It's finally her day! It's Micaiah's time!
Let's begin
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The Chances.
Micaiah is a character in a hard position for a playable spot because she doesn't have the same recency that a character like (nowadays) Celica has, but Micaiah has some stuff on her side I would like to post some of them.
Micaiah is filled with niches and gimmicks that hadn't be replicate together, and she of course, is one of the Fire Emblem Main Characters.
1.- Micaiah is a user of Magic (Light Magic)
In the Fire Emblem Series exists different Light Magic Tomes, and like the anima tomes there exists tomes with different functions like being highly powerful but make you vulnerable (Aura), Long-Range Magic (Purge) and of course there are the ol'reliable ones that doesn't have particular disadvantages or advantages...
"But Robin alredy does the magic stuff"
Robin is more like a Mystical Knight, or whatever you think is the main focus in the moveset, the magic is a part of important of their gimmick, but they are essencially sword-user in most of their animations; Micaiah is a complete magic user that doesn't use swords, and she doesn't need them anyway; in fact, the lack of a sword make Micaiah more flexible in the way she can use the animations of her attacks to create some unusual hitboxes not possible with a weapon that is attached to the user.
But Magic isn't limited just to flashy movements, Micaiah also has in her side other way of using her power.
2.- Micaiah is a user of the Utility-Based Magical Staves.
The staves are one of the most useful tools you can find in a Fire Emblem because of their special uses. There are some very straighforward like the ones that heals HP or Status Ailments. But there are also some that offer many possibilities; Warping and Rescuing Units can be used to move units at positions that would otherwise being impossible, making them key to create powerful strategies to beat even the hardest maps.
Micaiah is the only lord that is actually associated (but not as much as the Light Magic) with Staves, and they're one of the key elements in the franchise (the Staves and their strategies are as old as FE1) that would be represented in some way.
3.- Micaiah's signature abilities.
Alongside the more well known use of Magic and Staves that appear across the series; Micaiah has her own abilities beyond these. Micaiah has
Corona (also know as: Dawn Light), that is the name of the Micaiah's Proc Skill that does additional damage (more specifically, ignores the enemy's Magic Resistence) and can blind the enemies affected; in her game she isn't the only character that uses this skill, but unless you're very unlucky (getting Corona'd by Lekain or Sephiran), it's unlikely you ended up seeing someone using the ability that isn't her.
When casting Corona, Micaiah creates a light sphere above her.
Micaiah also has another abilitiy, and this one is completely unique to her:
Sacrifice (also known as: Healing Hands), this is a tricky skill, it's effect (as their names would indicate), is a healing skill that gives HP to other units; quite interesting
Also, Micaiah has her own personal magic tome: Thani, which would be an important element of how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros.
I did for Source Gaming a moveset exploring many of these ideas:
http://sourcegaming.info/2016/12/22/ds-micaiah/
After explaining the gameplay stuff, the things that would interest Sakurai for a new character, it's time to explore other points; the things that helps or damages her chances.
Let's start with the negatives.
Micaiah hasn't have a new appearance in a Main Game since Awakening, and that was essencially a cameo; Micaiah most notable appearance in the last years was in the Fire Emblem Heroes some months ago (January 2018) and her moment as a Main Character being in Radiant Dawn 11 years ago (February 2007)
She is evidently behind some other people for a spot in the next Smash Bros; whoever is the New Fire Emblem Character from that Switch Game, and there would be another choices to consider too.
These are quite heavy problems, but Micaiah still has some things in her side.
Now the positives.
Something important for a character selection, it's stand out in the roster; Micaiah has a similar anime aesthetic to the rest of the Fire Emblem Character, so, isn't hard to see a which franchises she belongs, but the rest of her design makes her feel completely different from the usual Fire Emblem protags.
Also, related with her design, being a original female character kind of helps I guess.
Micaiah surprisingly got some support during the ballot time, as it was show for the
Source Gaming Posts about it... Nothing super special, but the support actually exists.
And the last thing to consider... it's the Smash Bros Switch Weird timing; that ended ups hurting heavily the Fire Emblem Switch Protag, we don't even know if the game will still be released in 2018 (as DLC is practically is likely if the character is unique enough)
And so, I decided to give her a
15% Chance rate... she is definitely unlikely, but she just can't be ignored, the potential is here, waiting to be found.
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The Want
Micaiah is very important to me, she is the light that guided me to don't be a lazy person all the time; after knowing her, I start feeling a special attachment to her, even before I played her game, and I was already thinking how she would work as a Smash Character, and then... when I finally played her game; against my own fears of ended up don't like her; essencially signed for life my love for Micaiah. Now I dedicate to write and share stuff to show how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros, to help other people understand her character, and in general share Micaiah Love.
Maybe in the past I would have give
100% to other characters, but nowadays the only character I want with a burning passion is her. I love Micaiah in every way possible, I love her simple but extremely stylish and beautiful design, I love her character, I found her quite a charming person with many interesting aspects to see when you read the story, and of course, I love the fact she is a spellcaster unlike most of the Main Characters, I love my magic-based stuff in every single game I played.
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