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"Well well well! Looks like ya delivered them Inkwell Isle 1 Contracts right on time! Good work, ya mugs! Lessee here...
Not bad at all! Ya managed to get a hold of all them debtors but them lousy Roots, huh? Don't fret about em, the boss always gets his due, heh heh.
Now where's that lousy debt collector the boss hired? That little fella with the cup head...
Ah, there ya are, ya mug! You got some Contracts to collect on, so howsabout you and me give these a quick run through, boy? Gotta make sure they're ready for the boss, y'see?"
Cuphead might seem a bit outclassed by some of the guys you’ll be reading about in a second, given his small size. Don’t underestimate him, though – he’s been granted the most remarkable magical abilities by the Elder Kettle, and now he’s ready to bring the fight to anyone, even The Devil himself! Cuphead stands about as tall as Mario, with pretty low weight. In exchange for this low defense, Cuphead shares the walking speed and air movement of the blue bomber, giving him the ability to precisely maneuver in midair. His dash is also nimble, and Cuphead boasts an above-average jumping ability.
With a tap of B, Cuphead begins rapidly snapping his fingers, firing a constant stream of blue bullets of energy. He’ll keep firing these quick, non-flinching projectiles for up to five seconds, dealing 18% if each projectile successfully hits the opponent. The stream of bullets is canceled if Cuphead shields, dodges, gets hit, grabs a ledge, or anything like that, but keeps going even in the middle of normal attack / Special Move animations. Each individual projectile disappears upon traveling one FD length, or upon hitting something. You can’t aim your projectiles, unlike in the original game, and the main thing is making sure you line your shots up to get as much damage as possible while playing a bit of keep-away.
Use Neutral B again while snappy firing to cancel the snappy fire prematurely and use your EX shot: a big blue blast of energy that’s fired in an exaggerated motion with two hands. It travels at the speed of Ryu’s fastest Hadoken, has infinite range, and deals 12% and solid launching knockback. It won’t really KO unless your foe is either at super-high damage or near the blast zone, but can set up for combos if you run behind it quickly enough. Speaking of combos, you can cancel into an EX shot even if you’re in the middle of an attack animation, so it allows for fun follow-ups off of your melee hits. You can only use the EX if you’re already snappy firing, so make sure you do it before the five seconds are up!
Snappy fire does have one limitation: starting Neutral B requires one Super Card. Getting one of those Super Cards is easy enough, fortunately: you just need to land any melee attack on the opponent. After you do that, the card will begin hovering above your head, spinning around slowly. Here’s the thing. You start off every match with a light blue Super Card, matching the color of the energy shots I’ve just described (Peashooter and Peashooter EX). After that, though, its color is randomized between that shade of blue, and five other colors. These cards change the weapon you use on your next use of Neutral B, and are listed below. Note that once you already have a Super Card in your possession, landing more attacks has no effect.
Red: Say hello to the Spreadshot! You’ll now fire three triangular bullets for each single bullet you’d fire with the Peashooter: one straight forward, one downward at a 45* angle, and one upward at a 45* angle. Each bullet only has 1.5 platforms of range before diappearing, dealing 0.7x the damage of a Peashooter bullet individually. The name of the game here is close-range keep-away. If you’re really close to the foe, you can hit the foe with two or even three bullets at once, dealing tons of damage! Plus, you’ve also got way more vertical range to work with (granted, the Peashooter doesn’t set the bar high here).
As for the Spreadshot EX, you’ll fire eight larger red triangles, one in each of the eight directions. They have infinite range, and each one deals 8% and weak Sakurai Angle knockback with abnormally high hitlag (freeze frames). At close range, you can hit foes with multiple of these at once, adding not only damage but also lots of hitlag for easy follow-ups and continued pressure. It also covers a variety of angles, obviously. By the way, each different weapon uses the same animations as the Peashooter (for both the normal and EX shot), just like in the original game.
Green: For even easier aiming, give the Chaser a whirl. These green, star-shaped shots travel a bit more slowly than Peashooter rounds. You also fire only three per second, and deal 0.75x the overall DPS. However, they have the huge benefit of homing in on opponents! The homing is considerably more functional than something like Samus’s missiles, and can even wrap around to hit foes who are *very* slightly behind Cuphead. You do still have to aim in the general direction of the foe, though, if they’re at any horizontal distance from you. Still, the Chaser allows you to be a lot more diverse with your movement when playing keep-away, without really worrying about aiming.
Chaser EX is pretty unconventional. You’ll fire four Chaser shots forward at once. One curves slightly down, one further down, one slightly up, and one further up, forming a bit of a “wall” in front of you to hit any opponents in front of you. These larger shots deal 2% each and flinching, and also don’t disappear upon hitting something. After that, they’ll loop back around and fly toward Cuphead, spinning around him to form a Leaf Shield-style barrier! The rules are pretty much the same, except Cuphead is free to attack while it’s active, and this barrier lasts for a whole twenty seconds if it’s not destroyed. This even includes using other Neutral B weapons, if you’re able to set that up! If you manage to get a Super Card with Chaser EX active, it really helps with keep-away.
Purple: Here’s a more down-to-earth weapon, the Lobber. You’ll fire only two of these purple bouncy balls per second, each one dealing 2.5% and no flinching. They behave similarly to Mario’s fireballs, but they bounce quite a bit higher if fired from high up. They disappear upon hitting the ground for a third time (so they can bounce twice), or upon hitting something. Lobber shots are pretty much designed for aerial keep-away, since they allow you to rain down fire from above even on a grounded opponent.
Lobber EX is basically just a big, Kirby-sized Lobber shot, which bounces identically but explodes on impact! It deals 17% and KOs at around 120% on average, pretty dang powerful at the cost of increased startup and a potentially awkward bouncing trajectory. Use this EX move wisely! One fun property is the fact that you can launch Lobber EX’s projectile by hitting it with any attack, sending it flying at high speeds to burst on impact! By the by, since the Lobber fires once per half-second, you could try counting to nine of those in order to make sure you don’t wait more than five seconds to fire your EX.
Orange: Feeling feisty? The Charge shot is for you. To fire this weapon, Cuphead gathers energy in his fingers, snapping them after one second passes to fire an orange burst of energy forward. You only shoot five projectiles here, one per second. In exchange, these things pack a wallop, dealing 9% and even *very* weak backward knockback! It doesn’t actually launch foes, just causing them to reel back a bit, but that’s miles more than your other weapons can really offer in terms of stopping approaches. So make every shot count! And if you’re feeling really confident, you could try incorporating these blasts into the middle of a combo string or pressure setup.
As for the EX, it’s an explosion right at your fingertips! It’s 1 SBB in diameter, dealing 15% and strong vertical KO knockback. Don’t count on hitting a far-off foe with this one. But on the flipside, anyone in close-range is gonna be toast… unless they can catch this move’s noticeable startup. If you time your EX right when Cuphead would’ve fired one of the standard shots (i.e. when he’s fully charged), the startup actually gets reduced! But are you willing to take that gamble if you’re on your last of five shots, risking losing the chance to use the EX at all if you press B too late?
Cyan: Alright, last one here, and we’re coming full circle. Not metaphorically, but literally, since we’ve got the Roundabout! This disc-like projectile only flies a platform length in front of Cuphead at first, before curving back around and boomeranging around the way they came! They have infinite range after turning around, so you should basically aim backward for maximum distance. It deals the same DPS as the Peashooter, firing only twice per second but offsetting that with increased damage on each shot. In exchange for having to aim backwards, the Roundabout allows you to cover both in front and behind in some ways. Also, each shot is delayed, which means you don’t have immediate access to an area on-demand, but might be an advantage in and of itself if you use it cleverly.
Roundabout EX is a cyan buzzsaw! Throw it forward, and it’ll fly a platform’s distance ahead before returning to Cuphead and then disappearing. (It doesn’t have infinite backward range or anything.) This EX move deals lots of rapid hits, launching the opponent upward with weak, combo-ready knockback upon beginning to return to Cuphead. If you trap opponents for the whole duration of the move, it deals up to 13%. More valuable, though, is the follow-up potential, since Cuphead is free to move after letting the buzzsaw loose! Go wild.
The prevalent theme here is that each weapon changes up your keep-away, damage-racking game. Whether it’s affecting your effective range, changing your rate of fire, or even having you aim straight backward, you’ll need to adapt to whichever Super Card you draw from the deck.
Cuphead does a flying dash to the side immediately when you press Side B, traveling one platform width at high speeds. If you cupdash in the air, Cuphead won’t fall until finishing the dash. You’ll also retain all of a cupdash’s momentum in the air, meaning you’ll fly at high speeds in your normal aerial state. Just keep in mind that you can only cupdash in midair once before landing, grabbing a ledge, or getting hit.
The best part about a cupdash is probably the freedom you have when canceling it into other actions. On the ground, you can use a grounded attack or a jump after you’re at least halfway through the cupdash, retaining the momentum into a sliding attack or a far-flying leap. You can even cancel it into another cupdash if you’re grounded! Only once in a row, though.
In the air, you can cancel it into any aerial attack, a midair jump, or a fastfall after traveling only one third of the cupdash’s distance. Also, if you hold backward during a cupdash, you can come out of it facing the other direction – an invaluable way to retreat away from a foe with a cupdash while still aiming your Neutral B fire in the opponent’s direction.
Cupdash also has a teeny tiny hitbox at the very start of the move. It’s small and kinda hard to land, about as small as Rest’s hitbox. It deals 5% and pops opponents forward and upward, which is pretty awesome for combos or rapid-fire shield pressure. It takes some practice, though!
An invaluable mobility tool, cupdash gives Cuphead an awesome way to stay in the air while also moving horizontally. That really comes into play with certain weapons, such as the Lobber and the Chaser. Both of those weapons can hit foes who are in front of and below you, so try using a cupdash to extend your airtime! Or just use the cupdash for its sheer speed and ability to add aerial or sliding momentum to your attack of choice.
Tap Up B, and a little airplane appears beneath you in a poof of smoke! You’ll pilot it around for free flight, with super-snappy movement in eight directions at Jigglypuff’s air speed. It lasts for two seconds before disappearing and sending Cuphead into helpless. You can cancel it early by pressing jump, which also sends you into helpless. Press B while riding the plane to use your Neutral B, whether that means starting your rapid-fire or using an EX shot. Both of those now come from the plane, by the by, with EX shots using the “wing hand” animation from the game.
Press A during Up B, and you’ll turn the plane into a missile bomb which then flies forward and explodes on impact! It goes as fast as Villager’s gyroid when he’s riding it, complete with speed control plus the ability to move slowly up or down to aim at foes. The explosion upon hitting a foe (or traveling the max distance, identical to the gyroid) deals 11% and upward-forward combo knockback. Cuphead himself, if you successfully hit a foe, “jumps” up out of the plane like Villager would, ready to follow up on the explosion. If you miss, you’ll fall helplessly with high endlag and landing lag, so be careful.
Press and hold shield to shrink your plane into a tiny bomb-looking thing! You move a tiny bit more slowly, and can’t fire any Neutral B shots during this period. In exchange, you become a much smaller target! You even have a few intangibility frames right when you begin to shrink, perfect for dodging attacks. There’s a .66-second cap on shrinking.
Generally, the plane is not only good for recovery, but also general keep-away. It’s not a “get-out-of-engagement-free card,” since you do have that helpless state to worry about – but it gives you tons of aerial mobility while letting you pelt the foe with Neutral B fire. Also, you won’t turn around in the plane unless you smash the control stick backward, so you can easily retreat while firing.
Cuphead begins to tuck and tumble around in midair as he glows pink, preceded by a little hop if he was standing on the ground. For the next half-second, Cuphead retains this animation, retaining all aerial movement and any momentum he had before the move began. After the main hitbox (the subject of the following paragraph), if Cuphead hasn’t landed the parry, he’ll suffer lengthy ending lag. The landing lag is pretty low, though, so it’s mainly disadvantageous offstage.
After that half-second, Cuphead gains a little hitbox at close-range. If this hitbox lands, Cuphead does a quick-spinning attack using his straw (matching the parry animation from the game), creating a SBB-wide pink burst hitbox around the point of impact, which deals 12% and pops up foes with very, very low scaling, about the height of a full grounded jump. Cuphead, simultaneously, bounces upward a similar height with no lag whatsoever, able to follow up easily with an aerial attack.
That’s pretty useful, but anyone who’s played Cuphead will tell you that you’re mostly parrying projectiles in that game. So in Smash, Cuphead can parry projectiles as well as opponents! The convenient thing, though, is that you can parry projectiles throughout the ENTIRE pink-glowing animation, which lasts for half a second. If Cuphead contacts a projectile at any point during Down B, he’ll parry it, acting identically to parrying an opponent. The blast hitbox hits nearby opponents to start a neat combo.
To clarify, by the by, if you want to parry an opponent, you still need to wait until the END of the move. Parrying projectiles, conversely can be done at any point.
Cuphead can parry his own projectiles, too. In fact, during the Down B animation, Cuphead’s own Neutral B projectiles will turn pink and freeze in place! They’ll resume their movement once the move ends, but until then, they’re stationary targets for you to parry more easily. Frozen projectiles lose their hitbox, which is one downside. Note that if you parry any non-EX Neutral B shot, the burst’s damage is reduced to 6%, and it no longer deals flinching or knockback (since those rapid-fire shots are super-easy to parry). The exception here is the Charge shot, which deals the full 12% and combo knockback!
Parrying non-EX, non-Charge shots can still be handy for the mobility aspect of the bounce, but note that Cuphead can only parry up to three times in midair before landing or getting hit. If you use Down B again after this, Cuphead won’t glow pink, as a little visual indicator. Also, during Down B, your Neutral B rapid-fire is paused.
Some of those EX shots have pretty neat applications when parrying. The leaf-shield-like Chaser EX is always at Cuphead’s current position, so it basically gives you an instant parry without having to aim at a projectile. In exchange, this eats up all four of the little bullets in one parry. Roundabout EX’s buzzsaw stays in place for quite a while, so you can delay your parry a bit if you want / need to.
Spreadshot EX gives you eight different projectiles to parry, all flying in different directions, and they don’t move too quickly – so there’s a ton of versatility here. And Lobber EX’s bouncing trajectory means you might be able to land a high-altitude parry with relative ease! One more tip – try cupdashing into a parry to catch up with certain projectiles after firing them.
Just use your parry wisely, since it’s one of Cuphead’s best assets but also takes skill to use.
Neutral Air
.
In the same animation used for parrying in the original game, Cuphead does a super-quick somersault and attacks with his straw as it cartoonishly bends and stretches out. Neutral Air hits all around Cuphead, but packs extra power in range in front and diagonally down-forward. That sweetspot deals 10% and moderate Sakurai Angle knockback, while the rest deals 7% and weak upward knockback.
Neutral Air is very quick in all regards, so it’s an awesome close range poke or combo extender. Depending on the situation and the opponent’s percent, it can be beneficial to hit with either the sweetspot or the sourspot! This move also gives Cuphead a good option to escape pressure, whether it’s out of shield with a shorthop or as an aerial combo breaker.
If you connect with Neutral Air’s sweetspot, Cuphead bounces up on hit with the height of a shorthop. This allows for easier follow-ups since you chase the vertical component of the foe’s diagonally upward knockback. If you want to avoid bouncing, just hold down on the control stick! Handy for punishing airdodges after the Neutral Air with a grounded attack, for example, or for combos at lower percents. The choice is yours.
Neutral Air’s sweetspot also has the special property of “trample priority,” seen in moves like Palutena’s back air and dash attack. Basically, unlike most aerials, which have effectively transcendent priority (except against projectiles), this sweetspot can collide with other moves. And like Palutena’s protective mirror shield, it’ll nullify them entirely! The TL;DR is that if Cuphead hits either a projectile or an enemy hitbox with Neutral Air’s sweetspot, he’ll nullify the projectile / enemy hitbox, and also get that bounce mentioned in the previous paragraph. So it’s pretty similar to how parrying works in Cuphead! Note that if you nullify an enemy’s hitbox with Neutral Air, the Neutral Air won’t actually hit them.
Forward Air
.
Cuphead does a sort of dropkick forward with both legs as he leans back, kinda like a reversed Mario Bros. back air. This quick-ish kick deals 10% initially, with good range thanks to a hint of cartoonish stretching, and launches opponents at a semi-spike angle with decent power. Forward Air’s hitbox lingers for a little bit, too, dealing 6% after the initial sweetspot along with mild Sakurai Angle knockback.
Forward Air is an awesome poke in neutral, thanks to its decent speed, range, and slight lingering hitbox. It’s safe on shield if spaced at maximum range, and grants Cuphead a handy semi-spike that sets up tech-chases or edgeguards. Try using it to finish off a combo!
Of course, one area where Forward Air sees a lot of use is in Cuphead’s keep-away game, given its role as a ranged poke. If you’re using a projectile that aims straight forward, such as the Peashooter, then shorthop Forward Air is your friend! Just note that, while it does autocancel, Cuphead can’t act until he lands on the ground, meaning there’s a lot of effective “ending lag” to a buffered Forward Air – and the opponent has a good window during that to punish you if you whiff or space badly on a shield. So try mixing things up by delaying your Forward Air and using it just before landing.
Back Air
.
Cuphead leans backward with force to attack with his head, dealing 9% at melee range with decent knockback at a diagonally downward-backward angle. It’s pretty great for edgeguarding, but the real star here is the milk that flies out of his cup head, It’s basically a “projectile” of sorts in the form of a big splash of milk, covering a wide area and falling downward with some backward momentum. It deals 5% and mild Sakurai Angle knockback, launching opponents in the direction of the Back Air.
So if you want a move that screams “vertical wall,” look no further! In neutral, in edgeguarding, and even in catching airdodges mid-combo, Back Air’s super-unorthodox range is an asset. As far as Neutral B keep-away, your Roundabout really enjoys having Back Air on its side! You’re gonna be facing away from the opponent, so it’s lucky that you’ve got such a wall of a Back Air, eh? Just note that Back Air doesn’t autocancel from a shorthop, so you’re gonna suffer some lag. It autocancels from a full grounded jump if you buffer it, but that’s still a lot of airtime that the foe might be able to punish.
Back Air is also eligible to be parried, and frozen in place, by your Down B! If you jump from the ground and use Back Air, you usually won’t be able to parry it, since it’ll have hit the ground by the time you’re able to use Down B. However, using Back Air from about the height of a full jump → double jump WILL get you enough height! It’s a great way to set up that awesomely useful parry burst hitbox without having to use an EX shot (which requires a Super Card).
Speaking of Super Cards, by the by, Back Air’s milk hitbox won’t give you one if it connects, since it’s a projectile. That melee hitbox will, though! Y’know, the one I talked about for all of five seconds before and then proceeded to entirely ignore in favor of the milk hitbox? Yeah, that one.
His straw turning into an axe shape, Cuphead does a similar motion to Neutral Air, but facing more towards the camera and with exaggerated wind-up. This only hits below and “inside of” Cuphead, lacking the all-around coverage of Neutral Air, and takes longer to come out. In exchange, it deals a meaty 15% and meteor smashes opponents!
The offstage applications of Down Air are pretty obvious, but its uses onstage are also pretty nice. Down Air autocancels from a shorthop, despite its wind-up, due to early autocancel frames. This is also very useful if you just land with Down Air from a high altitude!
Down Air has the same bouncing property as Neutral Air’s sweetspot, which opens up a few more options. If you’re high up and trying to harass the foe with something like a Lobber or Chaser, it keeps Cuphead in the air (best combined with Side B and Up B) while sending the opponent back down to the ground!
As a meteor smash, Down Air also forces a tech on grounded opponents (or on aerial ones spiked into the ground). Due to the bounce, you’ll likely be able to drift sideways to chase the foe’s tech roll option and punish with a Forward Air or Back Air before landing! Or if you want, you could always hold down to cancel the bounce and use a grounded option instead, since it autocancels and all that.
In a slightly bizarre move, Cuphead grabs his own head by the handle and tosses it upward, spinning around and flying 1.25 Cuphead heights upward before returning to his shoulders. Note that this is a canned animation, not a projectile – so the head follows Cuphead’s left and right movement, and instantly snaps back to position if Cuphead lands or gets hit (or if the animation is otherwise canceled). Also, on that note, Cuphead’s head is intangible during this attack.
Anyway, Up Air deals lots of rapid hits, from the time it’s thrown to the moment it lands back on Cuphead’s shoulders. It drags foes along for a maximum of 10% if they’re trapped throughout the whole move, and at the end, they’re sent weakly straight downward.
Up Air boasts incredible disjointed reach above Cuphead, so it’s a supreme anti-air option. It’s not a traditional juggling tool, though, since it sends foes downward at the end. Instead, it’s meant to bring aerial foes down to the ground, which is where the trajectories of Cuphead’s distinctly non-upward projectiles can do their job. You can also combo into other moves, such as Neutral Air or sometimes Forward Air. And if you read an airdodge after using Up Air at a decent height, you could use a Down Air to punish the dodge’s lag!
When recovering, try using Up Air to deter foes from coming down and hitting you. Since your Up B goes so far, you don’t really have to worry about falling too far down from the Up Air’s lag.
Jab
Cuphead points boldly forward and snaps his fingers, with a more emphasized motion than the Neutral B fire and an audible sound effect that doubles as a taunt. It’s slightly on the slow side compared to other jabs, but in exchange, has super-handy knockback that pops foes straight up and slightly forward, while dealing 6%. Jab boasts super-low ending lag, too, so you can follow up really easily! At low percents, you might not get a true combo, but it does still come with a 100% guarantee of being safe on hit, and can still allow for a mixup. At high percents, it begins comboing into something like certain tilts or a Neutral Air.
Up Tilt
.
With a little hop, Cuphead swings his head in a forward arc above him, very similarly to Pacman’s up tilt. It’s quicker than that move, though, just a touch slower than Mario’s up tilt. It deals 6% and moderate upward knockback with low-ish scaling. At low percents, it barely sends foes upward, allowing you to land a second Up Tilt before the foe goes out of reach. Foes with high damage get sent higher up, at a height where you can hit them by leaping upward with an aerial. Try using Up Air to follow up on this move!
Up Tilt actually has a decent bit of disjointed range to it, so it makes for a good anti-air option too. Use it to start advantage states off an opening in a foe’s defenses! Maybe perfect-pivot toward a foe, since the hitbox starts behind you? Who knows, this move is pretty generic so you can use it in a lot of different ways.
Forward Tilt
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Cuphead pulls his own straw out of his head, gripping it by the bendy bit almost like some sort of firearm! He points it forward more like a rapier, though, in a bit of an arcing motion kinda like Marth’s forward smash but it stops at shoulder height instead of arm height. Forward Tilt boasts big range in front of Cuphead, about the length of Toon Link’s sword, dealing 9% and moderate horizontal knockback.
Forward Tilt is an awesome poke, but it’s not actually safe on shield unless you space it really well. To cover that weakness, you can press A a second time while the straw is extended to have Cuphead “pull the trigger” like a gun, squeezing trapped milk out of the straw and sending it forward as an even further-reaching hitbox that deals 5% and weak Sakurai Angle knockback.
So if you hit a shield with Forward Tilt, you can use this second hit as a mixup to catch foes who try to retaliate! But the follow-up itself also has some endlag, so if the foe holds shield, they’ll block it for a punish. Long story short, it’s a mixup between pulling the trigger and not pulling the trigger.
Down Tilt
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Gripping his head by the handle kinda like Up Air, Cuphead doesn’t throw it this time, instead just pouring it in front of him in a fancy, old-timey motion. ...Y’know, like how an old cartoon character would’ve done it. The motion itself is forceful enough to deal 3% and weak flinching, but there’s a milk hitbox here, so let’s talk about that instead.
Milk flows out of the cup, covering the ground for 1 SBB in front of Cuphead and pushing foes back while dealing 4% more. It even pushes back shielding foes with its windbox, uniquely! Try using this to get foes away from you, maybe to set up for your keep-away? The initial melee hit has super-high shieldstun, to the point where the foe can’t drop their shield until they’re just about out of the milk stream, so it’s better than it might otherwise be for spacing or being safe on hit. (Hey look, I talked about the melee hit this time!)
Dash Attack
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Cuphead does a quick tuck-and-roll in his spinning jumping animation from the game, traveling 1.3 platform distances at high speeds before coming to a stop at the end (or transitioning to a walk if you’re holding sideways on the stick). It deals 8% and pops opponents straight up, with pretty low lag on both ends. So it’s awesome for starting aerial combos! However, Dash Attack has “negative disjoint.” To be clear on what that means, here’s a rundown of disjoint real quick.
Disjoint basically means that an attack’s hitbox (the thing that hits things), or *part* of that hitbox, has no hurtbox (the thing that gets hit by hitboxes) within it. Normally, “a disjointed move” means something like Marth’s sword. It can hit opponents, but opponents can’t aim at the sword to damage Marth, so it’s “disjointed.” Thing is, in most moves such as punches, there’s also a little bit of disjoint, since the hitbox is a bit bigger than the hurtbox. And some moves might have more disjoint than others, in this way, such as Jigglypuff’s infamous back air in Melee.
Negative disjoint, seen in a few moves such as Sonic’s spindash, is basically the opposite of disjoint: the hurtbox is bigger than the hitbox. In other words, the “target” of Sonic’s body that foes can hit is bigger than the spindash hitbox, which is the thing that Sonic needs to hit the opponent with.
So to bring this back to Cuphead, all that is to say that basically, if you aim at Cuphead with a move while he’s in the middle of Dash Attack, chances are you’ll succeed in hitting him out of his tuck-and-roll. Didn’t really need two paragraphs of explanation I guess, but gotta fulfill that contract quota somehow, eh?
Up Smash
. Facing toward the screen, Cuphead crouches down a little bit as he charges this attack. He fills from bottom to top with a red tint as a kettle sound plays, climbing higher and higher – and you know what’s coming next. Release the charge, and the liquid in Cuphead’s mug turns to steam and blasts straight up in almost a mini-mushroom cloud! It’s got a lot of vertical reach, and deals a base of 17% with strong upward knockback. Like Marth’s up smash, there are also hitboxes at Cuphead’s feet which deal 1% and serve to send grounded foes into the main hitbox.
Up Smash is Cuphead’s strongest kill move, especially when charged! To compensate, it has punishable ending lag, as well as extremely limited horizontal reach. And since Up Air is anything but a juggling tool, Cuphead has a bit of a harder time keeping foes above him to set up for an Up Smash. Still, it’s still an invaluable punish tool due to its sheer power, and since it’s an Up Smash, you can use it out of a dash! In fact, try using it out of a cupdash for even more sliding momentum.
Up Smash also releases a cloud of steam which continues to float upward after the move ends, traveling really slowly and being completely transcendent (as in, it doesn’t interact with other objects). Your Down B works on this cloud, both freezing it in place and parrying off of it! So try using it for setups after launching a foe upward with Up Smash. In this way, Up Smash still has a big reward even below kill percents, since it launches the foe upward while also giving Cuphead a parry target in that same area!
Down Smash
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Cuphead faces the screen and bows to the camera, leaning so far forward with the bow that he begins to spill milk all over the stage. It spreads to either side of Cuphead, reaching a distance of up to 2.5 SBB. Release this charge, and Cuphead spins around from his bow, facing away from the camera and doing a “muscle flexing” pose with both arms, thrusting them upward. This itself deals a base of 5% damage, but the milk he spilled also thrusts itself upward to match, dealing a base of 11% and pretty strong upward knockback!
Down Smash’s milk hitbox takes the form of two geysers of milk, forming at the very ends of the puddle spilled milk. At higher and higher charges, they grow in size and begin to more closely resemble arms + fists. At maximum charge, they cover a height of 1.75 Cupheads! However, since they only hit at the very end of the milk puddle, there’s also a blind spot between Cuphead and either fist, so foes at just the right distance might be able to evade this move entirely. It’s pretty risky, though.
This move has surprisingly low ending lag, meaning you can actually combo off of the melee hitbox in some scenarios! This also gives Cuphead a good ability to trap landings after launching the foe upward with the milk hitbox. However, Down Smash suffers from super-long startup lag, especially since its huge range only comes into play when it’s charged. As a result, Down Smash is almost exclusively for hard reads or punishes. In that regard, its range really makes it shine!
The geysers of milk from Down Smash, at higher charges, actually stick around for about half a second after the move ends. They have no hitbox or other direct effect (e.g. they’re not a wall), but you can parry off of them! So Down Smash, in exchange for long windup, gives Cuphead a huge. ranged hitbox to either side of himself, and also generates two parry targets to work with! At low percents, try using a parry to catch an opponent if they, for example, try to airdodge after getting hit by Down Smash.
Forward Smash
. Cuphead pulls his fist backward as his arm stretches further and further back, while his fist grows noticeably in size. Release the charge and he’ll send his fist flying forward, growing a bit more in this process! Forward Smash deals a base of 15%, and boasts surprisingly decent startup and endlag. The attack’s hitbox size and range also increase with charge, as Cuphead’s fist gets bigger and his arm stretches further.
Oddly, however, Forward Smash actually doesn’t have a lot of knockback. At low percents it’ll keep the foe close by (but is by no means unsafe on hit), while at high percents it launches the foe a short distance. If you charge the move, it’ll have more killing power.
If you’re looking to get something done with Forward Smash, you’ll want to use it during your Neutral B fire, where it actually gains a different effect depending on which weapon you have active! This “consumes” your Neutral B, ending the rapid-fire just like an EX shot does.
Peashooter envelops the fist in a blue glow, adding powerful knockback more befitting of a Smash Attack. The aura also adds a tiny bit of extra reach to the move. This is the most basic upgrade to Forward Smash, so I’ll also use this space to mention that an uncharged Forward Smash isn’t safe on shield due to endlag. If you charge it, extra shieldstun, shield pushback, and range can make it really hard to punish.
Spreadshot gives Cuphead two extra, smaller fists made of red energy in addition to the main one, covering a lot of vertical space! They only deal two-thirds of the damage and reduced knockback, but are completely disjointed and thus turn Forward Smash into a way to cover foes who try to get aggressive. Try using it to punish foes who try to attack you when you get in their face. And with the close-ranged Spreadshot weapon, that’s something you’ll probably be doing quite often!
Chaser leaves the initial punch on Forward Smash unchanged, but instead adds an extra follow-up hit. After the punch, Cuphead’s fist takes aim at the nearest opponent and does a second, identical punch with a range of up to 1 SBB from the first punch’s ending point, Cuphead’s arm curving cartoonishly to allow for this. So basically, if a foe evades your Forward Smash, this upgrade gives you a second shot at hitting them!
Lobber makes Cuphead rebound further backward after hitting an opponent with Forward Smash. This mainly makes the move way safer on shield, since you bounce backward to avoid punishes from the opponent. If you successfully hit an opponent (not their shield), Lobber gives Forward Smash earlier IASA frames. IASA, or Interruptible As Soon As, frames are basically the window where a move starts being cancelable into something else. So here, it basically reduces the endlag, which means that even though you bounce backward on hit, you can still keep the pressure up.
The Charge weapon gives Forward Smash a second hit, much like the Chaser, but this comes in the form of a big explosion! It deals a base 7%, and is a true-combo off of the initial Forward Smash punch. It KOs strongly, and adds to Forward Smash’s already solid damage output! However, this upgrade actually adds some endlag to Forward Smash. Use it wisely, or else you’ll get punished hard.
Roundabout extends the initial punch, in that after traveling its normal distance, the fist then boomerangs back to Cuphead with a second hitbox! Each hitbox is only half as damaging, but you’re gonna hit with both of them most of the time as a true combo, so you get the same damage output. The second hit serves a couple of purposes. On a successful hit, the foe is launched back toward Cuphead by the second return hit, which allows him to follow up with something like Jab or Up Tilt. And on shield, the second hit can catch foes who drop shield prematurely in hopes of punishing Cuphead!
Grab
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Cuphead grabs his opponent the old-fashioned way, holding them with one hand as his mouth grows into a devilish grin. Your grab is quick, but has quite limited range, meaning you’ll need to get up close and aggressive to land a grab. Like most pivot grabs, though, Cuphead’s pivot grab has extra range, and for him, it’s accompanied by a cartoonishly stretchy arm. Cuphead pummels an opponent by pulling the foe towards himself and slamming them into his head, dealing 3% in an average-length animation.
Note that during Cuphead’s grab and throws, Neutral B’s rapid-fire is paused.
Forward Throw
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Cuphead flings the foe at a diagonally upward angle for 5%, launching them a moderate-short distance into the air. Simultaneously, he reaches into his pocket and throws two oversized, cartoonish dice from the Devil’s casino! The troublesome little scamp must’ve stolen a couple of them on his way out. These dice are about half as tall as a crate, and hit the foe for a guaranteed 3% extra and moderate upward knockback. After that, they fall down to the ground, landing 0.5 and 1.25 platforms in front of Cuphead respectively if you’re on even ground. So the end result of Forward Throw is that two dice sit on the ground in front of Cuphead, while the foe finds themselves in the air right above ‘em.
You might be expecting those dice to give some sort of RNG bonus effect. Unfortunately, though, Cuphead always rolls snake eyes, without fail – these things really are rigged! Instead, Cuphead’s dice serve as things to knock around with attacks. They have floaty physics and low-ish “weight,” so you can send them a good distance with any hit. Cuphead’s own Dash Attack is perfect for hitting both of them straight up toward the opponent, and in only one attack! A launched die deals 7% and light upward knockback, and either Cuphead or his opponent can use the dice.
Once a die has been launched up into the air, you can of course parry it! It’ll freeze in place and everything, making it an easy target. You can parry a die when it’s just lying on the ground, but if you do that, you’ll get the weaker parry that only deals 6% and no flinching / knockback. So you’ve gotta launch the die to get the full power of the parry! Also note that a die will disappear after hitting the ground for a second time, or after seven seconds of existing.
Up Throw
Leaning forward a bit, Cuphead lifts the foe up and then sucks them into his straw. Then, putting a thumb in his mouth, he blows with all his might, forcing air out of his straw and launching the foe upward! This kill throw deals 9%, and KOs at around 150% on middleweights. Definitely a scary kill option! At low percents, it also serves as an awesome setup for aerial follow-ups, since Cuphead doesn’t have a ton of ending lag after this move. Since you don’t have any true combos off of Up Throw, there’s nothing stopping the foe from airdodging to avoid an attack – but then, that’s what Up Smash is for. Punishing airdodges is pretty much its job description.
Down Throw
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Cuphead slams the foe onto the ground forcefully, and then the fight erupts into one of those smoke-cloud fights you see in a lot of old cartoons. A cloud of smoke covering the whole things, limbs momentarily appearing from the chaos, and a victor and a loser emerging as the smoke clears. Here, Cuphead is entirely in control, since the only damage and knockback taken are by the opponent – 9% (over the course of several hits) and combo knockback diagonally up and in front of Cuphead.
You’ll want to follow up Down Throw with some kind of aerial, usually; Forward Air works best thanks to its range. Now, the opponent can always DI away from Cuphead to escape any possible follow-ups… so what gives? Well, Down Throw has a neat property: by holding left or right during Down Throw’s animation, Cuphead can choose which way the foe gets launched! In this way, you can trick the opponent’s DI and make them DI the wrong way, opening them up for damaging follow-ups.
To explain that further, say Cuphead is facing to the right when he grabs an opponent. If Cuphead does a normal Down Throw, the foe will get launched to the right. If the foe DIs away (in this case, to the right), they’ll escape a Forward Air or other potential follow-up. If the foe doesn’t DI at all (control stick neutral), they’ll be susceptible to a Forward Air and a couple other potential follow-ups. If they DI in (to the left), they’ll be vulnerable to even more combos, like a Jab for example, since they’re bringing themselves toward Cuphead. In this situation, from the opponent’s perspective, holding right > holding neutral > holding left.
If Cuphead taps left on the control stick during Down Throw, he’ll launch them to the left rather than to the right. As a result, what was previously Di in is now DI away, and vice-versa. So now, for the opponent, holding left > holding neutral > holding right. This is at odds with the earlier example, so if the foe guesses wrong and tries to DI away, they’re in some trouble! The foe also has the choice to DI neutral, which guarantees a “decent” punish for Cuphead but guarantees that he can’t get a more powerful close-range punish (which would require DI in).
Back Throw
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Last throw here, and so far, we’ve been focusing a bit on more “advanced” throws. Cuphead, though, is also a fan of just giving foes a big walloping, so he’s gonna let off some steam in Back Throw. Holding the foe on the opposite side of his body (i.e. in the direction you input the Back Throw), he winds up his other fist and then delivers a meaty punch to the opponent’s face! This deals a huge 15% on a throw, and sends the foe staggering / sliding backward across the ground for about one Battlefield platform, varying noticeably with percent.
Cuphead has a small frame advantage here (he can act a bit sooner than the opponent can), but due to the distance between him and the foe, he’s not able to get any guaranteed follow-ups. Instead, the name of the game here is setting up pressure. Cuphead can do a Forward Air right after a Back Throw to make the opponent defend against his pressure, and change up his strategy depending on which defensive option the foe chooses. Near the ledge, Back Throw can force a ledge slip, just like other moves that send the foe reeling back across the ground. On a platform above the stage, this can force an untechable tumble and a guaranteed prone state against non-floaty characters, but Cuphead also doesn't have the best locking tools to take advantage of this like some other characters can.
Cuphead’s got the Smash Ball! Time to use one of those Super Arts from the game, and this one’s a doozy. In Cuphead, a Super Art is your most powerful technique. While EX shots require a single Super Card, Super Arts require that you use five – the maximum you can hold at a time! In Smash, the moment Cuphead grabs the Smash Ball, five Super Cards begin to hover above his head instead of the usual one.
Press B, and Cuphead spins around rapidly while turning 90* in the direction you’re facing, then unleashes a giant torrent of milk from his head! It’s as big as Samus’s Zero Laser both in thickness and length (infinite), and in exchange for a lack of aiming and shorter duration, it deals a whopping 72.5% and is pretty much guaranteed to KO any opponent instantly! It’s a bombastic finisher to be sure.
Goopy Le Grande is one of the first bosses in Cuphead. Goopy Le Grande is arguably the easiest boss in the game who isn't the Root Vegetables, a boss fight that is practically a tutorial, and this is largely from his lack of attacks and easy to dodge patterns. Goopy's only means of attack are jumping across the fairly large arena and at times, will stop to do a very telegraphed attack, an exaggerated headbutt, that can be dodged from close range leaving Goopy open to massive counter damage. Goopy's transformations are perhaps the most direct of all the bosses as he takes a pill that greatly increases his size, giving less room for the player to keep out of the way of his jumps. His slow attack, now a boxing glove punch, is marginally improved and he can delay his jumps or extend them on Expert.
Goopy's final form is a giant tombstone that falls from the sky and crushes Goopy, apparently being the same character and is merely a cartoonish transformation. The tombstone will dash back and forth across the stage in the background before slamming down onto the foreground. This has a massive hitbox but is even more telegraphed than the headbutt or punch. The tombstone is so slow and easy to dodge, the hard part is hitting him in the background as most of his model is now invulnerable besides Goopy's face that comes to life where the deceased's name would usually be written. Once he's dealt enough damage, Goopy's tombstone splits in two and he is defeated. Goopy is not shown at the good ending of the game (spoilers!) so it's possible he really did die as one of the only real casualties of the game.
Goopy's character isn't too elaborated on in Cuphead, but his animations give some insight. As a blue slime he may be a reference to Dragon Quest. He starts the fight by bowing his "hat" to Cuphead/Mugman, and has a very aloof expression throughout the fight, this changes to a more smug then angry expression for his second and third phases respectively. This might imply on top of a size increase, the pill popped by Goopy increased his intelligence too, and obviously upon death he became vengeful towards Cuphead/Mugman. When you consider that much more threatening bosses didn't kill themselves in the process of defending their contract, it only further shows that Goopy isn't the smartest guy around in the three isles of Cuphead. Or it might just be that Goopy forgot or didn't learn about the ending meet up which would also make sense given his implied intelligence.
Weight: 95 (Equal to Pac-Man) Walk Speed: 0.857 (Below Bowser) Dash Speed: 1.425 (Above Koopalings) Air Speed: 1.21 (Equal to Wario) First Jump: 55 (5 Points Above Falco, 1st) Second Jump: 41 (Above Diddy Kong, 7th) Gravity: 0.06 (Above Jigglypuff, 57th) Fall Speed: Pikachu (30th)
Goopy is roughly the size of King Dedede, one large, blue sphere. His walking and running animation is the same as Bowser’s dash in Melee and Brawl as Goopy drags himself across the ground, forcefully for his dash. These are not fast manoeuvres at all and Goopy struggles on the ground due to his slowness and his bulk. To convey his frailty in Cuphead too, Goopy isn’t nearly as heavy as you might expect for a blob matching Pac-Man.
Where Goopy does exceed expectations is in the air. He’s got an average fall speed and the gravity of Jigglypuff, and his fast fall emphasizes a control between an average and fast descent. Goopy has a great fast fall as good as Dedede's in Smash 4, letting him fall very fast or very slow on demand. His air speed and jumps are just great. His first jump is a good ways above Falco’s and the best in the Smash 4 metagame, his second is great too though not to the same level. These both have the same animation as the ones he does in Cuphead and are a central part of Goopy’s playstyle. All KO percents are for Mario at the middle of Final Destination.
Neutral Special: Buffing Up!
Goopy takes out a tiny capsule pill that is barely noticeable, flicks it up into the air and swallows it, then balloons up to twice his size! After a brief moment eating the pill where Goopy can be interrupted the animation of the move has full super and anti-grab armour but takes 1.5 seconds making Goopy a sponge for damage if the foe sees through it, and once he transforms he has a brief period of super/grab armour for the first few frames to not get immediately gibbed as he gains control back. Goopy's exact size increase is to 2/3rds the width of a battlefield platform and Marth's height, making him a giant!
Goopy gets new stats for his big bulky form. His weight gets an increase from 95 to 130, the same as Bowser. At the same time Goopy's gravity becomes far higher so he falls much faster in midair and his second aerial jump is nerfed to 70% its normal height, but his first jump is kept the same, somewhat reversing his stats to make him much harder to KO vertically but finds it harder to recover just using his jumps. His ground/walk and dash speed are technically the same animation-wise, slightly slowed down but unchanged due to his bigger size, so play the same in this respect. Just as in the animation/boss fight, Goopy's question marks appear almost instantly when the move is used, and Goopy can cancel out of eating the pill in only 15 frames, making it easy to create those questionable pink question marks.
Where this buff can be punished however is in the three pink question marks above and to both sides of Goopy's head, each roughly the size of a capsule item. These have 6HP each and for each question mark the foe destroys, Goopy has one less frame of super armour when he regains control and when all are destroyed, he has no super armour at all so he can get punished with a fast attack. This is hard to do however given Goopy's body blocks one side from the other so a foe would have to be close or have a powerful boomerang-arc projectile. When the question marks aren't destroyed, they linger for 7 seconds after the transformation. Now Goopy can cancel his melee attacks (pretty much all his moves) when they hit the question mark by holding A/standard when he overlaps the question mark, using it up and highlighting himself pink for a moment, an incredibly powerful faux-parry.
When he's increased his size already to the maximum capacity, Goopy will eat the pill but only takes 10 frames, this only spawns the three question marks around him. These can be used to do his special cancel but the catch is he gets no super armour during the move. This won't refresh the form, but we'll get to that later. As a general rule when not mentioned, all of Goopy’s moveset is given roughly 1.3x the range and 1.2x the damage/knockback, a sizeable buff.
This may seem like a fantastic move but it isn't all milk and honey for Goopy. The effects of this pill are not necessarily permanent and after taking 50% damage, Goopy will unceremoniously decrease back in size to his original form! This has no lag attached to it so isn't that bad, and only activates once Goopy takes any form of knockback (other than flinching/stun) so can't passively be brought on by camping projectiles. He's got to be knocked out of it! At this point, Goopy can simply take another pill to repeat the effect, but may want to use it more strategically to save it for the end of his stock. Goopy does get an indication of when he'll be hit back down as he glows red once a second aesthetically when he's got only 20% left.
Side Special: Seeing Double!
Goopy rears himself back and launches himself forwards! When he hits a foe or a wall, Goopy bounces back the same way as Peach's side b does, dealing 8% damage and decent knockback, but only enough to KO at very high percents around 200%. This is increased exponentially for Goopy's Big form, dealing 12% and able to KO at 160%. The lag on both of these is quite long winded, the same as Luigi's Missile but does give Goopy super armour until the end lag, which is fast enough it's hard to punish and if he is bounced off a shield he's practically impossible to punish. This move can also be cancelled by hitting into a question mark. The move launches Goopy a battlefield platform at default but can be charged to launch him up to twice as far, and can be charged for up to 5 seconds before it's auto-cancelled, acting as good bait.
Goopy can do another move entirely by charging the move for a quarter of a second. Instead of simply launching himself forward. Goopy splits in two, with two versions of his original smaller form being launched with identical hitboxes in both directions! Goopy controls the one being shot forward and the other one is coloured a slightly different shade as seen in the GIF. The other Goopy will stick around on stage as a quasi-minion duplicate of Goopy, he isn’t controlled by Goopy and has a one track mind AI. The other Goopy acts like the boss fight in Cuphead and will jump around the stage, though not as a hitbox, doing his first jump but intelligent enough to not jump off the edge. As an aside, Goopy will grab the ledge with a transformed hand, and this duplicate of Goopy will do the same. This isn’t a big deal but this will happen regularly as the other Goopy has access to his aerial jump and the same moveset as Goopy… he just doesn’t like to use them much most of the time. He’s comparable to a level 3 AI. The duplicate has the minor inconvenience of only dealing half the damage/knockback of regular Goopy. When Goopy has grown in size the move only takes half the charge to perform making it very casual to throw out when low on health.
This duplicate is anything but permanent and will dissipate upon taking 50% damage, the same as Rosalina’s Luma. When he’s completely out of health, the other Goopy will sit in place panting with his eyes rolling for a moment as the cartoon sound effect plays whenever any boss phase dies in Cuphead, taking 2 seconds to fully dissipate as cartoon effects happen around him as an aesthetic. Goopy can deal damage to his duplicate but takes no damage himself from the duplicate, and when knocked around with no HP his duplicate becomes a hitbox that deals 10-15% damage and high radial knockback, able to KO from 200-195%, not a bad hitbox considering! An important note to is that when he’s about to die like this, Goopy slumps down into a pseudo-crouch and becomes too wide for any existing Smash 4 character to roll around, even Samus, making him for most intents and purposes a solid. Even if the foe can dodge around him using a specific special, this makes them highly predictable in many situations and makes it easier for Goopy to bait them.
Goopy can help his duplicate friend out by doing his neutral b next to them and pressing towards them during the start lag, Goopy will instead flick his pill into the duplicates mouth who patiently, like a lap dog, sits in place and eats it up. Note however that Goopy does not have super armour but the duplicate does. The duplicate gains anti-grab armour but regular Goopy doesn’t giving another way for this to be interrupted. However Goopy only takes 15 frames to throw the pill. The duplicate will have the same effect and create their own three question marks around them. When transformed, the duplicate is the same size as Goopy becomes but one marked change is the AI is improved to that of a semi-competent player, comparable to a level 7 AI who at least knows when to time a smash if it’s super obvious, a huge upgrade over the stupid as dirt default duplicate.
A Goopy that’s been buffed in size will become actually fully solid when he dies and hangs around for 2 seconds making it impossible for foes to roll or move past in any way and will instead deal 15-20% damage when launched, able to KO 10% sooner than his regular corpse. The one limitation this Goopy has is that he can’t actually break himself down into other Goopy duplicates the way the player can.
When Goopy and his duplicate are close together and Goopy holds side b towards the other duplicate, it will take a moment to notice, or instantly will when buffed, and the two will jump together to form the buffed Goopy! This skips the time it takes to do a neutral b giving Goopy the full upgrade. This can make timing the pill a lot easier but takes either around a second for a default duplicate, or half a second for an upgraded one’s AI to notice and oblige. An upgraded Goopy duplicate will do this and on top of that, a default smaller Goopy will perform the side b at max charge in the opposite direction, giving the move a nice hitbox. This is all well and good but it’s not as useful as all the things a Goopy duplicate can do when out on the stage, if only for all the havoc it can wreak on foes.
When there’s already a duplicate out on stage, Goopy can’t make a third, instead the old one immediately dissipates. This makes refreshing them a lot easier when Goopy is low on health in his Big form. At the same time by combining with his old duplicates with low HP, they won’t actually get any HP back, but they will get super armour for the few moments that Goopy and his duplicates come together mid-animation, this is important for saving the duplicate’s life when it’s low even if it’s doesn’t heal them at all.
Up Special: I Tip My Hat To You!
Goopy takes off his hat, and rather than doing what is shown in the GIF (a taunt) he instead tosses the hat into the air above him! This takes him a small distance upwards, the same as Yoshi’s up b, and in much the same way the hat is a hitbox like Yoshi’s egg that deals 4% and weak radial knockback as it goes up the same height as Ganondorf’s up b and then falls to the ground, becoming a splodge of blue goo on the ground where it lands. The hat is as short but as wide as Mario, and is buffed to be 1.5x as big when Goopy is Big. The hat deals a slightly stronger 6%.
This is the same as many up specials in Smash 4 where Goopy can press the button again to do a follow up for a much better recovery. Goopy is in lag for a while after he throws the hat, giving this the same lag as Yoshi’s Egg Toss. When a follow up b is pressed Goopy will instead of being in lag hunker down then leap towards where his hat was in the air. When Goopy lands on his hat the two combine once again. The hat can’t be destroyed and is a constant hitbox, Goopy gain super armour during the leap but can be interrupted out of this if he doesn’t immediately go into the leap, giving the move only an immediate window to have full armour for Goopy’s recovery. Goopy will launch himself towards where the hat was headed rather than where it is allowing him a wide angle of trajectories and as he’s jumping, deals 10% and strong radial knockback, able to KO from 170%. This unfortunately doesn’t benefit from Rage like many up specials as it does not use set knockback. At any point during this jump, Goopy can grab the ledge, making this a very good recovery and one a huge blob really wants.
This is one of the best ways to force around the duplicate AI as when Goopy cancels out of his up b without doing the second part, any duplicate within range to catch the hat will stop whatever it’s doing and launch itself to absorb the hat, which it does over its regular hat. This can help to either position the duplicate, save its life or force its AI to do something specific. This can even be angled somewhat in the same way as Yoshi’s Egg Toss to force the duplicate to jump in a more specific angle. This is a lot more dangerous when the duplicate is Big due to the 1.3x damage buff when it deals 13% and higher knockback, as telegraphed as it is this hitbox is fairly oppressive to foes just trying to make their way around the stage.
Down Special: A Grave Mistake!
Goopy transforms into a smaller version of his boss fight tomb stone and falls at the rate of Kirby’s down b, dealing a massive 15% and high knockback to any foes he hits! This is a hugely powerful move for good reason; it does however deal upward knockback the same way Bowser’s Bowser Bomb does so it isn’t effective as a spike. On the bright side, it’s not got the suicidal tendencies Bowser’s move does as Goopy transforms back once he hits the ground or after travelling the same distance as Kirby does in midair before he transforms back. This will sweetspot the ledge to cancel and can be cancelled early using the same mechanics as Kirby's move. This has the same lag as Kirby’s move giving it a good amount of versatility and once he’s transformed, Goopy has super armour! This is one of the few moves in his set where Goopy doesn’t get any damage increase for his Big form as both use the same tombstone model. The tombstone is a lot smaller than shown, as wide as Goopy is normally but 1.5x as tall as Ganondorf.
Goopy won’t leap into the air for the grounded version of the move, as all that was described is only the aerial version. Goopy will rush forward after transforming into the stone, the amount varying from a battlefield platform forward to 1.5x that over a second long charge time, and then collapse his tomb stone forward onto the stage! This has a huge hitbox the same as the size of the tombstone collapsing forward onto its face and deals 22-30% damage with massive knockback, almost as much as King Dedede’s forward smash. There are some caveats to this move, this move is laggy to come out, taking as long as an average smash attack, counting the part where Goopy rushes forward, and charge only makes this greater. The end lag is also slow, making it easier to punish. The move does give Goopy the same full armour, against grabs or attacks, as when he’s in the air so makes him nigh invulnerable to being interrupted once it’s past the start lag, which is only comparable to Kirby’s down special. When he falls the massive hitbox is so big, it’s very hard to air or spot dodge and roll behind, forcing the foe to roll back and not from close range, or to jump backwards, at least making it then hard to punish.
This is one move the duplicate is strictly banned from using altogether, and the one example of this in the set besides the ability to makes its own duplicates. It does however have a unique effect on duplicates shown in the GIF. When Goopy lands on his duplicate and it has been KO’d effectively at 0HP, the animation shown there is what it looks like in this state. For both the grounded and aerial version of the Tomb Stone, Goopy will outright murder his duplicate friend! This squashes the poor guy into pulp and explodes blue goop all over the place. This acts as a huge splashing hitbox that deals 15% ad strong knockback in a 1.5x Bucket splash-sized hitbox. This will KO from 120%, still very powerful but very situational. The angle and shape of this changes depending on what version is used, the aerial version is all around Goopy while the grounded projects this dead Goopy goo forward instead for a shape more similar to the G&W Bucket. The grounded version does strictly forwards knockback while the aerial one is radial. These both linger long enough to completely cover the end lag of the move and make it impossible to punish from the side of Goopy this covers. Goopy still has to be mindful to put the foe in a position where they can’t just jump over the dead Goopy’s corpse’s hitbox, but it’s a very useful tactic nonetheless!
Forward Smash: Slimy Headbutt!
Goopy rears back his head a decent way, hiding roughly half his hurtbox behind him for a lengthy start lag, then after charging propels his whole face forward in a huge hitbox for 20-28% damage and high knockback! This has lower end lag but still is on the slow side making this a very slow move, almost as bad as Bayonetta’s forward smash. This is made up for by knockback at a low angle that’s as good as Ganondorf’s fsmash, and a massive range. While this isn’t as impressive as it looks (he’s using the move on a relatively lightweight Cuphead) this still has a fantastic range of half a battlefield platform. This attack has some limited super armour too, but only for a select few frames near the end of its hitbox for the front part of Goopy’s face. When Big, Goopy will have a move almost as powerful as Dedede’s fsmash, dealing 26-36% damage!
This move is the heavy hitter you’re looking for but at the same time there’s more to it than meets the eye. The headbutt can be cancelled by the pink question marks if they're next to Goopy during the move. Goopy will end the move earlier depending on when A is held. This can vary from the very start of the move and near the end, uniquely having Goopy perform the last part of the move's animation, pushing out his head for the headbutt hitbox, but much quicker and at a lower range! The hitbox's strength is the same as ever but this only directly nerfs the range of the move. This can reduce the range to just barely in front of Goopy but then scales back the end lag tremendously, becoming very fast when does at the lowest range.
The cancel has another effect when done near the end of the move, within the last few frames. Instead of normally receding back into his body, his entire face almost instantly reels back, creating a second hitbox as it does so! This deals another 12% damage and backward knockback at a low angle, able to KO at 180%. This is useful to punish foes trying to jump over the original hitbox the move and gives a ton of pressure to Goopy when he cancel it at any point. When there are any other question marks in the way, holding A will use up another at the same time as the reeling start, and Goopy's back end will come off the ground and meet in the middle with his face, dealing the same damage in the same hitbox only going forward! This ends up leaving Goopy in the air at the end of the forward smash. By angling the move up or down, Goopy will instead angle his face slightly and if this direction is held at the end of the move, the cancel instead will have Goopy's back end reel in instead of his face! Question marks are no boondoggle for the fsmash.
The move has a unique follow up where Goopy holds out his eyes further forward in a surreal way, dealing 5 hits of 3% damage and decent knockback, but at a high angle only good at low percents for a follow up, and has low end lag. This doesn’t combo out of the first hit. However when a duplicate sees this at the range of Disable, the Small one will react by having its eyes pop out of its sockets cartoon style, before they rush back in and the duplicate is terrified, rushing across the stage in the opposite direction, going at 1.2x the speed of Goopy’s normal dash using the same animation. The duplicate deals 6% and weak radial knockback until they move 2 battlefield platforms or come to the edge, where they will stop and be in lag for 2 seconds as they pant in exhaustion. This can be started again if they come within the same range of Goopy, wearing off after 5 seconds, but will deal 1% 3 times a second to the duplicate as they seem to actively create steam from stress and exhorting themselves too much.
The Big duplicate ain’t a coward and instead of running away, will instead laugh at the funny move! Dohoho! This makes the Big duplicate stand in place and jiggle back and forth in a fittingly low tonal fit of laughter, his jiggling a weak hitbox that deals a token 1% and flinching once a second to foes in range. He’s actually fat enough that this is a big hitbox both in front and behind him and is very useful for combos to essentially hit the foe into a wall and lasts for a full 2 seconds. He isn’t such a courageous slime however if Goopy is also Big, this has the same effect as on the Small duplicate as ole Goopy Two is terrified and rushes only a single battlefield platform, but at an irregularly boosted 10% with radial knockback, able to KO from 200%. The Big guy will take the same time to recover and has the same self-damage dealing mechanic. This is not always a bad thing considering how Goopy can use his gooey friends!
Down Smash: Kiss My Splash!
Goopy jumps into the air a short distance above the ground, rolling around in the air for charging them slams himself into the ground beneath him! His entire body is a hitbox that deals 15-21% damage and high horizontal knockback, with more end lag but a decently fast smash for a pseudo-heavyweight. This has a minimal amount of super armour as he falls the same way as his forward smash, a few frames to cover himself just as he comes down. When he hits the ground, he’ll create a splash on either side that deals 4% and weak radial knockback, around 2/3rds the size of G&W’s Bucket hitbox. This splash will only occur when the move is half charged or more, giving a nice mindgame to make the move worth charging and as it has low start lag, this isn’t suicide.
The splash increases in size further the more the move is charged, eventually being the full size of G&W’s Bucket on both sides at max charge. For the sheer power of the splash against the ground, Goopy manages to leave behind a little bit of his goo on the stage too! This goo will gradually be absorbed back into Goopy for up to 10% healing if he stands on it, or his duplicate does, but only heals 1-2% a second (more for a bigger splash). The puddle of goo is one-quarter to one-half a battlefield platform wide depending on charge and lower traction for any character stood on it by half, but only lasts for 10 seconds before it dissipates on its own. By splashing into it with down smash, the down smash automatically creates a splash the size of the one that created the leftover goo! This helps the down special too: the goo is treated as if it was a dying corpse of a duplicate and splash in the same way they do, dealing the same damage and knockback as in that move only one-half to two-thirds as powerful depending on the size of the puddle!
The Big duplicate can use this move and the forward smash, however this move has a unique effect when used on his player ally Goopy. This won’t damage him or anything, instead Goopy is absorbed into the other Goopy and appears overhead of Goopy laglessly, seeping in out of his goop instantly! This is useful as it will let Goopy finish off his moves on the ground in the air and isn’t limited to his Small form, due to the Big duplicate using this move pretty much exclusively due to the Small one’s low AI. This lets moves like fsmash or down special’s grounded version be used in the air (though only transitional during start lag, he can’t be absorbed as a tombstone). This is useful too as it not only lets Goopy finish his important neutral special elevated when on the ground, it’ll move leave the question marks where they were at first separating them from his hurtbox!
Goopy can even influence his duplicate to use the move by putting out the puddles of his goo on stage. This will encourage the Big duplicate to use his down smash on top of the puddle to get the full effect from it. The duplicate can however not create his own puddles. When the puddle also heals, it’s also good that Goopy can use the move to put him over the puddle without sucking it up and healing himself, which will gradually make it smaller and weaken the down smash’s effect when he crashes into it. This works for the duplicate too who will be in the air and won’t waste the healing on itself too, at least when Big. This starting height is useful for the melee portion of the move too, lifting Goopy either a Kirby or Mario height off the ground when Small or Big. If feeling particularly cruel, this is a great way to catch the duplicate in a trap by spacing it around where they’ll land from their jumps, though the Big ones are largely too smart and large to trap in this way.
Up Smash: Edge of Death!
Goopy turns into the grave stone once again with the same size and shape as in his down special, but has a massive rip in the middle as shown in the GIF. He fixes this by smashing the two sides together above him dealing 20-28% damage and high upward knockback! This has the same KO power as Ganondorf’s up smash but over a massive hitbox, roughly the size of half a battlefield platform upward. As with the down special, this is one move that doesn’t benefit from the size change, and is the only other move that the duplicate can’t use in Goopy’s set. This has full super armour for the active frames of the hitbox, but anti-grab armour for as long as Goopy is in the tombstone form. This means it acts as an anti-grab move but Goopy will be hit out of it except for when he’s crushing it in the middle of the actual attack coming out. This has a high start lag, a little higher than even that of his fsmash and only slightly lower end lag, so basically flipping the start/end lag of fsmash with a bit lower overall duration.
Goopy has a hitbox right in front of him just before he crushes the tombstone back together where the tomb stone’s front ticks forward at close range, knocking any foes up into the powerful crusher for 5% with set knockback. This only hits at very close range and has the same launching physics as moves like Marth's up smash. The crusher can be uniquely “stalled” by question marks anywhere touching Goopy. The question marks have a unique effect on this move as Goopy will not fully cancel the usmash and instead will form himself at the centre where his picture is seen, plopping together and leaping a Mario height above the tombstone. Depending on how many question marks were used, up to 3, the Goopy-less tombstone will sit in place for 2/4/6 seconds before it snaps shut for the same hitbox, now with Goopy free to hit foes into it himself! This is a powerful effect and at the end of it, the tombstone will crush into pieces, a huge hitbox that creates rubble either side roughly the size of 2 battlefield platforms but only for 5% and juggling upward knockback, or stronger 7% damage, forward knockback at the very side, all very good for Goopy.
The tombstone when separated like this for 2-6 seconds is nice as not only does it act as a solid hitbox, but for the duration of this time acts as a semi-solid wall. It can be budged along like a character so doesn’t impede recoveries, but for moves that depend on walls will stay in place (it’s bloody toon logic!) and this lets Goopy use his side b’s attack onto it and bounce off, or simply keep his duplicate in check by fencing it off for all this time. This also makes it a lot more straightforward to trap the foe between this and his duplicate and thus squash them with his down b or catch them off guard with his fsmash. This is assuming he can get the necessary question marks in the first place though. Only one tombstone from usmash can be active at a time and when attempted again, the old one will crumble immediately, this can be useful! As this juggle upward, Goopy can end his dash with an up smash and then use a question mark to crumble the foe into his powerful hitbox!
Jab: Put Em Up!
Goopy pivots back and forth on his ooze, punching in circles with his gloves on in the air as if he's hitting a punching bag, a repeating jab that does average damage at average speed but pulls foes into the air, forcing them to DI backwards! This has as good of range as the Koopalings jab. Once released, Goopy delivers a quick auto-combo'd uppercut that deals the same damage and upward knockback as the last hit of Dedede's jab! This is decently powerful for a jab (though not too much, this is based off Dedede) and has a very good range, especially when performed by the Big Goopy! This should be one of Goopy's favourite moves considering it stalls for his duplicate to do anything and even the Small one will push the foe back into the combo by jumping at them, scoring a few cheap hits. The boost in power makes the final hit a viable KO move around the 180% mark.
If what you want is to hit around your slime friends for some dirty fighting, this might be your best move! The constant damage will rattle them down to low health for an easy KO to then abuse their death state will the ending knockback will knock em into the air as a decently powerful hitbox. At worst, when the dupe is raised this far into the air they can block attacks like a all from the foe and even if they do die, will linger around for 2 seconds, so Goopy can hide from the foe for a good while if they let him control the stage! The AI of the Small dupe won't DI all that well out either, though won't let Goopy combo him infinitely, while the Big one will DI correctly. The big one is however much heavier so will be easier to combo in jab.
When cancelled using a question mark this instead ends the move early, and gives a special highlight of pink on Goopy's glove to show what he can do! By releasing them repressing jab, Goopy is given a very fast and almost unpunishable KO punch forward, moving him a battlefield platform forward with the good old "ding ding" sound, his gloved fist is a hitbox that deals 10% and strong knockback able to KO at 150%! The rest of his body deals 5% and weak radial knockback making it safe if it lands, and can easily combo into the other hit if the foe is hit nearer the start! This not only has good range and low lag, but also lets him move across the stage to escape from the foe, and will knock away the dupe immediately at a low angle, launching them forward to land near Goopy when he finishes his KO punch! This either means he can then hit them another direction or ally them directly without losing their direct assistance.
Dash Attack: Rollin Blunder!
Goopy rolls up his ball body and slams forward, travelling forward a Bowser width then unrolls so that he's standing again. This deals 8% damage and good knockback, comparable to DK's dash attack, but is not a dash attack that will KO at time early only able to do so at 200%. This has some poor traction naturally and this is handy to use in pivoting his other moves or as a DACUS-style combo. The downside is that it has a slow start up for a dash attack and while it has a generous hitbox, only the front side is a powerful hitbox, the rest of Goopy's body is a sourspot that deals 4% damage and weak knockback just enough to hit foes away and not punish. This does make the move good for punishing dodges as they can't just turn around and hit Goopy.
The question marks can be used to stop the roll on the dot! Goopy stops his roll and his momentum all at once, allowing him to make the most of the move's pressure by threatening foes in front of him only to pull back and forcing them to guess if he's going to stop or not. When the A button is held or there are multiple question marks in front of Goopy, he'll instead roll in place like Sonic's spindash building up speed as he absorbs the question marks further. This works as a charge or instantly charges up halfway for two question marks, fully for three. A second question mark will build up said speed and gives Goopy full super armour on the move as he then rolls forward at Sonic's dash speed for a battlefield platform, dealing 12% damage and as high knockback as Ganondorf's dash attack for the same upward angle.
The super armour and power is buffed if a third question mark is absorbed, Goopy can hold up for an extra half a battlefield platform at the end of the move to spin into the air Sonic style! Goopy is a cool dude! This will all deal now 15% damage absorbing the question marks and a nice part of this is you can stop at any point on the stage where there's one question mark, and Goopy has a generous area he can pull in question marks from around his body on the stage. This leaves Goopy in the air too. A third question mark gives another 10 frames of super armour after the move ends making it essentially a frame advantage move besides grabs, but as he can get into the air this weakness is nullified somewhat. When brought into the air, Goopy is allowed his air control and deals the same damage at radial knockback this time.
When Goopy dashes into his dupe and presses A during the end lag, he'll bump off him and be pushed backwards rather than forwards... but also pushes his dupe into his own dash attack in the opposite direction! This is one of the most direct ways to force the dupe into an attack and creates a telegraphed but huge ranged hitbox across a huge segment of stage. At the same time this lets Goopy use moves as he slides backwards rather than forwards out of his roll, especially good for moves that let him rush forward like his grounded down special or to travel a further distance by throwing his up special hat into the air as he rolls back. The same way as he can pivot when going forward, hitting forward as he rolls forward lets him cover several options at once for defensive foes.
Forward Tilt: Wallop Punch!
Goopy pulls his elbow back and creates a boxing glove on his fist, punching forward for 10% damage! This is a powerful if slow tilt, largely comparable to Ike's in speed and has just under that knockback, buffed to just above it when Big Goopy uses the move. The range is good too, again a little under Little Mac's forward tilt and buffed to just beyond that for Big Goopy. This can be angled, as it usually does a semi-spike to foes, but can hit a little downwards or upwards to change the knockback. The move is great for knocking around the dupe due to this semi spike pushing them straight forward, and the other angles are an almost obligatory tool for hitting them around the stage at convenient angles. The slow-ish speed is no problem when sitting behind the dupe either due to the safety they provide.
The question marks have a significant effect on this move as they bring it closer to that original GIF animation! A question mark will give the start lag an even bigger window as Goopy raises his eyebrows and gains super armour around his entire body, glowing in pink for just a moment, and then immediately punches forward. This can be done up to three times using the question marks by continuously holding A. Goopy rears back his fist for the second and third question marks, building up pink power in his fist, then punches forward in a far stronger attack! This causes an explosion of pink similarly to the way that Ganondorf has darkness, and buffs the move by 2% for each question mark that is used up, so maxes out at 16% damage and makes the move significantly more powerful due to the damage scaling up.
Up Tilt: Blob Headbutt
Goopy extends his head a little off his body, separating it for a disjointed hitbox above himself that goes in a 130 degree arc and deals 9% with weak juggling knockback at low percents, scaling decently well until it KOs around 190%. Small Goopy has a familiarly aloof smile on his face while Big Goopy is all smug as he extends his face into the air, having a good bit more range than even Dedede's utilt, comparable to Dedede's up smash. This is given one of the biggest buffs with the Big Goopy as he will get a huge benefit from his overall size increase, without any change to the lag of the move. This has the same general lag as Dedede's up tilt but has the benefit of faster start lag and the same end lag. For all the flaws of Dedede's up tilt compared to how it was in Brawl the end lag is not the absolute worst and being able to cancel out of it makes this into a pretty handy move. This finishes up the fundamental "hit your dupe around" moves for the radial knockback enabling Goopy to have a huge amount of control in where he launches them and puts them easily into the air.
The move can be cancelled normally but if a direction is held towards left or right when the question mark is absorbed Goopy will do a quick "slinky" animation where he slinks over and hits the ground next to him face first before reforming himself, dealing 7% in dragging hitstun-filled knockback, after a long set clashing-style lag Slinky will reform and the foe is hit away for knockback that KO's at 140% if the foe doesn't tech the ground, being hit off it at a low angle. The slinky doesn't actually have high end lag unless it hits the foe due to the hitlag and clashing invoked when it lands, and this will not happen when Slinky hits one of his dupes or other non-player minions, traps and anything else that might impede the move. Further question marks will let Goopy hold A to continue slinky-ing, even allowing him to slinky in one direction then go back to the other! All the while he's doing this Slinky has anti-grab armour and light armour. It ain't easy grabbing a slinky blob.
As Goopy slinkies over his dupes, he will reverberate and vibrate over them, causing them to stutter in place as if they were in their death animation for a moment, discombobulated by this strange animation. Goopy will travel a lot further than normal, usually Goopy only goes right next to him but this will let him travel over the entire size of the dupe. This ranges from the small dupe Goopy to the Big one, and can let Goopy traverse a decent ways, even travelling onto higher platforms if the Big Goopy is below one. This will give full invincibility to Goopy's dupe and super armour to him in the process, as he practically guards them when he's hovering overhead. This is as a result one of his best defensive options to keep the dupe from outright dying or being reduced too quickly in health, while moving around. As he can move either direction this can either be as a defensive runaway type move or to aggressively follow a foe to the other side of the dupe, and with multiple question marks to use this can even go on in a sort of chase. The low end lag lets Goopy not get too telegraphed.
Down Tilt: Flipper Off!
Goopy slinks down towards the ground and creates a disc that ejects out of his main body, showcasing his expression facing up, leaving his body without a face for a moment resembling his tomb stone. After a fairly lengthy start up, the disc flips forwards and Goopy appears again on his main body, dealing 12% and strong upward knockback at a low angle. This is one of the slower down tilts in the game but also one of the strongest scaling to KO at 100%, and is a fantastic shield poke. As Goopy's disc extends out it is a hitbox that deals a token 3% damage and weak hitstun, enough to combo into the powerful second hitbox of the move. Unfortunately if this is whiffed, Goopy has hell to pay as this move has almost as bad end lag as start lag. Most of this move's knockback is uniquely in non-scaling base knockback meaning it gets a larger boost from Rage and makes it look the way you'd expect used on the Dupes. This will launch them high into the air and on the Big dupe, their extra weight is not much of a negative.
This can be cancelled, in the middle part of the move when the hitbox is active this will launch Goopy into the air. At the beginning or end this instead outright cancels the entire thing for low lag for a great mindgame. Whatever part of the hitbox the move is cancelled into a question mark Goopy will be launched at a high angle into the air at the same jump height as his first jump, and doesn't use up Goopy's jumps either, so he can get a ridiculous height off the ground! For the first part of this jump into the air Goopy's body does 5% and weak radial knockback, this makes it a lot safer and hard to punish. This only lasts for a few frames but if A is pressed (no question mark needed), Goopy will fall back to the ground in a Bowser Bomb-style hitbox, dealing strong upward knockback for 8% that KOs at 200%. This has low end lag too but no shockwave or stars unfortunately to make it less punishable, so this is easily shield. It's made a lot better though by being able to knock the dupe around, who will not be hit up, but instead spiked downwards as Goopy comes down.
Neutral Aerial: Splash n Bash!
Goopy turns 90 degrees to face the foreground/background and his expression intensifies as he splashes his goo around in a circular hitbox! These splashes of goo are a small hitbox around Goopy's body that deals rapid hits of 4% 3 times a second, as Goopy holds the move out for a sex kick. This can hit up to 6 times with the move staling down to deal 2% for the last 3 hits, overall able to deal up to 18% to a foe though this is fairly impossible besides when the foe is pushed up against a wall or DIs into Goopy. This is actually doable because of the tombstone up smash that Goopy has as well as his dupe being able to push the foe back into the attack, the same way the jab can be cheesed for further hits, but this is still highly situational for a number of reasons. At the end of the hits the foe will be hit away for low knockback. This enables it to combo into itself on top of simply landing all hits against a wall but requires extremely low percent to achieve. This is easy to do on a dupe though due to their stupid AI and the fatitude of the Big Goopy dupe makes it far harder for him to escape. As the dupe is being hit, this also turns it into a weak hitbox to defend against foes from that site, naturally making it a safer option.
This has a long duration, short start and end lag, the landing lag has a special landing hitbox, though takes longer than the ending lag. This will happen automatically on the ground as with any other landing hitbox, but will also trigger if Goopy holds towards a wall as he lands against it. The goo around Goopy will splash out around him one either side of where he landed or against the wall, creating a weak hitbox that deals 3% and lightly pushes Goopy off the ground/all, but only as part of the animation as Goopy is grounded for this lag. This can be initiated upon attacking dupe Goopys too, causing Goopy to be hit off in the opposite direction while pushing the dupe away. This has a limited range, basically two Falco fair landing hitboxes in two directions, which is very easy to punish. The real strength of the move comes from the fact this sex kick can be cancelled at any point using the question mark and bait foes into not shielding the first part to get hit by the landing instead, which can then lead into a combo. At 3% this is one of Goopy's weakest moves and will easily combo at low percents, but at the same time the low ending lag of the move in general makes following it up in the air or on the ground very easy.
This sex kick can be held out longer than normal when Goopy is Big to extend the hitbox a ridiculous amount, up to double the amount of the move's normally average length sex kick. This instead shoots out a splashing hitbox at the end of the sex kick that lasts for as long as a normal sex kick, creating four hitboxes in an X formation around Goopy. Each of the four splashes deals 9% damage and high knockback, able to KO at 150% radially, only coming out after the sex kick. The nair usually doesn't have a lot of range as it's only just around Goopy's body but the splashes reach out as far as Corrin's side special. The powerful 9% is replaced by a weaker 3% and radial knockback hit for the half of the hitbox near Goopy's body. This is potentially a great way to combo into another hit of the move however. These hits rarely combo unless Goopy is using his fast fall and hits the foe with the lower then higher hitboxes and can do a huge amount of damage that way, or by hitting the foe into walls/dupes in situational ways. The cost of this move is heavy: Goopy will visibly be drained of goop and look exhausted, sizing down from Big to Small! This is signified too in the animation of the normal sex kick where his expression intensifies and is a huge investment even for such a powerful move.
The question mark is at its most useful here as the move can still be cancelled if the A button is held, cancelling it at the earliest opportunity when over a question mark. There's also the fact that Goopy can just hit the ground or a wall to initiate the landing hitbox, so long as Goopy doesn't end the move in the air or just as he hits the ground, the move will auto-cancel into the landing hitbox and he won't desize. This is usually not that great when he only has average fall speed, but used in tandem with his great fast fall he can abuse this hitbox and not have to use up his goo! The question mark only adds to the move's amount of versatility as Goopy can land, extend the sex kick or end it normally, while being able to cancel it at any point too, making it a valuable tool only flawed in the fact it's pretty slow and if guessed right, Goopy can get hugely punished. Plus the nerf from the extended sex kick, making Goopy Small again, is hard to avoid high in the air if the move is held out. This is helped a little by question marks or more likely his dupe being there land on. While it's possible to immediately cancel at the start of the second sex kick, it may be just as good an idea to instead let the foe hit Goopy out of it or wait a moment to initiate it later and get the most out of the second sex kick, though it's hard to be too picky as question marks aren't super easy to create.
Forward Aerial: Dunk That Goo Ball!
Goopy puts on his boxing gloves, on both hands this time, and performs a dunking spiking axe handle that most strongly resembles DK's fair! This has the same slow lag as that move and deals a high 13% - impressive when Goopy is Big! Normally, Goopy's range on this is comparable to a Little Mac aerial, not too great but it's helped by how big of a hurtbox Goopy is and getting the foe next to him is not as hard as some characters as a result, plus his fall speed(s) help him line this up well. The high start lag gives him time to fall down further and dodge foes to counter them with the fair spike. Big Goopy has a lot of range by comparison, as much as DK's for even more knockback, so this is a very powerful move to actually land. This has as bad of end lag as the DK fair, so all in all, this is quite a slow move. The dupes can be knocked around directly down, or use an otherwise weak sourspot that's normally not relevant at the most forward part of the hitbox which deals 6% and weaker radial knockback, at the same angle as Cloud's forward aerial.
This is an important one to use with the question marks to be able to cancel it out and save Goopy either from the whiff or from the horrible ending lag, whiff or not. The question mark lets Goopy have all the threat of the spike and none of the punishment afterwards. This can be done at the start of the move when Goopy's hands are above his head to cancel into a low lag upward strike with the axe handle as Goopy throws them up. This is a far weaker hitbox that deals 7% damage and decent, weaker juggle knockback upward knockback. This is an okay juggle move mostly this is all about the low lag attached. What is better is to wait until the axe handle is on going and Goopy will cancel the move altogether.
Holding the A button will have an alternate effect. Goopy will use the momentum from his axe handle to spin himself around upside down, turning to look behind his back instead. As he spins around, he keeps his axe handle extended out and it only stales a little before he does a full 180 degree spin. This degrades down to deal 10% for the bottom half circle of the move, then only does 8% when he is turning to face in the opposite direction. Spinning like this Goopy's body becomes a weak hitbox that deals 4% damage and low knockback, mostly as a GTFO hitbox. The axe handle hits foes slightly backwards so can potentially wall of pain or hit at a very, very powerful directly diagonal angle in the opposite direction, a fantastic if difficult to pull off gimp. Once he's spun around Goopy will be able to tech if he lands on the ground on his head, or land into prone, which depending on match up can be a positive. After short end lag Goopy will right himself. At any point Goopy can cancel this too, facing left or right depending on what direction he is facing more when cancelled. When cancelled, the boxing gloves become a sweetspot that deals 8% and strong radial knockback away as he pulls them back quickly into his gooey mass!
Down Aerial: Hat Trick!
Goopy's hat and flattens his head into a ball and he spins rapidly, spitting out two identical balls on either side the size of Kirby, then after this stall they all fall downwards until they rejoin a Ganondorf height downwards and the move ends. The stall then fall goes as fast as Link's. This has massive lag on the start as you'd expect out of a stall then fall and the strength of the move is unorthodox, the two balls next to Goopy deal only 8% and hit the foe inwards, at low percents this will combo into the main hit. This is Goopy himself as he falls and his entire body is a hitbox that deals 11% and weak downwards knockback. The two orbs take damage but won't take knockback, extending Goopy's hurtbox at the same time as being a hurtbox. Goopy's hitbox is a little smaller than normal due to the balls of goo separated from his body during the stall and fall, reducing him to roughly 2/3rds his normal size for both his small and Big forms. This does act as a defensive option because of this to reduce his size as he falls. The negative of that is this move has very poor landing lag and as Goopy is not floaty, it's more than likely he will land out of a stall then fall. As they travel a little further, the balls travel slightly faster than Goopy.
The move only lasts so long but can be manipulated by Goopy's momentum and his fast fall. The normal fall speed of Goopy will let him hover in the air for a little while, by comparison fast falling will speed up the entire move to get him closer to the ground during the stalling part, letting him travel a large distance. This makes this a perfect move to make it back to the stage, the worst part being that awkward landing lag. This can be remedied by using a question mark to cancel out of the move before initiating, or during the ending lag, giving a much faster ending to the move. In the air, the ending lag is a little better. As the move ends, Goopy can hold left or right to have the goo all collect on that side instead for a little extra lag. Now as the goo recollects on either side instead, this is a weak hitbox that deals 4% per ball and inwards knockback, with Goopy re-appearing its own weak hitbox dealing 6% and GTFO knockback. This extra lag however is potentially auto-cancelled if Goopy hits the ground at the end, giving it only the lag of the move's normal end lag, so ultimately when timed right, this is faster than just the regular landing. The fast fall and the normal fall can be utilized to consistently get the right timing down.
Goopy can put his dupe to good use in this move by forcing them to leech off their own goo when next to Goopy. When the move is used next to the dupe the dupe will stall in place for the stall part of the stall then fall and have their goo pulled off into that side of the dair, losing 5% health in the process and stalling in midair. That side of the orbs will now be 1.5x as big and deals 10% damage and high knockback instead, hitting inwards at knockback powerful enough to KO off the stage at 170%. This is tech-able for the foe, but only if they're not right next to the ground, emphasizing again the usefulness of timing the fall speed of Goopy correctly. This is the most straightforward way to detract health from the dupes and stalls them in the air for safety, though it's questionable if it's worth the 5% damage it deals to them. This is not that bad for it to ever be too much of a negative. As a minor positive, that ball and that side of Goopy as he reforms will now have super armour.
When Big, Goopy will create uniquely bigger balls and reduce his own size more greatly, creating three equal-sized balls the size of Jigglypuff all next to each other, the centre one with Goopy's face on it. These deal the same damage with the uniform buff given to all Goopy's attacks. Goopy cancels this move differently too, when cancelled while the hitboxes are still active, Goopy will reform immediately out of the middle, or left/right balls when that direction is held. As he re-appears, his body becomes a hitbox that deals 10% and strong radial knockback to KO at 160%, with super armour for the shortened end lag. The other two balls continue to fall downwards and deal 7% with upwards knockback, easy to combo into for Goopy above them. They fall 1 Ganondorf height after the cancel and then dissipate, making this a ridiculously powerful move. Goopy's cost for this is similar to his nair, forcing the Big form to be little, but can be avoided simply cancelling the move once it's over too.
Up Aerial: Drill Hat
Goopy holds his hat and spins it around viciously, this being much quicker than his other aerials, and the spinning hat turns into a spike that deals 5 hits of 3% for a juggling uair that has decent ending lag, but poor landing lag. This makes sense for its purpose as an aerial juggle move but does make it more difficult to use out of a short hop given Goopy's fast falling and possible higher gravity in the Big form. At the centre of the spike there's a sweetspot that deals 3% more damage at the final hit and strong upward knockback, though only able to KO near the top blast zone this does transform the move from a juggle into a KO move.
This has a special interaction out of up special. As the hat has been thrown into the air, if Goopy uses the up aerial he'll instead transform the hat into the "drill" for the same hitbox, but his own head becomes a silly looking polished, rotating orb instead, sheening as if it's all a sweetspot... but it's more of a sourspot. This instead deals 5 hits of 1%, with a final hit that deals very little knockback upward to the point it's punishable on hit against low percent enemies. At mid or higher percents this can be really powerful as a combo move though it's pretty situational, this is actually quite a nice way to stall and delay dupes with its low knockback to not move them too far. As for foes and the real use of the move, the falling hat and its close proximity means it's possible to combo the weaker shoe shiner hitbox into the hat as it falls. Given that the hat can fall towards the ground, vice versa can happen and Goopy can catch the foe out of the air. If a question mark is used up, Goopy will use it to cancel the hat if it's in the air and transition into his normal uair, if it's near Goopy the aerial is simply cancelled while the hat will cancel itself when next to a question mark. These can be both done through either question mark location by holding towards or away from the hat as A is pressed.
Back Aerial: Nothing Moves the Goop!
Goopy takes out his boxing glove and builds up power in it before delivering a powerful haymaker, turning around and punching! This deals 13% damage and high knockback, but at the cost of long start lag, the animation looks like (but is not nearly as slow as) reversed Warlock Punch in the air, having just under that range when Goopy is small. This will turn around Goopy at the end of the move too, requiring a ton of commitment. The way this is cancelled is fairly unique if simple, Goopy simply punches behind him in an almost entirely different move for only 6% damage but good knockback, a faster punch but deals too much knockback to combo and far too little to KO. It is however a decent wall of pain as it lingers for a few frames before quickly ending due to the cancel. This can be deceptively cancelled during the long start up to throw out just before the powerful 13% damage hitbox is put out, baiting in foes trying to punish the super slow hitbox. The angle of the powerful hitbox, at an almost straight angle horizontally, happens to make this another great move to hit around dupes. This is somewhat hard to land near the ground due to its long start up, but its landing lag is much faster than going through the full attack. If the move finishes on the ground after the start lag, Goopy will turn around and punch full force instead for a sort of landing hitbox, so not losing the reward for this build up.
The ability to cancel the move comes in handy on the ground, as the long duration of the move will transition over even if the hitbox comes out. This isn’t a sex kick exactly, but lets Goopy cancel the move into another attack by using up a question mark. In the air this isn’t as simple but when given the ground, Goopy can then transition almost laglessly into his grounded set. This gives unique combos like ftilt pivoted to go backwards, punishing rolls, or jab to punish spot dodges new purpose in the context of this very laggy powerful attack. If for no other reason this is helpful to condition and test foes with the aid of the question mark to essentially make it safe whatever happens. Doing this landing hitbox on top of the puddle from dsmash and holding out the button, while holding the direction too, will ignore any question marks until the direction is released and instead make Goopy push away from the goo in the opposite direction as he punches! This kicks Goopy back a good Bowser width after he punches, making the move safe on whiff though it won’t push him off ledges.
Grab and Pummel: Open Glove
Taking out his glove one last time for the grab, Goopy has a pretty straightforward melee grab. This goes from only average range and fast to great range and fast for Goopy when he’s scaled up to Big. Important to note are he has a good pivot and dash grab, relevant because of his dash attack and the grab is one move he cannot actually cancel so in a way is uniquely punishable. Goopy can grab his own dupe, but can’t pummel him, and toss him around, this is however very slow as a process on the much fatter big duplicate, not that this is necessarily bad to make use of throw super armour given to them, so they won’t get hit away by the foe’s attacks if he particularly wants their health lowered. Goopy has 1% and 2% respectively for pummel damage, a merely average speed pummel where Goopy punches the foe in the face.
Forward Throw: Rolling Goo!
Goopy grabs the foe with both hands, not having the boxing gloves on this time, and rolls out before ejecting the foe, this deals rapid hits adding up to 5% and a final 4% launcher at a low angle! As he rolls, the foe is crushed in his grasp and against the floor. This unlike the grab itself can be cancelled early, dealing instead a paltry 3% damage and at an earlier part of the roll across the floor. Rather than increasing the damage rolling as the Big Goopy instead naturally has him roll a longer distance with his bigger body, dealing 3 more hits of 1% along the way, and rather than going just one battlefield platforms goes 1.5 of them in distance, increasing the effective knockback the move deals. This is not a particularly good KO throw however, more on the average side except when cancelled early, at which point it can become a decent combo throw. This is best used into a dupe to push the foe back into Goopy at the end too. The throw will end early too if Goopy rolls the foe over a puddle from his dsmash, smushing them into it as he performs a mini version of Jigglypuff’s down throw for 5%, hitting them forward at a high angle instead able to KO at 200%. This is largely situational though, and by holding forward Goopy just rolls over this puddle instead, adding on 2% rather than dealing the KO throw-worthy knockback.
Playing around with walls can be good for the move as Goopy just keeps rolling into them, instead pushing the foe into the wall instead of the ground in a new animation. This will deal the same damage but for as long as the foe is being pushed against the wall, they end up being pushed up Goopy’s hitbox/model so that at the end of the move, they’re dealt knockback from a higher up position. On bigger Goopy this translates to an even higher knockback point, as for both forms of Goopy, the foe ends up at the very top of their model when fthrow is performed right next to a wall. At low percents this easily leads into a midair combo as the final hit is still on the weak side, plus being hit of a wall is untechable. This can be achieved through the usmash wall, but just as easily on a dupe standing in place, though the throws ends early if they move out of place. The small dupe has a 50/50 chance to mess this up and move during it while the big dupe is smart enough to stand in place and let this unfold.
The long throw animation leaves plenty of time for the other Goopy to do something, anything n the case of the small Goopy. A big one has the AI capable enough to do remotely impressive slow moves, plenty of them in his set, to hit the foe as they come out of invulnerability but not hyper intelligent to perfectly time them. This means that the big dupe will rely on sex kicks, lingering hitboxes and simply forcing the foe into a 50/50 scenario. He ain’t a genius after all so this will have to suffice. The 50/50 scenario is especially tasty for Goopy as he can always punish the other option, guaranteeing a hit in an ideal scenario! Throw in the question marks and this is a really powerful and hard to punish throw on a big dupe if he’s in the right place, so always makes it a great idea to fthrow a foe with the big dupe facing Goopy. At higher percents, the big dupe will just want to get in any hit and might throw out moves like uair or utilt instead, though even these, at lower damage for the dupe, will lend themselves into a combo and the big dupe is not dumb enough to interrupt if the foe’s going to be KO’d by whatever Goopy’s throw does.
The move changes fundamentally when a dupe was grabbed as Goopy and his dupe grab on to each other for dear life, rolling across the battlefield at the speed of not quite sound, but something cool. Goopy and the dupe will go a lot more awkward and half as far if not the same height, but the big one of the group will deal 8% and strong knockback able to KO at 170%, while the small one deals half that much, these are not halved as it’s technically Goopy using his dupe as an attack. When both are the same size, the small Goopy duo will each deal dragging knockback and constant 1% able to do up to 10% damage and weak combo-ready knockback at the end for low percent foes, or merely GTFO any time else, importantly this lets both travel 1.5x as far as the normal fthrow. Two big Goopys will deal flat 10% and strong knockback but only KO at 200%, far weaker than the lopsided deal, this however covers a massive range if you imagine the two big Goopys as one huge hitbox, possibly the largest in the set even outscaling that of Goopy’s down special tombstone.
Up Throw: Pushing Up Daisies!
Goopy wipes a tear from his face, or smugly smiles as he crushes the foe into the ground in their pitfalled state for 5% damage, then takes out a non-descript tombstone and plants it in the ground, causing the foe to be popped out as the tombstone appears below them! This tombstone deals 9% damage in Goopy’s most powerful throw, and does great knockback, though the second hit doesn’t scale due to the use of the tombstone logically, this is always therefore a little weaker than Mewtwo’s uthrow but is useful for Goopy even when it doesn’t KO. The high base knockback will put the foe in the air and force them to fight Goopy air-to-air, the kind of fight he always loves to have, and the move deals almost straight up vertical knockback so Goopy can take the most advantage in the middle of the stage, as he’s not the biggest fan of the ledge and prefers to stay at the centre.
The throw can be cancelled from the beginning, instead of pitfalling the foe for the effect Goopy slams them into the tombstone before he shoves both the foe and their tombstone, now adorning the foe’s face, into the ground! This deals 15% and higher upward knockback as the foe is hit upward into the air at the same angle, but what’s nice about this is that the tombstone will crush any defeated Goopy dupes in its way just the same way as Goopy’s own tombstone does! This creates that same powerful splash all around the dupe, but now he’s holding the foe in his hands! The foe gets the same super armour all throw victims get in Smash 4 so will tank all of those splash hits of damage against themselves, upping their percent for the knockback of the throw at the end of them over! This works the same way for the dsmash puddle causing them to erupt up and hit the foe to greatly buff the power of the uthrow. This might not be easy to force the foe into but given Goopy’s dash attack and ability to move himself around using his cancels a bit easier, as well as his good aerial mobility, this isn’t that hard to set up.
On a dupe, Goopy always wipes away a sympathetic tear and pitfalls them in the ground… permanently. He completely submerges them beneath him (even when it makes no sense for lack of ground) and plops their own Mario-sized tombstone on top of it. After a moment, the tombstone explodes in a Rock Smash-sized explosion of rocks dealing 7% and decent GTFO knockback as the Goopy emerges as a hitbox while he does his first jump straight up into the air, dealing 5% and weak radial knockback! Goopy seems unsighted by this mistake. The amount of time it takes for Goopy to break free from the dupe grave is dependant on his health. At full health this only takes 3 seconds. For every percent down from 50%, the dupe will take 10 frames or 1/6th of a second, so at 10 health for example will take 400 frames or around 6,5 seconds. As long as the foe is in their grave, their tombstone becomes an active wall, but Goopy won’t be able to split again as long as that grave is around and the dupe is alive and well. On a dupe that was already defeated, Goopy will bury them properly and their gravestone will never explode, giving him a potentially infinitely usable wall. The gravestone does have only 20HP though and Goopy can destroy it himself to activate its powerful explosion of rocks hitbox, so it wasn’t all a tragic loss!
Back Throw: Ally Oop!
Goopy jumps into the air grasping the foe, throws them to the ground in prone for 5% damage then does a flip in the air, before splashing back down onto them Bowser style for 7% damage and hitting them backwards across the stage! This does decent knockback at default, able to KO at 210% which is good for a KO throw but gets a huge buff in the Big form to become a back throw ranking among the strongest in Smash 4! This is unique in that it can technically be cancelled to leave the foe in prone and Goopy in the air so that he can use his air game, full of sex kicks and slow punish moves to bait out the foe’s prone options. He can even create question marks in the air while the foe is pre-occupied eating the dirt. This has a secondary hitbox when the Big Goopy uses it as outside foes take 10% and strong knockback at a radial angle when he lands on them using his back throw on the throw victim, so is good for FFAs.
On the dupe, this has quite a different effect altogether as the dupe and Goopy combine together into one amorphous blob in midair before collapsing back down! Two small Goopys combine to 1.5x their normal size and deal 10% before reforming back into two, while a combination of both types deals 14% and will KO at 200%, twice the size of regular Goopy. Two big Goopys become a monstrosity twice the size of Bowser that deals 17% but has very long lag after the end of the “throw” as all the goo has to separate, in fact scaling up in lag until this version has very bad end lag, the middle version is comparable to an average smash and the weakest is not too bad. These lag times can all be cancelled however, but the move cannot until the move’s end. The two Goopys jump up a Ganondorf height in the air and come down at the speed of Ganondorf’s down special, making this a fairly fast descent. At any time during this, either Goopy can be hit by foes and will reduce in size even mid transformation, reducing the size of the abomination created but also the lag at the end. This can work to the benefit of Goopy as he gets the powerful hitboxes out but uses this damage to lessen the lag without the need for question marks.
Down Throw: Take A Chill Pill!
Goopy lets curiosity get the better of him and flicks a pill into the mouth of the foe, not really forcing them so much as surprising them in the middle of his grab, then punches them away for a weak 5%. If nothing else, this is weak enough this is one of his best follow up throws and even does the knockback at the Sakurai angle so will end up tripping the foe at low percents. After the foe has been given the pill, they’ll glow a familiar pink colour and after 5 seconds, will create three question marks around them the same way that Goopy does I guess those size increases only work on the slime race, or rather Goopy’s personage solely, because this works the same way in mirror matches too. This can be prevented two ways by the foe: shielding or attacking the question marks as they come out, as they only have as much HP as they do normally. The awkward part of trying to shield when they’re about to come out is telegraphed so that Goopy knows exactly when to punish said shield, and the same goes for if the foe is attacking haphazardly.
On top of the question marks this actually has a visible secondary effect that plays heavily into how the foe can prevent the question marks coming out, as whenever the foe shields their shield is shown to be pink and brightly coloured. Goopy can use the shield as a makeshift “parry” or question mark three times, each time diminishing the brightness of the shield but giving him a cancel opportunity. This is very useful for obvious reasons, but most of all this means the foe’s effective shield pressure is greatly nerfed when Goopy can stand right in front of it and cancel his moves up to three times, or buff them three separate times depending on the move. This works well into the way his buffs or cancels work too, as many of them come in threes, or split individually up work very well as a combo of three too.
On a dupe this has a less obvious effect as Goopy opts to toss a different looking pill their way which they happily gobble up. This is a pink coloured pill, and colours the dupe, well, pink for the same 5 seconds it does for the foe. This does two things: it makes them be able to be parried like a question mark three times, like the foe, but gives another distinct difference too. The dupe becomes immune to the damage of Goopy’s attacks! This is an important difference as it means they’re immune to all those attacks so that Goopy can make full use of his 3 parries without having to worry about knocking the dupe out of the way, and lets them survive for longer in general as they don’t keep getting inadvertently knocked by Goopy. This doesn’t make it any easier for them when fighting the foe however who still deals them full damage, but if they do end up dying in these short 5 seconds, upon their “defeat” pose the 3 question marks will pop out pre-emptively. This should in its own way keep them a little safer from the foe’s attacks too when they’re low on health.
Final Smash: Death of a Franchise
Goopy becomes incredibly joyous or smug as he powers up with the smash ball...! Only to have a giant tombstone unexpectedly land on top of him a moment later. This tombstone is the size of Giga Bowser and deals 45% to foes and KOs at 50%, for this purpose it's best to put foes above Goopy to get the most out of the hitbox.
This isn't all however, as the final smash goes on for roughly the same time as Olimar's final smash. For the next 5 seconds, a parade of uncanny cartoon characters dash across the stage in mourning of their beloved slime. It's Paddy the Packer eating away his sadness, dealing 10% and instantly KOing any foes who get inside his massive mouth! Look, it's Headdy Hog who goes at Sonic's dash speed back and forth across the battle plane and deals 20% with high knockback! There's the smelly Wart Reeo who farts every step for passive 5% damage and performs some generic punches and kicks for 5% and combos into the fart by walking through the foe glitchily. And who can forget Bob C, the obscure cat who throws garbage and only appears 5% of the time, on top of many other memorable characters in this parade who also passively deal 15% to anyone who touches their bodies in parts that aren't hitboxes for the duration.
Once the crowd of mourners is gone Goopy's tombstone explodes in a hitbox 1.3x its size for 25% damage and massive knockback to KO at 60%, surely enough to KO any remaining bystanders as Goopy launches out of the ground in triumph! Too bad he never got to see how all those important toons pay him such a large amount of respect!
Ribby and Croaks are a pair of frogs who have had fighting souls since they've been tiny tadpoles, and are crude and bad cause they're from the wrong side of the lily pad. They are supposedly references from the creators to Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter as they share their entrance poses and wear karate outfits. Unlike Ryu, they have a lot of cartoony attacks to vary up their arsenal, including but not limited to turning into a slot machine. Given their casino theme, perhaps they worked for King Dice at some point before going back on a deal with the devil, in exchange for their demonic slot machine powers? It is not actually confirmed if the frogs are brothers or not, though given they've known each other since they were tadpoles seems likely.
As a pair, they serve as one of the first bosses in Cuphead, but that doesn't mean you should underestimate them given it took local E-Celebrity Angry Joe over 4 hours to beat them - in co-op no less! If they didn't provide much challenge, coming back to them on expert and trying to get an S rank will enable you too to go for broke and get croaked!
NEUTRAL SPECIAL - TAG OUT
In Smash, you play as one of Ribby or Croaks at a time while the other one stays in the background. Which one you start with depends on which one you click on the character select portrait, similar to Pokemon Trainer, defaulting to Ribby if neither is selected. Like Pokemon Trainer, the inactive frog will move along in the background to stay caught up to the fight in the case of moving stages.
Pressing Neutral Special in front of the inactive frog will cause them to high five and tag out, with the other frog entering the background and becoming invulnerable. The inactive frog will slowly heal at a rate of 0.166% per second, or roughly 1% per 6 seconds. Ribby and Croaks do not share damage percentage and instead are entirely separate stocks from one another. Once one of the frogs dies, the other one steps out from the background and becomes playable. They are primarily balanced for matches with an even amount of stocks given 2 stocks/4 stocks are the competitive formats of the Smash games that matter, AKA every Smash game that is not Brawl. In the event there are an odd amount of stocks, on the final stock Ribby and Croaks will both respawn but start out at higher damage than normal. The initial frog you picked on character select will start with 65%, while the other frog will start with 80%. They're both fairly heavy, so surviving at these percentages isn't as big of a deal as it would be for some other characters.
Ribby and Croaks mostly share the same moveset outside of a handful of signature moves on their Specials and Smashes, but their different sizes means their hitboxes will inherently change a lot. Some moves also vary in their properties beyond the models of their characters.
The main thing that enables the frogs to land their slow attacks is the fact they can attack simultaneously. If a special or smash is double tapped, the inactive frog in the background will be the one to perform it rather than the active frog. While performing the attack, the inactive frog will be semi vulnerable, able to take damage but not knockback or stun. If the inactive frog takes 15%, their attack will be interrupted and they'll go back into the background again. Inactive frogs can only do an attack to aid their brother once every 6 seconds. If their attack was interrupted, the inactive frog will need 2.5 additional seconds on top of those 6 seconds to recover from it and won't passively heal during this time.
The healing of 0.166% per second increases to a more notable 0.4% per second if the frog is currently ready to attack and not on cooldown or in the process of an attack. If you don't need your other frog to help you, feel free to let them get some more substantial healing in. You want to get the most mileage you can out of the frogs while both of them are still alive, so you should try and juggle their percentages if at all possible and swap frequently. The frog you swap into the background will be in their ready state, but frogs cannot swap if on cooldown. This healing can get pretty appealing, but oftentimes you're going to be wanting to use the other frog the very moment they come off cooldown. If you intend to get much healing out of this, you're at least going to want to use the other frog's existence as a big positional threat.
Pressing Neutral Special when not in front of the other frog will cause the active one to beckon for his brother to come over, causing him to run over to wherever he is to enable them to reposition each other for other attacks. This gives minimal lag to the active frog, with them not having to wait for them to come over. The inactive frog can't attack until they reach their destination, and will heal at the slower rate while walking, but will still be in their ready state after they reach their destination. The inactive frog will refuse to venture off-stage on any typical legal stage, only doing so if they have to traverse a moving/tacky stage. Even in those scenarios, the inactive frog will not respond to orders when there is no ground underneath them, going out of their way to reach solid ground first.
If this move is used when the other frog is dead, the frog will enter an idle stance and heave in and out to try to recover their strength in an exaggerated fashion, causing them to heal at the usual rate of 0.4% per second from when they're inactive. This is a very poor special given how much faster WFT can heal by comparison while getting a projectile out of it to boot. You're ideally going to want to get both frogs to high percents before letting either one of them die, as they're much more powerful together than alone.
RIBBY STATS
Size:King Dedede Weight:114 units (Between Ganondorf and Charizard) Dashing Speed:1.36 units (King Dedede, 51st) Air Speed:0.93 units (Falco, 45th place) First Jump Height:50 (Barely below Falco's, second place) Second Jump Height:45 (1 unit below Greninja for 5th place) Falling Speed:1.85 units (Greninja, third place) Aerial Control:6/10 Traction:6/10
CROAKS STATS
Size:1.15X Ganondorf height, 0.83X Ganondorf width Weight:100 units (Cloud) Dashing Speed:1.55 units (Lucario, 33rd) Air Speed:1 unit (Rosalina, 31st place) First Jump Height:55 (Easily beats Falco's value of 50 for #1) Second Jump Height:50.5 (Falco, third place) Falling Speed:1.32 units (Villager, 47th place) Aerial Control:7/10 Traction:2.5/10
DOWN SPECIAL - SLOT MACHINE
The frog transforms into a slot machine matching their skin color that is the width of Ribby and the height of Croaks. Used in the air, this functions as a stall then fall attack that gives the frog superarmor against attacks dealing 10% or less. While falling, the slot machine deals 18% and knockback at the Sakurai angle that kills at 120%. After the frog hits the ground or if they used the move on the ground in the first place, the frog will start spinning the slots for some lag. Ribby always gets three green snake heads on his slots, while Croaks always get three red bull heads. The slot machine will then start ejecting tons of dangerous platforms out of its "payout" at the bottom of itself until 10 platforms are fired over the course of 6.5 seconds, or until the frog cancels out of the move by pressing Down Special again to turn back into a frog. The platforms are as tall as Kirby and as wide as Bowser, and they ignore gravity as they hover forwards. The frogs keep their superarmor even when grounded, though keep in mind they can still be grabbed out of it instantly, causing them to deform like Kirby's Down Special.
If the slot machine is Ribby, the platforms are fairly simple, just green with spikes on their sides as the primary hitbox. The top of them are perfectly safe drop through platforms that can be stood on by anybody, though if foes drop through them they will be hit by the spikes. The spikes deal 7% and light radial knockback away from the center of the platform. If the foe was in the middle of two platforms, it's possible to get ping ponged into another one, though the radial nature of the knockback means the foes won't get bounced back and forth three times in a row unless they're brain dead and not trying to avoid the attack. The first platform is fired at Luigi's dashing speed of 1.5 units, and each platform after the first is fired .05 dashing speed units faster, making the final one fired at Roy's dashing speed at 1.95 units. The platforms travel for 2.5 seconds before vanishing rather than a set distance, meaning the faster ones will end up traveling slightly farther.
As Croaks, the slot machine's platforms are red and will lack the spikes. Croaks' platforms hover a Ganondorf into the air before going forwards and every either platform has a hole in either the top or bottom. If a hole is on the top of the platform, it cannot be stood upon. After traveling a platform forwards away from Croaks, a blue jet of flame will be emitted from the hole in the platform that is the size of Ganondorf, dealing a single hit of 12% with a couple freeze frames that will apply to both the foe and the platform until the foe is shot up with vertical knockback that kills at 150%. The flame will keep going for 45 frames before taking a break for 20 frames and resuming fire afterwards. Croaks' platforms last 2.5 seconds like Ribby's, but travel slower, starting at only Robin's dashing speed of 1.15 units. They still speed up by .05 units with each one fired, making the last one travel at Luigi's dashing speed, AKA as fast as Ribby's slowest platform.
This attack is not going to see a ton of use on the active frog and is much better on the inactive one to provide projectile support to the other one. While inactive, the other frog can't be grabbed, and the superarmor against attacks that deal less than 10% translates to the inactive frog being uninterruptible if attacks that do less than 10% hit it. The frog has to take 15% in total to be interrupted, but all from individual hits that do 11% or more. This isn't entirely positive as it means a foe can casually sit in a repeating jab or something on top of the inactive slot machine frog to rack up major damage quickly, but you can always just release B to cancel out of the move manually if it comes to that.
Aside from projectiles, this attack serves as a fantastic recovery aid for the inactive frog to use to help the active frog. Not all of Croaks' platforms can be stood on, but the first one that's generated always can be and that's generally going to be what's most important. Ribby provides better recovery aid to Croaks, while Croaks provides more offensive pressure to help Ribby. Ideally, Ribby will want to smack a foe after they take their damage from Croaks' fire while they're still stuck in freeze frames to try and gimp them if possible. Croaks, with his better jumps, enjoys the ability to better abuse them as he jumps along the slot machine platforms. While foes can use the platforms, this turns their off-stage game into a real terror.
To use this move with the main frog, you're mainly going to want to look into using this attack as a stall then fall first. At lower percents the stall then fall does horizontal knockback thanks to the Sakurai angle and has a chance of tripping, 1 in 5 for Croaks and 1 in 3 for Ribby, which will almost undoubtedly make the platform fired first combo into the trip. Even without that, at very low percents the platform should combo even without the trip. The starting lag on the slots is lessened if you go through the stall then fall portion of the move, making it a lot more viable to get a couple platforms out without relying exclusively on your brother. Just be aware that the "stall" on stall then fall is very real and it's faster to get out platforms by using the grounded version, the aerial version is just useful to hit confirm into them.
CROAKS SIDE SPECIAL - FIREFLY
Croaks braces himself and stares performing an unstorable charge move for up to 80 frames. After releasing it, Croaks spits up 1-4 Kirby sized fireflies based off how long the move was charged. These things are very frail and die on contact with anything whatsoever that is hostile to them. The center firefly will be spat out a platform away from Croaks, while the rest will be spaced out a Bowser width apart from the center one. These things have infinite flight, and once a second will fly towards the foe's location the distance of a Ganondorf height before hovering in place again. This makes these guys into lingering "homing" projectiles of sorts that can be annoying due to how delayed they are. They are very weak and deal only 4% with light knockback that never realistically kills, though is prime fodder for comboing. Beware that even if he is the background frog when he uses this attack, Croaks is still entirely vulnerable to foes while he is charging the move, not just using the move.
Shielding fireflies does next to nothing to foes, and will be their main way of responding to them. While they are easily killed by anything, the active frog should do their best to not give the foe that chance. They are more threatening in groups, but if they stay out for very long they will more likely than not eventually start overlapping each other since they home in on the foe. This makes them a lot easier for foes to kill, though provides you with a lot more payoff as they can potentially all hit simultaneously to stack their damage and knockback. Four flies hitting at once deals 16% and knockback that kills at 130%, which isn't bad at all, though it's very rare to get them that in synch. The fireflies have to survive quite a long time chasing the foe around to get perfectly synched together like that, and it's even more rare that'll happen without them just ramming into the foe and dying before that. This can potentially get even more insane with more flies, but it's a lot more difficult to synch up flies that weren't created from a single use of Croaks' Side Special.
RIBBY SIDE SPECIAL - HADOUKEN
Ribby grits his teeth as he starts spinning his arms around rapidly, becoming a multihit hitbox that deals 12% over the course of 4 flinching hits per second that pushes foes in front of him weakly. More importantly, Ribby fires 1-5 fireballs forwards based off how long he holds B. The first projectile goes along the ground, the second one a Mario height off the ground, the third one a Ganondorf height off the ground. The last two projectiles reverse the pattern, with the fourth one going back down to a Mario height and the last one traveling along the ground again for a small "wave" of projectiles. This is much faster than the slot machine attack, though the fireballs only travel 1.2X as far as Megaman's fsmash. On contact, these fireballs deal 7% diagonal knockback that kills at 165%, not doing a good job of comboing into each other unless Ribby hits with one of the later fireballs.
The default fireball color is blue, but two of them will be pink and be able to be "parried." To parry a fireball, you just have to input A while next to it. This has the same hitbox/mechanics as picking up an item like the Mechakoopa from the Koopalings, meaning this is not an especially hard feat to accomplish. Characters can even pick up Mechakoopas/parry fireballs while dodging. If a fireball is parried, the character will do a small jump in midair that takes them up a little higher than Mario's height while boosting their aerial movement by .5 units for 30 frames, enabling them to easily avoid the next fireball in the barrage and get in a good position. In addition, this provides the parrying character with 6 frames of invincibility and gives them back access to their air jumps if they were used already. Ribby and Croaks can both parry Ribby's fireballs, but so can the foe. Ribby moves slowly enough it will be very rare he's able to parry his own fireballs, but they're excellent fodder for Croaks to use when he's the active frog, especially since he has the better jumps of the pair anyway.
Ribby just has to be careful to avoid letting the foe parry the shots. Lucky for him, which fireballs are pink isn't random and can be chosen by Ribby. By default, the two middle height fireballs will be pink, but if the move is angled up or down, the highest/lowest fireballs will be the pink ones. You're going to want to do your best to keep them out of the foe's reach if possible, while still keeping them in range for Croaks to use. This move has very impressive speed for the amount of projectiles Ribby generates, much faster than the slot machine, with the main catch being the potential for the pink fireballs to be used against him. Even if Croaks doesn't want to use the pink fireballs that badly, he may want to parry them just so the foe can't. Dodging and parrying a pink fireball simultaneously will give the character tons of invulnerability frames and movement to use and enable them to get out of whatever elaborate set-up the frogs had prepared.
If wanting to minimize risk of this backfiring, angling the move up is generally the way to go, as then only one pink fireball will be produced and it'll be covered by the lower ones. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to chain the two parries into each other to enable Croaks to super easily recover without even using anything outside of this move, with very few frames where he isn't invulnerable and simultaneously covering him with the blue fireballs to give him some cover. These guys can get really ridiculous off-stage and are basically impossible to traditionally gimp.
UP SPECIAL - TONGUE TETHER
Ribby/Croaks extend a long cartoony tongue out of their mouth 1/1.5 platforms. Ribby extends out his tongue less far, but has a lot less lag on his move. This functions as a basic tether recovery like those seen in Brawl, but they're a lot more viable this time around given the removal of edgehogging. Ribby and Croaks do not enter helpless from using this attack and missing, though Croaks will eat a fair bit of ending lag for it on a miss.
If this hits a foe, it functions as a grab hitbox similar to Yoshi's Neutral Special. The foe will be stunned briefly as the frog quickly reels themselves in to the foe's location and chomps down on them before spitting the foe out in front of the horizontally, dealing 11% and knockback that kills at 150%. If this lands, the frog will regain use of their Up Special again for a second time in the air, letting them continue chasing the foe off-stage. This is very useful for off-stage pressure on the active frog. On the inactive frog, this makes for an excellent combo move as the foe is pulled back towards them before ideally being spat back forwards at the active frog.
While the frogs can't tongue tether directly onto things other than ledges, they are capable of tethering to the undersides of platforms. Rather than reeling themselves in, they will use their tongue to swing forwards across the underside of the platform , causing them to travel forwards 1-1.5 platforms based off their tongue length from where the platform was, and this still counts as hitting something to refresh their Up Special. This is mainly usable on slot machine platforms of course in a realistic match, though because those platforms are constantly moving it means they won't recover forwards as far. The earlier platforms that move slower are better to enable the frogs to keep up as they swing across them, and Croaks' platforms move much more slowly. The catch for that is that only every other one of Croaks' platforms has an underside that can be tethered onto, while all of Ribby's platforms have usable undersides. Ribby will have to vary up his recovery, though his second jump is good enough that he should be able to swing off the bottom of a platform before jumping up on top of one that can be stood upon. Ribby and Croaks cannot cling to the same platform more than twice without touching the ground, though this only really comes up on gimmick stages given the frogs will be clinging to different platforms most of the time rather than the same one given their brief nature and how fast they move.
The frogs are not hitboxes as swinging along the undersides of platforms, but can use any of their aerials while doing so to make them really strong under the stage. Croaks has the luxury of being able to constantly swing down under the stage on a never ending supply of fast platforms with usable undersides provided by Ribby's slot machine. Ribby can't do this as directly, but the fact the Croaks slot machine platforms hover a Ganondorf in the air means this isn't so limited in only going after foes recovering super low, and oftentimes one swing will be all Ribby needs to get in that fatal finishing move.
The tongues can grab onto projectiles with this move. If this happens, the frog will reel the projectile into themselves rather than themselves to the projectile, during which time they'll stall in the air. After this is complete, this won't use up their Up Special in the air, meaning they can still recover just fine and dandy.
Eating a projectile will cause it to slowly digest in the frog's stomach over 8 seconds. If multiple projectiles are within a Pokeball width of each other, it is possible for frogs to consume multiple projectiles at once, most useful in the case of fireflies. If the frog turns into a slot machine before the consumed projectiles are digested, they will fire a different type of platform instead of their usual platform, the orange tiger platforms. This will cause the platform to have a hole on the top of it that means it can't be stood upon, but instead of flame, the consumed projectile will bounce up and out of the hole in the top of the platform before falling back in, just as powerful as it was originally. The arc of the projectile covers about 1.5 Ganondorfs before it falls back in, and it should go in and out of the platform 3 times before the platform expires. If the frog using the slot machine move runs out of projectiles to spit out, they will go back to their usual platforms at the end of it. As usual, Croaks will fire his platforms a Ganondorf above the ground while Ribby fires them right along the ground. The frogs can still make use of the platforms by swinging along their undersides, while the foe can do nothing of the sort and will be in a very dangerous zone.
The frogs can eat enemy projectiles before regurgitating them back at the foe with use of the slot machine, but they pay a lot higher price to do so than Villager. Not only do the frogs have to vomit the projectiles back out within 8 seconds, they will take 1/8th the damage the projectile would have dealt to them per second. The frogs will not take damage from eating their own projectiles, but in the case of consuming fireflies will instead heal the damage the flies normally deal over 8 seconds, translating to a 0.5% heal per second for 8 seconds. Painstakingly eating four separate fireflies is difficult, but if the flies bunch up together it becomes a lot more worth your time to eat them all in one gulp as the frog starts healing at a rate of 2% per second for 8 seconds! What's better, you can get 7/8ths of the healing before regurgitating them out at the end afterwards, at which point they'll still be totally fine because of cartoon logic, after which they can just be eaten again! While it's unlikely to hit a foe with the four overlapping fireflies, it becomes a threat the foe can't just casually ignore when the frogs can just eat them if the foe leaves them alone.
RIBBY FORWARD SMASH - FROG WHEEL
Ribby curls up into a donut shape as he rapidly spins around before traveling forwards 0.8-1.2 platforms based off charge, going slightly faster so he takes the same time to get there regardless of charge. Ribby deals 15-21% over the course of the move as he drags foes along with him for several hits, with the final hit killing people at 150-110%. This move has heaping piles of ending lag as Ribby is quite dizzy afterwards, though comes out reasonably fast. Once a foe is caught by Ribby, they have little to no hope of being able to escape the move before it's completed, enabling Ribby to potentially drag a foe to Croaks before he knocks the foe out of the attack before the final hit.
Ribby will not go off edges with this attack, but the move is still impressive at the edge and on slot machine platforms just because it makes the move a lot harder to avoid as Ribby performs the move in place. This is a good thing considering that as one of his main kill moves, this is one of the places Ribby would want to use the fsmash in the first place. If Ribby performs this move while riding a slot machine platform towards the blast zone, he will travel more distance than he would normally even with a minimum speed platform, let alone a top speed platform, letting him get very close to the blast zone before knocking the foe away. Ideally, the platform should despawn before Ribby experiences the ending lag, or at least before he goes through every last bit of it, enabling that to interrupt him. It's also possible for Ribby to fsmash a foe shortly before the platform expires so that he is interrupted out of the move before the final hit, which will leave him with a small frame advantage over the foe.
Ribby is considered a projectile during this attack, enabling him to be reflected. This can potentially be used against him to knock him into Croaks comically, though the frogs have plenty of their own ways of dealing with this. Croaks can eat Ribby with his Up Special while fsmash is active, temporarily removing him from the equation and causing you to start playing as Croaks regardless of which frog you were playing as before. If Croaks doesn't spit Ribby out after 8 seconds, he will be forced to spit him out immediately to give a ton of lag to both frogs.
If Croaks uses his Down Special with Ribby eaten, Ribby will be bouncing around in the orange tiger platforms with his fsmash hitbox still up, dragging foes with him before hitting foes forwards with the knockback of the fsmash just before he falls back inside the platform. When this happens, control will swap to Ribby and Croaks will keep the slot machine going for as long as B is held. Ribby can move through the air here and can still fall back into an orange tiger platform if he so chooses, but can also cancel out of this aerial fsmash with any attack he so pleases, potentially even crashing down and starting his own Down Special slot machine.
This is a very powerful technique, but leaves Croaks without Ribby for 8 seconds and places a big burden on him to get a good Down Special going by either landing the aerial hitbox at low percents or knocking the foe off-stage. One way to do this is to have Croaks eat a fsmashing Ribby and the foe simultaneously if they're close enough together. Croaks will still spit the foe out as usual, but this should hopefully make enough space for Croaks to reliably use his Down Special afterwards to spit Ribby back out. This is a fantastic way to start up a gimping scenario, especially if other projectiles are eaten in addition to Ribby, potentially even parrying a pink fireball to gain invulnerability and more air time with the amazing fsmash hitbox. Even without those, Croaks' natural fire jet platforms will provide Ribby a lot of coverage.
CROAKS FORWARD SMASH - PROPELLER
Croaks turns his upper body horizontal as he rapidly spins his arms, turning into a makeshift propeller as jet engine sound effects play. Croaks is a powerful multihit hitbox that deals 23-32.2% over a ton of flinching hits, with the last ones dealing diagonal knockback to kill at 120-80%. This is an impressively powerful hitbox especially for how fast it comes out but it's very rare to land all the hits before the foe can get out, requiring Croaks to hit dead on with the center of the hitbox around his head area. There is a small suction hitbox towards his head, and that's the only way he's going to be able to trap a foe in this move. Trapping the foe in this move is also harder than it looks because Croaks pushes himself backwards a Wario width during the first couple active frames of this move, meaning he almost has to try to hit people behind him unless they're making an active aerial approach towards him. This move is a lot better as an anti-air because of how high Croaks' head is, with the flailing arms down towards the ground rarely doing more than just a bit of damage to Croaks' enemies. While this move comes out fast, the duration is long and easily punished.
Of course, the propeller has a huge wind hitbox in addition to the melee hitbox. The wind hitbox is 1.4X as tall as Croaks and reaches forward a full 1-1.3 platforms from him, and will push foes away as powerfully as Dedede's inhale. This isn't terribly strong for gimping, but can force foes to try to recover low rather than high, where Ribby can much more easily gimp the foe. The wind hitbox will also push Ribby, so Croaks has to be careful to not accidentally kill his brother with this, but if there's any platform out for Ribby to grapple onto with his tongue that shouldn't be a huge issue. This can potentially be useful to slow down or speed up Ribby's fsmash, enabling him to either cover almost twice as much ground or use the spinning attack while standing almost in place like he was at the edge.
The propeller wind hitbox will speed up/slow down projectiles depending on if it's used in the same direction the projectile were going or not. Fireflies will be blown at the speed of Dedede's inhale even when in idle, but will be covering a lot greater distances when they actually decide to move towards the foe. If Croaks is pushing them away from the foe, on the other hand, it makes it a lot easier to get them to overlap with each other. If a foe is going to parry one of Ribby's pink fireballs just by dodging into it, Croaks can use his unavoidable wind hitbox to try to move the foe out of the way while simultaneously speeding up/slowing down the fireballs. This will generally be used to better effect if pushing the foe and projectiles in opposite directions. With how many projectiles are going to be out, a wind hitbox to use against dodges in general is going to be tremendously useful.
RIBBY UP SMASH - SONIC BOOM
Ribby grits his teeth before clapping his hands in front of him, forming a cartoony Sonicboom projectile that he fires upwards at a 20 degree angle, going slightly forwards but primarily upwards. The Sonicboom goes up 1-1.2X the distance of Palutena's usmash before vanishing, and deals 12-16.8% and knockback at the same angle the projectile travels that KOs at 170-140% in Ribby's fastest smash attack all around. Because of Croaks' height, Ribby is going to be using a lot of juggling attacks to send foes up for moves like Croaks' fsmash and usmash. This move is useful to hit foes who are already up in the air with another attack, or potentially hit somebody Croaks is going to knock down to Ribby.
If this attack comes in contact with any terrain, such as the underside of a platform, it will bounce off and be redirected as if it was reflected, changing the trajectory. If fired alongside an orange tiger platform or a red bull platform with a solid bottom, the projectile can rapidly bounce between the underside of the platform and the stage for as long as that stage keeps up. Meanwhile, the flame jet/bouncing projectile coming out the top will cover what's above the platform, making it a big death zone. Every time the projectile bounces off of something, the power is very slightly increased by 1.05X, and that can add up fast with how much it can potentially bounce around. If the Sonicboom is eaten and stored for later, it will keep all of the extra power when fired out again later to boot! The move's power caps out at 1.5X what you started with, but this is still pretty respectable even without charging the smash. Even without bouncing off of anything, this is the strongest projectile in the duo's arsenal for them to try to manipulate by eating it with Up Special.
CROAKS UP SMASH - FROG FLAME
What with Croaks shooting out fireflies and red flaming platforms, he has a rather strong affinity for fire. For this move, he rears back like Dhalsim, building up flame in his belly before shooting up a powerful jet of fire above himself in a Bowser sized hitbox. This is yet another strong multihit smash attack, and unlike Croaks' fsmash this one is impossible to escape once a foe is caught in it. This deals 14-19.6%, with vertical knockback that kills at 135-100%. The knockback isn't quite as strong as this implies, as because of Croaks' height foes will be taking the knockback a pretty significant distance above the stage. This move is fast and is another amazing anti-air/juggler, but suffers from having absolutely no hitbox not directly above Croaks, requiring him to juggle foes and/or rely on Ribby to get foes up there to be hit by it.
This move is already good, but can be powered up further. If Croaks is currently digesting anything, he will consume it fully over the course of this move. This will cause him to take the full damage of any enemy projectiles he has eaten, though will unfortunately not give him the remaining healing from fireflies. Projectiles will add a quarter of their damage to the attack. This damage is added to the flinching hits earlier on in the move so it doesn't boost the knockback, but for each 1% the projectile naturally did the move will kill 1.5% sooner. This may not sound like much, but it's a big deal on a very fast move with a big hitbox. Fire based projectiles specifically, such as the otherwise very weak fireflies and fireballs, will increase the size of the hitbox by 1.1X, making it increasingly hard to miss the move if the foe is anywhere in the air.
If Ribby was eaten by Croaks before he used this move, Ribby will be shot up out of Croaks' mouth with the usual fsmash hitbox. The usmash hitbox won't spawn as Ribby is instead covered in fire, though if any fireballs/fireflies were used for Croaks' usmash that will still extend the hitbox around Ribby by 1.1X per projectile as usual. This stacks together all of the damage of Ribby's fsmash and Croaks' usmash in a massive all or nothing attack, though the knockback is just the usual usmash knockback rather than the fsmash's knockback. You're generally only going to want to use if you can combo directly into it, which is going to be really hard when you only have Croaks available. Like when Ribby is shot out of a slot machine, using this technique will cause you to gain control of Ribby after croaks shoots him out, enabling him to move to side to side with this very threatening hitbox briefly active.
RIBBY DOWN SMASH - SUMO STOMP
Ribby performs a telegraphed stomp in front of him, dealing 16-22.4% and vertical knockback that kills at 110-75% with huge base knockback. This stomp is very rarely going to hit directly, especially since the range on the move is pretty poor. There is an additional hitbox on the move besides the melee range stomp, though. A small shockwave spawns in front of Ribby's stomping foot, causing the ground a Bowser width in front of him to become a hitbox as Ribby holds his foot down on the spot for a good 17 frames. The quaking ground deals 8-11.2% and pops foes into the air with rather weak knockback that won't kill until 300% uncharged, but has enough of a base to knock foes into the air above an idle Croaks. If this dsmash isn't going to kill people, it can often be preferable to hit with this version of the move to try to combo into Croaks' powerful fsmash or usmash. If comboing into Croaks' fsmash in particular, Croaks can try to blow Ribby into range for this attack to land during Ribby's extensive starting lag.
This is another powerful attack for Ribby to use while standing on a slot machine platform, as it will cause not only the top of the platform to quake but the underside as well. Croaks doesn't generate a ton of platforms Ribby is actually capable of standing on, but when he does Ribby's not going to give you an easy time getting on, that's for sure. In addition to turning the platform into a quaking hitbox all around, this will cause the platform to lower in elevation about a Marth height as Ribby first stomps down before going back up to hover in place. This lets Ribby reach down further with the flame jet coming out of the bottom of the platform, making sure there is minimal room for escape.
CROAKS DOWN SMASH - TONGUE SLOBBER
Croaks turns to face the fore/background as he rapidly slobbers his tongue back and forth across the ground in front of him. Croaks swings his tongue back and forth 3 times over the course of the move, dealing weak knockback that sends the foe in the direction he's currently swinging his tongue and 4-5.6%, potentially hitting foes 6 times in total in a move that comes out fast with a long duration. After 40% or so on Mario, it becomes possible for Croaks to knock the foe out of the move before it's done. The knockback on the tongue swings are not set, and they slightly increase over the course of the move. Croaks just swings his tongue fast enough that ideally the foe should still be knocked back to the other side before being able to escape the move, but if Croaks doesn't hit a foe at the edge of this move's range with the first hit he hits them with, it becomes easier and easier for the foe to escape the higher their percentage.
This is a good crowd control move if Croaks isn't the active frog, but if he is Croaks has to hit this move at the fullest extent of the range in front of him with the first tongue swing or on the backswing on a foe who rolled behind him to make this move all that practical. Your reward is a pretty huge helping of damage for this difficult to space move, though the final hit still won't kill until 180-150% anyway. This move is much better if Croaks has low rage given a lot of this move's knockback on the first few hits is in the base, so this move becomes a lot stronger if you can preserve Croaks for later on in the match and/or to potentially use it on the foe's second stock. To use the move while providing minimal risk to Croaks, he can of course still just use it while he's "inactive" and let Ribby do the hard spacing work for him.
This attack produces a puddle of drool on the ground where Croaks used it for 5 seconds. The puddle basically behaves as ice seen on some Smash Bros stages with greatly decreasing traction, though is not quite as severe as what you would see there. In addition, any moves that have a percentage based chance to trip, such as the Sakurai angle knockback from the aerial version of the slot machine move, will always trip foes who are overlapping drool.
Ribby will greatly speed up if he rolls over the drool while in his fsmash state, just as much as anyone does by dashing. This lets him pretty easily drag the foe to the edge from anywhere if he starts the fsmash while standing on top of the drool, letting him drag the foe 1.6-2.4 platforms, turning the move into a more mobile kill move.
If Croaks uses this attack after having eaten Ribby, he will keep holding Ribby with his tongue and swing him back and forth on his tongue like a flail. Croaks' tongue will go through the "donut hole" in the middle of Ribby as he continuse to spin around. The usual dsmash hitbox doesn't spawn here, but Ribby's fsmash hitbox will be in full effect as he drags foes around with multiple flinching hits. After the dsmash's duration is complete, Croaks will slam Ribby down onto the drool he just created, causing him to zip forwards with the fsmash duration entirely refreshed as the player gains control of Ribby. This will enable the frog player to do the damage of Ribby's fsmash twice before sliding to the edge of the stage and dealing the move's knockback there, ludicrously powerful. Just beware that after this, Ribby will go through his fsmash ending lag and Croaks will be considered inactive for the next 6 seconds as usual, making this insanely punishable.
GRAB - EAT
Ribby and Croaks have a grab that is largely the same as Yoshi's grab as they reach out with their tongues to try to eat the foe, pretty much the signature tether grab. This is mostly usable as a dashing grab, much like Yoshi's. If the grabbing frog runs over some dsmash drool, they can boost the "range" of their dashing grab by traveling much faster while simultaneously causing them to slide forwards a lot further after grabbing the foe if successful, making it easier to drag the foe to the ledge before throwing them for an easier kill.
After eating the foe, the frog will swallow them and enter their slot machine form. After the throw is complete or the foe escapes the grab, they will quickly revert back to normal.
PUMMEL - RIGGED ODDS
The slot machine pulls its own crank, causing the slots in front of it to go down in a very slow pummel that deals 4.5% to the foe. If the slot machine frog has consumed any projectiles, they will show up on the slots. This shuffles the orders of the projectiles around slightly and makes it so the projectile that was eaten the longest ago is now at the end of the lineup, pushing everything else in the lineup one slot forward. This change is displayed on the slots, with the most recent 3 projectiles that will be expunged from the slot machine being shown from left to right in the slots. You will rarely have time for more than one pummel, so you can't rearrange a whole ton, this is mostly important for determining what's in the first slot.
The fact this pummel is slow means that this is the time to input the inactive frog to do a move if you want to do that without simultaneously inputting the active frog to use a throw. Alternatively, you can input the other frog's move during the animation of your throw, as some of the throw animations are quite long, most obviously bthrow.
FORWARD THROW - PENNY SLOTS
The foe is shot out of the slot machine at a 25 degree angle, taking 7% and knockback that kills at 180% which is pretty unimpressive. After shooting out the foe, the machine will spit 3 coins after the foe, however, directly at their current location. At low percents, the first coin will always combo. The coins deal 6% each and knockback that kills at 250%, which makes this much better comboing fodder if one hits. Coins other than the first one will never hit unless the other frog intervenes, though these coins have infinite range and can potentially provide some clutter for the foe to return to the stage if knocked off.
The knockback on the coins is so weak that you can combo the fthrow's primary knockback to an attack from the other frog, then rely on the coins to keep the foe from getting out. Using a multihit smash like either Ribby's fsmash or any of Croaks' smashes works really well for making sure the foe gets hit by all of the coins. Croaks' fsmash in particular will do a good job of keeping the foe stuck for a while and slowing down the coins to let you get in all that extra coin damage. This is great, but because of the knockback's awkward angle Croaks will have to be spaced a very specific distance away from the Ribby slot machine for each smash to combo. Very close for dsmash, mid range for fsmash, and slightly further away for usmash. Alternatively, having Croaks turn into a slot machine will work from most any distance if Ribby can time when he releases the foe properly, and you can potentially get a combo of one fire jet into a coin into another fire jet. Croaks' Side Special flies can also work, but Croaks has to spawn the flies well in advance of when the throw happens so that the flies are moving right when the foe takes their knockback. If the frog performing the throw was Croaks, Ribby can do an fsmash next to the slot machine or a usmash from most other ranges if he can get the timing correct. Ribby's Side Special is very easy to combo into this by comparison, but is a last resort given the lower payoff.
If any projectiles are eaten, the slot machine will dispose of the first 3 projectiles it has stored instead of just coins, going at their usual speed and range, but redirected to be aimed at the foe. This enables you to hit confirm something like Ribby's fsmash wheel or usmash sonicboom into the foe, which is never going to not be scary. Keep in mind the first projectile only combos by itself at low percentages, though, so this won't help with killing people. Unlike coins, these other projectiles don't have infinite range either, so if the other frog wants to help the projectile combo they'll have to be quite close. The only real exception is Croaks' fsmash propeller, which will have an effect on the projectile as well.
As usual whenever Croaks regurgitates Ribby, you will transition to control of Ribby once he comes out of the slot machine. In this particular case, Ribby will still experience his usual bad ending lag of the fsmash in the air, but because he's in the air he can at least move around during it and potentially cancel it by grabbing the ledge. If pink fireballs are fired behind Ribby, he can potentially travel farther than he could naturally as he bounces off of it with a parry to try to reach the foe faster. If the third projectile was a pink fireball, Ribby can parry off of it during his ending lag to cancel out of it too! No, pink fireballs can't cancel the ending lag of anything, only Ribby when he's been launched by Croaks somehow, and he has to do it right as he enters the ending lag so it's harder than it sounds.
BACK THROW - MALFUNCTION
The slot machine starts malfunctioning as it crackles with electricity, dealing the foe several hits that total up to 7%. As this is happening, a big fat button that says "SERVICE" becomes visible on the slot machine, and the slot machine's crank turns into a hand with a big pointer finger which it uses to press said button. This will prompt a single firefly to come from outside of the frog's payout area and fly behind the slot machine to "repair" it, by which I mean giving it a good kick. This will cause a portion of the slot machine's back to fall off, and after that the firefly will go into it and drag the foe out, kicking them out and stopping them from gumming up the works of the slot machine! The kick surprisingly deals 4% decent knockback that kills at 170%. For how tacky the animation is, this throw is pretty basic at the end of the day, with a small side effect of producing a token firefly for you to aid in your set-up. The firefly functions like any other and will fly after the foe to pursue them after the throw is done, with the frog having a lot of ending lag as they morph back, rubbing their back as if they are in pain for some strange reason.
If the slot machine had any other fireflies stored, they will come out and help in addition to the free one that always comes out. With multiple fireflies, they will instead carry the foe a set distance of 0.4 platforms per fly before finally kicking them off, very slightly boosting the damage by a token 1% per fly, which will factor into the knockback calculation. The set distance they move back is definitely the more important factor here. They move faster with more flies to carry the foe, so even with all of them the frog who used the throw will still be in ending lag and be unable to combo. This throw is useful for moving the foe a good distance off-stage at even a very low percentage, and will also cause all of your flies to be overlapping afterwards. This lets them easily be re-eaten and makes them very threatening to the foe on the way back, though the foe can casually just kill all of them in a single attack all at once.
If Croaks had eaten Ribby before this throw was used, he will get out and help too. He'll be the one to bust open Croaks' backside with a quick karate chop before the flies go in and retrieve the foe. Once they've done that, Ribby will grab them all and throw them back the set distance of a platform before the rest of the throw happens as normal, enabling you to get even more set knockback. Control will transition to Ribby as usual here, but be warned you can't just combo this into Up Special because of the SSB4 regrab timer, so you sadly cannot instantly re-eat the minions while they're in the process of carrying the foe. Ribby will want to do his best to protect and/or eat the flies later, though, before the foe casually kills them. The flies will move too fast for Ribby to catch up to combo into anything directly out of this throw, but he can get close enough that his Up Special hitbox would theoretically work if the regrab timer wasn't preventing him from using it.
While the set knockback can take the foe a very long distance off-stage, just keep in mind that for Ribby to even be inside of Croaks in the first place, that means he can't be generating slot machine platforms for you to carry the foe off-stage. No sliding all the way to the blast zone then instantly killing them with your big set knockback bthrow. This will rarely kill the foe by itself unless you have tons of fireflies, and is mostly just meant to get the foe off-stage and vulnerable with a bunch of nearby minions in their face.
UP THROW - CASH OUT
The slot machine ejects the foe from itself vertically. When they come out, though, they're not exactly themselves. They've gone through a tacky transformation and are now a poker chip with their face painted on either side! The size of the poker chip is roughly that of the foe's original hurtbox, and will round down rather than up to never be bigger than their original hurtbox. This tacky transformation deals 10% from the pain of the foe having to go through such a horrific and tacky process, and the foe will spin around as they take vertical knockback that kills at 250%.
As a poker chip, the foe's weight is greatly reduced by 15 units. The kill percentage on the move's knockback is taking into account the throw reducing the foe's weight. This is the only effect this actually has, as the foe will turn back to normal as soon as they exit the hitstun from having been knocked into the air by the uthrow. However, this status effect can theoretically last forever so long as the foe remains in stun, with them only changing back once they regain control of their character. While the other throws can keep the foe stunned for longer than this paltry throw, this throw can potentially kill the foe a lot earlier as the inactive frog smacks them away with a powerful smash on a low weight foe. The throw's vertical knockback works well for Ribby using this to combo into a Croaks fsmash/usmash.
If the frog using this throw had a stored projectile, the oldest stored projectile at the front of the lineup will be infused into the poker chip alongside the foe. The front of the poker chip will show the foe's face, while the other side of it will show the projectile. Whenever the foe gets out of hitstun, the projectile will spawn right next to them! It won't instantly hit them unfortunately, but the foe has to act immediately with a dodge to avoid it or an attack to cancel it out/kill it in the case of a firefly. On the other hand, if the foe's knockback ends within the wind hitbox of Croaks' fsmash, Croaks will inevitably blow the foe and the projectile into each other. While the other throws can hit confirm a projectile for you, this is pretty great for letting you hit confirm a projectile at differing locations. The foe will also be in a prime position to just be immediately re-eaten alongside the projectile with Up Special if the other frog can hit them to get rid of the SSB4 grab immunity timer.
Yes, Croaks can store both the foe and Ribby inside of the same poker chip. Unlike other methods of regurgitating Ribby, Ribby will be out of his fsmash wheel form for once and will be immediately in the foe's face, ready to act and with a 2 frame advantage as control switches from Croaks to Ribby. This is a very nice way to start up the duo's powerful juggling game and will give Ribby a much needed advantage state to start off the 6 seconds he can't use Croaks for.
The knockback Ribby and the foe take as a poker chip will still use the foe's weight -15 rather than Ribby's, but will factor in Ribby's damage into the equation, potentially letting this be a very potent suicide kill option. Ribby is already doomed to the devil anyway, it's worth it to let his brother live on free of that accursed contract! While suicide killing can be useful, keep in mind this is a full stock for the frogs, if not worse. Croaks isn't exactly the strongest of characters alone. Ideally, you want to use this attack when the combined percentages of Ribby and the foe would be enough to get them very close to the top blast zone without killing them so Ribby can threaten to send them off the top.
The one projectile that might seem stupid to put in a poker chip alongside the foe is a pink fireball the foe can parry. The foe won't instantly be overlapping it, though, so they can't parry it immediately. If they wait a couple frames to parry it and do so, they will still be in lag briefly just like if they air dodged, letting them still potentially be punished. What's more, the parry, if anything, can be actively detrimental as the input makes it more difficult for the foe to attack thanks to the pink fireball getting parried by any press of A, basically forcing them to either dodge, parry, or fastfall rather than attack, making their response more predictable. If you can't get there in time for a direct combo, such as if the background frog isn't available, you can still potentially combo off of this with the correct read if you dump a pink fireball in the poker chip with the foe.
DOWN THROW - JACKPOT
A trio of 7s come down on the slot machine reels, causing the machine to dump the foe on the floor into untechable prone for 5% before dumping a pile of coins on top of them for an additional 8% damage over the course of several hits, with the last hit dealing weak knockback that kills at 200%. If intending to combo the foe at melee range with the other frog, this throw is generally better than the weak knockback of the penny slots fthrow given you can just hit them while they're still getting hit by the multiple hits of the throw.
If this throw is used at the ledge, the coins won't all combo into the initial throw as the foe gets dumped off the ledge in their footstooled state and the coins will fall with realistic physics like Villager's bowling ball fsmash, falling a similar distance before vanishing. The first few coin hits will still combo, but foes will be able to move to the side to avoid the rest of the coins. This is still an awkward state to be in and is a great way to set up a gimping situation below the ledge while the inactive frog uses their Down Special and summons the deadly platforms. Even if the other frog is unavailable, this will still set up a bigger advantage state than just casually knocking the foe off the ledge with an ordinary throw would.
If this is used while standing on a slot machine platform and you're facing the direction the platform is going, all of the hits will still combo properly because of the platform moving you forward. What's more, if the platform vanishes before the throw is done, you can hit the foe with a quick aerial instead of the usual finishing hit for a powerful finisher. The dthrow's duration isn't terribly long so this won't stall the foe out much, but will still let you get the foe closer to the edge/blast zone before hitting them away and will make the foe take the knockback below the platform, letting you swing around on their bottoms with ease to further pursue the foe if they're not dead yet and/or recover.
If you use this while facing away from the blast zone you're traveling towards and instead are facing towards the other frog in slot machine form, you can casually dump the foe down into the platform behind you. In the case of Ribby's green platforms, you'll dump them into the side of the platform and knock them back towards you horizontally, which can be yet another combo if the foe's percentage is around 35-60%. If you used it while standing on Croaks' red platform, the platform behind you will have to have the flame jet coming out of the bottom. This throw's knockback naturally sends enemies downwards, letting you combo directly into the flame jet coming out the bottom if you time it properly. This is about as far as you can take the foe directly downwards with your grab-game, and for a lot of foes that'll make it harder for them to recover than just sending them away horizontally. The foe's percentage doesn't matter for this, potentially enabling you to get really early kills as you start a gimping session with the tongue platform clinging game or potentially combo into a kill confirm at very high percentages.
If you have projectiles stored, this throw is stupid. Every single projectile you have stored will be dumepd straight on top of the foe's head in a mess of garbage! All knockback is removed from the projectiles to enable you to dump every single thing you have on top of the foe, but any other effects of the projectiles remain. However, this gigantic mess of junk only deals half of the usual damage it would normally, so you're going to need a lot of projectiles to really make it count. You could still eject it out of orange platforms with Down Special or fthrow to get the full mileage out of the individual projectiles, so if anything this can be seen as a bit of a waste. However, you only have 8 precious seconds with your projectiles before they're all devoured, so it's oftentimes better to just get something out of your projectiles before they just vanish. The throw's knockback on the final hit is determined by whatever the last projectile you ate was, but it's still only 0.8X the usual knockback. You either want to eat the source of the knockback last or first, since your pummel can move it to the end of the line up anyway. If you have a sonicboom, redirecting that knockback to be downwards at a ledge, even when weakened this much, is very, very powerful.
If you're on a moving platform, this can still work the same way as with the coins as you cover the foe in a mess of stored projectiles you dump on them, with your forward movement meaning the foe can't escape. Unlike the coins, the more projectiles you have here, the longer the foe is going to be stuck in lag, letting you carry the foe for potentially the entire length of the platform ride. The throw can still be interrupted like the coin version if the platform vanishes under you early. This is more relevant here because any projectiles you didn't eject from the slot machine will still be stored, letting you save some for later.
You might think you want a projectile that's really weak to be the last hit for comboing purposes, but the active frog has a lot more ending lag if he spits up stored projectiles for this attack. If any comboing is to be done, it will be into the other frog. If Croaks spits up Ribby with this attack, Ribby will go through with his fsmash as soon as he's spit out and control will shift to him as it always does. It's possible to have his fsmash be the attack that does the knockback at the end, but it's also very useful to have Ribby go first. The sooner Ribby is spit out, the sooner he'll complete his attack and be done with his ending lag. The more projectiles you dump on top of the foe with Croaks, the more time Ribby has to get past his fsmash ending lag to be able to potentially combo something out of this, and the move in question that he uses to combo can potentially have more and more starting lag on it if Croaks gives him enough time by vomiting a thousand and one projectiles at the foe.
The catch is that you can only move projectiles from the front of the lineup to the back with the pummel, so you still have to eat Ribby as the first or second projectile for this to work, meaning Croaks has to somehow consume a mess of projectiles in a mere 8 seconds. Getting much of an elaborate set-up with this isn't super realistic unless Croaks get out a ton of fireflies somehow, or the foe helps pitch in with their own projectiles. It is still possible for Ribby to contribute some projectiles before he gets eaten by using Side Special followed by fsmash over drool to try to beat a fireball into Croaks' mouth. This stuff might sound far too unrealistic, but the main way to make it work is to simultaneously threaten foes with these projectiles as storing them and to be willing to take a second prize. With their many extraneous hitboxes, threatening foes is not something the frogs have a problem with.
NEUTRAL AERIAL - HURRICANE KICK
The frog spins around and performs Ryu's Side Special, extending out a single leg and spinning around in place. This deals 10% over 5 hits, with the final hit knocking foes in front of the frog with knockback that kills at 185%. The knockback on this attack is not radial and is instead always forwards, so even if you hit a foe behind you they'll be knocked in front of you. The move's base knockback is pretty low, so if you hit a foe behind you with the tip of the move's range this can combo to higher percentages than you might expect, especially if you're abusing Croaks' ridiculously long legs to make the foe take the knockback from a considerable distance behind you. On the other hand, if you hit with the tip of the range in front of you, this move can kill a fair bit earlier than the given low KO percentage can suggest, giving this move a lot of versatility.
While Croaks' legs are a lot longer than Ribby's, the range buff isn't quite as huge as it would first appear. Ribby is much fatter than Croaks, and the lower torso of the frogs is still a hitbox during this move. The reason Croaks' is better is just to distance the foe more from his primary hurtbox before they take that knockback. Croaks' higher aerial movement and floatier falling speed enables him to move through a foe to get into position for the spacing he wants a lot better. Even without Ribby's lower aerial movement, the fact so much of the hitbox is his fat body makes it take longer for him to "clip" through a foe than Croaks in the middle of an aerial. This aerial has surprisingly generous landing lag, not so generous you won't get punished if you interrupt the move in the middle most of the time, but if the foe was at the edge of the move's range and you were Croaks, there's very little that will be long range and fast enough to punish you in time.
Despite his shortcomings, Ribby's nair is slightly faster than Croaks' and has a weak suction effect on it. The suction means if you hit a foe in the middle of the move they're going to stay there pretty much the whole time unfortunately, but if you hit a foe on the edge of the move's range and move away with them, you can still keep them in the move. If the foe tries to escape by moving away, you just have to predict that and move with them and you'll still get them in that ideal sweetspot. While it's harder for Ribby to space foes with this horizontally, the suction means he can drag a foe down with his high falling speed before sending them away, very useful off-stage.
If used while swinging from a Up Special tongue tether, it becomes a lot easier for Croaks to pass through a foe to the other side, even if he first hit with the move on the far side, he can pass all the way to the other side. If Ribby uses it, he can drag foes along with him with his suction hitbox as he swings while potentially making it easier to hit a foe with the side of the hitbox.
FORWARD AERIAL - SLAM DUNK
The frogs do that heavyweight animation we all know and love at this point, DK's fair. The frog clasps his hands together before slamming them down in front of themselves in an arc. Compared to DK's fair, this isn't all that slow, and it still picks a wallop, dealing 14% and a fairly powerful spike a bit weaker than Rob's dair. The move's lag is pretty much all in the end and landing lag, with it coming out very quick for a move you can threaten with so casually.
If the landing lag on this move is triggered, the frog will slam his fists down onto the stage, exaggerating the size of the hitbox and causing the attack to be boosted to 18% with knockback that kills at 110% on grounded foes as they're bounced off the floor to be killed vertically. You have to land on the stage right as your fists would naturally hit it to get this hitbox, and either way still has terrible landing lag.
If you don't land down entirely on the stage but only with your fists, you can get this hitbox while still being considered in the air, enabling you to move during your ""landing lag"" and making you far harder to punish. You can do this by pounding down onto the stage from the side or onto a slot machine platform. In the case of the ledge, the frog can potentially even cancel out of it immediately into a ledge regrab. In the case of a slot machine platform, you should be out of ending lag soon enough you should be able to tether onto the bottom of the platform with Up Special afterwards. This is roughly the same speed as going through the lag of the regular aerial, but gives the frog a ton more room to position themselves for their next attack afterwards and makes them kings of the air around their platforms. Pounding down on a platform will cause it to dip downwards briefly like with Ribby's dsmash, but it will only go down half as far.
After having been spat out by Croaks' uthrow, Ribby can use this to try to send the foe back down if he's not high enough to just casually kill the foe off the top. He should still be high enough that smacking the foe down and bouncing them off the ground could potentially combo, even with the fair's ending lag. The foe can tech being smacked down onto the ground, but then Ribby can just combo into dair or use his huge falling speed to combo into something else instead if he accurately reads the tech.
BACK AERIAL - CROSS PUNCH
The frog does a single punch primarily to turn around their large cartoony body, then follows up with a second punch with their other arm afterwards with more force put behind it. The first punch deals 4% with miniscule knockback that can't kill on the arm, with 7% with knockback that kills at 230% on the boxing glove. The second punch deals 5% with knockback that kills at 250% on the arm, while the boxing glove deals an impressive 13% with horizontal knockback that kills people at 120%, pretty good.
The arm's knockback on the first hit is set, and is generally set-up to combo into the second hit's punch. The keyword here is generally. Ribby will have a lot easier time comboing into the punch, as he just needs to hit the arm hitbox up against his body at close range to combo into the punch. He has some leeway if he moves backwards while using the attack. Croaks, on the other hand, has a much longer arm, and the set knockback is not changed for him. This means that at melee range, the arm hitbox will just combo into the second arm hitbox, which is okay for comboing into something else from the second frog but little else. Croaks has to hit the foe with the first hit from a good distance to have any shot of comboing into the punch. If he does, though, he'll be dealing the punch's knockback a pretty big distance from his body, which makes it kill even more quickly.
This attack's knockback isn't entirely horizontal and has a slight vertical angle on the second's hit's punch hitbox, enabling Ribby to kill with this after being knocked up high into the air with the foe by Croak's uthrow. While Ribby and the foe will be facing each other by default when they get out of the poker chip, Ribby can hold forwards as he comes out of the poker chip to casually clip through the foe during the animation to choose which side of the foe he's on, while the foe has no such luxury and is just in raw stun. This attack is quicker to come out than it sounds and can be spammed/shorthopped comparably to something like Ganondorf's nair with similar hitboxes as a reliable spacer. The only issue stopping it from being spammed more is the fact the frog turns around during it.
Swinging with a tongue tether while using this attack will greatly change up the spacing of the attack. If you are punching behind you while swinging forwards, Croaks can combo the second punch hitbox from the first arm hitbox because of how far he moves. If swinging forwards, Ribby can potentially combo both of the punches together. Other combinations are possible based off the foe's weight/damage/the direction you're swinging, but these are the most common.
UP AERIAL - LICK
The frog swings their tongue in an arc above themselves, starting 30 degrees up and in front of them before ending behind them. The tongue is swung in an incredibly quick arc comparable to Bowser's fair that surrounds the frog, just rotated 45 degrees upwards so that the only direction that isn't covered is below the frog rather than behind in Bowser's fair. The range isn't quite as good as Bowser's fair, but the move is slightly faster. The power only deals 7% with low base knockback upwards that kills at 210%, but that just makes it better for juggling. At very low percents, the move can even combo into itself if you hit a foe to the side before you hit a foe directly above you afterwards.
The knockback is primarily upwards, but has a slight radial element to it. Foes can be hit up to a 45 degree angle if hit by the side of the hitbox, but will always be knocked upwards no matter what. This makes the move more useful as a spacer in addition to a juggler, and the range is pretty stupidly good if you're playing as Croaks. Croaks struggles to juggle foes directly upwards because how much more his tongue covers, though, making Ribby surprisingly turn out to be the better juggler of the two. Juggling foes is very useful to try to get them to land on top of the other frog's hitbox, especially if Croaks is the background frog.
If Croaks has devoured Ribby when he uses uair, he will let him out on his tongue like a flail, similar to dsmash. The big difference here is Croaks doesn't let Ribby go when he uses uair, he has to dedicate more time for a laggier attack to do that. While Ribby is being swung on Croaks' tongue, he has the usual fsmash hitbox on his person as he drags foes along with him instead of the uair hitbox on Croaks' tongue. However, Croaks will retract Ribby back into his stomach before he can finish the final hit of the fsmash, meaning the foe will just take 11% worth of flinching hits if they were hit by the first hit. This will drag foes from one side of Croaks onto the other and will set up perfectly for his bair, giving him just enough of a frame advantage the attack will combo into his bair. Foes will generally retain the same distance from Croaks as when they were first by the Ribby wheel, meaning if they were hit by the edge of Ribby's wheel hitbox they'll be in prime position for the first bair arm hitbox to combo into the second punch. This is a very helpful spacer to have at Croaks' disposal while he has to go without Ribby for 8 seconds, he just has to make sure he finds time to use a move that actually spits Ribby out before that time is up.
If swinging on the underside of a platform with Up Special when you use this attack, the uair will just change entirely as you reel yourself in to the platform like it was a tether at the ledge, what with this normally being a tongue based attack. This has no hitbox, but lets you directly tether yourself onto the platform. This will make you slightly less threatening without access to your uair, but gives you a lot more versatility with where you go. When you reach the platform, the frog will perform their usual getting up from the ledge animation as they climb on top of it. It is sad to lose access to your strong regular uair during this time, but you should be able to use it plenty before tethering yourself to the platform. Uair will do a decent job of knocking foes into the platform hitboxes above you normally when untethered, especially if you hit the foe at a diagonal angle, but you should generally want to knock the foe horizontally/downwards in this context anyway. Tethering up to the platform is a fast process, and after that you can do whatever other offensive tricks you had in mind.
DOWN AERIAL - LEAPFROG
The frog extends their legs out downwards as they enter a stall then fall with no stall, stomping downwards towards the ground. Croaks doesn't accelerate very fast and only goes down as slowly as Sonic's dair, while Ribby will fall like a rock at the pace of Greninja's dair. The frog's legs deal 10% and decent downwards knockback, which translates to weaker, comboable knockback against grounded enemies as their knockback is lessened and turns into vertical knockback as they bounce off the ground.
When the frog hits a target they can damage or touches down on the ground, they will bounce up off of them 1.25X as far as they fell. The frogs aren't hitboxes as they go up and have a set amount of "ending" lag as they bounce off the floor that doesn't change based off how far they go up. If they're out of lag before they fully ascend, the frogs are free to act, and they will generally be out of lag after going up 1.5 Ganondorfs or so. If they don't go up 1.5 Ganondorfs in the first place, they'll still be in just as much lag anyway. While the frogs have very limited control over their horizontal movement as they go down, they have full control over it as they go back up, making them very hard to punish if they go back high into the air after touching down.
This works best as a comboing move as you go up higher into the air after the foe. Croaks is better at comboing with his longer legs meaning he hits the ground faster while simultaneously meaning he gets higher into the air, since his "starting position" for this move is his body, not his legs. The awkward thing for Croaks is because his legs are so stupidly lanky, he struggles to use this move that much on the stage since he hits the ground almost instantly. He'll mainly be shorthopping the move at early percents to use as a basic launcher to combo into his anti-air attacks rather than using this move's great potential to combo into itself like Ribby. Ribby's smaller legs actually work as an advantage in some situations, letting the hitbox on the move linger for longer before he touches down on the stage. Unlike Croaks, Ribby's entire fat body is a hitbox for this move, while only Croaks' long legs are hitboxes in his version. Croaks still has better range overall as his legs are even more exaggerated than usual for this attack, with it mostly coming down to how you want to land this move.
This move works really well when you're off-stage with the other frog sending slot machine platforms at you. You can bounce up higher and higher as moving back towards the stage, forming an intimidating "wall." Ideally, you can hit the foe down before the platform arrives so they take downwards knockback while you safely land on the platform afterwards. This is a lot easier for Ribby than Croaks since he doesn't cancel out of the move as quickly.
The fact this move is a stall then fall without a stall on it gives it good synergy with the aerial version of Down Special. A foe predicting the much more common dair will be in for a nasty surprise as the frogs stall in the air and get past the starting lag of turning into a Down Special slot machine before dropping down on top of the poor foe. This works similar to Bowser's dair and Down Special, but is more exaggerated on Ribby and Croaks since their dair is faster and weaker by comparison to Bowser's. This makes landing the slot machine drop a lot more viable than you'd think at first glance, especially when foes are going to be so dodge happy in general when fighting this character.
If Croaks has used his uthrow on Ribby and the foe simultaneously, this will enable Ribby to get a stupid amount of height as he jumps up after the foe. This is mostly useful in the event Ribby's uair failed to beat them in close quarters combat, letting him fall down quickly and come back up for another go before they get entirely out of the air.
If the frog is tongue tethered to the underside of a platform and swinging around, this attack will have the frog fall the maximum distance their tongue can go before the tongue reels them back in as they bounce back up half the distance they fell instead of the usual 1.25X. The frog will remain tethered to the platform during this time, so there's no risk of them dying here. If the frog was just about to let go of the tongue tether as the frog is bouncing back up, they will spring up with rubber band physics and go up the usual 1.25X the distance they fell, potentially letting them spring up onto the platform they were tethered onto while they were using the dair.
JAB - BALLOON PUNCH
The frog does two basic jabs in front of himself, one with each press of A, dealing 4% and flinching the foe in place with each hit like Bowser's jab. The frog alternates which arm they punch with each time. During the second punch, the frog will blow air into the boxing glove they aren't using to punch, greatly inflating the size of the glove similar to Bowser's ftilt, but more exaggerated and an intended aesthetic of the move. For the third punch, the frog will actually use the inflated glove to punch forwards, triple the size of their regular boxing glove. The final hit does 7% and knockback that kills at 155% with a very high base, with the frog's glove deflating after performing the third hit or canceling the move after the second hit.
The frogs sadly don't have an infinite repeating jab to stunlock the foe with while the other frog capitalizes on it, but this gets the job done as a simple, effective melee panic button attack. The frogs can cancel out of the attack after the second jab before starting it up with the first jab again, and unlike Bowser's jab cancel this will still combo into itself. This could theoretically infinite even, but the second jab is required to get enough hitstun on it, and if the frog immediately cancels jab 2 and does jab 1 again, their boxing glove they use for jab 1 will still be inflated with air, which causes jab 1 to just function as jab 3 instead of jab 1 anyway, ending the move and making the frog lose the air in their boxing glove. This technique just serves as a way to slightly delay jab 3.
If the frog's inflated boxing glove is hit by an enemy attack during jab 3, it will pop open and boost the base knockback so high that the move kills at 105%, pretty ridiculous for a "jab." The frog in question will be blown back 0.4 platforms by this and have to take out a new boxing glove to put over their hand afterwards, giving them pretty bad ending lag. This still happens if jab 3 "clanks" with an enemy attack, meaning it will always beat out the foe's attack unless directly out-prioritized.
Clanking with jab 3 is harder than it looks with a pair of other jabs in front of it, so the main way you're going to do that is delaying it by canceling out of and starting the jab back up again to turn jab 1 into jab 3. While canceling and starting the move back up again will still make the move combo, the frog can intentionally delay it slightly to give the foe enough time to react to punch their boxing glove. Of course, the foe should try to dodge the attack rather than taking the bait if they aren't stupid, but the other frog's existence makes dodging harder than it should be. Shielding is a reliable answer most of the time, but jab 3 does enough shield push that this attack will remain safe for the frog on shield assuming they hit with jab 3 specifically. Alternatively, in a scenario where the frog is riding platforms off stage and has caught the foe in a jab, if the platform is about to vanish underneath them, the foe will be left with little choice but to be hit by the hitbox of the incoming platform behind the frog if they don't man up and clash with the balloon punch. If the frog delays the jab, he can make this scenario more realistically happen.
RIBBY DASHING ATTACK - REV UP
When Ribby uses the attack, he leaps forwards about a Bowser width while holding onto the ground with his hands where he was when he started the move. He curls up into his ball form from fsmash and rapidly spins around, doing 6 hits of 2% for a total of 12% and flinching with the final hit knocking foes away at the Sakurai angle with knockback that kills at 160%. Throughout the duration of the attack, Ribby will be pulled back to where he was at the start of the attack, which causes him to "rake" foes in with the dragging hits to his current position before sending them back out powerfully, greatly increasing the range of this attack.
lf this attack is used while standing at the edge of the stage/a platform, Ribby will loop around the side of the stage with this attack, enabling him to drag foes up off the ledge obnoxiously or potentially even hit the underside of a platform based off how close to the edge of the platform he uses this attack. This turns the attack into a very good on-stage edgeguarder and another move to hit foes under a platform during the downtime of a fire jet.
If Ribby starts the move with boosted dashing speed from having run over Croaks' dsmash drool, this will cause him to move forwards twice as far as usual, but his hands will still remain stuck firmly in place, causing him to drag foes all the way back to his starting position before dealing the knockback for a significant raking distance. On the other hand, if Ribby didn't start the move with the boosted dashing speed but instead rolls over drool on the way back, this will cause him to roll back further than his starting position, causing the knockback to instead take place a Bowser width behind Ribby and knock foes behind him instead of in front of him. This gives the move a ton of versatility in the context of a drool puddle based off when exactly he uses it, though he has to act on it fast given the brief duration of dsmash drool.
CROAKS DASHING ATTACK - HEADBUTT
Croaks goes horizontal similar to his crouch before headbutting forwards. This is a pretty radical hurtbox shift for Croaks as he extends out his body 0.7 platforms in front of himself as a huge hitbox. His smug grimacing mug is the primary hitbox, dealing 9% and knockback forwards with a high base that kills at 170%. The rest of Croaks' upper torso deals only 7% and knockback that kills at 220%, but if anything is the much more useful hitbox in play here. Hitting a foe within Croaks' hurtbox with much weaker knockback will let the attack pretty easily combo into other moves, especially if Croaks continues sliding a while during the ending lag from having run on his own dsmash drool.
It's much easier to abuse the attack's range and hit with Croaks' face, especially given that since this is a dashing attack you'll primarily be using the move when nothing else could hit. Croaks' usmash is aimed so high that a dashing usmash is never going to work for the typical desperate dashing in punish move. To hit with the super easy to combo with knockback, this attack either has to aim to hit foes at point blank or practically aim to hit people behind croaks. Getting in that close is harder than it sounds, and is mainly accomplished by clutter from projectiles and your brother. One of the easier ways to get this done is to use this attack in the opposite direction platforms are going while standing on one, letting you get that momentum torwards the foe you so badly need while enabling you to use the back of the hitbox as the "front." The fact the platform is taking you towards the foe will only make it even easier to combo them, letting this combo at shockingly high percents.
FORWARD TILT - DASHING STRAIGHT
The frog does a dashing straight punch similar to Balrog from Street Fighter with their big meaty boxing glove. The punch deals 11% and high base knockback that kills at 145%, being one of the best spacers the frogs have at their disposal given the move is generally quick. Aside from the punch itself, the frog will slide forwards along the ground slightly when this move is used, making the range deceptively good.
The frog slides forwards 0.66 platforms, which can make the move difficult to space sometimes, but if the dashing part of dashing straight is not for you, there's a solution for that if you're playing as Ribby. This tilt can be "angled" up or down, but doing that doesn't change the direction Ribby punches. Instead, angling it down makes Ribby only slide forwards 0.33 platforms, while angling it up makes him slide forwards a full platform, all over the usual duration of the move. This makes the move slightly faster/slower if you have Ribby slide less/more far, but the surprise of dashing forwards can still be very useful. 0.33 platforms isn't a long distance and should rarely make you miss the attack, we're talking less distance than Wolf travels with his fsmash here. You can use the move at the edge/on a platform, but the point of that isn't to get rid of the slide just for the sake of it. The point is the fact the move will linger longer in place, with you essentially able to choose how long you keep the move out by how you angle the attack. Holding the ftilt out for a long time is very useful to catch out the foe's dodges and attempts to manuever around you off-stage/to the ledge.
If Croaks angles the ftilt, he actually, you know, angles the punch the way the player angled the attack. Unfortunately this means Croaks loses the ability to choose how far he dashes, always going forwards 0.66 platforms when he uses the ftilt unless used at an edge. This is still very useful on Croaks, though, as because of his height even his regular ftilt is practically an anti-air and will miss foes shorter than Marth standing on the ground. Croaks will have to angle his ftilt down to hit all the short Cuphead and Mugmans in the world. Croaks' downward angled ftilt is very useful for punching down at people off the ledge/down lower on platforms. Just beware that because it always lingers out for a set duration since he always dashes forwards the same distance, it's a lot more predictable than using Ribby's version at the ledge.
UP TILT - SHORYUKEN
The frog does a jumping uppercut like Ryu's Up Special, causing them to leap up into the air slightly but land down back on the ground before the player regains control of them. The uppercut deals 9% and light juggling knockback with a low base that eventually scales to kill people at 185%. The range on the move covers the entire height of the frog and about half their height above them thanks to their somewhat stretchy cartoon limbs. If you want to combo this into anything, you will need to hit foes lower down to the ground, which can make Ribby's version preferable for having less range sometimes, but he of course has to jump higher to hit people with other moves like his uair or whatever. The main thing Ribby has going for him is his smaller height giving him less ending lag to make the move much more spammable, enabling him to easily knock people up to be hit by Croaks' fsmash and usmash.
This attack very briefly considers the frogs as being in the air and can allow them to move left and right during the move, but only matters much for Croaks given how little air time Ribby gets, and even Croaks can only move about 0.35 platforms at the very most if he holds the stick in one direction the whole time as their aerial movement is greatly cut during this. Ribby can move a lot further if he's aiming to combo the move into Croaks' fsmash, as the wind hitbox will let Ribby move a lot further away on a miss, or potentially letting him use the move while facing Croaks and scooping up a foe behind the brothers. This brief aerial period becomes a lot more of a factor if the ground underneath the frog suddenly goes missing, though, as they are not synched to that ground. If used on a moving platform, the frog will get out of ending lag slightly sooner than usual without landing on the ground, enabling them to do their still strong aerial jump to quickly pursue up after the foe and hit them with something else.
While that's great and all, it can sometimes be preferable to still be on the ground to start up a grounded attack. To do that, you have to position yourself so that the next moving platform from your slot machine brother will be what you land on. The air time is limited enough here that it means you will have to be further back on one side of the platform in order to make it to the next one based off how fast the other platform is going.
Croaks will easily stay up in the air long enough with how much faster Ribby's platforms go and how all of them have tops that can be stood on, meaning he will generally have to land on the next platform 2 platforms ahead unless it's very early on and the platforms are moving slowly, in which case he can make the next platform if he stands on the far side of the platform he's on. For Ribby to jump to Croaks' next platform, it's just much harder because the platform in the middle will have flame coming out the top and be unwalkable. At least 5 platforms will have to spawn for them to be coming fast enough for Ribby to make it, and he'll have to be standing on the far edge of the platform and be holding in the direction he's jumping the entire time. It's such a distance that Ribby will be out of lag before he entirely makes it to the other platform. This is not all a bad thing, as it lets him vary up this otherwise somewhat predictable technique, allowing him to use an fair to pound down on the platform or whatever else he feels like.
DOWN TILT - RIBBIT AND CROAK
Ribby and Croaks get down on all fours for their crouch. This doesn't do much of anything to help Ribby, but enables Croaks to massively reduce his height at the cost of making him absurdly wide. Both frogs can also crawl, though only Croaks has much reason to do so. He can shockingly manage to even crawl under a handful of projectiles, and is pretty fast at crawling to boot. While it's not as good as Snake's by a long shot, the massive hurtbox shift on Croaks can enable him to actively avoid attacks single handedly.
When dtilt is input, the frog ribbits/croaks, causing a series of three sound waves to be shot a platform forwards as a projectile. The soundwaves are white transparent rings, and as they reach the edge of their range close in on themselves. Throughout the whole duration of these soundwave rings, they each deal 6% and knockback forwards that kills at 180%. Only the rings themselves are hitboxes, not the interiors of the rings, though. This attack will miss at point blank range against any Smash Bros character taller than Ganondorf, as when the ring first spawns in it is just barely tall enough for him to fit inside before it closes in. Hitting the foe with the first ring isn't your goal, though. Ideally, you want to hit the foe with the final ring so that they are knocked forwards through the other two rings and take triple the damage. This can be accomplished because the frogs are capable of crawling while in the middle of their dtilts, letting them move backwards/forwards to make the rings hit at different times.
Because Ribby is so fat, his ribbit creates bigger rings and extends the move's total range slightly to 1.2 platforms. This is bad for hitting the move at close range (He can't even hit Croaks with this attack at point blank range), but means Ribby doesn't have to back up so much to hit with the third ring like Croaks does. In a way, Ribby's attack is "closer range" because you're only going to want to hit foes with the third ring when you do this attack anyway, and will want to intentionally miss hitting with the first two rings.
If Croaks uses this attack while storing Ribby in his stomach, the rings will be fired out first and Ribby shortly afterwards. You can still crawl around as Croaks until Ribby is fired, at which point control goes to Ribby as normal. Ribby can either move backwards as the rings are fired to use the rings as something for the foe to dodge and give enough time for the foe to come out of invincibility for Ribby's fsmash to hit, not move at all so that Ribby's fsmash and the rings hit at the same time so the rings are just raw damage added on top of Ribby's fsmash, or move forwards so that Ribby overtakes the rings and the rings hitboxes can potentially knock foes into Ribby. This can be much more greatly exaggerated if there's tongue slobber on the floor from Croak's dsmash, causing him to zip forwards a lot more quickly.
Yes, the other frog is capable of "eating" sound waves with Up Special. Because they are not tangible, they can't be sucked in by the tongue directly, but if Up Special is used at melee range of a ring sound wave, the projectile can be stored like anything else. When the ring is fired later, it will start fully expanded out. If fired out of a slot machine with Down Special, the ring will be fully expanded out before shrinking as it comes back down to go inside of the orange tiger platform, then get shot out fully expanded again, repeating in a loop until the platform vanishes.
FINAL SMASH - DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
The Devil appears with a soul contract in hand and gives it to the frog, which they promptly sign...In their brother's name, assuming their brother is still alive. The Devil laughs as he zaps the frog in question with magic tacky casino energy from his fingertips, infusing them with more of his demonic slot machine powers. The Devil vanishes, and now the frog in question will go off the top and perform the aerial version of the Down Special at the far end of the main platform at the stage, facing inwards towards the stage.
The slot machine will be 1.5X as big and powerful as usual, and will fire nothing but orange tiger platforms that are usually only seen when the frogs have stored projectiles to bounce up and out of them. The objects that bounce in and out of the tiger platforms will be whatever items you have on in the items settings, but they will be hitboxes to outside foes even if they aren't normally that vary in power based on the item, dealing anywhere from 5-16% (or more if the item was naturally a hitbox, like a thrown home run bat), only allowing the still playable frog brother to pick them up assuming you have two frogs. Regardless of the frog in question, the platforms will always hover just over the ground during the Final Smash. The platforms come out as fast as Ribby's platforms, and the giant slot machine will form 12 platforms before sizing down and morphing back to the frog as the Final Smash ends. If no items are on besides Smash Balls, the usual orange balls from the boss battle will come out as hitboxes that always do 16% and knockback that kills at 90% vertically.
If Devil is already in the match as a playable character, King Dice instead spawns for the Final Smash. If both Devil and King Dice are in the match, instead Dean Takahashi will spawn to do the deal. After signing the deal with Dean Takahashi, no items will spawn regardless of the item settings, but instead money, cylinders from the tutorial, and 10/10 paid reviews will pop up and out of the orange tiger platforms. These do more damage than the normal orange balls you get without items, with the reviews in particular dealing 23% and knockback that kills at 60%.
April 25: The dsmash drool no longer increases dashing speed and now just decreases traction. Some text added to the pummel to talk about how to use the other frog during the grab game.
Feb 8th: Frogs no longer have to hold Down Special to keep the slots going, they can now just press Down Special again to cancel out of it instead to free up the other frog to do specials.
Jan 7th Update 2: Up Special can now only cling onto the same platform twice without the frogs touching ground.
Jan 7th Update 1: Several changes to the Neutral Special.
Frogs now spawn at more generous percentages on the final stock from the previous 105%.
"In the event there are an odd amount of stocks, on the final stock Ribby and Croaks will both respawn but start out at higher damage than normal. The initial frog you picked on character select will start with 65%, while the other frog will start with 80%."
Inactive frogs can heal more if they don't attack.
"The healing of 0.166% per second increases to a more notable 0.4% per second if the frog is currently ready to attack and not on cooldown or in the process of an attack. If you don't need your other frog to help you, feel free to let them get some more substantial healing in. You want to get the most mileage you can out of the frogs while both of them are still alive, so you should try and juggle their percentages if at all possible and swap frequently. The frog you swap into the background will be in their ready state, but frogs cannot swap if on cooldown. This healing can get pretty appealing, but oftentimes you're going to be wanting to use the other frog the very moment they come off cooldown. If you intend to get much healing out of this, you're at least going to want to use the other frog's existence as a big positional threat."
Cooldown period on inactive frog reduced if interrupted, was previously double the regular.
"Inactive frogs can only do an attack to aid their brother once every 6 seconds. If their attack was interrupted, the inactive frog will need 2.5 additional seconds on top of those 6 seconds to recover from it and won't passively heal during this time."
Additional sentence added for clarification to moving the other frog by inputting Neutral Special when not next to them.
"The inactive frog can't attack until they reach their destination, and will heal at the slower rate while walking, but will still be in their ready state after they reach their destination."
If Neutral Special is used when other frog is dead, healing is the new 0.4% rate rather than the 0.166% rate.
Hilda Berg is one of the Devil's many debtors, more specifically one of those who inhabit Inkwell Isle 1. She fights Cuphead in the skies above Inkwell Isle in A Threatenin' Zeppelin. Her body is normally humanoid, but when pressed, she transforms into a more blimp-like shape! It's this blimp form that makes its appearance in Smash, though she also makes use of her Zodiac forms!
Stats:
Weight: Kirby
Height: Kirby + Homerun Bat
Ground Speed: Wario
Air Speed: Jigglypuff
Traction: Extremely Low
Fall Speed: Extremely Low
Hilda, being a blimp, has a rather flimsy weight stat. However, she's incredibly aerodynamic, cutting through the air effortlessly. She also has the lowest fall speed in the game, taking quite a while to land unless she fastfalls, in which case she plummets as fast as Fox. Her ground movement is fairly snappy as well, but she has practically no traction due to riding her unicycle at all times. Additionally, her unicycle counts as part of her body; her size is equivalent to Kirby's, but raised up as high as a Homerun Bat stands.
N-Special: Blimp Barrage
Only a fool would take to the skies alone! With this move, Hilda calls in some backup in the form of mini-blimps. She performs a mystical hand gesture, and a Turnip-sized blimp emerges from a cloud of stars in front of her. All in all, this creation process takes a comparable amount of time to creating one of Duck Hunt's N-Spec Cans. This blimp immediately flies forwards at Mario's walk speed. The blimp deals 8% to any foe it hits, and some light knockback. These blimps have infinite range, but can be destroyed by dealing 15 Damage to them. If any fighter hits a blimp with a melee attack, both they and the blimp will be bounced in opposite directions! The distance of the bounce depends on how powerful the attack was, and this effect even applies to a blow that destroys the blimp.
However, these blimps are more than just simple projectiles! Once a blimp travels three Bowser lengths, it stops in its tracks for a moment before firing a small black bullet towards the nearest foe! All in all, this process takes roughly the time it takes for Samus to fire a Missile. The bullets fly at Wario's dash speed, and have infinite range. Unlike the blimps, they cannot be destroyed, being transcendent projectiles. They also deal a more dangerous 10%; more importantly, they have an unusually high amount of hitlag, making anyone hit by them more vulnerable to an assault by Hilda herself! Once a blimp fires a bullet, it continues its flight, stopping every three Bowser lengths to fire off another shot.
On occasion, these blimps fire off a pink bullet instead. This bullet is mostly identical, but is slightly faster and has even more hitlag. Pink bullets occur once in every 5 shots. However: unlike black bullets, these can be destroyed!
Normally, Hilda creates a purple blimp. However, holding B when using this move will increase the startup and instead create a green one. These green blimps are slower, but have a nasty secret: they fire off a spread of 5 bullets every time they shoot! Otherwise, they are identical to the blue blimps.
Regardless of color, Hilda can have 3 blimps out at once.
S-Special: Twister!
There's a high wind advisory today! With startup equal to Ryu's Hadoken, Hilda performs a complex hand gesture before launching a tornado from her hands. This tornado is extremely comparable to Meta Knight's Mach Tornado: it has the same size, deals the same rapid damage (up to 12%), and even has the same trapping effect, albeit Hilda's is easier to escape. Additionally, after the foe is trapped for a while, they suffer a light blast of upwards knockback. This occurs before the Twister disappears, as it will live until it flies offscreen. Twisters cannot be destroyed, but Hilda can only have one out at a time. Projectiles will fly right through a Twisters with no ill effects, somehow!
When used in the air, the Twister is created slightly above and ahead of Hilda; it then curves downwards until it hits the floor before curving up and off the top blastzone. The Twister flies at the speed of an EX Hadoken. Thanks to the unique trajectory of aerial Twisters, they can be extremely useful for making "mazes" of projectiles for your foes to navigate. Combine Twisters with well placed blimps, and the foes will be hard-pressed to fly your unfriendly skies! Gee, wouldn't it be awful if you had a way to FORCE them into the air...?
When used while grounded, the Twister appears on the ground just ahead of Hilda. It pauses for a brief moment, then begins traveling the stage at Hadoken speed. The Twister will not leave the ground, and will continue to fly forwards if it reaches a ledge, ignoring gravity.
Hilda can input S-Spec near a grounded Twister to ride inside it. This will not only give her a passive hitbox on her person, but it will drag her along and alter the properties of her moves as well! Any non-Aerial can be used inside a Twister, and Hilda can exit at any time with a jump.
If no Twister is close, inputting S-Special while a Twister exists places Hilda into deep concentration. She clutches her head for a decently laggy startup before the Twister suddenly bursts into a blast of wind. This blast is radial, and blows everything within an Electrode explosion away at a fast pace. This blast deals 15% and powerful knockback to any foe inside the Twister when it explodes, but no damage to foes outside the Twister. This can also be used while riding inside a Twister; doing so will blast Hilda up and out of the Twister on top of the usual effect.
U-Special: To The Skies
Hilda's no wimp, but she IS a blimp! With this move, she takes advantage of her buoyancy to fly upwards. Due to her show-off nature, this move will ALWAYS travel in a wavy s-shaped pattern. Ultimately Hilda rises upwards about as much as a Duck Jump, but her wavy flight path makes this a lengthy process. Her flight can be angled left or right during the recovery's startup, but she still maintains her sway. Take care, as Hilda cannot cancel her flight once it begins!
Since she's merely pedaling her unicycle and letting herself fly, Hilda can use any of her Aerials while she's rising. A rather interesting option is to use her F-Air's properties to move herself backwards; she'll still rise the full height of her recovery, but this can help avoid big hits in a pinch. Another option is the ability to use her B-Air while rising, creating a makeshift "wall" with the decently long-lived poke. Still another is using D-Air to protect yourself from foes beneath you. Get creative!
In addition to her Aerials, Hilda can also use any of her other Specials while rising. This way she can properly dominate the skies with her projectiles!
Using this while inside a Twister will give Hilda some extra height on startup at the cost of taking her out of the Twister. Useful in a pinch, and can aid in getting Hilda airborne with little effort!
D-Spec: Gemini Star
Time for double trouble! With this move, Hilda channels the power of the Zodiac to summon Gemini. In a puff of clouds and stars, Hilda becomes Gemini and quickly conjures a Kirby-sized fireball above her. This fireball hovers in place and spins rapidly as Hilda transforms back to her usual self. All in all, this process takes slightly more time than planting Villager's sapling.
The fireball itself deals 6% on contact and very light knockback. What's more important, however, are its sparks. When the fireball spins, it begins to fire off a constant stream of sparks straight upwards. This Homerun-Bat-wide stream is a Battlefield platform long and slowly rotates around the fireball like the hand of a clock; the direction it rotates depends on which way Hilda was facing when the attack was input. The stream of sparks deals incredibly rapid damage to any foe inside it and eats through shields very rapidly. The Star remains until the stream makes a full rotation, which takes 2 seconds. Once a Star burns out, Hilda cannot create a new one for 7 seconds. A cloud of stars appears around her for a moment when the cooldown ends.
The Gemini Star will not kill, but its range, rotation, and shield damage make it incredibly useful.
If used while inside a Twister, this move changes a bit. Instead of appearing where Hilda is NOW, the Star will be thrown to where she WAS when the move was input. This can confuse your opponents and generally aid in setup!
Another interesting option is using this while still rising during U-Spec. The Gemini Star will appear at the PEAK of Hilda's ascension, making it more difficult for opponents to predict where it will be summoned.
Jab: Hilda lets out a witch-like cackle as a Super Missile-sized HA flies forward from her mouth. This jab is comparable to Ganon's in that it is a one-hit jab with a bit of lag. However, the HA has more range than most jabs; it flies forward 1.5 Battlefield platforms at the speed of a Megabuster shot before dissipating. Getting laughed at deals 6% and light upwards knockback. This makes Hilda's Jab a decent tool for getting opponents skyward. Only one HA can exist at a time.
While riding a Twister does not directly affect this move, it is notable in that it can help protect Hilda as she is pulled along behind it.
F-Tilt: Hilda takes a deep breath, taking about as long as the entirety of Villager's U-Tilt, before blowing out a strong gale of wind. The force involved sends her flying backwards 1.5 Battlefield platforms; meanwhile anyone that was within 1.5 Battlefield platforms ahead of her is pushed backwards to the gale's end. From there, they are pushed even farther depending on how close they were to Hilda. This wind shoves opponents a maximum of 2.0 Battlefield platforms, and that's if they were overlapping Hilda. This gale also deals 8%, while hitting with the blown-back Hilda deals 12% and moderate knockback.
When used inside a Twister, the gale is not changed, but it does not blow Hilda backwards. Instead, the Twister is sent traveling the other direction. For example, if it were headed right, it would now head left. By using this periodically, Hilda can keep her Twister alive indefinitely if she so desires.
This gale also affects Hilda's blimps, pushing them forward or backward as if they were foes. They will not be harmed, but this can help reposition them more easily. Since blimps are far lighter than fighters, a gale will push them up to 3 Battlefield platforms!
Another option is to blow the Twisters around while outside of them. This way, Hilda can speed up or turn a grounded Twister around! She can also use this to reverse the trajectory of an aerial Twister; this is considerably more difficult to time, however.
Still another use of this Tilt is spinning a Gemini Star. Normally, it takes 2 seconds for a Gemini Star to complete a full rotation and burn out. However, if Hilda manages to hit one with a gale, it'll spin much more rapidly or much more slowly depending on which side was hit. The Gemini Star can be sped up to complete a spin in 0.5 seconds OR slowed down to take 4 seconds instead. Either way, Hilda can still only have the one out at a time.
U-Tilt: Hilda spins her weather vane at ridiculous speeds, creating a miniature cyclone atop her body. This cyclone pulls in nearby foes and deals 5 hits of 2% each; the 5th hit pops them up with moderate upwards knockback, making this another nice way to get foes skyward. Additionally, this attack has a weak windbox above its actual hitbox. This windbox functions identically to the extra windbox found in Mr. Game & Watch's D-Tilt.
Using this inside a Twister greatly increases the strength of the vacuum effect, making it nigh impossible for foes within a Bowser to escape. Additionally, the wind speed will increase the number of hits dealt by this move; it can now hit 8 times for a grand total of 16%. This is a great way to become a mobile threat! But be warned: this superpowered move will dissolve the Twister afterwards!
D-Tilt: Hilda, due to her unicycle and odd shape, has an unorthodox crouch: her unicycle simply retracts into her body slightly with an accordion sound effect. From this "crouch", using this move causes her to flap her hands enthusiastically on either side of her. These flaps deal 3 rapid hits of 3% and light knockback. More importantly, they create small windboxes on either side that blow opponents away with more force than you might think. All in all a very simple tilt.
If used while inside a Twister, Hilda's enthusiastic flapping will actually cause the tornado to gain some height. It will travel as far and fast as Mario's shorthop, then fall back down until it hits ground. This way she can pursue enemies who try to jump away.
Dash Attack: Calling upon the power of Taurus, Hilda summons the great bull's horns for this attack. With a moment of startup, two large horns appear in front of Hilda as she charges forward a Battlefield platform at a moderate pace. This move has super armor on Hilda's front, but hitting her from behind will interrupt the move. The horns of Taurus deal 12% and moderate upwards knockback. As with some of Hilda's other Standards, this can be a handy way to pop foes into the unfriendly skies!
Hitting a blimp with this will bounce Hilda backwards, after which she'll immediately lunge another Battlefield platform forward. Using this against a blimp that's flying towards her can let her extend this attack's duration for a great length! Just... don't forget it can be interrupted from behind.
This can actually be used from within a Twister by inputting dash and A; when doing so, Taurus's horns merely appear in the chosen direction and lazily float along with the Twister's more leisurely pace. They'll still deal the normal damage and flip the foe skyward; they just become a more long-lived, slower hitbox.
N-Air: Taking advantage of her body type, Hilda performs a quick horizontal spin that behaves very similarly to Wario's N-Air. This move has radial knockback and deals 8%, making it a simple and reliable Aerial. It also has some use for protection during a U-Spec, as it can help knock away pesky foes as Hilda rises. Hilda's N-Air has low landing lag, so it's perfectly usable in the shortest of shorthops!
Hitting a blimp while using this Aerial will cause Hilda to bounce off it. The blimp will be unharmed, as will its master, and they'll bounce away in opposite directions. This property can aid in recovery as well as giving Hilda some unpredictability to her air mobility options! It can also allow for fine-tuning of your blimp setups. In fact, all of Hilda's Aerials can be used similarly barring her F-Air!
F-Air: Similar to her F-Tilt, Hilda takes a breath before blowing a mighty gale in front of her. However, this variant has much less startup, being on par with that of Mario's F-Air. In exchange, the produced gale is weaker. It only covers 1 Battlefield platform, blows Hilda back the same distance, and deals 7%. This gale still pushes foes away as normal, but only up to a maximum of 1.5 Battlefield platforms. Hilda also still acts as a retreating hitbox, dealing 10% and moderate knockback.
As with the F-Tilt, this gale can reposition Hilda's blimps; using either of the gale moves is an excellent way to keep your blimp brigade flying high! Since the blimps are full of hot air, this gale will blow them around much more easily than it does foes; a gale can easily push a blimp as far as 2 Battlefield platforms! Also, since this has no melee hitbox, Hilda cannot use it to bounce off her blimps.
This gale can also influence the path of a Twister or the spin of a Gemini Star; this way Hilda can keep manipulating her setup even in the air!
Should Hilda land during this move, the wind will figuratively and literally be knocked out of her. She'll suffer some harsh endlag, but a powerful gale will be blown in front of her. This harsher gale is only 0.5 Battlefield platforms long, but it will blow any foe or blimp as far as 2 platforms away, as well as deal 8% to any Fighters. This is an exceptionally useful tool, but Hilda's poor landing lag means this is extremely punishable if it whiffs.
U-Air: Channeling the power of the Zodiac, Hilda momentarily becomes Sagittarius. In this form, she quickly launches a small spread of 3 stars from her bow, creating a fan-shaped hitbox above her. She immediately transforms back to her blimp form afterwards. These stars cover about as much air as Megaman's Hard Knuckle, but obviously aimed upwards. Each star deals 4% and moderate knockback. Hitting with the tip of the bow just as the stars are fired will trigger a sweetspot effect, dealing the full 12% and some extra knockback at the cost of not generating stars. This move is excellent for covering Hilda's U-Spec ascension.
Being a projectile attack, U-Air cannot normally bounce off of Hilda's blimps. However, landing the sweetspot on a blimp will bounce Hilda downward a half Battlefield platform and bump the blimp upwards the same distance!
B-Air: For this move, Hilda's propeller extends out behind her and spins rapidly. This move drags foes in slightly and deals rapid hits of 2% before a final hit of 5% that launches them with moderate knockback. The main use of this move is as a handy poke, as it has the best range of Hilda's melee attacks and is respectably quick. It also has some interesting uses if combined with her U-Spec, allowing her to momentarily drag foes up with her.
Like her other Aerials, Hilda's B-Air interacts with her blimps. More specifically, the rapid hits of this Aerial will slowly bounce her upwards, with the finisher kicking her forward and up while the blimp is sent back and down. This way she can gain some height and forward momentum while also repositioning her blimps!
D-Air: In a move comparable to Yoshi's D-Air, Hilda kicks her rubbery legs frantically below her, dealing 4 rapid hits of 4% and light knockback. As she does so, her fall speed drops to an even slower pace than normal; each kick will push her up slightly. Ultimately she'll rise up a Pikmin height. The primary purpose of this move is to rack up damage from the air, but it also serves to protect Hilda during her U-Spec. Landing during this move causes Hilda to fall prone due to losing her balance on the unicycle. This, however, could potentially have some use to avoid attacks in a pinch...
Much like N-Air, Hilda will bounce off her blimps when she hits them with this move. However, no matter where she makes contact, she will always bounce upwards a half Battlefield platform while the blimp is knocked down the same distance. This is a handy way to stay airborne while also adjusting your setup!
F-Smash: Harnessing the mystical energy of the Zodiac, Hilda summons the strength of Taurus for this Smash. During the charge animation, Hilda waves her hands mystically; when the charge is released, she transforms into Taurus and lunges forwards. This Smash is very similar to Bayonetta's F-Smash, but has noticeably more lag and a longer range. Taurus's charge deals 13-20% and heavy knockback; this is a very good kill move but is easily Hilda's laggiest attack on both ends.
Normally the lag makes this awkward to land, but using it within a Twister can let Hilda advance while charging the Smash! This way, she can more easily determine when to release the charge and lunge forward.
An interesting property of this move is its interaction with Hilda's blimps. Should Hilda ram a blimp while charging, she'll be bounced backwards, and turn around in the process. She'll then continue the charge, now striking behind her! This way, good blimp usage can let her predictable F-Smash become a more credible threat.
If Hilda is standing between two blimps, they can reflect her charge back and forth until they fly out of her reach; this way she can greatly prolong her Smash!
U-Smash: Again channeling the bow of Sagittarius, Hilda fires off a large arrow and four pink stars. Charging this Smash has Hilda, as Sagittarius, pull her bowstrings back. Releasing the charge has her fire the arrow and stars after a short startup. The arrow flies skyward for two Battlefield platforms before poofing out of existence, while two stars fall on each side of Hilda, who quickly becomes her usual blimp self. The arrow is actually the weakest part of the attack, dealing 8-12% and moderate knockback. The main advantage of the arrow is its impressive range. The stars are also an important aspect of the move, with each dealing 10-15% and heavy knockback.
Used inside a Twister, this move essentially makes Hilda into a mobile volcano of sorts, making her into sliding antiair artillery!
The arrow fired in this move serves another purpose: popping Hilda's blimps. Hitting a blimp with the arrow will poke a comically large hole in the bottom of it. When this happens, it will fire one last shot, then immediately begin plummeting diagonally downwards depending on which way it was facing. The crashing blimp falls at Mario's dash speed, and upon hitting a foe or the ground, it'll pop into a Kirby-sized blast of cogs and springs. This explosion deals a mean 13% and moderately high knockback, making it a decent kill option if you can land it. Obviously, the closer a blimp is to the ground, the faster it'll explode; just take care not to crash a blimp onto your own head, as Hilda isn't immune to the explosion!
Hilda can slightly influence a crashing blimp with some of her attacks. She can nudge a falling blimp around with her F-Tilt or F-Air gales, but one gale cannot move them farther than a Mario width in either direction.
A falling blimp can also affect Hilda's other projectiles. Should one crash into a functioning blimp, it will explode into cogs as normal; meanwhile, the blimp that was struck will be popped, and begin crashing itself. With a good setup of blimps, Hilda can fill the air with explosions!
Finally, both Hilda's arrows and her crashing blimps can interact with the Gemini Star. Firing an arrow through a Star will light the arrow on fire; a flaming arrow deals the normal damage and knockback. However, a foe hit with a flaming arrow will be burnt, taking 3% a second for 4 seconds. Hitting a blimp with a flaming arrow will light it up as well; a burning blimp will crash as normal, but can burn foes that contact it. Should a blimp crash into a Gemini Star, the star and blimp will erupt into a Bowser-Sized blast that deals 16% and very high knockback. This is an extremely valuable kill attack, but Hilda is just as vulnerable to it as her opponents!
Hilda's U-Smash is very versatile, and so it's important to learn the ins and outs of its myriad interactions. A handy rule of thumb: if it flies all through the air, then shooting it down is good and fair!
D-Smash: Again using the Zodiac's power, Hilda becomes Gemini. While charging, the twins visibly prepare to attack. When the charge is released, they wildly spin around a Gemini Star, creating a Mario-wide hitbox on either side of Hilda that deals 10-15% and moderate knockback. Altogether this takes as long as Kirby's similar D-Smash, with added endlag as Hilda becomes herself again. The wide range and relative speed of this Smash makes it handy for generally protecting Hilda.
Used inside a Twister, Gemini will spin much faster! This will increase the range and power of the move, covering a Kirby width on either side and dealing 13-18% and moderately high knockback. However! This also increases the endlag, as Hilda is dazed by the faster spin; it also destroys the Twister. So, make it count!
A unique aspect of this Smash is that Hilda can actually use it from a dash. Doing so will cause her to become a makeshift spinning top! Gemini will spin across the ground at Hilda's dash speed, and slowly lose momentum before coming to a halt after traveling 2 Battlefield platforms. The spin will deal the usual damage and knockback.
Hilda's top spin can be prolonged by making use of her blimps; bouncing off of one will send her careening 2 Battlefield platforms in the opposite direction she hit it. As with F-Smash, using two blimps can extend the spin for a fairly long time.
Should Hilda encounter a Twister while performing her top spin, she'll stop inside of it as she speeds up. From here, she has a very brief window of opportunity in which she can decide to go forward or backwards. After the window ends, she'll be launched in her chosen direction at Sonic's dash speed for a Battlefield platform. If no direction is chosen, she defaults to forward. Once she reaches the end of this short launch, she'll travel an additional half-Battlefield platform at Mario's dash speed before slowing to a halt. Using a Twister in this manner will destroy it, so take heed!
Hilda cannot cancel her top spin, and the spin can and will launch her off the ledge if it comes to one, so be careful! Though, this could serve as an interesting option for a suicide kill...
Grab: For a decently ranged but slow grab, Hilda snaps her fingers as a cloud forms in front of her. With luck, a foe will find themselves wrapped up in this cloud and at the Zeppelin's mercy. Hilda can't grab while riding a Twister.
Pummel: Hilda cackles as the cloud courses with lightning, dealing 4% in a slow pummel.
F-Throw: Hilda waves her hands mystically as she suddenly becomes Taurus. Taurus proceeds to headbutt the grabbed foe, sending them flying across the stage with 12% and high knockback. This throw is notable in that Taurus can hit non-grabbed opponents if they are sufficiently close to Hilda; this extra hitbox will deal the same damage and knockback to ungrabbed foes as well as the captive one.
This charge can also be reflected and extended using blimps, just like the F-Smash and Dash Attack!
U-Throw: Once again calling on the stars for aid, Hilda becomes the twins of Gemini. They manifest on either side of the grabbed foe before tossing them skyward with a musical chant. The foe suffers 10% and moderate upwards knockback; this can especially be great for sending a foe into a Gemini Star.
It can also be useful for getting the foe into a flying Twister!
B-Throw: In her final constellation-powered move, Hilda once again utilizes Sagittarius. She quickly adopts the form of the archer and notches the foe into his bow. After a short startup, the foe is fired behind Hilda. They suffer 11% and moderate knockback. The main draw of this throw, however, is that it generates two stars that fly in a > shape on either side of the thrown enemy. These stars are identical to the U-Air stars, dealing 4% and moderate knockback. This way Hilda can cover her tail and get off a nice throw simultaneously.
Using this near a Twister is extremely beneficial; you can launch a foe into it while also adding some projectiles to the mix!
D-Throw: Hilda decides to take matters into her own hands. Or, feet, anyway! She hops onto the grabbed foe and rolls back and forth on them. This throw deals 14% and leaves the foe in prone. Absolutely no knockback, but the most damaging of Hilda's throws. Who would've guessed that that unicycle could deal that kind of damage? Of course, this leaves Hilda with a dilemma: what now?
Her best option is likely to charge up her D-Smash, for protection's sake. Otherwise, her U-Spec or F-Tilt can help her get away from the close-up foe!
Final Smash: Bad Moon Rising
With the power of the Smash Ball, Hilda cackles maniacally as she automatically floats to the right side of the screen. Once there, she morphs into a massive crescent moon. Once she's transformed, her face pops out on a clockwork mechanism, with her cackling all the while.
From behind her faceplate, a constant stream of UFOs fly across the top of the stage. When a foe gets beneath a UFO, it instantly fires off a beam that pierces the entire stage. This beam deals 35% and very high knockback. It can, however, be shielded or dodged.
On top of this, some stars identical to the U-Air stars also fly from Hilda's inner workings; these appear in random positions and fly across the stage at a very quick pace, peppering those foes attempting to avoid the alien invasion.
Once 5 seconds pass, Hilda shrinks back down to her Blimp form with a mocking chuckle. Not a very long transformation, but Hilda's fleet of UFOs can still do a lot of damage in the time provided!
Taunts:
U-Taunt: Hilda temporarily deflates into her "human" form and strikes a pose on her unicycle. She then transforms back into a blimp.
S-Taunt: Hilda starts to lose her balance and rapidly sways, kicks, and flails her arms until she manages to regain stability.
D-Taunt: Hilda gets a mad look in her eyes as she conjures a cloud of stars around herself. Her face temporarily becomes that of her Moon form, and she laughs evilly before transforming back into her usual self.
Cagney Carnation is one of the many bosses in hit Xbox One exclusive Indie title Cuphead. Like most of the bosses in Cuphead, Cagney has basically no backstory, and exists to be a boss, but that is one hundred percent okay. Cagney himself is a very big flower, most likely a generic cartoon flower considering he doesn't really resemble anything. He uses a number of plant based attacks, and can also turn his head into a gun in reference to a 30's gangster movie actor that he's named after. Really.
In Smash, due to Cagney being rooted firmly to the ground in his boss fight, he gains a few new moves. When the match starts, Cagney will pop up from the ground, and then uproot himself, revealing his tentacle-like roots. These then quickly fuse together into two spindly legs, which still resemble roots, and are even still covered in dirt. This allows Cagney to walk and such, making him playable at all.
Also of note is that people on the internet draw a lot of lewd drawings of him. I dunno, it's the internet.
Floral Stats Weight - 90 Run Speed - 1.5 Walk Speed - 0.94 Air Speed - 0.91 Fall Speed - 1
Cagney has an odd model/stat relation. Size-wise, he's actually around the size of Ganondorf, with his topmost flower even stretching past Ganon's head a bit. He also has a very wide stance, nearly one of the wider character, with his hands always out to his side, like he's about to do something sneaky (Because he probably is). His legs are relatively short, and only add just a bit to his actual size, but he'll take what he can get. His hitbox is also strange, since you're most likely not going to be attacking Cagney's actual body, mostly his hands and head, due to how ridiculously thin his stem is.
Stat-wise, Cagney is both incredibly light, but also very slow. He isn't particularly used to moving around, period, which is the main problem. His run animation is an awkward looking (But still well animated!), silly run, similar to the flower enemies in Forest Follies. His walk has him tip-toeing slowly. While Cagney is definitely not used to moving on the ground, moving in the air is another thing he has an incredible amount of trouble with. His jumps are mediocre, and his movement speed is pretty pitiful. His fall speed, thanks to his lack of body density, is fairly slow as well.
Overall, Cagney isn't extremely great at the whole moving thing... maybe he can work something out to give him some advantages...
Neutral Special - Magic Hands
For the starting animation, Cagney's grin grows even more, as he cups his hands together, both of them forming into more literal cup shapes. Cagney can hold this for an indefinite period, as long as you're holding the button. This is an incredibly quick animation, but it is important to wait a bit while using this... that is, if that's what you want. Basically, once the button is released, Cagney will un-cup his hands, revealing one of three different things.
With no charge at a minimum, his hands will reveal a Boomerang Seed (As seen above). This is one of those floating seeds you see, the ones shaped like boomerangs. You know the ones. Anyway, this is a fairly standard, basic projectile, perfect for starting out. Size-wise, the Boomerang Seed is slightly larger than Link's boomerang, by a noticeable amount. It is at least 1.5x its size, and is animated similarly. When summoned, it will hang out in between Cagney's hands for a few frames, before flying forwards. This behaves considerably differently compared to Link's boomerang, aside from the fact that it moves forward. There's no suction effect, and it moves considerably slower. To make up for that, it also has considerably better range, traveling the length of the main Battlefield platform before it turns around. And yes, as a boomerang, it turns around. This, again, acts considerably different compared to the standard boomerang.
Depending on the altitude of the boomerang, it will swerve either up or down once it turns around. For example, when using it close to the stage's main ground/lower half, it will swerve upwards, around half a Mario in terms of height. The inverse is true for when Cagney uses it on the upper half of the stage, where it will instead swerve downwards. When this happens, the Boomerang Seed will not actually increase in speed, and continue along its path until it either hits an opponent, or goes offscreen. If it does manage to hit an opponent, it will deal a fairly mediocre 8% damage, with knockback equivalent to Link's boomerang... meaning not that great. This isn't a great projectile, considering how slow it is, but Cagney can have two out at the same time, making it somewhat spammable, and it can be good at edgeguarding. As a note, if the seed goes offscreen while traveling forwards, it will still disappear. Cagney is able to move around as soon as the seed is launched, giving this some rather harmful endlag.
The second object only appears after 45 frames of charge. This time, Cagney will open his hands to reveal 3-4 acorns (The amount changes depending on how long you charged it past the minimum). These are Homing Acorns, and when they're summoned, they will lock onto an alive opponent, and aim at them for a few frames. Once those few frames pass, the acorns will fly off like rockets, tracking after their opponents and acting as homing missiles, traveling straight from the position they were in when fired. They do, however, curve a bit if an opponent is close to the trajectory. Cagney can only start to move around after the acorns are fired, but getting close to him makes opponents far more likely to be hit by the acorns. On contact with an opponent, they will explode and deal 12% damage, with knockback capable of KOing at a relatively bad 200%. These are relatively simple projectiles, but the number of them Cagney is capable of firing makes them something to fear. They aren't spammable at all, but maximizing their use can lead to great results, especially when you're only up against one opponent.
The final object Cagney reveals from his hands is only available at a charge of 70 frames. When this is reached, Cagney will fire 3-5 smaller seeds out (Like the acorns, this changes depending on how long its charged after the minimum, with the max being 120 frames of charge.). These seeds are small, smaller than even a Pokeball is. They aren't projectiles either, and will simply fall into the ground once fired, seemingly doing nothing. This is actually the fastest of the three, with the seeds popping out practically instantly. However, it takes an additional 30 frames for the seeds to do anything.
The seeds will suddenly pop into flowers colored a lot like Cagney himself, which then also suddenly sprout faces and limbs. They will then break free from the ground, and start walking around. Visually, these look exactly like the flower enemies in Forest Follies, except colored more like Cagney than their previous yellow coloring. Anyway, these technically count as minions, and stand around half a Mario tall, maybe slightly taller, making them... short, even for minions. They skip around the stage at the speed of Ganondorf's run, making them fairly slow, but they will relentlessly pursue opponents once they lock into one. They'll even drop off the stage and use their petals as brief hovering tools in order to reach them, they're THAT dedicated. They can also jump, but not very well.
These guys are actually real heavy hitters, compared to the others. Despite technically being minions, in that they have some form of AI, they function a lot like projectiles. On contact with an opponent, any opponent, they will burst into an explosion of pollen. This is a small hitbox, unlikely of actually hitting a second opponent, but its nearly instantaneous, leaving the opponent with no real escape if they get too close. To note, they only explode when touching hurtboxes, touching them with hitboxes works. Anyway, the explosion can KO at 180%, and deals 18% damage, pretty heavy stuff. Unfortunately, the previous issue of their horrendous speed is brought down by these flower fiends only having 10% stamina, and will explode harmlessly when its depleted. These guys can be hard to get off, but with a lot of them running around the stage, they can become destructive little guys.
Magic Hands is one of Cagney's main attacking tools. They all have decent range to them, and are capable of covering incredible distances, making up somewhat for the flower's poor transportation.
Side Special - Thorn in the Side
Imitating his transition into his final phase, Cagney jabs his hands into the ground, causing thorny vines to burst from the ground. The vines will travel across the ground, with their distance limit being either until they hit a ledge, or they travel the distance of Final Destination. While the start-up animation is rather slow, meaning that Cagney can be knocked out of it fairly easy, but the vines start appearing fairly quickly. They travel across the ground slowly, however, and Cagney must continue using the move in order to have them actually cover any area. Cagney cannot move, and the default amount covered when using the move without holding it totals to around 1 Battlefield platform.
Once the vines are out and Cagney has returned to his normal position, the vines will now stay around for the next 5 seconds, before the absorb themselves back into the earth. These vines are a pretty simple trap, acting as a full hitbox that will deal 5% damage and weak upwards knockback whenever an opponent touches it. At large coverage, this can make certain platforms completely unsafe for opponents to land on, though this is a very rare occurrence. The hitbox of the vines only travel slightly above the ground, roughly as tall as a ducking Kirby. Cagney can only have one patch of vines out at a time, with the previous patch disappearing instantly as soon as he tries to use it again.
However, while these vines might be deadly to the opponents, they are only helpful towards Cagney himself, and not just because they deal damage. When Cagney walks over the vines, his roots will be absorbed into them, making him lose some height, but the mixture with his own vines causes him to gain an additional burst of speed, knocking him up to 2 units of speed at all times he is attached to the vines. He can still be knocked out of the vines, however. This gives a bit more incentive to covering as much ground as you can with vines, since Cagney's movement is very lackluster. The flower minions will also have their speed doubled if they walk through the vines.
This isn't all that the vines can do, either, as it has another function built in for Cagney to use. Pressing the special button while the vines are crawling will cause the vines to stop in place, and then a spike of vines to burst upwards. They fire up around the height a Battlefield platform hovers above the ground, and deal 12% damage with heavy upwards knockback, making this a good KO attack. However the spike is also thin, and the actual attack is very fast, making it hard to hit with. Fortunately, this isn't all that the attack is good for. If the spike manages to hit a thin platform from below, the vines will start to grow over it as well!
This applies the vine effect directly to the platform, and cover it completely, but also counts as ending the vine spread, with the vines covering both the ground, and then extending up to the platform. This small wall of vines still counts as a hitbox, and can block projectiles if need be. A good spread across the ground, and onto extra platforms can help Cagney cover multiple layers, but this may still take a bit of trouble to do. This is one of Cagney's heavily important moves, even more-so than Magic Hands, due to its many utilities. A number of other moves can be affected by it as well, but Cagney will mostly be using it to make the ground a very dangerous place for opponents.
Up Special - Piranha Platforms
Cagney folds his petals inwards, leaving only a small hole. The petals start to form into the shape of lips, before spitting out a large, round object, colored in a very similar red-with-white-polka-dots color scheme. Cagney will, by default, spit the seed upwards, where it will float up for a bit, before falling back down. Once it hits an altitude of roughly the distance between a Battlefield platform and the ground, but only in relation to where Cagney fired it, it will unfold into a platform, as seen in Cagney's boss fight. This starting animation can be aimed, either upward-left or upward-right, with the seed being fired in the same way, except traveling in an arc, but still following the same property of how it unfolds. In the air, Cagney can fire the platform below him, causing it to unfold instantly, and saving him from a fall.
While the seeds are curled up, they act as projectiles, dealing 3% damage and weak knockback on contact. If they hit an opponent, however, they will lose all momentum, and fall to the ground. The same will apply if they hit walls as well. They will still unfurl using the same rules, however. Anyway, not very good as a projectile, but the seeds are completely invulnerable besides that, but will automatically disappear after 7 seconds once they turn into platforms.
Speaking of them as platforms, they're around 2/3rd the size of Battlefield platforms. Over their existence, the platforms will slowly drift downwards, which is only enhanced when someone, including Cagney, stands on them. If the platforms touch the ground, they will also disappear automatically. Anyone can technically stand on the platforms as well, but only Cagney can do it safely. After around a second of an opponent loitering on top of them, teeth will suddenly appear around the rims of the platform, before it snaps its jaw shut. This bite deals a pretty decent 8% damage, and also does mediocre upwards knockback. Opponents can dodge it fairly easily, however.
Cagney can only have two of the platforms out at a time, which might make it seem like he's incredibly good at camping, except that Cagney will have to wait for a the second platform to disappear before he can create another one, if there have been two on screen at the same time. As you might expect, this is also Cagney's primary recovery move, fittingly mediocre considering the rest of his movement options. It might not seem like it, considering he can just summon platforms, but aside from the limit previously mentioned, the platforms will not restore double jumps, meaning that Cagney might end up having to plan well in advance for recoveries.
Cagney's vines can also interact with these, since they're platforms. This is entirely similar to how it's performed with other thin platforms, since it is a thin platform, but the spire of vines that wrap around it will keep the platform from floating downwards. This allows Cagney to basically form makeshift platforms most ares on the stage that only he can use, leading to some interesting set-ups.
Down Special - Shrinking Violet
For this attack, Cagney will perform his opening animation, quickly pulling back as his hands turn into actual leaves and he becomes considerably... cuter. Cagney will cover his face up, looking a bit bashful. This acts as a counterattack, and if an opponent manages to hit Cagney while in this animation, he will return to looking like the smug flower he is, and let out an ear-piercing scream for the attack. If no one hits him, he'll gain a grumpy looking face, before shifting back to his original model. The frame data for this is a bit trickier to pull off than most other counters, as the opening of the animation takes longer, though the actual period where the counter can be activated is longer as well. This can make the move a lot more telegraphed, but it can still be possible to hit with. The ending lag is also fairly bad, starting as soon as Cagney's face starts to look more grumpy, meaning a whiff can lead to some punishment if used at the wrong time.
For the actual attack itself, it's one of Cagney's prime KO moves, which helps make up for how hard it can be to actually activate. The scream has a hitbox that's noticeably larger than most other counters, and is even capable of dealing damage to other opponents if any happen to be really close. Of course, the one who activated the attack will take the brunt of the attack, taking 20% damage with knockback that can KO at a fairly ridiculous 100%. Other opponents will take half of that damage, but again, they need to be REALLY close in order for that to happen. Cagney only has one other really effective grounded KO move, and it isn't as strong as this attack can be, so this is Cagney's best way of finishing off heavier opponents.
Jab - Swing you Seeders
Cagney quickly jabs one of his hands forwards, and then jabs the other one forwards while pulling his other hand back. He then continues this for as long as the button is mashed, as this is an infinite jab. The animation, if you can't tell, is similar to Cagney's dance from his idle animation, except he thrusts his hands forward a bit more forcefully, and his hands slightly expand with each hit, allowing them to hit easier.
This is a simple jab, all considered, though it has considerably good range to it. Each hit will deal 2% damage, and like with most other infinite jabs, this has an ending hit that launches the opponent. In this case, Cagney will thrust both hands, palms out, hitting the opponent. This palm strike deals an additional 4% damage, and weak knockback that can KO at 220%. For most of the jab, the hits are fairly fast, but have enough push that Cagney won't be able to get off that many hits before he has to end it. The finisher is fast as well, but has a nasty bit of ending lag that can leave Cagney fairly open.
Forward Tilt - Touch Fuzzy...
Cagney pulls himself back, puckering his lips, before spitting a small, white ball of fluff from his mouth. This opening animation is a bit slow, but the resulting projectile is rather large, 2/3rd the size of a Party Ball. The ball of fluff will float forwards, dipping up and down slightly as it does. It moves rather... slow, however, one of the slowest projectiles in the game, in fact. It can only traverse the full distance of Battlefield's main platform before it poofs out of existence, giving it a lot of time to potentially hit someone.
If the ball of fuzz manages to hit an opponent, it will deal a mediocre 5% damage, with no knockback. Instead of knockback, the opponent will be sent into their dazed animation for a a handful of frames if they're on the ground, or put into freefall for slightly less if they're in the air. If the opponent hits the ground while in the air, they will transition from the freefall to the dazed animation, and remain in the dazed animation for a brief period if they haven't been in freefall for more than half of the freefall stun's duration, EG. they will still be put into the daze stun if thrown into the fuzzball. This is very useful for Cagney, obviously, as he can use this brief period to start up his vines, make a quick escape, or land a heavy attack. The main downside is the length of the starting animation, which has no hitbox on it at all. This is a move that Cagney will have to prepare in advance, or knock opponents into, in order to make full use of.
Up Tilt - Hedge Trimmer
Cagney pulls his head down a bit as his petals jut out, now more resembling blades than flower petals. They start to spin as he sweeps his head forwards, facing the screen as he does so. That's right, Cagney turns his head into a buzz saw. The attack is rather fast, with only a brief pause as Cagney leans downwards and his petals sharpen, but it isn't a very major pause. The sweep itself is quick, and only has minor ending lag. Cagney's head is large, so this is fairly easy to hit with, and can even hit certain, larger characters while they're ducking.
The downside with the move is, despite Cagney's large head making it easy to hit with, it doesn't have much range to it, only covering a distance equivalent to Mario's UTilt. When the attack hits, it deals a decent 7% damage, with upwards knockback that can KO at 200%. The endlag might not be that bad, but it is enough to prevent this from being a good juggler, especially with the pause in the middle. Overall, a fairly basic, simple upwards attack that Cagney can put to good use.
Down Tilt - Root of the Problem
First, Cagney's ducking animation. Cagney's duck has him put his two root legs in the ground, and THEN bend down slightly, meaning he resembles his original self... except bending down, with his hands to the ground. Anyway, with his roots already in the ground, Cagney can cut out some of the middleman in ducking animations and go straight for the poke. Cagney's roots will burst from the ground at diagonal angles on either side of him, jutting out quickly and then retreating. This attack is incredibly fast and spammable, and has some great range to it for a DTilt, both reaching just under 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform.
Being fast and having great range makes this, obviously, an incredibly potent poking tool. As you might guess from this kind of speed, the attack deals 4% damage, with very little knockback to it. However, that isn't all there is to the attack. If Cagney ducks while in a patch of thorns, he'll now shrink down entirely to just his head poking out, making him around the size of Kirby, a pretty significant change in stature. Anyway, in regards to this move, since he now has every possible limb buried, this attack gets a significant upgrade.
now, when the attack is used, SIX roots will burst from the ground, now covered with spikes. They reach out all at different angles, as you might expect, with the lowest roots going the farthest, and the others being slightly shorter. The range is actually increased to slightly over 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform as well, giving them significantly more reach. In addition to that, the roots now also deal 10% damage, with actual knockback capable of KOing fairly late, but is considerably stronger than most of Cagney's other attacks.
If you can't guess, there's a bit of a downside here. The roots jutting out takes quite a bit longer, and has some endlag to it as well. This added slowness makes it far worse at poking, and better as just a normal use attack. The roots in this version will "hang" for a bit as well, with their hitboxes still active thanks to the spikes, before they retreat in, making it slightly more likely that you'll be able to hit someone, in combination with the additional range.
Dash Attack - Tumbling Weed
Cagney, as he's running, pulls his body in behind his head,causing him to drop to the ground. His petals then start spinning like a wheel, and propel him forwards at a fairly decent speed, faster than his usual dash. Because of the severe model change during this attack, Cagney becomes around the same size as his ducking animation while in thorns, mentioned above. His entire body at this point is a hitbox, letting him ram into any opponents. This wheel dash has a bit of an automatic travel to it, pushing Cagney forwards 1 Battlefield Platform whenever its used. Thankfully, the end lag for this isn't that bad, as Cagney's body simply pops back out from behind his head as soon as it finishes. This does constitute some endlag, but it isn't that bad.
When the attack hits an opponent, it will deal 10% damage, along with some above average knockback. When Cagney's wheel body hits the opponent, it will instantly cancel him out of the attack, and return him to normal. The wheel also doesn't ignore edges, thankfully, and will stop as soon as it reaches one. The starting lag on the move, before the hitbox activates, is fairly bad, but doesn't constitute any of the attack's range.
When the wheel attack is used on a patch of vines, Cagney will instead speed off at an even faster speed, comparable to Rollout, for the entire distance the vines cover. This is another great way for Cagney to augment his traversal abilities, but it doesn't increase the damage of the attack, only the speed and distance. The attack will now end as soon as Cagney hits the end of the vines or a ledge.
Forward Smash - Face of Flow-ear
Cagney pulls his body back as his petals start to cover his face. This acts as the charging animation, which Cagney holds for the entirety. Once the actual attack starts, Cagney will thrust himself forwards, causing his face to extend out! This terrifying attack looks exactly how it does in his original boss fight, though the hitbox is considerably more generous. Only Cagney's extended face, which reaches out 1/2 to 1.5 Battlefield Platforms forwards depending on the charge, acts as the hitbox of the attack, meaning that his nose is out of the equation.
Cagney's face gets slightly larger during this animation, thanks to his fluid, shapeshifting-like animations, resulting in his face hovering above the ground by around almost a full Mario. The face's hitbox is odd, acting as a large, long hitbox that is capable of hurting opponents no matter which part they touch. Cagney's face will jut forward quickly, but it hangs around for a few frames after reaching its maximum distance, before retreating back to the rest of Cagney's body. This is a very slow move because of this, and requires decent timing to pull off.
Thankfully, though, in exchange for this slow speed comes some incredibly heavy damage. It even has a sweet spot to it, which consists of the part of the hitbox that has Cagney's face attached. Hitting with that deals 15-28% damage and is capable of KOing in the early 100%s, while hitting with the rest of the extended face results in 7-14% damage, and much weaker knockback. This is Cagney's most basic KO option, and one of his few so far. Though there isn't major changes while used in a patch of thorns, the decrease in Cagney's height allows the attack to hit opponents far closer to the ground than the normal version does.
Up Smash - Bullet Seeds
For the animation, Cagney turns his head into a crank-powered tommy gun, and starts firing up into the air. This Smash is unique compared to most other Smashes in terms of how it charges. The longer the button is held down, the more Cagney will fire up into the air - but there is still a limit. Cagney will fire a maximum of four times at maximum charge, before the move cancels itself and Cagney has to move on. At no charge, it will always fire one projectile, but the endlag is bad enough that charging for the multiple shots is quicker than spamming it.
Anyway, what is Cagney firing? Well, he's firing seeds into the air as projectiles! Like bullets, you might say. They're small projectiles, around the size of a capsule, if not a bit smaller. They're fired fast enough that, you won't even really get to see what the seeds look like, even though they do still exist as hitboxes at this point. Coming in contact with one will deal 5% damage, and fairly minor knockback, but the hitstun makes it so that multiple shots are likely to hit the opponent, no matter how high up in the air they are.
The seeds, after being fired, go directly off screen, Cagney being able to move once they have. A few frames after this, the seeds will start to drop from the sky at a considerably slower pace, though they're still very fast. Now you're able to see the seeds, and their multiple colors. There are three types of seed, blue seeds, purple seeds, and pink seeds, which are chosen randomly. Blue are the most common, purple aren't as common, and pink are the rarest These still count as projectiles while falling, and deal the same amount of damage, but the seeds now fall from the sky randomly, though within 2 Battlefield Platforms from where Cagney fired. Once the seeds hit the ground, they will plant themselves in the dirt (doesn't matter if its a solid or thin platform) and then sprout into a bud. These buds are fairly large, maybe the size of a Smoke Ball, and are invincible.
After a few seconds, the bud will bloom into one of three different minions for Cagney to make use of. The type of minion depends on which seed ended up being planted. Blues will burst into flying, toothy flowers that will instantly give chase to the nearest opponent. These act as slightly more precise versions of Cagney's acorn missiles, as they will track the opponent completely. They move slower, however, and the opponent is also capable of killing them, as they have 10% stamina. However, if they do manage to hit an opponent, they will deal 4% damage and weak knockback, but not die. As long as their health isn't drained, the toothy plant can remain on the field and chase the opponent. They're roughly the size of a Smoke Ball as well, though slightly larger.
For the purple seeds, a second toothy plant will spawn, these ones black and orange and with much sharper teeth. Unlike the flying plant, these ones remain grounded, and will continually hop upwards and snap from the area they spawned. They're roughly the same size as the other toothy plant. Their biting jump attack deals 7% damage on contact with an opponent, and deals pretty decent knockback. These black plants have 15% stamina, but are considerably more vulnerable than the other sprouts.
Finally, the pink seed summons an orange plant, which uses its leaves to flap up into the air. They then hang around at the top of the stage, fluttering back and forth. Every so often, the plant will open its petals up, revealing that it resembles Cagney himself, but with a large mouth instead of a face. When the petals have unfolded, the plant will spit out three projectiles, all in the direction of an opponent. These aren't homing, but they fly quickly and are roughly as large as the seed projectiles. They also deal 3% damage on contact, with weak knockback. After firing those projectiles, the plant will then curl back up. While the petals are folded in, the plant becomes completely invincible for that brief amount of time, and is only vulnerable to damage while it is open. Luckily, there is a delay between the two motions. They have 10% health.
Cagney can only have four of these minions out on the stage at a time, and the move changes slightly when all four plant minions are on stage. Instead of firing, the attack now behaves more like a normal smash, with Cagney turning his crank as the charge. He will then fire an explosion of smoke from his gun-tip in a fairly standard Smash attack. The hitbox is nothing special, though it really isn't likely to hit smaller, grounded opponents. It deals 8-17% damage depending on the charge, and has average knockback to it.
Finally, if you want to get over the long wait time between the seeds planting and the seeds blooming, that's an easy fix. Well, sort of. If a seed manages to land in a patch of vines, instead of just the bud sprouting, an entire vine will sprout from the vine patch. It will reach up around a Ganondorf high, and then sprout a bud, which instantly bursts into the minion. The flying minions will instantly head off, while the hopping chompers will fall to the ground. This entire process takes around a second, considerably less time. The vine that sprouts acts as an upwards sprouting vine as described in the Side Special while it is out, and will instantly slip back into the ground once the minion has been released.
Down Smash - Unrooting
For the starting animation, Cagney jabs his arms into the ground. After this is when the charging animation begins, as he continues to push his arms further into the ground as he charges. The actual attack has Cagney's arms burst out of the ground on either side of himself, stretching upwards as they turn into red boxing gloves to deliver a knock-out uppercut! This is actually a fairly quick attack, with some annoying endlag as Cagney has to reel his arms back in.
The uppercutting vines don't change depending on the charge, making this a very simple Smash compared to the other two. The vines reach up just above Cagney while he's bending down, putting them at around the same height as Cagney while he's standing normally. They also come out roughly 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform away from him. The vines are covered in thorns, making them hitboxes, but they behave like the upwards vines mention before. Instead, the boxing gloves are the main hitbox of the attack, dealing heavy upwards knockback, capable of KOing at around 120%, while also dealing a fairly staggering 13-30% damage depending on the charge. This is Cagney's absolute best KO option, but its speed is definitely a detriment.
Well, there is somewhat of a way around that. if used while walking on a patch of vines, the start and end lag will be cut considerably. Cagney will now just place his hands on the ground, and cause the vines to punch upwards. He then removes them from the ground in order to cause the vine to zip back into the patch. In the exchange for this speed, the punches are slightly less knockback power, and only deal 13-25% damage now.
Neutral Aerial - Sun Flower
Similar to his Dash Attack, Cagney pulls his body behind his head, leaving him ass only a head. However, this is the only similarity. As he pulls his body in, Cagney will face the screen, still grinning, leaving him as just a flower head pointing towards the camera. He then lets out a laugh as his grin stretches even wider, his petals stretching out into spikes. The petals stretch out fairly far, around half a Battlefield platform from where they usually are, but retract back in quickly, almost as soon as they reach their maximum distance.
The actual petals jutting out is a fast motion, but the attack itself is very slow through the starting and end animations (The end animation has Cagney's body unfurling out). Of course, the attack has incredible range on every side of it, but its impossible to use multiple times in the air, or even out of a shorthop. The range is all it truly needs, however, as it deals 14% damage, with knockback that can KO at around 160%. Of course, while a good KO move, it becomes rather telegraphed, making it easy for skilled opponents to dodge. That doesn't change how good of an attack it is.
Something else to note is that all of Cagney's aerial attacks are capable of pushing falling seeds through the air, in order to get them to potentially better positions. They, of course, push them in the associated direction, with this attack specifically pushing the seeds in the direction whichever petal hit it is pointing.
Forward Aerial - Petal Pummeler
Cagney pulls his body back as his petals fold over his face. They form into a very realistic looking fist, and then punch forwards. As Cagney punches forward, with his head, he's given a fairly decent amount of range, stretching the rest of his body out as if it were an arm. Once the punch reaches its full distance, he flips around and returns to normal. This is a fairly basic aerial attack, though it does have a caveat of having a very elaborate and long animation, giving it some bad lag at the start. Endlag, however, is remarkably little.
The fist is the entire hitbox, and considering Cagney's large head, it's a big one as well. The fist remains a hitbox as it flies forwards, and only stops being active once the flip back to normal starts. This gives it an incredible amount of range, around nearly a full Battlefield Platform forwards, but the actual hitbox comes out very fast, and ends just as quickly. The punch deals 12% damage, and has knockback that can KO at around 170% percent, making it a decent KO move. Like other aerials, it is also capable of pushing seeds around, specifically it can push them around 1 Battlefield Platform forwards.
Up Aerial - Clapping Carnation
Cagney, in a rather simple animation, claps above his head. His hands expand in size as he claps, however, to rather exaggerated proportions. The hitbox reaches a surprising size, around as large as DK's USmash is, though it doesn't activate while Cagney's hands are going up, only while they perform the clap, making it much harder to hit grounded opponents, or opponents off to the side. Either way, this is a fast attack that deals fairly decent knockback, and 10% damage on contact with the opponent. It's good out of shorthop, and is fast enough to make a decent juggling move out of.
This aerial can push seeds upwards, Which might not sound helpful, since the seeds will instantly start falling, without moving any closer to where you wanted them, but it actually is. The seed, when pushed, will hang in the air for a moment, delaying its planting. This can be used to delay it, and then use another attack to push it where you want it to go.
Back Aerial - Pitch(er Plant) Fork
Cagney flips around so that he's sideways, and rears his roots back, before thrusting them out. They come out in the shape of a four-pronged pitch-fork like shape. As a hitbox, Cagney's legs are much larger than they are normally, expanding out into a size they might actually be able to hit with. The two inner prongs are slightly longer than the ones on the outside. The lag, on both ends of the move, are fairly fast, making this a decent quick, aerial attack for Cagney to perform. This functions sort of like a sex kick, with Cagney holding the kick out for a handful of frames, or until he manages to hit the ground. The attack is fairly basic outside of that, dealing 12% damage, with rather mediocre knockback. It can still be used to get opponents away, however. This attack's effect on seeds is similar to the FAir's effect. It will simply push them backwards a single Battlefield Platform away.
Down Aerial - Root Boot
Cagney pulls his roots up a bit as they twist around each other. He then thrusts them downwards, where they shift into the shape of a rubber boot, still with dirt on it. This releases a cloud of dirt underneath Cagney, before he untwists his legs, turning them to normal. This stomp has a bit of start-up lag to it, far more than the endlag of the move. The attack actually consists of two different hitboxes, the first being the boot itself. The boot is fairly large, and reaches down a noticeable amount from where Cagney's roots usually reach.
The boot is only slightly less wide than Cagney himself. The actual attack functions as a meteor smash, making it fairly powerful, while also dealing a solid 15% damage. This is a real heavy hitter for Cagney, and his best off-stage move by far. The second hitbox consists of the dirt cloud that's formed from the boot after Cagney stomps downwards. This hitbox lasts less time than the boot, and is much smaller, forming in an upside down arch underneath the boot. This is a much less powerful hitbox, only dealing 7%, and fairly weak downwards knockback. It's impossible for the dirt hitbox and boot hitbox to both hit, as the dirt hitbox only activates after the boot has deactivated.
Hitting a seed with this attack activates something special, compared to the other aerials. Instead of simply pushing the seed downwards, since that was where it was already going, the boot instead sends the seed rocketing downwards! This boosts its speed immensely, turning it, functionally, into how it was when Cagney first fired it. The difference here is that it can now be planted.
Grab & Pummel
Cagney thrusts one of his hands forward, it morphing into a single, thorny vine as it does so. This is a tether grab, reaching out slightly farther than Link or Samus' do due to Cagney's larger size. The hitbox acts nearly the same, however. Like with other tether grabs, Cagney can use this in midair, and like the other tether grabs, this acts as a form of recovery. If Cagney's vine manages to hit an edge while it's out, it will reel Cagney to the wall, letting him climb back up.
When the opponent is grabbed by this, the vine will wrap around them, and then pull back towards Cagney. The vine will then turn back into a hand as he starts to grip the opponent with both. Cagney will lean in on the opponent for the grab animation, sticking his head very close to their face. This plays into his pummel, which has Cagney exaggeratedly spewing a cloud of yellow pollen in the opponent's face. This deals 1%, pitiful for even a pummel, and is even slightly slower than most other pummels, meaning you aren't likely to get in much damage.
This is because of the pollen's effects. After the opponent is hit by the pollen, they will turn slightly yellow. With this yellow tinting, the opponent has now become significantly slower than before, and are now at 2/3rds their normal speed. Luckily for the opponent, this effect only hangs around if Cagney manages to get off a throw after performing the pummel. If the opponent manages to break free, the pollen will disappear with a puff. This debuff is obviously worse for certain characters, but its helpful for Cagney considering his already terrible speed. Putting the opponent at a disadvantage, even if they still manage to be faster than him, is an upside and allows him to get in some heavier hits more easily. The pollen effect only lasts around 8 seconds.
Forward Throw - Feeling De Vine
Cagney's grin grows more vile as he starts to squeeze the opponent in his hands, which start to shift into thorny vines which wrap themselves around the opponent. He then somehow... pulls his hands out from the vines, and pushes the opponent off. Cartoon physics. Anyway, this is a fairly basic throw by itself, though it's actually very weak, only KOing well past 200% and dealing 5% damage. Not a very good throw, really.
However, the opponent is still covered in vines after the throw! While the vines don't impede their movement, they do hurt. Every second, the attack will deal 2% damage, for the next 5 seconds. Once the five seconds pass, the vines shrivel up and die. This is a perfect companion status effect to his pummel pollen, as it can leave opponents dangerously weakened for quite a while. However, there is a caveat with BOTH of these effects. There's around a ten second period after each status effect ends where you cannot apply them to the same opponent again.
Up Throw - Flower Picking
Cagney throws the opponent upwards, and then lets out a laugh as he grabs onto his own neck. He then squeezes really hard, causing his own head to pop off! The opponent is throw to a set distance for the first part of the move, up around half a Mario above Cagney. Once Cagney's head launches off, the opponent should be in that position. His petals start to spin around like a buzzsaw as his he starts to cleave into the opponent rapidly. The attack deals 10 hits of 1% damage, with the last hit dealing the knockback, which turns out to be rather weak, only KOing at 170%. The opponent is launched before Cagney's head starts falling back down to his body, which consitutes some bad ending lag for the attack.
Back Throw - Love Me or Leaf Me
Cagney spins around, without actually moving his legs, and transforms his head into a tommy gun. He then jams the opponent into the barrel, and starts to crank it. Cagney's head starts to inflate, before it fires the opponent off in a burst of smoke. The opponent is fired at an upwards diagonal direction, depending on which way Cagney is facing. This is a fairly fast throw, and is capable of dealing a pretty 9% damage. The knockback is one of the best in Cagney's throws, able to KO at 140%, making it one of his better KO options. However, this also has bad end lag, as Cagney has to shake the shot off afterwards, leaving him very open for any potential minions or other opponents to attack.
Down Throw - Plant a Little Seed...
Cagney, alongside the grabbed opponent, zips into the ground. Once this happens, the ground will start to bump around in a cartoony way, signifying that Cagney is beating up on the opponent. The attack deals multiple hits of 2%, with each hit causing the ground to bump, no matter if it's solid or thin ground it was used on. The total amounts is 4, for 8% damage, with Cagney then uppercutting the opponent out of the ground for a final 2% damage. Both characters will come out of the ground once this final hit is landed, and it will also launch the opponent. This knockback is capable of KOing at 160%, making it fairly weak.
This is a rather slow throw, though still relatively fast. It takes maybe around 1.5 seconds to fully pull off. If the attack is used while in a patch of vines, only capable by using Cagney's tether grab and pulling in an opponent who's on normal ground, it will gain a buff. The buff being an extra 1% damage to every hit Cagney performs, except for the final one. This boosts the total damage to 18%, fairly impressive for a throw, but hard to perform due to its specific nature. This buff does not increase knockback.
Final Smash Fury-lization!
Cagney has the Smash Ball! When used, Cagney becomes completely enraged, planting himself in the middle of the stage and entering his final form, while also growing to giant size! The entire stage becomes covered in thorny vines, every single inch, from the bottom of the stage to the top, from solid platforms to the thin ones! These thorns act different from his normal ones; instead of causing knockback, the thorns will deal 1% damage every other frame. This can rack up quickly, considering it lasts 10 seconds!
That's not all. By pressing the attack button (Any will do), Cagney can make spirals of thorns burst up from any (standable) surface. They pop out in random areas, but mashing can quickly have it covered in no time. Each of these deals 5% damage, and upwards knockback. Once time has run out, the thorns will vanish, and Cagney will return to normal. The ideal method for an opponent to avoid this attack is to stay off the ground for as long as possible - which they're likely to fail.
"Huh? What's this, another Contract? Nah, can't be; this is too short for the boss to even spit at it!
This must be for that other fella who was after the thread tonight, that EXPUNGED fella. Well, surely he won't mind if ol' King Dice takes a li'l peek..."
Jay
Bio: Jay is one of many, many ailing patients at The Hospital, the finest medical facility in the perceptual range. More specifically, he is a Grey Zoner, or "Hugh Mann" as they're colloquially known, who seems to be suffering a broken arm and absolutely nothing else. He is a remarkably hateful and unlikable person, and relies on his trusty gun to keep him safe.
Stats
Height: Marth
Weight: Luigi
Speed: Mario
Air Speed: Mario
Jay is a fairly normal guy, barring his unfortunate eye injury. At least it's not a broken arm or anything, haha. His jumps are as average as his other stats, being roughly on par with Mario's. All in all, nothing spectacular, but at least he's got his trusty machete to protect himself, right?
Passive Mechanic: ??? Meter
A rather "handsome" meter lies above Jay's damage percentage. This meter is formed of tiny icons of Jay's face, and certain moves will add more faces for a max of 10. What does this meter do? Uh... hmm.
Specials:
N-Spec: Shriek
With startup equal to Bowser's N-Spec, Jay belts out a manly-and-totally-not-shrill cry of terror, err "war cry." This manifests as a Smart Bomb blast-sized circle with him at the center. This shriek deals no damage, but instantly interrupts any attacks happening inside its area of effect. Jay suffers a 5 second cooldown before he can shriek again. Using this raises the ??? Meter 2 levels...
S-Spec: Frenzy
After a startup equivalent to that of Dedede's F-Smash, Jay dashes forward a Battlefield platform and performs a rapid series of slashes with his machete, his only weapon. The slashes will hold a foe in place until the final hit, dealing up to 12% and causing a Crumple effect. Hitting a foe from behind increases the number of slashes, dealing up to 18% and the same Crumple effect. This increases the ??? Meter by 3 units...
U-Spec: Red Crescent
With lag resembling Kirby's U-Special, Jay performs a rising slash with his trusty machete, forming a red crescent of energy that lingers for a half second. The slash covers as much ground as Mario's Jump Punch, and deals 15% and moderate knockback. Meanwhile, the red energy deals 6% and applies a sort of poison effect, dealing 3% a second for 4 seconds. Jay is not immune to this red energy, haha, weird, right? This increases the ??? Meter by 2, and being poisoned raises it by 1...
D-Special: ???
Haha, wow, this move doesn't even DO anything, weird. When this useless move is input, Jay just clutches his head for a moment, taking about as long as a generic counter move. If someone is within two Bowsers of Jay when this ends, a cloud of red energy will conceal him and the foe for a Falcon Punch startup. When it dissipates, Jay will be standing over the prone foe, who suffers 2% damage for each level of the ??? Meter, dealing 20% maximum. This empties the ??? Meter even if it misses, and using this while it's full does... nothing special, nope!
Standards
Jab: In a move that's comparable to Ganon's Jab in speed and reach, Jay swings his spiked club, his one and only weapon. This simple swing deals 9% and light-moderate knockback. More importantly, there's a reflecting sweetspot on the head of the club; it doesn't do more damage or anything, but it can at least help with projectiles.
U-Tilt: Jay, unusually, has infinite tilts that work a lot like infinite Jabs. Mashing A will have him rapidly swipe his machete over his head in an arc, covering a considerable area above him and dealing rapid hits of 4% each. The light knockback of this move can lightly juggle heavier foes somewhat. Every 4th swipe that connects will raise the ??? Meter by 1...
F-Tilt: The initial hit of this tilt is comparable to Megaman's F-Air in speed, and has Jay perform a pistol whip (8% and light knockback) with his sole means of protection, his gun. Mashing A after this will cause him to fire the gun, firing invisible bullets that instantly travel the length of the entire screen. These bullets deal only 3% and don't flinch foes, and are fired at the same rate as Megaman's Buster. Every 5th shot increases the ??? Meter by 1...
D-Tilt: Surprise, this tilt is also infinite. Mashing A causes Jay to repeatedly hammer his club into the floor in a tilt comparable to Wario's D-Tilt in speed and range. This hammering deals only 5% a pop and light knockback. Every 5th slam of the club raises the ??? Meter by 1...
Dash Attack: Yup, even this is an infinite attack, haha, and doesn't even break Jay's stride. Mashing A will cause Jay to slash with his machete repeatedly, with only as much lag between swipes as there is between Megabuster shots. Each slash deals 6% and light knockback. Every 3rd slash raises the ??? Meter by 1...
Smashes:
F-Smash: In Jay's laggiest move (with startup nearly on par with Warlock Punch), he looks panicked and fumbles for something while charging. Upon release, he shakily retrieves his gun before rapidly firing off 6-8 shots in a narrow spread, each traveling a Bowser length and dealing 3% and no knockback, only flinching. The endlag on this is comparable to Dedede's F-Smash. This raises the ??? Meter by 2...
U-Smash: In a Smash that's very similar to Dedede's U-Smash in terms of reach and speed, Jay performs an overhead slash with his machete. Since this slash begins behind Jay, he can hit earlier by facing away from the foe. The slash deals 9-14% and moderate knockback, with a sweetspot directly above Jay that deals 12-16% and heavy upwards knockback. This fills the ??? Meter by 2...
D-Smash: This one-directional D-Smash is comparable to DK's Headbutt in startup and reach. It has Jay perform a huge downward slam of his club, dealing 8-12% and burying its victims. Very simple Smash, notable mainly for its unusually high shield damage. This increases the ??? Meter by 2...
Aerials:
N-Air: In a rather awkward animation, Jay performs a sort of cartwheel for a standard spinning N-Air that can be extended by mashing A. It deals 7% and light radial knockback. Extending this surrounds Jay in a faint red aura. Funny, his panicked expression almost suggests this wasn't part of his battle plan...
F-Air: Jay performs a quick slash of his machete, comparable to Megaman's F-Air. This deals only 6% and light knockback, but Jay can mash A to swing repeatedly. Doing so causes a faint red aura to surround his blade. Every 4th slash will raise the ??? Meter by 1...
U-Air: In a rather sneaky Aerial, Jay quickly fires his gun straight upwards, with the bullets behaving as they do in his F-Tilt, damage and all. As with F-Tilt, mashing A will cause him to keep firing. The barrel of the gun has a hitbox that deals 4% and juggling upwards knockback. Every 4th shot increases the ??? Meter by 1...
B-Air: With a painful-looking twist of his torso, Jay performs a swing of his club that's similar in speed and reach to Megaman's B-Air. This swing deals 9% and moderate knockback, and mashing A will swing repeatedly. Every 3rd swing fills the ??? Meter by 1...
D-Air: Again, Jay fires rounds from his gun, this time at a downward, 45 degree angle in front of him. They deal the usual damage and lack of knockback, and can be repeat fired as normal. There is no melee hitbox on this move. Every 4th shot will raise the ??? Meter by 1...
Grab Game:
Grab: A very straightforward, one-handed grab, with similar speed and reach to that of Mario's grab. The pummel has Jay headbutt the foe for 5% in a very slow pummel. It's not like he has a free hand or anything...
F-Throw: Jay shoves the foe a Bowser forward before quickly firing a spread of bullets at them. This throw deals 10% and Crumples the victim. The bullets can instead hit anyone who somehow ends up between Jay and his victim, haha wow try aiming next time buddy. This throw increases the ??? Meter by 2...
U-Throw: Jay quickly uses both hands to toss the foe upwards. A red aura surrounds Jay for a moment, but it has no effect. This throw deals only 3%, but has very high upwards knockback, being his best kill throw. Good thing he doesn't have a broken arm or this throw wouldn't exist, haha. This throw increases the ??? Meter by 3...
B-Throw: Jay shoves the foe behind him before performing a vicious slash of his machete. This slash deals 10% and leaves the foe in prone behind Jay. The slash cannot hit anyone but the thrown opponent, weird, huh? This increases the ??? Meter by 1...
D-Throw: Jay quickly kicks the foe's feet out from under them, then bashes them with his club as they fall. This deals 9% and leaves the foe in prone at Jay's feet; hope they don't use a getup attack, haha. Of course, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they did? This does not increase the ??? Meter...
Final Smash: ????????
Haha wait, Jay doesn't have one of these, whoops! Using a Smash Ball has him collapse for a little while, surrounded by a red aura. After 5 seconds, he'll wake up; usually everyone's dead afterward though, weird, huh?
Taunts:
U-Taunt: Jay nervously fiddles with his gun before adjusting his sling. Sure is unfortunate that he ended up in Smash with a broken arm, huh? At least it's not an eye problem, haha.
S-Taunt: Jay inspects the blade of his machete before adjusting his eyepatch a bit. Of all the rotten luck, he ends up in Smash with a bum eye, haha. Could've been worse though, like a neck injury or something.
D-Taunt: After tugging at his neck brace, Jay intimidatingly pats his club against his palm. It's really too bad he ended up in Smash with a neck problem, isn't it? Oh well, luckily it's not like a broken arm or anything, haha.
Since I haven't seen it announced anywhere and it is rather important, Make Your Move 20 has been extended to the end of February (Midnight Feb 28th), in part because that's where we thought it ended anyway
Make use of that extra time, y'all...or else you'll miss, pal.
Well...
Cuphead (sans his pal Mugman) really needs no introduction, being the Face of the Movement. As in his own game, the little guy is a bit fragile, but has respectable mobility. Excellent for his main shtick, running and gunning. You've done a superb job incorporating his various weapons; the Super Card mechanic is an elegant way to work all of them in while adding an element of chance. This element of chance works very well on Cuphead, the young fella who lost his soul in a game of craps! It also emulates the need to adapt your weaponry to the situation at hand. Though, interestingly, you flip this on its head, with Cuphead instead needing to adapt to his own weaponry rather than tailor his own loadout!
The Cupdash and Plane are interesting mobility options, especially with the latter's stranding fire. The Parry, of course, is a major player in this set. You do a very interesting job converting this mechanic to Smash, giving it the ability to harm foes directly as well as indirectly. It also aids Cuphead's already impressive set of mobility options, especially when combined with his own Snappy Fire shots. Though the mug's own projectiles cannot be Parried in the source, I feel that you have created an elegant solution to that in the pausing mechanic. The Pseudo-Parry N-Air is also a neat trick, with it being able to cancel particularly nasty incoming attacks with good timing.
On top of these and other interesting mechanics (particularly the F-Smash's interactions with Super Cards), Cuphead also carries some very fun flavor. From tossing his own head skyward, to snapping for a jab, to the old-fashioned tea kettle rage, Cuphead really feels like an old toon transplanted to Smash. Another favorite is the F-Tilt, which is a fun example of extrapolation that feels right for the character while also being fitting for the set at hand. The throws are also pretty neat, with the Big Ball of Violence being a timeless classic for any toon. All in all, Cuphead is a very solid set, and a very fitting start to a wonderfully promising Movement!
Stretch 'n Squash
Goopy Le Grande is one of the first bosses often fought in Cuphead, and is a natural starting point for a long series of debtors. Goopy is a fairly big chap already, rubbing shoulders with the King himself. However! His very first move allows him to become an even bulkier fellow, and introduces a very interesting and peculiar side mechanic in the form of his question marks. Of course, the buff itself is also important, emulating Goopy's actual second phase in the source; smart use of this buff can turn Goopy into quite a flexible character. On top of this, his Side Special also provides a very nice and interesting layer to the set.
Taking from an element left on the cutting room floor, the Side Special is capable of producing a second Goopy. While the Buddy isn't as strong as the real deal, he can greatly aid in Goopy's damage output. He can even be useful when he dies, thanks to his corpse becoming semisolid! Goopy can also buff his buddy with Neutral Special, which can really put the squeeze on foes with good use. After these two pivotal moves, Goopy spends the rest of his set playing with his buff, the question marks, and his new best friend. Focusing on flexible mechanics like these makes for an interesting read, and it's very fun to see a set delving into the interactions these mechanics can help facilitate.
Some highlights are squashing your buddy with a tombstone, scaring or amusing him with a funny face, delaying the repair of your own tombstone, charging a meaty Punch with question marks, and many more. Perhaps the funniest part of the set is the Up Throw, where Goopy buries his foe/buddy, complete with tears and a tombstone! The interplay of Goopy's Buddy, variable size, and question marks creates a particularly interesting read, and paints a picture of a very flexible set that encourages playing around with its myriad elements. Pretty fitting for a boss who's essentially a tutorial, eh? All in all, Goopy's goofy personality and slimy tactics make him a very nice start to Isle 1 proper.
Hello my baby! Hello my honey...
Ribby and Croaks are perhaps the most difficult of Inkwell Isle 1's bosses, mostly due to their teamwork. And with the tag out Mechanic, you've done a fine job of bringing that element over to Smash. The brothers differ in stats and certain attacks, and the inactive brother can even intervene to effectively double your offensive output! Beyond this major mechanic, the brothers also have other interesting ideas. Their shared Down Special serves a triple duty as a stall and fall, a nasty projectile maker, and a recovery aid, with the two brothers even having variation between them when it comes to what sort of platforms are paid out. Ribby's Side Special serves as some useful projectile pressure, but also brings in a nice translation of the source's Parry mechanic; even the brothers themselves can utilize this Parrying, giving them some interesting mobility options.
On top of that, their Up Special is a very flexible move, being a tether recovery, a pseudo-grab, a grappling hook, and even a way to use enemy projectiles against them. This final usage in particular is a stroke of brilliance and works well, I feel. Especially considering this property's interplay with the set's own projectiles, with a standout being Ribby's rolling F-Smash; recycling a Smash's hitbox as a makeshift projectile is a really interesting idea to me. This also extends to Ribby's U-Smash, a self-buffing, bouncing projectile that seems like the perfect candidate to recycle with the slots. In fact, all of the brothers' Smashes work with their tongue and slot mechanics in very interesting ways, mainly revolving around Ribby's powerful F-Smash and how to help it land. A particularly nasty example is Croaks' D-Smash, which can potentially land his brother's F-Smash twice! Their Aerials are generally more straightforward, but the U-Air can again recycle Ribby's F-Smash and the D-Air is a pogo move. The jab is also interesting, almost serving as a pseudo-counter with the third hit's properties.
On top of their myriad madcap mechanics, Ribby and Croaks also boast some fun character to their animations, particularly ones involving their slot machine forms. Their more straightforward animations are taken from their original boss fight, which paints them as the typical Bash Brothers archetype, not unlike the Mario Bros, actually. They also make light use of cartoonish transformations, such as Croaks becoming a fan for his F-Smash. But my absolute favorite part of the set is the Grab Game. The throws facilitated by the slot machine form are genuinely funny animations,with the Back Throw being a real highlight. All in all, Ribby & Croaks are likely the most complex characters in the Movement thus far, and are a very solid set.
Flower Power with a Glower
Cagney Carnation is technically the last boss of Inkwell Isle 1, and so comprises the finale of this portion of the Movement. And what a finale he is; Cagney is an imposingly tall, pseudo-heavyweight who makes up for his poor mobility with his main mechanic, the vines. With his Side Special, Cagney can achieve a truly impressive level of stage control. In fact, he can essentially ban opponents from landing on entire portions of the stage, including floating platforms by using the additional spike attack. Also, these vines passively increase Cagney's low speed and lower his towering height. They even speed up his powerful but slow minions. On top of the control this grants, Cagney can also combine his vines and Up Special platforms to create floating islands only he can utilize. His vines even upgrade certain attacks, like the D-Tilt and Dash Attack! By wisely utilizing his vines, Cagney can live up to his motto of "Extreme pollination and total domination."
Moving beyond the specials, Cagney also has some interesting mechanics in the remainder of his set. His F-Tilt has the property of Dazing the opponent for a moment, allowing him to alleviate his slower pace somewhat. His U-Smash can generate a handful of different minions, and again interacts with the vines by shortening their spawn animation. His Aerials can also interact with U-Smash, booting Cagney's minion seeds around for more precise gardening. Finally, his Grab Game can apply not one, but two signature status effects, both of which are designed to help the slow Carnation catch his prey more easily. Cagney is a more straightforward set than the likes of Ribby and Croaks, but what he does have are flexible mechanics that make him more cerebral than your typical pseudo-heavy brawler.
On top of his mechanics, Cagney does a fine job of showing his personality. His Down Special takes his opening animation to the logical extreme by giving the furious flower a nasty counter. Several of Cagney's animations take from old cartoon logic, such as being able to convert his roots into a boot. However, his grouchy, aggressive personality shines through in the choices of transformations. He takes on the appearance of several weapons throughout his set, including a buzzsaw, a pitchfork, a Tommy Gun, a fist, and even the aforementioned boot! All these transformations are perfectly fitting to the source's inspirations, and they fit his fury quite well. However! Cagney isn't all grimaces and grouchiness; he also takes some twisted glee in fighting, as evidenced by the wicked grins and laughter he breaks into multiple times. A particularly standout animation is the Up Throw, where the flower decapitates himself for a moment, cackling all the way. All in all, Cagney is a rock-solid end to the first part of what is sure to be a fantastic Movement!
Oooh, spooky!
Haunter, being a Ghost type Pokémon, is of course a character I always enjoy. Making them into a status effect focused fighter seems very natural for the mischievous personality Haunter is often portrayed with. The main gimmicks to Haunter lie in the Drowsy and Lick status effects. Drowsy barely affects the victim, only taking real effect if they refuse to move for a solid second; the main use of it is to boost Haunter's Specials. Lick, however, is a more dangerous effect, dealing constant damage until the victim can successfully land a solid blow on their tormentor. Combining the two and Haunter's Specials can truly shake the opponent to their core, granting Haunter access to healing, even nastier poisoning, and even a buffed counter.
Beyond these fun status effects, Haunter also has an interesting passive mechanic in that their hands are completely intangible. This plays into their standards, giving the moves some decent range and making it more difficult for the opponents to shake off a Lick. Beyond the intangibility, Haunter's free floating hands lend themselves to some fun moves, such as the F-Smash and U-Smash. The D-Smash doesn't make use of the hands, but it instead can eat through the shields of Drowsy enemies, incentivizing the ghost to keep their foes sleepy at all times. An interesting kill option is raised with N-Air, which can become a horrifying move when combined with Haunter's Nightmare and Levitate. D-Air gives Haunter an interesting mobility option in the optional downwards teleport; useful, as the set says, for landing more dangerous attacks or simply getting to the ground safer. Haunter's grab game is fairly straightforward, though again Drowsy and Nightmare are useful here.
Haunter seems to take a sadistic sense of glee from their shenanigans, and they cackle and grin nigh-constantly. Fitting for a Ghost type, and especially one who is often shown as the mischievous sort! Some of the more fun animations revolve around the Nightmare status, such as Haunter becoming more imposing in the U-Throw or taking additional care when Licking a Nightmared foe. All of it adds up to make a solid read, and a fitting set for the shady specter!
DOC TO, DOC TO, GIVE ME THE NEWS
Doc To is a rather unusual fellow, being an original character based upon the canon of Splatoon. However, his quirky animations and design feel right at home with the universe, and he even ties in extremely well to an Easter Egg found in both games! Doc has one major mechanic, that being his perfectly willing and not-at-all-helpless assistant, Jeff. Jeff interacts with the majority of Doc's moveset, and is a very flexible mechanic. Since Doc only really has Jeff to work with, the set does a lot of interesting things with the unfortunate inkblot. Jeff's three states, Held, Thrown, and Puddle, each have their uses.
Jeff's primary use is as a projectile not unlike Cappy in Mario Odyssey. Jeff even hangs in place, dealing rapid damage for a short while. Tapping B while he's out has him reach out in a nice little supplementary strike, useful for Doc's pressure game. Doc can also make Jeff into a shield or smear the little guy across the floor. Jeff is even in charge of recovery, either functioning as a bungee cord or channeling Orcane for a teleport. His presence also bleeds into the rest of the set. The standards slap, stick, kick, and spin poor Jeff, while the Smashes splat, rotate, and bounce him. I hope the little guy has hazard pay...
It's no secret amongst the chat that I'm a fan of mad scientists, so of course Doc immediately appeals to me character-wise. Doc's utter disregard for the safety of Jeff is blatantly shown in many of the set's interactions. He flat out destroys his assistant in F-Smash, using Jeff's splat to increase his own range. He throws him and slaps him around with wild abandon, and can even squash the poor sap flat with a Side Special. And yet... Doc really needs Jeff. Without his assistant, Doc is a weaker combatant. Despite his abuse, Doc relies heavily on the little guy, and that gives the duo an interesting dynamic that is shown wonderfully in the set. Jeff's presence also prompts a lot of experimentation, which feeds into Doc being a scientist quite well. All in all, Doc To is a highly appealing OC, and his flexible mechanic makes his set a very interesting read.
Something about this set I feel needs to be brought up right away is that the Side Special cloud appears to have gone through revisions, and left me rather confused at points, for example the aerial cloud falling is mentioned as having a knockback, but the cloud itself doesn't have any knockback listed and the next paragraph goes into detail about how it works on foes jumping into it and changing their fall speed, which obviously is impossible/bizarre if they take knockback. I assume maybe it just means when the attack is used in the air, but then it talks about comboing it as if it was lingering, so I don't know what's going on here. The last paragraph is also a bit unclear on what the 1% poison flinching means: If it is talking about inside the cloud, it seems incredibly broken to hitstun people so often and potentially leading to silly long combo/infinite options (especially with Down Smash potentially allowing another per second flinch). I'm guessing it just means the first hit of poison after, but it isn't very clear and I wasn't sure what it was used for. The Neutral Special also seems odd in mentioning shield pressure on the uncharged shot: No part of it deals hitstun, so I'm not sure how useful it is for that, even at high damage percents.
Toxic Focus is pretty cool, I'm obviously a pretty big fan on interpretting and weaving the Focus effects into Street Fighter sets (even if FANG didn't appear in SFIV, it's still good), and it is one of the larger focuses on this kind of "Body Poison" effects we've seen, with the other amusingly also being a Smady set (Magellan). The non-KO kill here is certainly rare, we hardly do these any more, but I like it, given F.A.N.G.'s own dispensity for this kind of kill in game, the fact it is relevant but only in really rare situations (making me imagine it comes up moreso in "hype" situations and, say, pro highlight reels) so it isn't dominant. The "Special" dodges are also a fun reference to F.A.N.G.'s super unique dodge animations and give some fun defensive power to him. Giving F.A.N.G. a weak recovery feels like the right option, helping keep him from being too obnoxious as a defensive character, I wish there were numbers on "This can be aided by the foe having been poisoned, as each additional tick of poison will add to the ending damage and knockback, in which case it's easily the strongest up special.", like how much does each stack add, or is this just saying poison still ticks? I assume the first since there's no reason to think the latter is anything to note.
Forward Smash is pretty solid, not a ton special to say but I enjoyed it. The Up Smash feels a bit hard to get use of given the specificness/set up required, but I do think the concept is pretty cool, basically a cloud that constantly pushes down on anyone and so makes them want to stay grounded and then F.A.N.G. takes advantage. Down Smash is useful, and good job on the GIF by the way I know it was a pain to get, but the per-second flinching worries me, especially since it is a based, I might make it flinch faster based on charge, maybe even make it a 45 frame flinch instead of a 1 second flinch at max but make the default a 1.5 second flinch? The special dodge interaction is pretty powerful but F.A.N.G. can't spam it so it is fine, I like how it is a subtle "ninja" style move given F.A.N.G. is, well, an assassin and all.
For the jab, if the move has set knockback, it shouldn't have the move hit the foe out even at super high percents, right? Might have to worry about F.A.N.G. rage though. Jab seems really strong with Down Smash and the potential way that Side Special works, I really like the movement though and how F.A.N.G. has this whole theme of kinda offbeat movement options, it is very fitting. I see Forward Tilt is taking cues from Gen's one Super (or was it his Ultra?), which is pretty fitting, and a pretty cool effect overall too, the boost works well enough with the poison. I like Up Tilt as a move overall, but the poison projectile interaction feels a bit tacked on, I might enjoy the move a bit more if it was removed honestly but I am guessing I am in the minority there, I think it is more interesting if the bad horizontal reach just a weakness F.A.N.G. has to work around, especially with how Up Smash is. Down Tilt is good but I am not really sure how that animation hits to both sides? Maybe make note his other arm swings behind him for the back hitbox, nothing especially bad here but just making a note of it.
Pummel is surprisingly cool and feels like a good addition to the Toxic Focus, well, focus, in addition to helping make the OHKO a touch more viable. Forward Throw, wouldn't they enjoy being hit far away when pummeled to hit the pummel off? I imagine the interactions-with-pummel versions will basically always be used, and I do enjoy how the pummel placement changes the throw. The Back Throw bomb is neat enough. Back Throw being a poison sharing tether is a neat idea, but honestly, I'm not a very big fan of how it plays into F.A.N.G.'s playstyle and works with Toxic Focus, plus it seems oddly complex for what the move does, this is probably my least favorite move in the set as-is. I think something like this could be really cool in a set which poisons itself, adding more intricacies to how it plays, but for this I'd pull it back. Up Throw is solid.
Neutral Aerial is pretty dang cool and one of the better expansions on the "hitbox when you land during it" moves I've seen. and Forward Aerial is also really cool with the cloud movement and "glide", probably one of my favorite moves in the set. Back Aerial is okay. Up Aerial's effect feels like it would fit well on a throw if you decided to replace Back Throw: Maybe increase the amount of poison he can squeeze out for each pummel he hits? I like the odd spike on the Down Aerial, how it works on the ground.
Overall, F.A.N.G. is a good set which at its best when playing with Toxic Focus (if anything, I feel there could be some more of that in there) and utilizing F.A.N.G.'s wonky movement (for example Jab, Forward Aerial, his Special Dodges and Forward Throw) to make a pretty unique and fun combination of a pressure, combo-y character and a defensive, poisoning character, that all works well. I am unsure about Down Smash's place here overall though, Up Smash's effects feel somewhat difficult to utilize and I feel like there was a good deal of stuff here that somewhat confused me in terms of elaboration, I disliked the Back Throw a good deal and sometimes it felt like the set was losing a bit of its focus on the core. I am going to guess this moveset will move up in rankings (below Recoome right now) when clarity is edited in on some of the more difficult to understand bits and overall was a pretty solid success, and certainly a fun read since this set has some really great care taken to its animations and characters, a pleasure to have alongside Balrog and a good set for Smash Daddy to start on this contest!
Cuphead: "Don't Deal With The Warlord" (Cuphead Munomario777
)
Cuphead feels like a pretty fitting Muno set to start off the Cuphead movement, the rascally main character and all that.
Cuphead instantly starts off on a good point to me with the Neutral Special, which is one of the better random mechanics we've probably had (the only better one of the top of my head is Yangus' minion making special)! Each of these "Super Cards" give Cuphead a new way to approach the main part of his moveset, runnin' and gunnin' like the Mega Man-esque protagnist he is, while the EX versions not only give a large variety of splashy yet useful moves, but also allow Cuphead a way to cycle through his Super Cards if he wants, helping limit the RNG if need be, and using a melee attack to get it helps ensure Cuphead doesn't become just a camper, and also emphasises Run and Gun: Get the hit, get the Super Card, use it to get in another hit, and so on. Effects-wise I am particularly fond of the EX Spreadshot (A very Muno feeling move), EX Chaser and EX Roundabout in addition to the base effects being solid.
The Cupdash is pretty solid, Up Special isn't as good but is okay, I like the first two "modes" of it and how they play together, but the 3rd one is just kind of...enh? The Parry is pretty cool in how it works and a fairly creative interpretation of a mechanic that normally would be a Counter or something and is difficult to fit in otherwise. I wonder if it could be cool if parrying a projectile could change its direction, say by tilting the control stick when you Parry something? I like how it can work with the Cupdash, making a kind of moving psuedo-counter-thing.
Behold, the power of Cuphead's trampling straw! The neutral aerial is pretty solid, I've done these kinda chase-poppers before and used correctly they can be a lot of fun, and aside from that it fits well into the gameplan. Forward Aerial is the kind of poking tool that works right into Super Cards: Poke and wall them out with Forward Aerials, then start utilizing your projectiles, it's good. Back Aerial is good for more walling, is good for giving Cuphead some Parry ability outside of Super cards, fits into the generally kinda Jigglypuff feel of these aerials, it's nice. Does this count as a brainsplatter? How dark! Up Aerial is solid, Down Aerial is probably the only aerial that was rather "meh" here, not bad but all of the other aerials are DEFINITELY more interesting.
All of the Standards are pretty good, although I will personally say I found Down Tilt quite odd, the animation feels somewhat out of place with the standards (although not Cuphead himself) and I feel there could have been a more appropriate effect, like something wich forces more of a hard neutral reset, or maybe something which forces tech situations to cover with NSpec? I like to think the jab has a little finger snapping noise and so is great BM when someone dies as a 4th taunt. This should clearly be explicitly edited in.
Up Smash is pretty neat, with the simple cloud for Parrying working well and working in fine as a KO move (I like using Up Aerial NOT being a juggling tool as a playstyle enhancer), not gonna lie though I find Down Smash to be pretty bleh, the animation is cartoon-y but it just feels out of place for this set, and I feel like it suffers from issues with playstyle relevancy, if anything I would expect Cuphead to get some kind low power coverage option here, especially with Up Smash being a more fun power option. Forward Smash has a wonderfully classic and cartoon-y animation to go with something I wanted throughout this set: At least one Smash Attack that would work with the different Neutral Special effects. Most of these effects are good and, frankly, I wish we got more interactions like this with Down Smash instead of what we have. My favorite effects here are Roundabout, Spreadshot and Chaser/Charge. I'm a solid fan of Forward Smash.
Forward Throw is pretty cool, adding around light knockable objects continues with the Up Smash theme of extra parry-able objects, especially since being able to knock them around (unlike all the other Parry stuff) adds an additional dimension to it as well, I assume that opponents can hit them but this isn't specifically stated (it should be: It isn't a HUGE deal, but it doesn't hurt at all). Up Throw has a fun animation, is a very standard throw. Down Throw is a pretty good example of a DI-based 50/50 and I think possibly the only example we have of a good "cartoon brawl" move, and naturally that aesthetic finds a perfect home with Cuphead. I like that it is more of a, say, 40/20/40: Foes can take a 100% punish by not DIing at all, albeit in a lesser way, not to mention that Cuphead has some need to read what he can and cannot punish here, this is actually one of my favorite moves here I think. Back Throw feels like it would be useful to start some various NSpec Super Cards stuff right after, which might be worth pointing out more, although it is easy enough to infer on your own.
Overall, Cuphead was a very enjoyable read, and I find myself with few complaints with it: The Down Smash and Down Tilt are two primary moves I do not enjoy a lot, and the Standards are perhaps a bit on the more bland side, but overall this set has a lot of positives, a good amount of versatile bullet hell packed into a single Neutral Special, the Cupdash adding a lot of depth to Cuphead's melee (which is part of what helps said Standards), a very enjoyable Grab Game (mostly Forward Throw and Down Throw) plus I like the Up Smash and Forward Smash and some really good aerials (only Down Aerial was close to meh: Down Inputs appear to be this moveset's Devil). It isn't reaching Doomfist levels, but it is another strong showing, and is making quite a strong contest when put alongside Doomfist and DeGret (More Ds! Next up The Devil??). Keep up the excellent work, Muno!
I really hope Cuphead gets ported to the Switch. I dare say, that game looks very challenging, but in a good way.
Anyhow, I've finally finished mine moveset of Copen Kamizono. Before reading the moveset, I would recommend watching the included video, just to get a feel of how he moves. I would benefit more from critical feedback, but I suppose positive feedback is welcome as well.
Copen is a playable character in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, and is Gunvolt's rival. He is a teen scientist whom harbours a deep hatred for Adepts, and makes it his goal to bring about their extinction.
Copen's most dangerous weapon is his genius mind. Though lacking supernatural powers, his technological prowess allows him to outmatch many Adepts. Like Mega Man, he is able to copy the powers of fallen foes.
Copen is roughly as tall as Pit. Among Ganondorf and Villager, Copen is the second-fastest runner. He has the roughly the same jump height as Mega Man, and the same fall speed as Roy. As Copen moves, he leaves behind a trail of dark-pink shadows.
The focus of Copen's playstyle is building up damage as quickly as possible, then moving in for the kill. On the ground, he is sluggish and defensive. But in the air, he is quick and deadly.
Copen has two gimmicks: a Bullit Gauge and Special Gauge. His side special, Bullit Dash, consumes the former, while the rest of his specials consume the latter. The Bullit Gauge can be refilled by using Reload (see specials), while the Special Gauge automatically refills roughly two seconds after a special attack is used.
When his Special Gauge is full, a Flashfield will protect Copen from physical projectiles. However, energy projectiles will go right throught it. Opponents will also be unaffected by the Flashfield. Once a special move is used, the Flashfield will be unoperational until the gauge refills. So Copen has a choice between playing it safe, or biting the Bullit.
1). Specials:
Side Special (Bullit Dash): This move works differently in the air than it does on the ground. If used on the ground, Copen will dash forward a short distance. If used in the air, Copen will fly forward a long distance. The farthest he can fly is roughly half the length of Final Destination, and this distance can be shortened by letting go of the special button. The angle at which he flies can be altered between 45 and -45 degrees. Also, Copen can fly directly off the ground if the control stick is tilted slightly upward.
Using this move to fly will consume a Bullit. However, using this move on the ground will not consume a Bullit. Copen has a total of three Bullits. Without these, he cannot Bullit Dash in the air. If Copen Bullit Dashes then collides with either an opponent, a floor, wall, or ceiling, he will regain the Bullit he consumed. Copen can completely refill his Bullits by repeatedly bouncing off walls or other surfaces.
If Copen Bullit Dashes into an opponent, unless the opponent shields or uses a counter move, they will be "tagged" for roughly four seconds, and Copen will hover for roughly one second. While hovering, Copen can either Bullit Dash again, use an aerial or special attack, or simply land. Tagging an enemy deals 1% damage, and changes the effects of some of Copen's attacks. Think of is as a lock-on mechanic.
Reload: By tapping down on the control stick twice quickly, Copen will reload his Bullits. This move only lasts an instant, but nevertheless leaves Copen vulnerable--so the trick is knowing when to use it.
Note: All the below specials function differently depending on whether or not the opponent is tagged.
Standard Special (Stellar Spark): Copen unleashes a barrage of electricity that damages opponents whilst pushing them backward. This move covers Copen from above, behind, and in front of him. The horizontal range of this move is roughly half the Battlefield stage. This move has high hitstun, dealing 2% damage at roughly the same rate as Falco's laser. When the Special Gauge is full, this move lasts for up to six seconds. Although this move has a long range, it has very low shield pressure. Quick startup.
If an enemy is tagged, this move will instead be a focused attack--which, if the Special Gauge is full, lasts roughly two seconds. The hit rate is roughly the same as Mega Man's up-smash, dealing 1.5% damage per hit. Once again, this move has very low shield pressure. Ergo, it is most effective on airborne targets. Slow startup.
The main purpose of the untagged version is to keep the opponent off-stage, while the main purpose of the tagged version is to bait them into air-dodging.
Up Special (Twintail Bunker): Copen launches himself upward with a pair of drill-shaped hair locks. The distance of Copen's jump is roughly the same as Mega Man's up-special--and like Mega Man, Copen can use this move before his second jump, and can still attack after using this move. If the Special Gauge is full, Copen can use this move up to three times. However, until he touches the ground, only the first use will propell him upward.
Both drills are roughly three times Copen's height. The move lasts for one second, with the hit rate being roughly the same as Meta Knight's jab. The damage is proportional to the distance; the base of the drills deal 6%% damage, the middle 4% damage, and the tips 2% damage. As they take damage, the enemy is pushed slightly downwards--as a result, most opponents will be hit two times. At the very start of the move, the base of the drills can spike enemies.
If the enemy is tagged, then four miniature hair drills will home in on them, dealing 1.5% damage each.
Down Special (Vantage Raid): Copen fires up to five orange rings that travel in a curve; along the ground, then rising into the air. The rings are roughly the same diameter as Pit's bow. Each ring deals 1% damage.
If an enemy is tagged, Copen will fire up to 15 rings at a rapid rate, all of which home in on the enemy. Each ring deals 0.8% damage.
When hit by this move, the opponent will be bound in place for roughly six seconds. However, much like a grab, this time can be shortened by rapidly pressing buttons.
This move doesn't necessarily have to hit the opponent. Instead, it can be used to bait the opponent into air-dodging, after which Copen can follow-up with a Bullit Dash.
2). Jab & Dash:
Jab (Border MK II): A non-flinch attack. Copen fires his laser gun. The fire rate is roughly the same as Fox's laser gun, as well as the same distance. Unlike Fox's laser, the power of which is proportional to the distance, Copen's laser power is constant regardless of distance. Each shot deals 2% damage. Normally, the laser travels in a straight line. If an opponent is tagged, the lasers will instead home-in on the tagged opponent, dealing 3.5% damage each. Ergo, this move can be used both for camping and aggression. Very low shield pressure. Instant startup. WARNING: The homing shots can be reflected and absorbed.
Dash Attack (Shield Bash): A stall-then-dash move. Copen rams the opponent with a large shield. Think of it as a slower, but stronger version of Palutena's dash attack. The shield covers Copen's entire height, and completely nullifies attacks and projectiles. Roughly the same startup as Koopa's up-smash. Travels roughly the same distance as Ike's dash attack. Has very little endlag. This move has two hitboxes, both of which cover the entire shield. The initial hitbox deals 14% damage, while the late hitbox deals 9% damage. At the edge of Final Destination, the initial hitbox is guaranteed to kill at 100%. Best used for reading and punishing.
3). Tilts:
Forward Tilt (Border MK II): Exactly the same as Copen's jab, only he is walking forward whilst shooting.
Upward Tilt (Bullit Upper): Propelled by his jet pack, Copen performs a Shoryuken-style uppercut. If an enemy is hit by this move, he/she will be tagged. Similar to Mega Man's up-tilt, only it is slightly faster and weaker. This move has three hitboxes. The initial hitbox deals 15% damage, the middle hitbox deals 10%, and the late hitbox deals 6%. On Final Destination, the initial hitbox is guaranteed to kill at 100%. Quick startup. Best used as a surprise attack, as it is punishable when shielded.
Downward Tilt: A get-away-from-me move. Copen balances himself on one hand, performing a powerful push-kick. Deals 10% damage, launching the opponent horizontally. Roughly the same startup and endlag as Ganon's d-tilt.
4). Smashes:
Forward Smash (Greed Snatcher): A three-hit move. Copen fires a large, purplish-back sphere of dark energy. If the attack button is quickly pressed two more times, Copen will fire a total of three shots. The shots are roughly the same size as Lucario's fully charged Aura Sphere when he's at 0%, and travel slightly slower. Each shot deals 8.5% damage, knocking the opponent slightly backwards. This move has high hitstun; so if the first shot hits, the other two are guaranteed to hit. This move also has high shield pressure, making it a bad move to block. Quick startup, and very low endlag.
If hit by this move, the enemy's special attacks will be temporarily disabled. How long they are disabled depends on the charge. If uncharged, one second. If fully charged, two seconds. Special moves are essentially the core of a character's playstyle. So depending on the situation, this brief deprivation can have disastrous consequences.
This move doesn't necessarily have to hit the opponent. Instead, it can be used to distract or condition the opponent. For instance, if an enemy jumps over this move and towards Copen, then he can scare them into air-dodging. Afterwards, he can punish the dodge with Shield Bash or Lazy Laser. If Copen Bullit Dashes and they dodge, then he can still punish with another Bullit Dash. If the enemy is off-stage, firing this move will force him/her to either ascend or descend. If they descend, Copen can spike them with Impact Reload (see aerials). The possibilities are abundant.
Upward Smash (Lazy Laser): Copen conjures two wormholes above him, firing a large laser through them. Slightly slow startup, but fairly high range. Vertical range is roughly Copen's height, and horizontal range is roughly 2.5 times that distance. The duration of this move is roughly the same as Mega Man's up-smash. The laser deals 12% damage, launching the opponent straight upwards. On Final Destination, this move is guarateed to Star-KO at 100% damage. The main purpose of this move is to punish air-dodges, or shark someone on an above platform. Otherwise, landing this move requires accurate reads.
Try to imagine the below image, only the laser is above Copen.
Downward Smash (Doppler Destroyer): Copen summons two pink copies of himself. The copies appear in the air, then perform an Impact Reload (see aerials) on either side of him. Meanwhile, Copen himself reloads. Deals 14% damage, launching the opponent 45/135 degrees. Roughly the same startup as Ike's forward smash. Endlag is the same duration as Reload. The main purpose of this move is to spike off-stage opponents, or finish off the opponent after breaking his/her shield. Otherwise, landing this move requires accurate reads. The copies also act as shields, protecting Copen from attacks.
5). Aerials:
Neutral Aerial (Border MK II): Exactly the same as Copen's jab, only he is airborne whilst shooting. This move is stronger in the air than it is on the ground. In the air, normal shots will deal 2.5% damage instead of 2%. If an opponent is tagged, homing shots will deal 4% damage instead of 3.5%.
Forward Aerial (Hailstorm Blade): Copen summons a large pair of triangular ice blades that slice in a half-circle. Normally, the blades deal 12.5% damage. On a tagged enemy, the blades will deal 14.5%, and have higher knockback. The angle at which the enemy is launched depends on the angle at which they were hit. If the enemy is directly in front of Copen, he/she will be launched at zero degrees. If the enemy is below Copen, he/she will be launched at -45 degrees--and vice versa. Quick startup. This move has no ending lag; however, there is a short interval in which it can't be used again. This move's main purpose is for killing opponents off-stage. At the edge of Final Destination, a tagged enemy is guaranteed to be KO'ed at 100%. For an un-tagged enemy, 130%.
Backward Aerial: Similar to ZSS, Copen hook-kicks behind him, leaving a hot-pink trail. This move deals 13% damage, launching the opponent at a slight rising diagonal angle. If the opponent is tagged, this move deals 15% damage, and higher knockback. At the edge of Final Destination, a tagged enemy is guaranteed to be KO'ed at 90%. For an untagged enemy, 120%. Slightly slow startup. This move's main purpose is for punishing air-dodges. For instance, if Copen Bullit Dashes toward the opponent and they dodge, Copen can stop right behind them, then back-air.
Upward Aerial: Similar to ZSS, Copen kicks above him in an arc, creating a hot-pink crescent moon. The hitbox covers in front, above, and behind him. This move deals 9.5% damage, knocking the opponent upwards. If the opponent is tagged, this move deals 11.5% damage, and has higher knockback. This move's main purpose is for Star KO'ing opponents near the top of the screen. Depending on how high up, this move can kill a tagged enemy as early as 90%. For an untagged enemy, 120%.
Downward Aerial (Impact Reload): Copen plunges straight downward, feet first. Falls roughly as fast as Koopa's down-air. When he hits the ground, he will reload his Bullits. This move can be cancelled mid-fall by using a Bullit Dash, making it useful for off-stage KO's. Whilst falling, this move deals 12% damage, spiking the opponent. When landing, it deals 4.5% damage, launching the opponent 45 degrees. Depending on Copen's altitude, if the opponent is spiked into the ground, then the landing hit is guaranteed to connect. If Copen is too high, the opponent can roll away before he lands. At the centre of Final Destination, the landing hit is guaranteed to kill at 100%. This move has very high shield pressure, making it bad to block. Instant startup, but because of reload, high ending lag. This move doesn't always have to be used as an attack. Instead, it can safely get Copen to the ground if he runs out of Bullits.
6). Grab & Throws:
Grab: Copen grabs the opponent with his free hand. Slightly slow and hard to land, but very rewarding.
Pummel: Copen bashes the opponent with his pistol. Roughly the same hit rate as Bayonetta's pummel, but with one hit. Deals 1.5% damage.
Forward Throw: Using his jetback, Copen back-flips, kicking the opponent forward. Deals 8% damage. Afterwards, the enemy will be tagged.
Backward Throw: Copen tags the opponent, throws them behind him, then fires a barrage of homing shots at them. The shots deal 7% damage, while the throw deals 4% damage. Similar to Falco's back-throw, except with homing lasers. Afterwards, the opponent will be tagged.
Upward Throw: Copen tags the opponent, throws them upward, then fires a barrage of homing shots at them. The shots deal 5% damage, while the throw also deals 5% damage. Similar to Falco's up-throw, except with homing lasers. Depending on the enemy's damage and weight, Copen can then follow-up with Twintail Bunker, followed by an aerial.
Downward Throw: Copen tags the opponent, slams them into the ground, then fires down on them. The shots deal 5% damage, while the throw deals 4% damage. Similar to Falco's down-throw, but more brutal. Afterwards, Copen can follow-up with a grounded Bullit Dash.
7). Final Smash (Shred Strom):
Copen's battle bot, Lola, scatters across the screen. Turning into razor-sharp blades, Lola's bits fly across the screen at blinding speed, drawing the Kanji letter 爪 ("Claw") in hot pink. In that instant, every opponent is dealt 29% damage. The angle at which they are launched depends on where they are on the screen. Unless their damage is 0%, this move is guaranteed to kill.
8). Author's Notes:
• In Azure Striker Gunvolt 1&2, Greed Snatcher (aka Power Grab) is a move used by two bosses: Carrera and Copen. The latter had copied the power after the former was killed by Gunvolt. It has the ability to rob Gunvolt and other Adepts of their Septima. I decided to incorporate this in Copen's moveset, since it would have a unique function.
• Originally, Copen's throws were kill moves, but I wanted the focus of his playstyle to be his deadly air game.
Hey everyone say hello to your new sub-forum and sticky! Thanks to mods and specifically @Irene and @NonSpecificGuy for their help.
I was going to save it for a batch, but here's a comment I've been working on the last few days.
Cuphead I'll say straight up I did not like as much as some others. The neutral special is a solid all-inclusive weapon select, I don’t even mind the RNG mechanics behind it although it seems oddly imbalanced to passively shoot 3% damage a second projectiles, especially when in the game you have to hold fire. When you look at the animations in these moves too, it's really awkward imagining him firing his projectile from his finger at the same time for a lot of them. The specials are strangely not referenced much if at all later on. I’d have thought you’d lay out the way he works into the projectiles at least but there’s no mention of them. Aerials have a few decent moves (nair, fair, bair) and I like the tangent of dash attack (though the 1.3 platform of dashing is imba). I was not a fan of the very simplistic jab. I guess it's okay but he's kind of in need of some straightforward moves as I'll get to later. Ftilt and dtilt are fairly bizarre animations, ftilt for using the straw as a weapon and dtilt in general is a very awkward standard. Pardon the pun but moves like dtilt, dsmash and ftilt feel like they’re grasping at straws as the set has weak sense of playstyle. He's making constructs, a pushing puddle, using the straw like a sword all of a sudden? Then when you stand back and think about it I can't help but feel this set isn't very coherent.
Up to the smashes I was still mostly on board with the set as it had some okay standards, a good neutral special, the dair and uair are a bit awkward but nothing majorly bad. However I feel like all the smashes and throws have issues. The fsmash’s effects don't have much substance, these effects are obtuse and make the whole projectile selection from neutral special feel clunky by extension, they're largely inconsequential and don't give the over the top satisfying effect you'd want on this flashy interaction. The down smash is just very odd and along with the up smash make for an awkwardly slow situational set of smashes. I also really don’t like that up smash has no listed range and none of the moves have any KO percents, or even point to a comparable knockback, it just seems lazy. After thinking on it I honestly don’t like the idea of creating construct on forward throw as I don’t see how it really adds anything to his playstyle and his set is not designed to bat around a construct regardless. For constructs like that you want a nice straightforward set of smashes to put some power into the “kick” and look at Cuphead’s smashes. The best he has is a very slow telegraphed fsmash, and his standards are also all awkward for that. It's too clunky to take full advantage of the dice.
I don't get the hype for the down throw at all, it comes down to a rudimentary “choose left or right" mindgame. It would probably have very little impact on the match compared to a simpler dthrow. Back throw is an odd choice of throw for that input given bthrow tends to be a KO throw, next to the ledge it would just be a waste to grab with your back to the ledge as a result if you want to KO earlier. Up throw is the best throw but while it lists a KO percent it’s actively hurt by the one move that might combo, up smash, not having any listed range so I’m not sure how that works. Overall I ended up disliking both the grab game and smashes. The grab game emphasizes a lot of problems I found throughout the set where it just didn't seem as if you were paying attention to the full picture of the character and overall the set feels a bit sloppy. In the context of why the set was made it's acceptable. Personally I prefer Iris and her playstyle to this set, it's not bad but it needs to address a few obvious problems before I'd consider voting it above WV.
Finally finished mine Dante moveset. Overall was much easier to write than Copen's. I tried mine absolute best to capture the Devil May Cry formula in this moveset. Sadly, though, I've never actually played a DMC game, so there might be some inaccuracies.
Dante is all about offense. Like Bayonetta (before patch 1.1.6), he is a very combo-oriented fighter. However, whereas Bayonetta's combo game is focused on punishes, Dante's is focused on approaches.
Dante is roughly the same height as Ike, but since he stands erect, appears taller. Like Shulk, he always has his sword hung over his back, and only holds it when attacking. He has roughly the same jump height as Ike, and the same fall speed as Roy. He also has roughly the same running speed as Ike.
Dante's main weakness is his predictable recovery and overall lack of defense. While he can dispatch of enemies rather quickly, he himself can be killed early if the player is careless. Thus, the trick is knowing when to move in.
1). Specials:
Down Special (Devil Trigger): Dante takes on his true form, releasing his full demonic power. In this form, his abilities are amplified. The damage of his attacks are multiplied by 1.5%, and moves that would normally kill at 100% will kill at 80%. Near his damage percent are three runes. Dante will revert back to normal once all three runes empty, but the move can be cancelled sooner than that. This move can ONLY be activated when all three runes are full, so plan carefully. This move can also be activated at ANY time, even while Dante is attacking. By default, each rune takes roughly eight seconds to automatically refill, but taking damage will refill them faster. This power-up only lasts up to three seconds, but the trick is knowing when to use it.
Standard Special (Handguns): A chargable move. Dante fires his signature guns, Ivory & Ebony. Hold the special button to charge, and/or press the special button rapidly to fire. Very similar to Bayonetta's Bullet Climax, only the bullets fly at zero degrees, and the charge can be held. Also, it has a slightly faster startup. Like Palutena's Auto Reticle, Dante will automatically lock onto the nearest opponent. While shooting, Dante can step forward and backward, or even jump, making this move great for follow-ups. For instance, if the enemy is close enough, Dante can start shooting, and while they are stunned by the bullets, move in for a grab. The bullets can be easily DI'd out of, though, so move in quickly. Overall an all-purpose projectile to either keep the enemy at bay, or stun them long enough to move in for the kill. Normal shots deal 1.92% damage, charged shots deal 3% damage.
I considered giving Dante's dual guns a reload mechanic, to prevent abuse. But since that didn't happen in his games, I chose a different approach. Instead, I made the bullets easy to DI out of.
Side Special (Stinger/Full House): This move works differently in the air than it does on the ground. On the ground, Dante will rush forward, skewering the first opponent he collides with. By default, this move travels roughly the same distance and speed as Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick, but if the enemy is closer, will end once the blow connects. Also, this move can be cancelled by letting go of the special button. Similar to Ryu's Focus Punch, this move briefly stuns the opponent, leaving them open for a follow-up attack. Like Bayonetta's Heel Slide, Dante's Stinger has the potential for deadly combos. As a result, any experienced player will be wary of this move. So don't use it predictably, as it is punishable upon shield. Quick startup, and deals 9.5% damage.
If used in the air, Dante will fly in a straight line, sword thrusted forward. In the air, this move travels roughly as fast and far as Ike's uncharged Quick Draw, and has a quick startup. Unlike on the ground, Dante will slice right through the opponent. Similar to Bayonetta's Afterburner Kick, Dante can use Stinger twice in the air, either to combo an opponent or recover from off-stage. This move never induces helpless frames, allowing Dante to either double jump afterwards or use his up-special. Deals 6.5% damage.
Last but not least, if the opponent inputs the "Hadoken command" for this move, Dante will perform a diving kick at -45 degrees. Unlike Bayonetta's diving kick, Dante's diving kick will spike the opponent. Roughly the same startup as Captain Falcon's downward Falcon Kick. This move can be used for recovery as well, or to simply get out of the air. Deals 10.25% damage.
Up Special (Flush): Dante leaps into the air at blinding speed. Much faster than his regular or double jump, but slightly lower distance. The angle of this jump can be altered between 45 & 135 degrees. This move has no offensive properties; however, its uses range beyond mere recovery. Like Bayonetta, Dante can use his recovery twice in the air, and can still attack after doing so. So he has the choice whether to pursue an enemy, or put some distance between the enemy and himself. Instant startup.
2). Jab & Dash:
Jab 1: Dante brings down his sword in a swift two-handed blow. Covers Dante from above and in front. Deals 2.5% damage. Jab 2: Dante follows up with a rising diagonal slash. Covers Dante from in front. Deals 2.5% damage. Jab 3: Dante finishes with another descending two-handed blow that sends the enemy away. Roughly the same knockback as Ike's Jab 3. Deals 5% damage.
Dash Attack (Force Edge): A six-hit move. Dante rushes forward, slashing his sword wildly. The first five hits deal 3% damage each, with the final hit dealing 4% damage. A total of 19% damage. Quick startup. Has roughly the same knockback as Corrin's f-air. This move travels roughly the same distance as Ike's dash attack.
I considered making this move Kick 13, but in the end wanted to avoid Ifrit/Gilgamesh-based attacks as much as possible. So I borrowed some moves from his brother, Vergil.
3). Tilts:
Forward Tilt (Million Stab): A looping attack. Dante deals a flurry of lightning fast thrusts with his sword. He will keep doing so as long as the attack button is held. When the player lets go of the attack button, Dante will finish with a powerful thrust that sends the enemy flying at roughly 10 degrees. At the same time, he says, "Breakdown!" Roughly the same hit rate as Captain Falcon's rapid jab, each hit dealing 1%, the final hit dealing 2%. Quick startup. Like Ike's f-tilt, the angle of this move can be altered.
This was originally Dante's rapid jab, but that's not how it works in Devil May Cry. In DMC, Dante can use this move immediately. Thus, to reflect upon his games, I decided to make it into his f-tilt instead.
Upward Tilt (Prop): A 5-hit move. Dante twirls his sword like a windmill, repeatedly damaging the opponent. Roughly the same hit rate as Pit's neutral air. The hitbox covers in front and above Dante, effectively creating a wall of hurt. Like Pit's neutral air, the cleaner the hit, the harder this move will be to DI out of. The last hit will send the opponent flying upward at 70 degrees.
Aside from dealing damage, this move can also be used to condition the opponent. For instance, when used near the ledge, any enemy off-stage will be forced to either go over Dante or immediately snap onto the ledge. Quick startup. The first four hits deal 0.9% damage, and the final hit deals 5% damage. A total of 8.6%
I considered making this a looping attack, but in the end thought that would be overpowered.
Downward Tilt: Dante fires along the ground with one gun. The bullet pushes the opponent backward, putting space between them and Dante. Covers roughly the same distance as Mewtwo's d-tilt. Instant startup. Has roughly the same endlag as Marth's d-tilt. Deals 7% damage.
4). Smashes:
Forward Smash (Dance Macabre): Dante grips his sword with both hands, holding it like a bat, then strikes home. The hitbox of this move is the length of Dante's sword, covering him from his waist to slightly above his head. Smaller enemies like Kirby can duck under this move. This move comes out roughly as fast as Meta Knight's f-smash, and has roughly the same endlag. Deals 18% damage. At the centre of Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to kill a middleweight at 100%.
Upward Smash (High Time): Dante deals a rising two-handed slash that sends the opponent flying straight upwards. If the player holds the jump button during this move, Dante will immediately leap after the opponent, after which he can follow up with an aerial combo. Otherwise, Dante will stay on the ground, after which he can follow up with Handguns. Quick startup. Deals 15% damage. On Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to Star-KO a middleweight at 100%.
Downward Smash (Axe Kick): Dante raises his foot above his head, then brings his heel down onto the opponent. This move covers Dante's entire front, and has two hitboxes. The first hitbox knocks the opponent slightly downward, with the second sending them flying. The main purpose of this move is to spike someone whose either off-stage, or on the ledge with no invincibility frames. If the enemy is on-stage, they will instead be launched at 45 degrees. Overall very similar to Captain Falcon's up-tilt, only the charge allows for better timing. Deals 12% damage. At the centre of Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to kill a middleweight at 120%.
5). Aerials:
Neutral Aerial (Aerial Rave): With blinding speed, Dante backflips several times, slicing any nearby opponent whilst pushing them away. This move completely covers Dante in a full circle. It has a very brief duration, but is fairly powerful for a neutral air. The main purpose of this move is to escape rushdown, but it can also be used to edge guard or sucker-punch someone directly above you. Instant startup, and almost no endlag. Deals 11% damage.
Forward Aerial: A three-hit move. Dante deals a lightning-fast downward slash. If the attack button is pressed two more times, he will follow up with a rising slash, and finally a two handed vertical slash that knocks the opponent at a -15 degree dangle. The first hit deals 4% damage, the second hit 3.2 damage, and the last hit 7% damage. A total of 14.2%. Quick startup. Inspired by Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.
Backward Aerial (Shotgun): A ranged move. Dante fires his signature shotgun behind him, under his arm. Covers roughly the same distance as Robin's uncharged Thunder. This move's damage and knockback is proportional to the distance. Up close, deals 15% damage and kills middleweights off-stage at 100%. Midway, deals 9% and pushes the opponent slightly backward. Far away, this move deals 4%, not even making the opponent flinch. Quick startup.
Upward Aerial (Roulette Spin): Dante spins on his side, slashing any nearby opponent whilst sending them upward. This move covers Dante's entire body in a full circle, from his feet all the way to a sword's reach above his head. The most powerful hitbox is above him, with the weaker ones being at his sides. The main purpose of this move is to either juggle an opponent, or finish them off in the air. Quick startup. Deals 12% damage. On Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to kill an airborne middleweight at 100%.
Downward Aerial (Helm Breaker): A stall-then-fall move. Dante plunges downward, slicing as he goes. Very similar to Bayonetta's down-air, only the spike hit box covers Dante's entire sword. As a price, however, Dante falls faster than Bayonetta, making this move harder to recover with. The descending hitbox deals 10%, while the landing hitbox deals 7%. At the centre of Final Destination, the landing hitbox is guaranteed to kill a middleweight at 100%.
6). Grab & Throws:
Grab: Dante grips the opponent with both hands. Roughly the same range as Ike's grab. Very quick startup, and almost no endlag. Bluntly put, this move's purpose is to get around a counter-happy opponent.
Pummel: Dante headbutts the opponent. Roughly as fast as Ike's pummel. Deals 3% damage.
Forward Throw (Rainbow): Dante leaps into the air, then kicks the opponent away with both feet, landing on his chest. The opponent is sent flying at 25 degrees. The main purpose of this move is to get the get the enemy off the stage, setting them up for an edgeguard. Deals 8% damage. At the edge of Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to kill a middleweight at 100%.
This move was originally a typical sword strike, but I decided to incorporate Nero's Rainbow kick, since I thought it would suit Dante's personality.
Backward Throw: A 5-hit move. Dante somersaults over the opponent whilst raining gunfire on them. The last shot is a charged shot that sends the opponent flying at 35 degrees. Like most back-throws, this main purpose of this move is to get the enemy away from you. The first four shots deal 1.5% damage, the final shot deals 5% damage. A total of 11%. Inspired by Marvel vs Capcom 3.
Upward Throw: Dante sweeps his sword upward, sending the opponent flying at 80 degrees. Roughly the same knockback as Ike's up-air. The main purpose of this move is to get the enemy in the air, so it is very useful for juggling characters whom have slow aerials. However, there are no guaranteed follow-ups. Deals 9% damage.
Downward Throw (Rainstorm): A 10-hit move. Dante slams the opponent to the ground, leaps in the air, then fires down on them whilst spinning. At the end of the move, the opponent flies upward a short distance. Dante can then follow up with a jab, f-tilt, or u-tilt. Each shot deals 0.7% damage. A total of 7%.
I immediately came up with this move while watching Devil May Cry 3, but I picked up some traits of this move from Marvel vs Capcom 3.
7). Final Smash (Jackpot): A 25-hit move. Dante unleashes a barrage of demonic-charged gunfire. At the end of the barrage, he fires two shots that rotate around each other. At the same time, he says, "Jackpot!" The first 24 shots pull the enemy in, while the final shot sends them flying. The final shot travels roughly as far as Ryu's Shinku Hadoken, with the initial shots travelling half that distance. At the centre of Final Destination, this move is guaranteed to kill a middleweight at 50%. Each shot deals 1.5% damage, with the final shot dealing 5% damage. A total of 41%. This move will be even more powerful if Devil Trigger is activated.
8). Author's Notes:
• I considered incorporating Dante's many other weapons like the dual blades and the guitar, but I wanted the main focus of Dante's moveset to be his traditional dual guns and broad sword. Sakurai could have incorporated Bayonetta's many weapons, but instead focused on her four guns. Ergo, I figured using Dante's other weapons would be like giving Cloud magick; it would drag attention away from his signature weapon, and what makes him stand out.
• I considered making Quick Silver into Dante's down-special, but in the end thought it was way too similar to Bayonetta's Witch Time. Plus, defense kind of goes against his style. So I stuck with Devil Trigger, since it's a signature skill of Dante's.
• The Shotgun was originally Dante's f-smash, but in the end I changed it to Dance Macabre, (1) because I wanted the attack to involve his sword, and (2) I thought it would reflect Dante's boisterous personality. Since I wanted his back-air to be a kill move, I decided to move the Shotgun there instead.
Hey Altais
, great to see you post the two sets finally, I've been waiting for this.
First up is Copen and this is all new to me, I've only seen the bosses of Gunvolt. This set has the right idea in terms of the structure of the set (besides the grab game) as you have a clear knowledge of all of Copen's moves and have correctly put them on the inputs they most make sense. The balance isn't too bad either besides in a couple of instances. There's a 6 second stun on the down special that's very awkward, as even if you can mash out that's going to be extremely jarring for the foe and unfun. You mention "instant" or no lag on some moves which doesn't quite make sense either. Those are big exceptions though, as I do get the feeling you put a lot of care into the set's overall balance, you just didn't have the knowledge of most people here.
My main issues with this set are very blatant. I don't like the mirrored/copied inputs on ftilt/nair. MegaMan's jab, ftilt and nair all have slightly different properties and aren't completely cloned from one another. For example MegaMan has a unique "muzzle" sweetspot on his nair that isn't present on his jab or ftilt. So these feel like wasted moves. The other big issue for me is the grab game is largely copied from Falco. I don't mind if you take a large amount of inspiration from Falco, but these are basically the exact same moves only with slightly different animations and damage percents. It's the same problem as those mirrored inputs where I feel as if you've basically missed out on these moves, and the grab game in general is pretty lacklustre. The last big issue that is easy to address but currently makes the set really awkward is how the fsmash disables specials. I know it's only for a second but there's no given visual for it, it's very tacky on a lot of characters and it would simply be annoying for all involved. If you're going to do an effect like this, you make it for a function such as shield and make a big flashy status effect visual to make sure the foe knows so it's intuitive, then you could work it into a shield game, something like that.
I also was not a big fan of having two mechanics entirely based around the specials and then a reload system based on one of these two. It felt like instead of the tag system being the core of the set, it should've instead been a system that played on his ammo bank. Something like, he could shoot out his bullits, or use them in some way to enhance his moves, then work into some minor camping or keepaway as he reloads. Tagging may be important in his game but I never got a strong sense of playstyle out of its use. It also seems a bit arbitrary to have two meters for such simplistic mechanics. I know that's all a lot to process and I complained quite a bit, but I'm glad you posted this anyway and definitely appreciate the effort you put in here.
Dante is in my opinion a much better set than Copen with only a few core issues, mostly in the way the set flows. There are some pretty big typos that you need to fix – for Devil Trigger it says Dante will deal “times 1.5%” damage which is an obvious error, and you might want to instead just compare it to something like Shulk’s Buster/Smash modes, as the numbers you give are kind of overpowered and it’s better to base things on existing Smash mechanics. This set has the same problem as Copen in listing “instant lag”, lag is always going to be at fastest 1 frame, and that is very rare. Just stop at saying fast and call it a day. There's also a typo that says the "opponent" does a hadoken in the up special which just needs to be ctrl+f'd out. These aren’t particularly big errors and if you edited them out, would only take a few minutes I bet.
The set as a whole is a lot stronger than Copen for me because you have a much clearer idea of what you want Dante to be. As the only real remaining fan of Devil May Cry in Make Your Move (it used to be super popular before the series died) I can appreciate the choices you made for all of the moves in the set. You have a clean set of sword moves for most of the set that all make logical sense, I really like the choices of down aerial and back aerial especially, and the grab game is so much better than Copen’s. Both sets are lacking in detail but at least you do have tons of images so that the set’s never confusing, all the input placement and choices are sound. The one nitpick I might give the set is that I’m not sure I like using Vergil and Nero’s moves. On a case by case basis, the Vergil moves don’t really seem like a good fit as they’re a bit too agile or straightforward, while Nero’s are more along the lines of the cocky showboating Dante you’re trying to present. It’s not a big problem, I’m not sure if it’s necessary is all. I do appreciate you didn’t bring in the more tacky over-the-top props.
The other, major issue in this set for me is how underutilized Devil Trigger is and the set lacks a strong playstyle focus. I guess you could say he’s a bit of a combo-centric character but compared to Bayonetta who has a clear playstyle of punishing and riding the foe to the top blast zone on her specials, Dante feels weaker. The Devil Trigger seems like a perfect opportunity to make him into another Shulk playstyle-wise but it’s just stated to be a generic buff and left at that. I almost wish you did bring out the big guns like the DMC4 weapons, you know the ones, that way you could have had more creative moves in here. I can respect why you didn’t but for this approach you should’ve used the Devil Trigger more instead. Nonetheless this was a solid improvement on Copen and I’m glad to have read both these sets, good job Altais.
An important announcement: Munomario777 joins leadership!
Effective today, Munomario777 will be replacing JOE! as a member of leadership, a just reward for his strong activity and stronger set quality this contest, not to mention his active and pleasant chat presence and JOE! going through some real life issues. Lets all wish him luck for the rest of MYM20 and beyond!
Hey Altais
, great to see you post the two sets finally, I've been waiting for this.
First up is Copen and this is all new to me, I've only seen the bosses of Gunvolt. This set has the right idea in terms of the structure of the set (besides the grab game) as you have a clear knowledge of all of Copen's moves and have correctly put them on the inputs they most make sense. The balance isn't too bad either besides in a couple of instances. There's a 6 second stun on the down special that's very awkward, as even if you can mash out that's going to be extremely jarring for the foe and unfun. You mention "instant" or no lag on some moves which doesn't quite make sense either. Those are big exceptions though, as I do get the feeling you put a lot of care into the set's overall balance, you just didn't have the knowledge of most people here.
My main issues with this set are very blatant. I don't like the mirrored/copied inputs on ftilt/nair. MegaMan's jab, ftilt and nair all have slightly different properties and aren't completely cloned from one another. For example MegaMan has a unique "muzzle" sweetspot on his nair that isn't present on his jab or ftilt. So these feel like wasted moves. The other big issue for me is the grab game is largely copied from Falco. I don't mind if you take a large amount of inspiration from Falco, but these are basically the exact same moves only with slightly different animations and damage percents. It's the same problem as those mirrored inputs where I feel as if you've basically missed out on these moves, and the grab game in general is pretty lacklustre. The last big issue that is easy to address but currently makes the set really awkward is how the fsmash disables specials. I know it's only for a second but there's no given visual for it, it's very tacky on a lot of characters and it would simply be annoying for all involved. If you're going to do an effect like this, you make it for a function such as shield and make a big flashy status effect visual to make sure the foe knows so it's intuitive, then you could work it into a shield game, something like that.
I also was not a big fan of having two mechanics entirely based around the specials and then a reload system based on one of these two. It felt like instead of the tag system being the core of the set, it should've instead been a system that played on his ammo bank. Something like, he could shoot out his bullits, or use them in some way to enhance his moves, then work into some minor camping or keepaway as he reloads. Tagging may be important in his game but I never got a strong sense of playstyle out of its use. It also seems a bit arbitrary to have two meters for such simplistic mechanics. I know that's all a lot to process and I complained quite a bit, but I'm glad you posted this anyway and definitely appreciate the effort you put in here.
Dante is in my opinion a much better set than Copen with only a few core issues, mostly in the way the set flows. There are some pretty big typos that you need to fix – for Devil Trigger it says Dante will deal “times 1.5%” damage which is an obvious error, and you might want to instead just compare it to something like Shulk’s Buster/Smash modes, as the numbers you give are kind of overpowered and it’s better to base things on existing Smash mechanics. This set has the same problem as Copen in listing “instant lag”, lag is always going to be at fastest 1 frame, and that is very rare. Just stop at saying fast and call it a day. There's also a typo that says the "opponent" does a hadoken in the up special which just needs to be ctrl+f'd out. These aren’t particularly big errors and if you edited them out, would only take a few minutes I bet.
The set as a whole is a lot stronger than Copen for me because you have a much clearer idea of what you want Dante to be. As the only real remaining fan of Devil May Cry in Make Your Move (it used to be super popular before the series died) I can appreciate the choices you made for all of the moves in the set. You have a clean set of sword moves for most of the set that all make logical sense, I really like the choices of down aerial and back aerial especially, and the grab game is so much better than Copen’s. Both sets are lacking in detail but at least you do have tons of images so that the set’s never confusing, all the input placement and choices are sound. The one nitpick I might give the set is that I’m not sure I like using Vergil and Nero’s moves. On a case by case basis, the Vergil moves don’t really seem like a good fit as they’re a bit too agile or straightforward, while Nero’s are more along the lines of the cocky showboating Dante you’re trying to present. It’s not a big problem, I’m not sure if it’s necessary is all. I do appreciate you didn’t bring in the more tacky over-the-top props.
The other, major issue in this set for me is how underutilized Devil Trigger is and the set lacks a strong playstyle focus. I guess you could say he’s a bit of a combo-centric character but compared to Bayonetta who has a clear playstyle of punishing and riding the foe to the top blast zone on her specials, Dante feels weaker. The Devil Trigger seems like a perfect opportunity to make him into another Shulk playstyle-wise but it’s just stated to be a generic buff and left at that. I almost wish you did bring out the big guns like the DMC4 weapons, you know the ones, that way you could have had more creative moves in here. I can respect why you didn’t but for this approach you should’ve used the Devil Trigger more instead. Nonetheless this was a solid improvement on Copen and I’m glad to have read both these sets, good job Altais.
Now that I've thought about it, the 6-second stun on Vantage Raid would probably make things annoying for the opponent. As one of mine game design instructors once said, "If a game is difficult and not in a good way, it's a sign of poor design."
Also, excellent point on the mirrored moves and copied grabs. That said, I'll definitely be tweaking those. For the jab/nair, I might give the barrel of his gun an electrical hitbox that pushes the enemy away. I might also incorporate the "Burst" mechanic from Mighty Gunvolt Burst, in which close-up shots deal increased damage to weakened enemies. Vantage Raid was originally Copen's grab, in which Copen simply bound them with a yellow ring, but for some reason I changed it to his down-special. Maybe not the best of ideas.
As for Greed Snatcher, I might just give that move high shield pressure and leave it at that. Now that I've re-thought it, the special-disabling would probably result in a lot of rage quitting, since frankly, it does allow for some pretty cheap KO's. Also, taking off the special-cancelling would give the opponent freedom to either dodge or take a hit just to stay in the air.
I might just do away with both the Special Gauge and the Flash Field altogether, and make offense and evasion the focus of Copen's playstyle. That's basically what the Gunvolt games are all about: getting the best score without taking a single hit. As for the Bullit Gauge, I don't know if I should keep that or not. In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, both Gunvolt and Copen have an ability called Prevasion. How it works is that they can make attacks slip right through them--but for a price. For Gunvolt, he sacrifices EP. For Copen, he loses a Bullit. That said, I might make Prevasion his down-special.
Looking back, I think I tried way too hard to incorporate Copen's entire arsenal, and as a result ended up with a cluttered toolbox. Cheers for the input; it has given many ideas.
Lastly, excellent point on Devil Trigger. Now that I've re-thought it, it's not all that different from Riki's Happy Happy time. That said, I think I'll expand upon the move, and see if I can make it more than just a generic buff.
So, Dante. First off, Neutral Special is self-contradictory. Does Dante fire straight forward, or does he aim for the nearest foe? The set says both.
Now, on to more serious issues. Between DMC3 and DMC4, Dante has 4 weapons that are consistent between games: His punches and kicks (Beowulf in DMC3 or Gilgamesh in DMC4), his sword (Rebellion in DMC3 or Leviathan in DMC4), his two handguns (Ebony and Ivory), and his shotgun (which is apparently just a shotgun and doesn't have a specific name). There are some strange decisions regarding those to be found here and there, such as the choice to use a move from Vergil as his Dash Attack instead of the similar but more fitting Kick 13, just on the basis of trying to omit his fisticuffs and shotgun from the moveset as much as possible. The other moves borrowed from Nero and Vergil seem odd as well. Down Smash being a random axe kick from his unarmed combo is strange, as there are other moves (such as Shock!/Volcano which appears in both games, or Crazy Dance from DMC3) that would better fill the role of DSmash while also being more notable moves to have appear in the set. Crazy Dance in particular could be made cancellable into dash for some potentially interesting momentum play. The fact that the shotgun only appears on BAir is odd to me, because Fireworks appears in both games (and in MvC3, too) yet is not present in the set at all. That could have been a good choice of NAir, since it hits all around him in the DMC games. (And using Vergil's Aerial Rave as NAir when FAir is based on Dante's own Aerial Rave is just kind of strange to me.) Gun Sting similarly feels like a somewhat odd omission, albeit more understandable seeing as it is just Sting but performed with a shotgun. It could have made for a good FSmash, though, as it could help him to bully foes across the stage with a string of attacks and finish them off at the ledge. Dance Macabre is at least useful as a move that can be thrown out whenever to intimidate foes, since it's Meta Knight's FSmash but with more damage output, more kill power, and a bigger hitbox with more horizontal reach.
(Also, the final hit of Dance Macabre is not really Dance Macabre all by itself. It's the rest of the combo that makes it Dance Macabre, at least if the DMC3 version of the move (which has similar early hits but a completely different ending) is anything to go by. Speaking of, here's a video showing Dante's moveset in DMC3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlmL0xk2Sa0)
And of course, as Smady said, Devil Trigger shouldn't grant such a huge damage multiplier. It should probably instead grant an attack speed increase in addition to a damage multiplier, and some of his attacks should change a bit while Devil Trigger is active (as some do in the source material). If this allows infinites or extending combos longer than normal, that's probably fine, because Devil Trigger is limited to 3 seconds in duration anyway, so any "infinite" isn't going to truly be infinite as it is limited by Devil Trigger's duration.
Actually Good Kamen Rider Set (Kamen Rider Cronus Bionichute
)
The presentation in this set really shows how much you like this character Bionichute, and I am honestly pretty glad to see you making a set for a character you seem to like a lot. I like the use of green coloring and the GIFs are pretty well done, it is one of your prettiest sets to look at, and I do think it would be interesting to see you make characters you're super hyped for more often.
Enough about the fluff, though, lets get to the meat. I am pretty fond of Cronus' core of Specials, and in particular making the Time Stop a damage based ammo bank is pretty brilliant, helping to solve some issues Time Stops have had (stalling or boring gameplay). I was somewhat worried Cronus could loop Time Stops by only using lower end time stops or whatnot at first, but considering the Ganondorf Up Tilt level of starting lag I find this unlikely. I was also impressed by the use of Reset here, I like how it is a kind of KO preventing/reversing kick and it feels like a rare look back at, of all things, Doc Scratch with his clock, but here done infinitely better. The evil Rider Kick is a nice touch.
While I understand why the Ride Players are weak, I do wonder if perhaps it goes too far, especially with how easily they are killed, and while the dichotomy between the Ride Players and the Bugster Viruses is solidly pronounced, it feels perhaps a bit like it is at the base of the minions rather than in the gameplay, although it does have positive effects on Cronus' gameplay overall, so ultimately I don't consider it too bad, but it reminds me of some stuff I felt about Lord Morgan where the minions are so pathetic that they don't necessarily provide much value outside of the base gimmick (rage powering, getting back ammo bank, etc).
Down Smash I enjoyed a good deal and is probably my favorite non-Specials move in the set, but Forward Smash is just...weird and doofy. There's no reason not to just hold the charge the entire time since it changes nothing except being stronger, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, I am guessing this is meant to be a big Time Stop finisher but you were worried it would be a casual kill confirm? Also, it is kind of hilarious it deals 40%-60% but only kills at 90%, like compare this to Ganondorf Warlock Punch or whatnot and this KO percentage seems pretty absurdly off base, not impossible to be in the game but is sure weird.
The standards are where the set starts to lose me in being meh, a lot of the standards are okay like the Jab and Forward Tilt, Up Tilt just seems pretty oddly worded to me, the biggest thing this and the aerials lose me is they start to dip into having redundant and repeating effects on their Time Stop with the trails or splitting, Back Aerial comes to mind and I wasn't a big fan of Up Aerial either, but Forward Aerial is pretty good I thought (and a good reversal of the norm here) and Neutral Aerial is fun. I agree with Muno that perhaps having less copied weapons and more of a unique flair from Cronus himself.
Where the set really dropped off to me was the Grab Game, which reminds me unpleasantly of the older Kamen Rider Double and Kamen Rider Accel albeit on a much less extreme level, but these throws are all very similar to each other with 3 levels of power, but with the way the set describes it there is never a want to do less than the max. I feel like this Grab Game could be actually really good, BUT it would require a lot of elbow grease on your part. What would be cool is if there were reasons for the lower end throws rather than not, and this had some depth, for example the Up Throw could serve as either a combo tool with one hit, a launcher to cover landings with another (or sometimes go for a 50/50 aerial) hit and a kill move with three. Forward Throw could be similar but for ground combos, a good range to launch projectiles (Forward Tilt? Down Smash) or a more kill/reset move, some of them could have mid-hits with a status effect or whatnot and so on. This grab game could be really cool, but right now it drags the set down a fairly good amount, leaving it to more of a munane, WV level 6 star, albeit one that I was still enjoying reading a good deal, and one I think other people might like more than me.
Compared to both Iris and Hee-Mo, I do not have as much to say about Doc To, a Splatoon OC from resident real life inkling Munomario. Jeff is a fairly solid foundation with his ability to either essentially turn into Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey or be an Orcane puddle from Rivals of Aether, which is a pretty solid combination, creating essentially a jumping platform with the ability to cancel some landing lag is a solid idea. This is a solid basis that provides enough depth for Doc To to be an okay set, but this set really doesn't feel like it has the appropriate amount of depth to it to make it a noteworthy good set, the grab game felt particularly let down and the aerials are a letdown considering how much the Cappy mechanic is gonna be a core to this set.
The smashes were fairly fun, but that's about it, the Forward Tilt is a bit unclear on the cooldown of the special jab on it. Jab is okay. There really isn't a lot to say and while the Specials give enough depth and the Smashes are fun this set doesn't really provide the gameplay potential of Iris in my opinion, although it has less balance concerns than Hee Mo so it gets a light nod over that set, I really think that expanding the Cappy mechanic to a full set would be fun, it is disappointing there isn't more interaction with the Orcane puddle too, even just adding extra power/range to some stuff like Orcane does, it is a pretty meh set but has ideas that could be used in the future, hard to talk about for some moves really.
So, Dante. First off, Neutral Special is self-contradictory. Does Dante fire straight forward, or does he aim for the nearest foe? The set says both.
Now, on to more serious issues. Between DMC3 and DMC4, Dante has 4 weapons that are consistent between games: His punches and kicks (Beowulf in DMC3 or Gilgamesh in DMC4), his sword (Rebellion in DMC3 or Leviathan in DMC4), his two handguns (Ebony and Ivory), and his shotgun (which is apparently just a shotgun and doesn't have a specific name). There are some strange decisions regarding those to be found here and there, such as the choice to use a move from Vergil as his Dash Attack instead of the similar but more fitting Kick 13, just on the basis of trying to omit his fisticuffs and shotgun from the moveset as much as possible. The other moves borrowed from Nero and Vergil seem odd as well. Down Smash being a random axe kick from his unarmed combo is strange, as there are other moves (such as Shock!/Volcano which appears in both games, or Crazy Dance from DMC3) that would better fill the role of DSmash while also being more notable moves to have appear in the set. Crazy Dance in particular could be made cancellable into dash for some potentially interesting momentum play. The fact that the shotgun only appears on BAir is odd to me, because Fireworks appears in both games (and in MvC3, too) yet is not present in the set at all. That could have been a good choice of NAir, since it hits all around him in the DMC games. (And using Vergil's Aerial Rave as NAir when FAir is based on Dante's own Aerial Rave is just kind of strange to me.) Gun Sting similarly feels like a somewhat odd omission, albeit more understandable seeing as it is just Sting but performed with a shotgun. It could have made for a good FSmash, though, as it could help him to bully foes across the stage with a string of attacks and finish them off at the ledge. Dance Macabre is at least useful as a move that can be thrown out whenever to intimidate foes, since it's Meta Knight's FSmash but with more damage output, more kill power, and a bigger hitbox with more horizontal reach.
(Also, the final hit of Dance Macabre is not really Dance Macabre all by itself. It's the rest of the combo that makes it Dance Macabre, at least if the DMC3 version of the move (which has similar early hits but a completely different ending) is anything to go by. Speaking of, here's a video showing Dante's moveset in DMC3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlmL0xk2Sa0)
And of course, as Smady said, Devil Trigger shouldn't grant such a huge damage multiplier. It should probably instead grant an attack speed increase in addition to a damage multiplier, and some of his attacks should change a bit while Devil Trigger is active (as some do in the source material). If this allows infinites or extending combos longer than normal, that's probably fine, because Devil Trigger is limited to 3 seconds in duration anyway, so any "infinite" isn't going to truly be infinite as it is limited by Devil Trigger's duration.
Excellent points. I was kind of hoping you would comment, since you usually have some interesting ideas.
If there is nobody close enough, then by default Dante will fire his guns in a straight line. But once somebody comes within range, he will automatically lock onto them. The range of Dante's gunfire is roughly the same as Bayonetta's. I've thought about incorporating Twosome Time in this move (in which Dante fires at two enemies at the same time), but wasn't sure how to do so.
For the dash attack, I've recently changed it to Jet Stream (performed using Agni and Rudra). Though, after hearing your input, I might reconsider Kick 13. If memory serves me, Devil Trigger actually alters that move significantly.
I have to agree about Shock being a more interesting move for d-smash. Quite frankly, the axe kick is way too similar to Falcon/Ganon's d-tilt. I actually changed it to Crazy Dance, but after hearing your input, I might reconsider Shock, since the quake effect could allow for a larger spikebox.
In the re-write I'm currently working on, I've already changed his neutral air to Fireworks. Now that I've re-thought it, Vergil's lightning-fast attacks don't really fit well with Dante's slower, stronger attacks.
As for Devil Trigger, I've already tweaked that as well. I've lowered the damage increase so that it's not overpowered. During DT, Dante can also shrug off minor attacks (he'll still take damage, but he won't flinch). Also, some moves are changed by Devil Trigger. The changes vary greatly, depending on the move.
As of now, I've finished mine Copen rewrite; I just need to finish the Dante re-write as well. Hopefully I can get these done before mine next semester begins.
You know, all these movesets are really interesting and unique in their own ways, so I thought I’d make a moveset of my own. The character in question would be the Jailor of the Damned himself, Arthas Menethil of the Warcraft franchise.
Arthas Menethil, otherwise known as the Lich King, is one of the most recognizable, if not THE most recognizable character in the entirety of the Warcraft franchise, up there with the likes of Thrall and Illidan Stormrage.
He was once a prince of Lordaeron, a kingdom within the Alliance, and a paladin of the Silver Hand under the tutelage of Uther Lightbringer. He was a force to be reckoned with, slaughtering countless members of the Horde and the Lich King Ner’zhul’s forces, and even defeated Kel’thuzad, a powerful wizard who served the latter. He was a hero of the Alliance, but that was about to change. He was assigned on a mission to find and kill Mal’ganis, a demon who served the Burning Legion, who lured Arthas to the continent of Northrend. There, he met his old friend Muradin Bronzebeard and heard of a powerful sword called Frostmourne, which Arthas set out to find with the thought of killing Mal’ganis with it.
Muradin tried to warn Arthas of the sword’s power corrupting the Silver Hand paladin, but Arthas obtained it anyway, killing the dwarf in the process. With Frostmourne in his hands, Arthas went and slaughtered Mal’ganis’ forces, before eventually finding the demon himself. The demon told Arthas that the Lich King was speaking to him through Frostmourne, but Arthas heeded its command to kill Mal’ganis, finally fulfilling his mission before spending months in the frozen wastes of Northrend. Eventually, he would return to Lordaeron, but at that point he had changed drastically. Now fully driven mad by Frostmourne’s power, Arthas went and slaughtered his father Terenas as well as his teacher Uther, and reanimated old friends and enemies alike under his command, laying waste to Lordaeron and elven kingdom Quel’thalas.
Eventually, after making powerful allies and slaughtering Horde and Alliance warriors alike, Ner’zhul told Arthas to go to the Frozen Throne in Northrend, which he did. When he arrived he found the Helm of Domination, which housed Ner’zhul’s soul, encased in the ice of the throne. At the command of Ner’zhul’s voice, Arthas shattered the ice and released the Helm, before putting it on and becoming the second Lich King.
ARTHAS’ STATS:
Size: Ganondorf
Weight: 125 (Between Donkey Kong and Bowser)
Walk Speed: 0.74 (Between Ganondorf and Ryu)
Dash Speed: 1.218 (Ganondorf, 56th)
First Jump Height: 25.7 (Beats Ganondorf, almost matches Little Mac and Ryu’s)
Second Jump Height: 28 (Roy, 53rd)
Fall Speed: 1.9 (Perfectly between King Dedede and Greninja.)
Air Speed: 0.87 (Charizard)
Traction: 0.07 (Little Mac, ZSS and Wario.)
Wall Jump: No
Wall Jump: No
Crawl: No
Spot Dodge: 4-19, 29
Front Roll: 4-16, 33
Back Roll: 4-16, 33
Air Dodge: 4-27, 32
Gravity: .12 (Giga Mac, Captain Falcon, ZSS, Bayonetta and Ryu)
Thanks to the armor he is wearing, Arthas is a heavyweight character that has a high fall speed and is very difficult to launch, but is very slow because of it. His size is equal to Ganondorf’s, but is much wider than him because of his bulky armor, meaning he can be as easy to hit as the Gerudo King. His mobility isn’t much to talk about, considering his heavyweight class, but that can be temporarily remedied with his Dash Attack, which is listed below.
UNIQUE TRAIT:
Arthas, being a Death Knight, has access to a system unique to him, Runes.
He has three pairs of different Runes: Blood,Frost,andUnholy. Each rune is charged over time and can give different effects to your specials depending on how they’re spent. Upon using a special, Arthas will begin to charge his special, and the player can spend Runes to power them up by pressing A to spend a Frost Rune, pressing B to spend an Unholy Rune, or pressing Block to spend a Blood Rune.Each rune must go on a 10 second cooldown after use. If you spend two of the same Rune, one must recharge first before the other can. Runes will be fully replenished when Arthas is KO’d. Only one type of Rune can be spent per use of a special, but you can choose to spend either one or both.
Blood Runes give your specials the ability to steal life from your opponents, similarly to Robin’s Nosferatu. One Blood Rune heals Arthas for a quarter of a special’s total damage while two heals Arthas for half of the damage dealt. Frost Runes decrease the damage of your specials, but to make up for it, increases the size of its hitbox and its knockback, and freezes opponents on hit. One Frost Rune brings the effect to 25% while two brings the effect to 50%. Unholy Runes adds a damage-over-time effect to your specials and allows the next hit to be increased in damage and knockback by 25%. One Unholy Rune brings the effect to deal 1% damage per second for 5 seconds while two Runes make the DoT last for 10 seconds.
SPECIAL ATTACKS:
Neutral B:Ice Sphere: Arthas summons an Ice Sphere that moves towards a random opponent. When it reaches its target, it will explode, causing 17% damage to all enemies and freezing them. The sphere’s blast is about 50% bigger than Palutena’s Explosive Flame. The Sphere will be destroyed when it has sustained 35% damage or when 15 seconds have passed without detonation. Like the Hadoken, only one Ice Sphere can be active at a time. The Sphere also goes about two times as fast as Palutena’s Reflect Barrier. The cast takes about 52 frames, just enough for Arthas to use any available runes. The freeze effect can be prolonged by spending Frost Runes. BKB: 60.
Side B:Necrotic Plague: Arthas will create a burst of dark green energy in front of him that does no damage on hit, but inflicts the unique Necrotic Plague status effect. Necrotic Plague deals 2% damage per second for 15 seconds on the person inflicted. When the 15 seconds is up, and an opponent is near the affected, the Necrotic Plague will be transferred to that opponent with a stack. If 15 seconds have passed and there are no nearby opponents, the Plague will disappear. This is affected by Unholy Runes, can stack up to 15 times and has half a Final Destination’s worth of range. 52 Frames of cast time so the player can use Runes.
Up B:Remorseless Winter: Arthas will summon a snowstorm that deals 5% ice damage per second for 8 seconds. If Arthas uses this in the air, the winds will propel him upwards in between the height of Cloud’s Normal Climhazzard and Cloud’s Limit Break Climhazzard. On the ground, it requires 52 frames of cast time to apply Runes to the special. BKB of Final Hit of move: 65
Down B:Raise Undead: Arthas will raise an Undead minion that aids him in battle. This is where Runes truly shine. Undeads will attack the nearest player. Arthas cannot summon another Undead until the one Summoned dies. Takes about 52 frames to summon. The different undeads that can be summoned are:
- Drudge Ghouls: Summoned when no Runes are used. Drudge Ghouls are relentless and are fast attackers, using arm swipes that deal 6% damage and hitstun on the opponent and has the range of Little Mac’s side tilt. Ghouls attack 1 time per second. They will die after taking 25% damage.
- Shambling Horrors: Summoned with a Blood Rune. Shambling Horrors are slow and large, making them large moving barriers not to similar to Duck Hunt’s Wild Gunmen. These hulking titans do 10% damage with an arm swipe that has as much range as Wario’s side smash, 12% damage with a stomp that has as much range as Jigglypuff’s Pound and has access to three abilities. Enrage increases its attack by 3x for 10 seconds. Frenzy increases its attack speed by 50% and increases its attack by 2x, but can only be active when it reaches 20% of its health. Shockwave creates a 3-Bowser-Long cone of force that deals 25% damage on hit. Does after taking 50% damage. Enrage has 8 second cooldown. Horrors attack 1 time per 6 seconds. BKB Arm Swipe: 35. BKB Stomp: 60. BKB Shockwave: 55.
- Val’kyr Shadowguards: Summoned with an Frost Rune. Val’kyr Shadowguards will either scratch their opponents for 12% damage or kick their opponents for 15% damage, sometimes casting a sort of Nosferatu-esque spell that can be cast from 2 ZSS Tethers away, but isn’t as effective whether it is cast from in front or behind and doesn’t have knockback. Val’kyr will attack 2 times per four seconds. Val’kyr Shadowguards will die after taking 35% damage. Val’kyr spell has a 10 second cooldown. The scratch has a range equal to ZSS’ Side tilt while the kick has as much range as Dedede’s Down tilt. BKB Scratch: 30. BKB Kick: 45
- Vile Spirits: Summoned with an Unholy Rune. Instead of just one, Arthas will summon 10 super weak spirits that will hover for 30 seconds before going after a targeted opponent. If they reach their target, they will explode dealing 12% Darkness damage. They will die after taking 10% damage. BKB: 62.
STANDARD ATTACKS:
Jab: Arthas a two-hit attack with this. The first hit has Arthas perform a sideways slash while the second has him deal a devastating lunge that launches the opponent. Arthas’ range is about 50% of Corrin’s side smash due to Frostmourne’s immense size. The first hit deals 4% damage while the second deals 6% damage, racking up 10% damage total. Has 48 frames total. Hitstun on first hit. BKB 2nd Hit: 50. (1st hit: Start-up: 6, Active: 12, Recovery: 4, Total: 22) (2nd hit: Start-up: 10, Active: 10, Recovery: 6, Total: 26)
Side tilt: Arthas slashes downwards with Frostmourne. This has about as much range as Ike’s side smash, and deals 12% damage. BKB: 50. 38 frames (Start-up: 8, Active: 20, Recovery: 10)
Up tilt: Arthas stabs his sword upwards, similarly to how he would cast magic in World of Warcraft. This has as much range Marth’s Up Smash, and deals 8% damage. BKB: 45. 22 frames (Start-up: 12, Active: 8, Recovery: 2)
Down tilt: Arthas places a Shadow Trap on the ground. This is similar to Cloud’s Finishing Touch in the sense that it only deals 1% damage, but has immense knockback to make up for it. This Shadow Trap is similar to Snake’s mines, and is about 3 Kirbys wide, but only two can be active at a time. The trap will trigger when an opponent steps on it, even if they are dodging. Opponents can interrupt Arthas while he’s casting it. The trap goes away after 8 seconds. Has 50 frames when casting the trap. BKB: 80. (Start-up: 35, Recovery: 15)
Dash Attack: Arthas lunges forward with Frostmourne uses Soul Reaper. If this hits, his speed is doubled for 5 seconds. When the speed increase wears off, the opponents hit will suffer 8% damage. The hit itself deals 3% damage on its own, racking the total up to 11%. 44 frames. BKB of initial hit: 26. BKB of Soul Reaper effect: 36. (Start-up: 14, Active: 20, Recovery: 10)
AIR ATTACKS:
Neutral Air: Arthas creates a burst of frost energy around him, freezing everyone that hits. Has slightly more range than Mewtwo’s Neutral Air. Deals 12% damage. 30 frames. BKB: 26. (Start-up: 10, Active: 10, Recovery: 10)
Front air: Arthas casts Pain and Suffering, shown as a shadowy vortex sprouting from his hand, which goes outwards in a cone. Has as much range as Zelda’s Up Air. This attack deals 11% darkness damage, but will deal an additional 3% per second for 3 seconds, racking it up to 20% damage. 44 frames. BKB: 24. (Start-up: 8, Active: 8, Recovery: 28)
Up air: Arthas swings Frostmourne over himself. Is about as wide an arc as Cloud’s up air and deals 14% damage. 32 Frames. BKB: 34. (Start-up: 9, Active: 15, Recovery: 8)
Down air: Arthas swings downwards, similarly to Ike’s and Roy’s down air, but has longer reach than the two. Does 15% damage. 40 frames. BKB: 36. (Start-up: 12, Active: 18, Recovery: 10)
Back air: Arthas smashes behind himself with the hilt of Frostmourne. This has about as much range as Ryu’s Back air. Deals 12% damage. 29 frames. BKB: 34. (Start-up: 9, Active: 12, Recovery: 8)
SMASH ATTACKS:
Side Smash: Arthas charges up before slashing sideways extremely hard. This has super armor and shield-breaking properties, as reference to how Arthas kills Dranosh Saurfang at the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate in Wrath of the Lich King. This deals 20% damage when fully charged, but has 36 frames and the super armor doesn’t kick in until the charging is done. BKB: 35.
Up Smash: Arthas slashes over himself, similarly to Ike’s Up Smash. This has slightly longer range than Ike and deals 19% damage when fully charged. 20 Frames. BKB: 34.
Down Smash: Arthas casts Quake, which deals 23% damage to all opponents touching the ground in a Charizard-Down-Smash Radius and temporarily breaking off pieces of the arena around him in a range that’s 75% as long as Corrin’s Side Smash. 19 Frames. BKB: 40.
GRABS:
Grab: Arthas freezes the opponent, similar to how he froze Tirion Fordring. Has the range of Greninja’s grab. 14-15 Frames.
Pummel: Arthas slams the hilt of Frostmourne into the ice around the opponent, the force dealing 2% damage. 19 frames.
Front Throw: Arthas slashes sideways, shattering the ice around the opponent and sending them flying. Deals 13% damage. BKB: 56.
Down throw: Arthas shatters the ice around the opponent before grabbing their head and smashing them into the ground. Deals two hits and does 13% damage overall. The first hit deals 4% damage and the second does 9% damage. BKB: 46
Back Throw: Arthas goes behind the opponent and slashes upwards from behind, shattering the ice and sending them flying. Deals 12% damage. BKB: 50
Up Throw: Arthas uses his ice magic to crush the ice and shoot them out the top. Deals two hits, first hit does 5%, second does 10% damage, with 15% damage overall. BKB: 48
FINAL SMASH:Rise, My Champions!: Arthas will cast Fury of Frostmourne, dealing 40% damage to everyone within a half-Final-Destination radius. If any opponents go past the 100% Kill threshold, Arthas will bring them back to life as A.I.-controlled Death Knights that will fight alongside the Lich King. Individually, they will die after taking 100% damage. This Final Smash does not replenish Runes on use. As Death Knights, the KO’d lives of these opponents will have the A.I. of a Level 5 CPU.
NOTES:
- When thinking of his moveset, I had to analyze both his appearances in HotS and Warcraft, and decided to lean more towards the latter.
- I wanted to have Necrotic Plague as his Side Smash at first, but then I thought, “Hey, that’s too OP for a Side Smash.” So I decided to make it his Side Special.
PATCH NOTES:
V1.1: - Added Knockback data to moves.
- Added Range information to moves.
- Reduced damage of stacked Unholy Runes to 1% damage per second for 10 seconds.
- Reduced health of minions:
—Ghouls: 50% > 25%
—Shambling Horrors: 100% > 50%
—Val’kyr Shadowguards: 75% > 35%
—Vile Spirits: 25% > 10%
- Clarified functions of Shambling Horror, Val’kyr, and Ghoul.
- Added radii of effect to Down Smash.
- Gave Shadow Trap limit of 2 at a time.
- Reduced damage of Vile Spirit Burst.
- Added visual descriptions to Soul Reaper and Pain and Suffering
- Added how many Runes can be spent per Special.
Arthas
Honestly, for a first set I appreciate the fact that you're willing to dive right in and try minions and traps at all, it gives me the impression you have been doing any set reading especially with what you say before the set. I also think the rune mechanic is a decent idea, though the current rune effects seem like they'd work awkwardly in the context of two of the specials being a damage over time effect, especially the one that causes some loss in damage in exchange for a damage over time effect. The main thing I think the set suffers from is a lack of actual details in a lot of places. While you give frame data(and I'm not really one to criticize it, as I don't really know much frame data myself) to make lag times clear, the amount of knockback the attacks in this set deals is very vague. I personally like to give KO percents or at least approximations of KO percents as they can vary heavily, though even a simple "heavy" or "moderate" or "low, and useful for combos" would be enough. The range is also vague on a lot of these attacks, with it being impossible to tell the range on say, grab. Does it have the range of a tether, since that's what the lag is about equal too? Does it only work at close range, making it one of the worst grabs in the game? Does it go like half of Final Destination or have infinite range? Its hard to tell, and some detail there would go a long way. Down Smash is a more extreme example, as from the way you describe it the move sounds like it hits the entire stage, including platforms Arthas isn't currently on, which combined with its high power would make it basically the best camping move ever and completely break Arthas. Our sets get strange enough sometimes that it can be hard to balance them, but putting effort into doing so goes a long way in terms of making your sets more accepted.
Speaking of balance, this set is more than a bit overpowered, the aforementioned infinite range Down Smash probably not even being the most broken thing he has access too. That honor would go to the Down Tilt and Arthas' summons. Being undodgeable is a pretty bad effect to put on something regardless, but finishing touch is an insanely rewarding and powerful move to land as is. There's a reason it takes so long to build up charge for and actually has, from what I gather, worse lag than you gave the Down Tilt here. There's also no cap to the number you can have on stage and they're remotely big, so throw out 2-3 and you can completely control basically any Omega stage, and on stages with platforms where it gets weaker your horrifying Down Smash gets stronger anyway. The minions all just have ridiculous numbers, like a 75 stamina minion that can heal itself with a long range grab(which is very poorly detailed), ghosts on an admittedly very long delay that will kill the opponent with almost absolute certainty when they do fire as its 10 projectiles that each deal 26% and insane knockback. The Shambling Horrors are absolutely nuts, and the strongest of the bunch, sitting on 100 stamina, attacks that deal 60% and 150% if both the buffs are applied, and an attack speed multiplier on top of that. Though the lack of detail once again comes into play, for all we know these things could be so insufferably slow they're not that good, but with the numbers you've given its basically impossible to balance whatever other numbers they would have towards overpowered or underpowered. The minions could also do with some description of how their AIs apply, and the non-rune minion's attack is so underdetailed its impossible to tell what it even is.
Basically, my advice would be looking at sites like Kurogane Hammer and just observing Smash 4 damage numbers to get a better feel for the kind of numbers you want in your sets, and just making sure we know the damage, knockback, range, and lag to an at least reasonable approximation in every move. If you do that, it'll be easier to balance the set and from there, developing your ideas and how your character would play will become more possible, and certainly a lot more interesting to actually think about. There's room for you to become competitive Goliso, but there's a few things that need to change first.
Arthas is a character I've wanted to see for a while (and considered making myself a long time), so seeing him made was a pleasure. I've actually made a good deal of Warcraft sets myself and almost all of them have been from Naxxramas (such as Kel'Thuzad, Gluth, Thaddius and Patchwerk). I want to give you an early commendation on the detailed stats section, which is in fact more detailed than a lot of stat sections we see. So, lets get into the meat of the moveset.
The mechanic is pretty simple and fairly solid, although it is slightly unclear on how many runes can be spent on a move, I assume the max is 2 from the descriptions. This is a pretty fine mechanic, a versatile power up "ammo bank" style mechanic, the kind of thing I like in general. Something to note about the way that you set up the Unholy Rune's power is that 2% per second for 10 seconds is more than double 1% per second for 5 seconds, dealing a total of 20% compared to 5%, dunno if that is intentional or not.
Anyway, onto the moveset. The first thing I will say to begin with, before getting into specifics, is that this set could really use more detail on a lot of moves, and I don't mean lag numbers. Many moves in this set don't clearly describe an overall purpose in how Arthas plays, what Make Your Move terms as "playstyle", or much of an idea of their use in the set. For example, it is very unclear about what moves might start combos, killing moves for knockback (which can be inferred from damage but, traditionally, we talk about knockback as well, even just to say it is high or low or whatnot: Sometimes, we give specific ranges with the basis of killing Mario on FD like a lot of knockback tests, like say "kills at 140%") and so on, so the usage of moves is not clear. For example, what are good moves for keeping opponents away from your Vile Spirits? What does Arthas' various throws set up: A combo for one, maybe, or getting the foe out of his face to summon an undead for another? Stuff like this is generally considered rather vital to talk about in a set, as otherwise it is very difficult to get a picture of how a set plays from a reader's perspective.
Some descrptions are also confusingly small, making it hard to tell what is going on. Dash Attack is the most evident: I don't actually know what Soul Reaper looks like off the top of my head, so when I am reading this attack, I have no idea what this attack actually looks like, which makes it hard to know anything about the attack's range or whatnot. Similarly, what does Pain and Suffering (Forward Aerial) look like? I get it is cone shaped and the range, but not exactly what it looks like, nor does Arthas' grab being freezing someone give me a good idea of things like the range. I was also very confused by the Val’kyr Shadowguards' attacks, I get Nosferatu is Robin, but in what way is it ranged? I am guessing "but isn’t as effective whether it is cast from in front or behind" means it doesn't have Nosferatu's bonus hitting the back but it is still wonky. And I can't tell if the Vile Spirits' hitbox is per-spirit or all of them. Some stuff could also use more description, like some of the minion attacks. For example, right now, the Ghoul has...
"Deals 6% damage."
For their attack, which pretty much means nothing in terms of what it does in game. A short example to replace it could be:
"The ghoul swipes forward with its arms, dealing 6% damage and low knockback with okay range. It is fast to start, but you can get a decent hit during the ending lag."
Which gives me a decent enough idea of what it does and leaves me a lot less confused.
Down Smash also has a severe issue in that it says it hits opponents "on the ground" but is very vague, as written it sounds like it hits everyone on the stage if you use it and they are grounded, which is odd. Also, is temporarily breaking off parts of the arena just an animation, or does it do something? This is a move where more detail is really required.
This move also has some issues with balance. The Shambling Horror, for example, has entirely terrifying power to buff its damage through the roof, hitting far harder than anything in the game. The first two minions also have excessively high health for being minions. Arthas' Down Tilt trap is absurdly powerful, Finishing Touch is very strong and already laggier, while Down Tilt is a trap (which means you can hit opponents into it or use it to zone) and hits through dodges! It is a very scary move. We also usually put traps on either Down Smash (because of Snake in Brawl) or another Smash Attack, or more commonly we will put it on a Special. If we don't do that, it is usually because it is created by a hitbox (IE a burst of magic leaves behind a small magic trap). Down Smash as mentioned is very strong with the range it seems to imply.
On the flipside, the time to apply runes is rather long, too long if this is included in starting lag: 60 frames is 1 second, or a bit longer than a Falcon Punch, which makes a lot of stuff rather unviable if that is added to the lag. Some of the mechanics don't work very well with the Specials, for example Frost Runes increase the knockback of your Specials but only one of the Specials seems to do any knockback to increase. In general, we put Specials first in a set because they provide a bit of a foundation, and allow us to talk about them through a set: For example, if you had Raise Undead at the start, it would be easier to talk about the minion's effect on your gameplan throughout the set.
In general, Arthas is fairly ambitious for a first set with minions and an actually solid mechanic, but it is rather tempered by some knowledge issues and a lack of detail. I recommend checking places like KuroganneHammer for stats you might want for damage comparisons, beefing up your moves (A source I like to use when thinking of how to describe moves is IzawSmash's youtube channel: Think of how moves could be used in the context of an Art of Smash video) and additionally reading sets is a good idea, because it allows you to get an idea of what is good or not and helps develop good thinking habits on sets. If you want some short sets to read, Iris by Munomario777 and Hee-Mo by ForwardArrow are both short and something like Doomfist (the first set of the contest) is a good starting point as well. Don't be afraid to comment sets you read either!
I hope you'll continue to post sets and improve your game by doing so, and welcome to the community. Good luck!
Thank you both for your feedback. I appreciate it.
So onto your criticisms about the set:
- I didn’t want Unholy Runes to be too overpowered, so I was worried about retaining normal damage in addition to the DoT. And to Frozen, I think you have a point with the DoT stacking. I’ll change that.
- You both have a point with the minions. I had a hunch that someone would criticize the minions’ durability. Reducing the health of the Ghoul, the Shambling Horror and the Val’kyr is a good call. I was thinking that the Shambling Horror could have only one Ability active at a time, while the Val’kyr’s range would be equivalent to that of two ZSS tethers. I definitely agree with the Ghouls, though. I was also worried about the Vile Spirits having too much health, but now that you mention the time it takes to prime them, maybe I should reduce it.
- The reason I made the runes what they are is that I wanted them to synergize well with the Specials in some way.
- The suggestion that Arthas could use only one type of Rune at a time is appealing. At first I wanted Arthas to have the ability to spend more than one type of Rune, like how Death Knights do in the original WoW, but I think this is better for balance.
- DEFINITELY giving thanks for telling me of Kurogane Hammer. This should prove useful for making other movesets.
- The description said that Soul Reaper deals “weapon damage”, so I would think Arthas would lunge forward with Frostmourne.
- Your concerns about range is understandable, especially for the Down Smash. I would feel the damage part would be about the range of Charizard’s Down Smash while the stage-breaking part would be more the range of 75% of Corrin’s Side Smash.
- As for the Down Tilt, I’m thinking that you could only have two out at a time, and the fact that it triggers even when the opponent dodges onto it can potentially mean the trap triggers without launching the opponent.
- The Forward Air (Pain and Suffering) I feel would look like a shadowy tornado sprouting from Arthas’ hand.
- The knockback detail that Arrow mentions is something I think he’s right about. I’m thinking of adding BKB to his moves when I can.
- The minion speed is an issue Arrow also brought up: I feel the Ghoul would be the second-fastest behind the Vile Spirits, Shambling Horrors would be the slowest, and the Val’kyr would be be the third-fastest.
- Speaking of the Vile Spirits, I wanted them to be extra frail and take a while to actually arm themselves, but make up for it with a kamikaze effect, but you bring up a good point about the damage and knockback. I think I’ll change that.
- The minion AIs is also a great point. I feel as if the Ghouls would be fast and aggressive, and would be relentless in their pursuit of enemy players even without defensive options like Super Armor in addition to attacking frequently. The attack descriptions that Frozen provides for it is pretty great. The Shambling Horror would be a very slow attacker and would move very slow. Some attacks that I feel would suit the Horror would be that it would either stomp on the ground in front of it or the occasional arm swipe, both of which aren’t as frequent, not to mention the abilities he would have could be on a cooldown, whole Frenzy would be active when the Horror reaches 20% of its stamina. The Val’kyr I feel would attack less frequently, with a flying kick and a scratching swipe, but make up for it with the health drain spell, which would have no knockback or hitstun.
EDIT: Patch change notes are out now! I gotta say, Kurogane Hammer has helped me figure out a lot of things! Again, thanks for telling me about it!
My apologies on the Down Tilt to an extent, I thought when you said it activated on dodges that it HIT people dodging, which would be silly. That makes more sense now.
I don't think we usually use BKB much, since it isn't very intuitive and easy for people to understand. And without angles it can be difficult to get an idea of how something kills. Muno could explain better than me. You can use BKB, though. If you do use BKB, then you'll also want to include KBG, which is the knockback growth of the move (AKA how much a move scales with damage).
BKB can be pretty useful to mention in a move, along with KBG, as those two values can radically change the application of a move. As a refresher, Base Knockback, or BKB, is the "baseline" value of a move's knockback, which then gets multiplied with percent. Knockback Growth, or KBG, is the amount by which the move's knockback scales as the opponent takes damage.
A move with high BKB and low KBG will always send the opponent a far distance, even at low percent, but that move will be hard to KO with due to the low KBG (percent doesn't change the knockback much). As a result, this is a good option for a move that resets neutral.
A move with low BKB and high KBG is gonna be pretty dang strong; at low percents it keeps the foe close for a combo, while at high percents it can kill. Staling, though, adds an interesting dynamic or wrinkle to the gameplay here. Do you go for lots of free combos early in the stock at the cost of staling the move, or do you save it for when you really need to use it for a KO?
A move with low BKB and low KBG is gonna be a combo move at nearly any percent, so if you see one of these in a set you're writing, be VERY mindful that you don't give the character kill confirms off of it that are too strong.
So BKB and KBG are definitely a useful and interesting tool in the MYMer's belt! What I don't think is really needed, though, is precise numbers for it, since knockback is a mess of a formula to begin with. Just say something like "BKB is high and KBG is low, so X, Y, and Z happen," or whatever.
Footnote: I'd argue that precise numbers for KO percents or frame data aren't necessary to include in every move unless they're particularly relevant. For my sets, I usually just use descriptors such as "KOs early enough to be a strong threat," "has long endlag so it's punishable on block," etc. The important thing is getting across how a given property of a move impacts the character's gameplay in a meaningful way.
Ribby and Croaks
I have taken far too long to actually comment this moveset, and given Lex is the only one to say anything I should probably do so. For a set written in 2 days, its actually surreal how good Ribby and Croaks is, starting off with a really unique idea on how to make a a dual character that honestly seems like one of the best balanced "duo" mechanics I've seen. The projectiles these guys have available to them with the fireballs, sonic boom, fire flies, and platforms are also pretty neat because honestly, there are huge flaws in all of them as actual camping tools to prevent the playstyle of the frogs from getting too defensive, though smart angling of the fireball stream can help you while your partner is on "cooldown". No if you want to use these, you're going to have to eat and regurgitate them at opportune moments, which while a pretty classic MYM trope is done quite well here... or play off the ones your partner gives you for fodder. This can be as simple as using them as fodder to setup your combos or the fact that each of Ribby and Croaks have access to some portion of the projectiles to much more complex things, like how absurd their aerial games can become based on the use of the otherwise awkward to utilize parryable fireballs and the stream of platforms.
This leads into the two things I like the most about Ribby and Croaks. The first is, at long last, I feel this set's somewhat elaborate gimping game is actually completely justified in being as potentially crazy as it is. It requires having both frogs available to even get started with, and the fact that most of their attempts to use it are quite dependent on the platforms or pink fireballs is going to make failure something the opponent can legitimately use to turn the tables, and could make for some tense and absolutely glorious moments where forward planning from the frogs can truly mean the difference between a swift and brutal destruction of the foe at barely over 0% to losing a frog and leaving the other to fend for himself for an entire stock, or at least losing a great setup of projectiles. It honestly feels like what Koala Kong always wanted to be, with the elaborate and somewhat horrifying offstage gimping game actually feeling completely justified here rather than boring.
On a somewhat different but not entirely unrelated topic as it does play into the gimping setups a lot, this set's grab game is one of the best I've seen in any set, period. I don't mean that as an exaggeration, the slot machine stuff does absolutely brilliant things with the projectiles the frogs have previously eaten and gets some amazing mileage out of the characters being so cartoony. And it does it all without the effects feeling genuinely tacky(or at least, not tacky in a bad way), getting what feels like as much mileage as you could ever possibly get out of the slot machine. Oh and I figure I should mention, all this projectile manipulation and eating projectiles gets a lot better when you consider that one of the two frogs can effectively become a projectile themselves for the purposes of these, and the things you can do with combining that fact with the awesome grab game is frankly spectacular.
There's a whole bunch more things both big and small I could praise about the set, like the fact that the set does have its share of solid and cool practical moves after the almost overload of awesome ideas in the first few specials that good "glue" to keep the frogs viable, or just something as simple as the firefly overlapping mechanic sounding very interesting to use and potentially super satisfying with the platforms that have a projectile bouncing inside them as you can potentially make that middle projectile so threatening. If I had a small nitpick, I'm not the absolute biggest fan of the drool puddle, which for what its worth you do get some mileage out of in the melee game and its not uninteresting. It just strikes me as a bit arbitrary to have the frogs be abusing the slippery nature of their own drool when they already have so many other things to do, and it wasn't like Croaks DSmash even needed it when it was honestly a perfectly cool move even without it. But I mean, when I'm complaining about the aftereffect of one of two DSmashes in a set and that's one of my biggest issues, you know you have it made. Its gonna be pretty hard to top this as the best set in the contest.
- It now only takes 3/4ths of a second for Drowsy's sleepy state to kick in. It still takes 2 seconds to fall asleep.
- Forward Tilt now deals 5%-8% damage based on distance.
- Haunter's Up Smash, Forward Aerial, Back Aerial, Down Tilt and Up Tilt have been updated to have spiffy new effects against Nightmared foes. These are rather important, so give them a look if you feel like it!
- Forward Aerial is no longer almost entirely a run-on sentence.
Baroness von Bon Bon is another of the Devil's myriad debtors. She rules over Sugarland, which is apparently a small country located on Inkwell Isle 2, with kindness and benevolence. At least, she did until the despicable Cuphead and his pal Mugman came by. In one of the first fights available on Isle 2, The Baroness and her subjects valiantly fought to protect their land from porcelain invaders. Using a mixture of her own weaponry and the abilities of her Candy Court, the Baroness is arguably one of the first major difficulty spikes in Cuphead, being trickier than any Isle 1 boss barring perhaps the Frog Bros. Her reliance on her subjects is reflected in this Contract, but she's actually participating in the fray personally this time. Perhaps it's to help vent her nasty temper?
Sugary Stats:
Height: Rosalina
Weight: Peach
Ground Speed: Rosalina
Air Speed: Peach
Though she's obviously not a princess herself, the Baroness does take some pages from those monarchs when it comes to her stats. Her height makes her a rather large target, and her weight isn't the best, but that's why she brings along her subjects for backup. Her speed is fair, nothing too special in either category. All in all, fairly respectable stats for a respectable leader.
N-Spec: Cotton Candy Potshot
Sometimes a lady's gotta get her hands dirty! For this move, the Baroness shoulders her candy cane, aims at the nearest foe, and fires after a startup comparable to Duck Hunt's Wild Gunman.
This is fine and dandy, but what does she fire, exactly? Why, cotton candy, of course; three multicolored puffs of the stuff! These puffs perpetually swirl around in a Kirby-sized vortex of sorts, and the vortex flies in the direction it was fired at Kirby's dash speed. This shot has infinite range, but it has no homing after it's fired. As an aside, these puffs are each the size of a Turnip. But I think you'll agree that candy is preferable to veggies any day, right?
The potshot deals 15% on contact with a target. 5% for each puff, you see. However: rather than causing knockback, it instead slows the victim's movement for a short while! Slow cuts the character's speed down to 80% of their usual speed. The effect is illustrated by a pink aura surrounding the victim; Slow lasts 1.5 seconds by default, and ends if the victim takes knockback that kills around 125%. But who cares about those fiddly details, anyway?
There's a reason the Baroness packed three puffs: they're fragile. An attack that deals 4% or more can safely destroy one of the puffs, and so 3 attacks will dissipate your potshots altogether! But, that's what the Candy Court are for; can't exactly destroy potshots if you're busy avoiding soldiers, now can you? It's worth noting that these puffs have transcendent priority, so don't expect them to soak up enemy projectiles!
One final note: The Baroness can have 2 potshots out at once.
S-Spec: Peppermint Boulder
Potshots are good and all, but sometimes you need something with a little more... OOMPH! Upon using this move, the Baroness smiles maliciously and points forward for a startup equal to Duck Hunt's Clay Shoot. After this startup, Patsy Menthol, a Barrel sized peppermint, rolls out from behind the Baroness!
Okay, so what does Patsy do after being summoned? Well, Patsy will roll across the stage at DK's dash speed, at first anyway. As she goes, she'll slowly accelerate, maxing at Wario's dash speed. The only things that stop her are walls and ledges! Hitting a wall will cause Patsy to bounce off and begin rolling back the opposite direction. To keep her from getting trapped, she will poof out of existence upon hitting 4 walls. As for ledges, Patsy will simply roll right off of them. This can make her useful at the ledge, but her slow speed makes this a little difficult. It's also worth noting that Patsy is effectively invulnerable; the only way to get rid of her is to let her roll off the stage or hit enough walls!
Patsy, upon rolling over a foe, will cause moderate upwards knockback and deal 8-17% depending on her speed. What this means is that Patsy will pop grounded foes into the air, and can possibly interfere with a recovering foe!
There's only one Patsy, so the Baroness can't have more than one of her out at a time. However, there's only a 2 second cooldown before she can summon a new Patsy once the current one vanishes! It's also worth noting that the members of the Candy Court will ignore Patsy's presence, as she can't harm them anyway!
And one final detail: since Patsy is invulnerable, the Baroness isn't afraid to give her some "motivation" with her attacks. This means that she can help Patsy build up speed, get over obstacles, and even avoid flying off the ledge with some work! Most of the Baroness's attacks can affect Patsy's movement, but more on that later!
U-Spec: Heads Up!
Say what you will about the Baroness, but she really knows how to use her head! For her recovery, the Baroness throws her head; this works almost identically to Yoshi's Egg Toss, though the lighter head flies farther and does not burst on impact. Instead, when it lands safely, hits a wall or ledge, or hits an opponent, the Baroness's body will disintegrate into sprinkles! Then, her head will quickly sprout a new body, successfully rescuing her from death! The Head deals 8% and very light knockback. One more thing: the head cannot grab ledges, so be careful!
If used while grounded, this move works a bit differently: the Baroness's body does not disintegrate, and her head autonomously chases foes! Her head will move in a short burst, stop, then move again, following the closest opponent when it stops. The Head deals 9% and flinches opponents, making it a great way to harass enemies and aid your Court from afar!
But, even someone as levelheaded as the Baroness has limits. Her head can only take 20 Damage before disintegrating into sprinkles! Once this happens, she will be left headless for 5 seconds, after which she laglessly grows a new head even in the midst of an attack! As a little bonus, the Baroness's voice clips are extremely muffled while she's headless!
If you find yourself in need of recovery, but without a head, don't panic! A use of this move will have the Baroness perform a sort of uppercut with her candy cane. This works similarly to Mario's Super Jump Punch, but hits only once (dealing 7% and moderate knockback) and covers considerably less ground. This is not her optimal recovery by any means (at least it's not Little Mac levels of poor), but at least it beats certain death!
D-Spec: Candy Court
What self-respecting Baroness wouldn't put her subjects to use? This Special's entire purpose is to call in the various members of the Candy Court for aid! When the move is input, the Baroness holds out a hand, and a muffin appears in it. With a speed easily compared to Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit, this muffin magically transforms into other sweets. It goes in the order: Muffin-Gumball-Jawbreaker-Candy Corn-Waffle; this order will loop around forever until a selection is made. With another input of B, the Baroness will clutch her hand around the chosen sweet and smile diabolically. Suddenly, in a burst of sprinkles, the chosen member of the Candy Court appears! All in all, this process takes about as long as planting and watering the Villager's tree. However, the Baroness can act immediately after making her selection; the chosen minion needs no further guidance! The Baroness can only have one member of her Court out at a time, so choose carefully! Minions can be summoned in the air, and they may behave differently if they are summoned as such! As a final note, the Baroness can cancel her selection by shielding. The cycle of sweets will resume where it left off in this case.
Each of her 5 minions behaves differently, but they have a few things in common. For starters, they all stay onstage until their HP is depleted; they will never time out! Secondly, a minion that is defeated will be removed from the summoning list until either all 5 are defeated or the Baroness is killed.
Finally, no matter who it is, the Baroness will seek Vengeance if any of her subjects are killed. Upon the death of a minion, the Baroness will shake her fist and yell in indignation; she will then gain a red aura and a buff on her next attack. This buff multiplies the knockback of that attack by 1.25; take advantage of it, but try not to miss, as the buff will be consumed even on a whiff!
The first of her subjects is Muffski Chernikov, the muffin. Muffski is a fairly burly chap, being slightly smaller than Bowser and boasting 20 HP. Muffski is also one of the most straightforward soldiers, pattern wise. Rather than walk, Muffski jumps everywhere in a move nearly identical to the Super Dedede Jump; however, Muffski lacks the super armor of the Dedede Jump. Upon landing, Muffski also generates two waves of icing on either side of him; these waves travel a Bowser length each. Muffski deals 14% and buries anyone he lands on, while his icing waves deal 8% and moderate knockback. Muffski is mostly intelligent, and will attempt to aim his jumps towards nearby foes. However... he can be convinced to jump off the stage if his target is offstage. Even if the foe hasn't hit him, the Baroness will still seek Vengeance if this happens! If summoned in the air, Muffski immediately falls, creating his waves if he lands on solid ground; if he is dropped into a pit, the Baroness will NOT get her Vengeance buff. He must touch solid ground at least once. Muffski is not a complicated man, but he is a respectable soldier with the potential to really aid his liege; especially if foes get too trigger happy on interrupting his jumps, leaving them open for aerial punishment.
The second available minion is Sergeant Gumbo Gumbull, the gumball machine. Gumbull is a tall and lanky fellow; he stands at Ganon's height and is as narrow as Luigi. Gumbull boasts a reasonable 30 HP. Unlike Muffski, he does not jump; he instead scrambles around at Luigi's dash speed. Gumbull has low traction, and so skids around comically when turning. Once he's within a Battlefield platform of an enemy, Gumbull will open his lid and fire off a constant shower of gumballs on either side of him. These gumballs are very small projectiles, and each only does 2%, but they are deceptively dangerous in that they do not flinch the foe and they are too densely packed to weave between. Because of this, standing near Gumbull practically causes constant damage, and especially chews up shields. Gumbull's lid can be forcibly closed with an attack to his glass head; doing so will prevent him from attacking for a quarter-second. This quarter-second cannot be refreshed until he reopens his lid. If Gumbull is summoned in air, his lid will open as he falls; it'll close if he lands on solid ground. As with Muffski, dropping Gumbull into a pit does not trigger the Vengeance buff. Gumbull has no kill potential, but his near-constant damage makes him a valuable support unit.
The third subject available is Lord Gob Packer, the jawbreaker. Lord Gob is a familiar face to Pac-Man fans; he is very similarly built to the Grandaddy of Arcade Games, and is a comparable size as well. Lord Gob is the sneakiest of the Candy Court, packing only 12 HP but notably spawning behind the nearest foe. To compensate, he has the simplest behavior. Lord Gob simply pursues the closest foe at Kirby's dash speed, attempting to bite them for 12% and moderate knockback. He also enjoys super armor; no attacks short of destroying him will stop his relentless pursuit. Summoning Gob in the air does not change his behavior; he appears behind the nearest foe regardless. Lord Gob is a reasonable threat if left alone, and destroying him will leave a foe open to the Baroness's Vengeance.
Fourthly, we have Kernel von Pop, the candy corn. The Kernel is a monstrous figure, measuring up to the Koopa King himself. The Kernel bears 30 HP and has a fairly straightforward pattern. He will glide forwards at Kirby's dash speed, attempting to collide with enemies, dealing 13% and moderate knockback. Every two Battlefield platforms, he will fly either upwards a Battlefield platform or down one, depending on if he is "high" or "low." Once he reaches the edge of the stage, he will automatically fly down/up and start flying back the opposite direction he was originally going. For example, if he hit the edge going right and was high up, he would drop down and begin flying left. When a foe gets above or below him, the Kernel will belch up a mini-Kernel. These Turnip-sized mini-Kernels slowly glide up or down until they hit something or fly off the screen; they deal 8% and light knockback. Summoning the Kernel in midair merely affects the height he starts at, nothing more. The Kernel has some interesting movement mechanics, and is a generally reliable fellow.
Finally, we have Sir Waffington III, the waffle. Waffington is the size and shape of two Crates stacked on top of each other; he has 20 HP. Upon being summoned, he will fly around the stage aimlessly. Every 3 seconds, he will freeze in place and explode, firing pieces of himself in all 8 compass directions. These pieces travel a Battlefield platform before boomeranging back to Waffington. They deal 12% and moderately high knockback. Summoning Waffington in midair has no affect on his behavior. Waffington is the best minion for killing, but he is fragile and predictable, being the only minion running on a timer. However, he can be useful in that his attack is very tempting to shield; the Baroness has ways to handle shield-happy foes...
While only one minion can exist at a time, this move is not useless with one out! Inputting D-Special with a minion out will have the Baroness steel herself before performing an overhead slam of her candy cane; this slam is as laggy as a Falcon Punch, and deals 17% and a Meteor Smash effect. It can be extremely handy at the ledge or in the air! However, this slam has another use: using it on the ground will cause the crook of the candy cane to snap off, creating a throwing item for the Baroness! Do be careful though: enemies can eat this projectile and heal themselves for 6% if you miss your throw! The candy cane magically regrows its crook after 2 seconds; using this before then simply doesn't make a crook. If a move requires the crook for its animation, for example, the Baroness's grab, it'll immediately grow back just for that animation, then unceremoniously break off and vanish.
Jab: Smack Attack
The most straightforward of the Baroness's standards, this move has her perform a harsh backhanded slap. Thanks to her long arms, this has comparable range to Ganon's Jab, though her lag is more on par with firing one Megabuster shot. The slap deals 6% and light knockback, just enough to get enemies out of the Baroness's face. All in all a very simple Jab, at first glance, anyway; The Baroness has a few tricks up her sleeve!
Firstly, there is a sweetspot on the Baroness's actual hand; landing this will deal 8% and slightly higher knockback. Secondly, this attack can influence Patsy's movement: slapping her will either increase or decrease her speed depending on which side of her was hit. Finally, this attack will launch the Baroness's head forward a Battlefield platform if she slaps it!
F-Tilt: (Cake) Batter Up!
The Baroness's cane isn't just for show: this attack has her steel herself for a startup comparable to Villager's F-Tilt before swinging her cane baseball-style. This move has some nice range, covering slightly more ground than Ganon's Jab; it also does a neat 10% and moderate knockback! This Tilt can also be angled up or down, if you so desire.
As with the Jab, this move has some additional handy properties. There is a reflection hitbox on the crook of the candy cane, one that acts very similarly to Ness's F-Smash. However, you MUST land this pseudo sweetspot to successfully reflect anything, and the sweetspot doesn't affect the Tilt's damage. This Tilt is also very handy for manipulating Patsy: unangled it will speed her up/slow her down, angled up it increases/decreases her speed even more, and angled down it will pop her into the air slightly. Finally, this Tilt also sends the Baroness's head flying if it connects; this one sends it flying 1.5 Battlefield platforms, however.
U-Tilt: Off With Her Head!
The Baroness is a good leader, but sometimes she... loses her head. Literally, in this case! This attack has her head hop off her neck and spin rapidly, taking as much time as Villager's U-Tilt; this creates a weak vacuum effect that drags foes in for rapid hits of 2%, dealing up to 12% and light upwards knockback. An interesting property of this attack is that it temporarily creates a small gap in the Baroness's hurtbox; this is little more than a quirk, however. This move is particularly potent on Slowed foes, as it becomes more difficult for them to escape with DI.
If she happens to be headless, the Baroness will instead twirl her candy cane in place of her head; this variant of the move is slightly laggier, has a larger hitbox, a stronger vacuum effect, and deals more hits, dealing up to 16%. It also deals more knockback on the final hit, causing moderate upwards knockback. Because of this, it may be wise for the Baroness to lose her head when she's ready to move in for the kill.
This move behaves interestingly with Patsy, as it will pop her up with each hit before letting her land with decreased speed. Perhaps this can help her over small obstacles...? The headless variant also interacts with the Baroness's head: it will spin the head atop the candy cane to extend the attack's range, then pop the head upwards a half Battlefield platform.
D-Tilt: That Jellybean
The only Tilt in which the Baroness herself doesn't attack, this move has her point forwards as a Jellybean soldier charges from beneath her dress in a process that takes about as long as Megaman's Jab. This Pokeball-sized Jellybean runs forward at Mario's dash speed until it falls off the ledge or hits a wall. When it contacts a foe, it deals 8% and an increased level of hitlag, making it a decent harassment tool and potentially opening the foe up for a more dangerous followup; as a bonus, it pierces foes and keeps running afterward. However, the Jellybean cannot jump. It's in the Baroness's best interest to save these soldiers for when the foe is too distracted to watch for them...
The Jellybean is incapable of influencing the Baroness's head, as the head is airborne. However, it can influence Patsy: the Jellybean will begin pushing her if it runs into her. This will increase her speed beyond its natural limit, adding 2% Damage to her attack but makes the Jellybean harmless. The Baroness can have only one Jellybean out.
To keep her from being helpless, the finger point on this move has a weak hitbox, dealing 4% and light knockback. This point can effect her head, and will send it forward a half Battlefield platform. It also affects Patsy, gently increasing/decreasing her speed as in her Jab.
Dash Attack: Dapper Kneecapper
From her brisk dash, the Baroness hops very slightly off the ground before taking a wild kneecapping swing with her candy cane! This hop can let her dodge low attacks and counterattack appropriately, with the swing dealing 12% and moderately high knockback. However, on whiff, the Baroness suffers a good bit of lag as she struggles to regain her balance.
This move is an obvious choice to pair with Patsy, and landing it will send Patsy flying in a low arc at double her current speed! In fact, she even does double the damage she would by rolling! But: take heed before doing this, as Patsy can be reflected when in flight! This move can also bat the Baroness's head around, sending it flying forward 2 Battlefield platforms at high speeds.
F-Smash: Sweet Heat
The Baroness's cane is more than just an accessory; it's packing heat! When this Smash is charging, the Baroness shoulders her cane and looks down the "barrel" of it menacingly; release the charge and, after a lengthy startup equal to that of Bowser's F-Smash, she will fire the shotgun. This creates a bright pink muzzle flash, the move's hitbox, and blows the Baroness backwards 1-2 Battlefield platforms (don't fret, she stops at ledges). This Smash can be angled up or down, and deals 13-19% and very high knockback, being her strongest attack in terms of knockback. However, the startup and lengthy endlag make spamming this a bad idea.
This Smash interacts with quite a few of the Baroness's moves. For starters, as with other attacks, this can launch Patsy. This particular attack launches her like the Dash Attack, and angling it will alter her flight path. Secondly, this Smash will send the Baroness's head rocketing as much as 3.5 Battlefield platforms ahead.
Most importantly, this Smash will suck in N-Spec puffs while charging; on release it fires them forward as one Slowing projectile at Wario's dash speed. The size and damage of this projectile depends on how many puffs were absorbed, ranging from a Turnip and 5% (1 puff) to Kirby and 30% (6). However, this projectile deals no knockback; instead, it sticks to any foe, minion, or solid surface it hits. This has various effects, and the cotton candy can be passed like a Gooey Bomb. The cotton candy eventually disintegrates after being transferred 5 times, regardless of who transferred it.
When stuck to a foe, the cotton candy Slows them until it it passed off. It also counts as part of their hurtbox, making it easier for the Baroness to get her hands on them. Sticking this to a minion will decrease their speed, but allow them to transfer the cotton candy to your foes. In the case of Muffski, he will destroy the cotton candy on husband next jump in exchange for his icing waves causing Slow. There is also another benefit to this: the cotton candy serves as protection for your minions, being able to absorb up to 15 Damage before disintegrating. This cotton candy also extends the minion's hurtbox, meaning it artificially increases the range of Gumbull's activation and the size of one of Waffington's projectiles. Finally, sticking this cotton candy to Patsy will stop her movement altogether, making her into a solid platform until the cotton candy is transferred off of her. This has some obvious interaction with Muffski, allowing him to land on her and fire his icing waves above ground level.
U-Smash: Hovering Hard Candy
What Baroness of a Candy Court wouldn't use the sweet stuff to her advantage? For this Smash's charge, the Baroness puts a hand to her chin in thought. When the charge is released, she snaps her fingers as a flat, wrapped candy springs up out of the floor ahead of her. This Bowser-wide candy takes about as long to pop up as Snake's U-Smash takes to fire. Thanks to this awkward lag, the candy popping up is a rather strong attack in and of itself, dealing 12-18% and moderately high upwards knockback, making this a decent kill option if the Baroness manages to land it.
An interesting propert of this Smash is that this candy behaves like a hovering platform when it stops moving. It will hover at Ganon's eye level for 5 seconds or until the Baroness uses another U-Smash. Using this while close to a minion will obviously pop them into the air as the candy springs up. As it rises, Patsy, Gumbull, and Muffski can make use of it. Patsy will obviously continue rolling, but can get a nice height increase. Gumbull can also take advantage of this to compensate for his lack of a jump. Muffski is the most interesting option, as he still generates his icing waves of he lands on this, with them flying out at the level he landed on. The Baroness's head can also be pushed up with this makeshift platform. Once it STOPS moving, it simply acts as a normal platform, with anyone being able to stand on it with no ill effects.
D-Smash: Chairwoman of the Board
Sometimes, when you're an authority figure, you need to put your foot down, and hard! When charging this Smash, the Baroness puts on a wicked smile and raises a foot. Upon release, she stomps the floor hard, causing a peppermint "floorboard" to pop up at an angle. This floorboard is the main hitbox, dealing 9-14% and moderate upwards knockback; charging does not affect the length of the floorboard, as it is always a Battlefield platform long. There is an additional hitbox on the Baroness's foot; this deals 12% and spikes, but is very small and unlikely to land.
The floorboard popping up has some predictable effects on the Baroness's minions; any of them that are standing in front of her when it is popped up are sent 1.5 Battlefield platforms into the air. This applies to any minion hit by the floorboard, even flying ones like Lord Gob and the Baroness's head! This is more relevant in Patsy's case, as it also increases her speed a considerable amount.
This floorboard stays popped up for 5 seconds or until another is popped up. While it's out, it has some interesting properties. Obviously it serves as a ramp; Patsy can roll up it with slight difficulty. However, upon anyone or anything reaching the apex of the ramp, it will collapse before spring back up, launching whatever is on it skyward 0.5-2.5 Battlefield platforms depending on where they were standing. This applies to any minion that isn't explicitly flying, even the humble Jellybean or the hopping Muffski. In fact, landing on this is quite a boon for Muffski, as it doubles the range of his icing waves the next time he lands! This springiness can especially benefit Gumbull, giving him a pseudo-jump.
Fighters and minions can walk "through" the underside of the makeshift ramp, and it does not block projectiles. The Baroness can collapse the floorboard permanently by performing her D-Smash while standing on it. She can only have 1 floorboard popped up at a time.
D-Air: Candy Cane Chaos
In a way, isn't a cane just a fancier pogo stick? Just ask Uncle Scrooge! In a twist on the old stall-and-fall, this Aerial has the Baroness temporarily halt her momentum before her cane sprouts footholds like a pogo stick; she then grins wildly before suddenly plunging down a Battlefield platform at twice her fall speed. Hitting a foe causes her to bounce up a Battlefield platform while the foe takes 7% and is lightly spiked. An interesting feature of this move is that it can bounce off the ground as well, provided that the Baroness hits it before the move ends. This can help the Baroness stick in the air if she so desires.
This attack can interact with all of the Baroness's minions, even the Jellybean! She can harmlessly bounce off of any of them, and even gets a slight boost by doing so, bouncing 1.5 Battlefield platforms instead of only 1. Doing so will push the minion down if applicable. In Patsy's case, this has no effect on her rolling, but the Baroness can follow her and bounce off her multiple times if she desires!
There are quite a few interesting ways to use this move! For starters, Muffski's constant jumping makes him excellent for getting some extra height; the bounce shoving him down can also help him attack faster. Gumbull, being the tallest minion, is also an interesting option to bounce on, and the Baroness's bouncing won't even close his lid! Lord Gob, constantly pursuing a foe, is also a good choice for bouncing; knocking him downwards also has its uses, as it can make him a little less predictable. The Kernel is difficult to bounce on due to his movement, but the Baroness can also bounce on his mini-Kernels. Finally, Waffington's ambling flight path makes him hard to keep up with, but he's the most flexible flying minion to use, as he has no predicable pattern.
N-Air: Spearmint Spin
Sometimes a situation just calls for a simple, reliable solution! For this attack, her fastest Aerial, the Baroness spins her candy cane rapidly, creating a circular hitbox around her person. This hitbox deals 8% and light radial knockback, making it a handy way to stay safe in the air. It's also handy for general spacing and so keeping the Baroness's foes at bay. Combine it with D-Air and it can become a makeshift rising attack!
While her Tilts affected the grounded minions, the Baroness's Aerials influence her flying subjects! Of course, this attack still affects Patsy; it works just like the Baroness's Jab, increasing/decreasing Patsy's speed. While the Baroness won't harm her minions, using this N-Air around her airborne soldiers will shove them away from her regardless of their usual flight path. This can help mix up their movements or get them out of a pinch, and as a bonus they become a weak projectile while being shoved (6% and light knockback). This attack also affects the Baroness's head, knocking it away with the move's radial knockback but not harming it.
F-Air: Sweet Heat Redux
Since it was so useful in her F-Smash, the Baroness has decided to use her shotgun for another attacks as well! In a somewhat laggy Aerial (on par with DK's, the slowest in canon Smash), the Baroness shoulders, aims, and fires her shotgun, creating the same muzzle flash and recoil effect as her F-Smash, albeit weaker. This flash deals 12% and high knockback, being her strongest Aerial at the cost of the lag; the recoil effect blasts her back 0.5 Battlefield platforms. Combine this with the D-Air's bounce, and the Baroness can catch foes off guard with a powerful blast!
This Aerial blasts Patsy identically to the F-Smash. Additionally, this absorbs the N-Spec puffs and the Baroness's head away just like the F-Smash. This can be extremely handy, as it makes landing her gooey cotton candy much easier! All in all, one of her more straightforward attacks despite its lag and punch.
U-Air: Cane You Believe It?
While the shotgun feature is extremely useful, sometimes a cane can be handy on its own merits! This move, one of the Baroness's quicker Aerials (as fast as Megaman's F-Air), has her swing her candy cane over her head like a sledgehammer; this wide swing covers her sides and a decent area above her. This Aerial deals 9% and moderate upwards knockback, with a sourspot on her sides that only deals 7% and light-moderate radial knockback. When combined with the Baroness's D-Air, this attack can greatly aid her ability to juggle foes, especially considering its speed. In fact, this is easily the best way for her to take advantage of airborne foes, with her being able to relentlessly chase them with her bouncing and pop them skyward!
Since a lot of the Baroness's moves are a little laggy or depend on the support of her minions, this is a valuable tool to have at her disposal. Using this quick Aerial can help the Baroness take advantage of jumpy foes; it especially comes in handy for those who get too gung-ho about interrupting Muffski's jumping attack!
Hitting Patsy with this will pop her skyward, with her flying straight up before landing and resuming her rolling. Additionally, hitting the Baroness's head will pop it up further into the sky. This also applies to other airborne minions, even Muffski mid-jump; this way you can push them up a bit or delay Muffski's attack.
B-Air: Spearmint Shove
Again, sometimes a cane is helpful in and of itself! This Aerial has her roughly thrust the crook of her canebrakes behind her. This is one of the Baroness's faster Aerials, coming out as fast as Jigglypuff's B-Air. It also has some nice range, stretching as far as Ganon's Jab. The only real issue is that the hitbox is short-lived. This attack deals 12% and moderately high knockback. Combine this with her D-Air and she can poke at foes repeatedly!
Using this around a flying minion will harmlessly shove them away from the Baroness; doing so will make them into a weak projectile that deals 6% and light knockback. Additionally, using it on her head will bop it back a Battlefield platform. Using it on Patsy will cause the same effect as the F-Tilt: increasing/decreasing her speed by a decent amount.
The Baroness wouldn't dream of grappling her foes with her own hands! Instead, she channels the spirit of Vaudeville and uses her candy cane as a hook! This gives her the longest grab in the game, but also the slowest. From a dash, the lag is slower, and the range is lower. In addition, this grab has a passive hitbox that drags the Baroness's various minions back towards her; this applies to all of them, even Patsy and the N-Spec puffs! For her pummel, The Baroness uses her free hand to slap the grabbed foe across the face; this is a moderately fast pummel and deals 4%.
F-Throw: Bare(oness) Knuckle Brawl
The Baroness quickly releases the foe before roughly thrusting the crook of her cane into their stomach! This throw deals 8% and light-moderate knockback. This is mainly used to throw her opponents away and out of her face until she's ready to kill them. It isn't really made for killing, but it can be useful for combos; send a foe into a minion's attack, then slap them around when they bounce back! Your best bet would be to use this throw with Lord Gob or Kernel von Pop out; both of them tend to find themselves in the perfect position to bounce a thrown foe back to the Baroness!
Now, this may seem to be a very straightforward throw, and it is in some ways. But, the Baroness has a nasty surprise up her sleeves. When this throw is first input, she'll quickly look back and forth for any nearby minions. Should there be one within a Battlefield platform radius, she'll reach out with her cane and grab them! She'll then "slam" the minion into her hapless victim, causing a nasty brawl to erupt. This brawl is represented as the classic "ball of violence" dust cloud, and is roughly Bowser sized. As the fight carries on for about a half-second, the Baroness cheers her subject on gleefully. Depending on which minion was pulled in, this has a variety of effects.
Should she tag in Muffski, the brawl will be cut short at only a quarter-second. Once this passes, the burly muffin will leap into the air with his opponent in tow. He'll then crash back down about 2 Battlefield platforms ahead of the Baroness in a vicious piledriver. This deals a nasty 15% and leaves the victim prone; it also generates Muffski's icing waves on either side of him. The Baroness applauds when Muffski lands this piledriver.
Grabbing Gumbull will cause a mostly standard brawl, dealing 11% over the course of the throw before launching the victim forward with moderate knockback. The main benefit of bringing in Gumbull is that he'll spray gumballs around him as he normally does. This way he can keep up his DoT effects while also aiding the Baroness's grab.
Roping in Gob, Waffington, or the Kernel will have the same effect regardless of who it is. The brawl will rise through the air as it progresses, eventually booting the foe away with perfectly horizontal knockback about 1.5 Ganons above the ground. This variant deals the same 11% as Gumbull's, but makes it far more difficult for the foe to get back to the Baroness. As the brawl floats away, the Baroness watches it with a hand shading her eyes before pumping a fist in triumph as the foe is launched.
Snagging Patsy as she rolls by will cause the resulting brawl to continue rolling along at her current speed and trajectory for the requisite 1/2 second. This can very easily get an opponent away from the Baroness, and using it when Patsy has built up some speed can make sure they're nowhere around when they're finally ejected with 11% more damage. As an added bonus, the Baroness mockingly waves goodbye to the victim as they're dragged away.
Finally, if the Baroness hooks her own floating head, the brawl will end after only 1/4 second. When the dust clears, the head will have its teeth sunk into the opponent's shoulder! The headless Baroness will then perform her default F-Throw, booting the foe away with her cane for 4%. However, the biting head will deal rapid, constant damage (about 3% a second) to the foe until they manage to hit the Baroness with an attack that deals at least tumbling knockback. Of course, she has ways of keeping her distance...
U-Throw: FORE!
The Baroness releases her foe before performing a nasty upwards swing of her cane! This swing deals 11% and launches foes at an unusually forward angle for a U-Throw; it does moderate knockback, and the unusual angle can make it handy for sending enemies back into the clutches of the Candy Court. More specifically, this is handy for getting foes in range of Waffington's explosions and the Kernel's flight path. As with the F-Throw, this isn't really designed to kill; it's primarily to toss foes into your minions!
Using this throw on a Slowed foe has no particular interaction, but using it on one with cotton candy stuck to them DOES have an effect! More specifically, the sheer force of the Baroness's swing causes the blob to detonate into sugar, increasing the throw's knockback greatly but cushioning the blow so it only deals 8%. It also destroys the blob, obviously. This particular variant is the Baroness's best kill throw, and the speed it launches foes at makes it nigh-impossible to reliably combo it with your minions. Combine this with Vengeance and the Baroness can squeak in shockingly early kills! But be warned: a whiffed Grab will also consume her Vengeance!
B-Throw: You Spin Me Right Round...
The Baroness smiles wickedly, then spins her foe like a top. This deals a rather low 6%, and doesn't actually do any knockback. Instead, the Baroness merely steps past her foe, leaving them behind her. She's then free to act almost immediately.
This may seem like a useless throw, but there's a nasty secret to this. You see, the spinning foe cannot act in any way! They're stuck in what is essentially endlag for a useless move for a short period of time. This can leave them open for attack, give the Baroness a chance to get away from them, or let her get some setup work done. Don't expect to land a free Smash out of this though; the Baroness's Smashes are all too laggy to catch foes out of this spin state.
D-Throw: Get Ahold of Yourself!
Not content with her Pummel's slaps, the Baroness performs a series of three vicious backhands to the foe's face! This is purely a damage racker, dealing 12% total but practically no knockback. This is a risky option, but it can definitely aid in dealing some damage quickly. Besides, the Baroness can always use this near her minions if she wants to be more safe from retaliation!
Using this on a Slowed foe gives the Baroness time to slip in an extra slap, increasing the damage to 16% but curing Slow. If the foe has a cotton candy blob stuck to them, the damage goes up to 20%, but sticks the blob to the Baroness herself. The question is: is it worth losing these valuable status effects...?
Final Smash: Sugarland Shimmy!
With the power of the Smash Ball, the Baroness can now reign over the battlefield as she wishes! With an absolutely psychotic grin, she whistles as her castle rises up beneath her. The Castle stands at the size of 3 Ganon heights and 3 Bowser widths. When it rises, she tugs on its parapets, angering it into charging across the length of the stage!
The Castle charges at nearly DK's dash speed, slamming its towers down like fists all the way. Any poor sap hit by the Castle or its towers will suffer 30% and very high knockback, easily killing all but the healthiest foes!
This charge ends once the Castle reaches the end of its current platform. If this is used in air, it will use the floor beneath the Baroness.
Tasty Taunts:
U-Taunt: The Baroness performs a "cutthroat" gesture, and her head pops off her neck for a moment.
F-Taunt: The Baroness gives off a psychotic smile, one that goes far wider than any smile ought to.
D-Taunt: The Baroness performs a mocking curtsy, then blows a raspberry.
Wally Warbles is a boss in Isle 2 of Cuphead. Wally is a giant bird whose body is mostly inside of its own bird house, only poking out his head, wings and claws. Wally's fight is an airplane boss, coming naturally to a bird that's always in flight, and as a result Wally loves to fill the air with all kinds of projectiles. Wally's attacks in his first phase mostly revolve around him transforming his head into a hand to shoot giant bullets like Master Hand, using birds flying past as makeshift minions, angrily shooting out a ton of feathers. The final attack has Wally shoot eggs out of his mouth that are simple to avoid or very difficult to avoid on Expert. After this first phase, Wally's son takes over after apparently hiding inside of Wally's birdhouse for the duration of phase one. Wally ends the phase by falling out of his birdhouse and shedding all his feathers.
Wally's son is a much smaller bird that according to his death screen is the brains in the operation to Wally's brawn. Wally's son has a constant shield of eggs that periodically expand and contract around him, as Wally's son homes in on Cuphead or Mugman. Wally's son fires an electric bullet on occasion that can always be parried and largely, only the constantly changing egg shield is that much of a thread. Once defeated, Wally's son goes out as he wails tears and marks the end of phase two. Phase three is the strangest yet as Wally returns from his phase one beating carried on a stretcher by two paramedic birds. Laying on the stretcher, Wally turns his head into a trash can that fires all manner of trash at the player, including pink pills that can be parried, an old boot and discarded cans. The paramedic birds will also shoot pills from their beaks at the player which split into two. Wally's massive body on the stretcher and the two helpers at the bottom of the screen make this a hectic phase as a huge chunk of the screen is covered in hitboxes. Wally can also spit out his heart, at which point only the heart can be damaged. After being beaten, Wally will be knocked out and the two paramedics swap their medic hats for chef hats as they sprinkle Wally with salt and pepper ready to eat.
Wally's fight isn't one of the most difficult in the game, although is notoriously hard on Expert, arguably one of the hardest in the game. Wally's character is clearly as the dumb brawn of the a duo with his son, but he is one of the most ridiculously resilient in the game considering he comes back even when he's on a stretcher after phase one and shoots his own heart as an attack. The only more extreme example of this might be Goopy who kills himself to keep attacking Cuphead/Mugman. In the same way as Goopy, Wally doesn't appear in the ending so you can theorize that he also died as a result of his boss fight and was eaten by the bird paramedics. As he's not quite as stupid as Goopy it's harder to justify him as simply forgetting or not knowing about the ending meet up. Wally's son is however perfectly fine and is one of the more obvious candidates for a boss in a hypothetical Cuphead sequel.
Weight: 125 (5 Below Bowser) Walk Speed: 0.75 (Same as Ryu) Dash Speed: 2 (Same as Charizard) Air Speed: 0.92 (Same as Charizard) First Jump: 28 (0.1 above Link) Jump 2-4: 31 (Same as Ike) Gravity: 0.088 (Slightly Above King Dedede, 31st) Fall Speed: Bowser (42nd)
Wally is a big guy and has to be sized down fairly dramatically to work in Smash Bros, his bird house is roughly Ganondorf's height in width and is the majority of his hurtbox. The height is only around that of Dedede because of the roof, the middle being taller but most of Wally's hurtbox is much lower. Only the bird house and his head (which is slightly bigger than Yoshi's) are hitboxes. This gives him a massive horizontal hurtbox but as neither his claws nor wings are hurtboxes, the size of his hurtbox is fairly deceitful. His wings purely as an aesthetic are both half the length of a battlefield platform but most of the time, the one in the back is obscured by Wally's body as seen in his in game art. Wally's birdhouse has one mechanic to help his huge size: attacks dealt to the birdhouse deal 2% less damage, and this is calculated after any form of knockback so does not make Wally any easier to combo.
Wally is a heavy flyer, being that he's 1) a massive bird, 2) inside of a house and 3) has apparently eaten a buffet of props, he's a natural choice for super heavyweight though not that extreme of one. He's a very slow walker and his animation on the ground is merely hovering very narrowly off the ground, using his wings to propel himself forward at a snail's pace. Due to said hovering, he's got a very poor traction, almost as bad as Luigi. His dash speed is much faster and highly comparable to Charizard's great dash speed as he points his wings out and vaults forward, one of his best assets. Surprisingly for a bird Wally is not too fast in the air, having the same air speed as Charizard who is 47th in Smash 4. Wally's first jump is fairly decent and has three midair jumps the same strength as Charizard's. This is even more jumps than Charizard so combined with his low fall speed and middling gravity, Wally is a hard character to KO.
This is only Wally's set of stats at the start of the match. After taking 80% damage to his bird house, calculated ignoring the 2% armour it has, the bird house will explode leaving Wally completely exposed! This doesn't happen passively but requires the foe to land a move that deals 10% or more to the bird house to deal 1.5x the hitlag of that move as the bird house collapses around Wally, making it very dangerous for Wally in this state. When dealt 80% the bird house will then start to glow red once a second showing that it's about to fall apart but can theoretically not be hit off for the entire stock. After the bird house is destroyed Wally's weight is nerfed from 125 to 115 (1 below Charizard) and his dash speed increases to 2.1, the same as Zero Suit Samus. Each of Wally's jumps are buffed by 5 points putting his first jump on par with Bowser and jumps 2-4 on par with Charizard, a huge recovery buff to make up for his loss in weight. When the bird house is destroyed Wally's hurtbox is reduced to just his big feathery body which is only around the size of DK ignoring his head which is still a hurtbox and his wings/talons remain non-hurtboxes.
What this mechanic does is make Wally take less damage early on in the stock, losing a chunk of weight but gaining much better jumps. This forces him to re-orient his playstyle from a more grounded one to an aerial one utilizing his much improved jumps. His air speed and fall speed don't change, but were not that bad to start with, the buff to the jumps gives him a massive amount of aerial control he didn't have previously. Once the bird house is brought down, the foe will want to land a powerful attack to take advantage of the improved hit lag but won't want to leave it too long as Wally has a few ways to get rid of the bird house himself first losing any negative that Wally had besides losing weight and getting a smaller hurtbox.
Neutral Special: What an Egg Head!
Wally spits out an egg that is shot forward at a slow speed, the egg travels two battlefield platforms and deals 5% with decent radial knockback that combos at low levels, spacing at middle-high percents, able to KO at 200%. This is a useful projectile to have around as it's the size of Yoshi's egg and the lag on the move is quick, especially the ending lag, making it difficult to punish at medium or longer range. At the end of its two battlefield platform trajectory the egg explodes, sending out 5 egg shell pieces in a five-pointed star pattern each dealing 2% damage and low knockback. These pieces are half the size of a capsule item. The egg will explode early if it hits a solid object such as a wall or is hit by a hitbox that deals 5% or higher, causing it to explode and create the egg shells earlier. Wally himself can cause this to happen but will find it difficult to catch up to the egg during its flight. When exploding against a wall the 5 egg shell pieces instead are split into a pattern shot equally across a 180 degree arc.
Spaced right Wally can have the egg explode on the foe as it reaches the end of its travels and that is far easier than trying to explode it manually with melee hitboxes. The egg should force some reaction from the foe and will keep going if it hits them so that it continues being a threat even after the initial hit. When an egg shell is out on stage, Wally won't be able to summon another. Instead Wally squawks in an angry rage in place for a short animation, this causes the egg wherever it is on stage to explode early! This is mostly useful as a feint however due to the fact the shout has no hitbox so is extremely punishable if the explosion doesn't hit the foe, adding a good deal of pressure whenever the egg is out and encouraging the foe to approach to cover the option.
The neutral special can be charged for as long as a smash attack, and at the end of the egg's lifespan, it will instead of creating an egg shell hatch a yellow bird! This bird is the size of a Mario fireball and travels backwards towards where the egg was fired, in the opposite direction the egg was fired. The bird will bob up and down slightly but largely travel at a straight horizontal level at the speed of Mario's fireball. The bird has one active hitbox in the nail strapped to its head, this deals 6% damage and a little higher knockback than the egg does. The nail does twice as much hitstun as a normal hit would making it very easy to combo out of. This deals slightly downwards-angled knockback so is very powerful off stage but as they travel back towards Wally, they can only gimp if fired from off stage and the move has to be charged, so this isn't too viable. This is a non-storable charge.
The bird has only 10HP so isn't much of a threat. When the move is charged past one-third a smash charge, the move instead creates two birds, and after two-thirds of charging will create three birds! The second is identical to the first, with the third being a special pink bird. When the multiple birds hatch they occupy the same space before the others fan out to either side and the birds travel very close together (a little closer than in the GIF) in a line. Each of them have the same damaging nail hitbox passively and have 10HP. At max charge, all three birds will be pink. Pink birds are merely buffed from the yellow ones, having 13HP and their nail deals 7%, as it's a tad larger, giving it a marginally bigger hitbox too.
When the birds have hatched, Wally gains access back to his neutral special but can't create more birds. However by firing his egg forward this is very easy to destroy his own egg prematurely using the hitbox of his birds. This makes it incredibly dangerous close up to Wally when his birds are on the way back as his egg will explode making it impossible to dodge, and harder to roll even than usual ignoring having multiple birds making that option impossible. The foe is then largely forced to jump and enter an air-to-air fight and that's a fight where Wally likes his odds.
Side Special: Eat Garbage!
Wally transforms his head into a trash can roughly 1.5x its normal size and rushes forward, travelling the same distance as Flame Choke in the air or grounded in a grab hitbox. Wally has super armour against attacks that deal 4% or less for this attack and if he reaches a foe, he'll scoop them up with his trash head for 3% damage and gobble them up into his garbage can head! The foe is eaten away at for rapid 1% damage as Wally chews on their body, dealing another 7% until Wally decides he's tasted enough and opens the lid, shooting the foe away for a final 5% damage. This has the same angle as the Flame Choke custom, Flame Wave, only with much lower knockback that KOs around 40% later than Ganondorf's move. The start lag on this is a little better than Ganondorf's but has as bad of end lag making it a lot easier to use with the super armour too. When rushing forward, any healing items/food will be scooped up into Wally's mouth passively healing for the full amount as he chokes them down.
In the air Wally won't chew on the foe but instead chirp arrogantly for a moment as he performs a clumsy midair loop and then repositions his body so that his face is towards the ground, performing a dive bomb downwards! When Wally hits the ground, he crushes his trash can head and the foe against the ground, dealing 5% self damage, but also a massive 20% damage and the same knockback as Bowser's side special. Wally's head then transforms back. The foe is launched at a high angle and this is one of Wally's most powerful KO moves. However in the air the move loses its super armour, and if Wally tries to suicide with the move, it uses the same mechanics as Bowser. This means that Wally will always die first so can only effectively suicide at a stock lead. Wally will enter helpless when the move is used in the air and has a much worse free fall air speed in this state, resembling his defeated animation. Wally can redirect the dive bomb in the same vein as Bowser, again copying the same mechanics so that whoever has the life lead has less control over where Wally lands. Wally jumps up a Ganondorf height when he does the loop so can traverse quite a distance using the move.
When rushing forward as part of the initial side special Wally will gobble up anything in his way if the button is held, taking a small amount of time to eat anything into the trash can, ranging from projectiles to enemy minions. This largely has the same limitations as Villager's Pocket in this respect so works on basically everything. After eating it up Wally ends the move and transforms his head back. The next time the move is used and the move is held Wally instead pops open his trash lid at the end and shoots out whatever was stored inside of his can! This is limited to whatever Wally could get inside his gullet when he initially used the move but he can absorb up to 3 things at once in that first rush, so can even absorb his own birds! These items are shot out a small distance apart at a slight lobbing arc that goes a platform width and a Mario height into the air before landing on the ground, or going off stage. Projectiles will be launched at their normal trajectory however, and be under Wally's ownership.
Wally doesn't have to spit what he gobbled up right out however. Wally can simply use the normal side special and when he eats a foe with his trashy stomach full, he'll chew the foe around amidst all the garbage he ate, dealing all the damage these projectiles or minions do to the foe. This buffs the chewing part of the move to deal another 1-5 hits of 1% to deal up to 12% damage, and the final hit deals 1-5% extra damage. All in all, this buff maxes out at dealing 20% damage and will KO 5-50% earlier, at its maximum power KOing a little bit before Ganondorf's very powerful Flame Wave. This will use up all the minions or projectiles in the trash can. These objects that Wally ate up will be reset when he loses a stock so all the foe has to do is KO him to take away his gluttonous pressure. Naturally, when the birds all rush right at Wally they're the perfect candidate to be eaten, and the three pink birds all together deal 21% so will max out the 20% easily with 1% to spare.
Up Special: Feather Fiend!
Wally flaps his wings angrily and creates a large amount of feather projectiles than fan out from his wings, each dealing 1% and flinching, and gains free flight around half as effective as Villager's Balloon up special. This weakness is offset by Wally gaining super armour for the duration of the move and his wings become massively hitboxes that deal 4% damage and low knockback, able to combo into itself from low percents or at very close range for up to three hits. The last hit scales greatly with Rage, able to KO normally around 200% but at max rage will only need the foe to be at 120% or higher. The foe is launched at a radial angle so the power of this can very greatly and depends on the match up and stage. This puts Wally into the same helpless fall as his side special. On the ground the move is the same but much faster, especially the end lag, only taking a second to shoot out all feathers, and won't take Wally into the air or move him at all.
The feathers that Wally shoots out only deal flinching knockback at first, the first batch of feathers, then after that the rest of them deal only a passive 1% damage to foes each and no knockback. As Wally is in the middle of his up special, he could only possibly take advantage of this by grabbing the ledge, as he can't even be interrupted out of the move due to his own up special. Over the entire duration of the up special, 40 feathers will be created, a batch of 10 feathers shot out four times, with only the first 10 dealing flinching knockback. The feathers come out at equal distance in a fan pattern, ones that hit the ground become brittle and stuck to it, pointing upwards out of the ground. When Wally uses his side special over the feathers, he sucks them up into his garbage can, visibly being eaten as he scoops all of them at once. The feathers are however treated as consumable healing items/food so Wally is able to eat as many as them at once as he likes, although he is not healed by them. Instead feathers will remain inside of Wally as a 1% damage dealer that powers up his Eat Garbage! command grab, which is very powerful when each feather adds 1%. The feathers won't dissipate but stick around on stage for as long as an item or until Wally uses up special again, falling in the air like stickers or sticking into the ground, but can be destroyed with any attack by foes. Projectiles will not be blocked and go right through the feathers too.
By charging the up special Wally will choke down the feathers and add to his stomach space in the side special, or spit it out immediately. Wally when he does spit it out looks in pain as he chokes up a ball of feathers, spitting it out below him at a sharp diagonal angle. The ball of feathers will only come out over the normal move if he ate at least 10 feathers, and ranges from 10 feathers where it is the size of a Mario fireball to the size of Dedede at 40 feathers. This scales greatly from dealing only 5% damage at 10 feathers to 20% at 40 feathers, not exactly viable at that amount. The ball travels down at the speed of a falling Mii Fighter shotput, so quite fast. The knockback scales from very low knockback to very high, able to KO at 80% and at the angle is an extremely good gimp off stage. This all requires a lot of set up to consume all those feathers and to not get KO'd first, which causes Wally to lose them all. When the ball of feathers hits the stage, it will roll across it at a fairly mediocre speed of Mario's dash speed. The feathers and ball are both disproportionately knocked around by wind hitboxes due to their mass, helping to build up momentum despite going against a head wind due to their small weight.
Once on the ground the feather ball can build up mass if it passes over other feathers and will become stronger, dealing only 5% less than its airborne hitbox. This bottoms out at 5%. It goes slowly but can be sped up when attacked from behind which propels it forward up to 1.4x as fast, or attacked from the other direction. If it is brought to a stop the ball will explode in place, a hitbox 0.8-1.3x the size of Charizard's Rock Smash that deals weak-strong knockback, roughly the same multiplier of Rock Smash's knockback, and deals the same damage as its feathers would have (these are a lot of feathers). There is a grace period of a second before it does explode. This makes it easy for Wally to first shoot out his eggs and birds to hit the ball back towards him without always making it stand in place and explode... though he certainly could do that to create more hitboxes on stage. When the ball is attacked besides that, it will get gradually smaller as it sheds half the incoming attack’s damage worth of feathers all around, only dealing a passive 1% each again and dissipating when they touch the floor but still a nuisance.
Wally can eat this ball too, of course! However this will treat the ball as a projectile, not a healing/food item so he has to hold the move and doesn't passively eat it up, taking up his "Pocket" space so that he's forced to use it the next time. He will shoot this out as a normal, albeit potentially very powerful projectile. The key difference between this and other projectiles he can absorb of his own is that it carries over the same mechanic of absorbing feathers it travels over, in the air or on the ground, to build up it power as it's rolling across the ground. This gives Wally the ability to stall for more feathers then have a half completed ball ready to go, and is able to eat it up if he wants to keep it around. However keep in mind when KO'd, his Garbage Space is deleted too, so Wally has a limited time to play with his feathers or other garbage. Spitting out a feather ball follows the visual look of in the boss fight, creating a lump in Wally's throat for the start up, and if neutral b is pressed during this animation Wally will stack the lag of both specials and shoot out a feather ball surrounding an egg, combining the size of the two. When the feather ball loses all its feathers or is destroyed it will then shoot out the eggs as if right out of Wally's mouth. This is the one way that Wally has to delay shooting his egg but has some insane lag on it as a result.
Down Special: Angry Bird
Wally transforms his head into a red horn that whistles loudly in place over a short duration by default. Wally will vent steam out of the windows for his wings and claws below him, a wind hitbox as powerful as Dedede's Inhale pushing foes more from a closer range. The wind reaches half a battlefield platform in width and in terms of range, is around the height of Kirby from the two sides, and Kirby’s width at the bottom. These window areas on the bird house are not particularly convenient hitboxes due to the boxy shape of the bird house in the first place, though has a good enough range this isn't a big deal. The wind deals a passive 1% and flinching so cannot be used to gimp, other than at the very edge of its hitbox where it pushes foes away slightly without any damage, like Bowser's Flame Breath. The move has some end lag which makes it impossible to combo into itself, though it may be combo'd into other moves if the foe was caught at a close enough range.
The power of this move increases greatly as Wally takes damage, this only being the default version when Wally is at 0%. For every 10% that Wally takes, the steam that comes out of his windows will instead be covered in more and more fire from Wally's rage, dealing another 1% damage as it goes up and instead of dealing a wind hitbox, gradually transitions from wind into an outright fire hitbox that burns the foe in place for extended hitstun from the improved damage, the fire unaffected by rage. This maxes out at the max for Rage, 150%. This at max leads to a 15% damage hitbox with the same massive range as the other wind normally has around Wally but now not pushing them away, instead leaving them to be massively punished by Wally if he can get in a follow up. This has the same hitstun as Robin's Arcthunder at the top cap. As an attack, this has a fairly long start up as its main weakness, but once it deals some damage the bad end lag becomes less and less of an issue due to hitstun, changing its function from more of a spacing or defensive move to an offensive one that becomes harder to punish but easier to shield for foes.
Down B is one of Wally's major moves to get rid of his bird house once it has no HP left without taking extra hit lag from the foe. Using down special will make Wally perform the move, but instead of just using the move normally, the bird house's four walls are blown away at the same time! The walls are only blown a battlefield platform away and dissipate on contact with anything solid. They deal 10% and high knockback in the direction they're shot, are massive hitboxes and have transcendent priority, able to KO at 100%. This attack is naturally a one-time use as it then gets rid of the bird house and leaves Wally in his normal bird form. The move's short duration is more relevant when the move has a powerful attack behind it too, though this does make the move very predictable and there is no follow up potential after the walls hit, plus more than one can't hit at once on a non-boss opponent. The walls being blown off accompanies the wind and fire from the move normally making it quite a devastating move but having to delay blowing away the house and risking getting hit by the opponent gives a pretty big lean to the risk versus reward.
The move's defensive capabilities change as Wally's rage goes up too, Wally's head visibly becoming read at default signifying that it has super armour against moves that deal 10% or less and deals a passive 1% rapidly to any foe who is in touching distance. This lasts for the duration of the move up until the end lag, so can be punished if the foe waits it out. At 50%, this animation changes so that Wally's two wings are also covered in red from his anger, turning them into an active hitbox that has the same effect, dealing rapid 1% and covering that area of the bird house as the wings now overlay it in a defensive position. At 100%, the blood will flow to Wally's talons to cover the underneath of the bird house for an identical effect. By 150% Wally grows so angry that his body spreads the effect to the entire bird house, his rage cannot be contained by a mere wooden house! These effects linger for 3 seconds after the move is over so will artificially buff any moves that use those parts of Wally’s hurtbox. This massive amount of super armour is great but does not give Wally anti-grab armour so is mostly useful against foes in the air or when Wally is too high in the air himself to be grabbed. Even on the ground though as it covers more and more of his body this is a great quasi-counter to use on foes especially when they become too predictable playing against the big bird.
Any source of fire, including that from Wally's own down special, will cause the feathers or feather balls to ignite in flames for 1 second, becoming hitboxes that deal 1% and a single short instance of flinch to foes, not stacking if multiple hit at once. The feather then dissipates. A feather ball will catch fire and rapidly decrease in size, taking from 1-10 seconds to burn down and dissipate, now dealing rapid hits of 1% and the first hit a short flinch. The feathers will also get pushed around by the wind hitbox of the move disproportionately, interrupting any momentum they had rolling to push the ball in the opposite direction. This is all significant to start up the activation of the eggs hatching from when the feather ball wears out.
Forward Smash: Have a Heart!
Wally drags his claws on the front of his birdhouse for charge time then uses his claws to pull himself forward, causing him to spit out his heart! The heart is the size of Rosalina's Luma, and is shot forward 1-1.5 battlefield platforms, dealing 10-14% damage and high knockback, just above that of Rosalina's Luma on her forward smash, but lacks the hitbox Rosalina creates by comparison to that move. The heart will then shoot out three very small pellets in a fan pattern that each deal 2% and light flinching knockback, before retracting very quickly back to Wally and being absorbed. As in the game, Wally can be damaged by hitting the heart. The heart is immune to knockback or grabs however and after end lag, automatically returns to Wally by just dissipating if it doesn't reach him naturally. The heart will take an increased 1.2x damage compared to Wally normally considering it’s you know, Wally’s heart, but as Wally only tanks the damage and doesn’t take knockback this only helps to buff his down special.
Following the boss fight's logic and the same as Bowser's up smash for the most part, Wally's actual, massive hurtbox is invulnerable for the duration the heart is out. This means he is unpunishable until end lag starts and can use this to his advantage in a lot of ways, though his heart is far more vulnerable than Wally. The heart will passively take damage from any of Wally's own minions, traps or projectiles on stage, though only damage and not knockback. The difference between this and Bowser's usmash is that the amount of invulnerability can vary, starting after start lag, but can be extended to only after end lag ends, making it completely unpunishable, but only if the heart gets trapped on his own birds or eggs.
A follow up can be performed that has Wally rush forward, transforming immediately, as he eats up his heart personally! Wally seems to be running on fumes as he has the same "x's" on his eyes as he does during the attack. He rushes forward to the heart wherever it is and deals 15% to any foes in his way, even going through the air to get to the heart. This knockback scales very quickly based off Rage, KOing normally at 100% but scaling down to 70% at max rage, though as with all follow-ups is pretty telegraphed. On the plus side, Wally's own hurtbox is gigantic and deals massive shield push as well as shield stun, plus is very hard to dodge or roll due to its size. If he does fail to get to it Wally suffers bad end lag as the heart dissipates, very punishable. If he does reach his heart the move has far quicker end lag.
Unlike the normal side special trash move, Wally eats his heart with his real mouth. If a foe is next to his heart when he gulps it down, there is a small grab hitboxes all around it that has them be swallowed down the gullet of Wally along with his heart. This gives Wally full control in the same way as Dedede's inhale as he grabs his birdhouse/body with his claws and walks around the stage, or can do one jump to go off-stage. The foe can escape at grab difficulty. The foe escape just as with Inhale, or will be spat out and covered in random grab like a boot, apple core or half a pill (as in the trash can move in Cuphead). This acts as the "star" the foe is usually comprised of in Dedede's Inhale, with the foe spat the same distance, a largely cloned mechanic. It's arguably whether with such a higher fall speed Wally can abuse this any more as a gimp than Dedede, but gets just as much out of it considering he can vomit the foe out into his birds or exploding egg.
Any other projectiles or other objects that are around the heart will be eaten by Wally too. The range around the heart is around that of an average grab in all direction but is of course highly telegraphed. These objects are consumed in the same manner as Wario's chomp, healing based on the same logic as that neutral special. For Wally's own set though he's not exactly throwing out anything digestible. He won't eat individual feathers as they're too small but trying to consume a feather ball will have Wally be stunned for a short moment as he hacks it up and then chokes down the feathers for 4-7 seconds depending on the size of the ball eaten, which is not stun. Wally will spit out a small hitbox of feathers out of his mouth, only around the size of minimum strength Bowser breath, dealing constant 1% damage and limited hitstun. This stops when Wally is hit, uses a move, shields, rolls or dodges, but persists when he idles, walks, dashes or jumps. This feather breath has enough range to easily hit foes on the ground beneath from a short hop distance but its hitstun scales to not deal hitstun so quickly, it's only useful to combo into another move. As Wally is slow and finds it hard to get in period this can be an extremely useful tool. When Wally eats his bird minions, he immediately spits them back out, adding 8 frames of end lag for each bird that is spat out. They continue their previous forwards trajectory after that, but after boosted to deal 10/13% damage for yellow/pink birds when first spat out as they travel at twice their normal speed for a battlefield platform in distance. Wally is free to turn around before he spits out each bird to redirect them the opposite direction, besides that the extra lag makes this hard to perform unpunished in a close ranged fight.
Up Smash: Master Claw
Wally transforms his head into a giant hand for the start lag, then charges as the hand points upwards, swivelling his body so that it faces perpendicular to the screen. After charging, the hand fires three fairly big bullets upwards, one straight and the two other at equal angles that begin close to the straight one but fan out as they travel forward. The bullets each deal 5-7% damage and KO at the same power as Villager’s fireworks, though scale a little worse, only KOing around 130%. On normal sized opponents, two shots may ever collide to deal a combined total that will KO a good 20% sooner, though landing all three at once is simply impossible due to the far apart nature of the bullets. Each bullet is around twice the size of a Samus missile and will travel upwards for 1-1.5 Ganondorf heights before exploding in a Bob-Omb explosion sized hitbox that deals 5% and light upward knockback, though this can definitely KO on low stages at super high percents.
Wally’s bullets are instead duds if Wally presses the B/special button after charge is over, the bullets now glow blue periodically instead of red. This signals that the bullet will instead of exploding, fall back down the ground and only explode 5 seconds later in the same hitbox. However it can now be eaten up by Wally. This will act the same as any other projectile that Wally eats, only with one significant advantage: when it explodes, Wally will have the same animation as others when they eat explosives, such as Wario or Dedede, and his entire house will expand out for a moment as he braces from eating an explosive. As his house is not just his body, this is itself a weak hitbox that deals 3% damage and weak radial knockback. The range of this is 1.3x the normal size of Wally’s hurtbox all around his birdhouse, and has a generous somewhat disjointed hitbox to not miss foes in front. The same thing happens without the birdhouse only with a smaller hitbox only 1.2x the underbelly of Wally, similar to Wario or Dedede, and for a token 1% damage with low hitstun. Wally does still have the same punishable lag when the explosive goes off but this hitbox means it’s practically an automated panic button if the foe was combo’ing him at that point and it only goes off after the 5 seconds has elapsed. This means that Wally can time it to make sure he’ll escape any combo the foe has close to his body.
The bullet will go off if when it falls it hits a foe or Wally’s birds or his feather ball. This can both be chaotic and helpful if Wally planned for this to happen, creating an explosion to hit the foe as they dodge these things or simply killing them off quicker so Wally can summon them all again, typical minion fare. What is different here is if Wally eats up one of these and his bullet together using his side special. The bullets are treated as consumables so don’t add to his item counter, though he can only eat 4 at once before being too fat to eat another. This will cause the bullet to not go off inside of him and instead be reset for when he next spits out the bullet and whatever else of his own set was eaten. When he does manage to spit them both out again, whatever was next to the bullet in the order will have been strapped to the bullet just like Wally strapped those nails to the birds in his neutral b! This goes for the birds (who now have a bomb strapped below them and the nail above them) as well as the feather ball which just has the bomb injected into its middle. After 5 seconds these bombs will all go off. A single bomb won’t kill off any of these outright but will still do decent damage around them, or in the case of the feather ball send out a couple of feathers and speed it up. Wally can however eat up to 4 additional bombs all at once and strap them all to his eaten victims in the same areas! This will create an explosion 1.1-1.4x the normal size that deals as much damage as the bomb would, very powerful, but also ensuring the death of the birds and probably destroying the feather ball, if not making it shed many of its own feathers.
The foe doesn’t escape from this gluttonous fate. When the foe is eaten and Wally has the bullets as time bombs inside his stomach, he will do a special gulp signifying he’s strapped the bullet bombs to them too. The bullets will be placed randomly on a part of the foe’s body, up to 4 as previously established. The foe can knock them off with an attack that deals 10% or more and hits them away like a Pikmin. After 5 seconds however all the bullets will explode for a potentially very powerful explosion that hits them straight up. This like sticky bomb can be shielded but 1 bullet already deals 0.8x the shield stun, and each additional one adds another 0.2 to that counter, so at the cap of 4 bullets will deal a massive amount of hitstun, 1.4x that of the sticky bomb. This makes the foe very easy to punish and potentially shield break. Likewise, if the foe tries to spot dodge, a similar multiplier is used compared to sticky bomb in terms of how long the explosion lasts, though is a bit more forgiving so that they have any chance if they do it perfectly, except at the max amount of bullets.
Down Smash: Bird Pen
Wally prepares his claws and grips onto the ground below him as his expression grows angrier over charge time, then rips up the ground using his massive strength! This doesn’t actually terraform but runs on similar logic to pitfalls in that it simply creates a small explosion of generic dirt in that general area. This throws up a huge amount of rubble on both sides of Wally as he pulls up part of the stage, the rubble is as wide as Kirby on both sides and reaches up the height of a yellow Pikmin. The rubble deals 13-18% damage and high upward knockback, the strongest of his smashes as it will KO around 120% uncharged. That is at the closest point to Wally but further out at the edges it instead deals a sourer 10-14% and medium knockback by dsmash standards, definitely on the lower scales by Smash 4 standards as it deals largely horizontal knockback. The move has a little bit of ending lag that makes it punishable with faster moves although it deals a lot of shield push due to the great size of the hitbox pushing the foe all the way out, making it safe on shield as long as the foe isn’t super close when it goes off. The rubble will linger a little longer than most attacks due making it a solid move to use punishing dodging or prone opponents.
Wally can actually do a little more damage to the stage in the follow up to his normal dsmash, which has him dive bomb for an actual landing with his claws! Wally’s claws and the bottom side of his bird house become hitboxes that deal 12% and 7% respectively with good knockback, dealing upwards knockback like moves such as Kirby’s down special to knock foes above Wally for an aerial follow up. Without the bird house this instead uses Wally's bottom and claws for a lower 10% and 7% respectively. This has lower end lag than the normal move, it’s just a lot more telegraphed. On top of the follow up’s actual attack, Wally landing on his stalagmites before they dissipate causes them to become bunched up on either side of him as his mass pushes them all together, forming a small mound of rubble the height of a Pikmin but limited width. These walls have 10-20HP depending on the charge of the down smash and will crumble only after 10 seconds have passed, or Wally tries to create another set somewhere else on the stage. These wall-like constructs are useful as they are semi-solid, they can be can be rolled through but do work as walls. The catch is that when foes or Wally are hit into them, the mound takes up to 10% damage from being knocked into it depending on what knockback the foe was taking as they were hit into it. The walls redirect his birds in the other direction, as well as his low weight feather balls and even hatch his eggs when he hits the walls with them.
Any character hit into the mound will destroy it if taking downward knockback that would hit them roughly a battlefield platform normally, basically any non-weak knockback. This forces the foe to take heavy hitstun as the rubble explodes all around them in a hitbox that deals 5% and if hit down into the ground into the rubble, forces them to delay any tech attempt due to this extra hitstun. This lets Wally easily get the follow up on foes around his rubble but doesn’t suffer the same disadvantage, instead Wally will simply destroy the mound and extended hitlag, but no hitstun due to taking no damage. Wally will actually be given an opportunity to tech the ground without any extra hitstun, only appropriate hitlag, as he then hits the ground. This not only gives uniform teching ability to Wally, which he really enjoys given how much he can potentially be hit into the ground due to his size, but lets him have a fairly uniform teching window as it comes right after hitting that rubble, making it a nice construct to have around for sure.
Wally can use this move with his various set up below him to have slightly different effects. When there's a Feather Ball beneath him Wally will grab onto it and crush it against the ground causing the feathers to be shot out on his side in either direction, creating a hitbox that deals 1% per feather in the ball, maxing out at 15%. This can either simply cover the end lag of the down smash with very weak combo knockback or at the max level do decent spacing knockback to hit the foe away and reset neutral entirely, which is probably the preference for Wally considering his statistics. The feathers will then be destroyed in that feather ball. Feathers on the ground will simply be added into the mound of rubble the move creates, adding 1HP to the mound up to another 10HP and stick out of it awkwardly, resembling a stack of needles. This will make the mound deal a passive 1% with no knockback once a second to any foe who touches the mound. This makes hitting the foe into the mound with weaker attacks that much more appealing and once the mound is destroyed, the feathers deal another 1-5% damage with very light knockback, mostly useful to stack with any other hitbox Wally uses. When Wally uses his down special it will blow the feathers away or burn them up, increasing the down special's hitbox by 1.1-1.3x depending on the amount of time the effect had left.
Grab and Pummel: Peck Away
Wally throws out his talons forwards and clasps his claws towards the ground in a massive range melee grab, it's as good as Dedede's in Brawl in fact, and the start lag isn't bad. On whiff the grab shows its negatives as it's a few frames slower than most melee grabs making it technically one of the "slowest" but for most intents and purposes is a great grab. Another downside is that the pivot grab is not so great, but Wally's poor traction means he will slide away to general safety. Another big positive is that Wally's dash grab is excellent due to his fast grab so ends up with a similar playstyle in terms of grab as Charizard in Smash 4 where, only having the caveat of the end lag being a good bit slower than the norm. Wally's grab animation is squeezing them with his talons in front of him as he looks on angrily, lowering his height as he's technically "grounded," at least when he grabs a character that doesn't also hover midair for their idle animation. Wally's pummel has him use his beak to peck at the foe in a small reference to the woodpeckers in the second Run n Gun level of Cuphead Isle 1, Treetop Trouble. The pummel deals a very quick 1% damage, in the reverse of what you'd expect out of a heavyweight bird.
Forward Throw: Self Medicate
Wally bites the foe and tosses them away at a low angle for 5%, following up by spitting out a pill from his paramedics at the foe! Wally will spit out 3 capsule-sized pills in the foe's direction, at low percents all hitting for 3% each and light knockback, a typical combo or damage dealer throw as these give Wally a slight frame advantage, with high end lag on the throw. When the foe is too high, the pills will miss like Mewtwo's fthrow. If a pill misses the foe it won't just dissipate however and instead splits in half, with each side of the pill falling for a Ganondorf height before it dissipates and dealing a reduced 2% damage and light radial knockback. Wally can press special, signified by glowing red on his beak during the throw's start up toss, to fill the pills one at a time with items he has eaten in his trash can. They will be filled progressively in the reverse order of when they were eaten, putting the last eaten item into the first pill and so on. He can delay pressing special to put items in later pills too giving him a limited control on the order. At the end when the pill splits in two, it will shoot the projectile out. If it hits the foe, the pill will not dissipate and instead fall to the ground and spawn the projectile when it hits the ground or after 1 second of falling at Jigglypuff's fall speed. This is one of the best ways for Wally to litter the skies with projectiles.
The pills will have alternate effects when Wally fills them with certain of his own set up items. When he has bird minions inside his trash can from neutral special, these will cause the pill to be carried in the air if it doesn't hit the foe initially, not falling to the ground but instead moving at a slightly nerfed 2/3rds speed of the bird's normal speed in their same trajectory, continuing like this until the pill takes damage or hits solid ground. The bird will turn around after a reset amount of distance to go in the opposite direction in the pill. Once the bird is out of the pill, the birds will then reverse direction again and go in the other direction, greatly expanding its time out on stage. This can be left up to Wally to activate but also the foe or simply anything solid on the stage. The pill has no hitbox however but as the bird can't take damage in the pill, gives them artificial super armour.
Feathers or a feather ball inside of a pill will make it fall slower, 1.2x slower than Jigglypuff's already super slow fall speed, and when it shoots out the feathers will do so in a 1-1.5x Bob-Omb explosion sized hitbox of feathers that deals 5-10% and low scaling, low knockback damage. This can mostly be used to combo as the knockback is so minimal from exploding a bunch of feathers out of a packed pill. This maxes at using up to 15 feathers per pill and will not use up the entire feather ball, basically treating the feathers are an ammo bank for the sake of the dthrow. The feathers will then dissipate after the initial explosion. Due to the very low fall speed, this basically turns into a trap for Wally to activate later and makes it awkward for the foe to return to the stage. As Wally can manipulate what item to put in what pill both as a small mix up but also to put birds or feathers in later pills to ensure they don't hit the foe and activate as quasi traps.
Up Throw: Fly Me To The Moon
Wally grabs the off the ground using his talons and then performs one large swipe with both wings pushing him up 1 or 1.5 Ganondorf heights depending on if he has a bird house or not (respectively), then dives straight down on top of the foe for 15/13% damage! When he has the bird house still on, this actually deals more knockback due to the extra weight of the bird house on top of the foe while it deals less without the bird house. This has the same knockback as Charizard's KO Up Throw at default but without the bird house will only KO 20% later than that, not a huge nerf but definitely hurts given this is Wally's best KO throw. This is one of the best incentives for Wally to keep the bird house and for the foe to get it off him early to avoid his powerful up throw. The one upside of the weaker version is it gives Wally a small amount of control, only a quarter to a half of horizontal movement for Wally on the foe depending on the foe's percent, and will stop at the ledge. This importantly lets him land on platforms above Wally to KO much earlier than his normal uthrow would allow.
Wally's uthrow changes when landing on the rubble mounds from his dsmash. Rather than dealing the normal damage and knockback, Wally impales the foe into the ground for a pitfall due to the weakened ground and deals 5% damage. Wally then grabs the ground by the foe's hurtbox and grabs it out of the ground, pulling up a chunk of ground roughly the horizontal size of the foe as Wally flies up the same distance of 1 or 1.5 Ganondorf heights and drops the foe in place! They fall to the ground, without any possible horizontal movement in the non-bird house version, and are dealt another 10% and high upwards knockback. This is a little stronger than the normal birdhouse version making it an extremely strong KO throw and the best Wally has at his disposal, the only way for Wally to get off such a throw without the bird house. Besides the damage and power buff, the move leaves Wally in the air where he dropped the foe letting him carry on attacking the foe from the air after the throw ends.
Down Throw: Egg On My Face
Wally throws the foe up into his mouth for 4%, rolling them around before he spits them out in an egg dealing another 3%! This is the same egg as from his neutral special but is shot in a lobbing arc that goes from only a Kirby up and away from Wally before falling at an average character's fall speed, to being shot a Ganondorf up in the air and a battlefield platform before falling at Fox's very fast fall speed! This changes depending on the foe's percent like a normal throw despite them being in the egg. The egg will shatter either after it's hit the ground when it falls or if it falls beyond the horizontal level of Wally when he used the throw, preventing the foe from being tossed off stage. The foe can't mash out of the egg state but only takes half damage from attacks dealt to the egg. This is hard for Wally to do anything about due to the egg being above Wally at the end of the throw and high end lag for the throw, not able to hit the foe with his set up on the stage.
The foe when they're released from the egg has instant control and can shield or choose a slower option to get away from whatever Wally had planned, who is free a little earlier than that to at least approach the foe. This will at best let Wally be in start lag just as the foe is let out of the egg with his fastest move, and is a lot more doable when the foe is shot further away despite being further away. The egg will break early however if the foe's egg takes 15% damage, not halved like their own damage from these attacks, so Wally can make use of anything he has out on stage to deal them more damage and force them out early. Unlike when the egg hatches of its own accord by hitting the ground or reaching a certain level on the stage, the foe will be launched for a weak 3% and low knockback in the direction the egg was going. This hitstun means if the foe is hit out of the egg late in the egg's descent, this can lead to a guaranteed combo. The problem here is that the egg will never be facing back towards Wally and can't be hit back towards Wally using anything in Wally's own set, so he has to settle for a ground bounce, rebounding them off a wall or trying to time breaking the egg late in the throw.
When the foe is successfully combo'd out of the down throw, Wally can try to start dealing real damage, most useful are his up smash to hit the foe as they fall into him or his dash attack and forward smash for chasing down the foe and landing them on them as they're hit out of the egg. When the egg is hit into his dsmash mounds of rubble, the foe is dealt 5% and the egg is dealt 10%, helping to break the egg. The foe will then be hit into the air with the same hitstun as normal but up facing, this is easily one of the best ways to combo out of the dthrow due to the angle of the knockback and the fact it happens at the end of the throw. As it deals 10% to the egg however it won't break the egg on its own, but is easy enough to set up to deal the egg a whole 5% damage on top of that, especially when the egg will always fall in a set trajectory based on the foe's percent.
Back Throw: Roundabout
Wally grabs the foe by the ledges with his talons and spins around twice, dealing 5 rapids hits of 1% before releasing them at high angle for 7% and decently high KO throw knockback, the strongest for his grab game. The speed the foe is spun goes up when the weight difference is greater, worked out at the same time as the percent is, and accounts for around half the power of the throw. The bigger the difference, the more knockback the throw does as Wally pivots on his weight more. This means that with his house on, the bthrow KOs around 15% sooner than usual, but once he loses it, this will not be as powerful. This is not as bad as it sounds though as unless the foe was going to be KO'd anyway, having them spun around longer only prolongs the foe being in the grab state to hit them with Wally's set up. The angle is always pretty bad too when the throw gets powered up, comparable to Dedede's bthrow only having a lot more knockback by comparison, so not dealing the foe as much knockback can help in not sending them too far and resetting the neutral too badly.
If Wally hits the foe when spun around into any set up, the foe is released early and takes a set 10% damage, more if they would have taken more damage from whatever hit, and are launched off at a lower angle a little under what the throw usually would do. This can help to instead send the foe at a straighter, horizontal angle, though with the lowered knockback this only KOs around the same percent. The foe is too high to hit into the dsmash mounds, but can be hit by anything inside of feather balls. This will deal the feather ball 10% damage and if it breaks, will release whatever may have been hidden within it. This can set up a great mix up on the foe as they recover from off stage if the birds are set to go towards the stage and then away, or even vice versa if the foe isn't sent too far, and is set up at the exact moment the foe is thrown without Wally having to commit to anything. Though even without all of this purely the knockback and damage of the throw makes it one of Wally's most useful.
Neutral Aerial: Egg Shield
Wally throws out his wings and squawks angrily, summoning a bunch of spiked eggs around his body that each deal 3% and weak radial knockback! This has quick start and end lag but a long duration that means when the move is whiffed, Wally's opponents very easily set themselves up for a heavy punish. The move also has a poor landing lag so can't be effectively used from air-to-ground, though that might be good to discourage Wally. These eggs are only half the size of Yoshi's and appear equally spaced around his body, first appearing within the hurtbox of his birdhouse then fanning out to reach the outer portions of his overall hurtbox, at which point they deal a boosted 5% damage and slightly higher knockback, with the 3% and 5% hitboxes impossible to combo together. As the bird house doesn't obscure them anymore, the move gets a significant buff when the bird house is destroyed. It is possible though to combo the various eggs together. There are 6 in all and while they are too spaced apart on Wally's model to combo as static hitboxes, they also rotate around Wally for a moment, travelling a quarter circle around him before they dissipate. Wally's own body is also a hitbox for the duration of the move, the shape of his body is somewhat similar to the F-Zero/Captain Falcon logo with his arms spread out momentarily in a sex kick. The wings deal 6% at first but then degrade to deal 4%, only dealing decent spacing knockback then just tolerable combo knockback later. This is mostly useful to try and combo the wings into the eggs that spawn later on in the move. The eggs can be cancelled altogether into this nair alone by holding A, ironically making the move end much earlier for a more melee-oriented usage, about as fast as an average sex kick.
Almost as if by magic, Wally can use press B/special to cause these eggs to spawn one of his trash can item! It's almost as if this was prepared though it's mostly an underhanded tactic. This will spawn the last pocketed item in the first egg that normally spawns above Wally's head, but can be chosen by direction, giving a use for the move's long sex kick duration. Once the egg dissipates this will cause the object, minion or whatever it was Wally ate with his side special to be spawned at that location, though it won't flip its facing, so a bird that was travelling right will continue travelling right regardless of what side it spawns on. Wally can continuously make his eggs spawn all things his trash can swallowed by repeatedly pressing b/special to then summon them in the next egg in a clockwise direction from the first, or choose them each individually again. This is signified by a squawk by Wally and a rumble in the egg to clue in foes too. The downside is of course wasting anything that Wally had saved up, although this is also a nice move to have for that reason too, as it lets Wally cleanse out his stomach for even more storage space. Normally the melee hitbox of the move isn't incredibly useful into the eggs but if timed right, hitting into the birds, feather balls, or even something stolen from the foe can be truly devastating on an opponent.
The eggs have a unique landing hitbox or when they hit anything solid, splattering into egg shell pieces in 1.3x their size. This ends that egg's rotation naturally and deals 3% in weak radial knockback, this is hard but possible to stack in very situational stages with walls or hard platforms. The eggs will still release whatever Wally chose to put into them early if they do get shattered like this, but this does require some precise timing on Wally's end. He has to make sure the egg he chose isn't destroyed before he can put an item from his trash can into it, and if they all are destroyed on the ground that's even worse, plus the whole mechanic is telegraphed to the foe so has very little mindgame potential. What does have mindgame potential however is the pressure that Wally now exhorts using this move as the foe doesn't know if Wally is going to insert a trash can item into an egg, and if he does this can be later, making it release quickly afterward, or he can put it in early and let it rotate around first making it harder to track where it will come out from. Normally being able to reverse the object's facing may have been useful but in this respect, the foe's probably worse off having to recall what the arbitrary facing was when Wally ate it originally.
Forward Aerial: Wing Man
Wally flaps his wings together in front of him for a rare attack using them, dealing 7% at close range and weak knockback at a 60 degree angle forward and up, but 10% and stronger knockback at a sweetspot where the wings flap together! The sweetspot will however only KO around 155%. This has average lag for a fair and good end lag, being one of Wally's fastest moves period although definitely not a fast move in general for fair. This has low duration and good landing lag too, so all around is one of his most useful moves for defensively throwing out. This has a weak wind hitbox that will push foes away just in front of the fair making it harder to punish Wally. The weaker hitbox is one of the best to combo, most easily into itself given the slowness of the nair, though the early cancelled version definitely helps for aerial combo purposes. This wind hitboxes is much stronger on the birds and will push them back a set battlefield platform, whatever part of the hitbox they hit, and hits them just in front of Wally too. The bird will not go any further before turning back, and while this can potentially be used to keep a group of them around for a long time, is practically not worth it. This can also be used to push them forward and boosts their damage to 1.2x, as well as their knockback, creating a nice pseudo projectile when the foe is in front of Wally and his birds.
This is the other move besides down special that Wally can use to get rid of his bird house once it's low on health, which makes sense considering he's clapping his wings over the house. Wally will cause that side of his bird house to come loose whenever he uses the fair when run out of HP, and if the fair is used again within the next second will cause that wall to be blown forward, becoming a hitbox that deals 10% and strong semi spike knockback, going a battlefield platform before it dissipates. Due to the multiple fairs needed to blow the wall off, this isn't exactly viable in most situations but sets Wally up for good pressure in front of himself, and adds a lot to potential trades made easier from the range. After one wall is blown away, the others simply fall down and dissipate once they hit the ground or deal 3% and low knockback as they ricochet off enemies, dealing very low downward knockback as they fall before they dissipate. This is yet another threat on the foe if they try and recover in front of or below Wally, creating multiple lingering hitboxes to dodge. The walls are all roughly a Ganondorf tall for the two side walls and Dedede height for the roof and floor, flipping over once as they fall downwards at Kirby's fall speed. These come out just as the end lag starts so do give Wally a solid frame advantage if they hit, which is well deserve when they're a one-time use. These can actually be a stronger light spike move when all the walls hit, an average strength spike. This only happens at the lowest point when all the sides of the walls rotate around to hit the same area around a Ganondorf below Wally. This can be set up to at least force the foe to not recover beneath Wally.
The feather ball gets destroyed by the sweetspot and is a lot more picky about landing it to not get in the way of Wally's attack portion of the fair. When right on the clock in the sweetspot the feathers are all destroyed by the wind and blown forward in a splash-shaped hitbox which either just hits in front of the sweetspot with barely any feathers from 3%, a little under the amount of damage feathers usually deal, to dealing 15% when the max amount is used up and hits in a big Wario-sized area. This improves the knockback from just low juggling fare to be able to KO at 125%. What's unique about this interaction is that the amount of lingering is extended for more feathers as they visually stack over each other and dissipate slowly after being used up, taking roughly twice as long to go away and keeping the hitbox active for all that time. This only at best means five more active frames but makes it practically impossible to roll or dodge around the huge fair and feathers all together, making the move very difficult to punish. Even when there's no ball of feathers, this still pushes around the feathers and when all in one place, will have the same effect, otherwise just passively redirecting them when close enough.
Back Aerial: Bird Chow
Wally recedes his head into his house then pokes his head as far as he can out of his bird house and squawks behind him! This turns Wally around in midair which is a big plus given he can do the same with all his jumps too so would never feel too overwhelmed. This is not as far as seen in the GIF but enough for one of the best pokes in Smash 4 dealing 12% and knockback that will KO around 140%. This comes fairly fast for a bair, its main claim to fame for Wally is that is has a decently low duration and end lag so is one of his lowest committal moves in his set. There is a sweetspot at the end of the beak where Wally will catch the foe with the end of the pointed beak, a cutting sound effect plays, and this deals an improved 15% and higher knockback able to KO at 120%. This is a huge boost from the normal move and as the move’s ending is low committal, is one of the best options to throw out from a mid-range, complimenting his longer range moves a good bit as far as his playstyle. When he builds up rage, this is one of his best stock ends period if not for the fact it has long start up. When the bird house is destroyed Wally simply recedes his head into his greatly reducing his hitbox making it a greater counter-style move.
The move can have other properties if the A/standard button is pressed as Wally recedes into his bird house. This delays the popping out of Wally’s head by a few frames, dealing the same damage and knockback otherwise. This is significant as the move has a unique landing hitbox the same way as nair. When the move lands, Wally will recede his legs/talons into his bird house and let the house collapse fully to the ground, performing a finishing stab with his beak low down on the floor for 5% and low horizontal knockback. This is actually one of his better ways to hit low foes and is a great mix up on the normal fair near the ground because of the fact it will hit foes below the normal hitbox, or even crouching on the ground, reversing the usual weakness of the move in the air as there will be a large part of Wally’s hurtbox below that won’t be hit if the move is used in the air. Wall then sprouts his talons out again and stands at the end of the move in extended lag. When the bird house is still out and the move is in its start lag phase, Wally’s landing animation has him land the same way with his legs receded into the bird house but popping his head out, Wally causes the bird house to tilt backwards as he pokes his beak into the air at a very high angle for what you’d expect, comparable to the average up tilt in terms of range. This deals the same damage and slightly more upward knockback than the normal bair, aside from the mix up this creates it leans Wally’s bird house into the air enough to dodge most low hitting attacks that might have anticipated the very low down landing hitbox.
Up Aerial: Alarm Clock
Wally pops an alarm clock wood pecker out of the top of his bird house as he performs what can be best described as a bird house headbutt. This makes the entire upper arc of the bird house, the triangular peak, into a powerful hitbox that deals 12% and decent upwards knockback but only KOs around 200% with bad scaling knockback, but is very slow to come out. This is as powerful as Bowser’s uair though over a far wider range, and has worse end lag. It does have faster landing lag but this works less well for getting a KO and instead makes the move more of a competent combo aerial at low percents, not a bad juggle then. The wood pecker seen as pictured is another hitbox that deals only 5% and very weak knockback with very little scaling, this however really does make it perfect to juggle or combo with when it deals so little knockback. The positioning of the alarm clock wood pecker, roughly the size of Luigi’s arm during his fair karate chop, will always hit in a diagonal up direction so that Wally can then chase the foe as they fall with his side special, or try and pursue up with up special at higher percents, or simply try and guess their defensive option with his lingering nair hitbox. The wood pecker is not a hurtbox so is in all senses a disjointed hitbox.
The move changes entirely without the bird house. Wally headbutts upwards and raises his back like Bowser's usmash, his head deals 11% and strong upward knockback that KOs around 30% later than DK's up aerial, while his back deals 4% and low juggling knockback, all around not that strong of an aerial but has massive range as it encompasses all of his back and head. This is even more powerful than you'd think with the juggling potential of Wally once he's left his bird house as he can chase his foe high into the air and juggle them with his back then try to land his head to go for the final KO. The one downside of this is that the lag on both ends is not fast, roundabout average for this and a little worse than DK's uair. The landing lag is not great either encouraging Wally to stay in the air. Wally can take advantage of the transition between his bird house and not having it with his uair specifically, trading with his huge default uair to get rid of the bird house fairly safely as the foe is then hit into the air then using his quicker non-birdhouse uair to go for the KO. The alarm clock is a hurtbox during the uair's duration so can even be used to make sure the trade hits Wally too if he wants it to, and the hitlag in this case will make it easier for him to time techs.
Down Aerial: House Rules
Wally recedes into his house the same way as Bowser's shell in his down aerial and drops to the ground at the same speed, dealing 15% and strong spike knockback. This is your typical stall then fall but has only a little higher fall than Bowser’s dair, transitioning faster than average into the fall, then falls at a decent tick for a stall then fall. The house is a massive hitbox and this move is very powerful when it lands, but has massive landing lag when it hits the ground and as an aerial won’t sweetspot the ledge, only ending after travelling two Ganondorf heights. This is reduced to 12% without his bird house but starts much faster, almost completely skipping the stall, otherwise being the same. Wally has his wings and legs stretched across the stage once landed as they're forced out the bird house's various windows when he lands on the ground, creating a melee hitbox a Bowser width either side of Wally for 5% damage and light knockback, enough to cover the lag, but mostly is easy to shield or dodge, comparable largely to Dedede's stars on his up b. The house also creates a weak shockwave half a Bowser width on both sides for 5% damage and light launching knockback so does at least have some good degree of punishment for foes who don't at least do a jump in and punish.
Wally’s poor landing lag can be reduced by landing on feathers, breaking his fall. These soften the blow when Wally collides with the stage and for each feather that gets in his way on his descent that is then added to the bottom of the bird house, these will reduce the landing lag by 5 frames. As the move usually has 70 frames of landing lag, just below Link’s at 80 frames, this will quickly bring it down to the point it’s far harder to punish. This bottoms out at 10 frames. These feathers will be smashed into the ground by Wally’s massive bird house but not destroyed, instead being launched back into the air where they can then be reused. A different effect happens when Wally hits one of his feather balls from up special with the move. Wally will like Link’s down aerial, be delayed as he hits the feather ball with a huge amount of momentum into the ground, causing it to bounce up and push Wally up with it, or if at an angle or hit on the sides will be launched at a high angle beside Wally in the air, remaining a hitbox. Wally can use this to end the move higher in the air rather than falling, or simply continue falling and create the feather ball’s own aerial hitbox at the same time.
Wally can delay the fall slightly by holding down the A or standard button, this stalls Wally in midair for up to another half second but makes him fall only 2/3rds as slowly as a result, and now deals only 11% with proportionally reduced knockback as well. This is an obvious mindgame, though changes the move into more of a combo down aerial given the far reduced damage and knockback of the move. This is still a very useful tool and the mix-up itself is one of Wally’s best pressure tools for foes who are underneath him. A significant change in this version is when Wally lands, he is no longer victim to the long landing lag as he simply pops out his limbs and head painlessly due to having a soft bump against the ground. This version however has just as bad ending lag so encourages Wally to use it to land, and without the extra damage or knockback makes the potential for trades less optimal.
The move has the same invulnerability as Bowser's dair in terms of frame data, and this is one of the core moves in Wally's set to tank damage to help build his own damage percent for his down special. The down aerial helps even more than that however, as when the landing hitbox comes out with the wings and claws pushed out and they are still piping hot from Wally’s Angry Bird the hitboxes are buffed to deal 8% and higher knockback, able to KO at 160%. This may not sound like a big buff but this now deals enough shieldstun and shield push to make the move outright safe on shield even at close range making the move unpunishable except from in the air. The passive damage of Angry Birds helps too during the long landing lag of the move as if the foe tries to punish from melee, touching range, they’ll suffer the passive damage of being next to Wally during their attacks.
Jab: Little Pecker
Wally pecks forward with his beak, pecking rapidly downwards in a similar range as Marth's down angled dancing blade as Wally lets his rage get the best of him and haphazardly pecks away in a general area. This is a powerful jab that deals above average damage for an infinite jab and comes out among the fastest of Wally's moves, but has poor end lag and is easy to DI out of due to the hitbox's shape and general properties making it easy to get out of. This deals downwards knockback so keeps the foe grounded, ledge slipping if it pushes them beyond the ledge, but will start to push foes slightly into the air at around 50%. At the end of the infinite jab, Wally will perform a downwards swipe with its beak, dealing 5% and powerful knockback diagonally towards the ground with great range. This can be tech'd, but if it isn't will still KO as early as Dedede's jab even when the foe does have to hit the ground first. This will only KO if the foe doesn't tech the ground, though the end lag of the move is short enough this is never punishable. At low percents, the fact it hits the ground will more easily lead to combos with moves such as side special or forward smash if the foe already was grounded. If the foe does tech this can be a good thing if they then are hit back into set up that Wally has put out, or just to chase them further with his various disjointed or long-range attacks. At the ledge, this won't ledge slip but instead will hit the foe into the air away from the stage, so isn't the best to start a gimp attempt but does make it harder for them to recover below the ledge.
When there's a mound of rubble from dsmash Wally can make use of this to force the foe to not tech and get hit by the powerful (by jab standards) knockback of the jab into the ground. This doesn't just make the KO move more viable but adds a good amount of pressure to jab in general as Wally can throw it out over his dsmash rubble, giving him a powerful trump card. However as the move can easily be DI'd out of spacing comes into play a lot too with the move as Wally can put it out there early, with rubble further away and let the jab build damage before going for the jab finisher, or vice versa and land it right next to the rubble, enabling him to play around with it to deal more damage but have a less consistent ground bounce by denying the tech. If he does just try and land the jab finisher right away that removes some of the move's pressure but practically guarantees the bounce. This can be aided by having birds set up so that they fly back into the foe on their way towards Wally and will either keep them in the jab or hit them out of the move depending on the percent. Wally can time the jab finisher to try and land both the birds' attack and his own at the same time for the best of both worlds, this is again very timing dependant.
The move has a strong change to either shield poke due to its range, encompassing a solid Marth sword-length segment of Wally's beak that will hit across a foe's shield and push them away, but the concurrent hits will hit across the foe's verticality too, letting him shield poke the back of the foe's exposed hurtbox through the shield. This will still shield poke as normal but will pull the foe in slightly rather than push them away, guaranteeing the jab finisher lands or resetting the jab completely at super low percents. When the foe is pushed against a wall then the shield poke becomes even easier as they won't be able to DI out and instead will constantly get poked at the back of their shield as it depletes.
Dash Attack: Bird Scoop
Wally skids his talon across the ground, creating friction against the ground that turns his claws into a hitbox that deals 10% in an average strength dash attack but one that comes out relatively fast for a dash attack, and has marginally above average end lag. The move is fairly perfect with the dsmash in mind as it will push foes up against it and is one of Wally’s lowest hitting, most reliable moves to damage the mounds in the case the foe does dodge or roll out of the way to go for a potential rubble explosion punish. Wally will travel half a battlefield platform before the move ends and if he hits a wall, will perform a unique clinging animation. From the cling, Wally can then delay leaving the cling state for as long as the average cling and has the same options, but can uniquely scoop up a part of the wall if the standard button is held through the end of the move. On a generic wall, this crumbles up a Mario fireball-sized piece of rubble that Wally then drops below him. The rubble deals 5% and low radial knockback, but will roll backwards past Wally too, rolling for a battlefield platform before it dissipates. This helps to cover the end lag of the move when Wally dash attacks past a foe as it then punishes them behind if they were on the offensive, as this is all surprisingly fast. This leaves Wally in the air only for a moment, comparable to a short hop, so he has to commit to jumps or land immediately, which is a little awkward.
If Wally grabbed his dsmash mound or a feather ball, he’ll pick them up and do the same thing he did to a generic wall at the end. The feather ball will however not simply let him cling and instead just carries Wally forward for two Bowser widths until it automatically forces him to jump if the standard/A button weren’t held. This does at least act as a somewhat nice mix-up for opponents to try and predict and helps to buffer any grounded moves if Wally does choose to not scoop up the ball. The rubble mound will be lifted up completely and the move remains the same but if thrown into the other rubble, will cause it to turn around and come back towards Wally, enabling it to go 1.5x as far too. This can end up crossing up or hitting the foe twice as a result. The feather ball and the rubble can also be blown around by Wally’s wind hitboxes and gives another strong mix up as Wally goes right into his down special whether he’s in the or grounded at the end of the move, pushing the feather ball or rubble forward or back. The dash attack has one unique interaction too: when used against feathers on the ground normally, the cling version of the move will instead have Wally bunch the feathers up into a ball automatically then cast them forward at the end, but also requires the standard/A button is held, and has a lot worse end lag than the normal version of the move. This allows Wally to bypass eating his feathers but makes the move very impractical.
Forward Tilt: Glove Off
Wally transforms his head into the glove from the up smash again and has it in the same pointing animation as Master Hand when he fires a giant bullet, Wally quickly firing his own finger forward for 5% and low largely horizontal knockback! This doesn’t actually fire any bullet but instead creates two hitboxes, one with a wider disjointed range as just described and another as a muzzle sweetspot next to the glove that will deal 10% and much stronger, KO-worthy knockback at the Sakurai angle starting to KO at 120%. Putting the foe into prone is particularly useful as this allows for Wally to tech chase with his side special. The move has some start up, but still comes in under 10 frames making it viable enough for Wally, and has low end lag.
When a bird or other object that is owned by Wally comes into contact with the 5% hitbox, it will be fired forward a battlefield platform, substituting for a real bullet! This turns whatever it is into a hitbox that travels at Falcon’s very fast dash speed over that distance and deals 5-10% depending on the size of the object with radial knockback. This will work on Wally’s birds, although this will potentially hit them into each other if in a line, and pick up his feather ball to launch in the opposite direction too. This will also deal these 10% and if they had no HP they will dissipate once they’ve travelled a battlefield platform. When they come in contact with the muzzle sweetspot, they’re instead shot 1.5x the distance at Sonic’s absurd dash speed and deal 7-13% damage and radial knockback. The weaker version only starts to KO at 130%, while this will KO at 115%, a huge upgrade, but deals whatever is being shot an even worse 15%. This makes timing a key issue.
When a bullet collides with either hitbox of the ftilt, Wally will fire it like the bullet he always wanted! This will have the same mechanics as any other item but unlike the others, this will fire the bullet for far longer range. The bullet will travel either 0.75x or a full 1x the distance of final destination before it explodes on its own, and when it does reach its maximum distance, will finally go off. This will almost always be used on Wally’s dud bullets so they can finally be used as intended rather than as traps. Compared to most objects, the bullet will go only at the speed of Mario’s dash speed forward once shot, more resembling Master Hand’s move, making it more useful to approach than the other options. This also can potentially let Wally catch up and eat it if he wants, or even eat the bomb with his fsmash! Wally can then spit it out letting it continue on its merry way.
Up Tilt: Peak Beak
Wally squares up his beak and then thrusts it downwards, reminiscent of moves like Falcon's up tilt, dealing downwards spiking knockback and 6%. This hasn't got the strongest knockback but can gimp foes off stage, again resembling Falcon's move, but Wally has to space it more carefully as he'll miss foes right next to the stage due to the hitbox being poked out more. The moves has good lag on both ends being one of his faster tilts, though certainly not a fast move by Smash 4 standards, it's among Wally's best. The foe can't tech if hit into the ground and this leads into a great wall bounce, with confirms at 0% into Wally's up tilt two more times, or potentially into faster moves like his jab or other tilts. The knockback the foe takes off the ground bounce is boosted by 1.5x hit into a rubble mound, which will start to KO from 150%, not a bad option when the foe is at such a high percent and giving Wally a lot more pressure when he has his mounds up.
The move normally hits crouching or low opponents but does have a sweetspot in its final frames on the end of Wally's beak that deals 10% and upwards knockback if they hit the very end of Wally's peak during its last active frames, following the logic of moves like Kirby's down special. This will instead juggle the foe into the air with low knockback prime for a combo, on top of high damage, being a perfect combo into his jab or smashes at a high percent. This has low scaling and easily combos into most of his set even including his faster aerials. The positioning of the beak makes it one of the most important for getting Wally in position to defend his house with his beak to cover the various weak spots the house is vulnerable from, due to putting his beak up and down. Utilt is fast enough it's hard to punish too, so will be thrown out constantly when Wally wants to prolong his bird house in match ups.
Down Tilt: Head Pointer
Wally has a crouch where he recedes his talons into his bird house and drops it to the ground, lowering his height a significant ways, while keeping his wings and head out. For his dtilt Wally has his fastest move, simply poking his peak forward across the ground for 10% damage and has a small windbox, the same as Charizard’s down tilt, but is a little faster to come out and the wind hitbox is a little stronger due to Wally’s far larger wings. The windbox will never hit the foe out of the hitbox but can push them far enough that the ftilt will hit the foe at the very end of its hitbox, resulting in the most knockback possible away from Wally, dealing it at a techable downward diagonal. This will only start to KO from around 175% so is far from Wally’s best KO move, it’s actually one of his fastest moves besides his jab coming out on frame 8, which should say something for how slow Wally tends to be and how much he relies on set up to bridge the gaps.
When not in the bird house Wally's crouch is simply Wally pushing his body close the ground like Charizard's dtilt and poking his head forward for the same hitbox. The lack of the bird house makes this the best way to reduce the size of Wally's usually massive hurtbox, without the bird house and ducking against the ground Wally isn't a lot bigger than Charizard's ducking and regains all the plus sides of the move normally too. As the bird house isn't getting in the way this has slightly different angling and knockback. This is semi spike knockback and this makes it one of the best moves to begin a gimp or simply pressure the foe from mid range, and without the bird house is one of the most effective panic buttons at Wally's disposal. Despite being mostly the same the animation is sped up a little as Wally doesn't have to work against the friction of pushing his head out of the bird house making it his fastest move at a not-so-fast 5 frames of start up and has relatively little end lag making it a pretty important move when available.
Final Smash: A Big Pecker
Wally squawks to himself in laughter as he claps together his wings, summoning the aforementioned giant woodpecker from the Treehouse Trouble stage of Cuphead Isle 1! The woodpecker is a giant, roughly the size of the Nightmare assist trophy in Smash 4, but has most of its body obscured. For the duration of the final smash the woodpecker is immune to any form of damage or knockback. The screen freezes as soon as the smash ball is activated and any foes in front of Wally will be struck into the ground by the woodpecker, as the camera zooms in the majority of its body is just as unseen as it is in Cuphead. After the first hit deals 5% to foes and pitfalls them, the woodpecker goes to town, pecking at them another 10 times over 5 seconds, with a final hit of 10% as they are hit through the stage with super high knockback! The hitstun of this is alone to ensure they go off the bottom blast zone, but if the foe does somehow survive, this leaves a red sore that lasts for the rest of their stock and deals them a constant 1% passive damage every second as well as an extra 5% every time they're hit, adding to any move's knockback. If the ground the foe was hit into is solid and deep enough, then the foe is simply instantly KO'd as they're buried into it and can't get out, their death cry heard as they're buried. On ground that is not deep enough the foe is simply launched back out at the same damage/knockback but upwards.
Final Smash At 150% or Higher: Boy Genius
When at a super high percent himself, Wally is too tired to use his smash ball himself and instead collapses, losing all his feathers and falls out of his bird house. Wally will re-appear after the final smash is over and doesn't lose a stock, so if anything this helps him to avoid taking any damage or being in any danger as the final smash goes on.
After Wally slinks off the foreground of the screen and can't be hit by foes, his bird house explodes! This alone is as powerful as a Bob-Omb explosion but summons his son too, roughly the size of the Koopalings with a smaller clown car.
Wally's son acts like a buffed assist trophy as he hovers around the stage homing in on foes and has a permanent egg shell that works the same as in Wally's nair, but without the part where they dissipate, instead reversing back in and then back out again for the 10 second duration of the final smash. The eggs do not explode on contact with the ground or walls. Wally's son may not seem too impressive so far, but doesn't take damage or knockback either, and shoots an electric gun as he does in the Cuphead boss, only far, far more frequently. He'll shoot a homing electric shot at the foe twice a second that deals 10% and high hitstun with low knockback, this instantly shatters shields and will linger for 1 second on the foe if they try to dodge or go intangible in any other way, as well as ignoring any non-character constructs, not being reflect or absorb-able. This will stale but can do upwards of 100% combined with the eggs. At the end of the 10 seconds Wally's son presses a remote control to cause an explosion around him, obscuring him as he disappears, in a bob-omb explosion that does 20% damage and will KO at 50%.
This Saturday the 10th of February we celebrate a huge anniversary for Roy in Make Your Move. As part of the celebration, I have decided to make this the unofficial FrozenRoy Week: The Week of Froy.
On top of the sets we’re all planning to post on the 10th alongside Roy, including part 2 of Cuphead isle 2, post your favourite Roy set, Roy comments, or anything related to FrozenRoy in the thread to mark the occasion of the coming of FrozenRoy into our lives. You’ve got all the way until official Froy Day Celebrations begin! Hope we get many contributions.
To start off, here’s one of my favourite Roy sets, and to give everyone an idea of what they could post.
VIKTOR MYM16
Viktor has always been among my favourite Roy sets over his long history of making sets, returning to read it in a modern context it’s easy to see why. This set has a very strong idea of playstyle: Viktor has an upgrade for almost every single move but he has to make a choice of what he upgrades, as elegantly Roy has the simple mechanic of having to use a remotely laggy move to upgrade in the down special. This means the Viktor player has to choose what moves he upgrades over others and his entire playstyle will naturally shift in a certain direction as a result. This creates an incredible amount of depth with all the various ways this can change per match up or if the match is going a certain way and Viktor would rather focus on his ground than his air game, improve his grab for defensive of offensive purposes, or just in general try and create space to get the general statistical bonuses given by the upgrades over time. This wasn’t as common at the time but you can see in modern MYM the whole upgrades concept is used all the time and Viktor is one of the earliest examples of it being well thought out, as Roy was sure to counter-balance the upgrades and the negative of a laggy down special as well as weaker base moves.
What I always enjoy about these changes brought about in Roy sets is how Roy thinks about the game in very straightforward functional ways, writing very fun and simple ways for his sets to work. As an example the up smash simply redirects a laser from the Refraction Field towards the nearest foe. This may not reinvent the wheel, but it’d be hugely satisfying to use in practice. The up tilt is another example of this as Viktor is able to use his own siphoned damage from attacking the foe and add it to the damage of the attack. Of course Roy is meticulous enough that even in MYM16, he is mindful of the mechanics of his shield. The fact Viktor even plays around his shield in these upgrades is an example of how Roy was trying to push the lesser used mechanics of Smash Bros in MYM16, trying to inject them more into the core of his sets. It really adds to the sense that Viktor has a hugely versatile playstyle.
What’s surprising about this set on a return is how it avoids many of the pitfalls you might expect. On the weirder moves like nair, a “stance,” this is basically a sex kick you can cancel out of and upgrades into something of a counter. The numbers aren’t really that overtuned for what you’d expect, Roy shows a lot of restraint considering all the crazy buffs he’s throwing around for the sake of the upgrade mechanic. It’s also grown on me over the years how the minions are used in this set, again in a very subtle but clever way to augment the set as a whole. The Hexmites themselves can upgrade, helping both their AI in small ways to help Viktor, and eventually able to even kill themselves! It’s rare to see a set that balances a passive minion creation that doesn’t have any move attached. It’s all just attached flawlessly to the down special and it all makes perfect sense when you look at the League of Legends moveset! All in all, this was an obvious choice for me to write about when I wanted to write about some of my all time favourite Roy movesets.
And with this final month of Make Your Move 20, and Smash Daddy posting the intensely flattering Froy Week leading up to my Froy Day, I shall announce the last Iron MYMer for the end of the contest, which is a...
ROYPOCALYPSE
This challenge is absurdly simple. To qualify, all you have to do is make a set for a franchise that I, FrozenRoy, have made a set for, or one of the franchises I plan to make a set for Froy Day or the rest of the month, of which will all be listed in the spoiler below. You can make any total number of qualifying sets, but only one per franchise will count. Any new franchises I make through out the rest of the contest will also be counted, so feel free to make any for those too. Here's a list of currently qualifying franchises and ones I plan. Note that if it appears on this list but I fail to make it, you can still make a set for it: No takebacks from me!
Touhou
Warcraft
Pokemon
Yu-Gi-Oh!
RWBY
Star Wars
Digimon
Mega Man
League of Legends
Defense of the Ancients 2
Mario
The World Ends With You
Final Fantasy
Kingdom Hearts
Real Life (SPORTSBALL?)
Dark Souls / Demon's Souls
Diablo
Mother
Magic The Gathering
The Legend of Zelda
Shin Megami Tensei / Persona
Soul Eater
Street Fighter
Original Characters
Overwatch
Dragon Ball
Hyper Light Drifter
Fate/Stay Night
Cuphead
That's a lot of franchises to choose from, so I am sure there is something for everyone here. Please note that to not mess people up, anything post from Feb 1st to now is counted, so Lex and Smady's Cuphead sets count. Enjoy, all!
VENOMENON!
"One of the Ultra Beasts. It’s unclear whether or not this Pokémon is sentient, but sometimes it can be observed behaving like a young girl."
Weight: Little Mac
Size: Rosalina
Airspeed: Luigi
UB-01 Symbiont, also known as Nihilego, is the first ultra beast the Pokemon company released. It is described as not being a Pokemon, but one of the newly discovered Ultra Beasts.
This fighter will have a special ability: Beast boost
KOing a player will increase its attack, doing 2 more points of damage every attack (KOs after that will result in one extra point of damage added). However, every shieldbreak puts a lip's stick on Nihilego for 3 seconds.
Special:
B: Power Gem- Nihilego charges up power gems, as they form over its head. It will then target the nearest enemy and attack it, similar to autoreticle. This will do 12 damage before beast boost modifiers.
SideB: Parasitical Swipe
Nihilego lunges in the direction you input to grab an opponent, holding them for a second then giving them Lip's stick for 2 seconds.
The lip's stick will need to recharge, which will be indicated by a purple bubble floating over Nihilego's head. If it is not charged, it can still lunge but will not hold on. If not charged, it will enter helpless fall midair.
UpB: Sludge wave- Nihilego is engulfed in sludge, dealing 1 percent of damage to itself before beast boost modifiers. It then lifts up, going about the height of Greninja's recovery. Anyone caught in its sludge while it is blasting off will receive one damage, before beast boost multipliers.
DownB: Hidden Power- Nihilego quickly fires off a small beam of light, which varies between either Electric or Flame damage each match, with a 50 chance both.
Each day I will edit this and include Standard attacks, etc. as I am very busy at the moment.
VENOMENON!
"One of the Ultra Beasts. It’s unclear whether or not this Pokémon is sentient, but sometimes it can be observed behaving like a young girl."
Weight: Little Mac
Size: Rosalina
Airspeed: Luigi
UB-01 Symbiont, also known as Nihilego, is the first ultra beast the Pokemon company released. It is described as not being a Pokemon, but one of the newly discovered Ultra Beasts.
This fighter will have a special ability: Beast boost
KOing a player will increase its attack, doing 2 more points of damage every attack (KOs after that will result in one extra point of damage added). However, every shieldbreak puts a lip's stick on Nihilego for 3 seconds.
Special:
B: Power Gem- Nihilego charges up power gems, as they form over its head. It will then target the nearest enemy and attack it, similar to autoreticle. This will do 12 damage before beast boost modifiers.
SideB: Parasitical Swipe
Nihilego lunges in the direction you input to grab an opponent, holding them for a second then giving them Lip's stick for 2 seconds.
The lip's stick will need to recharge, which will be indicated by a purple bubble floating over Nihilego's head. If it is not charged, it can still lunge but will not hold on. If not charged, it will enter helpless fall midair.
UpB: Sludge wave- Nihilego is engulfed in sludge, dealing 1 percent of damage to itself before beast boost modifiers. It then lifts up, going about the height of Greninja's recovery. Anyone caught in its sludge while it is blasting off will receive one damage, before beast boost multipliers.
DownB: Hidden Power- Nihilego quickly fires off a small beam of light, which varies between either Electric or Flame damage each match, with a 50 chance both.
Each day I will edit this and include Standard attacks, etc. as I am very busy at the moment.
Nihileggo My Eggo! Hello and welcome to MYM! We're always excited to see newcomers around these parts!
Nihilego, currently, is only a set of specials, and I'm aware you'll be changing that when possible. So, for the time being, I'd like to offer some suggestions!
Beast Boost is a useful little ability, and I appreciate you giving it diminishing returns by lowering how much of a buff it is on subsequent kills. However, the Flower on shieldbreak is... a little strange. Personally, I would instead have it lose levels of Beast Boost when it dies and remove the Flower altogether.
The Specials are fairly simple and straightforward, with a few quirks. The Side Special is no doubt intended to simulate Poison, and I want you to know it's perfectly acceptable to state that the foe is Poisoned rather than having a Flower. You're not necessarily limited to the status effects from real Smash games here, so feel free to get crazy! The Up Special's damage can also stand to be improved, I feel; more than 1% to the foe, in any case.
Welcome again to MYM, and I hope you continue to work on and improve Nihilego!
Time for a special FrozenRoy catch up on sets! Our first star for tonight is Kylo Ren. This set follows after many Roy Star Wars sets including Mace Windu, Count Dooku and the lesser known Rahm Kota. These all follow a familiar Star Wars theme of using the force to throw around rocks, have a melee focus using the lightsaber and a fixation on characterisation to portray the various lightsaber duelists in their most accurate light. Where Kylo Ren diverges a little and modernizes this Roy genre is that it has a very finely-tuned mechanic in Embrace Pain that focuses on the amount of hits that Kylo Ren tanks and dishes out to give him a buff, but only when he can get this move off. He can then make use of his side special, what within the move is dubbed a "Force Stasis" to force the foe into a disadvantage in close range combat. It reminds me a little of my Wesker set from the days of MYM15 and this would be a fun match up for sure.
The execution of Kylo Ren is very solid, very dry. There's few interactions compared to the likes of Mace Windu or Count Dooku who had a harder focus on the terraforming that has somehow become a big overlapping element in these Star Wars sets. Kylo Ren instead focuses on the melee lightsaber moves most notably in the aerials and standards, but I did enjoy the up smash's unique terraforming move which is different from what you'd usually expect. Normally this would be a down smash and this is instead more reminiscent of some of my own up smashes recently such as Pigma. This is not actually the one big interaction-heavy move in the whole set, that is still the down smash that creates "slag" (which is pretty funny by the way due to British slang) to toss around. The set is so into keeping it dry that this is not even an an active hitbox trap but used in other moves to enhance them, a lot of the time for the sake of Kylo Ren's mechanic. The set is so dedicated to its approach, almost as if it's Kylo Ren's own dedication to the dark side on display!
I do really like most of all in this set the focus on the characterization of Kylo Ren as an edge lord. The crossguard torture pummel, the Embrace Pain most prominently, the amount of needless flourishes, mobility and other add-ons to many of the moves that are given a point outside of mere visual aesthetic. It's an interesting interpretation of the character that if anything, doesn't do enough to focus on how Kylo Ren is kind of crazy and sadistic. But what is there does a good job of that. When I think of the other sets, they definitely didn't have this characterization aspect built into it as strongly and in that way it's a fun way to modernize the Star Wars sets you've made, I expect any future ones may have a similar tint to them and that's a great bit of progress.
I do think the set is a bit too dry though and I'd be remiss to leave that out. The set doesn't actually have as much in the way as interactions as Windu or Dooku, and the melee doesn't focus as hard as you'd expect on the way that Embrace Pain actually works, i.e. the amount of hits you landed or were landed, so it feels a bit weaker than something like Artorias that had a laser-point focus on the playstyle it wanted. This set is more held up by the characterization and good balance by comparison, and I do like both those aspects a lot. So good job Roy!
Second up, though I read it a while back now and only returned to read the changes, it's Haunter. The best part of this set is in my opinion the writing style that really gets across the dark, ghostly nature of Haunter in a way the other sets (HAHAHAHAHA!) didn't. The set focuses on stacking status effects on the foe and it's just perfectly fitting on Haunter to keep bullying the foe into submission then get a potential huge reward out of their Nightmare state, which is a very good addition suggested by Jamie. These changes really help to emphasize the strengthened advantage state Haunter gets when he's got the foe on the run. I also really enjoyed the way you interpreted Hypnosis, Payback and Drowsy. The upgrades into Dream Eater, the use of Nightmare and all of the visuals of it, as well as the unique counter, are a great base, as has become a great tradition of your sets this contest.
Haunter's hands and his general ghost nature is used all the time in later moves to great results as far as animations go, it'd really be great to see in action. The focus in the set is really on the way that Nightmare puts the foe into a huge disadvantage state, though I think a bit more focus could've been put into how Drowsy works too, as that is a pretty big nerf to play around. Though really the way that Haunter's playstyle works utilizing these disjoints and playing keep away actively is helped by Drowsy more than vice versa, might've been worth a mention here or there. Considering it's a 10k moveset though it's really not missing anything and it's easy to forget it was done for that challenge, as every move basically now has a big difference when Nightmare is active. Overall, it's another solid work from you focusing on how Haunter likes to well, haunt his foes and harass them out of their siphoned health, force them into a pitiful disadvantage state. It's the exact kind of set you'd want Haunter to have ultimately, and while it is on the simple side it's hard to criticize much here, so another good job here Roy!
Hey all! Thought I'd dip my toes back into the article-writing pool and make room for Froy Day to commence on the next page by writing a "pilot episode" for a series I'm thinking of writing for every once in a while. The name of it is "Tools in the Belt," and the theme is exploring "tools" that the MYM writer can use when writing a set. That could be a specific gameplay mechanic, an aspect of Smash's mental play, or whatever. Today, let's talk about shields!
What is a Shield?
For the sake of completeness, let's go over the basics. In Smash, you can shield at any time by holding the shield button, such as R. Let go of R to stop shielding whenever you want. Shields come out on frame one (meaning, right away), protecting against regular, non-grab attacks. Dropping a shield puts a character through seven frames of shield drop lag, during which they can be punished. One frame is one sixtieth of a second, which might not seem like much, but in a fast-paced game like Smash, that can make all the difference.
Perfect shielding is done by shielding an attack during the first three frames of your shield, so basically pressing shield right as the attack would have hit you for a risky parry. Perfect shielding has a few effects. The first effect is that you do not have to wait the seven frames before acting after dropping your shield, with the exception that you cannot dash nor walk for seven frames after perfect shielding an attack. Of note is that you can hold R during the end of another action to start shielding as soon as possible. Perfect shielding works even if you "cheat" and hold the button like this.
What is Shield Durability?
Every character has a different sized shield, which by default covers their whole body. If the shield is hit by an attack, it receives shield damage. Even though every character's shield is a different size, all shields have 50 health. However, shields take 1.19x damage from attacks, so in effect, a shield can withstand 42 damage from incoming attacks. Shields also lose 0.13 of that 50 health every frame while the shield is held up, but regain 0.08 every frame it is not being used. If you perfect shield an attack, you will receive no shield damage from it.
As a shield's health dwindles, it shrinks in size. At some point, a character's limb or other body part will start sticking out of the shield, which is no longer big enough to cover it. The opponent can perform a shield poke in this case, which is a technique that allows an attack to bypass a weakened shield. To perform a shield poke, you must hit the exposed body part while also making sure not to hit the remaining bit of the shield. As a defense against shield pokes, you can gently tilt the analog stick to move your shield in any direction and cover exposed body parts.
A lot of the time, a shield poke will occur before the shield's HP has a chance to reach zero, since the shield gets too small to block anything. However, strong moves or moves with bonus shield damage like Marth's Shield Breaker can deal enough damage at once to break a shield, which happens whenever a shield reaches zero health. This can also happen from just holding shield for too long. When a character is shield broken, they're sent up into the air a short distance, during which they are completely invulnerable to attack.
Once they land from the shield break, the foe is sent into a dazed state, which is basically a very long stun. The dazed state lasts longer if the victim has received little damage, and its duration can be reduced by mashing buttons rapidly. A dazed character is completely open to attack, with no way to defend – so go for your strongest charge attack or riskiest combo! If a character is shield broken at the very edge of a stage, it is likely that they will fall over the edge with no way to recover, tumbling to their doom.
Yoshi's shield is immune to shield pokes. It takes the form of his iconic egg, so instead of shrinking, it just grows darker and darker. Jigglypuff dies instantly upon receiving a shield break, strangely enough, unless there is a ceiling to stop her journey to the top of the screen. Poor thing!
What are Out of Shield Options?
Dropping your guard has seven frames of lag attached, but there are moves which can be performed from a shielding position – or out of shield – with no extra lag attached. You can grab instantly out of shield, which is a handy way to retaliate after blocking an attack at close range. Spot dodges and rolls can be used out of shield by tilting the stick forcefully, which allow you to defuse a situation or dodge an attack quickly. Note that these options can be punished.
Jumps can be used out of shield, with no extra lag aside from the handful of jumpsquat frames that it always takes to jump off of the ground. You can then use any aerial attack after the jump, or a special move. Jumpsquat frames can also be canceled immediately into an up smash or up special, so you can effectively do those moves out of shield by pressing jump and then the input for that attack.
One advanced out of shield option is known as a shield platform drop. More commonly, it's called a "shield drop," which isn't helpful given that there's also the "shield drop" I talked about in the second paragraph of this article. Anyway, a shield platform drop allows you to drop through a platform above the stage (like Battlefield's platforms) without going through the seven frames of lag when dropping your guard. You just do it straight out of shield, just like the other options we've talked about. You need to tilt the control stick down at a very specific speed; quickly enough to trigger the platform drop, but slowly enough to avoid triggering a spotdodge. This allows you to return to solid ground from a platform without letting your guard down.
In eggxchange for his immunity to shield pokes, Yoshi has consistently lacked good out of shield options in all four Smash games. His grab is slow, his rolls are sluggish... and in Melee and Brawl, he couldn't even jump from his shield!
What is a Safe Move?
When an attack strikes the shield, not only does it deal shield damage, but it also deals shield hitstun and shield pushback. Shield hitstun is what it sounds like: a period of time after blocking an attack during which a character cannot act out of shield. So during that split-second, the target is forced to keep holding shield, even if they release the R button. The opponent who attacked the shield can then use another attack on the shield, or gain a positional advantage while the shieldstun keeps the shielding character immobile. Shield pushback is also simple: it's the distance a character slides after blocking an attack. The stronger a move is, the more shield hitstun and shield pushback it typically deals.
In Smash, the neutral game, or the part of a 1v1 match where neither player has a large advantage, is heavily based around the shield. Zoning opponents out is based entirely on making sure your moves have enough shield hitstun and shield pushback to prevent the opponent from retaliating out of shield. For example, you'll almost always want to be out of the foe's grab range, since grab is one of the best options out of shield. Sword characters excel at spacing around shields, since their long attack range lets them poke at shields from a safe distance. Since the opponent cannot simply grab out of shield if you space your attack correctly, you can punish the option they try to use to escape the situation. For example, if they roll away after their shield is hit, you can run after them and hit them with a dash attack.
If an attack is not spaced at a distance, it is often punishable on shield. One tricky tactic, then, is to dash into close range and start shielding, known as shield dashing. If you shield dash as the opponent is about to attack, you'll force them to space incorrectly, opening them up for a punish! Of course, the risk is that you're also entering their grab range. Shield dashing is effective against landing opponents, since they are unable to grab and will often throw out an aerial attack to cover themselves.
Another factor in making a move safe or unsafe is frame data (the "speed" of moves), or specifically ending lag. So basically the amount of time after the move connects during which the attacker recovers from the momentum of the attack, like the follow-through on a golf swing. More powerful moves often have more ending lag, meaning a longer window for the shielding character to punish out of shield. Aerial attacks use landing lag, which is a set amount of frames after landing on the ground during which you suffer a form of ending lag. In terms of shield safety, this means that you suffer that landing lag plus the time it takes to land on the ground post-hit. For this reason, it is often beneficial to connect with an aerial the moment before you land, to minimize the falling time and skip straight to the landing lag.
What is Shield Pressure?
If spacing an attack is the defensive form of hitting a shield, then shield pressure is that concept turned into an aggressive play. Shield pressure is the act of hitting an opponent's shield to gain some sort of advantage, while also staying safe from out of shield retaliation. One method is hitting the shield so fast that the opponent is locked in shield hitstun constantly, with no chance to act. This is common in Melee, where characters like Fox can output so many attacks per second that shield hitstun is always in effect.
The other main way to apply shield pressure is by basically spacing a lot of attacks in a row, staying outside of grab range but inside your own attack range. If the opponent erroneously tries to shield grab or use another offensive out of shield option, you can quickly dash in and punish. In this way, spacing attacks on shield is not just done for the purpose of chipping away at an opponent's shield. It is also an invaluable mindgame tool, since it allows you to see how your opponent reacts to being in a sticky situation and punish those habits.
What About MYM?
In MYM, these concepts have a lot of applications. Safety on shield is an important thing to consider with a move. For example, a risky, powerful KO move should usually be punishable on shield... or it could be safe on shield in exchange for some other, different drawback. Shielding is vital to the entire neutral game, and a character's out of shield options have a big part in dictating how well they can get an opponent out of their face.
Not only that, but MYM is also an opportunity to explore twists on these mechanics. You could have a move where, instead of pushing a shield away, hitting a shield pulls it toward you, making it even riskier since they could grab you out of shield. Or perhaps a character could have limited or expanded out of shield options, like how Yoshi used to lack the ability to jump out of shield. The sky really is the limit here! Don't be afraid to tinker with these mechanics if you think of something cool. Just like any other mechanic in Smash, these concepts can be used for greatness or can be a flop, depending on how well they're implemented. For the MYMer, they're another Tool in the Belt.
Thanks for reading! I might write another article in this series at some point in the future, maybe. In any event, I hope I've helped "paint a picture" of how shields work in Smash. Just in time for my Froy Day moveset...!
We’re on the cusp of Froy Day everyone! This post is mostly filler but nonetheless, I’ve chosen it to celebrate two of my all-time favourite Roy posts, his top 50 posts for MYM18 (here) and MYM17 (here).
The first chronologically of these is obvious to see why I am such a big fan of due to all the references to my sets and how much it glorifies my previous wins of Death and Ameno-sagiri, it also shows off some great writing styles from Roy. It’s a nice little bit of prose about a journey from the days of Death through to Ameno and finally to Fassad, the winner of MYM17! This preceded the official top 50 post and was one of the best parts of my MYM17 win no lie, I am extremely proud of that post and all the effort that Roy put into it, I’ll never forget that post. I do wonder how it’d look if it took the later posthumous Raiden into account but I probably prefer it this way, lets be honest. Just an all-around solid and personally satisfying post.
The MYM18 one is not only aimed at me, and as you can tell from the header of this post, I was a big fan of the Kristoph section but everything about this post is just a joy to behold. It runs down the top 10 in a way the MYM17 one didn’t and fabricates its own mini story about the characters in the top 10, ranging from a typical JRPG battle for Matador to a court room session against Kristoph. Jecht and Baku make an awesome appearance in this post too and aren’t simply cameos, so I have plenty of characters in this mini SM to enjoy. The Matador fight in particular is a great reference to Matador’s difficulty in SMT: Nocturne, heavily noted in my set, pitting Yangus against the canonically insanely hard Matador boss fight for his contest victory! Both great posts, some of the best segments of writing I’ve seen over the years in Make Your Move.
Index:
