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Make Your Move 24: Moveset Design Contest — Congrats to our Top 50! This contest is officially Dead™, tune in March 10 for our next installment!

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
"You bring violence and war to thwart the Dark Realm, but conflict was born in hell. It is inevitable. A fire that fuels creation, and gives purpose where there is none."



"Stand and fight, denizens of Smash. Honor your true God. Fight, and show me your purpose."














Davoth

Music

[Description WIP. Basically both God and Satan in the Doom universe at the same time. A bit of an honorable warrior type but also extremely wrathful and wants to destroy all of existence. Doomslayer's final opponent, and fights kind of like a Super Marauder who can control the entire demon population of Doom's universe to his will.]


Stats

Coming into Smash in his giant mech suit, Davoth is the biggest character in the game, at 1.25x Ganondorf's height and MUCH wider. He's blessed with a slightly stronger version of Bowser's tough guy armor to compensate for this, but despite that Davoth is very easy to land long combo strings on. To make matters worse, Davoth has an added vulnerability that most Smash characters don't have, the upper half of his armor CAN be cracked open if the opponent deals 50% to it, which reveals Davoth's head and a bit of his upper torso. Hitting Davoth's exposed body will deal 1.35x as much damage to him and 1.1x as much knockback on top of that. Its like a bit more elaborate version of the weak point of Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, and the armor regenerates at a rate of 2% per half-second when Davoth's not taking damage. You can see some visible cracks on it once its taken 25% that worsen at 40%, and seal over with orange hell energy as the armor regenerates.

As for Davoth's other stats, he's not quite as slow as you'd think he is, but the bulky armor isn't built for pure agility. He comes in at a run speed of 1.77, a little above average and comparable to Mario's. His jumps are pretty good as rocket flares briefly fire from his boots, propelling him quite high on his first jump and giving him a moderate but acceptable second jump. His air speed is actually just horrendous though, at 0.68 its the worst in the game, and by a decent margin below even the very poor air movement of King Dedede, its a good thing his jumps can be used to give him a bit of forward momentum to start with. Likewise, he has the fastest fall speed in the game at 2.24, making him a character who very clearly does not want to be in the air. He also has a slightly faster fast fall than most characters at a 70% increase rather than 60%, so he can get to the ground even FASTER if you need to, just keep in mind this combined with your poor forward movement means Davoth is going to REALLY rely on his specials to recover. Which is fine, they're good at it, but they are telegraphed enough that you can run into problems of needing to use them to get back from situations you'd rather just DI back to the ledge.

Oh yeah, also, I haven't mentioned Davoth's weight stat. This isn't like most big heavies where they're comparable to Bowser or at most, a bit ahead of him. Oh no, Davoth is in a weight class entirely of his own(or in the Ultra Heavyweight class a couple of GolisoPower's sets use in terms of recent MYM stuff), with a weight stat of 170. Its to the point weak attacks won't even flinch him at low percents, and combined with his tough guy armor and gigantic shield which he pulls out for a bunch of moves opponents are going to have to pick carefully what attacks they go for against a low percentage Davoth. Davoth IS very possible to kill early with well placed aggression to crack open his armor and off-stage pressure, but if he can counter that he's an absolute monster of attrition that will shrug off everything the opponent throws at him.

Special Mechanic - Glory Kill
A number of Davoth's attacks have parts of their hitbox that will cause a cry of pain from the opponent on hit, a spurt of blood, and cause them to flash red. Usually on sweetspots, but some stronger hits just have it on the entire hitbox, but these hitboxes will leave the opponent's body flashing red for a period depending on the attack, the duration stacking if you hit multiple attacks that leave the opponent staggered. As the Doomslayer was created in Davoth's image and the Glory Kill mechanic is even replicated with Davoth healing himself with his attacks in the boss fight, Davoth gains access to the ability to Glory Kill opponents he's staggered by grabbing them.

So what happens when the foe is grabbed for a Glory Kill? Well that depends on if Davoth can actually kill them or not, and the threshold where the opponent can be glory killed depends from character to character. On Mario, he can Glory Kill properly at 90%. On Pichu, it happens as low as 60%, and on Bowser it happens at 120%. If its not time for a proper Glory Kill yet, Davoth will brutally impale his sword through the foe, causing a shower of blood to spray from them as Davoth puts an impressive amount of weight behind ripping through the foe's body with his massive crucible blade. Ripping it back out, the foe is sent flying with 25% and mostly horizontal knockback that would KO on Mario at about 120%, while the spray of blood actually heals Davoth for 6.66%. Its a small heal sure, but keep in mind that even if he has some weaknesses this is a character who is far heavier than Bowser to start with, making Davoth nothing short of an attrition monster. Note that as the foe will always be under this move's usual kill percentage, the knockback here is more about getting the foe far away from you than actually killing them, though sometimes niche situations with ledges or poor recoveries will come up where this version of the move still gets the kill.

There is a bit of a wind up period before Davoth goes for the Glory Kill, during which the foe cannot escape the grab, but Davoth himself can cancel out of it to use any other throw. There are situations where Davoth would rather go for something else for greater potential damage from a string of hits or better positioning. For that matter, if you use a different throw or even just your pummel to cancel out of this, Davoth can keep the Glory Kill in reserve to bust out later, possibly when the foe is actually at the threshold it would kill. Regardless, this version of Glory Kill still deals a hefty burst of damage to foes and a bonus heal on top of that, providing a solid consolation prize to grabbing a staggered opponent even if they're not at kill percentage.

If the foe is at the necessary threshold for a Glory Kill, then Davoth's eyes will intensely glow red upon grabbing the foe, and at this point the animation cannot be cancelled out of. He will hoist them up into the air, and then perform a personalized kill animation for each character in the game, after which the opponent is KO'd without even being thrown off a blast zone in a similar manner to some Final Smashes. Before the foe loses their stock they'll take 66.6% from this throw, and Davoth will heal back 25%, effectively hedging his bets for the next stock. Effectively, once a foe reaches a high enough percentage while staggered, every grab from Davoth not only becomes an instant kill, it becomes an instant kill that will make the next stock harder for them. In matches with more than two players or in matches involving constructs/minions/hazards, Davoth and the foe become totally immune to everything else in the match until Davoth is done executing the opponent.

- List of Instant Kill Animations will go here in a spoiler tag.

In practice, Glory Kills are a way to make Davoth into even more of an absolute fortress of a heavyweight. The healing is a pretty big benefit on a character who is already this insanely bulky, letting Davoth heal over the cracks the foe made in his armor. It also makes throwing out shields much scarier against Davoth, because if he just goes through with a grab instead the results will be grisly. Being a very, very laggy heavyweight like Ganondorf means Davoth is forced to make each hit he lands count for as much as possible, and suffice to say the extra benefits of staggering means even if his heavy hits won't kill the foe, they can put them on the back foot defensively by giving Davoth an absolutely monstrous grab until the effect passes.

Specials

Side Special - The Crucible Shield
Davoth brings up his massive energy shield and gains the ability to dash forward with it up as long as he holds the B button. This shield covers about the lower 2/3rds of Davoth's body and completely absorbs all attacks directed at it. Projectiles and melee hits alike are blunted on his shield, with the only way through being a grab or getting around and attacking the top of Davoth's hurtbox specifically, or hitting him from behind. The shield comes out on Frame 12, allowing him to pull it out in neutral to sponge a hit though it is on the slow side for that. Once its up, Davoth can move forward at a dash speed of 1.48, or backwards at half that speed, allowing him to easily bulldoze through projectiles to approach and force the opponent to either weave around the shield or play on the defensive to get their window to attack Davoth, making it a very potent approaching tool despite its relative slowness.

The easiest way to beat Davoth's shield is to roll behind him, as the shield does not make Davoth into a truly solid wall. This is a rare moment where the width of Davoth's body actually comes in handy, the opponent will need to be pretty close to him to roll through him, so the spacing on this technique isn't necessarily something the foe will get right every time especially given Davoth can step backwards and punish. If they do get behind Davoth though, dropping shield for Davoth by releasing B has him deactivate it, taking enough frames that he'll be at a bit of a frame disadvantage to the foe. This is especially true if Davoth's timing is poor, although if he predicts a foe is rolling behind him before they go for it he might be at a minor frame advantage, so the little mindgames here with the foe's rolls and Davoth having multi-directional movement are important. As an aside, if an opponent does hit a shield with any attack, the animation for him deactivating it becomes much quicker, making it VERY easy to punish an opponent who throws a misguided attack into Davoth's shield.

If instead of releasing B, you decide to tap or hold A, you get a different result, as Davoth will pull his blade back and swing the shield aside to perform one of two attacks! If you tap A, Davoth will simply pull his shield aside on Frame 5 and stab forward with his blade on Frame 12. dealing 11% and slightly elongated hitstun before medium angle diagonal knockback that scales to KO at about 185%. This attack is certainly riskier than just dropping the shield as for a few frames before the stab comes out, Davoth's shield will be down and he'll be left open, but if you actually connect with it you can even combo off it! Davoth's combo game is extremely limited, but it does exist and becomes better with the right setups, so having a combo starter as one of the two moves you can use out of this fairly defensive option is quite nice. Its just a shame its one of only two moves you have to do so, but that's the price you pay for having such a strong mobile defense. It should also be noted that combining the bulky size of Davoth's armor and the length of the crucible blade, he has a very impressive level of reach here... and also that the extended hitstun is covering for the fact that this move's end lag is actually a bit rough if you whiff it, so try to make sure you actually connect with this move.

Holding A will instead have Davoth wind up for 26 frames of start lag as he raises his energy sword up behind him and brings it down in an overhead one-handed slash, dealing 19% and knockback that KOs at 120% at a slightly lower angle than the weaker stab. The thing about this attack is that Davoth will keep his shield up on it until Frame 21, which means if the foe predicts Davoth is about to try and stab them and they attack to interrupt it, they could easily run right into this move instead. It can also catch dodges meant for the faster stab, and punish a failed roll if the opponent tried to sneak behind your shield but you managed to fake them out. The reward here isn't especially high for your troubles, except for the part where it staggers for the foe for a whopping 10 seconds! While Davoth has a fair few tools in his set that stagger opponents, this is a stagger covering the entire hitbox that lasts impressively long, adding an impressive level of fear to Davoth's grab. That said, this move does come with a more extreme version of the downside of the other versions of dropping shield: if you whiff with this, Davoth's animation for his end lag is heavily staggered and the opponent is given a massive window to punish you, with this move having 66 frames of end lag. So if you throw this out, be prepared to take some very heavy punishment if you whiff, or do it with immense confidence that the foe is playing right into it.

Davoth can also jump when the shield is out, switching over to the move's aerial version! Unfortunately, this puts the foe at the mercy of Davoth's horrible air speed, but the shield is positioned a bit differently in the aerial version. Rather than holding it out right in front of himself, Davoth holds it a downward angle, his head tilted low as well. This means the shield only covers the lower half of his body, but also covers a decent chunk of space below Davoth in front of him, allowing Davoth to intercept attacks from beneath him. The fact that the shield is lower angled when he jumps does mean the shield's weakness to foe's attacking it from above isn't alleviated entirely by jumping, especially considering the weaknesses of Davoth's air movement, but you can still at least use this to catch out attacks aimed just above Davoth's shield. Also keep in mind that while he has the shield out, Davoth has twice as many jumpsquat frames(he by default has 5, and with the shield up has 10). Lastly, Davoth's backwards movement is cut by a quarter while the shield is out when he's in the air, not as drastic as the decrease in his movement if he decides to move backward on the ground, but when Davoth's air speed is already as terrible as it is this nerf can still be pretty painful.

Davoth's aerial attacks are pretty similar to his grounded ones, but the basic stab can actually be angled up or down unlike the grounded version to give it a greater deal of coverage than the grounded variant to hit foes above or below Davoth. It has the same lag, but in exchange the knockback is slightly increased to kill at 170%, and the combo potential is completely removed as the extended hitstun is not present. The low angled stab deals very low angled horizontal knockback and the high angled stab deals mostly vertical knockback, while the forward stab deals knockback at a very similar angled to the grounded variant. The massive range and potential coverage of this move is pretty important when one of the ways opponents can beat this move and force Davoth to drop the energy shield and take lag is to get behind him, and this stab can let you cover opponents trying to get around you that way. Just keep in mind the jumpsquat and Davoth's bad aerial movement, as well as the fact that this is unfortunately one of only two options here.

The held variant of this move in the air takes Davoth's reach to an entirely new level, as Davoth extends out his arm to its maximum length before the swing and swings it in an arc comparable to the one covered by Bowser's Fair. That move's range is pretty infamous as is, and Davoth's held A aerial attack vastly exceeds it, covering a positively obscene amount of air space. The start lag and end lag are the same as the grounded, but Davoth drops his shield a bit earlier to give the foe a slightly bigger window to interrupt this in the startup, and the stagger effect is cut to only 6 seconds in length. The range increase as well as having access to such a powerful attack offstage still makes this an attack worth fearing though, and it can still serve its purpose of catching mistimed dodges of the stab or attacks intended to hit the shield. Genuinely with this kind of range, you can sometimes outright punish projectile characters who were getting a little too comfortable trying to poke you.

All in all, this is a very potent approach and defensive technique, but one that's a bit limited by the fact that you only have two attacks active during it, making Davoth a bit predictable when he relies on this. At the very least, they're two good attacks with some real variation to them when used in the air. And if you think this move's a bit too predictable right now, Davoth has a way to rectify that which we'll get to shortly. Relatedly, this does make it even harder for foes to get Davoth to kill percentages as he provides an impenetrable wall they have to work around to start wailing on his ultraheavyweight body, which is another fact that will become especially relevant soon enough...

Down Special - Dark Lord's Wrath
In a move that charges similarly to ROB's laser or Wario Waft, Davoth's gauntlets glow faintly with red energy when this move is ready. If you use Down Special when Davoth has no charge built up, he will simply slam his shield into the ground to create a shockwave on both sides of him that deals 5% and stuns the foe just long enough to leave the foe and Davoth in frame neutral. This move comes out on Frame 20 and the positioning of the shield doesn't actually protect Davoth's body at all, as he turns to face the screen to do so, making this a pretty overall useless attack if you have no charge, though more useful than its uncharged contemporaries in that regard. This is because it can at least shield poke on the occasions that's relevant, and the range is at least long enough that it'll sometimes catch opponents out just by easily outranging fist fighting melee-range characters. In the air, Davoth will produce no shockwave but slam the shield below him for 9% and a weak spike that can at least mess with weaker recoveries like the Belmonts and Mac pretty effectively. The range isn't great without the shockwave on the ground, though.

This move starts having its relevant uses if you've left it to charge for 12 seconds. Davoth lets out a gutteral "Die!" as he slams his shield into the ground, not increasing the power of the hitbox, but causing orange lightning to crackle off Davoth's hands and his blade and crucible to glow brightly. This buffs up Davoth's next attack with a set boost that does not vary from attack to attack, although some attacks will get some additional benefits on top of the damage and knockback boost this attack gives. And that bonus is a whopping 1.5x boost to damage and knockback. For those familiar with how damage and knockback formulas in Smash work, this is usually going to do horrifying things like cut Davoth's kill percents in half, making every attack Davoth throws out with this buff one to be feared. The reason the boost is this powerful is not only do you have to wait for a chance to use it, but its used up after you use a single attack, and it is very clear to the opponent that said attack is coming and they need to play it safe until you throw it out.

There are a couple extra benefits to this attack buff that players need to keep in mind. For one, it doesn't just buff Davoth's damage and knockback, it also buffs the duration of any staggering effects he inflicts on foes. Specifically, it doubles the duration of the stagger, so the held A attack from Side Special deals either 20 seconds or 12 seconds of stagger outright, which is a pretty terrifying reward for pulling this attack off. But the real horror comes when Davoth already has a foe staggered with this buff up. Because you see, if Davoth has unleashed his power with this move, he can glory kill an opponent at any percentage, period. Flat out, if you line up a stagger and a Down Special buff, and you land grab, you can kill the opponent at 0% and get a heal on top of that. Keep in mind this is a buff you only get once every 12 seconds, and on top of that it buffs exactly one attack and is quite telegraphed. If you land specifically grab after that on a foe who is already staggered, that's not really more ridiculous than a lot of tricks some Smash Ultimate characters can already get up to. You've earned that glory kill.

Some of Davoth's attacks are designed to get more mileage out of the singular buff this Down Special gives. For example, going into Side Special means any of the attacking options you'd use out of Side Special would get the appropriate buff. It also removes the nerf Side Special gives to Davoth's movement speed, allowing him to use his full dash speed with his energy shield up, making it just that little bit easier to mess with rolls and go for a faster, better spaced approach. It does not change the backwards movement nerfs in any way, though backwards ground movement is at least faster by virtue of being half his dash speed rather than half a reduced speed.

If you're willing to hold this attack in reserve for a full minute, however, you get a different result. This charge is lost when you lose a stock, AND you have to keep this move in reserve the entire time... but given Davoth's extreme durability, keeping a stock going for a minute is something you should be perfectly capable of doing if you play well. Not as well as a hardcore camper could, mind you, you're not so much good at stalling as you are drawn out melee engages. But if you're good enough at them with smart Side Special defense and take minimal damage to your more vulnerable upper torso, you can live long enough to see what happens when you activate Down Special after a minute of buildup. And the result! Well in a 1v1 match, the entire stage's background is changed in a flash of light as its reduced to hellish wreck of what the stage used to be, background elements ablaze, demons crawling the background, and the stage reduced to a barely functioning husk of its former self visibly. Of course the actual battlefield remains the same in terms of gameplay, but it shows Davoth has brought ruin to the world just like he's about to bring to the foe. In matches with 3 or more opponents, Davoth is instead just given a very dramatic looking dark aura when this effect is activated, to prevent the effects on the screen from getting too chaotic. That said, he will loudly announce "I will devour your soul!" when he uses this attack regardless of how many opponents are in the match.

For the next 15 seconds, Davoth has the same buff he'd usually get from Down Special on every attack he makes. Remember what I said about it effectively halving KO percentages and Davoth wanting to make every attack count? Yeah, with this buff up Davoth can generally kill opponents in about 2-4 hits maximum. Its not going to fix his speed problems, which unfortunately is Davoth's overall biggest weakness, but Davoth's attacks are frequently equipped with a kind of range and complexity that other heavyweights would be heavily envious of, so letting him kill faster than any of them is downright horrifying. Oh, yeah, and god help the opponent if they get staggered during this time, because now you have an entire 15 seconds where the grab just instant kills staggered opponents.

Essentially, Down Special is Davoth's reward for sticking around in a match a long time through his durability. The longer his stock lasts, the more chances he'll get to either throw out an extremely beefed up singular hit, go for an instant kill via grab, or outright go on a rampage with nigh-unlimited power. If you're sticking to the former, you'll want to lean on Davoth's attacks that are more complex than a simple swing and a hit or miss to get the most mileage out of this move, and if you're aiming to go for a rampage, getting full mileage out of Side Special as a survival technique will definitely help you last that long.

Neutral Special - Armies of Hell
Pointing his sword forward, energy forms behind Davoth into an initial amorphous shape that transforms into the form of one of the demons from his legions of hell. The demon remains in an energy form, indicating they're not nearly as durable as you'd expect from their flesh and blood counterparts, having generally pretty unimpressive HP totals for the amount of effort it takes to make one. Once summoned, it will stick around alongside Davoth, following him around like an Ice Climber, albeit with Davoth's massive bulk actually making it unlikely to hit both at the same time. Demons share Davoth's percentage for taking knockback/stun, but each have their own weight value independent of Davoth's, which can make them easier to separate if you do manage to hit both at once. If demons take knockback past a blast zone they will die, but otherwise will warp back to Davoth's side 1.5 seconds after being knocked away.

Which demon will be summoned will depend on how long this move is charged for, and its not a storable charge. Davoth will definitely need breathing room to summon one of his loyal servants, with the first one coming out at 20 frames of charge, though you will get a consolation prize if you charge for less than that. That said, the amount of time you need to charge to summon a demon is halved if Davoth staggered a foe within the past 5 seconds, giving you that extra incentive to land those big hits. There's also an element of danger to hitting Davoth during this charge, as Davoth can cancel it into Side Special to throw up a shield in the path of the enemy's attack. It even has reduced start lag if the foe has let you charge for at least 20 frames(or 10 if you scored a stagger in the last 5 seconds), coming out on Frame 7 in that case and making it easier to predict an opponent's attack and stop it at that point.

Once a demon is out, it is equipped with three attacks: a weak attack, a medium attack, and a strong attack. These attacks are actually not used automatically at all, the demon strictly following the commands of its master. However, throughout the Dark Lord's moveset, demons will be commanded to use their attacks on set intervals with each of Davoth's attacks. To give an example of that, when Davoth throws up his shield with Side Special, the demon alongside him will perform its weak attack as cover, and will continue doing so once every second. While this is a set rhythm opponents can obviously prepare for, the passive pressure it applies when Davoth can drop shield to go for either the stab or the overhead slash makes it very threatening, and also a much bigger pain to navigate around Davoth's shield than it would be without a demon out.

With the weaker stab attack in both its aerial and grounded variants, demons will not normally follow it up to give Davoth room to combo off that attack himself in his limited but sometimes potent ways. You can, however, press B during Davoth's end lag to have the demon perform a medium attack, leading to alternative combo strings. The stronger stab attack will cause the demons to also throw out their strong attack, which might not cover how long the lag is very well but given you already have your shield up, the bonus of throwing out a second big attack simultaneously can make it that much harder to properly weave around taking some kind of big hit. Finally, demons will throw out their weak attack during the start lag of Down Special, making it a fair bit safer to activate the buff.

Now that we have the way demons work and which attack intervals they activate on out of the way, we can get into specifics:

0-19 Frames: Sentinel Wolf

The sentinel wolf, which is proportioned a bit like Ivysaur without the bulb, is your consolation prize for throwing this move out without enough charge to make a proper summon. Keep in mind your summons come out on Frame 18, and have a fair bit of end lag, so you're committing quite a bit to using a Sentinel Wolf as a summon if you do just summon it and not a more powerful minion. At 5 stamina, the Sentinel Wolf is incredibly easy to kill, and projectiles only briefly stall on impact with it rather than being stopped by it. Not to mention its short height makes it a rather ineffectual projectile defense, but that's what your energy shield is for. The wolf charges forward at Charizard/Ridley's dash speed, and will relentlessly pursue foes around, even offstage. It has a single, middling jump it can use. The wolf will last 2.5 seconds before disappearing if the foes choose to entirely ignore it, and hitting it with an attack will not cause any hitlag for the opponent.

So far the Sentinel Wolf is a bit of an ineffectual minion, and its only got one, low power attack to boot. Bearing its fangs, the wolf lunges forward in an attack that comes out on Frame 7, biting the opponent for 8% and low upwards knockback while the wolf stops for a moment before continuing its pursuit after a second. Given its incredibly short duration, its unlikely it will get two bites off, and the fact it moves in faster than Davoth combined with decent end lag means Davoth will likely not get much of a chance to combo off it. That said, it is a decent distraction for Davoth that he can use alongside some of his heavy hitting moves like Down Smash and Forward Smash to help set them up, and if the opponent can't find time to kill the wolf on the first go around they'll have to worry about dealing with the wolf and Davoth simultaneously, which is scary for a number of reasons.

The obvious reason is that if the wolf's bite combos into one of Davoth's attacks, they'll be taking a much heavier hit, and it can serve as a consolation prize and protection from punishment on a whiff. The less obvious reason is when the opponent is bitten by the wolf, bite marks appear over them and they flash red, revealing that the foe has been very briefly staggered! This is only a 45 frame stagger, you will not get much room to capitalize on this, but it does mean Davoth coming in for a grab after a Sentinel Wolf's bite is actually pretty scary. On top of that, it makes this special a bit self-fueling, if you land a hit with the Sentinel Wolf its one of the easier enablers in your set to summon a Pain Elemental or a Tyrant.

All that said, the Sentinel Wolf is not a powerful minion, its a distraction. If you want immediate pressure on the foe and don't have time to charge up something better it will do the job, and its lingering status is good at forcing out attacks which Davoth can potentially intercept with his shield. Also while you can usually have only one minion out, if you already have a support minion you can use this move to summon a Sentinel Wolf to gnaw at the foe's heels, giving this move some utility even while you've already got one of your loyal subordinates at your side.

19-39 Frames: Hell Knight

Standing at the size of a slightly more hunched over Captain Falcon, the Hell Knight serves as primarily a support to Davoth's melee combat. It has 20 stamina, making it relatively easy to kill, though as it spends a lot of the fight behind Davoth it can be hard to actually get in those hits on it to kill it. The Hell Knight has a weight of 103, making it pretty easy to separate from Davoth when the two both take a sizeable hit. On summon, the Hell Knight will let out a shriek of rage directed at the nearest foe.

The Hell Knight has a pretty simple set of attacks, its weak attack being a simple punch as it steps out from behind Davoth to swing its fist forward and slightly downward. This comes out on Frame 8, and deals 9% and weak low angle horizontal knockback that will basically never KO. Its not a very strong attack, and the Hell Knight is actually left with some hefty end lag as its thrown off balance by how far it leaned into that punch, but it comes out at an earlier frame that the vast majority of Davoth's options, and the low angled knockback with little power actually means it will frequently hit foes right into the massive range of Davoth's sword swings. One thing to keep in mind though is actually hitting with this requires the foe to be much closer to Davoth than most of his melee requires, the Hell Knight encouraging Davoth to get a bit more up close and personal because of this move. The end lag makes this a bit suboptimal compared to the other minions means of pestering a foe with a shield up, but you can easily go into the faster stab with this, and the Hell Knight WILL turn around to smack foes who are sneaking behind Davoth with this move while the shield is up, making rolls behind him a bit more difficult to pull off unless you do them during a Hell Knight's lengthy end lag.

The medium attack has the Hell Knight lurch forward from behind Davoth and slam both its hands into the ground, in an attack with considerably more range than the punch but is still outranged by Davoth's own massive sword and mech-based reach. It comes out on Frame 15, deals 14% and upwards knockback that KOs at 135%, which can make for a decent emergency kill move out of Side Special's stab, or an option to convert into pressure with your Up Smash or aerials earlier on. This does leave the Hell Knight out and vulnerable next to Davoth as it takes a bit to get back on its feet and step back behind Davoth, the Hell Knight putting itself in quite a bit of danger with both this attack and the next one. Amongst Davoth's forces, they certainly aren't equipped with the best self-preservation. The end lag is also nearly 60 frames on this, Davoth not able to call them for another attack during that time. With that said, this hitbox is one that the opponent has to respect when the Hell Knight throws it out alongside Davoth's other attacks, as its a formidable enough hitbox in terms of both reach and power compared to the Weak Attack that even just hitting this hitbox alone will lead to some late KOs or just chip in the extra damage Davoth needs when his damage racking is so badly held back by his massive lag.

The strong attack has the Hell Knight perform a similar animation to the medium attack, but with one additional element: it lunges through the air peaking slightly above Davoth's head and attempts to land on top of a foe in range it spots at the start of the lag. The lunge through the air deals 6% on the way up and weak upwards knockback that pops the foe up, and 12% and a weak spike on the way down that you can sacrifice the Hell Knight for to screw with the opponent's recovery. Its not going to kill them on its own until high percents(or low-mid percents on Little Mac), but it does give Davoth an opening to throw out something much scarier to cover the ledge alongside it while the foe is recovering. Once the Hell Knight lands, it deals 23% and upwards knockback that KOs at 80%, and produces a red shockwave on the ground that lingers for 14 frames and deals 12% and knockback that pops the opponent up into the air. The Hell Knight's homing will focus on the nearest foe that comes within a battlefield platform of Davoth, but if there's no foe in range it will just leap out and slam down at the end of the reach of Davoth's sword on a stab.

This attack has some pretty obvious downsides, it takes until Frame 29 to come out, and once the Hell Knight completes the slam it will just linger there for 1.2 seconds before returning to Davoth's side, and taking another 48 frames of end lag during the return that adds up to 2 seconds the Hell Knight is not attacking after throwing this move out. That said, this is a Hell Knight attack with range on par with Davoth's own massive sword, and a hitbox on par with a powerful smash the opponent absolutely does not want to get hit by that will layer on top of Davoth's own. If the foe dodges Davoth's overhead slash out of Side Special but gets hit by the slam, they're actually taking higher damage and knockback, and because of how close the attack's start lags are to each other the moves can sometimes combo into each other for massive damage and knockback! And of course, the shockwave can catch people dodging even if the slam doesn't hit, and its lingering properties make this move that's already layered on top of one of Davoth's own attacks a pain to dodge. That said, if Davoth doesn't properly pressure a foe after the Hell Knight has slammed down, its probably a dead Hell Knight with that obscene amount of lag and vulnerability, and while it is combined with one of Davoth's own attacks whenever you throw it out the opponent will definitely see it coming.

In the air, the medium and strong attacks change a bit, but the weak attack remains effectively identical. The medium attack has the Hell Knigth swing its hands down from overhead in a full arc, increasing the start lag of the move to starting on Frame 17, but the knockback is changed from upwards to a spike. Its a fairly strong spike too, not on the level of something like Ganondorf's Dair. On stage a spike will situationally allow Davoth to combo into some very powerful things from the groundbounce, especially given the desynced lag of the Hell Knight from Davoth himself, and offstage it will kill very early, making the medium attack of a Hell Knight a huge threat to watch out for from Davoth that will often be more dangerous than the Dark Lord's own hitbox, though it will frequently just be throwing out two hitboxes at once where the foe absolutely cannot afford to get hit by either.

As for the strong attack, the Hell Knight will leap up to half the height it would normally go before falling down in an arc, dealing the 6% on the way up and 12% on the way down until it reaches equal height with Davoth, and then taking on the 23% hitbox but with the knockback redirected to be a spike. The Hell Knight needs a bit more time to brace itself for the aerial leap, so the lag is increased to coming out on Frame 35, and if it lands out of this move it takes twice as long to get back to Davoth. Which is to say, if the Hell Knight does not land this move, and even if it does offstage, it is probably dead, but the hilariously powerful spike/groundbounce can be worth it over the grounded version.

As a last note, if you charge the move enough to get a Pain Elemental or Tyrant while a Hell Knight is out, the Hell Knight's energy form will morph into the stronger minion at full stamina. If Davoth isn't getting the results he'd like out of a minion, he can happily trade them out for a more formidable servant if he's willing to put in the extra time to charge. That said, if you're content with the amount he endangers himself and his rather limited range on his first two attacks, the Hell Knight adds a considerable amount of pressure to Davoth's melee game to shore up his lag problems at least a bit.

40-69 Frames: Pain Elemental

While the Cacodemon is one of Doom's most iconic demons, Davoth's personal summon is the slightly less well known but higher ranked Pain Elemental. Still, it at least is representing one of Doom's most infamous monsters in some form in the set for its most powerful villain. The Pain Elemental is as tall as Wario and about 1.4x as wide, and unfortunately comes equipped with a pitiful 12 stamina. Killing the low stamina Pain Elemental is very easy when its exposed, but fortunately, compared to the Hell Knight the Pain Elemental is content to sit back and use ranged attacks, so the foe will usually have to find a way to get past Davoth to try and kill it. It has a weight of 95, making it easier than the Hell Knight to separate from Davoth, but if Davoth is taking significant knockback from a hit it probably just killed the Pain Elemental outright.

The weak attack of a Pain Elemental is its main attack situated for melee range, where it floats forward and slashes twice with its claws in a hit of 3% followed by a hit of 5%, the latter hit dealing light knockback that pops opponents up in front of Davoth. This has less end lag than the Hell Knight's punch and much greater potential to combo into things, with its double hitting nature and the fact that the first hit comes out on Frame 4, the fastest any hit in Davoth's set comes out period. For the record, yes, this does set up grab, so if Davoth's lined things up this is a Frame 4 insta-kill at any percent that heals Davoth for 25%, to give you a reminder of just how absurd the Dark Lord's power ceiling truly is when he's playing all his cards right. This does come with some drawbacks in that the range is quite short, so it doesn't link into Davoth's massive ranged moves in a way that takes advantage of the range of said moves well. And while its not an especially laggy technique, it does expose the Pain Elementa while its swiping, so if it whiffs on the opponent and Davoth isn't in position to punish their counterattack, the Pain Elemental can very easily be killed on the counterattack.

The medium attack is where the Pain Elemental's attacks get into its safer, more range based function. After 13 frames of start lag, the Pain Elemental will spit up a Lost Soul, a flaming skull a bit under Kirby's size it fires out as something of a minion of a minion! Though in practice its basically just a projectile, flying at the foe and screaming while dealing 9% and moderate upward diagonal knockback that KOs at 190%. The Lost Soul can be destroyed by any attack that deals 10% or more on contact, and as a projectile can be pocketed and reflected, though it does serve as a physical projectile for where that's relevant. It will fly forward up to 2 battlefield platforms of distance and travel straight forward horizontally, though some attacks will fire the Lost Soul vertically. Due to the Pain Elemental's high end lag after firing a Lost Soul as the flames left in its mouth die down before it closes it, its not spammable no matter what attack Davoth is using alongside it, making it hard to actually camp with this projectile. That said it covers all of Davoth's melee reach and then some with a hitbox if nothing else, catching foes rolling out of Davoth's range and providing a tool to force approaches.

This move also has an important secondary function when the Lost Soul reaches its max distance away from the Pain Elemental. Rather than just disappear, it will swoop right back at the opponent, this time with decent homing and traveling up to 1.5 battlefield platforms before vanishing. On the way back it deals the same damage and knockback it did on the way back... but the diagonal knockback will now be aimed up and toward Davoth as the Lost Soul comes back to him. This can set up basically any upward Davoth move depending on the timing, even giving him some rare true combos depending on where the Lost Soul hit. This also covers a much larger swath of time the opponent has to play defensive against a Lost Soul than the medium attack of a Hell Knight, even surpassing its Strong Attack's shockwave. Having a second hitbox out that long is excellent for overwhelming a foe's defenses and making Davoth's slow attacks easier to land, and if it lands on its own it nicely sets up many of your upwards attacks. Its especially scary if you have a Sentinel Wolf providing another additional threat for opponents to worry about at the same time!

The strong attack of the Pain Elemental has it look particularly furious as its eye focuses on the opponent and flares ripple around its mouth, before it spits up three Lost Souls fired out in a cluster, traveling the same distance as the Medium Attack. This comes out on Frame 30, but the three Lost Souls bunched up together deal 18% and knockback at a slightly lower angle that KOs around 115%, making this a very formidable projectile. This serves the same roll catching purpose of the medium attack, only the punish is MUCH bigger this time as this attack deals double as much damage and can actually kill at a pretty respectable percent, and as the three Lost Souls travel a bit slower than the fairly fast moving singular Lost Soul, it will cover space on the way out with this hitbox for longer and serve as a threat to cover a longer period of Davoth's lag used properly.

Speaking of covering Davoth's lag, once the three Lost Souls get to their max range, they'll all split off in different directions, one aimed upward, one flying back towards Davoth, and one going forward another 1.5 battlefield platforms. They're now reduced to having the power of singular Lost Souls from the medium attack, and all of them have the homing properties of a returning Lost Soul if a foe gets in range. If a foe is at a high diagonal angle from where the Lost Souls split, its possible for two lost souls to chain hits into each other, even all three if the foe was very close to where the split happened, which if you do pull off that specific spacing can combo into a LOT of things from Davoth as he closes the gap. The knockback of these Lost Souls does take on a bit of a radial property, so the upward one deals more upwards based knockback and the forward one knocks foes further forward, but if they're all curving back in towards a foe they'll all stack up their hitstun before launching a foe towards Davoth.

Depending on spacing, this projectile really does set up some just horrific things for the foe to deal with in terms of dodging three homing projectiles at once, and while they're all grouped up the foe needs a hit that deals 20% or more to destroy them, so breaking this projectile is not easy. Plus if you pocket one of the Lost Souls, the other two will hit you, although reflectors can still send back all three. This move's presense makes 2 battlefield platforms away from Davoth a VERY dangerous place to be, effectively forcing opponents into close range and towards the hitboxes of Davoth's attacks when its thrown out. Keep in mind though, the Pain Elemental is quite exhausted after firing 3 Lost Souls at once, needing 3 seconds of cooldown after this before its ready to attack again, so if you're commiting a Pain Elemental to a strong attack it will be out of comission for a little bit.

Pain Elementals threaten large amounts of space away from Davoth, not particularly good at repeatedly pestering foes but the projectiles they do throw out are hard to dodge, which is rather scary when they end up linking into the very hard hitting Davoth's attacks. Using the pressure they provide to push foes towards Davoth can put them right into the close range Pain Elemental claw strikes, which are some of the best and fastest combo tools Davoth has access to in his set as long as you're willing to put up with their range. Its more of a commitment than the Hell Knight and lacks some of the Hell Knight's power, but it absolutely makes up for it in terms of zoning and dodge-catching abilities.

70 Frames: Tyrant

The Tyrant is Doom Eternal's answer to the Cyberdemon, downgrading it to a generic enemy, but one of the strongest generic enemies in the cast with a variety of ranged attacks and a powerful, bulky frame. Calling another modified version of one of Doom's most well known demons to his side, the Tyrant follows in the footsteps of the Cyberdemon by being a terror at all ranges. It has 28 stamina, making it easily the beefiest minion of the three and actually taking a little work on the foe's part to put down, but it comes in at a little taller and wider than Ganondorf, giving it a humongous hurtbox to work with for opponents. It has 145 weight so it will generally stay close to Davoth when both of them take a hit, which is a bit more common due to its massive size. The Tyrant is not specialized towards melee or long ranged combat, rather being effective at both ranges.

The Tyrant's weak attack comes out on Frame 11, and has it generate and thrust forward an energy blade in a longer reaching hitbox that deals 10% and low base low diagonal knockback that does start scaling to kill at 180%. It stops comboing into Davoth's own attacks much earlier than the other weak attacks, and doesn't come out nearly as fast, but it has an advantage the claw swipes and the punch of the Pain Elemental and Hell Knight don't. This stab has some real range, almost on par with the massive reach of Davoth's mech suit and sword, so the prospect of comboing the two together won't require Davoth to get uncomfortably close to the opponent. It also, like the Pain Elemental's double claw swipes, doesn't have particularly painful end lag, and the formidable extra reach makes it great for threatening foes into Davoth's two out of energy shield attacks.

A quick note on this blade thrust, it will be angled upward if Davoth is using an upward angled attack and downward if he's using a low angled one at the time of this move. This also applies if Davoth is rising into the air or falling while the shield is thrown out, and the knockback is adjusted upward and downward accordingly. Its particularly worth noting that the knockback has a slight downward angle if Davoth is falling toward the ground with his shield out, which can threaten a groundbounce or at least greater combo opportunities out of this stab than usual. Down angled weak Tyrant attack is a particularly scary move for its speed and layered nature with Davoth's other attacks that you will definitely want to make use of whenever the possibility comes up.

The Tyrant's medium attack has him fire a single missile, a fast moving projectile that travels at nearly the speed of Falco's laser, and comes out on Frame 16. While unlike the Lost Soul its a much more basic projectile with no boomerang-esque properties, it will be fired already aimed at an angle at the opponent to give it much better coverage in melee range, basically allowing it to cover about 270 degrees of space in front of and behind Davoth, only failing to hit foes in a 90 degree cone behind the Tyrant. The missile will travel up to 1.5 battlefield platforms and explodes in a blast a bit smaller than a Bob-omb blast, dealing 16% and mostly upward knockback that KOs at 125% at close range which weakens to 8% and knockback that weakly pops opponents up as it travels. This is a move that isn't as good as the Lost Souls at long range, but makes up for it by actually having solid melee applications with its higher close range power and excellent coverage as the Tyrant will aim for the foe no matter what. This is also a very formidable and easy attack to combo out of the weaker Side Special stab, guarunteeing a follow up off it with solid damage/KO potential that's much more consistently useful than a Lost Soul or a hammer slam.

The Tyrant is also a bit unique in that it has not one, but TWO strong attacks! Which strong attack activates will actually depend on the move you're using to activate it, and will be clarified in each instance of a strong attack being activated in this moveset. The regular strong attack has the Tyrant create five runes in front of it, in a line on the ground that travels from about 0.4 battlefield platforms away from the Tyrant to 2 full battlefield platforms away. It will then fire out 5 missiles at each of those runes, each staggered 4 frames apart and starting on Frame 15, meaning this move is going to keep firing off hitboxes over the course of 20 frames! Each missile deals 12% and moderate upward knockback that KOs at 185%, but if the foe is caught in the overlapping blast radiuses of two shots, the hitstun of one being long enough to combo into another given they're staggered 4 frames apart, the second hit's knockback will be increased to kill at 100%! Each blast is about 0.5 battlefield platforms across, for the record. There's not too painful of a wind down after using this strong attack compared to the other ones in Davoth's set, only a second where the Tyrant needs to cool down its rocket launcher.

What this move is great at is not power compared to the Hell Knight's flying slam or even the Cacodemon's triple Lost Soul. Its actually a little underwhelming compared to what you might expect from a Tyrant, although if two missiles chain together its pretty formidable, but that's not why you're throwing this move out. Its coverage of a large space of frames that's a lot more definitive than a Lost Soul's to really force the oppoennt to play their defensive options carefully is what this move is good for. This attack will usually accompany a heavy strike of Davoth's own, such as the Side Special's strong swing, and the coverage of a massive amount of space combined with strong frame coverage makes it very difficult for a foe to play defensively against this, making those heavy hits it sets up for all that much harder to avoid when the foe is weaving around it. It does have a small blindspot in front of Davoth however, and depending on the foe's positioning they may only need to worry about one explosion going off followed by Davoth's attack, but it just makes the dodging, shielding, and movement so much more complicated for opponents than if they didn't have to worry about it and makes those heavy attacks of Davoth's that much more viable.

In the air, the way the missiles are spread is a bit different, positioned 0.7 to 1.5 battlefield platforms away from Davoth with 2 positioned higher up and spaced a bit apart horizontally, one in the middle of the X-shape of this pattern, and 2 positioned at the bottom and spaced apart horizontally. With really precise positioning this version can actually combo 3 hits together for the third hit to kill vertically at 60%(you'll pull this off around the center of the X if the foe is towards the bottom of it as the Tyrant fires off the lower missiles first). It does, however, have a bigger close up blindspot in exchange for greater vertical range and higher potential to combo missiles together, and has the start lag increased to 18 frames. Its a pretty disgustingly powerful way to threaten space in conjunction with the strong aerial Side Special's Bowser Fair-like properties, just remember how punishable that move is if you do whiff it though.

The Tyrant's other strong attack, not used in conjunction with Side Special but rather with some later inputs, is a gigantic red death laser that charges up over 44 frames before being fired out and covering a space of 1.5 battlefield platforms in front of the Tyrant! It deal a singular hit of a whopping 26% and diagonal knockback that KOs at 70%, and is aimed just like the missile in the medium attack at the opponent! This move is incredibly powerful, incredibly slow, and you're mostly going into it by tricking out a foe's defensive options against whatever attack triggered it by popping their shield or catching their dodge/roll/attack. Unlike the missiles, the Tyrant needs a full three seconds to recharge after throwing this out, but it does have a nice 12 frame duration to make it downright nasty against dodges, even if the aiming is a little staggered so opponents can physically move and jump out of the way in the last 20 frames of its startup. Would be a shame, though, if Davoth's own attacks got in the way of that.

All in all, the Tyrant is a minion that offers Davoth power at close and long ranges, the extra charge time making it largely a straight upgrade over the Hell Knight even if the Pain Elemental's ranged tools surpass its own. It throws out huge and threatening hitboxes that coincide with Davoth's own huge and threatening hitboxes to double up on extremely dangerous things for the foe to dodge that cover large swaths of space. You are going to need a bit of time to pull this off though, even off a stagger 35 frames of start lag plus some end lag on top of it is not exactly a safe investment unless the foe is safely out of your space, and its a big and not especially durable ally, but if you can make smart use of it, the Tyrant can absolutely make playing defensively against Davoth a nightmare.

Up Special - Hell Rising
Engines flaring, Davoth's mech rockets up into the air as his body is briefly super armored on the start up, in a move similar to Super Dedede Jump in terms of animation as Davoth braces before launching into the air. It comes out faster than Dedede's Jump, but doesn't go quite as high before Davoth begins falling toward the ground again, making it a less formidable recovery move... though coming out on Frame 42 instead of taking over a second is at least helpful, as is the super armor that starts on Frame 16. Davoth can cancel out of this move once he reaches the peak of the leap(about 2/3rds as high as Dedede's goes) and go into helpless, and it does sweetspot ledges. There's hefty end lag upon landing as Davoth slams onto the ground, smashing a hand into it as well, very easily punishable by opponents who you don't land on top of with this move unless you have a bit of distance from them. This is a good recovery, but the high start lag when Davoth doesn't have Dedede's aerial versatility combined with the hefty end lag doesn't make it a safe recovery, so keep that in mind when you're making your way back to the stage.

For the first half of Davoth's upward trajectory, Davoth will grab opponents in his flight path, carrying them with him. He can also grab foes past frame 28 of the start lag if they're in contact with Davoth or close to it, for the record, so its a bit faster at snatching a foe who foolishly attacked into your armor than you might think. Once he grabs the foe, he will carry them along with him for the ride, slamming the foe into the ground at the end to guarantee they get hit by Davoth's falling hitbox. And it is a strong falling hitbox, dealing 20% and upward knockback that KOs at 90% against grounded foes, and a very powerful spike against aerial ones. It also produces a weak shockwave traveling out 0.5 battlefield platforms on both sides of Davoth, which deals 7% and lightly pops opponents into the air, though they'll likely still be at a minor frame advantage over Davoth at the end unless they're at around 70% for middleweights. It mostly just limits the exact tools the opponent can punish you with to hit with this.

Oh yeah but here's the thing, if the opponent is staggered when you grab with this? Rather than dealing 20% and then launching the foe, Davoth will deal 20% to the foe and then Glory Kill them. This basically means you can Glory Kill 20% earlier, adding some extra fear factor to this Up Special against a foe that's staggered. Sure, its a punishable move coming out, but if the foe messes up the gimp attempt they're going to pay a horrifically deadly price. Even if they're not at kill percent, that means they're taking 45% of this one move and healing Davoth on top of that, putting the foe at over a 50% percentage deficit off one move!

Your demons will perform a weak attack during the startup of this move, before latching onto the back of Davoth's armor as he goes flying through the air. This can at least give Davoth a bit more protection before the super armor and grab hitboxes of this Up Special come out, and if a foe mistimes their defensive options against said weak attacks they might end up getting grabbed out of them. Upon landing, the demons will use a medium attack, with the Lost Souls and rockets providing an immediate threat to Davoth's opponents even if he lands a good distance away from them, while all three attacks can serve to make it more difficult to punish Davoth's awful end lag. In general, having a demon at your side just makes recovering much safer than it otherwise would be, although its always going to be predictable. This does make the shockwave into a real hitbox when its comboing into a hammer fist slam or a missile, however, so keep that in mind.

Supercharging this move with Down Special will increase the range to going 1.2x as high as Super Dedede Jump, and make the entire rising hitbox a grab, plus increase the damage of the descending hitbox to 30%. Davoth will also travel the entire rise and fall in the same time as his rocketing into the air is greatly accelerate with a little bit of lightning blasting off him as he launches into the air, and jet flares off his back actively thrusting him downwards in the back half of the attack. Considering the sheer amount of area this move's grab threatens, and the fact that its an outright instant kill on staggered opponents or 30% and very, very potent KO knockback on non-staggered opponents, this move will put a lot of fear into the hearts of opponents if anything else(like a lingering Lost Soul/wolf) is threatening them at the time. Of course, putting that investment into an attack with 42 frames of start lag is... less than optimal for actually landing the attack, but in a pinch you can use it to get some extra recovery distance if you're willing to invest a little lag. Not exactly what you want to spend your Down Special charge on, but whatever it takes to claw your way back and send your opponent to the grave in your place.

Smashes

Forward Smash - Samuel Hayden
Picking up Samuel Hayden and swinging him like a club, Davoth proves that it is not only the Doomslayer who likes to make the robot/angel man miserable as he bashes him against the opponent three times for high damage and knockback.

Up Smash - Ike Up Smash
He's got a big sword what do you want from me?

Down Smash - Bomb some Dodongos
Okay so when this move is actually written up he really is going to shoot a grenade, but in this case, a dodongo will catch the grenade out of the air like a very not smart dog. Its body will then gorily explode all over the stage because this is Doom and we're all about that needless gore, also dealing solid damage and knockback to everyone in the area. You can eat the pieces of Dodongo meat for 3% each, but be careful the opponent doesn't do that first.

Standards

Jab - Tax Evasion
Davoth successfully evades his taxes, dealing 10% and moderate knockback to the IRS.

Forward Tilt - Mindgames
Davoth performs his Side Special, exactly the same in every regard, but this time he doesn't take his shield out so its worse. Use this to leave your enemies confused and afraid.

Up Tilt - King Dice
After all these years, his set is finally here. He might not be Cuphead's incarnation, but as the devil Davoth can finally call King Dice to the stage to fight alongside him. See this long awaited moveset here.

Down Tilt - Cacodemon
Davoth punts a Cacodemon at the foe like a football, dealing 9% and knockback that KOs at 220%. If you hit this into the blast zone behind Randy Johnson or Joe DiMaggio, he scores a touchdown. As for what touchdowns do, uh,

Dash Attack - Car
Davoth turns into Car Davoth, the well known and beloved final boss of Doom Kart, dealing 16% and knockback that KOs at 100% on contact.

Grab Game

Grab - Grab
what you expect?

Pummel - Archvile
Davoth summons an Archvile, which does nothing on this pummel, but it does a lot of things to the foe once they're released. At the moment, the things it does are exclusive rewards at $40 a month or higher on my Patreon, check that out if you're interested. Its linked at the end of King Dice.

Forward Throw - The Sun
Davoth throws the opponent into the Sun, killing them instantly.

Back Throw - The Moon
Davoth throws the opponent into the moon, causing them to bounce cartoonishly off it like a trampoline and fly back to Davoth, who regrabs them and throws them into the sun, killing them slightly less instantly.

Up Throw - Mars
Davoth blows open a hole on the surface of Mars with a really large gun before throwing the foe into it. They land in a portal to hell, which kills them instantly.

Down Throw - Tampa, Florida
Davoth opens a portal and sends the opponent to Tampa, Florida. Due to having identical properties to hell, this kills the opponent instantly.

Aerials

Forward Aerial - Reverse Dodongo
The Dodongo from earlier comes back, and its mad! It spits a bomb at Davoth, who awkwardly shuffles out of the way with his air dodge so it goes flying forward at the opponent like a projectile. The bomb deals 15% and knockback that KOs at 120%.

Neutral Aerial - Neutrality Zone
Fun Fact: When Davoth is introduced, he's first summoned in an area where no one can hurt each other due to the rules of that holy place. Therefore, it is completely justified for me to steal the air of MYM7 Strangelove, which I'm sure will have absolutely no disgusting implications on this set's playstyle at all.

Back Aerial - Doom 3
Davoth opens a portal behind him which sends the opponent to a couch where they have to play Doom 3. Due to this situation having identical properties to hell, this kills the opponent instantly.

Up Aerial - Contract with the Devil
Davoth calls forth a contract from an unknown higher power, promising they will not make any more LFPs until Yawgmoth's set is completed. Davoth takes this contract and swipes it above him, which does 28% and upward knockback that kills at 55% to any Lightweight Female Protagonists above him. But aha, you fools, Baobhan Sith is an antagonist, I will suffer no consequences for my actions except a loss of dignity.

Down Aerial - King Dice's Dair
You know I'm REALLY proud of what I came up with for King Dice's Dair, so I'm just going to copy and paste that for Davoth, just it comes out 4 frames slower and deals 1.2x damage and knockback here. Please go check out that set, I'm serious, I worked hard on it.
 
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Smady

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WAPOL

"Tin-Plate" Wapol is an antagonist from One Piece. As villains go, Wapol is one of the earliest in the series and while he may not seem it, has a very long-standing impact on the series through his relationship to Hopper and more importantly a serial he stars in that goes on long after his arc is over. Wapol is the self-appointed monarch of Drum Island when Luffy stumbles upon the location during his travels. The people of Drum Island live under the cruel king's rule, whose power is terrifying, in more ways than one. On top of having a loyal army of minions, specifically legions of phony doctors and miscreant oddballs, Wapol has a quite interesting ability. Wapol's Devil Fruit, the Munch-Munch Fruit, lets him eat anything he desires. It doesn't stop at food, objects or the scenery of One Piece's universe, but extends to people, and even to himself. Anything Wapol eats, he may turn his body into, including explosives! For an early and inconsequential villain in many respects, Wapol's powers have an abstractness and infinite scaling potential that with the right type of competent fighter villain would have been really rough for Luffy. While not the strongest, Wapol does show off a creative edge in using his powers to desperately cling to his authority.

Wapol's personality is that of unbelievable arrogance befitting of an evil and controlling bully king. Not uncommon for this type of character, Wapol regularly abuses not only his citizens, but his own minions, going so far as to endanger their lives to save his own, and displays total recklessness on a constant basis any time he use others to his advantage. Wapol is rolled by Blackbeard, a major antagonist overall of One Piece, before his arc and this forces Wapol to flee like the coward he is and become a pirate. He spends the Drum Island arc trying to desperately regain his lost power. But Wapol has absolutely no self awareness for how much of a little fish he really is and continues his ruthless streak. It is this cruelty that leads Luffy to make it his personal mission to defeat the evil king for good and free Drum Island, giving Wapol another, this time definitive defeat. After that, Wapol ends up in a foreign land, and his journey is documented in a serial at the start of many One Piece chapters! The king does end up having some character development and getting a kingdom of sorts he names the Black Drum Kingdom.

Personally, Wapol is one of my favourite personalities in One Piece. As a comic character Wapol has many funny moments where he back talks allies and goes on about "hippos." Wapol is obsessed by hippos, riding giant hippos as a mount, wearing a hippo fur coat, and even calling people he dislikes hippos. At some points in the story Wapol cannot go a minute without remarking about hippos in some way. Besides that, Wapol is simply a hilarious character for his reactions (creating many reaction images) and his sheer arrogance despite having no justification for it at all. For such a minor antagonist, the serial and his personality make him really memorable, and despite being a small fish, definitely became a big influence on the franchise!

STATISTICS

Size: Dedede width, around Ganondorf's height
Weight: 140
Walk Speed: 0.62 (Tied with Incineroar for last)
Run Speed: 1.17 (Below Incineroar as last)
Initial Dash: 2.29 (5th above Charizard)
Air Speed: 1.155 (19-24 tie with Bowser and others)
Fall Speed: 1.60 (37th below Wario, and low gravity)

Wapol is big, however, his imposing idle has his body mostly turned to the front, with his head grimacing towards the camera. When most of his size is width and pokes into the background/foreground, he is not quite as giant in Smash as you may expect. Still, the hippo king is as wide as King Dedede and a good bit taller at just short of Ganondorf's height. When Wapol does turn more during animations, you do see his body, like a reverse Ridley, is absurdly wide and if he was always facing the camera would be around twice as wide including his arms. Wapol's stats are your typical super heavy. He's extremely heavy, outweighing even Bowser by a few units, and he's very slow. Slowest in the game slow. So he's a mix of heaviest and slowest.


Wapol's slow and kingly strut gives off a kingly arrogance, the same is true of his run. What is notable is that Wapol does a similar animation to Ganondorf's Smash Brawl and 4 run in his movement, and this keeps his huge width relatively under control so that he isn't a huge hurtbox as in his idle pose. When hit it does cause him to cartoonishly be spread out more, enabling many combos! Absolutely, if anyone was combo fodder, it would be man who is 140 weight units and topping the charts for size. What is surprisingly not so bad is his initial dash, where the king charges forward using his mighty strength like a mini shoulder charge. Not only that, but in a unique mechanic to the king, his front side gains weak super armour for the duration of his initial dash! It only works against attacks dealing 3% or less, but absolutely will go through many combo starters and weak projectiles. Useful, too, when his run and dash are awful.

In the air, Wapol is not too impressive either, but his air speed is decent and has a very low fall speed for his archetype. He has by far the lowest fall speed of comparable super heavies and while we all know the classic "combo food" weight and low fall speed combo, it does present some pros particularly to his aerials. Makes him a little trickier to handle in the air than on the ground, though if he is intercepted, all those classic old MYM clichés about combo food are definitely still true. Wapol has a good first jump and a decent second jump, similar in animation to Bowser’s stocky jumps. All KO percents are on an average midweight at the centre of Final Destination unless stated otherwise.


Wapol makes an entrance on his glorious hippo mount every match! Ain't that a sight.

SPECIALS

NEUTRAL SPECIAL: MUNCH-MUNCH FRUIT


Wapol opens his mouth wide, like, ridiculously wide to the point his mouth is as big as Wario, and then takes a chomp out of anything in his way! Any foe chomped will be chewed up by Wapol for a moment before being spat back out, dealing them a solid 4 hits of 2% damage, and able to KO at a low horizontal angle from around 120%. Not half bad! The start up to the move works similarly to Wario's Chomp where Wapol may leave his mouth open and anything that falls into the large gaping hitbox of his mouth will be eaten up. The grab hitbox is the size of the giant enlarged mouth, so it is indeed quite large. The animation has Wapol exaggerate his mouth to a cartoonish degree, his mouth becoming a metal semi-circle shape as long as he holds it open like that. He can hold this wide open mouth pose for several seconds before it snaps shut and can shield, dodge or roll to cancel the move. Unlike Wario's move, pressing up or down will have Wapol aim the move in that direction, chomping straight up into the air or down at the ground. In the air, the move largely acts identically other than falling at his fall speed, similar again to Wario's Chomp neutral special. With two extra angles, however, it is a little more viable as an offensive option with Wapol's slow fall speed letting him catch out foes falling overhead if he times it well.

The all-consuming Munch-Munch Fruit is a terrifying weapon, and in Smash, it translates its power into being a Pocket for Wapol to manipulate using the same rules as Villager and Isabelle. When Wapol eats anything that can be Pocketed, he will store it, creating a HUD icon, only with a slightly more regal design than the existing ones, for everything Wapol stores. That isn’t all, however, as he gains the benefit of healing himself as if he ate the item, too. One weakness to Wapol’s Pocket is that he does not steal it from the foe. The reason for this is that Wapol has not just 1, but 3 Pockets he can fill at one time. From this point on we will be calling these Hippockets. Wapol may consume his own projectiles and objects too, which we'll discuss as they come up, suffice to say there's many a fun thing to add to these Hippockets! Every time Wapol eats something it will shuffle any existing projectiles/constructs he can Pocket to the left on the HUD. Wapol does have means to fire back out what he Hippocket that we will get to later. When Wapol already has 3 items stored and goes to store another, normally the first item on the far left will just disappear from existence.

The opponent is not all Wapol can eat up, as surely comes as no surprise. When Wapol aims his chompers at the stage, either platforms or by biting at the stage beneath his feet, he takes a gigantic chunk out of it then takes a moment to mash it to pieces with his gaping maw! The animation for this is a delight, mirroring the GIF at the start of this move, as if watching an oversized cow bite at a giant hunk of grass. Wapol will eat anything he can find on the stage background and fg purely as visual aesthetic. Characters like Tom Nook and Cranky have to watch in horror as their property is devoured. It's a revolting sight to behold, but oh so delicious, as over the course of 65 frames this consumed stage heals Wapol a scrumptious 6%! That may not seem too impressive, but is one of several aspects to this move, and as the cherry on top, you'd be a hippo not to see the benefits.

For starters, when Wapol does finally mash down on the stage and destroy between his oversized teeth, it creates an equally huge hitbox equivalent to 1.25x Bowser equally all sides around Wapol's mouth from the sudden explosion of debris. This attack deals 8% damage and has two hitboxes. At close range, it deals one crunchy hit of 12% and high upwards knockback, able to KO from 65%. If that seems strong, this takes 45 frames to come out and has small range, so it is very much a hard read type option. At longer range, which is most of the circular range of the attack, it deals 3 hits of 3% damage, good hitstun and low knockback, setting up well for a follow up!

For a brief period when Wapol is devouring the debris of the stage, his mouth has flat out invincibility, taking no damage or knockback for 7 frames at the 39-45 frame mark. As he's eating the stage from frame 45-65, he has full super armour. It, however, is beaten by grabs, so the foe can punish it if they see it coming so long as they aren't too late. At long range, though, or with bad timing by foes it can punish certain high committal approaches that attack too late. When Wapol eats the stage, it will store a curious debris icon into his HUD, too, giving him a weapon in of itself for later.

That is far from all eating the stage does, though. Every time Wapol eats part of the stage, it transforms him ever so slightly. Wapol will puff up and grow slightly bigger than before, and he was already a huge character. Wapol looks happy to become an even bigger hippo than ever! With one bite of the stage, Wapol grows 1.2x as big, a 5 unit buff to weight, and all super armour now has 1% damage reduction, effectively powering it up by 1%! It is a permanent change for the rest of Wapol's stock, too, so is quite a hippotastic move. Wapol can do the same thing a second time for the same effect, giving another 1.2x size increase on his original size to be 1.4x as wide as Dedede, and now slightly taller than Ganondorf! Wapol now sits at an incredible 150 weight units, too. It gives another 1% damage reduction too, making it a scary prospect.


The grand finale of the move is when Wapol manages to eat 3 bites from the stage, however, having enough material to fully transform into a Hippo House! In this form, Wapol's costume changes to that of a giant mechanical house. This is a far more substantial buff, though statistically, only makes Wapol 1.1x bigger than his original size to 1.5x as wide as Dedede and a bit taller. His weight does jump another 6 units to an amazing 156 weight units, far above any existing Smash characters. The main benefit besides mechanical changes is that Wapol gains the initial dash armour on his walk, though gains no further damage reduction. Wapol's walk itself becomes faster than his dash, too, as he does a slightly different, faster walk where he seems to use the mechanical parts of the house to power his movement! In this form, it is optimal to walk everywhere! Like a true king. However, the initial dash still gives its usual kick of speed, giving it plenty of usage, and he can then return to walking!

The big mechanic change is that the Hippo House will not use up any Hippocket items. Instead, the Hippo House will simple shuffle the items backward, the Hippo House being powerful enough to create a duplicate! The only way to get rid of items in the Hippockets is to eat a new one to get rid of the oldest. As long as he is in the Hippo House form, then, Wapol has an infinite arsenal of Hippocket weapons! There is one snag to this amazing form, though. Wapol's Hippo House is destroyed if he is dealt 50% damage within 5 seconds. As he is dealt damage, the house will visibly be dealt damage before shattering into many pieces. It brings Wapol back to his base form, losing all his buffs, though he also loses these buffs between stocks, so he only has to get mileage out of them he's KO'd!

SIDE SPECIAL: TRUE TO CANON


Wapol raises his left arm and aims it forward, taking a step back and grinning as he does watching his hand turn into an intimidating cannon, then after a long build up fires it for devastating results! The cannon fires a cannonball, being the third after Jr. and K. Rool's cannonball and kannonball respectively, and we can lazily say that this cannonball is not much different! It has the same size and shape as K. Rool's ball, and travels at the same speed as K. Rool's, as well, dealing 7% damage and will KO at a sharp near vertical angle around 125%. Just as with Jr., Wapol can charge the cannon up in the same way, increasing its speed and power by the same multiplier as Jr!

The foe may shield the cannonball and like K. Rool's blunderbuss vacuum, Wapol has a short moment to eat the cannonball up once it hits the ground, adding it to his Hippockets! Wapol can eat up as many of these cannonballs as he likes to fill his Hippockets if he so chooses.

Wapol can fire not only cannonballs however, as by holding down the special, Wapol will instead fire out the oldest Hippocket object, whatever it is! Depending on what it is, this has different effects. On any construct that is not a projectile, it will simply be dumped in place as a Pocket normally does. For a projectile, it will be fired in the same path as the cannonballs. The projectiles will travel at the same speed as a cannonball will, so Wapol can do some hippoish tactics such as absorbing a max charge Charge Shot and letting it loose at a low speed! However, the move still always has quite high start up the same as Jr, lacking the speed of the Pocket. When charged, Wapol will multiply the damage of any projectiles he fires by up to 1.4x, increasing their knockback as a result. Projectiles will also have their speed sped up at the same rate as cannonballs, so equally, Wapol can make slow, powerful projectiles fire much faster.

If Wapol wants to speed up the process of firing his projectiles, he can consume the other Hippockets in his stock to skip through the charge time! Wapol can quickly tap forwards after beginning to fire his cannon to make a gun loading sound play, as the newer weapon on the HUD will seem to be absorbed into the oldest one. The opposite is true if Wapol taps back, instead absorbing the weapon into the newest one and choosing to fire that instead! This will skip the charge time instantly letting Wapol immediately fire a powerful full-strength projectile, though with a hefty start up, it allows for some easy and quick combos!

Wapol can combine Hippockets in his inventory continuously by pressing directions to absorb them into one another, instead of skipping the start up, done quickly this will delay firing the projectile, powering it up even further! The result is adding the resulting damage of the projectiles or attacks together! In his Hippo House form, Wapol has infinite resources, so is only limited by the foe's own reluctance. The power of the fired projectile does cap at 40% damage, though is powerful enough to OHKO for any remotely strong attack. Wapol can continuously delay firing his weapon doing this until he hits the cap to psyche out enemies, too.

Wapol is not limited to just projectiles, however. While constructs that do no damage cannot be touched, any construct that does deal damage will have its power and speed multiplied in the same way! Wapol has plenty of other toys to add into the mix later. Earlier it was mentioned Wapol creates a debris as a HIppocket from eating the stage. Debris will drop a cannonball-sized ball of debris straight down, dealing 12% damage and travelling at the same rate as Villager's bowling ball forward smash, though KOing around 20% later. This projectiles gives Wapol an amazing ledge tool to drop in place as it literally takes on dead wood or whatever other rubbish Wapol ate up. Wapol can now combine anything into a makeshift Villager bowling ball! It's a threatening tool to stall and bait with at ledge, too, as foes may go high expecting the debris just for Wapol to absorb it into a cannonball instead and fire it in their face!

UP SPECIAL: COMPETITIVE MAKEOVER

After a short start up where Wapol's mouth grows rapidly in size, becoming a giant metallic box that engulfs Wapol's entire body in one foul bite! The move has average start up for a recovery despite its abstract appearance and gives ample protection to Wapol as his mouth has invincibility after it eats his body. The metal jaw at its largest is the same size as Wapol is, but has no solid properties so foes will largely ignore, and it only lingers for around a second. The bite is a hitbox that deals 12.5% damage and high upwards knockback to KO from 115%. Wapol does stop in place as he eats himself, giving the foe plenty of time to fall down and get hit by the mouth if Wapol can read their approach.


Once the mouth eats Wapol, it will then turn to face upwards, before spitting out a new, thinner Wapol, no longer a hippo! Wapol in this state has the same proportions as a taller Joker, but only stays in this form for as long as he's in the air or before he hits a ledge, then will transform back into his base from. Wapol is spat as far and as fast as Pit's up special, and becomes a hitbox that deals 7% with weak radial knockback to foes. It is possible to KO at the top blast zone with this if you try really hard, and can be a nice combo with the first hit if foes fall for the second. The direction Wapol is shot is aimable with the same directions as Fire Fox. The new and improved Wapol scrambles as his travels in a ridiculous fashion, giving the move good range as the hurried king desperately wants to reach solid ground! If Wapol doesn't touch the ground after travelling the full distance (the same as Pit's up special) he will also turn back into his base form. While he is invincible as he is spit up, he is not when he comes out of the form, leaving him vulnerable for a moment. The up special is only usable once per air trip.

When Wapol transforms like this, he sacrifices all of his Hippockets, as he just consumed all of them, and will revert back to his default form cancelling his Hippo House if it was active. It all makes utilizing these resources all the more important before Wapol is shot too far off stage to not be forced into his last resort attack.

There is one positive to consuming all the Hippockets: the resulting launched Wapol will be that much stronger, as the mouth spits him out that much more forcefully! The total sum of damage that all the projectiles or other constructs do as attacks will be added up, and cap out at adding up to 20% damage to the attack. Dealing up to 5% more damage, the up special will have the same animation but simply shoot Wapol up slightly faster, up to 1.3x as fast and as far as Pit's up special.

From 5-20% more, Wapol will enter into a cannonball pose as he is fired, and is shot up 1.3-1.8x as far as Pit's up special. This form is significant, as it gives Wapol the ability to reflect himself off of walls a little bit like ROB's laser. Holding the special input, Wapol can richochet off of walls to aid his recovery, travelling at the adjacent angle, so can travel up walls or bounce off of constructs on stage. When the input is not held, then Wapol will stop reflecting, too, making for some interesting mix ups. Wapol gains armour equivalent to the extra damage he deals as a cannonball, ranging from 5-20% armour. The speed of the cannonball ranges from his regular up special speed (so not that fast) to as fast as his max charge cannonball, which is very fast! Wapol travels absurdly far too, able to recover from almost anywhere. It opens up the potential for Wapol to go very deep and KO hippos with a full stack of Hippockets, then hippo his way back to the stage anyway while rubbing it in the foe's face.

Another benefit of the buffed up special cannonball is how Wapol will have extra speed coming out of the move into his base form. The extra speed helps with cross ups, and generally makes Wapol far more threatening in the air than usual. If nothing else, it gives a much needed mix up option for Wapol's landings.

DOWN SPECIAL: HIPPO QUACKS


Wapol impatiently stomps his feet, against the ground or swatting them if in the air, summoning a legion of doctors to surround his body! The doctors are roughly as tall as Luigi, quite shrimp-y for One Piece's usual proportions, and are as long as a group as two large crates. If no other button is pressed, the doctors will rush forward at Fox's dash speed in a hurried crowd as they try to practice their hippocratic oath in their own special way! For opponents of Wapol, this means being dealt constant 3% hits up to 4 times if they are caught at the front of the attack, being batted along like Luigi's dash attack, then launched at the end at a diagonal for weak knockback. Wapol mostly benefits from time, being able to do whatever he pleases as the foe is caught up in their check-up. It happens very fast, mind you, but Wapol is still given a healthy advantage and can position himself for further punishment. If the foe lands on top of the crowd, or is caught inside of them through a mistimed dodge or ill-fated roll, they are instead deal rapid hits of 1% up to 12 times, ending up taking far more hitlag and giving away far more advantage to Wapol. In addition, at the end of the hits, foes are launched upward for 5% damage, and this will KO from around 150%. It may not sound too strong, but as this can also land in the air or on platforms, can be potentially deadly in some situations.

While the doctors will naturally go forward in front of Wapol he can reverse the down special by holding back at the start of the move. The doctors will instead push into Wapol, giving him a massive momentum boost! Of course with his kingly girth, the doctors are only able to push at Mewtwo's dash speed, but it is no less amazing compared to his base speed! All the while Wapol is able to dash himself, becoming incredibly fast as he does so, or attack, giving all his attacks an entirely new dimension out of his mobility!

GRAB GAME

GRAB: EATING THE COMPETITION


Perhaps replicating another Smash character who eats for his grab, Wapol ducks down his head as he rushes forward, pursing his lips together to give a tiny bit more range, too. Wapol has exceptional range on his dash and pivot grab, extenuating the momentum of his movement for range, but has a merely okay standing grab. Its speed, however, is very good, so overall he has a great grab. Once the foe is grabbed, Wapol takes a bit out of them, automatically dealing 1% to the foe before he even starts to pummel! For his pummel, Wapol methodically nibbles at the foe for a constant 1.2% damage, able to mount up some impressive damage over time!

FORWARD THROW: CHESS & KUROMARIMO


Wapol claps his hands together in anger, detaching the foe for 2% damage, and summoning one of either Chess or Kuromarimo to attack the foe, picking them up and throwing them in the same low angle for 8% damage, before following up with a quick projectile! The initial throw will never KO, but the follow-up projectile might. The worthless hippos, we'll get to their weapons momentarily. The minion Wapol summons cycles between Chess and Kuromarimo, and they leave the stage as soon as they're done performing their attack. Wapol just stands by looking impatient as his minions quickly perform this move, waiting to get on with his fight and for these hippos to be done!

Chess is the slightly taller of the two at Marth's height, sized down considerably from the franchise. Kuromarimo (who we're just going to call Kuro from here on) is a little shorter. Both are roughly Mario's width. Chess, despite his bulky appearance, is an archer and upon throwing the foe will fire an arrow overhead that will track to their location, dealing a bonus 5% damage, and radial knockback! Depending on the foe's %, this will either hit them further forward (hitting them earlier) or downwards (when later and the foe is falling before they can DI). However, the later this hits, the more control the foe has to escape it completely, eventually able to dodge the arrow entirely around 160%. The arrow does linger around, however, and even attaches to the stage if it misses the foe for a few seconds! It only has 10HP, however, and is the size of a smaller Pikmin, so is nothing too impressive.

As you may have guessed Wapol can eat the arrow if it does miss the foe, and if it does, it will embed itself in the foe for a few seconds! This opportunity gives Wapol the chance to eat a weapon and the foe at the same time! The arrow will give weak homing properties, like Samus' missiles, to another projectile when part of Wapol's Hippockets, and the more arrows added to the mix, the stronger the homing becomes! At three arrows Wapol will fire purely arrows with the same homing ability as nearby Samus missiles, while retaining their same speed! This speed is the same as a fully-charged Link arrow, so not too shabby.

Kuro instead aims to punch the foe for his throw, dealing 1% more damage and incrementally more knockback, before tossing an axe overhead in an uncannily similar way to Simon Belmont's up special. The axe will deal 10% and high upwards knockback, though only around 70% as strong as Simon's, it's still 16% when it lands. The axe is similar to the arrow in that it will deal radial knockback, but will always hit the foe up. It means that early on, the foe will be hit straight up, while later being hit inward towards Wapol, which is definitely more useful! However like the arrow, this will eventually miss, earlier at around 150%. The axe will also hand around however on stage, and has a much stronger 20HP. It will not stick into the foe, sadly, as axes do tend to find it harder to embed themselves so passively in these cartoon physics worlds we live. The axe will lend its lobbing arc, the same as Simon Belmont's and at the same speed, to Wapol's Hippocket arsenal. While debris already makes projectiles go downward, going up then down provides its own advantages.

The fthrow is one of Wapol's core throws creating more weapons for his Hippockets, and giving numerous ways to bully the foe. If the foe does escape the range of his minions' weapons, they only leave open the door for Wapol to get another item in his pocket. If they do get hit, well, they got hit! So it's a lose/lose situation, and can potentially be a strong damage-dealer or set up move. The problem with it is that Wapol has to cycle between his minions, so sometimes has to give the spotlight to Chess or Kuro. No matter, though, as Wapol can use his neutral special as he's waiting impatiently to eat one of his minions! This devouring tactic will consume that minion for the remainder of his stock, healing only 2% (they must not be nutritious) but acting as if they were a full piece of stage debris for Wapol's buffs! He may only do this before they fire their projectile, however, and can only eat one at a time. He's not greedy after all. Wapol will spit out the minion after using his up special, so does have a way to reset his choice. Nevertheless, this gives Wapol a cheat to bypass having to make this difficult choice. In practice, though, it is largely better to simply to for the basic throw at low %s, and wait for high %s before eating the hippos up, as annoying as they may be!

UP THROW: HATEFUL HIPPO TOSS

Wapol grabs the foe and looks at them menacing before tossing them into the air for 13%, KOing at a low percent, which is more than the hippo deserves.

DOWN THROW: HIPPO WEIGHT

Wapol attaches a ball and chain to the foe's feet, making them weigh 20 weight units more, and giving another object for Wapol to consume, it is the same as Kamoshida's ball and chain.

BACK THROW: GENERIC KO THROW

Wapol looks at the foe and analyses their moveset quality, if they are a HMA he slaps them and tosses them behind himself for 10% damage to KO from 120%. If they are a bad set or LFP, he instead eats and OHKOs them.

SMASHES

FORWARD SMASH: HIPPO PARADE

Wapol summons five hippopotamuses who charge forward in a massive hitbox dealing 5 hits of 5% damage to KO from 120%. Wapol can ride on top of the hippos and become a hippo.

UP SMASH: HEAVYWEIGHT JUMP

Wapol uses his massively powerful legs to jump half a Ganondorf into the air, dealing 12% damage, and crashes down for 20% damage, with high lag. It creates a pit and a shockwave on the ground.

DOWN SMASH: PITFALL

Wapol stamps angrily at the ground creating a pitfall trap. The trick about it is that Wapol cannot be pitfalled, and hippos who fall into the pitfall trap will block it permanently, preventing any electrical interference.

STANDARDS

JAB: HEAVYWEIGHT STRIKES

Wapol performs a brutal series of punches in a casual fashion for 5% damage each.

DASH ATTACK: WARIO SHOULDER CHARGE

Wapol rushes forward like Wario for 12% damage and high knockback to KO from 50%.

FORWARD TIT: INSULTING SLAP

Wapol slaps the same way Wario does, perhaps slapping the hippos who do not appreciate his glory? Does 5% and no knockback.

UP TILT: K. ROOL UPPERCUT

Wapol performs K. Rool's uppercut dealing the same damage and knockback but with some minor differences.

DOWN TILT: DEDEDE OR K. ROOL BELLY FLOP

Wapol belly flops forward like K. Rool's down smash, or maybe it's Dedede's dash attack who is counting anyways.

AERIALS

NEUTRAL AERIAL: HE IS FAT

Wapol inflates himself just a balloon/Wigglytuff, dealing 10% damage to foes close, 15% to foes afar.

FORWARD AERIAL: DROP KICK

Wapol performs a stocky drop kick, particularly useful against knights who come running off the ropes, 12% damage.

DOWN AERIAL: STALL THEN FALL CRUSH

Wapol stalls in midair then falls with the intention to crush foes beneath his girth, how I love that word, does 20% damage and pitfalls. May pitfall foes twice with down smash.

UP AERIAL: BITE

Wapol bites upwards for 11% damage and high knockback, and will grab foes for a throw as he falls down.

BACK AERIAL: POWERFUL PUNCH

Wapol delivers a powerful punch for 12.5% damage and KO from 75%!

FINAL SMASH

HIPPOS

Wapol takes out a checkboard as the foe is pulled into a vortex of hippos in the background. Wapol will evaluate if the foe is worth eating based on a check list of how they resemble the delectable hippo. If they are delicious too, he eats them and removes them from the game permanently, dealing 50% damage.
 

Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
Joined
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Messages
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Location
taco bell, probablyn't
It was only last night that I came to this contest in search for my brother, Chris Redfield... a night that stretched on for an eternity, filled with horrible monsters and endless mysteries...


...I'm not alone in this. I've found other survivors, a younger man and a kid, and though this contest keeps us split apart and lost, we have to keep each other alive.



Chris, if you're out there...

...Please be alright.
 

Smady

Smash Master
Joined
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"I am happy...to be of service."

KOS-MOS

A Smash Daddy / FrozenRoy Joint Production


You thought that Master Xehanort was hard to explain in an intro? Explain Xenosaga. (TBA due to deadline)

STAT-ISTICS

"Shion...will feeling pain...make me complete?"

A durable damsel of destruction, KOS-MOS exists as a superheavyweight robot with 123 weight (5th in the game and a midpoint between King Dedede and Ganondorf) to show off the impressive sturdiness she has in Xenosaga. Just like in that game, though, her high weight and power cause her to suffer from a slow speed, with a Dash Speed equal to Byleth/Zelda (which is a tie for 9th slowest), though she does retain their reasonable initial dash speed. Her walk speed of 0.9 is also quite slow and tied with Sephiroth. Size-wise, her height is roughly equal to Bayonetta but with a bulkier overall width / body.

Aerially, KOS-MOS' robotic body makes her quite the fastfaller, her fall speed of 1.8 puts her in a large tie for the 13th fastest faller alongside robot buddy Mega Man, but her Bayonetta-level 0.12 Gravity makes her reach her top fall speed faster. Her air speed of 1.19 puts her 19th and not far from Mario, Donkey Kong and the like. These facts combined given KOS-MOS a potent and swift shorthop game and help compensate for her sluggish ground movement, but her high fall speed does mean aerial movement isn't a pure salvation to her slowness woes. Both her first and second jump go rather high (which helps with her recovery) and she also has a wall jump.

KOS-MOS's mobility on the ground ranges from a slow, measured and mechanical walk, to a robotic and military stride when she gets running. When jumping KOS-MOS launches off her feet with tremendous power, leaping into the air with a narrow hurtbox in an acrobatic fashion, while her dodges are perfectly performed front and back flips showcasing KOS-MOS's inhuman agility.


MECH-ANIC


Straight out of Xenosaga is KOS-MOS' usage of Action Points, reflected on her HUD as a bar taken right out of Xenosaga 1. There are two primary ways to gain Action Points (or "AP") for KOS-MOS, one defensive and one offensive. The defensive options are tied to her default defensive options, primarily dodging (rolls, sidesteps and air dodges) and parrying. If KOS-MOS' dodge overlaps an attack (or in other words, if she "dodged" it) then she gains 1 Action Point from properly avoiding the foe. Parrying's higher risk carries with it a higher reward for KOS-MOS, as she gains two Action Points if she successfully parries an attack. This means opponents will want to be particularly wary of being super predictable, as a parry can lead to big punishes from KOS-MOS!

The other is that whenever KOS-MOS hits a melee attack, she gains one Action Point. Pretty simple! If KOS-MOS has not gained a point within the last 6 seconds, she loses one Action Point. This helps keep an overly defensive KOS-MOS from merely stockpiling points for big attacks. Projectile attacks do not grant any points for KOS-MOS, but landing them refreshes the time to 6 seconds until a point would run out. Projectile attacks instead serve as the payout mechanism for KOS-MOS' Action Points. KOS-MOS can have a total of 5 Action Points at any one time, at which point it can only be refreshed until used up. Multihit attacks only grant an Action Point for the first hit that connects with a foe, although KOS-MOS can gain a point per foe in 2v2s, FFAs or so on as would be expected.

Some of the ways that KOS-MOS can spend Action Points are:

- When KOS-MOS lands a melee attack (be it against a shield or a foe directly), she can spend 2 Action Points to cancel into a projectile attack! This can be used for combo options, especially combo finishing, for shield safety or to limit options after hitting a foe. The Action Points will not power up the resulting attack unless more Action Points are spent to power it up. Both players can see KOS-MOS has utilized a cancel not only with the reduction of AP, but with a brief "aura" that surrounds her just like the GIF above.

- KOS-MOS can power up projectile attacks (be it with raw strength or added effects) by spending Action Points, the amount of which depends on the attack. For Smash Attacks, this is done via A + B Smash (which is always on for KOS-MOS). For tilts and aerials, holding down the A button. For Specials, it varies based on the attack. The same "aura" around cancels will appear around KOS-MOS when powering up her projectile attacks with AP.

- KOS-MOS has a Shield Special while 1 or more AP is stocked up, giving her a stronger defensive option against aggressive enemies.


SPEC-IALS

NEUTRAL-SPECIAL: D.S.S.S. ANALYSIS

KOS-MOS takes a stance reminiscent of her victory pose in Xenosaga 1 and her visor comes down over her face, in a very quick animation. KOS-MOS will begin locking on to all enemies who are in front of her over the entire stage, as they are surrounded by a reticule that slowly starts to intensify over a period of 3 seconds. Once a foe is locked on, which is a fast manoeuvre, and then KOS-MOS can release the move to launch an attack! If there are no foes to target, KOS-MOS will awkwardly step back into her idle pose. The longer the foe is locked on for, the stronger the resulting attack becomes! In addition, for 2 seconds after the attack, the lock-on effect will linger, giving all of KOS-MOS’s projectiles a weak homing effect if they come in a close range of a foe, making it far harder for the foe to duck and weave around them! As KOS-MOS understands her enemy, it only becomes easier to overwhelm them and manipulate their weaknesses.

It is a heavy duty attack, and as KOS-MOS channels more and more energy into her attack, she is forced out of many defensive options and into committing to the attack. KOS-MOS can move at her slow walk speed for the first two seconds of the move, but then can only stand still for the final second as her more powerful arsenal opens up. KOS-MOS may shield cancel the move, too, for the first 2 seconds, but loses this option for final second. As KOS-MOS walks back during the earlier part of the move, this does give her a nice strafing walk that keeps her facing forward, which can be useful to position for follow-ups if she does cancel the move. Additionally, while moving around will make the move charge slower, if KOS-MOS does elect to stand still during the lock-on of the move, she will take half as long to charge the move, so only 1 second before reaching the next portion of the attack. KOS-MOS may even mix up how much she moves during the start of the move to throw off opponents, or just let rip with her attack, to keep the foe guessing as to how long they have to counter-attack or dodge what is coming their way.

The attack portion of the move is at first simple: KOS-MOS creates a small gun in her hand and fires it forward in a thin light blue ray blast as large as Wolf's neutral special and travelling just slightly faster, dealing 5% and low hitstun. The start up comes out a little slower, this can come out before KOS-MOS even locks onto the opponent and is what occurs if there is no opponent for KOS-MOS to face toward on stage. The move has low end lag, and while it has higher start lag than Wolf's blaster, once initiated KOS-MOS can fire it at will at just as fast a pace. The low hitstun will quickly stale to stop being too oppressive after just a few shots. The reason for why the lag works as it does is KOS-MOS has to lower her visor to start shooting, and her visor will quickly slide back up once she's done blasting.

The projectile will travel most of FD before phasing out of existence. All in all for a basic projectile it is not half bad, though given the start up, is more of a bullying tactic than anything too reliable. The blaster becomes far stronger, however, when the foe was locked on as the blaster will start to home in on the foe too, making it far harder to avoid and likelier to combo into itself in spite of staling, giving it potentially a few more hits. It only occurs if KOS-MOS does manage to lock in for at least 30 frames or half a second, though, so is more commitment than the basic shot. As is the case for other attacks, when not in a 1v1, these attacks will home in on the nearest opponent. The basic shot is also a lot more devastating keeping in mind that KOS-MOS can strafe while firing, potentially making a calculated offensive play against the foe.


KOS-MOS uses her move also named Blaster after a second of lock-on - KOS-MOS summons a larger gun and studiously looks directly at where the opponent is with her visor and fires a shot in their direction. It is a much faster ray blast fired at twice the speed, dealing 11% damage to KO from a low vertical angle at 160%. If the blaster hits solid ground, it will cause a small explosion of light blue energy that lingers for a little while and deals an additional 6% damage with weak upwards knockback. The real strengths of the move come from how it is aimed right at where the foe was just before it was shot. Not only that, but the shot will have far stronger homing than the basic shot, even with lock-on, curving to follow the foe.

The only way the foe may avoid it is to make sharp movements, as it still does not curve perfectly. Dodging the shot is also potentially possible due to its high speed. As the blast will explode on solid ground, the foe can also try to intercept it with said ground or platforms, though this may be ill advised if KOS-MOS can take advantage of the lingering hitbox. While this shot cannot be spammed in the same way as the basic shot, it does have impressively low end lag, so KOS-MOS can immediate follow-up with other shots, even the basic shots while the foe still has lock-on to make their life more painful.

At 90 frames or 1.5 seconds, KOS-MOS takes out a much larger gun more resembling a sci-fi rifle, and fires a continuous teal laser from it towards the foe, this laser deals up to 7 rapid hits of 3.5% damage with high stun, with an ending 5% hit KOing from 200% at an 85 degree angle away from KOS-MOS. The laser is roughly as big as Thoron and travels slightly faster. It may have weaker knockback than Blaster, but this hitstun is considerable and KOS-MOS easily can catch up to the foe from short-range and deliver a devastating uncharged smash attack in their face if the foe got too arrogant. The other important part of the move is that unlike Blaster, the laser will go straight through all solid terrain, potentially hitting foes trying to ledge camp or on the other side of the stage. It makes this an effective choice against foes launched far away, though as it KOs upwards, it's most effective hitting foes trying to recover high and conditioning them to go low instead. The laser will take a while to reach them from a long distance but will linger long enough to be a persistent menace and force certain recoveries. This attack is the final one where KOS-MOS can strafe, and if she can manage to dodge and attack right in their face, will get an incredible reward.

Phase Transfer Cannon


Once she reaches the 2 second mark, KOS-MOS summons one of her strongest weapons, the Phase Transfer Cannon and aims it straight forwards, firing a gigantic laser blast. It is truly incomparable to any other in normal Smash gameplay - this beast pushes the foe along with it as it fires, dealing up to 9 hits of 5% damage before launching foes away for 6% damage with the strength of an average forward smash! The closest comparison to the attack is final smashes such as ones for Samus and Mario, and it is quite close to those when it lands, pushing foes across the stage then most of the time, will just directly KO them into the blast zone. It is almost ensured to hit if the foe is anywhere near the ledge. However, given it takes two seconds to charge, and roughly another 30 frames after that for KOS-MOS to summon and fire the cannon, its more than earned for both KOS-MOS and opponents.

The size of the cannon itself is not as large as in Xenosaga, but still roughly twice the size of the Daybreak item, and KOS-MOS handles the weapon as if it was made of paper. The laser it fires is five times as wide as Thoron and travels both infinitely far and comes out almost instantaneously once fired, quickly spanning the entire width of the screen. The laser is fired continuously enough to be a nightmare for foes to dodge and easily will break a shield from full health with its damage. The cannon itself is a hitbox, too, once it's out that pops the foe forwards, almost always into the cannon fire, though KOS-MOS does not get any special protection from attacks during the move. She does have very low end lag on the move, making it surprisingly hard to punish as foes have to get behind her to do so.

The primary weakness of the attack is that despite utilizing lock-on, the Phase Transfer Cannon (PTC) will only weakly home in on foes due to its immense power, if they are near the end of its curve. The laser will angle itself very slightly upward or downward. This homing is the main way the PTC improves with further charge, as KOS-MOS will continuously charge energy into the cannon up to an extra second after initially bringing out the gun. Consider that the gun's start up is mostly summoning it, too, and it becomes apparent just how scary this is for a foe who panic dodges or shield in place as KOS-MOS calls their bluff with a further charge. KOS-MOS is able to better holster the giant weapon with the extra preparation time and now has the freedom to slowly angle the PTC up or down, similar to some final smashes, so that she can aim it to hit high or low recoveries. While there is not much room to move the laser at a slow pace, it is still even more devastating. Every additional 20 frames of charge adds another 5% hit of damage to the beam and therefore caps out at 12 hits of 5% damage, or 60% damage, and overall 66% damage with the final hit!


SIDE-SPECIAL: TERTIARY WEAPON SYSTEM

KOS-MOS' Side Special is a variable weapon attack which has different capabilities based on how much AP she has at the time of firing: Only the firstl evel of 0-1 AP has control over it. On that base level the move is quite simple, as KOS-MOS transforms one of her arms into cannon mode and fires off a single energy shot forward. This is visually and move-wise rather similar to Samus' Super Missile, being slightly faster (Frame 19) but having less damage (10%). Combined with uncharged Neutral Special, this makes up the electronic "core" of KOS-MOS' game in neutral with the Blaster being a faster but less powerful option. Mixing them up, along with their heights via jumps, is an excellent choice when playing a more Wolf-esque neutral rather than her more aggressive options. Ending lag is moderate and range is about equal to a Super Missile's.

This move has its own unique cancel to it that functions like Ryu's Focus Attack, performed by double tapping a direction during the attack's starting lag. For the base version of this attack, the cancel window is on Frames 5-15, with KOS-MOS going about 1.2x the distance of Ryu as her arm folds back to its normal position (or another cancel animation for later moves). This does not cost AP. While KOS-MOS lacks the armor present on Ryu for this attack, she can nonetheless use it for strong aerial mobility as a landing mixup. This is especially true when combined with her Down Aerial options. A KOS-MOS with resources is very difficult to pin down despite her poor movement statistics. This also allows KOS-MOS to cancel into Side Special from a melee attack, THEN cancel Side Special as a movement option for increased pressure! How effective this is depends on which Side Special KOS-MOS has readied, but it can be moderately efficient with the base Side Special. KOS-MOS does not lose AP if she cancels out of it unless she is hit during the cancel, whereupon she will lose AP as normal (so that you can't cheese bad Side Special punishes by just canceling out). KOS-MOS retains the direction she is facing when canceling (so if you double tap back, she moves back but keeps facing forward.

1 AP is the only one where KOS-MOS can simply "choose" to use the 0 AP option, or she can charge very briefly (5 frames) to fire off a more powerful cannon shot at the cost of 1 AP. The Tertiary Cancel's frame window is increased to 5-20 to compensate for the 5 frames higher "starting lag" as well. Combat performance of the shot is improved all around, with a larger shot (2/3rd Mega Man Charge Shot level compared to Super Missile size, all in an oblong shape), damage is increased to 14% and the original's non-existant KO potential is increased to kill at 195%. Finally, the move has slightly less ending lag. The increases are overall modest, but it costs a mere 1 AP and offers some valuable timing mixups with the Side Special's base form. It's also an easy way to just spend an AP if, say, you only have 1 AP and it's about to expire. Not too mucn to say about it, though.

2 AP is when things get really heated, as the lesser forms are unable to be used when you get this high, and it becomes a 2-shot attack. The first shot is a smaller and very fast shot that pulsates an electric blue, dealing a mere 4% damage but paralyzing the foe in place for about as long as a half charged ZSS Paralyzer! KOS-MOS then fires a second shot 10 frames later that is the size of a fully charged Mega Man Forward Smash, dealing 17% while killing at 165% and traveling at high speeds. This 1-2 combo will usually combo unless near the edge of the move's range, where it can become iffy, for a cool 21%. The first shot comes out earlier than most of KOS-MOS' Side Specials, Frame 14, with the second shot coming out 10 frames later on frame 24. Ending lag is the same as the 1 AP shot.

KOS-MOS cannot Tertiary Cancel the before the first hit comes out, making it useless for that kind of canceling, but can cancel on the first frame AFTER the paralyzing shot is fired! It lasts until the second shot is fired (Frames 15-23). This offers KOS-MOS some powerful combo potential by canceling out of the attack aggressively into melee attacks such as Forward TIlt, Up Tilt, shorthop Forward Aerial or shorthop Neutral Aerial. And while 2 AP Side Special isn't useful as a movement cancel, being able to cancel into the paralyzing shot can lead to some truly extended combo strings! The double shot is also effective in spacial control and with a Lock-On is especially annoying to dodge as KOS-MOS gets to fire off the second shot at their current location. Short hop over the paralyzer? Deal with an anti-shorthop cannon blast!

It is worth noting that KOS-MOS' neutral game is hindered as her Side Special scaling goes up, as she loses access to the neutral-reliable 0-1 AP Side Special and will rely more on her uncharged Neutral Special. This is in exchange for more and more incredible power, and with Neutral Special's higher non-storable levels KOS-MOS can threaten extreme levels of damage and kill power at once.


At 3 AP is when the attack really ramps up, becoming R-CANNON! KOS-MOS flourishes her arm cannon with a little extra flair for this attack as rainbow lights swirl inside of the cannon during its charge time. This fires a physical projectile, appearing like a flashing rainbow canister about the size of an Inkling Down Special but as a cylinder, which is launched straigh forward at high speeds. Upon impact with one anything, it willl deal 1% non-flinching damage (see: Snake Grenade, Inkling Down Special, Sheik Side Special) and then explode one frame later into a torrent of swirling rainbow energy for 23% damage that kills at 90%. It will also explode into the swirling hitbox if it reaches its maximum range of 3 Battlefield Platforms. At 20 frames this is about equal to a Samus charge shot to come out, with somewhat short ending lag and a light "kickback" in the air that barely nudges KOS-MOS back.

3 AP Side Special is one of the most useful ones for KOS-MOS due to being a relatively reliable kill option when unlocked, being more moderate in strength than its contemporaries in exchange fo greater consistancy. Canceling into it is a potential kill confirm from multiple options, or on something like Forward Tilt basically requires the opponent to predict it to avoid it or an instant reaction. A Lock-On increases the amount of kill confirms for KOS-MOS by a significant margin, as multiple attacks won't kill confirm due to knockback angles, a fact made moot when KOS-MOS gets to auto-aim with Lock On. Down Tilt is a particular example: While normally the cancel will only work on-hit vs. shield (which is a super strong shield poke), a Lock On allows it to actually hit the foe after launching them, which give it is a powerful strike means some real early KO options! This move also adds to the texture of KOS-MOS' edgeguard game, as ayone who has utilized jump-read Charge Shot can attest too. Don't forget you need 3 AP to use this attack, so any cancels need to be planned to route to 3 AP, meaning that the exact cancels KOS-MOS can perform vary depending on her starting AP.

A strong attacking option, it does lack particularly good Tertiary Cancel options for her melee game as it is only from Frames 8-14 (when the energy begins collecting until it is close to firing) which means cancels are laaate. This isn't a huge downside, but KOS-MOS should be aware of it when getting aggressive in melee range. It also makes the move somewhat more committal when fired off by itself.

"Relinquish your pain to me!"

4 AP is when things get ultra spicy, and also much harder to land as KOS-MOS activates her ultimate weaponry from the first game, the X-BUSTER! Brushing her hands across her stomach, a large spire or spike appears from behind and her hair flutters outwards as five spikes expand outwards like a flower from the base of it as her stomach opens up. KOS-MOS then fires off a rapid stream of laser blasts, concentrated in a close cluster in front of KOS-MOS and spreading out into a huge but less dense hitbox at the edge of its 2 Battlefield Platform range. This is quite a long attack in duration with a 41 fram start-up, making it much more strictly a hard read option. The damage potential is immense directly in front of KOS-MOS, where a ton of 3%-5% multihits will add up to 45% as the opponent is pelted innumerable times, with the last hit dealing strong enough knockback to kill at 80%. This isn't a strong killing upgrade from R-Cannon, but the damage upgrade is immense and is the strongest damage dealing option KOS-MOS has out of Side Special. The ending lag is also not bad at all, although getting BEHIND KOS-MOS allows a lot of punishment during this move's long duration. As an aesthetic note, KOS-MOS eyes turn blue during this move's starting lag in reference to her first use of it in Xenosaga 1, returning to red afterwards or when interrupted.

While the blast is only directly in front of KOS-MOS at the start of its range, it spreads out until the very tips go from the bottom of Battlefield to the top platform, with the multihits' amount fading with time as the attack disperses. The very edge deals only 22% damage in multihits but retains the same KO power as normal. This is an extremely excellent anti-recovery tool that frightens any opponent who dares attempt to recover high against an AP'd up KOS-MOS! Against Locked On opponents the tendrils of energy will curl towards the locked on opponent, able to form a "wave" to follow them depending on their movement, adding onto the excellent ledgeguarding options inherent in this move.

Outside of those situations, X-Buster is aaaaaaaall about the hard reads. Prone situations are obviously great, but with a full 5 AP you CAN cancel into this which is pretty insanely powerful. It is too laggy to true combo off of, well, anything, but you'll catch out panic air dodges and rolls all day if the opponent autopilots defensive options. You can also take great advantage of this move's very early Tertiary Cancel window of 2-11 (during the animation of her brushing her stomach, which gives KOS-MOS some crazy mobility options in melee range or to spook opponents in neutral with this attack. It also allows KOS-MOS stronger landing options, for what that is worth. The only real downside to this move is the rather lengthy starting lag combined with the high AP cost, but the reward is well worth it.


And at 5 AP comes KOS-MOS' most potent of techniques, D-TENERITAS, an enhancement of the Phase Transfer Cannon present in her final form in Xenosaga III! While the exact animation differs slightly depending on which outfit KOS-MOS is outfitted with, the basics of it are the same: KOS-MOS bra or other clothing flipping to the side revealing a large amount of Shion-approved large cleavage and three energy-generating prongs along with a cannon slot, generating an electric ball of energy which is fired off in a rather small form (about the size of an uncharged charged shot). This shot travels at a moderate-slow speed but tracks the nearest opponent (Locked On opponent if possible, which also enhances it's speed by 1.2x!) but lasts for an extremely long 8 seconds of relentless tracking. Upon contact with a foe, it expands into a MASSIVE (Smart Bomb blast size) spherical hitbox that shocks opponents repeatedly for a total of 30% damage across a good 1.5 seconds. KOS-MOS is perfectly free to strike at the opponent during this time just like Sephiroth's Gigaflare, allowing KOS-MOS to potentially rack up more damage than X-Buster situationally. This does take a long time to fire off at 36 frames, but the ending lag is rather modest all things considered.

There's no Tertiary Cancels or melee canceling here, so KOS-MOS is fully committed to finding time to use this move "honestly". There IS another part to this move though, usable only once KOS-MOS has actually ensnared a foe within it. A second input of Side Special causes KOS-MOS to take out a knife hidden within her foot, brandishing it with a stylish flourish before tossing it at the massive energy sphere. This pierces all enemies caught in it and makes the sphere explode for all of its remaining damage at once plus 10% damage from the knife and massive knockback that kills at 55%! Needless to say this is KOS-MOS' strongest kill move and well worth the multitude of hoops required to access it in addition to being super stylish (the kill screen on last stocks of all the energy exploding as the knife lodges in is SWEET). This makes the homing projectile a HUGE threat and even if the opponent avoids the attack they'll probably be taking so many defensive risks to do so that KOS-MOS can really ramp up her offense.


UP-SPECIAL: NEMESIS-VALKYRIE


KOS-MOS leaps into the air while one of her arms transforms into its bladed form, performing an upwards slash in front of her as she rises. The slash deals 6% damage and lightly knocks opponents upwards in the process, which combined with the reasonably fast Frame 10 start-up makes it a pretty solid out of shield option. KOS-MOS transforms her arm into its arm cannon form after the slash as she rises, after which she performs a surprisingly graceful flip and shoots out a single blue-and-white blast of energy. This blast also deals 6% damage and will usually combo out of the rising slash (most commonly, it misses if the opponent is at very high percents, or on stages with very uneven terrain). KOS-MOS then enters helpless, her metallic body falling at less-than-graceful speeds downwards. The projectile has solid range, so this can be used as somewhat of a callout at odd angles, such as against recovering opponents. The pop-up knockback means it isn't as useful in those situations though. Landing close to a platform can give KOS-MOS some more safety landing, and the move has solid recovery with about the same distance as Mythra's Ray of Punishment!

While fairly basic overall, this move has a lot of uses. First off it counts as a projectile attack despite the fast melee starter, which means that any time KOS-MOS requires a melee strike from her melee cancel (some type of reflectors or if they have time to reflector after, projectile intangible moves, or whatever) then she can get that out of this. Being a movement option allows KOS-MOS to avoid getting punished for some options out of shield, such as leaping above an attack with this (or scooping them up) and punishing with the blast from above. With a low enough shield this can definitely shield poke, or KOS-MOS could try hiding by landing on a platform.

This attack has two other ways to spend KOS-MOS' Action Points, depending on how KOS-MOS utilizes B at the ascent of her leap. If KOS-MOS holds down B, then she will charge up a powerful attack rather than instantly releasing the blast! This is the Valkyrie attack, with KOS-MOS announcing it as such. This turns the attack into a spread shot that explodes on impact, with the explosion increasing the power to 10% damage (with mediocre upwards knockback). KOS-MOS can spend anywhere from 1 to 5 Action Points on this depending on how fast she charges, although note that since this move charges FAST (40 frames to full) you need to be pretty precise to stop on the "right" early charge. Each level of charge adds an extra spread shot, with Level 1 adding one shot in front, Level 2 adding an additional behind, then repeating for 3 and 4 until there's a 5-spread shot. While this might seem low, note that low level of charges will pretty much always combo in a situation where the normal shot would, and that each charge level adds +2% damage (so 12/14/16/18), so you can easily get double the damage or more off the standard combo by spending some Action Points. The explosions are on the tall and thin end, so combined with the spread shot this has both strong horizontal and vertical range with enough spending and that ultimately is worth a lot itself. A 3-shot spread kills at 190%, while a 4-shot spread kills at 160%.

Getting to the full 5-Point shot doesn't add to the spread, but instead increases its power and range: Not only is it going 1.5x the distance if it doesn't hit anything, but each spread shot has 1.3x the width and in fact has explosions overlap at their edges which can result in VERY specific spots the opponent will get hit by both! The explosions deal 25% and kill at 110% now, with the total width they cover being about half of Battlefield and a height of 1.3 Ganondorfs. This is obviously highly powerful, but note that it requires a full 5 Action Points and that the 40 frame charge means it isn't a true combo out of the slash in any way. One great use of this is as a ledge guard, as KOS-MOS can throw out powerful projectiles past the ledge and with the right spacing have the shot closest to her hit the ledge and cover it as well. Note that the projectiles won't pierce through platforms, so its usage on stages like Battlefield is a bit trickier.

Alternately, KOS-MOS can press B again at the end of Nemesis in order to perform another flip! This not only gives her higher distance (roughly equal to her short hop), but lets her fire off another Nemesis shot. This can be done up to 5 times, at the cost of 1 Action Point each time, something which allows KOS-MOS to really up the power of her recovery! As a heavily fast falling heavyweight she really enjoys it, given she's going to be combo food for most foes and her high fall speed somewhat negates her high jumps. The pop-up knockback that Nemesis deals allows opponents to potentially be combo'd into multiple shots, with fastfallers tending to be combo'd at more extremes. KOS-MOS can at any time decide to go from Nemesis into Valkyrie, which can potentially lead to earlier kills by laddering the opponent upwards then firing off a charge spread. This usually requires high Action Points given Valkyrie below 3-Points doesn't have that strong of KO power. Note that KOS-MOS can still horizontally DI while using repeated Nemesis attacks, so she doesn't have to go straight up (and can follow enemy horizontal DI).


DOWN-SPECIAL: R-DRILL


KOS-MOS summons a sword on her right arm and quickly cuts a giant pink, circular glyph out of thin air that covers her entire front, any foe unfortunate enough to strike it will be counter-attacked for 1.2x their attack's power as KOS-MOS pierces her sword forward! KOS-MOS lunges forwards and physically moves several of her own widths and this makes the move one of her longest range attacks, as she pierces forward a little further than Shieldbreaker. As with that move, the move will deal an additional 1.5x damage when it hits shields. As a counter, however, it is obviously very unlikely for it to hit ever hit a shield in a 1v1 situation. At its weakest when countering a weaker attack, R-Drill will do 10% damage and KO from 205% at a high vertical angle, making it good to create some distance even when it hits a weak move. The move has a long-ish start up for a counter and the overall size of the counterbox is a weakness only covering KOS-MOS at the front, both similar to Sephiroth's Scintilla.

KOS-MOS will perform an agile back flip, then re-appear in the air next to opponents who would not be hit by her grounded counter attack, and this leaves KOS-MOS in midair with some good momentum. KOS-MOS relies on detection and will sometimes whiff the counter, but this little bit of mobility does mean she at least does not end up in a precarious position. The move fails if KOS-MOS is hit just before its start as she draws the circle for a moment, forcing more considerate use of the move. If KOS-MOS does no further button presses, the move will simply end if foes do not hit the glyph, and KOS-MOS has slightly better end lag than a typical counter. KOS-MOS can perform a follow-up out of the move once the glyph is drawn, whether or not a foe attacks, with some of these options strengthening with Action Points!

KOS-MOS will pierce through her own glyph with her lunging, piercing strike if the button is held and takes 40 frames of start up, dealing a set 15% damage, but at a better, low angle forwards to KO from 165%. Additionally, the move becomes powered up and now has trample priority against foes who try to attack KOS-MOS, making it a great counter-counter if foes whiff in their attempt to attack KOS-MOS after he counter ends. As the move already has decent end lag for a counter, this makes the move surprisingly tricky to properly play against without knowing the timing well.

Rather than pierce the glyph, by tapping the A button again while the glpyh is created, KOS-MOS will charge more energy into it with her free hand, before she slashes away at it with the sword and launching an impressive wave towards foes! The wave will deal anything from 12-25% damage depending on the charge, dealing radial knockback and either mid knockback to space foes away, or KO from 150%. In addition, foes who strike the glyph will add half the power of that attack to the power of the resulting strike, capping at 30% damage! Once this damage hits 25% (or higher) KOS-MOS will automatically perform the attack. The wave ranges from 1.5x the size of Buster Wolf to 3x as big at maximum charge, and it will home in on foes into the air if they still are locked on, making it very oppressive!

Action points will slowly be consumed over charge time to further speed up the process: with 1 AP, the move will take as long as a smash attack to reach full power, while 5 AP will make it take only 20 frames in total to power up to full. KOS-MOS has to continuously press the A input after the first press to keep channelling more AP into the attack, acting mostly as a mix-up. One final, important note is that while it is not a huge hitbox like the projectile can be, the strike itself of the attack is also a very powerful melee range move and can be a surprise for foes trying to outsmart KOS-MOS. The strike will deal 15-35% damage at a medium range, KOing from 180-100% at a high vertical angle. KOS-MOS's attacks for the initial few frames will even counter as a disjointed hitbox rather than a projectile before it is launched, making it another aspect of the move that is a counter-counter, calling out foes who try to walk up and reflector the projectile in KOS-MOS's face. It may not seem so useful, but foes really have to be careful at say, the ledge, or from awkward spots on stage reflecting this at the right distance even knowing the right timing to not get caught out by this hitbox, making it another tricky move to counter.


SHIELD-SPECIAL: THE HILBERT EFFECT

KOS-MOS may access a shield special when she has any AP active, expending when she presses B when shielding. It results in an explosion of energy all around KOS-MOS, ranging from just beyond her maximum shield’s hurtbox. The explosion deals 3 hits of 3% damage, before dealing 5% damage and weak radial knockback, making it an excellent out-of-shield option. It comes out very fast at frame 2, but its range is limited to only about as far as KOS-MOS’s shield extends. KOS-MOS will be freed from the move with only minor end lag making it a great defensive play. The explosion will be stronger, and KOS-MOS may use up more of the AP when KOS-MOs holds A during the shield special, channelling more of her AP into the explosion. For every additional AP, the explosion will have slightly more range, and deal another 3 hits of 3% damage. At 5 AP, the move will deal 45% additional damage, breaking a foe’s shield from full health, and KO from 90%! However, while this may sound extremely powerful, it has a strong similarity to Magic Burst. Each hit will increase the range of the explosion as it stretches out around KOS-MOS and eventually envelope an area as big as Giga Bowser around KOS-MOs, but the foe will have a long time to avoid the later hits. They would have to walk into it or get caught in it at ledge to reliably land the move. Nonetheless, as a defensive option it is much better than Magic Burst regardless of meter cost as it has low end lag, making it hard to punish when it does whiff.

Foes hit by the Hilbert Effect, whether their shield or hit directly, will have a status effect applied to them as well that lasts for 5-10 seconds depending on the strength of the attack. It will leave the foe covered in an ethereal purple aura of static energy. The aura will make KOS-MOS’s lock-on charge 1.3x as fast for as long as it is active, and will make the lock-on itself linger for another 3 seconds if it is applied when the Hilbert Effect status effect is active. This combination of effects makes the foe far easier to pin down. Additionally, the first projectile that hits the foe during this status effect will deal more damage per AP due to interacting with the Hilbert Effect. For every AP the projectile was using it will deal 3% damage and add to that projectile’s power based on the power of the move as normal. This change to power will also make some projectiles from weaker peppering shots to strong GTFO attacks and KOing projectiles KO earlier. As it only applies to the first projectile, this may only push foes away with the first shot and then let KOS-MOS rack on the damage later. As the damage builds up, this may lead to absurdly powerful attacks combinations.



SMASH-ATTACKS

FORWARD-SMASH: G-SHOT


KOS-MOS summons an impressive gatling gun over the start up of her fsmash and steadies it in place for her charging animation, then quickly uses it to bash anyone with a close-range uppercut-like strike, dealing 9.5-13.3% with strong knockback to KO at around 150% at several different angles depending on when it lands. The hitbox of the move is larger, with the gatling gun bigger than most swords, though is shorter than the Masamune. The move deals only 75% as much damage and knockback hitting at the tip of the gatling gun, and becomes more of a GTFO option at that range. The bash comes out decently fast for a forward smash and is particularly useful for being safe on shield at most of its hitboxes due to its incredible range, so is an effective defensive option. The end lag of the bash is nothing too bad either, though nothing remarkable, making this a middle-of-the-road option.

It would not be G-Shot if the gatling gun was never fired, no? KOS-MOS may unleash the G-Shot's full might through a hail of bullets by pressing A as a follow-up after the bash, firing out a stream of bullets! The bullet stream will deal 5-8 hits of 3.8% damage each, overall dealing 19-30.4% damage, scaling wildly more than a normal smash attack due to the ways hits are calculated here. The range of the bullets is impressive, too, travelling 1.2x the distance Mii Gunner's forward smash does. A useful if not viable feature of the G-Shot is that the bullets will continue to go another length of the move's attack range beyond its normal range dealing a passive 1% damage for all 5-8 hits, helping to pile out on a few bonus damage percents on the foe. As a follow-up to the bash, this will always directly combo out of the strikes unless at the sorts of percents where the foe would die to the bash. If on its own and not landing the bash first, it is important to note that the bullets will fire straight forward and just high enough to miss super low crouches. The move may be angled up or down, however, giving a slight angle to cover these and other outlier cases, but otherwise not affecting the move.

As a defensive against reflector or other similar strategies, the move's initial bash is a useful way to get around foes with that advantage, though nonetheless only means foes must keep their distance. KOS-MOS's bullets will lock onto foes too and have very strong homing to chase them down in midair, making escape impossible. It may even hit foes back into KOS-MOS for further punishment if it does not outright KO them, and this is when the move is at its strongest. Foes who get trapped in odd places with the G-Shot chasing them down really spells doom for them, particularly off stage, where the long-range of the bullets is particular potent. In comparison to the D.S.S.S. Analysis, the range of these bullets is not quite as impressive, but is far less of a commitment after lock-on is already in play, giving it an obvious niché.

KOS-MOS can cancel the initial bash into firing the stream of bullets immediately, and in three set directions: straight forward (as normal), diagonally up and forward, or almost at a vertical angle up, depending on when A is pressed on hit against foes. These new angles help open up not only opportunities for fsmash itself, but allow KOS-MOS to cancel other projectiles into these angles, too, as she summons those weapons to fire the same way. While the aerial bullets are not the most accurate way to hit foes when cancelled like this, it does create a difficult path for foes to try and cross when they recover from the attack in the air. It is another way for KOS-MOS to bully foes around the stage as she wants.

When the foe is victim to lock-on, this can result in some difficult positions where they are being rained on by bullets, or being propelled for a vertical KO from below, as two examples. The foe even has to watch out for those passive 1% hits, as they will count as a hit to KO them if they end up above the blast zone. It only works if she has the AP to spend on the cancel. The cost of this depends on how late she leaves it, as the longer she waits to do it, the more powerful it becomes as a KO move, taking 1 AP, 2 AP and 3 AP for the first, second and third hits respectively. When we consider that this is a guaranteed on-hit follow-up when KOS-MOs has AP to spend, it more than makes sense why it costs more for its usefulness. However, with charge this cost comes down, 1 AP per third of charge, with maximum charge making even the final hit cost 0 AP. It creates another dimension for the attack being hard to read for foes who are keeping track of KOS-MOS's current AP and gives further reason for KOS-MOS to tactically use her charge time.

KOS-MOS can perform a melee cancel into this move, but she won't go into the bash and instead directly transitions into the gunfire portion of the military masquerade. KOS-MOS will fire the gatling gun at whatever angle the attack she had canceled out of was performing, directly opening her palms to materialize the gun into her hands while dematerializing any other weapons she possessed. If a lock-on is present on the foe, then she will also track them as they move even as she fires, allowing her perfect accuraccy rather than spray and pray. Barring situations where KOS-MOS has other options set up, this will be her strongest pure damage option out of a melee cancel. It deals the same 19%-30.4% over 5-8 hits and chargability as normal.

On top of the charge, KOS-MOS can expend Action Points as she fires to fire off additional shots, with the first three Action Points spent adding extra shots at the same rate of one shot for 3.8% damage each. This means if you fully charge the attack AND land every hit (with smash DI and the amount of hits this is of serious concern, especially at high percents) you'll be doing 41.8%! The last Action Point is special if used, as the gatling gun charges briefly before firing shots from all three of its barrels at once! This deals 11.4% (the same as three shots) in a single blast that will kill at 90% if it hits, which given you just did 53.2% damage if everything hit is pretty intense.

Consider, however, the resource management factor. In order to do this you not only need a lead-in melee strike, but to charge Forward Smash to full, and to have a full bar of Action Points before hitting. Naturally no-charge version is much more doable and just requires the resource load, but the damage will be 41.8%. All those resources could, however, go into a Neutral Special or Side Special instead, or more safety aggression. The charge time means you will never combo into a full strike at high charge, and opponents can DI out of this move given its absurd 11 hits without a Lock-On which has a very small window to abuse. Generally, you're liable to use more base forms as sufficient firepower to take down enemy lifeforms. The fully spent cartridge of the gatling gun will drop out of it during the ending lag just like the G-SHOT animation and causes a bit of a visual stage rumble (like Bowser when dashing), emphasizing KOS-MOS' strength given how casually she wields it.


UP-SMASH: R-SCYTHE


Materializing an almost ethereal light green scythe, raising it above her head and somewhat in front of her as she spins it so the scythe spins facing the screen (AKA vertically) rather than horizontally. The spins deal multiple hits that add up to 13%-18.2% damage and light knockback pretty much straight up from wherever the foe is hit. KOS-MOS steps forward to begin the spin and so gives this move some surprising forward reach but in exchange its anti-air coverage is a bit lacking directly above KOS-MOS and she lacks any back coverage as an anti-air. The ending lag of this attack is on the low end and allows KOS-MOS to begin some aerial combos until more moderate percents. Starting lag is average to a touch lower than average.

This move's forward angling makes it an excellent anti-shorthop move, catching out most opponents that don't full hop with some strong horizontal range, but KOS-MOS can also use it aggressively on grounded opponents to call out aerial escapes while striking at them. As a melee attack, KOS-MOS is free to cancel it into projectiles for shield pressure, along with this attack's natural follow-up option! As a follow-up, KOS-MOS firmly grips the scythe rather than letting it return to her armory, throwing it straight up as a hitbox that deals 10%-14% damage and will kill at 120%-95%. This requires a minimum of 1 AP to actually perform, but of course landing the Up Smash will grant KOS-MOS 1 AP. KOS-MOS can angle the attack but is not limited to a merely human 3 directions, able to angle the scythe to fly anywhere within the upper 180 degrees (so straight left or right and anything higher). This gives KOS-MOS a rather flexible projectile out of an already useful melee strike, heightened by its boomeranging properties!

Once the scythe reaches its maximum distance, 2-3 Ganondorfs based on charge, the scythe will turn around and make its path back to KOS-MOS. She needs not actually pick it up, it merely dissipates into nothingness and returns to her Transfer System when it reaches her, but it grants KOS-MOS a powerful tool to "trail" behind her for safety or for rather unique aggressive options. A scythe might, for example, pin an opponent down while KOS-MOS utilizes her Neutral Special and thus get one of the higher order attacks within off. This is enhanced by spending more AP by holding down the buttons to charge the attack, which allows KOS-MOS to spend up to 5 AP total on it! Each AP past the default 1 AP causes the scythe to boomerang an extra time, flying one Battlefiel Platform past KOS-MOS before trying to return to her once more, which means KOS-MOS can get some serious use out of this with things like Neutral Special or rushes in. It can keep flying back and forth around KOS-MOS as a kind of "damage shield" to keep opponents off of her while she Neutral Specials! R-Scythe disappears after hitting twice, preventing truly crazy infinites. It also disappears after 7 seconds of failing to boomerang to a character or hit someone.

This is further enhanced if the opponent has a pre-existing Lock On, as it will cause the scythe to instead try to "return" to the foe! This essentially gives KOS-MOS a constant chaser hitbox to put intense, tight pressure on the opponent. This is generally the perfect time to go aggressive with your Down Tilts, Dash Attacks, shorthop aerials, you get the idea given the opponent is pre-occupied. It also is deadly if KOS-MOS gets to launch the foe offstage, as dealing with both it as a projectile AND KOS-MOS edgeguards with attacks like Down Aerial is a truly difficult task to manage. Note that there is a windup to throwing the scythe, as well as ending lag, so using it out of Up Smash is rather punishable. KOS-MOS can melee cancel into this, skipping the first hit of Up Smash, but the fact it takes AP to do so and then AP to fire off the scythe means you're offering up a lot of resources for a 10% damage hitbox in the end. Use it wisely, largely in situations where KOS-MOS can get more off of it, and it can be strong enough to be worth the investment.


DOWN-SMASH: DEX-ETHER-LE


KOS-MOS enters a dramatic charging pose where she holds her hands behind her back and pushes her head back, concentrating energy all over her body with static electricity. As she builds charge, KOS-MOS will even start to levitate slightly, though barely affecting her hurtbox, to add to the move's impressive visual look. After charging is finished, KOS-MOS throws all her limbs forward and generates a massive bolt of lightning that stretches up to top platforms on triplat stages, dealing 12% damage and high radial knockback to foes! It will KO from 120% there uncharged, though it comes at the cost of coming out on frame 20. The move does have low end lag, however. The beam is around as thick as Palutena's usmash, making it hard to avoid.

That hitbox is one of many for the move. The beam of electricity that travels down to KOS-MOS will hit opponents downwards instead, dealing a set 5% damage and knockback so that they will more than likely connect to her most powerful hitbox. Around KOS-MOS's body, a glowing blue electrical blast will fling away opponents radically for 15% damage uncharged and KO from 105%! Nevertheless, the foe has to be in close range of KOS-MOS or below her for this to be viable. The move still has some essential bullying potential when KOS-MOS hits opponents on top platforms, though, and is especially problematic for opponents in the sticky platform meta of Ultimate.

Where the move becomes far more powerful is in the context of lock-on. Any opponent suffering the effects of lock-on will create a new electrical blast that will appear from their angle to KOS-MOS, spawning simultaneously! It duplicates that 12% hitbox and the 5% one, dealing the same knockback. The crucial difference is that foes will be dragged towards KOS-MOS from any direction, constantly being hit in her direction. Where it is far more powerful than you might expect is that foes might be hit during shielding, too, which is easy enough to bait considering KOS-MOS's moveset. These foes are easy prey for other moves like R-DRILL or her various AP moves spent on a shield. It is a devastating way to start an assault on a foe and even opens them up for that very same AP expenditure!

Upon activating her AP, KOS-MOs launches a unique follow-up where she fires out a fierce storm of lightning all around the stage! This attack is far more extensive than the regular beam, expanding to reach the edges of the side platforms on triplat stages if KOS-MOS stood in the middle. The electricity will deal three hits of 2% damage and considerable hitstun to foes, launching them with decent knockback away from KOS-MOS to KO from 150%. While it is not that strong, it practically guarantees the move is safe on hit and leaves the foe incredibly vulnerable. While it is not fast enough to guarantee any devastating combos to shields, it will damage even more when the electric beam hits the foe. The most potent combo is when the foe is being hit by the electric beam that drags them towards KOS-MOS during the move.

When any other form of knockback hits the foe, it will override that of the electrical storm so that they continue taking that knockback after the hitstun. In practice, it means that foes will be dragged toward KOS-MOS and miss her powerful 15% hitbox... but instead, be left at a heavy disadvantage in midair! From here, KOS-MOS can use aerials, standards, or even her faster specials to attack foes. What is fun, too, is that Lock-On opens up more avenues to attack with new angles from all around KOS-MOS. It means foes suffer more for not being hit by her powerful electrical blast and, in perfect situations, might outright end stocks early with a strong enough punishment.


STAN-DARD

NEUTRAL-ATTTACK: JABBING-STRIKES


KOS-MOS slashes foes with her forearm for 3% damage before doing the same with the other arm for 2% damage, and can repeatedly jab away at foes within a close range for another 1% a-piece for her infinite jab. The jab finisher sees KOS-MOS perform a final powerful uppercut that deals 5% damage and launches the foe to KO from 165%. A strong jab finisher, but the move does have not so impressive range. A foe who does get struck by the foe at close enough range will be dealt considerable damage and forced to DI upwards to be optimal. A foe who forced out above KOS-MOS is at a disadvantage as it puts them in prime position for many of her moves, including D.S.S.S. Analysis and Nemesis.

KOS-MOS will summon a gun in the same way at Bullet Artes works for Bayonetta by holding A at the end of the attack. KOS-MOS will open fire using more passive gunfire that launches quick bullets forwards, dealing constant hits of 1% for up to 4% a second. These hits only deal hitstun for around a second before staling, and then only deal passive damage, but go almost as far as Fox's blaster so are worth considering to deal a little damage to foes expecting a more committal attack. The end lag of the gunfire is minimal. The gunfire will deal little knockback or hitstun, but so long as KOS-MOS is hitting the foe in any capacity with the attack, her Action Points will not fall due to inaction. It allows for KOS-MOS to keep her Action Points at a sufficient level while not committing to more dangerous actions.

KOS-MOS may power up her gunfire with a quick tap of A after initiating the spray of bullets, and will instead fire a blitz of gunfire in a more intense volley as she holds her gun tightly, dealing 3 hits of 5% damage and able to KO from 175% from a low angle. At sweetspots at the tip and close to KOS-MOS, foes instead take 8% damage for the final hit and are KO'd from 150% at a more upwards angle. As if it was a mini PTC, the hits will push foes back into the further part of the beam, both increasing the likelihood of KOing them, but reliably pushing them into the sweetspot, too. It is a perfect bait manoeuvre lulling the foe into expecting the passive gunfire, then punishing them as they hastily approach, dealing considerable damage instead. Importantly, this gunfire also becomes a disjointed hitbox the same as Bullet Artes or some of Mii Gunner's attacks such as forward smash or up aerial. It means that doubly so for reflectors, KOS-MOS can bait out a reflect attempt then punish foes massively, and if nothing else will make foes wary to become too overly reliant on these tactics.

KOS-MOS may cancel her jab on hit at the normal rate of Action Point cost to instead fire a more powerful blast from her gun that sends out 5 separate larger energy bullets in a wide fanning pattern, each dealing 2 damage and low hitstun, travelling a short distance before fading away. The blast will deal enough hitstun to foes to put KOS-MOS at a slight advantage, but also deals a hefty bit of kickback, pushing KOS-MOS back her own width so that she is well into safety even on shield. At the same time, the hits will miss foes normally, but easily gets absorbed by a shield to deal respectable damage. On a foe who is locked on, the bullets will home in and deal far more hitstun so that KOS-MOS gets far more advantage out of the attack.


DOWN-TILT: SPACIAL-SHATTER

Pulling her arm back, KOS-MOS performs a straight punch downwards with great force and a robotic whirr from the power being put into it. This is a powerful move with Smash attack level lag (at 17 frames, it is right between the 16/18 frames of Ryu's Heavy F-Tilt two hits) that has some equally powerful damage behind it! This deals a sterling 12% damage that has an absurd shield damage modifier that utterly obliterates shields, taking out roughly 80% of their HP from full! This makes it a terrific tactical option when an opponent takes to shielding her multitude of projectiles as a common tactic. It may be prudent for the opponent to simply take the hit as long as they're below 130% which is around when this move will kill. This move's ending lag is rather bad, in particular a sidestep is able to punish KOS-MOS rather well with it. While the speed of this attack makes it technically reactable, the frame window is small AND shields not being a good option against it means that it is easy to respond incorrectly.

A very solid approach for KOS-MOS is to fire off a no-lock-on Neutral Special, then approach behind it and threaten a Down Tilt. An opponent who mindlessly shields every gunshot will get hit from non-lock-on NSpec -> Down Tilt during shieldstun. This isn't an insta-shield break but the foe needs to drop basically instantly to avoid a shield break from time, and prior damage will shield break. The proper recourse for the foe is usually to mix up retreats, shields and aggressive jump-ins so that KOS-MOS commits to poorly optimized strategies given things like Down Tilt will be punished. This attack is negative on shields (like Ryu's), being -15 on shield hit.

Down Tilt's melee properties make it cancelable, although its cancel window only begins during end lag after hit. If canceled, Down Tilt is -3 on shield + the starting lag of the move you cancel into obviously has to occur. It is actually rather difficult to score shield breaks off of cancels, as not only as KOS-MOS' strongest attacks not going to combo from it (such as higher level Side Specials or a Forward Smash cancel), but you'll usually just poke an opponent out with a projectile like this rather than hit them. This is still more than acceptable, as it means you chipped off a lot of their shield while getting a solid hit in. Forward Smash off of this can be avoided, but it does force opponents' hands and will deal major damage if not dealt with (usually by the foe trying to roll away from other, faster attacks that need faster options to avoid). With a Lock on the enemy, Forward Smash becomes much more deadly with its ability to track the foe.


FORWARD-TILT: S-SAULT

KOS-MOS creates a sword out of her right arm then slashes in an upwards crescent hitbox for 5% damage and low knockback, low enough to be able to combo several times at 0% for an effective combo against most of the cast. The start up of the move is among KOS-MOS's fastest in her entire set at frame 4, and the range is not amazing, but nonetheless using a sword is good for a forward tilt, with only moderate end lag. The slash has a sweetspot at the tip of the blade that instead deals a nice 8% damage and much higher knockback to KO from 155%. It is pretty difficult to land from that specific distance, though if nothing else makes the move far safer on hit versus shields due to pushback and hitstun.

The angling of the move changes the sword slash quite distinctly, even slightly altering the animation, though is still a sword slash. Angling the move up, KOS-MOS performs more of an uppercut reminiscent of her jab finisher, dealing 6% damage and the same knockback but at the far more convenient almost vertical angle. KOS-MOS's range horizontally is drastically lower, although has a bit more vertical range. The sweetspot now deals 9% damage, a little more knockback at a slightly more upwards angle in both cases. It potentially will catch out foes trying to DI upwards, though if they do not, the move will simply whiff instead. If this angle is the one that lands initially, then it will lead into an additional hit if KOS-MOS mixes up with two forward-angles tilts at the end rather than upwards once, as that will send the foe too high. The foe may also DI entirely upwards, in which case KOS-MOS has to read it correctly and go for forward angles only to get the additional hits. Though it may seem like only a small amount of additional damage, each hit will count towards AP, so is absolutely precious to KOS-MOS.

The down angle will have KOS-MOS slash at the foe's mid-section, having far more horizontal range than either previous angle, but no combo-ability. KOS-MOS now deals a higher 8% damage and the sweetspot deals 11% damage, KOing from 140%, becoming a reliable KO move. At low percents, KOS-MOS may hit with the sweetspot then land the down angled forward tilt as a true combo. It is also true if the foe DIs only forwards and KOS-MOS slightly delays her hits, though becomes harder at higher pecents. All in all, the various angles contribute a ton to KOS-MOS's combo game as one of her central melee attacks over her entire moveset. Each version has a slight difference but each one is still one of the KOS-MOS's fastest moves.

When KOS-MOS cancels the move through 1 AP, KOS-MOS will channel energy into her blade then quickly rush forwards with another slash, dealing another 7% damage! It is almost as if KOS-MOS herself become the projectile. When lock-on is active, KOS-MOS will always rush towards the foe, even if they are in the air, though at most percents this will still connect unless at super high percents due to its speed. KOS-MOS will not only rush into the foe, but if she does connect, will rush through them too, most of the time ending up in the air on the other side of them for a potential aerial-follow up. The foe is still hit in the same direction as KOS-MOS re-appears, so will potentially end up going up to match her height in the air at higher percents. At minimum, this lets KOS-MOS chase foes into the air to not use up any of her valuable jumps as a fast faller, opening up her combo game to a far greater degree. Regardless of angle, KOS-MOS will always rush through the foe in the same way, which can be an excellent way to get airborne.

When KOS-MOS lands her sweetspot and then cancels, she will perform a slightly different but more potent version of the attack. KOS-MOS disappears completely and immediately re-appears behind the foe to deliver a slash in the opposite direction, dealing another 5% damage on top of the regular attack, leaving her in the air as the foe is shot in the other direction. KOS-MOS may even charge the move for a moment, causing a screen freeze, for up to another 20 frames, channelling up to 3 AP into the attack. Each AP will add another 5% to the move. Each of these act as an interesting mix-up to the normal move by using KOS-MOS as the projectile and making her instead perform this melee attack.

While at 1 AP the cancel attack only deals knockback to KO from 164%, weaker than the normal sweetspot and only good for positioning, each AP reduces the KO percent by 20% each. At 3 AP, this will KO from 124%, and far lower than that at ledge. It makes landing a sweetspot at ledge very strong. KOS-MOS's ledge attack does decent damage and knockback but importantly uses her long legs to sweep the foe. It's important here, as this will condition foes to stand well back if they want to punish and not just shield the sweep properly. This range is perfect if KOS-MOS instead then just gets up and forward tilts, particularly if the foe did hard commit to a punish, then bashes them behind her for an early KO!


DASH-ATTACK: R-DRAGON

KOS-MOS summons a giant mechanical arm that covers her right hand, rushing forward as it clasps together at the edge of a large hitbox, dealing 12% damage and high knockback at its ‘pinching’ sweetspot, able to KO from 105%! It is a very specific hitbox and foes standing too close will be hit with a sourspot for 10% damage and a low angle launching hitbox to KO from 125%. These two hitboxes are quite slow to come out, however, as KOS-MOS rears back the R-Dragon before she clasps it forward, explaining its high power. The move is very safe on shield however due to its long range and high power, and will shield poke efficiently due to its massive hitbox. The R-Dragon hitbox is comparable to Bayonetta’s smashes in terms of its shape, though not quite as long, it easily can reach over a foe’s shoulders and poke shield from above.

KOS-MOS will cancel the move into a projectile by launching the R-Dragon itself as a hitbox, dealing an impressive 13% damage as it explodes on hit against foes, KOing from 85%. The R-Dragon is a mechanical hitbox unlike many of KOS-MOS’s energy-based projectiles so cannot be absorbed or manipulated like them. More importantly, KOS-MOS can cancel the move on hit to launch the foe along with the R-Dragon, dragging them at a brisk pace for half-a-second before exploding and launching the foe forward and up. It not only spaces foes, but sets them up optimally for off-stage gimp attempts and for KOS-MOS’s lock on to be effective. It comes at the cost of 2 AP, which is not a huge amount.

Another option out of dash attack is to charge the dash attack cancel, instead costing 4 AP, KOS-MOS launches the R-Dragon as it grabs, becoming a grab hitbox against foes. The R-Dragon will wrap it ‘teeth’ around the foe and grip tightly, rocketing forward as far as Ridley’s SPR side special, giving more range for higher percents. The R-Dragon deals constant 1% damage up to 20 times, taking up about 10 hits at medium percents, then launches foes forward at a 20 degree angle, before it explodes for 5% damage. At the end of the ride, the R-Dragon’s mouth will snap shut around the foe in a flashy fashion showing off its elaborate design more than usual to emphasize its power. This hit only KO from around 140%, but that is misleading due to how far the R-Dragon will drag the foe. When in the air, the R-Dragon will drag foes up at a 20 degree angle the same as its knockback angle, and can potentially drag them all the way to the blast zone at super high percents, then explode to KO them. It all happens relatively fast, so much so that KOS-MOS will not be able to get too much off her D.S.S.S. Analysis.

The angle the R-Dragon goes is affected by lock-on, and this goes for both versions of the projectile. The regular projectile is scarier in the context of homing, but the grab hitbox will track the foe down and instead of going straight up, will continue its current momentum at the moment it grabs the foe. It means a foe who is foolishly trying to flee below the stage, for example, will be dragged down towards the abyss to their likely doom. KOS-MOS will not often land such a perfect set-up, but prospect of this happening is a great pressure tool for foes and adds another element to her offence, especially for foes who find themselves off-stage versus a KOS-MOS with meter to spare.


UP-TILT: K-TRICK

KOS-MOS reaches a single arm down with a swiping motion, gripping the knife hidden in her foot below, then swings it upwards and allowing it to spin multiple times above her before it falls back down onto her well placed foot. It is very similar to Joker's Up Tilt visually, although slightly slower (1 frame slower starting and 2 frames ending) due to the slighly more complex animation. A hit directly in front of KOS-MOS a she swipes with the knife deals 3% damage and knocks enemies into the spinning multihit, which itself deals 4 hits of 1% followed by a light launching hitbox of 2% that is pretty ideal for aerial combos! Being fast to start up and without much ending lag, this serves as one of KOS-MOS' main methods of combo starting along with her Forward Tilt. Be warned that while this is a pretty great combo starter, it has essentially no back coverange and the front coverage is brief and at the start. Combined with a long duration and you can end up being punished rather hard on a whiff overall. The lingering duration does help it catch out landing opponents however, combining well with her Up Smash in that regard.

This move is considered a projectile, much like Olimar's Up Smash (which is also a bit similar)! There is both good and bad to this. The good is it gives KOs-MOS a melee range move to cancel into, and in particular Forward Tilt -> Up Tilt cancel is a true combo at pretty much any % (without a cancel, it stops comboing at higher mid percents), which can lead into KOS-MOS aerial strings. Forward Tilt's usual ability to string into itself for AP farming also works well with this combination, letting KOS-MOS not worry about investing some AP into what otherwise might be a more middle powered option. It also works with Lock On! This helps the coverage some and makes it harder to punish by merely avoiding it to the sides.

This comes with various downsides as well: Niche defensive options like reflectors can be used as combo breakers or landing options. Note that even if the knife is Pocketed, KOS-MOS can still use this and other knife moves. She does have an effectively endless armory, after all. The bigger downside is being a projectile means that she can't cancel INTO other projectiles for combo strings! This makes the move's explosive potential much less than attacks like Forward Tilt, limited to more "pure" combos into Forward Aerial or the like. This also means it has no cancel potential for shield safety.


AERIAL-GAME

DOWN-AERIAL: A-BURST


KOS-MOS swiftly summons a rocket launcher and elegantly points it straight down with an effortless single-handed motion, firing out a rocket a little bigger than NIKITA, dealing an explosive 15% damage to foes and a powerful spike. KOS-MOS will suffer kickback from the rocket, being pushed up a short distance, but only once per air trip. The start lag of the move is not too bad, but it does have enough end lag that this is all that useful to recover, and mostly functions as a minor stalling tactic. The rocket will, like Hard Knuckle, only travel so far before it fades from existence, roughly the same length but the rocket travels slightly faster too, meaning it lasts on screen for less time. It is not the most optimal combination of statistics for the rocket, but it helps KOS-MOS whose recovery is not as good as MegaMan.

Lock-on will not make a rocket go any fast, but will make it do a very quick turn in midair if a foe dodges or tries to move out of the way. It makes the act of dodging the rocket almost impossible unless the foe performs a well timed air dodge. This approach means that foes may have to perform a predictable air dodge, or just end up being spiked or hit by a rocket to not fail their recovery. KOS-MOS may even bait out a certain approach hoping for foes to be hit from a weird angle such as from below, hitting them up in her direction.

KOS-MOS may angle her down aerial to the left or right, instead firing the rocket at a slight angle. The rocket will now deal knockback at a diagonal, roughly forty degrees to the left or right. Simultaneously, the kickback will now send KOS-MOS to the left or right instead of straight up. It may seem situational, but this is an effective strategy when KOS-MOS has lock-on active. Other than outright hitting the foe, KOS-MOS can do some fun tactics such as hitting the foe off the stage, or hit them from the other side, then use her kickback to follow them through the air! On top of this, KOS-MOS may cancel into other projectile that then have the same sideward down angle. KOS-MOS will not suffer kickback either, so will be more primed with less powerful projectiles to perform a follow-up attack. A foe who is locked on and a different projectile

KOS-MOS may power up the rocket launcher through her AP. For each additional AP invested into the move, KOS-MOS will fire out an additional rocket. After firing the first rocket, KOS-MOs quickly uses up AP and fires again, with only a short window of opportunity. It will cap out at an additional five rockets, each dealing the same damage and knockback, only weakening through staling. It is unlikely that KOS-MOS would end up hitting a foe more than a few times through one down aerial in this way, but does give her the powerful ability to spam rockets in quick succession to ensure the foe finds it very difficult to avoid. It comes at a heavy AP cost, but with the powerful nature of the rockets, may be a worthwhile investment. When the foe is locked on, too, the danger of missing becomes a far smaller problem and should make any foe wary of letting KOS-MOS get above them at all with the ability to rain a barrage of rockets on their heads.

Each rocket will propel KOS-MOS in the opposite direction, and KOS-MOS may angle each rocket at its own separate angle, though has a narrow window between rockets to change directions. This default version of the move is nothing special for recovering, but if spammed in quick succession, this can act as a poor or very good first jump's worth of momentum for KOS-MOS. Moreover, KOS-MOS can cut a unique path through the air by angling each rocket a little differently, enabling to weave past foes while blasting them from various different directions, becoming a terrifying presence in the air with high enough AP. While there is only a short window to input these extra rockets, it is also enough of a window that KOS-MOS can slightly delay each one and stall for a very brief period in the air. Keeping in mind KOS-MOS's high fall speed, these brief delays act as incredible stalls and will keep the foe guessing as to where KOS-MOS ultimately ends up after the move finishes.


BACK-AERIAL: R-HAMMER

KOS-MOS summons a gigantic hammer and slowly swings it behind her in a horizontal bash, dealing 13% damage in a punishing attack that will KO from 105% at a semi-spike angle. As it sounds, the move has a long start-up, but packs a huge punch, and landed off stage will almost always KO. On-stage, the semi-spike angle makes it a great way to get foes away from KOS-MOS if she wants to make some distance. The back aerial will turn KOS-MOS around, not insignificant given how little KOS-MOS will get out of having her back to the foe and the need to be facing them for her D.S.S.S. Analysis. Turning around in the air like this may be useful at times for that reason too, albeit a fairly situational use of the move.

KOS-MOS will cancel he back aerial and use her other arm to channel a giant ball of light blue energy into being in front of the foe, then use her still materialized hammer to hit it forward ,most of the time hitting the foe for an additional 12%! The damage racks up massively from these two hit, dealing an insanely good 25% damage, and the knockback is enough to KO from 100%, so slightly stronger too. The move causes a screen freeze as she does this which is what enables the flashier animation to not be laggy, though this does come at a costly 3 AP. It may not sound all that great, but the energy ball does not simply launch away the foe, but will cause 1.3x as much hitstun as Arcthunder. It will trap the foe in place, enough that near the ground KOS-MOS will be able to just start locking onto a foe as they're launched away! This situation is particularly optimal for KOS-MOS as the foe will be launched away as she starts her D.S.S.S. Analysis - a Phase Transfer Cannon may be possible if the foe isn't outright KO'd! Against shields, too, this will either deal great hitstun, or shield poke if the powerful first hit depleted the shield enough, a win/win situation for KOS-MOS.

Lock on is rarely too relevant in the case of this move, as it will rarely ever miss. Where lock on does matter is against shields, as the projectile will launch itself at the foe's middle. At some angles, this will specifically hit their shield rather than hitting them out of it with a shield poke. It is actually worse a lot of the times when this happens, as the foe can then be shield broken if KOS-MOS's shield pushback is low enough, and then this will open up her high power options such as the Phase Transfer Cannon!


FORWARD-AERIAL: GRACEFUL-DESTRUCTION

Acting with grace, KOS-MOS performs a brilliant frontflip as her hidden heel knife juts outwards from her feet, giving the more the appearance of a Rosalina Forward Aerial-esque move with a small blade at the end. This gives the attack two different hitboxes on it, both of which are important to her gameplan! Everywhere except for the blade from the waist down is a multihit hitbox that crackles with electricity on hit (presumably due to KOS-MOS' robotic nature) for a total of 3 hits of 3% damage and the final hit dealing light knockback up and away. The knife tip is a sweetspot throughout the entire attack that is small and at the end of KOS-MOS' feet, dealing 14% damage that kills at 130% and tends to serve as an effective combo ender. This move has a slightly slow starting lag (Frame 11) with somewhat long ending lag as KOS-MOS' frontflip brings her back to her starting position with a complete 360.

There's quite a few uses to get into for this move! One of the most prominent is that KOS-MOS can do classic Rosalina/Ridley/etc style multihit FAir chains in order to drag opponents offstage and quite plausibly to their deaths. This requires the usual reading of an opponent's air dodge, but can score some pretty stylish kills, and KOS-MOS has a variety of setups to get it started. Forward Throw is the most evident of them, but an interesting one KOS-MOS can use is the lingering hit of the Blaster attack in Neutral Special to begin it! This can be particularly nice as an anti-sidestep/roll option, covering it with a lingering strike and then dragging them to other goals. The rebound of KOS-MOS' R-SCYTHE has a lot of interesting potential with this attack, as it can fling opponents quite well into a Forward Aerial itself, but going for a Forward Aerial right after throwing the scythe can cause KOS-MOS to hold the foe up until it returns, which combined with a highly timed cancel near the end of Forward Aerial's life can lead to a very potent three hit combo with her projectiles! If you just want to use the attack in more simple terms but don't have a grab, up-angled Forward Tilt or Neutral Aerial are your best bets.

Upon hitting the move, there's two general ways to use it and both require different timings and situations. A good reason for this is this attack's autocancel frames: KOS-MOS has none during the flip itself, but quite a lot after, so unlike a lot of multihit combo enablers you want to land AFTER the hitbox ends, which requires precision to land early enough to have frame advantage for another move. At low percents, very precise uses of landing Forward Aerial -> Up Angled Forward Tilt can loop into itself 2-3 times with a specific delay, although after low percents opponents are sent too high to drag down with the corect timing for the loop. You can still get a Forward Tilt into different combo strings, though!

Super sneaky tactics that KOS-MOS can perform involve her Down Tilt, Grab and R-DRILL. See, if the opponent thinks they can escape, then the first instinct will often be to shield as it is the fastest defensive option (and so the most punishing to a falling FAir that doesn't combo), which Down Tilt and Grab both beat in different ways. While Down Tilt is laggy, it won't be reactable if the opponent is already shielding in anticipation of a follow-up, with the end result being a crushing blow! The other big option would be to utilize a fast attack, especially a jab. In addition to shielding it and going for a punish, if such a move is punishable, KOS-MOS can use R-DRILL to counter the attack instead! R-DRILL's ability to potentially launch an attack either way, or not do so as a fakeout, also means it becomes vulnerable to dodge and try to counter attack. This can lead to opponents trying to jump or roll out, both of which KOS-MOS can read to punish (especially rolls!). KOS-MOS can also try to strike close enough to the ground to hit with the sweetspot: This usually can't autocancel, but she'll get plenty of space when landing, and if she hits on the taaaail end of the hitbox she could space it so that parts strikes and then she lands after the flip ends. This isn't usually feasible though.

When it comes to striking an opponent, KOS-MOS has two options for how to follow-up. The first is to utilize AP during the multihits to combo the opponent, with Up Special being the most consistent option of KOS-MOS' arsenal. A no-lock-on Neutral Special combos but for 5% damage is NOT worth the cost! KOS-MOS' Side Special can be much more effective, but given the cancel AP doesn't power up the Side Special she needs a large reserve of it to get much off of that, and R-CANNON isn't a true kill confirm off of it (although unless the opponent is mashing air dodge or know when you'll stop, they won't be able to react well enough in all likelihood...and if they do, you can read the air dodge or have them buffer it after hit). Tertiary Canceling the Side Special is a valuable movement tool for KOS-MOS to either get aggressive with her other aerials such as Down Aerial, or she can instead back off for very free space to camp. Either way it is on the expensive end, though.

You can also avoid canceling and instead double jump forward (or single jump if you landed from an aerial or w/e) to try to catch out the opponent's options, with the spacing leading to what KOS-MOS' options can be. Another multihit part of the Forward Aerial allows KOS-MOS to do Ridley/Samus/Rosalina style blast zone carries, potentially being used in flashy suicidal stock trades, or KOS-MOS can instead position herself to hit with the tip of the Forward Aerial's hitbox. This is more specific but allows KOS-MOS to get some nice kills when guarding the ledge, or get a lot more space when used as a combo filler in neutral. KOS-MOS can also instead work in other options in prediction of an opponent's air dodge or jump such as Up Aerial, a sufficiently AP Side Special option, or even super situationally a back aerial! It is also worth considering that with KOS-MOS' Up Special and Down Aerial, an appropriately AP-stocked KOS-MOS can return from faaaar off the stage to return after far-off gimps, giving KOS-MOS incentive to chase people hard for kills! Forward Aerial, being a melee move, even gives KOS-MOS AP and so she can go for the risky move of trying to hit the foe for AP to return or die missing it.


NEUTRAL-AERIAL: K-SLASH

KOS-MOS leans one of her arms inwards, before performing a straight thrust at a very slight downwards-diagonal angle while transforming said arm into a blade. A quick poke with sub-par range for a sword move, the light knockback into the air that deals 6% damage is KOS-MOS' primary aerial starter, leading into itself or Forward Aerial with a double jump, while an Up Tilt tends to be the ideal option when it comes to shorthopped and grounded moves. The attack lingers for a decent amount of time and thus can be used to help catch out air dodges some. More importantly it makes the move solid for shorthopping, and landing it near the lowest / latest point of its ending lag can let KOS-MOS get spicier combos out. The most predominant of these is Up Smash, which is a tight window to link into but will work with fast fingers! This attack's starting lag is pretty fast with slightly below average ending lag, so it is also just one of KOS-MOS' least committal aerials to throw out, which is very important because KOS-MOS' air game is otherwise preeeeeetty laggy.

The exchange for this is the aforementioned lower lag, and the fact that compared to a lot of shorthop combo starters in the game this move is generally unsafe on shield. It is also worth noting the light "pop" could be used under a platform to knock someone onto them and likely land into prone. This can also lead to Up Smash, with much more leniency and room to charge on a prediction, but she could also do a quick platform jump to try to chase with Forward Smash or Down Smash or a good projectile strike. NAir cancels into a true combo Up Special with cancel-level AP, but saving the AP can instead lead to a double jump Up Special read, R-CANNON Side Special read, or so on. If KOS-MOS has a lock on the opponent, a lot of these options can potentially combo out of NAir with a cancel (or in R-CANNON's case rarely even without), but these are some notable prerequisites to utilize those exquisite tools.


UP-AERIAL: D-ANGEL

Transforming one of her arms into its sword form, KOS-MOS brings it close to her before slashing it upwards in a dramatic movement that makes her body flip gracefully with the blade extending in the process. Visually, this is very similar to Sephiroth's Up Aerial and also has great range even if it is not as much as the One Winged Angel. An attack with consistant power along the entire sweep, getting struck by any part of the blade deals a crisp 10% damage and good knockback on the opponent: On the top Battlefield platform it will kill at around 125% making it plenty viable as an off-the-top kill option to foes juggled aerially. The starting lag on this is high to make up for its high range (18 frames), the landing lag also notably lacks autocancel frames but is at least a good deal less laggy than Sephiroth's (16 frames) while also being only somewhat laggy in the air.

For the most part this move's uses are very clear: Platform control. With KOS-MOS' plethora of projectile attacks, enemies will often see fit to retreat to platforms to try and weather the assault and approach her. With this move's wide horizontal and long vertical range, it is excellent at both catching out opponents trying to stay on said platforms to avoid projectiles, and opponents out to jump over said projectiles or onto said platforms. This is especially true given her Neutral Aerial's hitbox has a natural downward slant intended primarily for shorthop play, although Up Aerial can still mix with Forward Aerial (and to a degree Back Aerial) when it comes to platform strikes. KOS-MOS' potential recovery versatility also means this move could be used to cover the ledge and then recover with Up Special or Down Aerial as long as she has at least 1 AP, along with some potential sharking on the ocassional stage. Finally, KOS-MOS should keep this move in mind for any combos that get opponents upwards, Forward Aerial has that potential for example, or Up Tilt at low percents (with mid+ percents becoming a meaty 50/50). KOS-MOS' Up Throw is tailor-made for forcing tough landing situations and so synergizes excellently with this move as well, not to mention the fact it can call out air dodges so strongly ties into her projectile play. An R-SCYTHE flying around can make dodging this move seriously difficult! The lag, lack of good landing options with it and the fact it isn't too useful with her AP cancels means it is a more specific tool, but it is quite good within that role.


GRAB-GAME

GRAB-PUMMEL: KILLING-PROTOCOL

With a jerky and robotic motion, KOS-MOS reaches her hand out to grab the opponent. While a rather slow grab, the range is solid, and it is worth noting that KOS-MOS' strong projectile game encourages enemy shielding and can lead to easier free grabs than a lot of slow grabbers. KOS-MOS lifts the opponent up by one hand once they are in her grip, a completely blank expression on her face as the opponent writhes in her grip.

For her pummel, KOS-MOS simply tightens her fingers around the enemy's neck (or enemy in general), a high damage 3% pummel with a slow speed. KOS-MOS steely gaze doesn't shift at all while choking the opponent out despite their attempts to escape, showing off her nature as a killing machine.


BACK-THROW: CROSSFIRE-HURRICANE


Lifting the opponent upwards with a mechanical sound, KOS-MOS begins to turn around while taking her palm and slamming it against the opponent's midsection, which sends the foe flying behind her. This display of raw strength serves as her KO Throw, dealing 11% damage and sending opponents to their death at 175%. This isn't super powerful for a KO throw, but given KOS-MOS looks like she's swatting away an unwanted insect and the ways that she can pin down the foe for a grab means that having a solid KO Throw is pretty good to begin with. The opponent is a projectile as they fly away (not unlike moves such as Mario's Back Throw), dealing 8% damage and knockback that KOs at 250% to any unfortunate foes in their way. Utilizing a lock-on from Neutral Special means KOS-MOS will alter her throw trajectory to slap the thrown opponent at the locked on opponent, which can situationally allow KOS-MOS to kill sooner or later depending on the position of the foe that's been locked onto. If said enemy is below KOS-MOS, this can potentially lead to slapping someone into the ground and resulting in a ground bounce, which can begin a combo at low to mid percents.

Acquiring new technique: As the foe's parameters qualify them as a "projectile", KOS-MOS is able to utilize Action Points to boost this move's power. Note that as a throw, it is impossible to melee cancel into it for obvious reasons. Hold the control stick back to utilize them, which will cause KOS-MOS to transition from a slap into a firm grip on the opponent, spinning them around herself before releasing once the control stick is let go of (or all available Action Points are used up). This is actually similar to an attack T-elos uses on KOS-MOS in Xenosaga III, but KOS-MOS' movements are stiff compared to T-elos' almost wrestler-like movements, and KOS-MOS' expression fails to change at all during the attack. Utilizing Action Points adds 2% damage per Action Point used as KOS-MOS spins the foe around (maxing out at 21% with the base 11%), and at all 5 Action Points used causes it to kill as early as Ness' Back Throw, which is an incredibly potent tool in KOS-MOS' expansive arsenal.

The opponent's nature as a projectile also becomes more powerful with every Action Point spent. 3% damage is added to the damage they deal as they fly for every Action Point spent, meaning at maximum they deal 23% and will KO anyone they hit while flying at 80% as well! This turns the opponent into a potent killing projectile, which certainly adds value to locking on to someone and then tossing a third party at them: Foes in free-for-alls or 2v2s, for example, need to watch out for KOS-MOS analyzing them for weaknesses. This also is effective against constructs or minions, activating stage hazards...and of course is largely an additional benefit to making the throw very, very powerful in the first place. Comprehensive knowledge of the total armaments possessed will aid greatly in obliterating enemies in unexpected situations!


UP-THROW: U-SHOT


KOS-MOS materializes her gatling gun in one hand as the other continues restraining the foe, before slamming it into the foe's midsection and letting loose a barrage of gatling gun fire. This many-multihit move (think Mewtwo Forward Throw) sends enemies hurtling increasingly high into the air and is her highest damage throw, with the initial slam dealing 5% followed by six shots of 2% each for a total of a pretty massive 17%. The multiple shots send opponents high into the sky as a move that will force landing situations for the enemy, but lacks any strong finishing shot and so has non-existant killing power. Lock-On doesn't particularly benefit this move directly, it isn't something you can really DI out of to begin with, but it DOES allow KOS-MOS to angle many of her attacks that would otherwise miss skywards and threaten opponents, enhancing her anti-landing game. A flying R-Scythe can potentially be useful as well and Up Smash makes a sweet option in these scenarios regardless. Enemies outside of KOS-MOS can naturally be caught in the crossfire, sending them rising into the sky the same as the other target.

This move's AP usage doesn't scale and is a single-time use of 2 AP, performed the same way as Back Throw. This has KOS-MOS fire off a special round at the opponent, bullet-like with a red tip that flies up 1.5 Ganondorfs above the opponent. It only becomes "active" when it reaches that point and begins falling back down as a 5% damage hitbox that spikes. This is signified by the red-tip starting to flash. The primary purpose of this is pressure: It cannot combo out of the base Up Throw, but it WILL set up a combo if an enemy is struck by it and KOS-MOS is prepared. If the opponent then takes appropriate defensive measures, KOS-MOS will instead seek to trap them, such as with a Forward Aerial or Up Aerial against air dodges. Long-lasting projectiles with the foe locked on allow alternative possiblities to trap opponents in precarious peril and are an effective way to exterminate people. The downside is largely in the rather large cost for a non-assured reward compared to some other ways to use it, but being off a grab and having multiple ways to utilize it means it is worth the cost when it does work.


DOWN-THROW: TRACKING-NODE

KOS-MOS sweeps the foe’s feet out from under them for 4% damage, then delivers a high impact kick to the foe for 4.5%, overall dealing a decent 8.5%, though only KOing from a horizontal angle at very high percents. The throw launches foes at almost a semi spike straight angle, particularly good for some light spacing and to make room. It is good too, as KOS-MOS releases a small node as she kicks the foe, a diamond-shaped mechanical device that is around the size of a Pikmin. The node will follow the foe around the stage at Fox’s dash speed, but stops short of hitting them, lasting for 5 seconds before it explodes in place in a Bob-Omb sized explosion for 9% damage. This explosion will occur of the foe touches the node as well during this period. As it explodes, the node will glow red for a second first, giving an obvious indication to foes to get away and making it easy to ditch the node if the foe has any idea how it works. The explosion will KO from 195% at a radial angle, although considering how it can track the foe anywhere, can nonetheless be effective.

The node has several effects that give KOS-MOS huge advantages as long as it’s around, making it an evergreen option for a throw. The node will continuously scan the foe if they do not constantly dash away from it, and stay within a fairly close range. The node will start to build up information and glitter in place the more it is able to scan the foe, before finishing its scan after 4 seconds of consistently scanning the foe. At this point, the node will stop scanning and stand in place for another 5 seconds before exploding as usual, becoming dormant. KOS-MOS at any time may use her D.S.S.S. Analysis to scan both the foe and any nodes on the stage simultaneously. A node will instantly transmit all the information from its data banks to KOS-MOS. The node will charge her D.S.S.S. Analysis at 0.4-1.4x the speed of an opponent, the more scanning the node did, the faster it charges KOS-MOS’s own analysis. It will stack with any opponents in range, for a potential 2.4x faster D.S.S.S. Analysis.

Normally the node cannot be attacked by foes at it lingers in the background of the fight away from harm, but there are a few ways besides running away the foe can attack the node. The node will stop scanning and enter its exploding state if the foe dodges or rolls after the initial 3 seconds of it being summoned – maybe assuming the foe has left the stage, or trying to attack them on its own. The node will not merely stop in place, however, but will maintain any previous momentum. It means that a foe that was dashing away will cause the node to careen forward at its top speed, greatly reducing the option of rolling back or dodging in place. A foe can nevertheless try to quickly dodge or roll and not do it in a way that gets them punished but this can be particularly difficult as KOS-MOS will be looking for ways to punish a foe at the same time.

As a bonus benefit of the node, when it successfully explodes on the foe, it will create a little field of static that also gives the foe a makeshift lock-on effect for 3 seconds. It can be very helpful to go on the offensive without having to fully commit to D.S.S.S. Analysis. It’s another reason why the foe will not want to be hit by the node, but also means that KOS-MOS’s own punishment options out of down throw gain a good bit more depth. Will the foe be just out of range of some projectiles? No matter, the down throw node might hit them first and guarantee they will not miss. It is on top of KOS-MOS’s ability to attack the foe as she reads their reaction to the node. The best option for the foe may be to ignore the node, as while it does give considerable buffs to the D.S.S.S. Analysis, if she cannot use it, it does nothing. It will help KOS-MOS much of the time so long as she does not fall into disadvantage… but forcing the foe to approach and go aggressive is her game plan, so is an optimal strategy.


FORWARD-THROW: S-SLASH

KOS-MOS transforms her hand into a sword as she lifts the opponent up with her other hand, skewering them in the abdomen and proceeding to use it to lift then up slightly and slam them into the ground. This sends enemies bouncing off the ground at a low angle in front of KOS-MOS with good frame advantage: Sephiroth, Ridley, Rosalina and Samus' Down Throws are all examples of this throw archetype you could point too, with it being most similar to Sephiroth and Samus' (Sephiroth's having a more forward slant). The skewering deals 6% damage to the foe while the actual slam only does 2%, but 8% is still quite a lot for what is KOS-MOS' primary follow-up throw! She can get a lot of moves off of this at low percent, with Neutral Aerial and Forward Aerial being two of the most common for the air and Up Tilt/Forward Tilt on the ground. But she can also get off a reverse-aerial-rush Back Aerial (this is obviously too early to kill, but if you got a grab with the foe facing the ledge could put them in a very bad position!), low-charge Neutral Special and Side Special (high charge Side Special requires a read), and if she really wanted too for some reason Jab.

Riskier options usually mean either going for an air dodge read to land an Forward Smash, Up Smash or Dash Attack, or thinking the foe will try to jump out of it and hitting either an Up Special or Up Aerial. Forward Smash is the most rewarding air dodge read option, but Up Smash is easier to land (much more viable if the foe DOESN'T air dodge) and the ability to throw the scythe afterwards offers KOS-MOS additional safety / advantage on a missed prediction in exchange for lesser rewards. This throw tends to fall off pretty hard later on because KOS-MOS lacks any kill confirms from it and combos become scarce. At mid percents, one of KOS-MOS' best tools is to go for a Forward Aerial which will either combo or be a 50/50 depending on % and fall speed, which is a great way to drag opponents where she wants or to begin offstage play. If she'd rather just get ready to do a little camping, she can drift back for the sweetspot to get some additional knockback! This is good if she wants to pivot, but it should be noted that if she strictly wants to space Down Throw and Up Throw are ideal for different situations, so you'll only be doing this if you want enemies in a specific spot (further than Down Throw but not straight up basically).


FINAL-SMASH: E.S. DINAH


KOS-MOS transforms her arm into a sword and swipes in a sweeping slash not unlike Sephiroth or Hero's final smashes, launching any foes she hits into a cinematic attack. KOS-MOS first makes a matter-of-fact statement, such as, "I will have to use heavier weaponry," then leaps into the air and leaps into the E. S. Dinah, a mech personally made for KOS-MOS to pilot! The impressively massive mech slashes at foes with its bright purple energy sword for three hits of 4% damage and launches them further and further away before they end up in space.


As a final attack, E. S. Dinah unleashes its X-CANNON attack, dealing a massive 45% to foes as they are launched away for massive knockback! The foes cannot withstand the incredible power of the mech, which packs enough firepower to fight toe-to-toe with supernatural aliens and other monsters even KOS-MOS finds to be a challenge. This hit will KO foes from near 0%, with KOS-MOS elegantly returning to the fight with a non-plussed blank expression.
 
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UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
306
One last masterpiece for the road!

Matryoshka Dolls


Introduction:

Better known as Russian Nesting Dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name matryoshka, literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of the Russian female first name "Matryona" (Матрёна) or "Matryosha".[2]

A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by wood turning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of any gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. The dolls often follow a theme; the themes may vary, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders. In the west, matryoshka dolls are often referred to as babushka dolls, babushka meaning "grandmother" or "old woman".

(Thanks, Wikipedia!)


Stats/Mechanic/Neutral Special:

Air Speed: Medium
Fall Speed: High
Jumps: Good
Run Speed: Medium
Traction: High
Weight: Middleweight~Featherweight*
Special: Nesting

Though significantly larger than most real world examples, these Dolls are still very much on the small side- sitting a head shorter and than Mario. That said, they prove significantly more durable than expected due to their special mechanic: Nesting.

Unless otherwise stated, pressing an input causes a smaller Doll to pop out of the outermost shell with a 'pop' accompanied by a shower of confetti and glitter. This Doll performs the attack, and is slightly smaller in each dimension than the larger shell. It weighs several points less than the Doll it came from, deals slightly less damage, and performs the attack a little faster. The 'Shed' Doll puts itself back together a few paces behind the new one, faithfully following it like Nana does Popo.

Naturally, when the player inputs another attack, yet another Doll pops out of the new one- smaller still than the one before it- which performs the attack. This repeats for up to five layers of Dolls, with the tiniest performing its own attacks and serving as a Purple Pikmin-sized target and the actual 'stock' of the set, with record-setting low weight.

These Dolls are all still in play, and will trail behind the current player-controlled Doll as best they can. When the player inputs an attack, all Dolls in play except for one spitting out a new Doll in the process will mimic the attack, albeit with their respective slower/stronger adjustments to the moves among any other effects of Nesting on the move. These shells have their weight significantly dropped themselves without the other Dolls inside of them, and take knockback using the current player-controlled Doll's damage. If unable to attack due to being mid-attack or in hitstun, they will not perform the input. They can use their movement options to recover and try to return to their place in the formation if launched, with the bigger Dolls following as best they can.

Neutral Special has the current Doll glow brightly and hover in place, causing all current 'Shed' Dolls to share the same glow and begin flying straight toward the player controlled Doll, restacking themselves. KOed Dolls are not revived, but existing ones can be saved this way. They move at Sonic's Run Speed and deal 10% damage on contract (scaled down to 6% for the second-to-smallest Doll) with modest (light) knockback in the direction they're traveling as they do, but an attack will cancel the effect on them and leave them stunned for a moment. The player-controlled Doll being hit in this state ends the effect and stuns all other Dolls as if shield broken.

Finally, pressing jump again in mid-air when you've already used your mid-air jump has the next smaller Doll jump free of the current Doll and become the player controlled Doll; the Dolls Up Special does not aid recovery, so as you get smacked around you'll inevitably have to start sacrificing layers to survive.

For the purposes of brevity, only the strongest version of each attack is listed; assume the next smaller Doll's attack shaves 1/6th the frames off of the start and end lag but treats the move as if staled by 2 more uses (to a max of a fully staled move) for general power.


Side Special:

Shaking in place, the Matryoshka Doll pops open with more force than usual, the sound of cannon fire lauching the doll the next size down out of it like a projectile. This Doll flies 4 + layers below the biggest it is Training Stage Units forward (with control stick allowing angling) at high speed as a projectile dealing 8% and moderate knockback on hit. This movement is Captain Falcon run speed fast, inflicts hefty shield stun, and is on the slow side to come out and end, but is safe if it hits! ...just terrible if it misses, though.

The trick here is that is desyncs the Dolls up nicely; the Doll acting as the impromptu cannon is left reeling for quite some time, like "Little Mac fully charged NSpec" time, leaving other Dolls free to act. Nifty! It's a fast approach option and emergency recovery tool in one, and can serve as some impressive coverage if abused; Shed Dolls will fire out a small sphere of energy that does 5% and flinching on contact, traveling at Incineroar's run speed a full 3 Units as a little bit of 'protection' that further desyncs the lot due to middling end lag and can be a potential late hit to set up the launched Doll's next attack.


Down Special:

Everybody loves Down Special counters, right? The Dolls all shake in place and flash, and any attack that hits them in this short period causes the Doll hit to pop open to reveal a cartoonish black bomb with a lit fuse. It detonates in a small AoE dealing 15% and moderate upward knockback, the Doll covered in soot and its painted eyes blinking for a moment before it shakes it off and it goes bounding back into the frey. Whiffing this is very punishable, but it can be a strong KO option especially if you read an attack right.


Up Special:

Everybody loves pockets, right? The Dolls' top halves shoot up into the air as a weak 3% disjointed hitbox, then falls back down hard enough to rock the Dolls body itself. It can catch- actually, no, I know what the people really want. Forget this, here's the REAL set!











Dodongo

Introduction:

An enemy from the Legend of Zelda series.


Stats:

Big slow four-legged heavyweight.


Neutral Special:

Bites forward, does 8% and eats items, KOs early.


Side Special:

Lowers head and runs forward, doing 12% and strong knockback. Super armor on head.


Down Special:

Raises sword to parry, will counter attacks like Marth.


Up Special:

Jumps into teh air really good, falls back down like King Dedede. Does 28% damage on way down and spikes or buries if in air or on ground.


Forward Smash:

Spits out fireball. Long range, explodes on hit for 19~27% damage and KO knockback.

Down Smash:

Spits out Boulder, Boulder can be hit like with King Dedede's weight to roll around and do damage and knockback equal to the attack that made it.

Up Smash:

Jumps into teh air really good, falls back down like King Dedede. Does 28% damage on way down and spikes or buries if in air or on ground.


Jab/Neutral Air:

Rolls forward, doing 8% and moderate knockback.

Forward Tilt/Aerial:

Bites twice, does 8% for each bite and moderate knokback, punishable on miss.


Down Tilt/Aerial:

Flips over and lands on the opponent to crush them, does 15% damage and breaks shields instantly. Dodongo will bounce around upside down until he flips over with another use for slower speed.


Back Aerial/Dash Attack:

Dodongo turns around and bites, while swinging its butt the other way. Does 11% damage and hits away from him.


Up Tilt/Aerial:

Flips over and lands on the opponent to crush them, does 15% damage and breaks shields instantly. Dodongo will bounce around upside down until he flips over with another use for slower speed.


Grab:

Bites foe, chews on them to pummel for 4% per hit. Has no throws, can move around instead with directional buttons. If foe hits 100%, it swallows and KOs them instantly.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Make Your Move 24's submission period is OVER! Now is time to get on that reading and editing and commenting, folks!


Exact time TBA due to some confusion, but know that it has STARTED at least, and how long it lasts will be announced very soon. Thanks for a robust Make Your Move, everyone!
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,258
Location
Australia
Hubert is a solid Froy set that fits comfortably between your quicker projects like Slaking and your more inspired masterpieces (as of writing this super late comment, most of your sets have been the latter!). Aside from getting our first Fire Emblem Froy set, which is surprising given FE is a Froy-ian series and the character your username is based on comes from that franchise, Hubert is immediately enjoyable for being a different take on what is essentially Robin: a slow tactician who compensates with ranged magical attacks. One of the main tactical aspects comes from his Neutral Special, a projectile he can set and then fire off with another use, dealing high hitstun to net him an actual combo if he’s in a good position to capitalise on it. As mentioned on Discord, Hubert felt primarily like a marriage between the old trap + status effect archetypes that you used to do in the MYM16 era, but with an obviously solid melee gameplay to play off it. I enjoy this set being conscious of balance, and giving Hubert a weaker weight, movement, recovery and sometimes damage output to compensate for the traps he can set and his status effects.

Believe it or not, I even enjoyed some of the more simple things Hubert did. I never mentioned this in my brief Discord “comment” to you, but U-tilt surprisingly stuck out to me despite being one of Hubert’s more simple moves: a quick coverage U-tilt that gets the job done as a neutral tool, but doesn’t net much of a reward on hit. FA’s Baobhan set channeled some of this too, and it was fascinating to me because it was a new way to approach melee beyond the established mindset of 50/50s and what not. I’m also perfectly good with more basic recoveries that don’t necessarily introduce new concepts to play off or have a ton of meat to them, especially if there’s a good justification to how it talks about their recovery game like with Hubert did. Kaiba did something similar, and so did Black Polnareff. The set has solid input sections all around, Aerials being marginally more memorable from what I remember.

Hubert is only held back from the top by his concepts not being fantastic compared to yours and other works, but his execution is very solid and all that would ask for with this type of character, as well as a good writing style and atmosphere to fit his character. It’s fun to get input sections like “Diabolical Aerials” and “Malicious Throws.”



I’m happy that this set takes Nasary’s place as the longest set in MYM inputs-wise, and equally fascinating that you remade a character all the way from MYM5 not too long after you posted that set in memeset hell.

The Stooges are immediately enjoyable for being a take on bad Smash characters, circumvented by there being 3 of them with constructs effectively being a “3-in-1” set for what that’s worth. Among the more interesting Specials are the trunk, and the Curly’s pipe Up Special as a customizable construct that would make Kupa proud (especially being able to carry your pipe set-up ont he trunk, which does remind me of Walter White ironically). U-Smash was especially fun in tandem with the pipes, and Dash Attack I enjoyed as a basic de-synching attack in context with the moveset. This set also does something I’ve wanted to see and implement in a set for a while: items in a tag-team set, specifically giving one character an item to effectively customize or influence the other character’s attack. It’s largely the quick pie item that can open up foes, as well as potentially the heavy bear trap, but it’s still fun to see. Also, I don’t think we’ve had a de-buff that forces the user to attack again immediately in Pop Goes the Weasel; actually made me think of Berserk Gorilla from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and would be pretty fun to implement on a berserker character.

You did think Stooges weren’t your best set, partly because they have an intentionally underwhelming melee game. While they are an incredibly long set, and sets that are 20k+ normally have high expectations/are expected to be frontrunners, most of the Stooges’ content does come from effectively being 3 sets in 1, rather than having a hugely compelling and complex base or two their attacks play off. Compared to the average one-man set, I’d say most of the Stooges’ attacks were solid-to-serviceable, whereas with yours or other shorter sets they have their bouts of very cool individual attacks. To be fair though, the Stooges are pretty realistic humans and don’t have access to crazy magic or what not.

The above is not meant to bash the Stooges, so much as explain why I don’t think they’re frontrunners in spite of their record-breaking length. On the contrary, I think the Stooges are a great set and they’re decently high-up for me right now. They’re an insanely ambitious set compared to the more simplistic oddball trio, The Science Team, both very respectable directions for making a multi-man set. The Stooges could have even acted as a solo unit, where their attack animations could have them get in each other’s way or play off each other for consistent slapstick comedy without needing to worry about complex tag-team mechanics, but hey, that’s an idea for another set if you ever get the slapstick comedy itch. But no matter how the Stooges go, their word count will definitely make them a memorable set. Great work here!

In what I hope is the beginning of multiple Daisies from you, LoL Daisy is an interesting heavyweight with some neat bases. I like Up Special for the potential protection and mobility it offers Daisy, and Neutral Special being a delayed time bomb works very well with Daisy being such combo fodder. I’d even say the damage and knockback reduction would make Daisy easier to combo at percents where combos would stop working, but then foes have the explosion and potentially minions to worry about. Side Special is a more basic attack, but it’s got room for development; throw the stone in the air to have it arc down on opponents as a projectile, taking a cue from MYM23 Daisy and Constance? Or you could go full nut and give it interactions with the Down Special monsters.

I do like the limitation of the Down Special monsters not really being able to move from their camp, and their presumed projectile-sponging works for Daisy’s heavyweight nature against more dedicated zoners. I assume you can only have one grove out at a time? It is rather interesting that you get the strongest minion first, but the sheer cooldown of a grove means you’re technically limited in count. And while the raptor camp can snowball hard, from my understanding you’d need to wait 15 seconds and not have any of your raptors die in that time. It would be fun if there was some kind of reward for having all those minions out, like the little raptors pecking one at a time to lock the foe in place relative to how many there are out, and maybe the crimson raptor finishes with a stronger attack? That would fit in with Daisy being a defender of the forest and having an incentive to protect the monsters.

If anything, some of the numbers and details are a tad confusing. From my understanding, it takes 3 seconds to spawn a new raptor and thereby 15 seconds for all of the raptors to spawn, though the raptor write-up later says a new raptor spawns every 5 seconds. I’m also curious whether you can create a new grove while you have an old one out - maybe be a bit more specific on how much more lag Daisy suffers if she tries to create a new grove before the 12 second cooldown ends. If a grove doesn’t disappear until all of the monsters are defeated, then that would mean waiting for a minimum of 15 seconds for the last raptor to spawn, or 10 seconds for the medium krug to appear. The way crests appear is a little odd flavour-wise, making it so Daisy benefits from opponents destroying her monsters earlier, but she can’t damage them herself and has to wait at least 10 seconds. I’m assuming that Daisy has to touch the crest to get the buff, and it stays around forever until she gets it or loses a stock? (only fair given she has to wait around for it, like up to 20-25 seconds and it’s possible someone might have lost a stock by then)

Outside of the Specials, some moves I liked were Jab’s shockwave potentially putting foes into the final stronger hit, and U-tilt being a unique “combo-starter” in spite of its high knockback. I would specify that U-tilt’s cancel doesn’t work if the move hits a shield, otherwise you’re getting a free grab or a good dose of shield damage. On a different note, D-Smash doesn’t seem to specify how long the bush stays out for? Or if there are limits on how many bushes you can have out? I don’t think the bush’s obscuring qualities add much to the monsters, not when the groves already limit their area and the monsters don’t explicitly have mix-ups between their attacks. Plus it would be fairly obvious by Daisy’s animation that she’s using F-Smash. With moves like burying D-tilt, D-throw, Down Special minions, Neutral Special explosion and Up Special for pulling enemies in, I think Daisy would really benefit from a typical slow, powerful Smash attack you’d expect a heavyweight golem like her to have, as nice as it is to use the Smashes for gimmicky attacks and constructs. Maybe use Neutral Special’s blast to cancel out of the Smash’s long end lag? On a lesser note, much as I like the MYM’y Smashes, their flavouring seems a little odd this time around, as I’d expect Daisy to make full use of her golem strength on these strongest of inputs.

LoL Daisy somewhat reminds me of your Daisy from last contest: good ideas, good set, but could be even better with some polish (which I’m sure you plan on, given you intend to add a gimmick to U-Smash). You could even go further with the minions, like crimson raptor fireball hard interactions, maybe a Smash that temporarily increases the range of the grove while you’re charging and using it? Maybe a way to bring the krug closer to you to more easily hit with its body slam? I wouldn’t say the minions played too huge a role in the set despite the sheer potential of the genre, mostly stage control and something for the foe to deal with so the minion numbers don’t snowball out of control. I’d be interested in seeing changes you were willing to make, between Constance and MYM24 set reading.

Claire is an interesting set right off the bat, taking a daring approach by giving her a supply of limited ammo. I’m perfectly good with “only usable X times per stock” moves like Banjo’s Wonder Wing, especially if handled well as the balance in having a limited attack is a great way to make attacks powerful in a fun way. The set pulls off limited ammo in a good way too; never making any of Claire’s attacks outright useless for losing it, not relying on it too much in the set, and options like the herbs, boards and explosives requiring Claire to be careful in how she uses them. This feels like a movesetting genre that would be fun to play around with more in the future, now that MYM is more accepting of limited moves, especially if it was done to extremes like having an insta-kill move. You also thought Claire was superfluous, probably referring to some of the items in her Down Special, but I don’t have much of a problem with superfluousness, especially if we get more references to objects from a character’s series.

This is the second MYM24 set to use a ladder after Walter White, a set I’m sure you’ll appreciate for that reason and much, much more. Claire uses the ladder differently from Walt and even Smash characters, in this case the interesting ladder drop that requires you to charge it to be a powerful off-stage kill. On a different note, between Claire’s slowness, limited ammo, ability to aim Neutral Special and Side Special and dislike for being too close to opponents, this set captures the Resident Evil experience extremely well. A new milestone for this franchise in MYM, as all the old, most successful RE sets were all for antagonists!

None of Claire’s limited options are truly absurd, but there are a few I’m a bit uncertain about. F-Smash seems a bit powerful as a fast, 10 grid projectile that KOs from around 95% (probably earlier off-stage) and can break shields in 2-3 hits. I think giving this move a sweetspot and sourspot would make it more fun; a longer-ranged sourspot that’s toned down but still effective. And maybe a relatively close-ranged sweetspot that’s (slightly?) more powerful than the current hitbox? I know Claire doesn’t like to fight at close-range, but it could be fun if the player has access to a strong option. Then again, the RE protagonists aren’t exactly physical powerhouses compared to the B.O.Ws and zombies they fight against, so I can respect the choice not to make Claire’s attacks kill too absurdly early. On a different note, I wonder if some board-exploiting attacks like F-tilt are a bit too potent when hitting the foe into the board only deals it 4%, and F-tilt does a decent chunk of damage? Maybe the board could take a certain percent of damage based on the attack used to knock the foe into it? Then again, this requires a limited resource and good positioning, so it’s balance is debatable and not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

After a contest of largely quick and fun experimental sets, it’s great to see a more ambitious set from you in a similar mold to Kira. This might even be your best set this contest! Right off the bat is an interesting take on a 2-man set, where the Soul form is tethered to the Forgotten’s invincible solid remains. It’s an interesting set-up where Forgotten has a proper melee game while Soul’s moves are more gimmicky/less conventional, reminding me a fair bit of Kurt Zisa if the Heartless was a 2-man set.

Do the Forgotten’s solid remains block projectiles? It’s not explicitly stated, but implied in the write-up. I’m not too sure about having an invincible wall the foe can only deal with by attacking Soul or pressuring it into changing back to Forgotten, it seems a bit oppressive and doesn’t give the foe much counterplay against dealing with the wall. I do appreciate the set talking about counterplay against Soul, that it can’t hide inside the remains, and the interesting design behind the set: Soul has a poor melee game, and there IS a risk to having foes too close to the remains as that makes it dangerous for Soul to switch back.

The free flight doesn’t feel cheap (kudos there), balanced by Soul having a slow air speed, and even if you were to float as high off the ground as possible you could only float as high as 4.8 grids off the ground (tether’s length is 1.5 platforms, 1 platform is 3.2 grids long, half of that is 1.6 grids so yeah) and most fighters should be able to manage that height. I could envision cases where the high-up Soul switches back to Forgotten to troll foes who intended to attack the Soul, leaving them up in the air for Forgotten to exploit, but I could also see cases where the foe anticipates this, goes for an empty full-hop and just falls back down to smack Forgotten during its Down Special lag. While not a necessary change, what if Down Special’s lag was slightly increased the farther away Soul was from Forgotten?

Short question: does the ludo constantly move like the Nikita or PK Thunder? That way you can’t gimp or block the ledge too easily with a stationary hitbox, even though you have the tick mechanic to prevent it from trapping foes too easily. The hitboxes that can stay out and be affected by Forgotten’s other forms make nice use of his 2-in-1 trait. The Up Special head functioning like Rool’s crown for Forgotten but a throwing item is also interesting. Maybe you could elaborate on the head’s properties as a throwing item (physics, whether it’s comparable to another Smash item, how much damage and knockback it deals and on what angle?), because that could open up some fun item combos with Soul for what it’s worth, given Soul’s attacks aren’t that great compared to Forgotten’s.

The set’s melee has its fair share of quirkiness. Surprising is the extreme frame 45 start-up of both Forgotten and Soul’s F-airs - I’m perfectly fine with this kind of record-breaking lag on an Aerial, feels like something you’d see in an FA set, I’m just not sure if it’s justified in this set for the attacks not being super rewarding to land. To be fair, you can auto-cancel on part of Forgotten’s start-up, and Soul does have its movement and wall. On a different note, U-air feels like it would be great for catching foes and converting into an upwards attack if you manage to land during the auto-cancel frames before they DI. Forgotten D-air is an interesting move for punishing foes who attack you from above carelessly, and I adore Soul’s D-air for making use of the otherwise aesthetic chain in a fascinating way. The end lag might be a bit crazy low, but the hitstun does stale, and Soul probably doesn’t have the best punishes, needing the foe close to its remains to quickly punish with Forgotten.

Forgotten U-Smash is certainly an oddball move, something I’d expect to be on Soul as it doesn’t produce a hitbox. The projectile-multiplying aspect reminds me a lot of Cookie Scouts, makes sense as you really liked that set. While this set has much more projectiles to make use of, I feel you could talk a lot more about the implications of multiplying various projectiles, even potential damage you can get if multiple projectiles hit the same foe. Having an U-Smash with no hitbox is ironic, because I think Forgotten would benefit from a great punish U-Smash to hit foes from a landing U-air or whom he manages to bait into attacking his overhead Soul, only to switch back into Forgotten while they’re still in the air. Also, Forgotten F-Smash being a multi-hit that all launch the foe away and D-Smash being a trap further remind me of Kurt Zisa.

Soul’s grab continues the oddity with unexpected mind control! It’s fine here, just not sure how justified having mind control is when Forgotten doesn’t seem to have the tools to really play off exploiting a mind controlled foe. There’s the Dead Hand reference, lol, with a fun visual. I don’t actually mind the D-throw being totally RNG, but it could be fun if you had better control over gaining access to some of these effects, maybe even talking about how they play off Forgotten’s gameplan? If you really wanted to, you could split the status effects between Soul’s various throws, maybe make it you get one of two effects for each throw. That aside, the throws and melee in general are serviceable, but I do think there’s room to make them more compelling. For instance, Forgotten’s D-throw buries opponents, something you could use to exploit knockback storage on weaker attacks as Forgotten is meant to have a good close-ranged game. Maybe even talk about different combos and follow-ups from the basic attacks.

On a different note, this set has really awesome Final Smashes, especially the secret one.

This set is fun and a better experience to read right after Forgotten, capitalizing off its flavour and mechanics. I also like how with all of your sets this contest you’ve established Hololive/VTubers and The Binding of Issac as arguably your two main franchises (no arguing you’re the franchise master of both, we just need another VTuber set to make it a franchise and I’m sure you’ll deliver if nobody else does).

This set has a particularly strong base among your sets: the skeleton doing most of the moves, but getting to throw it as a powerful projectile or to separate it from Soul, and making use of Pyra’s potent Side Special where she can’t attack while her sword is out (except for using items). Tainted also has a unique take on boomerang attacks, where its boomerang returns to the skeleton rather than the Soul so you can throw around the skeleton to mess around with the boomerang’s trajectory.

Up Special is fine as a recovery, and I like the boomerang working in with potentially knocking foes into the super powerful bomb Down Special, another move that adds to the “powerful, but leaves you defenseless” nature of the set. And this is a small thing, but I appreciate you bringing up momentum-cancelling in the Up Special and even Neutral Special for ease of aiming the latter projectile. Your concise writing style works in your favour in that area. The skeleton’s attacks work in an interesting way, because while you can’t attack during them you can still move, and having different ways to perform one attack means you aren’t necessarily locked into movement if you try to use the forward attack. It’s a neat, loose control scheme that could be fun to emulate for stance-change moves.

While others might prefer Calliope, Tainted Forgotten is actually my favourite set of yours so far, and feels like a better representation of your set style (and tastes, if more Binding of Issac sets indicate anything) than Cychlom. Beyond the neat mechanic, there’s some interesting melee between the skeleton moves, F-tilt, Dash Attack, D-Smash, F-air, especially moves that make use of the skeleton or detach it from you as a “downside”. There’s also a lot of Kirby energy in this set, between mentioning Kirby’s D-air spike, D-throw and the similar N-air to Kirby’s, which makes sense as you are the Kirby guy in modern MYM.

You’ve had a fantastic contest Slavic, especially with finishing all your 3 big sets. Kaiba might even be my favourite set of yours, actually. I’m a big fan of Down Special, requiring Kaiba to have a specific monster out to get access to a certain card rather than being able to select them all like Monado Arts, needing to bide his time when he has the right Neutral Special monster if necessary. And the cooldown to help balance them. I especially like Shadow Spell, which can pull enemies towards the location you set the trap to either space or get a combo, and the set does a great job of justifying the difficulty in setting up Shadow Spell offstage to pull opponents further into the blast zone. Smashes especially have Pegasus inspiration, between setting up another move during your end lag and the Blue-Eyes F-Smash also being a beam that travels 6 grids.

Jab is worth mentioning as a distinctive move for its dramatic description, and F-tilt is kind of fun with its various hitboxes. N-air I’m not fully certain of: having a counter in your set is good, it works well off the incentive to destroy Kaiba’s monsters and can play off Shrink and Crush Card Virus to weaken the knockback dealt to Kaiba so he can capitalise on the foe’s stun earlier. Kaiba also has a duration and landing lag to contend with if the foe doesn’t attack to even it out, on top of taking extra damage when the germs are destroyed. If anything, it’s not bad at all and I’d probably say the move should be weak against shields if it works well against attacks, that would make me fine with the move. It would work well with Shadow Spell being a command grab, as well as Kaiba’s D-air being monstrous against shields as something of a hard read he could perform if the foe gets defensive.

Kaiba’s command aerial is an intriguing move, largely a big meaty Aerial, with fun stuff like shaving off frames if you use it after a directional Aerial and using Transporter to delay its hitbox so having Blue-Eyes out is more relevant. I like moves with unique control schemes, especially having different ways to pull off the same input for different effects in an intuitive manner. I especially like Kaiba’s grab game: F-throw is nice, can punish opponents who escape it, and using Transporter on Roland is funny and actually quite cool for getting access to the grab release and a delayed F-throw for added pressure and scaring foes out of defense. U-throw plays off Defense Position monsters well to get a potentially early kill or good combo. B-throw could be considered “redundant” when D-throw can potentially knock the foe into prone, but I’m actually fine with both being capable of it; B-throw does rack up points for tributes, and gives Kaiba variety as he won’t always have the monster positioning available to knock the foe into prone via D-throw.

While Madoka and Claire were very good sets, Kaiba is just great. It’s commendable you went this far, but then you kind of had to with Kaiba as anything less would have felt unsatisfying (and I don’t think Kaiba would have been happy at you with that). Mami showed what you can really do, but with the likes of Claire, Madoka and now Kaiba you’ve certainly shown you can do it consistently. It’s certainly something to be proud of, especially when this set shares a competition with Pegasus and Tristan Taylor. With all the talk about summons this contest, who knows what duelist sets MYM25 will bring?
 
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Kholdstare

Nightmare Weaver
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,440
Thanks for reading and commenting Kat! You've been amazing at this, really glad to have MYMers like you.

Do the Forgotten’s solid remains block projectiles? Yep, it blocks projectiles except for the Soul's, which pass through it.
I’m not too sure about having an invincible wall the foe can only deal with by attacking Soul or pressuring it into changing back to Forgotten, it seems a bit oppressive and doesn’t give the foe much counterplay against dealing with the wall. This is a fair point. I tried to balance it to where it is very risky to be up close as the Soul and I felt like having a small wall just the size of a character wouldn't be too bad. If it turns out to be oppressive, I can limit the transformation time or make the skeleton more vulnerable when inactive. Good call.

The free flight doesn’t feel cheap (kudos there), balanced by Soul having a slow air speed, and even if you were to float as high off the ground as possible you could only float as high as 4.8 grids off the ground and most fighters should be able to manage that height. Thanks, I tried to strike a good balance where the Soul would be mostly free but be limited at the same time, and never be out of reach of the foe. If I need to, I can always shorten the chain, so it's a good way to balance it.

I could envision cases where the high-up Soul switches back to Forgotten to troll foes who intended to attack the Soul, leaving them up in the air for Forgotten to exploit, but I could also see cases where the foe anticipates this, goes for an empty full-hop and just falls back down to smack Forgotten during its Down Special lag. While not a necessary change, what if Down Special’s lag was slightly increased the farther away Soul was from Forgotten? That does sound funny and is a great example of the interactive dynamics I was talking about in the set. Increasing lag the further the Soul away is is an interesting idea, I could definitely try that out. Even if it's by a few frames, the feel of it would convey it. Great suggestion.

Short question: does the ludo constantly move like the Nikita or PK Thunder? That way you can’t gimp or block the ledge too easily with a stationary hitbox, even though you have the tick mechanic to prevent it from trapping foes too easily. Not while as the Soul, but it does move towards the Forgotten when playing as the skeleton. Ledge guarding with it is a definite possibility I hadn't considered the strength of, so I'll need to look into this.

The hitboxes that can stay out and be affected by Forgotten’s other forms make nice use of his 2-in-1 trait. The Up Special head functioning like Rool’s crown for Forgotten but a throwing item is also interesting. Maybe you could elaborate on the head’s properties as a throwing item (physics, whether it’s comparable to another Smash item, how much damage and knockback it deals and on what angle?), because that could open up some fun item combos with Soul for what it’s worth, given Soul’s attacks aren’t that great compared to Forgotten’s. Thanks, glad you liked it! The Rocket Grunt-style lingering attacks when switching was a big motivation for the playstyle, so I wanted to include them when possible. As for the skull, it is quite underdeveloped, so I could definitely do that.

The set’s melee has its fair share of quirkiness. Surprising is the extreme frame 45 start-up of both Forgotten and Soul’s F-airs - I’m perfectly fine with this kind of record-breaking lag on an Aerial, feels like something you’d see in an FA set, I’m just not sure if it’s justified in this set for the attacks not being super rewarding to land. To be fair, you can auto-cancel on part of Forgotten’s start-up, and Soul does have its movement and wall. The moves came after the inspiration and reference for them, so I wanted to have the aerial have a huge weakness at the start. I did compare it to other moves' frame data and figured that they weren't unplayable, but yeah you don't want that kind of lag on an aerial. Maybe I could shorten them and give them drawbacks in other ways, especially on the Forgotten who has generally great frame data outside of this move.

On a different note, U-air feels like it would be great for catching foes and converting into an upwards attack if you manage to land during the auto-cancel frames before they DI. Exactly, nice catch!

Forgotten D-air is an interesting move for punishing foes who attack you from above carelessly, and I adore Soul’s D-air for making use of the otherwise aesthetic chain in a fascinating way. The end lag might be a bit crazy low, but the hitstun does stale, and Soul probably doesn’t have the best punishes, needing the foe close to its remains to quickly punish with Forgotten. Glad you like those, they were really fun to concept as well. Part of the fun with this set was bringing Isaac effects to Smash. Down Air for Soul was intended to be a way to break open the foe's defenses while also having tension the entire time you're fighting them, but I wanted to be very careful not to make it where it can infinite and whatnot, as spamming it takes away the tension.

Forgotten U-Smash is certainly an oddball move, something I’d expect to be on Soul as it doesn’t produce a hitbox. The projectile-multiplying aspect reminds me a lot of Cookie Scouts, makes sense as you really liked that set. While this set has much more projectiles to make use of, I feel you could talk a lot more about the implications of multiplying various projectiles, even potential damage you can get if multiple projectiles hit the same foe. Thanks, and that's a good idea! I am definitely elaborating on it in edits then.

Having an U-Smash with no hitbox is ironic, because I think Forgotten would benefit from a great punish U-Smash to hit foes from a landing U-air or whom he manages to bait into attacking his overhead Soul, only to switch back into Forgotten while they’re still in the air. Also, Forgotten F-Smash being a multi-hit that all launch the foe away and D-Smash being a trap further remind me of Kurt Zisa. Very good points, and yeah, I do tend towards tropes that show up in a lot of my sets, hehe. Down Smash being a trap has been a concept I've loved ever since Brawl Snake.

Soul’s grab continues the oddity with unexpected mind control! It’s fine here, just not sure how justified having mind control is when Forgotten doesn’t seem to have the tools to really play off exploiting a mind controlled foe. There’s the Dead Hand reference, lol, with a fun visual. I don’t actually mind the D-throw being totally RNG, but it could be fun if you had better control over gaining access to some of these effects, maybe even talking about how they play off Forgotten’s gameplan? If you really wanted to, you could split the status effects between Soul’s various throws, maybe make it you get one of two effects for each throw. That aside, the throws and melee in general are serviceable, but I do think there’s room to make them more compelling. For instance, Forgotten’s D-throw buries opponents, something you could use to exploit knockback storage on weaker attacks as Forgotten is meant to have a good close-ranged game. Maybe even talk about different combos and follow-ups from the basic attacks. All very good commentary, right now the set is lacking for elaboration, I definitely need to do so especially for stuff like Bomb and Decap Attack, but this also. Blame my procrastination. I'll keep this all in mind, and I'm glad you enjoyed them and the set Kat, thanks again!
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
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Reading/Editing Period is scheduled to end January 9th, so get on it! Voting for January 23rd.

This contest's vote gurus will be myself and Katapultar, feel free to ask us if any questions come up! As usual, I will help out with reading lists for all of those who wish to vote.

In additional news, we have a change in Leadership! After a total of 19 MYMs and uncountable years, Smash Daddy will be leaving leadership to make way for Slavic. Smady's been a good friend to me for a long time, and a highly valued member of the community, and while he has no plans to leave MYM overall I shall still grant him good luck! Given this and last contest especially Slavic's foray into leadership is well earned, so let us give him a round of applause as he enters in a Totally Dead contest!
 

WeirdChillFever

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
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Somewhere Out There
In what I hope is the beginning of multiple Daisies from you,
I’m planning on making an Opening Day set for Daisy from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, yes. She was originally planned for this contest but I was more burned out on Fire Emblem after Constance than I anticipated.

LoL Daisy is an interesting heavyweight with some neat bases. I like Up Special for the potential protection and mobility it offers Daisy, and Neutral Special being a delayed time bomb works very well with Daisy being such combo fodder. I’d even say the damage and knockback reduction would make Daisy easier to combo at percents where combos would stop working, but then foes have the explosion and potentially minions to worry about.
Thank you! I tried to take into account balancing, but I looked at the state of heavyweights in Ultimate and decided that some power tools straight from LoL could very well work in Smash. Funnily enough, a lot of tanks in LoL have a set consisting of Shield/Projectile/Rush so I tried mimicking that with Daisy.

Side Special is a more basic attack, but it’s got room for development; throw the stone in the air to have it arc down on opponents as a projectile, taking a cue from MYM23 Daisy and Constance? Or you could go full nut and give it interactions with the Down Special monsters.
I might have an idea for a hard interaction with the grove. Thing is, Daisy can’t damage the forest friends so that locks out a lot of possible interactions that are native to the minion genre usually. Currently I’m thinking of changing the animation so that Daisy jumps and has super armor on it so that she can sorta dodge, and that monsters become more aware once a stone lands in their territory, expanding their grove for a bit. A gimmick that could work is that this awareness state of the monsters means that the next person throwing a projectile in or close to the grove gets targeted or that monsters act as a ”pack” if provoked, rather than each individual monster investigating and attacking the opponent. This gives Daisy an active counter-zoning tool outside of “having a big projectile” (and even the projectile sponging part of the Side Special could be shown more in the description)

I do like the limitation of the Down Special monsters not really being able to move from their camp, and their presumed projectile-sponging works for Daisy’s heavyweight nature against more dedicated zoners. I assume you can only have one grove out at a time?
Yes

It is rather interesting that you get the strongest minion first, but the sheer cooldown of a grove means you’re technically limited in count. And while the raptor camp can snowball hard, from my understanding you’d need to wait 15 seconds and not have any of your raptors die in that time.
Yes, and now that I think about it, I might even add a rule that killing the Crimson Raptor/Ancient Krug stops the spawning of subsequent minions. This poses Daisy as active patron of the forest.


It would be fun if there was some kind of reward for having all those minions out, like the little raptors pecking one at a time to lock the foe in place relative to how many there are out, and maybe the crimson raptor finishes with a stronger attack? That would fit in with Daisy being a defender of the forest and having an incentive to protect the monsters.
The amount of minions left will definitely tie into the Blue Sentinel and Red Brambleback once I figure out how they work without consuming too much League of Legends. Right now I’m thinking of decreasing the cooldown time of them.

If anything, some of the numbers and details are a tad confusing. From my understanding, it takes 3 seconds to spawn a new raptor and thereby 15 seconds for all of the raptors to spawn, though the raptor write-up later says a new raptor spawns every 5 seconds. I’m also curious whether you can create a new grove while you have an old one out - maybe be a bit more specific on how much more lag Daisy suffers if she tries to create a new grove before the 12 second cooldown ends. If a grove doesn’t disappear until all of the monsters are defeated, then that would mean waiting for a minimum of 15 seconds for the last raptor to spawn, or 10 seconds for the medium krug to appear. The way crests appear is a little odd flavour-wise, making it so Daisy benefits from opponents destroying her monsters earlier, but she can’t damage them herself and has to wait at least 10 seconds. I’m assuming that Daisy has to touch the crest to get the buff, and it stays around forever until she gets it or loses a stock? (only fair given she has to wait around for it, like up to 20-25 seconds and it’s possible someone might have lost a stock by then)
This very much the biggest dodongo-portion left of the set, so I understand if it sounds confusing. It is confusing, even to me. I’ll take your considerations into account when finishing that part of the set, so it‘s definitely understandable if things seem odd or have non-sensical numbers.

Outside of the Specials, some moves I liked were Jab’s shockwave potentially putting foes into the final stronger hit, and U-tilt being a unique “combo-starter” in spite of its high knockback. I would specify that U-tilt’s cancel doesn’t work if the move hits a shield, otherwise you’re getting a free grab or a good dose of shield damage. On a different note, D-Smash doesn’t seem to specify how long the bush stays out for? Or if there are limits on how many bushes you can have out? I don’t think the bush’s obscuring qualities add much to the monsters, not when the groves already limit their area and the monsters don’t explicitly have mix-ups between their attacks.
I specifically do remember stating that brush lasts for three seconds, and I should specify that using DSmash again results in the current brush disappearing. As for the monsters, the brush itself doesn’t do much, but the gimmick/addition that brush acts as grove should ensure it’s not useless. I might actually add a clause that monsters are drawn to brush and attack faster in it, so that the brush becomes a great location for ambushes (as it is in LoL) and a general monster management/direction tool.

With moves like burying D-tilt, D-throw, Down Special minions, Neutral Special explosion and Up Special for pulling enemies in, I think Daisy would really benefit from a typical slow, powerful Smash attack you’d expect a heavyweight golem like her to have, as nice as it is to use the Smashes for gimmicky attacks and constructs. Maybe use Neutral Special’s blast to cancel out of the Smash’s long end lag? On a lesser note, much as I like the MYM’y Smashes, their flavouring seems a little odd this time around, as I’d expect Daisy to make full use of her golem strength on these strongest of inputs.
The strength is definitely distributed oddly, but between the built-in body slam physicality of the Brushmaker and the Up Smash being like, Lucas Up Smash strong Daisy is not lacking either even if the rest of the Smashes are MYMy flavor-wise. I did very much think about changing the Swirlseed into a more traditional Smash, and I might still since it does sound like a perfect fit for Daisy‘s physicality.

Up Smash deserves a special mention for its purpose in LoL when it comes to groves, since there it is used by Ivern (Daisy’s parent champion) to claim a grove before its usual cooldown is over. This is why I chose Smite specifically, even if it might seem a bit too spell-y and doesn’t feel so fitting flavor-wise for a heavyweight golem.

LoL Daisy somewhat reminds me of your Daisy from last contest: good ideas, good set, but could be even better with some polish (which I’m sure you plan on, given you intend to add a gimmick to U-Smash). You could even go further with the minions, like crimson raptor fireball hard interactions, maybe a Smash that temporarily increases the range of the grove while you’re charging and using it? Maybe a way to bring the krug closer to you to more easily hit with its body slam? I wouldn’t say the minions played too huge a role in the set despite the sheer potential of the genre, mostly stage control and something for the foe to deal with so the minion numbers don’t snowball out of control. I’d be interested in seeing changes you were willing to make, between Constance and MYM24
True, monsters don’t play a huge role in the set yet, but that’s because its potential is so big that I needed more time to sort out how to import the jungling system of LoL to Smash and how Ivern’s/Daisy’s grove system deviates from it both in LoL and its subsequent implementation in Smash/MYM

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UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
306
Catarina Claes Katapultar Katapultar

Can't say I ever expected this character to have a set, but you handled it beautifully, utilizing Catarina's many admirers for attacks and making use of added lag if they're not already present/limited uses before disappearing to add some strategy to the mix- reminds me a bit of Khold's Kira set and how it used Killer Queen for certain attacks, but explored further.

The set utilizes Catarina’s accidental harem nicely, rewarding you for managing your summons and nor over-using them/mindlessly spamming. There’s significantly more options on the table if the corresponding character is in play, but the time to use them is thin if you just throw out an attack for the sake of summoning them, and you can get some mileage out of planning around foes expecting a follow-up from an already present summon only for you to use a different one.

The allies do more than just attack, too; Up Tilt for example makes use of Sophia to drag opponents and constructs around, and the ability to separate from her allows some potentially amazing plays- it kind of makes me think of Hugo, a style of set that’s come up in discussion again lately, and this feels like an excellent basis of how you might do one right. I was a bit concerned about balance in some places, for example Keith being very strong, but being tied to smashes/a predictable Down Aerial and the time limit to use him/limits on his attacks themselves balance it out nicely.

There’s lots of things in play here as the set wrings as much potential out of the subject as possible, including making her comically underwhelming Earth Bump a central piece of the playstyle. There’s a ton of interplay between all the various elements and summons that makes them all feel fitting rather than a reach. Adding to this, Catarina’s set has a decent bit of mechanical synergy just in the hitboxes themselves, Catarina and friends having many ways to bait and punish shields, play off of spacing, etc. Tricks like Up Aerial becoming a projectile if desynched that Catarina will act as the angle for is a fun trick.

The set if anything goes a little overkill on the interactions, such as getting a rock from an Up Smash pillar if you try to produce a pumpkin, but they’re not in any way obtrusive and in fact I’d call them charming as easter eggs/added small bonuses. Said rock was the only thing that felt a bit superfluous, and it’s technically an upgraded pumpkin so it can’t be said to have no use.

Tying it all together is sheer number of ways this set rewards the player for getting more and more of the summons out, culminating in Down Throw as the set’s final input as an almost certain kill confirm with the full group. This is an amazing effort for a 4 day set! I'd be very surprised if Bakarina doesn't end up my Jamcon nomination, and at least a Super Vote from me down the line.




Nihiloor @Rychu

Nihiloor starts off strong as a twist on the Rosaluma formula, needing to take matters into its own hand to replace its Intellect Devourers and in doing so both weakening the foe's shield and setting up a nasty catch-22 if they want to take out its beloved pet. The set has a decent few interesting ways to make use of the duo, like with Neutral Special pulling double duty as a Disable-like attack in addition to sending the Intellect Devourer after the foe, allowing for far better opportunities to attack the victim out of the stun, or Up Special being a long range teleport that acts as an easy, baked-in desync for when Neutral Special is better saved/on cooldown. Down Special being a more commital set-up move that leaves the player able to attack with the Intellect Devourer playing bodyguard next to Nihiloor might be my favorite trick here, on top of Down Special locking in the position of an extra hitbox to throw out later.

That said, the set doesn't have much meat past the specials. The melee is functional, but very simple; it's lacking in details on how different moves mesh together with each other, and while the animations have some nice variety that makes good use of the Illithid's magical prowess, there's nothing in concept here that's really 'wow'ing aside from one or two tricks like Dash Attack's use of the Shield spell to block one incoming attack Down Throw's status ailment, or Down Smash's effect on movement. Understandable given the time crunch of a typical Jamcon, but this feels like a set that would benefit from going back and filling in the inputs to create a deeper whole (especially on the throws, which are a bit threadbare aside from Down Throw's neat trick).

The Intellect Devourer does add some nice touches in how it can combo into different moves, but feels somewhat under-utilized besides, its own moves very one note. This is actually a plus in most regards, as it allows the player to have a simple set of attacks to go with Nihiloor's odder tricks that are often harder commitments, but focusing a bit more on how the Devourer can be used to fight at a distance and how its attacks mesh together would be a good idea.

There's some threads of what could be interesting focuses here that aren't fully utilized, but are touched upon at points. The Specials have a focus on weakening shields, and Neutral Aerial plays into that nicely with a multi-hit move specifically noted as doing good shield damage, so playing with how different moves can play into shields (or the opponent's need to conserve it, Down Aerial is an existing example of something that gets better the less opponents want to use their shield) would be a good skew.

Speaking of, there's a pattern in moves like Forward and Up Tilt and Forward Aerial where your Intellect Devourer can use its fast and feral attacks to combo into Nihiloor's spell; pairing its almost combo-centric lightweight style moves with Nihiloor's powerful arcane magic serving as combo enders would be a nice throughline, especially combined with the existing mention about your beloved pet being able to execute more attacks whenever its own attacks end faster than its master's. Combined with some tricks like having Nihiloor purposefully aim in relation to his beloved pet to defend it from attackers on a projectile attack or other gimmicks to make use of the desync, you could have some great fun with the Intellect Devourer's faster but weaker moves baiting shields that its master can batter harshly, and make for interesting advantage/disadvantage states relating to positioning and presence of your Luma-counterpart.

Building from there, I could see a few inputs where the Intellect Devourer's aggressive nature could be used as a downside initially (putting it in harm's way more than Luma itself) but an advantage later (as opponents KOing it will cause the one inside them to pull their chest burster at possibly the worst time, forcing them to engineer a scenario they can safely KO it and take the hit after). There's traces of that, too- on top of Down Special, Forward Smash notes that your pet can guard you against interrupts or a punishment on whiff, which is a neat concept. I liked how Down Smash can be used as a sort of equalizer to push the Intellect Devourer vs foe clashes in the former's favor a bit, and Up Smash having the ability to cut off mobility options is cool, which kind of made me wish there was a little more creative synergy in the set like this (even if not as extreme on the tilts/aerials, of course). Up Aerial mentions that differing fall speeds can desync pet from master, which feels like something that could've been better utilized, too.

Overall I feel like Nihiloor is a great concept with a lot of potential, but a lot of blanks left unfilled. I'd love to see you take another crack at it, whether via edits or a remake for next contest, but for now it's more potential than execution.



With all four sets not mine commented, I'd like to nominate Catarina Claes by Katapultar for the winner of the fourth Jamcon!
 
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Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
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Magnus by GolisoPower GolisoPower continues my trend of reading through old sets I have no reason to have not by now, though that puts me in a weird spot where I’ve read a few more recent sets of yours than Magnus thanks to the JamCons. Before getting into more details, I do want to say Magnus is definitely a cut above your sets from 23, at least in my book. Magnus draws a good line between ambitious and realizable, featuring a complex minion-summoning system with several context-sensitive triggers, as well as

I generally don’t read other comments until I’ve read a set, but I imagine people have brought up the balance in this set, particularly in terms of Magnus being pretty busted. In general, Magnus has a lot of very good tools on top of being a solid heavyweight, and while this could be out of balance I don’t think that would necessarily be broken. However, on top of all his other tools Magnus has access to a forced input move, something that MYM tends to be cautious about when they pop up. There’s some good attempts to balance this, such as keeping Magnus from simply leaving a foe helpless offstage or self-destructing Jigglypuff, but this is something I think the Creature from later in the contest did better. And yes, I split this comment and my reading with all the JamCon sets, don’t worry about it.

A move like Twisting Path makes more sense in a set like this where there’s a lot for the opponent to avoid onstage, whether it’s a firing range or destroying a minion to bring out a worse one, so having a laundry list of ‘you can’t cheese the opponent’ doesn’t completely neuter the move either. The standards for the set aren’t particularly orthodox, featuring a ton of disjoint, projectiles, and even a strong vacuum effect on USmash. This does give Magnus a good amount of character to his moves, but also continue to make him into a living steamroller as these are solid tools he has.

If there’s one overarching point I’d like to make after reading through Magnus it’s that less can be more. A lot of effort went into describing the army of minions Magnus has, and the effort is appreciated! However, it ultimately hurts the set, I think, as there’s essentially no limits to the kinds of setups Magnus can have. This might make for a fun set to play but is essentially impossible to describe because AI isn’t the most reliable way to lead into combos. Having a few more thoroughly described and interwoven minions would make for a better read and allow Magnus to talk more about playing off of them. This here is the main reason I’ve removed minions from several sets as I’ve been writing them as they don’t necessarily enhance just by being present. Magnus can definitely benefit off them, but the sheer variety of them makes working them into a written piece a nightmare.

Ultimately, Magnus ends up a set I think might be overbearing. He’s essentially the ultimate zoning heavyweight with an entire army of minions, a crumple on a throw, and even a mind control mechanic. While this may all be very fitting for Magnus, I think the set would benefit from some trimming, particularly in the number of minions, as Magnus could then focus more on specific interactions. Still, this is an impressive set and a huge step up from a lot of your previous entries!

And now, some JamCons!

Kureiji Ollie by bubbyboytoo bubbyboytoo is a brisk but fun start to some belated JamCon reading. Taking the zombie approach to the theme and continuing this contest’s VTuber boom, it’s interesting to see the prompt ‘brain’ and then get a hardcore rushdown character. The areas where this set puts the work in are good, and the extending arm mechanic is both simple enough to immediately understand and has good applications throughout the set. The startup multiplier is a bit high, balanced out by Ollie’s ability to lightly zombify her opponents, but the zombie effect might be a bit oppressive while Ollie is out of her arm stance, especially given her ability to sometimes combo back into the bite and refresh the timer. At the very least I would probably not allow her to refresh the timer and probably give a cooldown before she can apply the effect again.

I won’t ask terribly much of JamCon sets because, well, that kind of defeats the purpose, but there are two specific areas that I would enjoy seeing expanded on in Ollie’s kit. The first is her gravestone special, which IIRC is already her longest move in the set. It’s a very cool idea of a one-use teleport with a strong hitbox, and definitely has room to expand in Ollie’s set, The other is, well, the grab game. Not even the length necessarily, but Ollie’s other animations in the set are very overtop and well described and most of her throws are just… throws. Either way, this comment’s a bit on the short side but I enjoyed Ollie a good deal for the length and would basically just like to see it fleshed out more. Get it??
The Creature by GolisoPower GolisoPower is definitely a fitting choice for the ‘brain’ theme, and for a reason not even listed in the set: this is something of a galaxy brain concept! I’ve seen my fair share of ‘jumpless’ characters in my day (and even written one!) but the Creature I think handles the concept best of any that come to mind. Namely the Creature still gives heed to the importance of jumping in recovery and while I thought the mechanic sounded awkward in skimming the Discord I think it was pulled off cleanly. Since I can use this pun twice in one comment block, the Creature also feels very fleshed out consistently throughout the whole set. Not as much as a normal entry, of course, but very consistent for a JamCon set.

The moveset makes good use of the Creature’s bizarre, amorphous anatomy and his ability to eat to provide a solid collection of gory moves. This is a solid entry for a JamCon and does very experimental things without sacrificing any of the areas (even the aerials and grab game) for the sake of expanding another area or saving time. I’d like to see sets in the future have this realization and experimentation but expanded to even bigger ideas (though 11k is no slouch word-count wise).

In terms of general criticism, the no jumping aspect, even if handled here better than other sets I’ve seen or written, does still leave some points to be brought up. The Creature seems like it could be camped out a fair bit by more aerially inclined opponents, and it doesn’t have quite the same ground domination to compensate for it. There’s also some unclear language at one point, saying that the Creature has a maximum height of 2 grids with jump, but does that mean that 2 grids are added to its height or how high it can ever be? Either way, however, two grids is not much and would still cause the Creature to struggle a good deal, I feel, as neither are high numbers.

As for a small thing I actually really liked about this set (especially after having just read Magnus), the mind control parasitism is balanced really well I think. A short brief ability to control the foe isn’t nearly as devastating when it also forces the Creature to both approach and hit them with a move, refreshing their recovery and dissuading disastrous controls. The options are still there, of course, but they’re rarer and riskier for the Creature which I really like. All in all this was a set that turned out much more playable than I would have thought from hearsay and does some really cool stuff, just has a few viability concerns when it comes to no jumping.
Catarina Claes by Katapultar Katapultar was an unexpectedly strong set from a JamCon session. My advice to Kat in the past few sets would have culminated as ‘less is more’ but Catarina comes in to dissuade that! Catarina follows a trend of summon-sets in this contest, no complaint as I’m really digging the concept at the moment, but I think she pulls it off the best. There’s an excellent balance of gaining advantage from using Catarina’s suitors well without it becoming a complete steamroll, and there’s plenty of counterplay that this isn’t just an absurd advantage she gains. Her set has weaknesses from so many of her attacks being summons, but she can negate those and reap the benefits by playing well.

There’s definitely a clear effort to streamlining Catarina’s moveset when compared to previous Kat outings, even if she isn’t exactly smaller. The move’s that use her summons are scattered throughout, allowing for an organic flow in battle which also lends itself to basically generating combos for you! The way this set handles its mechanics is brilliant, and I really wish I could have read this set before making both Madoka and Kaiba as there are parts I would absolutely adopt. Perhaps in the future.

There’s usually some element of getting lost for me while reading a Kat set, filled as they are with a bevy of interactions spanning the entire moveset. For the most part that’s absent here, at least compared to historically, and is a moveset that sucked me in start to finish despite unfamiliarity with the source material. If I had to pick an area of this set that I think it overutilized it would be the ramp interactions. There’s a lot of them, and it starts to get cluttered with the number of moves that can play off it. The pillar from Side Special also has a lot of interactions baked into it, some of them a bit confusing such as turning it into a projectile through wind or dropping it off the edge of a ramp, especially considering it’s something of a situational move rather than an omni-present staple. These aren’t even bad concepts by any means, but are the primary areas I think the set could be smoothed out for a smoother read / clearer concept.

This comment is kind of ending abruptly but I want to get my thoughts out while they’re fresh. The individual moves are all great, and the set does such a good job at integrating them without going completely overboard or underutilizing it. A single item in a Kat set, too! If you count the rock and pumpkin as the same item, anyways. A lot of focus is given to the pumpkin, and unlike the ramp or pillar it’s all very straightforward as a means of manipulating a projectile, essentially, and makes for a great focal point for the set. Equally important is the Earth Bump, a very cool charge-and-store attack that becomes more technically useful than it does more powerful. All in all, an incredible showing and strong contender for MYM 24 in general.
KingMan.EXE by U UserShadow7989 makes me want to play a Battle Network game again, a series I’ve only played the second entry in but one that I really like the design of. KingMan.EXE has a fascinating base but I think ends up being hindered by the JamCon limit. KingMan.EXE is something of a natural evolution from Rosalina & Luma, having up to three puppets / minions instead one. There’s less direct control in KingMan.EXE, only really puppeting the pieces with tilts and a few other attacks affecting their behaviors, but in exchange they also have their own behaviors. One issue is that I think KingMan suffers from trying to work in the pieces sometimes, forcing him to sacrifice or at least alter his setup just to access his tilts, and the pieces all around seem a bit underpowered, particularly the Rook who feels like it would struggle to do its intended job well with how it phases out for entire seconds at a time.

The chess pieces are very simple, which admittedly makes sense for having a strict time limit for a multi-minion set, but between the AI and the straightforward puppeteering, KingMan.EXE ends up feeling a lot more simple than I think he promises to be. Expanding on the chess pieces AI or giving something extra as a benefit for good positioning (perhaps allowing KingMan to bounce foes between pieces / wall combo off Rook in order to stall the foe long enough for big attack to get off) would help drive home the big brain thinking intended behind KingMan.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the set, it’s just that a lot of the moves I wound up liking are ones not really related to the main core of the set. The Forward Smash, for instance, is one of my favorite parts of the set, rewarding the player with a risky charge with a reusable projectile. KingMan.EXE also has a good amount of personality for being a fairly generic chess king, and the set is definitely not a bad read. I also liked how the chess piece positioning around KingMan was reminiscent of the Battle Network battlefield, whether it was intentional or not.

This is a set I think has more potential than the JamCon allowed and one that US absolutely has the chops for. I would love to see KingMan.EXE revisited either through edits or in the future, there’s some cool ideas but it ultimately just feels… incomplete?
Finishing off the fourth round of JamCon sets is Nihiloor by Rychu Rychu , another set which I very much wish could be expanded beyond the scope and confines of a JamCon (four hour set is impressive no matter how it winds up realized for sure, though!). I actually started off rather sold on Nihiloor thanks to a very neat opening move. Brain-sucking is a given here but it ties in both so well with the set’s idea and provides a fascinating (and probably too strong) shieldless shield-break. The thematic idea of ‘mind breaking’ I actually really like but it also begs the question if Jigglypuff will instantly die from this move after long enough. Up Special as a means of desyncing from the Devourer is cool as hell as well, a direct but punishable way for Nihiloor to make full use of his potential.

Honestly, the biggest criticism I have for Nihiloor is that the gameplay descriptions could go way harder. The Intellect Devourer has Standards and Aerials that can all be used while Nihiloor is in endlag, and on top of that has an incredibly direct desync method. Despite that, there are hardly any combos that make use of this, probably the easiest place to expand and improve on this set. The potential for a massive brain set is here, I think it just got snubbed by time limit on the set.

Beyond that, Nihiloor is a fairly straightforward set and not in a bad way. There’s cool details that make Nihiloor feel both scary and clever between the aggressive shieldbreaks and the unorthodox Smashes, and having a dynamic, flexible puppet makes for an interesting setup regardless of the described depth. The Devourer is really the weak link in the set (and the truncated Grab Game but that’s hardly unusual in MYM, especially in faster sets). I do hope this gets some more polish moving forward or at least some of the mechanics get bastardized for other sets because there really are cool ideas in here.

Also I assume this wasn’t intended but Nihiloor’s formatting makes it look like he’s a protagonist in a John Green novel.

All said and done, I would be remiss not to nominate Catarina Claes for JamCon 4: Brain Edition!
 

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
With 3 votes for her to 1 vote for King Man.EXE, I can safely declare Catalina Claes as the winner of JamCon 4: Brain!

Thanks to everyone who participated, and I apologize for not getting out comments in time. I can safely tell you that my vote would've been for Catalina, so the result would not have changed. Katapultar will be in charge of the first JamCon of MYM25.
 

GolisoPower

Smash Master
Joined
Sep 17, 2017
Messages
4,338
お待たせしました!

It's been a while since my last non-JamCon Comment, but I wanna make a splendid announcement:

GOLISOPOWER'S COMMENT LIBRARY IS BACK IN DEVELOPMENT!

Newest Additions:
Surgery Complete! Looks Fine To Me, I'm Sure He'll Live! (Trafalgar D. Water Law)
I Am Number One! Fur Immer! (Hugo)
A Very (Holo)Lively Set (Calliope Mori)
Lucille, I'm Home! (Lucille Ernella)
Lazy, Yet Brilliant (Slaking)
ご馳走様でした (Asagao)
One Sick Drum Solo (Ritsu Tainaka)
A Very Merry Melody (Maximilian Pegasus)
Quite The Apt Name There. (W)
Katty's Delivery Service (Yin Manacuff)
Cheers Bro I'll Drink To That (Soda Popinski)
Hail To The Queen, Baby! (Morgan)
Finally...Buff Doggo Waifu (Fairy Knight Gawain a.k.a. Barghest)
The Best Exotic Witchverse Hotel (Waki Nagamori)
Speeding Through Like A Boss (Kactuar)
BREAKING NEWS: Local MYMer Slavic Loses Last Bit Of Hope They Didn't Know They Had (Tristan Taylor)
 
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UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
306
Yin Manacuff Katapultar Katapultar

Even disregarding the contribution to the witchverse, Yin is practically brimming with ideas and themes I enjoy as a set. One of my oldest personal favorite sets way back was Subaru by DarthMeanie in Make Your Move 6, a highly mobile character that used momentum and incredible speed as its core gimmick and theme. Obviously, time's aged a lot of older set like milk, but I still had a love for using movement itself in interesting ways.

Yin does that in spades; he possesses incredible burst movement through his mechanic and smaller more specific movement options in his other specials and attacks (from his Down Special being a delayed teleport to different moves having shoot back and forth or loop around) that he turns into a fascinating core by means of his Wind Compass Neutral Special, a projectile following his movement path on a delay (or his opponent's!) to add depth to those mobility tools beyond just rushing around and connecting to everything he does- the way it plays into his parcels being an excellent touch. The limits imposed by his mechanic and specific quirks to each input prevent his immense speed from making him into an obnoxious camper, especially with his options for ranged attacks being tied to conditions or the same resource as his mobility to really fight at long range with.

I mentioned in my Catarina Claes comment that her set was filled with a lot of small touches and that some might not have gotten a lot of limelight, mainly the rock chunk variant of her pumpkin shenanigans, but overall it felt like everything else had gotten the needed mileage to justify its presence and be interesting. Yin is even more densely packed than Catarina with nearly every input having something to consider, but gets more mileage out of everything than even Catarina did. It's almost to the point I'd be concerned about it being too much, but the smooth writing and simple explanations carries the set well and it'd be hard to say when something is too much without being able to see everything in action (and honestly half of MYM would be guilty of this more than likely, especially my own sets).

Speaking of consistent trends in quality, the characterization for Yin is pretty great, each input showing off his nervous disposition and forced courage. Despite my spotty schedule and a week full of too many distractions and too little sleep, Yin was a constant joy to read through in part thanks to the character himself.


Poison Witch Lucrezia GolisoPower GolisoPower

Sorry I'm so late to read and comment Lucrezia! Another fan addition to the witchverse is highly appreciated, and like Yin this set got me through a hectic few days.

I was a little concerned about the balance of the poisons at first, especially Amanita and Ivy, but as I read through the set and thought on it things seem pretty fair all-told. They only work on the opponent's next attack and require hitting with them first, possibly several times in the case of Ivy to get a big payoff. They create an interesting situation where the opponent will want to fire off a fast move to get rid of the effect, but need to be wary of Lucrezia exploiting that opening, and are put on the defensive as they wait for an opening or whiff. The way Lucrezia's set works, poisons and all, nails her character as devious and opportunistic.

The cooldown before she can re-use this and other poisons does help serve as a balancing tool, and I like the cooldown forcing her to switch up her options instead of reusing the same one repeatedly, a nice twist on the Monado formula- especially in combination with Down Special adding an extra layer of buffs and benefits from a given poison she can opt into, and her Sheik-like basis meaning kills take long enough for that to matter. The Manticore Poison letting her turn nearly any move into a powerhouse attack is especially notable, being a huge trade off she'll only get one chance to land (I almost think it's a little to hard to do, but it makes sense for it to be so limited between fluff and payoff), and allowing her an out from her lack of KO options.

The set is packed with different options and variations of moves even in the Specials, and takes the approach of ensuring that each poison has its uses by highlighting a few for each option rather than trying to give every move a direct benefit from every poison or buff; definitely the best approach, as trying to account for every buff/debuff combination possible would be a maddening effort that would clutter things more than help. The options are also all interesting in and of themselves, avoiding the usual pitfall that sets with mix and match buffs and weapon/element changes can fall into. Forward Smash for example giving you an extra bit of reward for charging past a certain threshold to make it more of a guessing game as to whether you'll go for it or release early on someone who tries to interrupt you, combos like Up Tilt to Neutral Aerial are noted, etc.

I'm not good enough with numbers to be of much use for advice with them, but it feels like Lucrezia's range might be a bit shorter than intended- 3.2 units is the width of a battlefield platform, Kirby's 1 unit wide (with most Swordies having a reach around that amount), and Belmonts' Forward Smash reaches 4 Units. As written, Lucrezia's Forward Aerial would have fairly low reach with it being 0.15 by 0.35 Units, for example. Generally I play vague with reach under 1 Unit since it's not the easiest to hammer out a good amount for, so this might be better than it sounds to me, but I figured noting those measurements would be handy just in case. Difference in definitions for measurements was the culprit here; it's actually fine.

The writing itself could use a once over for typos and hanging sentences, as there's a few points where my concentration was broken by a half-written sentence or one that had half of it written twice and I had to reread it a few times to understand what was meant- Dash Attack's description for the Butterfly poison effect, for example: "Butterfly's trail, for example, when the blade is formed, which takes form the moment you input the second hit, meaning it covers more ground than one might think." Despite that, I found Lucrezia a (mostly) smooth read that ended up difficult more for outside distractions than anything the fault of the set itself.

Overall, Lucrezia's a solid enough set that at most could use a few number/grammar tweaks, and maybe the currently empty playstyle section could cover some fun combinations of poison effects between Neutral Special and Down Special. Nice work!



Waki Nagamori by Katapultar Katapultar

I really love how the set plays with shielding and jumping, this odd tempo it sets with Waki effectively being in disadvantage at the start of the stock while giving her the tools to thrive under pressure is interesting. I worry it might be rough on Waki given the high investment cost of some of her moves, but she does have a decent number of tools that let her protect herself like Forward Tilt’s short-lived barrier and Down Smash’s pseudo-counter energy cube during charge to get her into the game despite her challenges.

Neutral special took me a moment to parse due to switching to talk about her roll attack; it might be best to toss in a quick sentence saying she can use her roll/roll attack out of NSpec right at the start of talking about the roll attack. I initially thought that the control scheme was a tad odd- given that holding the input returns her to charging her NSpec, I wondered why the B button wasn’t used to activate the attack rather than A, but then I realized that allows her to roll from the charge and immediately resume it without performing the roll attack.

That out of the way, I love a lot of the interplay going on between the mechanics and moves, Neutral Special playing into Up Smash, Neutral Special, and Up Special right off the bat being fun, while also having a mechanical purpose in baiting a shield so Waki’s Forward Smash can do its thing. Waki’s Side Special is both a highly desirable approach option for the otherwise slow and steady fighter, but the buff to whatever action she takes out of the dash and the option to forgo that ability to perform a delayed attack covering rolls behind her elevates it to something truly interesting.

I do have some balance concerns; Waki’s held jab 3 can do some obscene damage and Jab 1 comes out on frame 2, while also juicing up her shield AND having a mix-up alternative. I get the intention is that she doesn’t combo true out of Jab 2 with it, but I do feel a little less damage and shield health would make it less crazy. Down Throw is potentially insane for how debilitating it is with a low shield or deadly it is with a stronger shield, but given Waki has to really work for the latter and the speed of shield hp recovery, I’m not sure it’s too bad- mainly just feels a little too easy for Waki to get a full shield off of it.

One last nitpick I have: I noticed NAir notes that Waki can send out a homing laser if she hits with the initial chop, but it doesn’t specify how; I assume by pressing A again during the rest of the input?

I think ultimately I favor Yin between the two sets after some reflection, for how well everything ties into his core trick that’s just super fascinating , compared to Waki having more interesting fundamentals, a less crazy complex web of through-lines (though still plenty of interactions- Up Throw is fantastic), and a neat approach to changing some core bits of the smash engine in exchange for questionable (but hard to pin down specifically) balance. It’s an excellent set for how fast you made it!



Morshu Janx_uwu Janx_uwu

I have to say this is not a character I ever expected a series entry for, but you've certainly done him justice. Morshu is a noticeable step up from your previous set in terms of detail and off the wall ideas that come together to make a cohesive playstyle.

Up Special could probably cut the requirement of manually spinning the control stick, having Morshu speed up steadily as the button is held instead to spare peoples’ hands from the misery inflicted by the minigame mentioned. Hypothetical Morshu mains who would spend hours practicing with his central moves would thank you dearly. Funny enough, the main thing that grabbed my attention was the item grabbing aspect of the move- the idea of whirling a crate around as a deadly weapon is cool, as is the Up Special's use of momentum-based damage some items have, though I'd have it cap at a point lower than the rapid rotation makes it seem given how crazy early this can kill in corner cases in-smash like Zelda using her Phantom to shove Wario's Bike around.

There are a few writing issues I have to note, mainly in one specific input- Forward Aerial. I was a bit concerned that FAir would allow for infinite stalling by just holding the a button due to how it was written, and it was only when NAir mentioned using FAir ‘uncharged’ that I realized the walk length happened after releasing A and not while holding it. "Morshu will run forward for as long as the player holds the A button." for example could have 'holds' changed to 'held' and better convey that fact, but it would probably be best to mention outright something along the lines of "Forward Aerial has a special trick to it; holding the input can charge it, and Morshu will run forward on release!" The mention of the variation of the move where Morshu’s fall is not arrested fails to mention how it’s input, though it’s easy enough to guess that that’s the tapped (or uncharged) move. It might be worth clarifying this at the start of the move. Aside from that, the one move I worry about is rapid jab- it's meant to do 16 damage and not 25 (“16 stronger than” the normal jab), correct? That’s fine if so, albeit a hair strong.

Regarding the Down Tilt wall, 5 seconds is plenty of time to destroy it and opponents would be smart to do so instead of letting Morshu set up behind it, but I feel it’s fine that way with the low stamina. Something I'd recommend is to make hitting a fighter into the beanstalk damage it to prevent wall combos from being TOO painful to Morshu or his opponent- there’s a lot of silly stuff you can do in this vein, which is why a lot of rulesets avoid stages with walls. I notice there’s also a fun potential interaction between the mini-beanstalk and the lamp; since opponents need to jump up over it, they’re forced to deal with the effects of the lamp light proper, and the wall can add more height to the flames from setting fire to the oil; takes some work to set up, but rewards you with plenty of breathing room to set up off of that. Up tilt also works nice off of Down Tilt, as it’s a fast anti-air to catch short-hop approaches over it, possibly encouraging full hops over shorter jumps- which can then be punished with Up Special or Up Aerial.

The throws felt a little bland (mechanically, the fluff is perfection) but they're functional. One option for fun is to note that the long throw animations work nicely in tandem with your assorted tools, letting Morshu wait for his Spinner to get into position, bomb fuses to burn down, or a down tilt wall obstructing the desired throw’s knockback angle to despawn. One trick that doesn’t quite fit is a pair of fast out of grab options where the ideal DI for foes are mirrored, making them nastier if the opponent doesn’t read your choice correctly. This could be applied by letting Morshu adjust the knockback angle of one of his throws, possibly something like Up Throw being able to adjust its knockback horizontally at the cost of some elevation, so with poor DI the opponent has less time to react to something Morshu throws out under them or gives him even more time to set up something complex like setting oil aflame. I’m honestly not sure; I feel the throws could stand to have a little something to them, but they’re perfectly serviceable mechanically and a hoot in terms of animation as-is if adding on doesn’t feel right. Sometimes simple can be better.

Speaking of, NAir is just fine for what’s there, but if you wanted to spice it up a bit, you could make it do some radial knockback with the current strength; with Morshu’s assorted tools and traps, being able to hit a for into whatever you have laying around with the right positioning (or ability to exploit the foe expecting that to hit them with a different aerial in line with the options you recommended already in the move) would be a nice smaller touch that would add something interesting without over-complicating things.

This comment has come off as fairly negative, but despite the nitpicks and assorted suggestions, I legitimately no strings attached like Morshu. It's a very competent set that plays with a lot of interesting ideas while keeping to an intended playstyle, and makes me interested in Morshu as a character beyond the memes- though his source material provides little personality, the set doing more than the game he appeared in did.




Fairy Knight Gawain FrozenRoy FrozenRoy

As part of the Lostbelt 6 mini-movement we got unexpectedly, Gawain certainly starts the block off strong. The mechanic grabbed me right off of the bat; aside from being character appropriate, making a balanced snowballing mechanic is an interesting challenge and would make fights with her enjoyably swing-y without turning it into a game of who gets advantage first. Her mechanic's corresponding debuff also gets some work in, her inputs mentioning their varying weakness or strength against shields and giving her a way to reclaim her position as top dog if the opponent slips up.

Her Neutral and Side Special both play nicely into it, the former forcing foes into an impromptu cage match where they have to mix it up with her in melee where she has the advantage, and the latter both tilting the damage percents to her advantage AND giving her the ability to sample moves to cover weaknesses in her own moveset (which themselves get the benefit of her damage boosting mechanic and also utilize her large frame and weapon where appropriate- beating her opponents at their own game if she can snag key moves!).

While I do also like how Down and Up Special work (the former being one of my favorite move archetypes in being a potentially delayed hitbox, a MYM classic), and the Smashes each give off a sense of great strength, said Side Special is probably my favorite move in the set. Not for lack of anything in the rest of her set- each input has something interesting to it, Forward Tilt's extra hitbox following Gawain along as she rushes in sticking out in particular, but the small blurbs bringing up alternate inputs she could steal to either cover their holes or make them shine ever brighter tickled me somehow.

The secondary mechanics of Gawain setting up patches of fire all over to buff her own fire attacks (or the ones she steals from her opponent!) are a nice bonus that lets her milk a little more damage out of them, pushing to regain an advantage. It fits well, even if it feels a little 'set and forget' compared to her big core, which honestly is fine here? Gawain isn't dumb by any measure, but she seems the type to let her skill and strength do the talking over complex schemes, her hyper aggressive playstyle appreciates what it brings to the table, and her not having to futz around with building up the crazy construct chains other sets might makes sense both for the character and the set's design. I noticed a small trend cropping up in sets this contest where non-super central side mechanics appear in a few moves to add more bang for their buck without being intrusive, and it feels nicely handled where I've seen it. It's not nearly as prevalent as sets taking time out to mention 'except Little Mac' when noting a move doesn't properly gimp someone, though.

While I don't prefer her to Morgan (whose central mechanic grabs me a bit more and feels more deeply embedded in each input), Gawain is a very strong set all around, and will absolutely be getting a vote from me this contest. I only wish I had more to say about the set, or something to nitpick a little. It's a set outdone by some of its peers purely because the latter are THAT good rather than anything done wrong by the set itself, which is something I could say for quite a few good sets this contest.
 
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WeirdChillFever

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
6,496
Location
Somewhere Out There
Maybe I’m not done raging against the machine! (Syndrome by BKupa666 BKupa666 )
Great set, with a great command of Ultimate’s intricacies and a mind-teasing new idea for each move, though the set’s flow is more directed towards the Omni-Droids so some of the ideas in the set are aimed towards one centralizing part of the set which can lead to an overflow in moveset design. The Omni-Droid is definitely a centerpiece strong enough to bear the load of the intricacies in the rest of the set all being aimed to tweak its AI, change its behavior and what not so definitely props for that.
In the most delicious forms of irony, the set’s “main flaw” is the lack of more basic moves that conduit the set’s brain-teaser moves. Basically, if all moves are super, none really are if their roles are limited to accomplishing the new idea and the occasional Omni-Droid change. Making some moves weaker and more basic could make those moves another anchor to cling to other parts of the set and make the set less centralized towards the Omni-Droid and make Syndrome less dependent on it to make moves more than standalone ideas. Giving him a standard jab, Forward Tilt etc. could make the other ideas pop more by giving Syndrome tools to combo into or out of with the still-star-studded rest of his kit.

Generally, I do like that worlds-within-worlds approach, if you remember our conversation about Wolfgeist and its masterful flow, but the centralized approach of this set made it hard to really appreciate every single move as much as I should and as much as they are point-for-point one of the most creative I’ve seen them.

This also manifests itself in the almost universally-slow nature of the set, which, albeit understandably so due to the omni-presence of the aptly-named droid, does deprive the moveset of a the classic, easy way to connect moves by the means of combo starter/extender/finisher. (Although you still did make the set flow well thanks to each move being so clever)

That said, this set is a true mastercraft that highlights why you’re a champ at this so the “criticisms” are basically footnotes rather than something that truly brings the set down. The gripes were just easier to verbalize but it’s still a great set that has your mastercraft signature and definitely lives up to the hype.

You mean shillboards and con-mercials? (Morshu by Janx_uwu Janx_uwu )
I was pleasantly surprised by Morshu! It’s not often we get to read someone’s second set ever and if this is only your second I can see very high heights for you! To start off, the strong concepts present in the set are very creative and mechanically robust. The lamp oil as a multi-stage construct makes a lot of sense, the Spinner is the basis for a very strong set and I was absolutely blown away by the creativity of the Rope. Add little brain nuggets like the Down Tilt, Dash Attack and Forward Smash and the ideas in the set are honestly a recipe for a high-placing set.

Of course, there’s also room for improvement and some things that set the best setters apart from your set. While the concepts are great, they’re not utilized as much as you could. While the Spinner makes a semi-frequent return in the later parts of the set, the equally fun Rope and Lamp Oil barely escape their own input, and that while they can profit from tools to interact with them just as much as the Spinner do. These connections can give your set a lot of permutations and interactions and are the easiest way to make a set truly great, though Morshu as is is extremely clever and as a fan of the random Zelda character genre I’m more than impressed with your outing!

If I wanted to run a monkey hotel, I’d install a banana buffet (Dixie Kong by BKupa666 BKupa666 )
Dixie is definitely a labor of love and your part and a true blast to the past to my time in the Dixie Kong thread (with Birthnote’s art inspiring me directly to make my own) and it’s clear that you love the series even if it wasn’t your whole schtick and didn’t mention it in the introduction. It affects animations, characterization and move choice and it makes the set infinitely more fun to read, knowing that you did your absolute best to pack together the ultimate Dixie set. It actually reminded me of my own Daisy set last contest.

As a duo set, it’s all backed up wonderfully with a good grasp about what a second character en*tails*. Kiddy’s implementation is creative, not going for the full simian MYM flavor by making a full duo set, but still going the distance to respect the committment you made to the introduced second fighter and sticking with him all the way. Again, it all ties into the mechanical grasp on the concept of a duo fighter that you as long-time setter have demonstrated to have and I will definitely try to channel by re-reading this set if I ever attempt to write or edit a duo character of my own.

This clash in the set on the role of Kiddy, with on the one hand this being a Dixie set, but still introducing Kiddy as a secundant, does present some downsides. While Kiddy’s role in the set is always accounted for, with Kiddy having a full moveset on its own, the set doesn’t always embrace his presence by adding ways Dixie and Kiddy can work together outside of the hard interactions given by the specials or the re-mention of the delayed-Kiddy-principle. It makes the set read like it wanted to be a solo Dixie set, but had its room for mechanics taken up by the Kong’s babysitter job.

I sometimes had to remind myself that Kiddy was the set’s big draw, although it’s possibly a desire to see a true solo Dixie set on my part, or simply a by-product from the fact that you made deliberate choices to not let Dixie become a Dixie & Kiddy set, but this is a tightrope that, while mechanically and professionally executed well, sometimes fails to let its heart decide as compared to the obvious passion put into the Dixie parts of the set.

POP POP! (Bubble Witch Marin by U UserShadow7989 )
Bubble Witch Marin is an enjoyable, very classic MYM-set that has a traditional moveset flow. You’ve got the specials, out of which is one Main Special, then you’ve got Smashes that interact with said Specials and an array of melee moves, some of which interact with the Specials once again. Bubble Witch Marin is no different. The set takes the Lift Bubble and runs with it and with great result: Lift Bubble is a mechanic that rightly persists throughout the set and the melee and Smashes alike take it into account. The set never overestimates the potential of the Lift Bubble and instead mentions it wherever it can. Other pros include your clear writing style and the effort put in the characterization and animations.

As far as cons go, the set really hedges the bets on the Lift Bubble, which leaves behind the Neutral B Bubble mechanic and the Bubble Dress and both seem to imply a different type set; One positions Marin as a tricky but fragile playstyle while the other highlights Marin’s surprising defensive capabilities. Of course, these aren’t mutually exclusive and even in the set the defensive capabilities of the Lift Bubble are mentioned, but to put the set over the edge I would’ve liked some more cohesion between the specials. The Bubbles play an important role throughout the set and the Bubble Dress is mentioned here and there as well, so a link between these specials and the Lift Bubble would complete the set’s classic MYM harmony.

That’s….wazzup (Hubert by FrozenRoy FrozenRoy )
Hubert is definitely a good torch bearer to the all-star trapper set, creating fun intricacies with each trap to buff an otherwise slow Hubert. It’s written well and, importantly, the melee holds up as much more than “this is a move that doesn’t trap” which counts and makes the reading a lot more fun and the set a lot better. The characterization of Hubert is delightful: Noxious without going into cartoony villainy, retaining a sense of militaristic competence and savvy. The magic is described exactly as visceral as it should be and is backed up with a sense of both flair and duty to the nitty-gritty.

If I had to critique Hubert, I’d say that Hubert does put the “traditional” in “traditional trap set”. I could predict most of the effects of the traps themselves and the biggest moves outside of the traps are the Venoshockey FSmash and the staple trap buff throws, which are generally inoffensive. What was really exciting though was the Dark Spike, but it was understandably written in service of the rest of the traps rather than the core of a conditional combo character. Again, I liked Hubert and it shows your setmaking skills that you can so seemingly effortlessly put out a trap set with all of its jingle-jangles, but there’s not much to put it over the top for me, despite the fact there’s a good amount of punch in this set.

I fear a political career will shine a negative light on my drug dealing. (Walter White by BKupa666 BKupa666 )
Much like Junahu, I’ve never watched Breaking Bad or heard about it a whole lot other than the two memes that exist of it and the general plot. Now, that happens more often in MYM, but it‘s this set that it ties into it for me.
First off, the mechanics are really clever and well-executed and well-crafted and all that. Very high praise on that. The stale-move mechanic helps give the melee a certain chemistry. I’ve talked about Syndrome having the “Every move is super” syndrome where every move works towards its own purpose, rather than working together for combos, but the meth purity mechanic ensures a good balance of mechanical play throughout the set.
The money system, similarly is also neatly spread over the set. Every time I thought “Hey, where has X mechanic gone?”, the set delivered the next move on that mechanic making its wortwhile return. On the other hand, I’ve never felt like the money was overbearing, or you were squeezing every last drop out of an input by tying everything to everything. Simpler moves existed, tied into the set as either simply simpler moves, or slightly harmonized with the set due to the purity mechanic.

As much as the money aspect of the set and the purity aspect work mechanically They do feel very…elaborately designed to be as appealing to MYM as possible though. Stale-move mechanics and the general cost-reward analysis of the money system work really well together, but since I don’t know a lot about Breaking Bad, I don’t know how much of it was deliberately added to be Literally MYM, or how much the series dwells on impure meth or how much of it is because stale move is fun to play around in (or was, in the mythical Old MYM).

Where the flavor of the set does come to its rescue is the sandbox aspect of the set. Sandbox sets are very popular in MYM, and I’m certainly guility of that and will be in the future, but it certainly works for Walt, who waltzes through his kingpin business with a **** around and find out attitude. It works to justify the Literally MYM-iness of the set a whole lot, especially when some of the more aggrevating examples of that (Up B) is a callback to an apparently beloved and fan favorite episode.

That last aspect, where the mechanics and moves where in service of building a set for a kingpin that schemes his way through a hard business was the feeling that stayed with me, despite the connection between an impure product and stale move negation raising some eyebrows for me af first.
 
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Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,258
Location
Australia
Right off the bat, Morgan has an extremely unique “portal” move in her Side Special, which tags enemies and lets her hit them from anywhere with just about any move in her set! It really takes out the complexity of your typical portal-based moveset. I could see this being tonnes of fun to apply on a minion set, or even a melee-based character that lets them turn their melee attacks into ranged options (with the penalty of their limbs sticking out of the portal and being open to attack if they miss). But Morgan goes far with this concept, between her Smashes, teleport Dash Attack and more tame tilts that target the foe’s ground rather than them directly.

Then there’s the Down Special for your patented Noble Phantasm meter, with an exceptionally unique damage multiplier for hitting opponents from a distance, perfect from Morgan’s Side Special! Down Special is where Morgan really shows strong comparisons to Baobhan, but whereas the latter specialises in status effects Morgan compensates with sheer range. With my stupid misunderstanding of the mini-lances cleared out (I thought they flew towards the nearest opponent, but they only fly forwards), I am perfectly fine with that move’s balance, as even if Morgan sits them at the ledge she has to set them up first and in doing so giving away her intentions.

The Smashes were all fun in their own way. F-Smash was a bit unsure of for producing a delayed version of a pretty powerful attack, but the very idea of producing a delayed attack against nearby opponents if you don’t hit them or get hit is one worth exploring. D-Smash works well when it hits from afar, punishing opponents who move sideways in fear of Morgan’s other options, while U-Smash is a tall pillar that fuels the Down Special mechanic and punishes jumps and stillness when it targets an opponent, opposite to D-Smash.

Morgan has a rather fun Jab like Baobhan’s, a move you were fond of if memory recalls. F-tilt oddly brings Hol Horse to mind with a blindspot in the middle and the spacing emphasis, and Dash Attack is nice as a means of Morgan having a way to using her portal network to teleport to foes - and having an in-character way to justify being able to attack multiple portal’d opponents at once by using mirror clones. D-throw is another unique take on your patented time bombs, its one-time move empowering works well in Morgan’s set, and F-throw is relatively unique for dealing more damage the further your opponent is from you.

I was initially uncertain of N-air, in that airborne foes can only avoid it with an air dodge (unless they have a counter like 1/3rd of MYM sets, or a move that grants them invincibility frames), and if they don’t have an air dodge left and are still airborne Morgan can rack up free hits. But it’s not a problem at all, because the way the move is handled is interesting enough. As the portal network hit only commences in the end lag, it makes the N-air hit more reactable to the opponent(s) it’s targeting, and even if you do hit you’re not dealing them any knockback or even any hitstun. And while it can deal a lot of damage, it is A) not as rewarding as other portal network moves and B) you would need to have a lot of uses of the portal network (requires charging Side Special to get more than 2 uses). The foe also needs to be high in the air, as on the ground they can just shield to tank the attack without much consequence. On a different Aerial, D-air was neat for being a Morgan move that, thrown over an opponent via portal network, gives her an even bigger reward over black goop via planting the spikes in the goop.

All and all, Morgan is an excellent set probably on par with Rufus (who I moved up to a 9 on my MYM23 rankings post-Top 50, and Louise to 10), with a simple but creative portal concept. If I had to give a reason why she's not an SV+ or super close contender for it, I’d say that her Up Special was comparatively simple (reminded me of B. Pol’s recovery, in a way) and didn’t feel as impactful as her other Specials, compared to other frontrunner sets where the Specials all have an impact or introduce a concept and make the Specials section feel satisfyingly “whole”. I’m perfectly fine with Up Special as a move, it’s a weakness to her recovery and Neutral Special helps to play off its slowness. But FA has said, sometimes a complex/unorthodox set has to have simple inputs to fill in the gaps and just be effective.

In any case, it was surprising to see you and FA throw out sets for the Fairy Knights, who all turned out to be great and provided the MYM24 Story Mode with a lot of material! Looking forward to seeing what big movements you or anyone else have to offer next contest.
 
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BKupa666

Barnacled Boss
Moderator
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Aug 12, 2008
Messages
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Toxic Tower
PETE:
I already was singing the praises of your writing style and ability to seamlessly hop back into 2021 MYM after Kactuar, and I'm pleased to say Pete has proven even more of a pleasant surprise. There's a lot to love here, as the various wives can bring their own distinct synergies to a match, and without falling into the trap of one being blatantly better than the others, but with their selection rather revolving around where the given Pete player specifically wants a hand (or some crisp visuals, courtesy of the fun Donna cameo). Pete's cow, meanwhile, is an enjoyable construct to play with and around without being an excessive burden, with its hay trap properties and ability to be ridden for a meatier dash attack standing out as particular highlights. Twenty percent in and of itself isn't a big threshold for harrying the heifer, but Pete has means for both healing and steering his cow around, and worst case scenario, avoiding one mad dash isn't a colossal burden to the prepared player.

Veggies, too, are a nice inclusion to provide for simplistic throwable food items at a base level, with about as high of a skill ceiling as one can reasonably conceptualize by way of the range of different possible hybrid crop concoctions, emphasized even moreso when true style point seekers can plop multiple TunacornEggs in a basket and dunk a hapless victim in with D-Throw. Like an improved take on Kawasaki and a handful of older works, each hybrid feels meaningfully different than the others in terms of trajectory and hit properties, without any sacrifices to readability. This is the sort of concept that easily could get over-explained in a modern contest, with walls of text on conceivable combos at different percentages for each of the eight hybrids. Pete's best-of-both-worlds style addresses, and lightly chides, Smash contexts like two-frames and prone getup without losing sight of the game's forest for the trees.

I'm a touch less rosy on how Pete would fare from a balance standpoint. At points, I got the sense that matches could quickly snowball against him, especially where your rushdown archetypes are concerned. As individual actions, Pete could find openings to milk his cow, cuddle his wife, hoe the ground for easier veggie planting, and so on, but when all are relatively desirable, he could well have to pick and choose in such a way that creates rather limited room for players to reach his most exciting potential heights. Somewhat of a corollary critique — I like how Pete's stage location determines what specific veggies he can grow in a vacuum, it's a fun twist on Steve's mining, but against foes savvy enough to puppy-guard parts of the stage, I could see him getting locked off from mixing and matching crops during regular combat. And on a lesser note, a few standards prompted a headscratch from me — I'm not in love with how Pete's hammer or sickle in standards can destroy or slice leaves from crops, while, say, Bowser Bomb or a swordie slash will leave the veggies intact. And I didn't see much need for jab to inflict no damage on foes, when the most straightforward workaround could've been just not having the push hurt his cow, ala U-Tilt's bell.

All told, Pete is a charming early love letter to his series in time for its 22nd birthday, perhaps the best "farming" focused moveset in my recent memory and not a set to overlook within MYM24 on the whole. Junahu Junahu

MORGAN:
Gonna do a stream-of-consciousness on my own Morgan thoughts after finishing reading. I really like how much she pushes the envelope as a way of conveying source material OPness, in no small part due to the ability to strike a target from anywhere on stage in and beyond Side Special's context. Jab as the key example of the latter is an intriguing move to visualize, though probably the only area that stood out as overtly overpowered - an 18-frame startup, or only three frames longer than the reactable 15, is hardly highly extended outside melee range. On a lesser note, I didn't see specification for how long she must wait in between individual mana applications, for which, some small cooldown could be a good idea, given the dangerous mana setups she can achieve (getting pushed along by her own wall and setting a bubble as a trap being my favorites). This is one of those cases where I feel you can justify some pretty Out-There stuff because of her glass cannon status, but then again, imagine Pichu with tools this oppressive...featherweight status is a detriment, but perhaps not as much as it might appear at first brush.

Otherwise, back to Morgan, she certainly has to earn her keep, committing to/playing around her mana's location and having a sort of ebb and flow to baiting foes in with the threat of filling her meter faster, going for rewarding close-range stuff like SSpec/FSmash and then repeating with variations. Her Rhongomyniads (mini and otherwise) are a great interpretation of a canon OP concept that, in a lesser set, might just be written off as a Final Smash. A nitpick I'll throw out is, while going for a level four or five beam is fun food for thought in FFA or TAS matches, the options do feel somewhat throwaway for 1v1 compared to something like Tristan, who features fewer meter levels but makes all feel more distinct/relevant compared to a beam becoming even more insanely destructive. Doesn't detract from Morgan at all, mind, but it doesn't set her apart as much as it possibly could. Otherwise, as far as favorite moves go, I really like the synergies between USmash/DSmash concerning character movement (the latter being especially scary at high damage levels, where being above a blast zone at all is effectively a death sentence if the spike connects). DThrow is a nice twist on your typical delayed-damage throw archetype, and integrated in well with her gameplay at different ranges to boot. And the reverse radial knockback of N-Air comes off as fun to toy around with as Morgan navigates different aerial vantage points. All in all, an impressive showing, and while Gawain is still my favorite of your works this contest, Morgan more than holds her own. FrozenRoy FrozenRoy
 
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Junahu

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
899
Location
Shropshire Slasher
Walter White
Having absolutely no experience with Breaking Bad, not even through pop-culture osmosis, puts me in a very awkward position when it comes to analysing this moveset. I just have to assume that the way his attacks and mechanics fold outward are in keeping with the character's identity and purpose. You do have a pedigree of sorts when it comes to building passionate movesets, particularly when you cut loose with non-sequitor constructs. So I think I can confidentally trust that you've made the character the correct-way©
The way you implement unique punishments for Stale moves, and then integrate incentives to spam attacks, is clearly thematically appropriate. More than that though, it's impressive how you encourage the foe to deliberately throw themselves onto Heisenbergs lingering chemical hitboxes, connecting the opponent to the theme without forcing the issue with something like an addiction mechanic.
It's good stuff when the opponent's counterplay is used to build the moveset's personality.

Normally, I bounce off of reading movesets once they become too complicated to visualise in broad strokes. And, I'll be honest here, I was forced to confront that exact issue while reading Walter White. In the end, I had to take a step back and accept that the myriad ideas and interactions slathered throughout are there to give the set a genius-at-play flavour rather than existing as actual flesh for the moveset. Regardless, the interactions are all great for expressing yourself within a fun chemistry sand-box scenario like casual play, and that's enough to satisfy me.
I also appreciate the anchors you gave to the interactions, such as how fire hitstun boosts the damage of consecutive fire hits. or how his vehicles can be used to perch constructs on. They're strong enough hooks for the player to identify and build their playstyle towards. And you breadcrumb enough mentions of them throughout the set that readers are able to pick up on them naturally.


Lyndis
The banner feature of this moveset is quite strong; Lyn's playstyle pivots around whether her Neutral Special Projectile, Reinfleiche, is charged or not. On the one hand, slow uncharged arrow shots can assist her in many ways, pestering, approaching, spacing, and whatnot. But on the other hand, the innumerable buffs Lyn receives from holding onto a charge are arguably worth the trade-off of not having a projectile. This dichotomy is praiseworthy, it truly is. It addresses the way that Lyn plays in her home game; switching to whichever weapon the foe it most blind to and blasting them away with the initiative of player-phase. It's great stuff, and I had a blast reading the moveset

I feel like, in the interest of brevity, you lean far more into Lyn's charged play than her uncharged one. And while I appreciate not having walls of text to read through... it sometimes seems like the only reason for her uncharged Neutral Special is to open up an opportunity to charge it. This feels especially true with her Forward Tilt, which adds on a free projectile when Lyn's Neutral Special is charged, obviating much of the reason to leave it uncharged.

Of course, even beyond the central conceit of her chargeable Neutral Special, there's plenty to enjoy here. There are a lot of stylish/expressive movements and tricks that even a beginner can feel cool when busting out
I also appreciate how often the moveset makes certain to explain how a move slots into Lyn's playstyle, and even what other attacks synergise well with it. I think that kind of care is especially vital when talking about direct combo focused characters.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Holiday seasons can take their toll (though I don't think that's what is up here), and between people wanting some extra time to finish Dodongos, complete some larger scale set edits in response to comments, and some people either joining late (Almand) or having stuff take them out for weeks (Junahu), leadership decided on an extension to help out with that. Make sure to get it done in that time, because we don't currently have any plans to extend this period further.

Editing period has been extended to January 27th while voting period will end on the 10th Froy Day in MYM history (and my birthday) February 10th, so be good boys and girls and give me the gift of a smooth voting period, alright?
 

n88

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,530
Hubert Von Vestra
I still feel a bit too out of touch to do a good job at this, but ah well. Really dug Three Houses and Hubert was a stand-out character, so I was excited for this one. Read through most of this a while ago and enjoyed it, but didn't quite finish or collect my thoughts. Gave it a quicker re-read and finished it out just now - probably I don't have as much to say as I would if I'd just knocked it out on that first read, so apologies for that.

Interpreting most of his spells as traps and debuffs is a cool spin on the character. Feels very appropriately under-handed.

Stray thoughts:
  • The link to a picture of a cloud cracked me up for some reason.
  • The 'next dark magic attack gets boosted' state associated to Mire should probably have some kind of visual indicator, since it's largely separate from the rest of what Mire does? I forgot that that was a one-time thing and not a generally-true-against-Mired-foes thing for a bit.
  • Up Smash feels like it could have been Up Special to me? It's a very special-y move and his actual Up Special feels a bit 'obligatory crap recovery'. Seems like you could have just as easily tacked a little jump onto Resonant Lightning when it gets used from the air. Plus I think it'd be dope for his 'recovery' to be reaching back up to the stage to electrify all his traps and do some damage on his way down. The effect is cool, anyway.
  • What's the range like on DTilt? It's described as 'mid-range' toward the end of the first paragraph, which is a bit vague. Didn't catch a more specific reference to what the tendril's length is like.
  • I liked the lance showing up for the melee game. Goofy Up Aerial spike feels like the sort of thing I'd be trying to bust out all the time.
  • I was a little surprised by some of the hard interactions in the grabgame. Makes a certain amount of sense for a nefarious character to start pulling weird tricks when the foe is locked down, but it does feel like a pivot right at the end. Bit more stylistically consistent with that Up Smash that felt out of place to me amidst the standards.
  • Forward Throw: here is a list of hard interactions with a complex web of traps and debuffs. Up Throw: yeet.
    • Not a criticism at all: long, MYM-y attacks followed immediately by simple, pragmatic ones will always be funny to me.
  • For DThrow, Hubert actually can't get all of his debuffs on the foe while he has his Mire attack boost, no? I believe FThrow will clear the Mire attack boost if Mire comes before FThrow and Mire will clear the FThrow debuff if Mire comes after FThrow.
  • I'd've been tempted to play with the anti-shield stuff a bit more, but I can't quibble with this direction.
Shin Godzilla
I'm always a little reluctant to adapt h u g e characters into contexts that don't allow for that kind of size - who wants a Godzilla that feels like Minilla? This set does a good job giving Godzilla huge presence though, despite the fact that he's "only" as tall as two Marths in a trenchcoat. You've won me over on this sort of approach; still feels like God Incarnate.

There are a few places where the set lost me a little bit in its descriptions or I had a hard time visualizing how things worked. Not bad enough to be deal-breakers, but it did slow me up a little bit.

Stray thoughts:
  • The grab recoil mechanic feels a little thematically odd to me - specifically the 'time bomb' nature of it and how it can be dodged after the fact. I'd be tempted to streamline a bit and just have it apply the damage immediately like how normal recoil works. Bare minimum I think it needs some kind of animation on the current effect, because I wouldn't know why I was getting damaged, if that happened to me in a match.
  • This moveset has cussing in it.
  • Stage Three Neutral Special mentions the head crane being lower exposes Godzilla's weak point on his back - would that not be generally true of taking on that stance? Seems like it could be covered in the mechanics section if so.
  • Feels a little disappointing that Down Special doesn't do anything on its own, but dang if the double-sticking atomic laser doesn't sound fun.
  • This moveset has a vomit river in it.
  • Using the wings is a little weird, but I get that Godzilla doesn't have an easy Up Special without delving into What Ifs. He should fly by curling up like a shrimp and blasting off with his atomic breath though.
  • Some of the details on Jab are a little murky to me, or were hard to pick up. Not sure the control scheme is super intuitive either? I feel like it'd take me a while to stumble into "double tap the analog horizontally"; maybe consider reworking it so that it's {Press A} -> {Tap Analog In Any Direction to Fire} -> {Second Press A to Exit}. Or possibly a hold-and-release thing instead of a two-press. Either way I think it'd work more like a Jab and be more discoverable.
  • You: "... if you’ve played Hero enough times ... ". Me: "oh for sure, absolutely. Magic... Bust. Love it."
    • Not a you problem, I still have one billion characters to catch up on and often have to look things up to get comparisons to the newer cast members.
  • The Smashes were a real curveball - they reframe the set in a very KingK.Rool way and position the player as a sort of mastermind directing a fight between Godzilla and the world at large, whereas I'd been thinking of the player as Godzilla this whole time.
    • I'm not sure the control scheme at the top of the smashes quite works? Personally I have limited ability to hit the A button and the C-stick simultaneously, while moving the analog in the right direction for the desired Tilt.
    • It's also stated that he has the same pose while charging any Smash attack, but... what is that pose? Presumably it's something he can maintain while walking around and Tilting.
    • If a Smash ends in the middle of a Tilt ending (or vice versa), can he experience endlags from both moves at the same time, or will the lag get stacked on?
  • Ironic that in a mirror match, the military cannot damage the Godzilla they're going after, but presumably could nail other Godzillas as collateral damage.
  • From DSmash: "They can still be reflected, however, so be careful who you use this against.". Is there a reason to worry about that in particular? Godzilla's already firing them at himself as a flex. Still a valid defensive option for folks who can reflect, of course, but it doesn't seem super troubling.
  • Suuuuuuuper minor note, but maybe switch the grab/pummel to specifying the different animation against foes above a certain size, instead of against another ShinG (wait wtf, ShinG=Shinji, Hideaki Anno tricked me) specifically?
  • Shin Godzilla Kirby sure is something to imagine.
 
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Rychu

Thane of Smashville
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
810
3DS FC
1908-0105-4965
SYNDROME
BKupa666
So first thing’s first, the Omnidroid is one of the most fleshed-out single input minions I’ve personally seen, and the pre-programming of specific behaviors is a nice way to give it some flexibility when it’s first summoned, and I really enjoy the particular reactionary way the bot responds. I particularly like that the Omnidroid can become hostile to its creator if he’s careless (or careful, as you pointed out it’s not always the worst thing to be in its crosshairs to trigger specific attacks). Really fantastic not only from a characterization standpoint but also as a balancing act for the robot. Syndrome’s really got the MYM jackpot in his specials: constructs, minions, traps, command grabs, and flight, yet they all blend so seamlessly together to create one hell of a base for the rest of the set.
Syndrome is definitely a less complex beast than say, Mysterio of last contest, but that isn’t at all a knock to the set. Despite its considerable girth, Syndrome’s a shockingly breezy read, so much so that I was shocked when the set ended. A lot of that probably has to do with the nice way the specials are set up, with all the minutiae of interactions given their own sections which really wraps everything up in a nice bow. And I’ve gotta say, I’m a big fan of the cowardly playstyle that permeates through the set, though he’s obviously a dangerous foe to underestimate. While zipping around the stage, dropping traps and taking cheap shots as players are pursued by the Omnidroid is certainly one way to play, Syndrome comes with just enough devious tricks up his sleeve to keep things interesting, especially with the Zero Point Energy (probably my favorite individual mechanic in the set) and that ridiculously creative grab. He’s a veritable playground of options, and I’d say a very strong start to this d̷̠̎͝ͅẻ̶͓̤̳̚á̴͈͛̈d̶̘̹̔̇͝ ̴͖̒č̷̋͑ͅo̴̓͌͜n̴̮͓͂̓̐t̴͕̪͕̓e̷͖̖̺͐̆͒s̵͎͍̞̈́͐t̶̖̍͆̀s̸̩̈́̑’̷̨̻̞͠ ̵̢̂̄̈́s̶̛̝̺w̷̙̆a̷̰͇̒̌n̵̳̹͙̽͗͊ ̷͔̤̓̀̎s̷͎̗̊͌̕o̵̡̟̺͒͋̅n̴̜͈̞͆̈́̀g̴̜̜̦͊̓.̸̢͓̘̾̽͌

Tomura Shigaraki
Slavic
Being as familiar with this character as I am, I was interested to see exactly how you’d translate his quirk, and I think you landed on just the perfect method. Definitive, I’d say, especially with the fun interaction of letting him decay ledges for gimping. Brilliant stuff there! I’m a sucker for portal shenanigans in sets, as evidence by my love of Il Blud last contest, and I’m a big fan of their implementation here, giving Shiggy that extra bit of pressure but with enough limitations that a tactical use is needed, he’s a spacer to the most extreme measure. As has been pointed out, it’s extremely fun that two sets of the same type were posted as the first two sets this contest. Looks like I need a minion set, and fast.

The Nomu is a fun if simple minion that can cause mass destruction if left unchecked, and I’m a huge fan of the implementation and especially the way Shiggy can directly control him, making the two become one and allowing the beast to take advantage of portals to their fullest. While the AI isn’t as fleshed out as the above Syndrome due to Shiggy being able to actually control the beast, the fact that Shigaraki is basically two unique sets in one that work so seamlessly in tandem with each other is a feat of considerable skill. Turning the otherwise frail Shigaraki into an unstoppable powerhouse for even the briefest time is a wonderful leap in the construction of this set, and one that’s perfectly in character. Shigaraki is a fun mix of stage control, combo fiend, grappler, and heavyweight powerhouse that manages to be ridiculously unique, all tied together with a unique kill condition that seems even remotely plausible to actually pull off with the tools he has. Excellent work here, we’re 2 for 2 so far this contest!


The Huntress
Kholdstare
Dead By Daylight is one of those games that just kind of passed me by, which is unfortunate because I’m a huge horror fan, so it’s nice to see more representation after last contest’s Blight, and in fact a set that does the cool smash bros thing of keeping some mechanical similarities to it’s sister set. Starting from the Specials, I think the relentless killer vibe was struck extremely well, thanks in large part to the debuffs that Anna can stack relentlessly, even with the crazy amount of set-up it would take to get all 5 totems out AND land all 5 hatchets, not to mention her ability to do some pretty funky and freaky stuff with the snare (for some reason I freakin love sets that implement some kind of rope-swing stuff, its something I wish was in smash in a more defined way). I think the set maintains kind of a fun balancing act of having Anna be quite powerful while also coming into the match with pre-built defenses against her in the pallets, since foes can utilize them for cover as well!

The set is extremely well-characterized as far as I’m concerned, it definitely feels like translating a round of DBD into smash which isn’t an easy feat. Anna feels like an overwhelming force to fight, and it’s neat seeing a set that actively gets scarier the longer it takes her to actually KO a foe - I imagine she’d probably not fare too well against your rushdown fighters who bring the fight directly to her, but have a field day with more camp-heavy foes. Also, you’ve got a way with animations, some of these attacks feel ridiculous in their brutality in a very 80’s horror movie way.

If there are any complaints I have, I suppose they would boil down to the set feeling like it kind of keeps going in a comfortable rhythm without much new added to the base once we pass the grabs, though I can’t even really say that as the Smashes have some very cool interactions, like the smash’s totem protection, and back air being an incredibly character-forward move that I really enjoy regardless of the context (something about aerials actually turning characters, I dunno, something I’ve also always really liked). Overall some incredibly solid stuff here, I greatly enjoyed my time reading and even have the itch to maybe fire the game up myself for the first time in like 6 months!

Dr. Forrester & TV’s Frank

Torgo the Bear

I love the character choice here, these guys feel a lot more out there in terms of actually having moveset potential than the wacky assortment of characters we see regularly, feels like something out of the very early MYMs (or something like the very odd Ashens set we got like 12 years ago which looks like isn’t around anymore?), but as a lifetime lover of trash cinema I’m delighted that 2 of its mascots are here. Amazingly following the trend of single minion sets is very fun and almost makes the pair feel like an unintended parody of the concept that has been prevalent this MYM, so the timing couldn’t be better!

These guys being projectile-heavy goofballs was the way to gom, and I really enjoy the mechanic of having Frank having a life-threatening power up to augment them, fittingly in character it might be best to almost kill the man all the time in order to unleash the true potential Clay’s attacks. This is a strange-ish comparison but I feel a kinship between this set’s wacky antics and Phoenix Wright’s implementation in MvC3.; Obviously not the same, but the same kinda vibe, I guess, and that's extra points from me. There’s an older thought that constant summoning of props in a moveset is tacky and to a degree I still hold that, but this is exactly the kind of set where tackiness enhances, not diminishes.

There are some number-crunchy things that could be ironed out (like the sticky breakfast goop that sticks foes in place for 6 seconds, unless they mash out which should be fairly easy), and I feel like there are some pretty decent missed interactions here and there like say, a character gets stickied, and then gets projectiles stuck to them, which passively damage and cause flinch, which then makes it harder to mash out of the chairs when they’re stuck to them, or the sticky breakfast foods interacting with the chair at all (which IS already a soft interaction where you can stick a foe and raise the chairs while they’re stuck). That being said, what’s here is very fun at a base level, I just think that a second pass to see some of the interactivity of the set could be useful - I feel like the Mads are this close to being a widely adaptable unintentional Rube Goldberg machine, which made me like it a little more as I thought of the ways their wacky hijinks could play off of each other. Very fun moveset that I feel could have used just another pass to really cohese it together like sticky pancake syrup.

Naganadel
By WeirdChillFever
I’m very into the abdominal charge mechanic. Especially from a visual standpoint, it’s an elegant way to portray a “tank” mechanic through character animation rather than an onscreen hud icon, and the fact that it recharges over such a short amount of time actually makes it play better into the fast-paced smash gameplay - since it’s an automatic recharge that continues even through ending lag it makes timing an obviously very integral part of the game plan. I also like the use of a poison mechanic not as a timed tick of hitstun but rather adds to the hitstun of other attacks, for some reason that makes it feel more sluggish than the other way! I think the side-b is a fun interaction too, with the ability to suck the spent poison back out of the foe to help the recharge, on top of being a pretty strong option in its own right.

I could use some more solid number on some of the tank interactions, such as in the Up B, where it’d be nice to know how much acid will get you how far while moving even if we have a sense of how quickly a full tank will deplete, just to have a better gauge of the usefulness of keeping the tank full to what extent. This is a general issue across the rest of the set - while I do like the utility of the moves and think that ome moves could use just a bit more nitty-gritty detail in how they interact with the central mechanic. Overall I don’t think Naganadel is a bad set, just one that could use a bit of refining. I saw in chat that you were just about ready to be back in the swing of things, and I’m looking forward to your next one!

MAGNUS
By GolisoPower
Fun fact, when I moved into my current house, my roommate and I built a D&D table that would also qualify as a Warhammer legal table and then never got into Warhammer. Maybe one day…

First things first I'm a huge fan of the way you organize your information - those clean TLDR sections at the end lend themselves to some nice crunchy numbers and quick reference, and are something that I think should probably become a standard. The idea behind Magnus summoning all these various soldiers in his army is super fun and I appreciate how they all function in their own little niche - I think the extra little horrors that can be summoned by either letting your foe kill them or keeping them alive is extremely fitting for a commander of hell's armies and something I assume is from the actual game? It's neat.

Outside of those cool summons, the set becomes a bit more standard, but I think that's to be expected with such a complex central mechanic. Magnus feels suitably girthy and hits like a truck - and that's not to say his other moves don't have some fun stuff too. Counterintuitively, I feel as though spreading some of the summoning love around to different inputs could have made the set feel a bit tighter than what we ended up with. The mind control down special might be a Problem, but it feels like it fits well enough and lord knows there are enough restrictions on it to keep it from being an automatic win, which is an impressive feat of move design itself. I liked this one, though I feel like a lot of what makes it tick is fairly frontloaded. Still, that front is a lot of fun!

Cid Highwind
Usershadow7989
1643076927732.png

Ah, the movement that never was. Maybe I'll actually finish Barret next contest, lmao. Making Cid an aerially-focused aggressor with lots of fun projectiles and gadgets is exactly the thing you'd expect this character to do, and you've pulled it off beautifully here. As has been mentioned before, "Jump Cancelling" seems like such an innocuous and natural fitting concept in this set. It almost feels like a built-in accidental mechanic (like wavedashing), that gives Cid the feeling of reading a breakdown of the character by a top-level player rather than a traditional moveset, which was just a tone I couldn't shake while reading through the thing. The animations are all flavorful and fitting with the self-serious yet absurd grouch that is Cid - of special note to me is the animations for the DSmash and BThrow which just make me smile.

Of course, as to be expected of a US set, even one that's far more straightforward than your usual fare, everything works together wonderfully. It's nice to see the ridiculous big brain plays present in your other novel-length movesets presented here in a more digestible (which by no means do I mean better by) manner. I wouldn't mind seeing more bite-sized US stuff because this more stripped-down style really accentuates your talents as a set maker, I feel. Even though Cid may not be the experience of something like a Lucky Louise or a Three Stooges, it's still exemplary stuff and a clear indication as to why your sets place so highly so consistently.


Gareth of the Beautiful Hands
FrozenRoy
Now THIS is how you do card games. The Command Cards are a simple and clean mechanic that goes a long way to making the way Gareth approaches opponents feel like it really matters - start a combo the wrong way and you won't get your desired effect! Also fitting of a card-based game, it's very fun to read the stack on stacks on stacks status effects that she can pull off. While it's difficult to actually big brain your way into it, being able to boost an attack to 78% is absolutely insane. It also gives savvy opponents a way to play against her- I imagine characters actually designed for hit and run would eat through her pretty easily. Giving a character 3 passive status effect specials is a flex, especially when it works as well as it does here. Working in Hero's crit mechanic is very fun, and building the chance to actually get a crit sounds like a fun way to play an rpg-inspired character (or even as a mechanic in a real RPG...).

As has been pointed out before, the Down Smash is a deceptively brilliant little move that really adds a lot of depth to her combo game - delayed hitbox moves mixed with a heavily combo-focused character is a winning combination, in addition to the passive buffs making her a horrifying creature to be approached by. The whole set is filled with moves that play off of her established mechanics beautifully - the Jab, the Dash Attack, of course, all the smash attacks with their crits, the Uair which is just a fun attack I like as an incredible combo move, the Up Throw and its multifaceted effects based on the command card and et cetera. The only complaints I might have are that the transformation Down Special feels less in place than the rest of her kit, and that the particular shade of green you chose as your text color is a bit hard to read for me on smashboard's default browser skin lol. A truly ridiculously great moveset for the short time it was made in.

W
ForwardArrow
1643081584699.png
For whatever reason, I feel like this set has been weirdly looked over for comments, and I have no idea why - it's fantastic. Explosions galore, the W must stand for "Woah, that's a lot of explosions!". Bombs, mines, grenade launchers, canons, big ol knives, and a really fun command grab recovery/movement special that lets her throw opponents into said bombs and mines make this an incredibly flashy set to imagine, and the deceptively simple Insult to Injury mechanic makes it all the better. Honestly, simple, straightforward mechanics are the name of the game, at least from what I've read. Forward Air is maybe the best use of this mechanic in the set, playing with sweet and sour spots to make a difficult-to-land but incredibly rewarding KO move off the side of the stage which fits her aggressive playstyle.

One thing I do really like is despite the projectile and trap laying nonsense the set doesn't feel the need to rest on its laurels as a camper, instead it makes W a vicious chaser with a lot of fast, erratic movements. I will say, putting a Bleed mechanic on the sweet spot of her Up Smash specifically while the rest of her knife-based attacks doing no such thing feels a bit too pointed and honestly a bit unnecessary - it's not enough to make the set any worse but I don't think it adds much to it other than increasing her already ridiculous damage output. That being said, I do love some of the absolutely disrespectful animations this character has - really sells the brutality, excellent characterization. I feel like this set may have been overlooked (or maybe not, I'm not as up to date with moveset discourse in the discord as I should be), but it's a high recommendation from me. It's simple and brutally effective.
 
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Slavic

Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
757
Location
taco bell, probablyn't
I know I haven't been doing proper comments for sets as I'm catching up on readings as much, really just giving general ideas and some feedback in the Discord to help streamline the reading process. However, Silicon Witch Roxanne by U UserShadow7989 is a read I think warranted a comment from me. This is a set I had a lot of trouble getting through, more so than, for instance, Yin before her who sat at almost double her length. A lot of my upcoming commentary you actually already address in the author's notes for Roxanne, pointing at a combination of not developing the character herself until later as well as doing a lot of trimming to keep her word count down. As you point out, the result is something of a dry read, but I also found it to be fairly confusing and unintuitive at times. Roxanne is a set I was looking forward to reading based on the elevator pitch concept, and to be fair I don't hate the set by any means, I just have a handful of somewhat major issues with the set.

I want to start with more specific problems before tackling the more abstract ones, as I think they're the easiest to address and therefore most important this last week of editing. The Shedskins are a mechanic I quite like conceptually, and the meter filling up while Roxanne's skin molts is a great way to go about this. They've got a simple way to program and buff them but don't outstay their welcome by only sponging up one hit. It's an ephemeral kind of minion you don't really see that often which instead allows you to focus on the spur-of-the-moment usecases for them instead of long term gameplan. My problem with the Shedskins is twofold: first, I feel strongly that the Shedskin meter should fill based on moves landed, not just moves that reach their ending lag. As a quick instance, spamming DTilt at a ledge is a common pressure tool (at least that I've seen) and Roxanne's DTilt is great for that between the long range, short lag, and lingering animation. However, doing so will fill up your meter even without landing a hit just for applying basic pressure, giving the Shedskin a great moveset of DTilt, DTilt, and DTilt. And if the foe smacks them with a getup attack off the ledge or an aerial it was all for nothing.

This wouldn't be quite so bad without the second problem I have with the Shedskins, that being the activation input and the lack thereof. It's extremely weird to me the Shedskins come out automatically, preventing Roxanne from storing a programmed movepool for an opportune time or having one pop out at a horrible time and vanish immediately. It does allow some flexibility to not be on an input, particularly since Shield Special can't be used in the air, but it seems really inconvenient for Roxanne to not have any meaningful control over when her Shedskin will pop out. It's an instance where I might trade off the ability to bring out a Shedskin in the air just so Roxanne can control the summoning with Shield Special. Either one of these changes would benefit Roxanne a lot in my eyes, and both would be a massive improvement. Like I mentioned I actually adore the idea of Shedskins as these temporary echoes of yourself, the limited movepool being a clever way to both make the concept more interesting than your average AI-controlled minion and more consistent. It's just the activation and programming mechanics that hinder them in an unintuitive way.

The other section I had the most difficulty with in Roxanne were the Smashes. Part of my problem with Roxanne is a coherency issue and this was the first spot it really reared its head at me. Based on the mechanic and Specials, Roxanne and her Shedskins felt like they were going into the direction of a more melee-oriented combo character that makes up for slower speed by having some desynched moves and damage sponges. However, the Smashes introduce not one but two constructs into the set that, to me, felt out of nowhere. Up Smash I don't have an issue with, I think a unique pitfall is great for a character who needs to use moves to access her mechanic and is stylish. The other two constructs feel much more stage control oriented, giving her a fantastic zoning Smash as well as a solid wall. As someone who likes the idea of the Shedskins as an aggressive protection tool I kind of hate throwing an actual wall into the set, it feels redundant and negatively impacts the appeal of the Shedskins for me. One of the big problem with the Smashes is that Roxanne's Shedskins can interact with them, which combined with how they will automatically pop out of Roxanne whenever her meter is full, means they can readily ruin her setup anyways without much control from her. I also may have missed it but I don't think I saw anything about how the AI decides when to interact with the cube and spire, or if they can just hit them incidentally while chasing opponents.

At my most abstract criticism, Roxanne herself just lacks a certain cohesion I'm used to seeing from modern OC sets. She's got aspects of a snake with her Shedskins, snake tail, and venomous bite, but also she has geomancy that allows her to create massive blocks and spires which don't have much to do with snakes, and then she has occasional other elements like fire, light, and "purple dripping energy" throughout her standards. The result is a mishmash of both concepts and gameplay that, while they might flow together mechanically, make for an awfully clunky and jarring read, almost like reading moves for different characters spliced together.

A lot of this stems from what you address in the author's notes, but it does bear repeating. OCs are very heavily character driven, part of the reason I've not done an OC set yet, and is easily one of your biggest strengths as a setmaker. Throwing out the mechanics first and sorting the character details out after while also trimming down the wordcount to hit the sub-10k challenge hurts the writing of the set a lot. Roxanne has a lot of potential, and the word limit really hampered your ability to fully express a lot of the ideas I think. It doesn't account for everything, like I mentioned earlier Roxanne also feels like she switches set genres after the Specials, but was an arbitrary reason to set the moveset back a bit.

I'm worried this comment comes off as scathing, I typically don't have quite so much to criticize about sets, but Roxanne hit the sweetspot of 'set I want to be good' and 'problems that I can actually identify and address'. I have mentioned it a few times already but the Shedskins are a brilliant minion mechanic, even if I have problems with the supporting details. I love the specific level of control Roxanne has over their actions, I love their frailty, and just conceptually a very cool minion idea. The ability to give them buffs via Roxanne's Specials is a great touch as well. While the Smashes don't deliver for me, the rest of the Standards and Aerials are solid, and having picked up Mewtwo recently a lot of the tail stuff I appreciate. The venom throw is a concept that's been done a lot but always with DoT, not with hitstun. Typically that kind of status on a throw has an explosive hitbox, so just causing the opponent to flinch opens its own style of gameplay and makes for a very rewarding grab.

I wish I had more to outright beam about Roxanne, but for me the cons really weigh down the pros unfortunately. In addition to the changes I mentioned about Roxanne's Shedskin mechanics, I feel like stripping down her constructs to make way for something that fits in with the Shedskins better would help a ton with her synergy (unfortunately I don't have any suggestions off the top of my head). Finally, I'd try and reflavor everything to fit in with either snakes or sand to give her just a more cohesive feel. Her extra elements, such as her firebreathing FTilt, can easily be streams or bursts of sand with little to change to how the move actually works. It's a tall order, of course, and I don't know if I'm alone or not in my opinions on Roxanne, but any or all of those changes would skyrocket my opinion of the set because I adore the base concept so much. It sounds like she was both a struggle to write as well as rushed, and it does shine through pretty badly compared to a lot of sets. I wish I had read the set earlier so I could give the feedback with more time to actually Do Something, but either way I do apologize if this comes off as too harsh.
 

Rychu

Thane of Smashville
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
810
3DS FC
1908-0105-4965
Yin Manacuff
Katapultar
1643153765335.png
After reading a few sets with rather subdued mechanics, it's kinda nice to come to this one that wears an alternative movement mechanic loud and proud after an 8-page backstory. Very MYM, good, yes. And right off the bat, the wind compass acts as a natural and brilliant extension of that mechanic, which itself is exacerbated by the various other options which let him charge while moving in his other specials, and especially the Up Special's advancement of the meter into something he can just keep doing until he lands. Movement, movement, movement - controlling your own, and controlling your opponents. For someone who doesn't have a strong grasp on magic, Yin sure is a fantastic stage controller!

Yin is a ridiculously complex set that one almost needs to take notes during while reading. There's so much big brain stuff going on - it feels like nearly every move or section adds a new mechanic to consider: from the water clones present in the smash attacks (which is a wonderful bit of characterization) to some movement-based tilts, Yin throws a lot at the reader to the point of it being a bit overwhelming. This is part and parcel for a modern Kat set, and it's not a complaint on my end - its just continuously amazing that you can continue to make sets where every move could be a special attack on another. Yin is a lot, but it's a lot of good.

Minamoto-no-Raikou
Katapultar and FrozenRoy
1643156633434.png

I hate F/Go's character designs I'm not gonna lie. That's not gonna affect my opinion of the set but... man. I'm glad ya'll like it but I can only sift my way through so many of these designs. Anyway...
This is an interestingly different take on the crit mechanic present in Gareth, I'm glad you all aren't content to rest on the shoulders of previous work. Continuously increasing the size of a Marth tipper is exactly the kind of nonsense I like to see, and this one spreads it across 4 weapons! This in addition to the down special's redistribution of wealth stars and the now fully present in my mind series mechanic of passive status buffs already makes Raikou a hard hitter. There's some fun characterization in the somewhat more brainy application of the Neutral Special using the next weapon in a cycle, fitting of a multiweapon master fighter. Past the craziness of the specials that make full use of the weapon-switching, the rest of the set is more straightforward but full of fun little quirks - I'm a big fan of the sudden switch-up in the Dash Attack, firing her arrows in place of her corkscrew hitbox.

Raiko's a fun, aggressive melee set with a simple central concept and rock-solid execution. I don't think it goes out of its way to be groundbreaking, but not every set needs to be so: what Raikou does she does well, and it's a solid combination of FRoy's fundamentals and Kat's big brain plays. I don't know how much either of you had to do with the whole thing but this is a combo that works well - I think you guys play off of each other's style brilliantly. Very nice job!


Mii Magician
Junahu
1643161396515.png
Seeing a gaggle of modern Jun sets was incredibly exciting as I think I made it incredibly clear in the past that I was always a huge fan - one of my older sets is an out-and-out tribute to one of yours, after all! I promise I'll get to the other sets (including the one that this is a goshdarn extra for) soon, I just need a slight break from some of the behemoths posted in this contest.

As a set within a set, this is short, sweet and full of character, something that you don't really get out of Mii Magician's other generic siblings. I quite enjoy the fact that she feels like an actual character rather than a, well, a Mii. The moves sparkle with creativity and magical effects, and the special attacks do a good job at gluing together something cohesive and technically interesting - I especially like the down special lingering hitbox effect and the up special's ability to let her use her grounded game in the air for a split second for some Steve-Esque offstage shenanigans. It's cute, in the most endearing way possible. It's by no means an ambitious or slavishly technical work (other than being a full set extra inside of another moveset) but I did get a warm, bubbly feeling from reading it which is ABSOLUTELY worth something. It's neat.


The Science Team
Bubbyboytoo and Kholdstare
1643162783792.png
This set is ****ing hilarious and I love the character choice. Such an odd pick, but one that you guys end up getting a lot of milage out of. This set has everything: guns, ropes, a dog, a beyblade. Simple wonderful. This captures that absurd gmod feel incredibly well and makes me nostalgic for the internet times of yore.

Outside of the sheer magnitude of the personality present with all the jank animations to be expected of a... character(?) like this, the set itself is quite simple. It's got set-up with traps, attempting to navigate around the sheer awkwardness of the character, and then an absolutely buck wild advantage state where they can take advantage of that slower set-up. Standard stuff, but it's not every day you're going to see a moveset with materializing car ladder combos out of a beyblade hit. Personally, I would have made the followers a bit more erratic to really pump up that feel of controlled chaos, but I understand the difficulties of balancing a moveset where you don't know where your next attack might come from. Fitting for half-life, they're suitably projectile heavy but there's enough wacky stuff here to keep the scientists from being sentinel campers.

I think I maybe would have liked a larger focus on streamlining the playstyle a bit - there's a lot to like here but there's no real central thing to play around other than controlled chaos. I think maybe leaning a bit more into the wackiness (which sounds crazy but) and letting the scientists cover each other's ending lag, actually letting them desync could have lead to more interesting options. Granted, harder to balance, but maybe compensating for that with some universally heavy ending lag on attack means you can just keep spamming attacks and actually HAVE to use a variety of different moves? Im just spitballin' here, but as much as I do like the set there does seem to be some meat missing. It's a bit intangible as as criticism because what's here is very fun, it just lacks that certain Je ne sais quoi. I don't want to end this on a negative note, tho: I do like the set, and think its something to be proud of.
 

UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
306
Hotaru Tsuchigumo Katapultar Katapultar

I know you mentioned when you posted this set that you weren't to hot on it, but it's a crime it went this long without comment (sorry for not getting it sooner than a few hours before the editing deadline, on that note- thankfully I don't see anything to specifically call out as needing editing beyond a typo or two). For a filler episode character, you managed to put a lot of charm and detail into the character's assorted abilities (even with a stretch or two, no doubt). Her core specials start off pretty strong and have a lot of interplay with each other.

A lot of interplay, really. While the soap bubble effects fall off in mention after a point outside of slime (acid getting a last hurrah in the final input of the set, poison not really being brought up much at all), the clones and Big Bubble are constants that offer a lot of neat concepts that feel like they'd be a bit too much, on top of assorted hard interactions sprinkled across inputs for the Big Bubble and Clone, but the set remains a brisk read without actually sacrificing much detail anywhere, even covering her assorted melee options fairly in-depth.

I feel that the Side Special is the only part that ends up a bit of a hanger-on, possibly doing better if she had more of a shield pressure game to facilitate the acid effect and maybe called attention to how her handful of moves that makes destroying her clone by contact impossible or ill-advised to make the poison effect more striking (or a mention of how launching the foe off stage means it'll have time to build and then pay-off as they use their recovery), but ultimately that might've been overkill. I've noticed your style has moved more toward interconnected webs of interactions, and Hotaru might not be as massive an undertaking in that regard as Yin or connected by a brilliantly simple underlying control scheme like Ferrijit (who is currently my favorite of your sets this contest and very high up in my personal books), but she's a distilled version of that who showcases it can be done while staying pretty sleek.

At the same time, she represents the one downside of the style of being a character that would need an extreme amount of labbing for a player to understand how everything functions and interacts; not necessarily a bad thing, and a character with a lot of depth that's interesting to discover without being overbearing or painful to play without knowing it all would be pretty fun, but it's something I've become more leery of over time as I've been doing more and more with my sets. Hotaru avoids it since the hard interactions are more tied to her core specials than anything, and plentiful enough that players would stumble over one almost guaranteed and realize they're tied to nearly every move- sort of cutting the knot in an interesting manner.

I feel like between quickies and large scale projects, Hotaru fits a nice middle ground of a set with some weight to it without needing cork board and yarn to get the full grasp of, which we don't see often enough anymore. I'm very glad this set exists, and I feel it's noteworthy enough for all its positives that overlooking it would be a crime. Hotaru falls short of your big name sets this contest not for a specific flaw so much as what else you put out (and a lot of this contest in general) just being THAT good.




Niva Katapultar Katapultar

Makes a ton of interesting use out of a fairly simple core construct just through how she produces it and how it influences movement. Having been here for the time sets could have a mountain of constructs, minions, terrain effects, etc it’s interesting seeing a less is more approach that gets as much out of a singular construct as possible. Added hitlag, movement changes/interference, angled attacks, positional influences, lag canceling, acting as a point she can travel to, and the unique quirk of appearing behind her opponent’s current position on summon as a terrifying tool, the set goes all out.

That’s not to say the other inputs are uninteresting, far from it- Niva has some flashy and character-rich inputs and several interesting tricks that are stand alone twists that make her melee game and her focus on tech chases and roll punishes highly interesting, her Grab and Smashes standing out in particular but hardly the only examples. It’s easy to see you quite like the character and her source material, and it gives me the itch to give a fan material character I’ve considered before some more thought in turn. While I don’t put Niva quite on the level of Yin in terms of quality, she is a VERY strong set that would be a comfortable SV for me in any less stacked a contest.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Editing Period is now OVER! Voting Period will continue until the end of February 10th, PST. Votelists should be sent to your vote gurus, FrozenRoy and Katapultar

Minor edits like typos, damage % fixes, intro and extras, etc. are still allowed!

Current status of voter qualification:

Katapultar: 70 (Qualified)
GolisoPower: 35 (Qualified)
UserShadow: 29 (Qualified)
Slavic: 17 (Qualified!)
bubbyboytoo: 17 (Qualified!)
ForwardArrow: 15 (Qualified)
Rychu: 14 (Qualified!)
Torgo the Bear: 10 (Qualified!)
BKupa666: 10 (Qualified!)
FrozenRoy: 7 (3 to qualify!)
Dilliam: 7 (3 to qualify!)
WeirdChillFever: 6 (4 to qualify!)
Khold: 5 (5 to qualify!)
Doc Monocle: 3 (7 to qualify!)
n88: 3 (7 to qualify!)
Junahu: 2 (8 to qualify!)
Smash Daddy: 2 (8 to qualify!)
Almand: 0 (10 to qualify!)

Reminder that you need 10 comments to qualify for voting. Good luck on getting it done in time, all!
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,258
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Australia
Another Froy joint set, it’s neat to see Smady get in a set this contest, his very first lightweight female protagonist! As someone who is completely unfamiliar with Xenosaga and KOS-MOS besides really minor stuff like Project X-Zone, the MYM4 set and recent chat discussion thanks to this set, I would appreciate and enjoy seeing the intro being complete, alongside Morgan specifically @ Froy. You both have distinctive writing styles, and having worked on a joint set with Froy this contest it’s pretty fascinating (and easy enough to guess?) who wrote which moves and sections.

KOS-MOS getting AP from dodging and parrying reminds me of Mythra’s foresight and humorously (Smady’s) Hugo’s respectively, which is great to be reminded of as a fun reward system for slow characters to deter projectile-users. It’s oddly nostalgic. Neutral Special is an interesting chargeable projectile not dissimilar to Sephiroth’s Flare with a twist, the ability to adjust your charging speeds by moving, the reward you can get from the rifle shot at close range and how needing to charge Neutral Special balances out its low end lag. I was particularly curious how this set would handle its lock-on mechanic after FA praised it and me attempting it in Armie Buff’s set, as it feels like a fun and underutilized concept in MYM.

Side Special is where things start to get really cool, with the movement cancel that’s unexpected but works wonders with KOS-MOS being able to spend AP to cancel melee attacks into projectile attacks! And making her Side Special attacks harder to land and losing the ability to do the cancel with more AP is particularly ambitious, as with juggling effects gained from the Hilbert Effect. Particularly well-structured is R-Cannon being a useful kill confirm from 5 AP, spending 2 AP to cancel a melee attack into the move as you’ll have the necessary 3 AP to perform it (this is the impression I get, if I’m not mistaken).

Up Smash reminds me of Hina’s boomerang, something I can’t help but feel inspired this move. Down Special’s wording does make the placement of the 5% hitbox vague: I assume the beam is meant to fall after it rises and that’s when the 5% hitbox comes in, which can in turn lead into the 15% sweetspot. Forward Tilt is neat in more than one way: even without the crazy cancel option, I’d still like the move even for its melee mix-up with how the attack works when angled. Up Tilt is a good example of a simple but intriguing move in how it’s treated as a projectile and works with KOS-MOs’s canceling mechanics, very nice. Meanwhile, the grab game reminds me of skekMal’s where you can spend points to power up your throws.

This set appealed to me in a way different to the other higher-ends of this contest. I really respect sets that utilize complex trade-off mechanics and make them work, in which KOS-MOS’s Side Special gets harder to land the more AP she builds up. It’s a bit like what Walter White did with his staling mechanic via his meth purity. In fact, I’d say the charge mix-ups and Side Special cancelling may have been my favourite parts of this set. If KOS-MOS really sold some of the potential craziness she could get via different AP combinations and got super in-depth like Hol Horse about it, I actually think this set would have taken my SV+ for this contest. From my experience with Raikou with Froy, I do understand how this can be harder to do with joint projects.

I loved seeing both your writing styles together, Smady talking about a lot with little words via Smash comparisons and Froy getting very in-depth on melee usages like with KOS-MOS’s Forward Air. There are some bits where I felt it was too vague though: AP5 Side Special’s knife throw has no lag mentioned, I assume it’s faster than the slow attack itself, and the R-Dragon felt vague as a projectile. Also unsure about D-Smash’s hitbox placements, specifically the 15% hitbox around KOS-MOS. Does it hit all around her body? Smady’s writing style does work well for KOS-MOS’s lock-on mechanic though, not dragging on about altered projectile trajectories for longer than necessary. The vague bits didn’t affect my enjoyment of the set, either.

I could see the argument for KOS-MOS being overkill at times with her lock-on mechanic, and somewhat wondered if Down Smash was a bit much as a frame 20, low end lag attack that is essentially a Palutena U-Smash (albeit weaker) and presumably has a hitbox around KOS-MOS. Down Air certainly has the potential to be powerful and a nigh-unavoidable gimp when firing several missiles, but honestly, if you got a bunch of AP and your opponent offstage, KOS-MOS kind of deserves that easy kill. Really, I’d say that most of the extreme stuff KOS-MOS can pull off is balanced by her being a slow, fastalling heavyweight with a base recovery that isn’t fantastic. It also feels fitting, from what I understand of KOS-MOS’s character, to be overkill in the first place.

All and all, an excellent finisher to the contest and a real joy and experience to read this kind of joint set! It certainly felt like reading two sets in one writing and setmaking-style wise, and I definitely enjoyed being able to read something from Smady again. Here’s to getting more joint sets next contest, be it a different combination of setmakers or the same combos from this contest.
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Madoka

Kaname
(by Slavic Slavic )​

It's been a long time since we saw an Advertisement, isn't it? But after reading Madoka Kaname by newly minted leader Slavic I felt compelled to upgrade this into a full blown advertisement given it feels as though it has flown under the radar and definitely not because it gave me an excuse to use more cool Madoka fanart.

From top to bottom, Madoka is a set committed to getting the most out of every aspect of the series' main character, aesthetics and overall tone and he absolutely succeeds. It must be said that everything "additional" about this set is top notch. The animations show a wonderful and fluid understanding of the show's visual style that makes everything pop, with a particularl keen eye to the silhouettes of Madoka's friends deteriorating and how it plays into their individual personalities with the Rebellion movie in mind, Forward Aerial's passage from the still-lightly-dark reference to the suicide cult (okay maybe more than a little more than light) into the pastel world Madoka imagines into the pastel-yet-grotesque final form, things like Up Smash's tree splitting or the way Down Aerial's drill animation evolves, I loooooooove the entire way Neutral Aerial uses the finger pointing and after images in a way that feels so fitting. The entire moveset gives me the feel of 0 MP = Base Madoka, 1-4 MP = Magical Girl Madoka, 5=7 MP = Madokami/Gretchen-path Madoka and IDK how intentional that is but it works. The writing gets across its points succulently while lending an air of levity with the darkness presented as to, again, feel nice with Madoka as an overall show and had lots of moments I felt the desire to keep pointing out in chat as I read. The stage, taunts, it's all some real premium stuff.

But all the fluff in the world means nothing if the gameplay is bad and Madoka nails that as much as anything else! This is very impressive given Madoka's near-total lack of on-screen material, with Slavic deriving moves from all corners of Madoka's character and show references. Madoka's moveset has a strong centering around the relationships Madoka forms and power derived from them as seen on her Tilts, Grab Game and Down Special vs. the most personal ones from her Magical Girl powers and Homura's meddling seen on her Smashes, Aerials and Side Special, all wrapped up in a nice little bow on her counter Neutral Special through which this mechanic flows. What ends up getting made is a character who is at war with themselves over a powerful grounded game that has range, disjoints and delayed hitboxes vs. a more aggressive quick aerial combo and spacing game that puts Madoka at higher risk for greater reward. And then there's the Golden Ending where Madoka is revealed in her fully godly splendour and gets the best of both worlds, a justified reward for the trials of so many counters at worse odds.

There's a ton of great moves here. Particular standouts include the Sayaka Side Special's take on a disjointed minion rush and how it turns from a reverse knockback combo tool into an annoying toss-away move, Forward Tilt playing around with how to work with the long range into the set, Forward Smash and how it mixes up with the wonderfully flavorful Side Special when it comes to killing vs. damaging, Down Tilt, Up Tilt's multiple precise hitboxes getting whittled down to a singular use hitbox that nonetheless helps out Madoka's self-focused aerial style, everything to do with Neutral Aerial, the ways Forward Aerial and Back Aerial play into each other or into Madoka's overall air-to-ground combat PLUS the layers with edgeguarding (imagine USpecing Madoka going off stage with FAir, which would also look great!), it's all great stuff packaged together like a delicious cake. There's some stuff I could nitpick, the biggest being Madokami is too weak for the effort required (TBH just make her permanent for the stock, fits the flavor and is not OP), maybe a bit too low kill percents overall (an aerial with more punch good?), and maybe a few spots the flow could be tighter although frankly some level of disjointedness feels like both The Point and good for the set. Oh and the Final Smash should have had a new animation in her Madokami form.

Nevertheless, Madoka was a great set, a more than worthy successor to Slavic's own Mami Tomoe set from last contest, and I do implore everyone to give her a big look. She went under the radar in the last minute set rush and given both how much effort Slavic put into the set AND how dang great it is that's a real shame, this set is a top notch one in weaving together characterization, series representation and mechanics into an interlinked whole. If you've already read the set, consider giving it a second look over and seeing how well the moves truly flow into each other and how nicely defined Madoka's seemingly disparate playstyle is, and see if maybe you'll consider how good it is.
 
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FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Gee, Yugi, isn't this tournament kinda SUS? (Maximillion Pegasus U UserShadow7989 )

This set's praise has been justifiably high throughout the contest and it most shines through in the extensive animations, which feel 120% fitting to Pegasus as a character and to the classic Looney Tunes style cartoons Pegasus (and the creators) modeled them after. He's all about trapping and prediction, obviously very in brand with his Duelist Kingdom self especially, and can use that to overcome brute force from the Kaiba-boys throwing around their Blue-Eyes White Dragons (guys make a matchup post-contest trust me). The entire Setting mechanic is brilliant as an expression of how Yu-Gi-Oh works and blending it with Kira's summon-lag ties it all together well. It also allows more incorporation of Pegasus' Spell and Trap cards, something that frequently feels like a difficulty when it comes to duelist sets, and so ties it all together.

The end result reminds me of a set entirely seperate from those but heavily modernized: Judge Nemo. Pegasus has a minion on every input to a very true degree, even ones that are not minions can be set as psuedo-minions, and attempts to build a solid melee game around it. There's a lot of attacks to love here: Bikuribox is one of the coolest Up Smashes I've seen in a while, bringing to mind Vulture's programmable flight paths to a spin attack Up Smash instead. Forward Aerial is a fun "glue" projectile aerial, Forward Smash is pretty fun and I loved the interactions with Set monsters, Tool Rollback is really the Special that puts all of this into place by giving Pegasus some custom combo potential outside of his otherwise very restricted self and it works great with stuff like Dash Attack (another fun move), his Up Special feels like it has a lot of versatility and utility in his set from a simple concept which I'm always a sucker for. All things considered this set basically feels like the definitive Pegasus moveset for this moment, nailing that characterization, having an intricate and largely wonderful playstyle, all those taunts are some chef's kiss stuff, I loved the way that he had Set moves that respond to certain combat stimuli (reminds me of Koishi in the Touhou fighters). Good stuff.

I will say while this set is a solid 9 star SV for me I am not quite as over the moon for it as some people, though. Part of it is that the set does feel a bit more...fuzzy, I suppose, or disjointed. This is some level of fitting because Pegasus' toons are chaotic and crazy and he still has plenty of a well defined playstyle but there were parts where my head kind of turned to mush thinking of how it all worked together (usually when it went into super fine details on points that felt kinda small to it). This set's balance is also rather worrying as Pegasus has a ton of options to control the foe's position, stun them / lock them in place, use traps and otherwise potentially keep someone locked up a loooong time which is kind of a worry, it didn't feel too egregious but I can definitely imagine the ledge game being insane for example or some crazy combo. I don't really want to oversell these problems either, because they aren't that bad, but it did feel like that kept it slightly down in the pantheon of 9s for me.

Nevertheless Pegasus is a clear accomplishment and feat, a tough yet well liked character getting an innovative, flashy and well put together set, and I feel pretty confident a lot of people will like it. Very well done, can't wait to read more of your sets!
 

n88

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,530
Teridax by dilliam dilliam
Always wanted to do Bionicle stuff back in the day, never quite got around to it. Cool to see another fan kicking around MYM. Teridax is a fun and ambitious pull, too. Hard not to root for Robot Lucifer. (Sentient Gas Lucifer? You get me)

The mechanics on the Rahkshi summon feel a little opposed to the move's stated goal of adaptability. What I mean by that is that it feels like getting a Rahkshi going is kind of a time/focus commitment - possible to adjust on the fly, but generally I think the mechanics encourage a 'learn the ins and outs, memorize best Rahkshi per match-up' approach. Character-wise, this approach also feels a little.... micro-managey? It does convey a certain 'insane nefarious plan' vibe, which is good, but I think it also treats the Rahkshi as a bit precious where Makuta would be inclined to treat them as a bit more disposable. The time bomb effect does help with that a bit - set could have used more of that energy, IMO.

Not a deal-breaker though, still had a fun time with the set. It does feel on-brand for him to be a minion set at the end of the day, and Rahkshi are the choice there. "Cooking" the Kraata to beef them up before they get in the Rahkshi armor is cool, mechanically. There's a really good mix of weird magic stuff, manipulation, and just straight up big smashy attacks that make it feel like it'd be pretty satisfying to play.

Stray thoughts:
  • " Teridax did not win" - this plan just has some really counter-intuitive steps, alright?
  • Interesting choice not to use the Rahkshi types from the 2003 sets.
  • Really dig the shield-drop effect on Fear.
  • The playgroundy Rahkshi-layering effects feel hard to pull off and only mildly rewarding for that effort.
  • The Up Special teleport being able to put him in front or behind of the Rahkshi feels like an unnecessary twiddle. Not the worst thing in the world, just an extra option that I think adds more control complexity than value.
  • Dig the Seph influence on Neutral Special, and throughout the set to a lesser extent - good go-to for boss vibes.
  • " The initial claw swipe comes out fast and deals 2%, while the follow-up thrust deals 10% (for a total of 14%) " - ?
  • "people tennis" - nice.
  • How fast is it for Terry to do his Rahkshi command bit? Jab describes him being able to do Jab Hit 1 -> DSpec -> Tilt/Aerial
  • I'm guessing Rahkshi must avoid attacking when Makuta has an opponent grabbed? It'd be relatively easy for them to bust someone out of a grab accidentally. Could be cool if they had like a "move faster but don't attack" thing going on when Makuta has someone grabbed, especially since he has a throw that explicitly wants them nearby.
  • Really like bringing the Rahkshi in for the grabgame.
  • Hell yeah Kolhii FSmash. (I did have to google how to spell Kolhii, did not still have that one off the dome)
  • "... it’s far from useless thanks to ... " - I mean, the move in question deals up to 40% damage and kills at 70% without charge, that can forgive a lot of shortcomings.
  • The Rahkshi buffs on USmash/DSmash are cool, but they do feel a little awkwardly placed in the set?
  • Love the Neutral Aerial. Simple, on brand, cool animation, and fundamentally weird.
  • Weather Control feels like the favorite son.
  • Growing wings and not using them to fly is the new "using a sword only for a taunt".
  • I feel like the set would benefit a lot from having more of a... 'mission statement/playstyle' laid out per Rahkshi? There are some specific interactions scattered throughout but it can be a little hard to digest, and some Rahkshi go largely unmentioned in the meat of the set.
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,261
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
Kactime (Kactuar Junahu Junahu )

Kactuer is a really mixed set for me, having some pretty cool stuff and some stuff I'm less sure of. The core gameplay is pretty interesting and reminds me a LOT of my MYM12 Rattata set: A small fella wanting to build up to a big attack, in this case 100 Needles, and in doing so using quick hitting movement attacks that fling the entire body around for the dual purposes of dodgery and striking. This is for the most part reasonably effective with Kactuar's aerials feeling like a particular highlight, Back Aerial feels especially cool as a general move and for this playstyle while Up Aerial brings some old school creativity from sets like Kitaniji and prior to the mix. Stuff like the self-pitfalling Counter are kinda wild but make sense at the same time and obviously Kactuar's playstyle is very clearly defined. I like how with aerial momentum or Side Special, Kactuar gets to run 'n' gun 100 needles.

I would say that to a degree this moveset feels TOO focused in a way I don't enjoy as much akin to Min Min in Smash, where Kactuar is so focused on the one way he can win (100 Needles and to an extent offstage edgeguards) that he threatens to become boring to play repeatedly and lack room for player expression. With this level of moves so laser-focused on the same ideas it ended up feeling like there wasn't a lot of nuance to the set (since what it is focused on it does quite directly / simply which isn't a bad thing) and so it wore somewhat thin by the end. This set also has a good deal of missing info (the entire grab game, unless the images didn't load for me or something, is lacking in damage percents, multiple moves don't mention lag) that makes actually picturing the moveset a muddy and murky experience at times: Even the end appendixes don't fill in these gaps usually. I would also say it feels like a huge mistake and somewhat of a failure of organization to have a lot of this info at the very end and not either integrated into the moveset or placed into it earlier. The appendixes seem to assume a bunch of this info is obvious when a good chunk of it isn't, for example the Up Tilt interaction with ceilings compared to similar moves in Smash Brothers such as King Dedede's USpec. also the entire priority section is out of whack with how priority works in Smash.

The writing style is frequently fun and made most of this moveset a real breeze to read which was pleasant, but there were times where it felt like it's cheekiness got to the level of feeling condescending, usually when it got kinda cheeky-arrogant about very simple concepts. You definitely get the feeling of Kactuar's characterization, or Kactuarization if you will, through the moveset which I'm sure was a big goal given the huge extras section. Overall Kactuar is a solid enough set that didn't super wow me, but given it's been over 7 years since you returned I'm impressed by the quality that came out, reminding me of Kupa's Kingpin set when he returned permanently to the fold. It's definitely fun to have you back, too!

I do feel the need to commented on the Extras, which did help bump the set up some given the sheer scope and work put into them, these are all-time great extras with a lot to love here (I really liked Battle Screen II for example), but if you'll give me a moment to be somewhat critical of them (these DID have work worthy of a full set after all), I think some of these are trying a bit toooooooo hard to be unique. This is especially true on ones slapped into pre-existing items, but in general I think it is worth considering a lot of items get soft banned by casual friend groups or removed for being too "unfun" or out there. And I feel like some of them go in that direction and make me think "huh. I'd rather just turn this off than deal with this." which is not an Ideal situation for an item. Also I felt like Diabolos' match ending was too similar to Odin's and this is an issue in part because Odin's is cool because it is unique and thus plays him up. These are ultimately really good but little stuff did nag at me. I would also say the modern matchups were much better than the MUs with old sets because the old set MUs didn't feel like they really got into the old ones and missed a LOT of info we can look back on them with like on Sakuya.

Oh, yeah, and you included three secret sets in the Extras. That's pretty cool :)

Miigician (Mii Magician Junahu Junahu )

I won't be commenting Shantae because, frankly, I don't feel I have anything of value to add about her set. But Mii Magician? Surprisingly, I enjoyed this more than Kactuer itself, being a charmingly direct and simple set for exactly what it sounds like (a mage-style character to slap Miis onto) that nonetheless felt more in-depth and expressive than Kactuar. Sure, Mii Magician excels at the keepaway magic you'd expect but attacks like Up Tilt have that added utility to help give some niche situations to do different or allow some different playstyles. On top of that, a lot of Mii Magician's moves felt pretty cool! The Specials here are mostly all very interesting, the Standards create a solid spacer basis that allows moves like the Hothead-esque Forward Smash to flourish, I love little synergies like how the healing circle is good with Down Tilt and there's a lot of versatile effects here. Miis are hard to create because, by definition, they need to be broad enough to feel comfortable slapping other characters onto and Mii Magician nails that well.

Standout Moves to me include Jab (a cool "charge jab" so to speak), Forward Tilt, Down Tilt, all of the Smashes, Forward Aerial (I just love how this works into her overall aerial game both for on-stage stage spike play and FLoat-based edge guards) and Neutral Aerial among the standards. The default Up Special's brief grounded hitbox window is very clever and I like how it works with Dash Attack and Down Tilt for example. Spirit Bomb has some very cool applications, Gravity Ball feels like it allows a somewhat more melee-oriented Mii Magician, Magnetic Glove is a simple push-and-pull effect but in the set's context seems Neat, and both of the custom Side Specials feel like they could turn into even more in dedicated sets. SSpec #2 reminds me of US' Bolt Witch Victoria!

My line-up would probably be NSpec #3, USpec #1, DSpec #1 and SSpec #2 with some mixing in of SSpec #3.

On the more critical edge, Back Aerial feels very awkward on a Back Aerial and not particularly conductive to Mii Magician's playstyle (and also one of the least Mii-like attacks here), DSpec #3 is a reeeeal odd fit here but I will say I mainly dislike how touching shield at all is an insta-shield break given how instinctive that is and how huuuge of a punish that feels for a small mistake. I'd at least give a grace period to release it, or just make it do Nothing except have them do their defending shield animation w/o a bubble shield. The grab game is pretty There and ofc the set doesn't reach for any lofty goals. But overall it felt like a solidly put together and enjoyable set that I am going to wager will be making my votelist. Good work!
 
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