thing you're going to hear if you want to hang around. Also, try to push some limits, expand out a bit. Metroid's good, but maybe you could try coming up with a set for something else? The more creative the character, the more creative the set can be. Hope you appreciated this critique.
 
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Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
Location
California
Alpha & Omega 9: The Metroid Invasion

Omega Metroid is definitely... a set. There's a lot of strange things to this set, which is especially odd considering its also incredibly mundane. The animations themselves are poorly described, if described at all, and the writing style is awkward in a few places. The weirdest part of the writing is the grab, which describes it via a bizarre soda metaphor that actually makes it harder to understand.

I can offer a few tips, however, because I do feel like you have potential @der Rabe. The obvious thing is to put Specials first, as they can be allowed to played off much better during the rest of the set. The second is to try to come up with some more creative ideas, and I don't mean that in an insulting way. The rock falling mechanic on the Down Smash is actually a fairly interesting concept, but its not actually described in the move itself, only when you have no context for it. If you could come up with more ideas like this, and put them in the relevant moves, then you can probably come up with something good!

Finally, try to make the grabs better. That's just a thing you're going to hear if you want to hang around. Also, try to push some limits, expand out a bit. Metroid's good, but maybe you could try coming up with a set for something else? The more creative the character, the more creative the set can be. Hope you appreciated this critique.
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I am planning on working on another character. It's a space pirate also from the Metroid series. Hopefully this time I'll be able to do so, since I didn't finish secondaries in previous threads. I'll see what I can do to rewrite the Omega Metroid's abilities. I'll also get rid of the soda analogy.
 
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