Official Smash Ultimate Discussion

[Shroob]

>Daisy in NSMB
I'm sold.

Also, any words from Nintendo yet?

Come back in 4 and a half hours and then maybe.

 

[Arcanir]

Actually, Simon's went up, like, right away. It was even in the Direct.

Which was a Wednesday, remember that we had the Bloody Tears/Monster Dance leak the night before the August Direct. That's the exact night we would've gotten a music update, which implies that the intent was for it to be delayed for the direct, but something or someone screwed up and the title got uploaded by mistake.

 

[Shroob]

Which was a Wednesday, remember that we had the Bloody Tears leak the night before the August Direct. That's the exact night we would've gotten a music update, which implies that the intent was for it to be delayed for the direct, but something or someone screwed up and the title got uploaded by mistake.

So basically it's 137 or bust.


And even then, it's not even that likely, since there's a chance they drop a "The site has been updated" kind of post like they usually do.


.....I just want an Echo fighter is all, and 'ol Issy seems like this is a good time for her.

 

[Omega Tyrant]

Sure, that’s bad frame data for most moves, but during the first 30 frames, the move is intangible. This gives your opponent 1/6 of a second window before you can also act, which is better than the directional airdodge. They will have a better form of dodge in the air compared to everyone else. This at the cost of momentum.

I don’t think it will be as bad as you say, despite the frame data sounding bad on it’s own. It isn’t perfect. Thank Sakurai for that, but it will have it’s uses, predominantly in the air when positioning, timing and matchups allow.

Except again, it's a move that produces no movement whatsoever to make it more difficult to punish nor any hitboxes to threaten opponents away, and a 10+ frame window is plenty to time punishes. Your opponent can aggro you with fast attacks that will finish before the Change finishes or just sit there and see what you do, since the Change itself can't actually do anything to threaten them and doesn't force them to move.

And I don't see how the people touting Pokemon Change as this great disadvantage option keep willingly ignoring the big issue of how bad a spot you're putting yourself in by switching to a worse character in disadvantage; it should be a rather desperate measure when you already depleted your air dodge and are about to lose your stock, people shouldn't be looking at it as the goto escape option.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I still think Princess Hilda has a chance of becoming an Echo.

It most likely wouldn't be a ballot choice but if Dark Pit could get in, then why not?

 

[Arcanir]

So basically it's 137 or bust.


And even then, it's not even that likely, since there's a chance they drop a "The site has been updated" kind of post like they usually do.


.....I just want an Echo fighter is all, and 'ol Issy seems like this is a good time for her.

Potentially yes, but we do need a Monday update. Toon Link's is clearly intended to be Tuesday's as his are #138-139 and it leads into Wednesday's music update+Summit, which are #140-141. We probably wouldn't have all four of #134-137 be on Friday since that would leave us with a gap, so at least one of those slots were likely dedicated to Monday's, which implies that it wasn't a site update (which happens immediately after the direct) or related specifically to the newcomer (the direct trailer, character trailer, and possible memory). So unless for some reason they decided to split those things across the two days, it's highly likely something separate from them was revealed in that direct and set aside, which coincidentally was replaced by Bowser's in the same way Pikmin's was.

 

[Cosmic77]

As long as we get a unique newcomer (which is a safe bet at this point) then I'm satisfied with the Smash content in the Direct. I won't shed any tears if an Echo or a new stage doesn't get revealed; all they'd really do for me is debunk/support a few leaks I've been watching.

 

[So_many_mails]

https://imgur.com/a/03aKqeB


This 'leak' seems to be the talk of the town over on Gamefaqs right now besides the fake Loz18 posts.


It REEKS of bull****.

Quick thoughts:

-Looks like too much stuff for 35 minutes

-Why would you not show some of this at E3, especially the short teasers and a new mainline Zelda???

-It feels weird to have Reggie talk about the earthquake and then bring on someone Japanese, surely it would make more sense for Koizumi to do it?

-Phantom Curse is too close to Phantom Hourglass

-Pokemon Light and Dark seems too close to White and Black

-We already know not all games will support cloud saving

Seems Fake IMO

 

[osby]

I still think Princess Hilda has a chance of becoming an Echo.

It most likely wouldn't be a ballot choice but if Dark Pit could get in, then why not?

Because Dark Pit was really popular in the fandom he came from and was a playable character in certain cases?

I also think Hilda's chances aren't zero but "if x can get in, why not y?" doesn't really work between different franchises.

EDIT: Not to mention, they'll be debuted in two different games.

 

[Omega Tyrant]

I still think Princess Hilda has a chance of becoming an Echo.

It most likely wouldn't be a ballot choice but if Dark Pit could get in, then why not?

I know people here usually mock the concept of "Sakurai bias", but we can be real here about it, Dark Pit is Sakurai's creation and he got straight to Smash 4 immediately after making Uprising, where Dark Pit was fresh on his mind and a near zero-effort addition. If Sakurai wasn't at the helm of Smash 4 and Ultimate, would anyone really think Dark Pit had any shot at being in the game?

 

[So_many_mails]

It's annoying wanting Layton in, because there is literally no evidence for or against his inclusion. First party fans have assist trophies and stuff to speculate with, other third parties already have some representation, but Level 5 has nothing at all.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

It's annoying wanting Layton in, because there is literally no evidence for or against his inclusion. First party fans have assist trophies and stuff to speculate with, other third parties already have some representation, but Level 5 has nothing at all.

It's Schrodinger's speculation scene inn'it. You have to assume he'd got the best and the worst chances all at once. It can be draining.

 

[osby]

It's annoying wanting Layton in, because there is literally no evidence for or against his inclusion. First party fans have assist trophies and stuff to speculate with, other third parties already have some representation, but Level 5 has nothing at all.

I sometimes feel like an ATLUS character is in similar situation but then again, Platinum Games has a character. It's at least a sign that SEGA second parties are probably fair game.

Stay strong.

 

[AzureFlame4]

It's annoying wanting Layton in, because there is literally no evidence for or against his inclusion. First party fans have assist trophies and stuff to speculate with, other third parties already have some representation, but Level 5 has nothing at all.

I dream of the world where Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton get in together.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Well it's 7pm in Japan right now so we'll probably have to wait another 12 hours to find out. Nintendo has announced directs with tiny build-up times before.

 

[ZephyrZ]

Maybe Pokemon Switch might be a little overhyped of a move as well, since it has an extra 4-5 frames of endlag compared to a Smash 4 air dodge...although honestly, 4-5 frames isn't really all that bad of a difference. But on the flip side, unless the source I'm looking at is incorrect, it seems to be active on frame one compared compared to Smash 4 air dodges, which makes it just ever so slightly better then any Smash 4 character's air dodge(although not overall). Honestly it seems mostly comparable to Bayonetta's air dodge frame data wise, which is simultaneously both the worst and the best air dodge in 4.

I don't think having to switch to a "worse character" would be a huge drawback either, as I honestly can't see any pokemon being 100% garbage (Ivy and Squirt probably can't be any worse then Sm4sh Zard, at any rate). Switching from Ivy to Zard sounds like it could be a great way to make an already bad disadvantage situation worse though to do Zard's massive hurtbox, so we might not see a lot of that. On the flip side though, switching from Zard to Squirtle will probably be really good. Zard could also switch to Squirt not as an air dodge, but after being launched up high so that you don't have to worry about landing pressure as much because of Squirt's air mobility, size, and withdraw mix up.

I think it'll be a move with its advantages and disadvantages compared to the new directional air dodges, not objectively better or worse but one to be used depending on the situation and as a mix up. It will also probably be very useful as a combo breaker because frame one is gosh dang impressive.

 

[Mega Bidoof]

Well it's 7pm in Japan right now so we'll probably have to wait another 12 hours to find out. Nintendo has announced directs with tiny build-up times before.

Could be four hours if it’s really 10AM EST.

 

[T-Hell]

So today's blog was music AND a stage huh? I guess it was to replace the blank day. Let's hope that today they finally reannounce the damn thing.

 

[Cosmic77]

I know people here usually mock the concept of "Sakurai bias", but we can be real here about it, Dark Pit is Sakurai's creation and he got straight to Smash 4 immediately after making Uprising, where Dark Pit was fresh on his mind and a near zero-effort addition. If Sakurai wasn't at the helm of Smash 4 and Ultimate, would anyone really think Dark Pit had any shot at being in the game?

If Dark Pit never got in Smash 4 because of "Sakurai bias", I'm pretty sure he would've gotten in this game (assuming Echoes still existed). He's one of the first characters who comes to mind when I think of quick clones, and it seems like even irrelevant characters such as Dark Samus and K. Rool are fair game.

 

[Deleted member]

Where I'm at it's 3:15 A.M., I know, I should go to bed. But I can't go to sleep, aaah. But if anytihng, I have always seen that here PST-wise, Direct announcements have always been at 7 A.M. So we should find out very soon.

 

[Zinith]

Where I'm at it's 3:15 A.M., I know, I should go to bed. But I can't go to sleep, aaah. But if anytihng, I have always seen that here PST-wise, Direct announcements have always been at 7 A.M. So we should find out very soon.

I'm the West Coast's night owl. I can verify that...

 

[DutchPichu]

So today's blog was music AND a stage huh? I guess it was to replace the blank day. Let's hope that today they finally reannounce the damn thing.

They always had a music update AND a regular blogpost...

 

[So_many_mails]

I dream of the world where Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton get in together.

It would work so well as a CGI trailer that if one gets in without the other being announced at the same time, I'm going to assume the other is deconfirmed.

 

[Mega Bidoof]

https://imgur.com/a/03aKqeB


This 'leak' seems to be the talk of the town over on Gamefaqs right now besides the fake Loz18 posts.


It REEKS of bull****.

>King of Cards released November 8th, 2018.

Boom, instantly fake.
It’s confirmed to come out April 2019.

 

[Omega Tyrant]

Maybe Pokemon Switch might be a little overhyped of a move as well, since it has an extra 4-5 frames of endlag compared to a Smash 4 air dodge...although honestly, 4-5 frames isn't really all that bad of a difference. But on the flip side, unless the source I'm looking at is incorrect, it seems to be active on frame one compared compared to Smash 4 air dodges, which makes it just ever so slightly better then any Smash 4 character's air dodge(although not overall). Honestly it seems mostly comparable to Bayonetta's air dodge frame data wise, which is simultaneously both the worst and the best air dodge in 4.

I don't think having to switch to a "worse character" would be a huge drawback either, as I honestly can't see any pokemon being 100% garbage (Ivy and Squirt probably can't be any worse then Sm4sh Zard, at any rate). Switching from Ivy to Zard sounds like it could be a great way to make an already bad disadvantage situation worse though to do Zard's massive hurtbox, so we might not see a lot of that. On the flip side though, switching from Zard to Squirtle will probably be really good. Zard could also switch to Squirt not as an air dodge, but after being launched up high so that you don't have to worry about landing pressure as much because of Squirt's air mobility, size, and withdraw mix up.

I think it'll be a move with its advantages and disadvantages compared to the new directional air dodges, not objectively better or worse but one to be used depending on the situation and as a mix up. It will also probably be very useful as a combo breaker because frame one is gosh dang impressive.

Invincibility starting on frame 1 instead of frame 2 or 3 isn't much a boon, almost all the times you evade a move with a frame 1 dodge you would have still done so with a frame 3 dodge (the complaints about Bayo escaping combos with Bat Within were unwarranted 90+% of the time when other characters with their air dodges would have still escaped the same combos). Additionally you can't use Pokemon Change to cancel hitstun, thus it can't be used to escape true combos where that extra couple of frames could allow you to escape a combo a couple % sooner. And 40+ frames total is a big deal when you're not moving/changing drift nor producing any hitboxes, your opponent is not threatened by anything and does not need to try chasing you at all, they can just sit there and punish as they please.

It's not a matter of switching to a "garbage" character, it's a matter of switching to a character you're worse with, on top of being in disadvantage, leaving you in a weakened position to fight back against your opponent and get the opportunity to switch back to your desired pokemon; you're usually going to end up taking a lot of damage or losing your stock before you can switch back. Or if you're a robot that has no concept of individual character aptitude and can play them all equally at a high level, you're going to be wanting to play the pokemon that is best at the matchup from the getgo, so you'll be willingly switching to a worse matchup on top of being in disadvantage (which depending on how the balance goes, could be a really big drop in your matchup advantage), meaning you're still fighting in a weakened state and have to both escape disadvantage and then outplay your opponent in neutral enough with a worse character in the matchup to make the two switches back to the best pokemon.

 

[Michele]

Ok, I want to break the silence and talk about something we know about this. Rathalos, yes. I know, But there seems to be something at the end.
https://media.giphy.com/media/Wxlx0dSNAOke5FpKA8/giphy.gif

In the end (before looping back to start) I've noticed that the character (Who is it?) get covered by something purple, after being hit by the monster's claw (Yes, I learnt he has one of two attacks that gives poison status). It doesn't seem like anything Subspace-related but I could be wrong, but I remembers the fighters in Subspace being transformed into trophies immediately instead of the purple part.

Could there be more buffs and debuffs on the way, like poisoning, silence (not being able to use specials or recover), stop, nausea, etc in Story mode? I have never seen the poison status before, in any way.

 

[Zinith]

I'll go to bed in a few hours and when I wake up the Charizard debate will STILL be going on

 

[Danpal65]

Ok, I want to break the silence and talk about something we know about this. Rathalos, yes. I know, But there seems to be something at the end.
https://media.giphy.com/media/Wxlx0dSNAOke5FpKA8/giphy.gif

In the end (before looping back to start) I've noticed that the character (Who is it?) get covered by something purple, after being hit by the monster's claw (Yes, I learnt he has one of two attacks that gives poison status). It doesn't seem like anything Subspace-related but I could be wrong, but I remembers the fighters in Subspace being transformed into trophies immediately instead of the purple part.

Could there be more buffs and debuffs on the way, like poisoning, silence (not being able to use specials or recover), stop, nausea, etc in Story mode? I have never seen the poison status before, in any way.

I imagine, yeah, it probably is poison since Rathalos poisons Hunters using its claws. I imagine it will probably act like flames in the game and do some residual damage, although as you said it could potentially be a temporary debuff.

 

[PLATINUM7]

I know people here usually mock the concept of "Sakurai bias", but we can be real here about it, Dark Pit is Sakurai's creation and he got straight to Smash 4 immediately after making Uprising, where Dark Pit was fresh on his mind and a near zero-effort addition. If Sakurai wasn't at the helm of Smash 4 and Ultimate, would anyone really think Dark Pit had any shot at being in the game?

For Smash 4, the Dark Pit support thread.

For Ultimate, he'd seem like a logical echo choice.

 

[Curious Villager]

It's annoying wanting Layton in, because there is literally no evidence for or against his inclusion. First party fans have assist trophies and stuff to speculate with, other third parties already have some representation, but Level 5 has nothing at all.

Sometimes I look back at the simpler times when I was a more naive child that thought Layton was a Nintendo character.
Nintendo UK's official Nintendo character hub including Layton (As well as Phoenix Wright and Mark Evans) for whatever reason and still having them there to this day didn't help much either....

 

[Michele]

I imagine, yeah, it probably is poison since Rathalos poisons Hunters using its claws. I imagine it will probably act like flames in the game and do some residual damage, although as you said it could potentially be a temporary debuff.

That's something I have never seen though. Could Smash be borrowing buffs/debuffs from other RPG games?

Here are some examples I could imagine of, and how they would work in Smash...

Silence - in any RPG this is one of the worst status effect as it prevents you from using magic/skills. In Smash, being silenced gives you the inability to use any special move, gimping also your recovery as you can't use the up redovery move.
Stop - can work the same for Smash. Stop renders the player frozen in place, so it's easy to rack up damage but the knockback won't be accumulated.
Paralysis - sometimes your actions are not done at all. In Smash, if you get this status, your character will sometimes flinch, even during attack.ù
Petrify/Stone: the character in Smash is covered in brown. It's the same as in other RPGs, expect that you can break the petrified character, and make that count as your KO.
Here are some buffs I think would work:

Haste - the character's animation is faster in RPG and they get to be the first. In Smash, the speed and attack speed are raised greatly.
Regen - we do have items for that, but I'm imaging that as a buff, where the character gradually recover over time.

 

[Omega Tyrant]

If Dark Pit never got in Smash 4 because of "Sakurai bias", I'm pretty sure he would've gotten in this game (assuming Echoes still existed). He's one of the first characters who comes to mind when I think of quick clones, and it seems like even irrelevant characters such as Dark Samus and K. Rool are fair game.

He probably now comes to your mind quickly as a "quick clone" because it already happened in Smash 4 and thus it's what we're used to. In the scenario Dark Pit wasn't in Smash 4, I don't see Dark Pit being looked at more than the likes of Hilda now, i.e. a character that could work as an Echo, but one with generally low enthusiasm and that most people would go "why bother?" about.

Ok, I want to break the silence and talk about something we know about this. Rathalos, yes. I know, But there seems to be something at the end.
https://media.giphy.com/media/Wxlx0dSNAOke5FpKA8/giphy.gif

In the end (before looping back to start) I've noticed that the character (Who is it?) get covered by something purple, after being hit by the monster's claw (Yes, I learnt he has one of two attacks that gives poison status). It doesn't seem like anything Subspace-related but I could be wrong, but I remembers the fighters in Subspace being transformed into trophies immediately instead of the purple part.

Could there be more buffs and debuffs on the way, like poisoning, silence (not being able to use specials or recover), stop, nausea, etc in Story mode? I have never seen the poison status before, in any way.

That is probably just a damage effect to represent poison (whether it's the darkness effect like with White Pikmin or an actual new poison effect). In SSE characters got KO'd normally (or just exploded if crushed), they only turned to trophies in cutscenes and it never happened in actual gameplay.

 

[Zinith]

Silence - in any RPG this is one of the worst status effect as it prevents you from using magic/skills. In Smash, being silenced gives you the inability to use any special move, gimping also your recovery as you can't use the up redovery move.

This one doesn't seem that bad for my boi as his recovey in dependent on his double jump (and that sweet 70 frame armor), not his up B.

 

[WaxPython]

3 most obnoxious for glory characters to vs

Mario same old boring obnnoxious comboes every match, boring to fight.

Bayonetta self explanatory

Corrin too safe, should have less range and be able to punished much easier.

 

[Danpal65]

That's something I have never seen though. Could Smash be borrowing buffs/debuffs from other RPG games?

Here are some examples I could imagine of, and how they would work in Smash...

Silence - in any RPG this is one of the worst status effect as it prevents you from using magic/skills. In Smash, being silenced gives you the inability to use any special move, gimping also your recovery as you can't use the up redovery move.
Stop - can work the same for Smash. Stop renders the player frozen in place, so it's easy to rack up damage but the knockback won't be accumulated.
Paralysis - sometimes your actions are not done at all. In Smash, if you get this status, your character will sometimes flinch, even during attack.ù
Petrify/Stone: the character in Smash is covered in brown. It's the same as in other RPGs, expect that you can break the petrified character, and make that count as your KO.
Here are some buffs I think would work:

Haste - the character's animation is faster in RPG and they get to be the first. In Smash, the speed and attack speed are raised greatly.
Regen - we do have items for that, but I'm imaging that as a buff, where the character gradually recover over time.

I think you may be extrapolating a bit far for what Smash would be doing. Cool concepts for sure, but I think it would be too complex of an inclusion to be worth doing.

 

[Misery Brick]

Except again, it's a move that produces no movement whatsoever to make it more difficult to punish nor any hitboxes to threaten opponents away, and a 10+ frame window is plenty to time punishes. Your opponent can aggro you with fast attacks that will finish before the Change finishes or just sit there and see what you do, since the Change itself can't actually do anything to threaten them and doesn't force them to move.

And I don't see how the people touting Pokemon Change as this great disadvantage option keep willingly ignoring the big issue of how bad a spot you're putting yourself in by switching to a worse character in disadvantage; it should be a rather desperate measure when you already depleted your air dodge and are about to lose your stock, people shouldn't be looking at it as the goto escape option.

If you're adept with all three Pokémon, which I've stated numerous times if you're going to main PT you should be at the very least, then it should be a go to escape option in terms of no longer having any defensive options or if your opponent is giving you trouble with the current one you have out. Just because you're running a character that's out, doesn't necessarily mean that the next Pokémon you switch into will automatically have you at a disadvantage or into a "worse" character.
Sure, it's not exactly a foolproof or necessarily safe option 100% of the time, not much in this game really is after all, but it could allow for some potential mix-ups or ability to trade off some damge or to create some distance between you and your opponent.
Like others have said, at the end of the day this is all theoretical and we won't truly know until we have the game in front of us. So I definitely wouldn't go off of potential viability given we'll never know until the competitive metagame fully forms and people discover things surrounding the game.
However, going off observations we can make from what's readily available or showcased, it allows for more potential pros than it does cons.

I've noticed your biggest criticism of the character is them being apart of a transformation and having a missing down special and you're harping on the idea that you can't play PT optimally with all three characters. (It's possible, look at how different top level players are able to have multiple mains and secondaries and are able to use them on a competitive field.)
While you have definitely offered some valid points and your own personal reasoning, distaste, and logic behind things, there's nothing majorly disadvantageous to assume that switching to a different character for utility, recovery, or even a mixup will lead to to a disadvantage for the player using .
I'd hate to bring up the team fighter analogy again, but people who have a point character in games like UMvC3 and DBFZ doesn't mean they're lesser in skill with their anchor and support characters.
It's apart of their strategy and accounting for how the playing field may shift for them in any given match in regards to their team's synergy.
Switching or tagging into a different character, doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage in those games. It very much could, and you'll lose health and a character for making an unsafe decision at the wrong moment or because you got baited into it. However, there could be direct benefit from trying to throw someone else out on the field like many people have mentioned.
One just leads in for a more optimal set up or strategy, and that's how I think people will utilize the switch mechanic to create synergy between the three Pokémon.

Also going back to what I've mentioned before, you have to utilize the entire character and mechanic of as one entity.
While, yes, focusing on using the entire kit of PT will take much longer than focusing on any one other character. Regardless of that, you still have to view them as key components or movesets of the character, unless you're wanting to hinder yourself and waste the potential that comes with the character and the mechanic.
It doesn't matter if they come with different presets or not, you can still be proficient with all of them across the board regardless of personal favorites. I mean look back at my earlier analogy and example.

Learning how to use PT will require dedication and work, but to write them off due to stubbornness and factors like "natural aptitude" won't matter much in the long run as with every character you have to study and perfect your shortcomings, especially on a competitive field. With a character like PT, their mechanic help all the individual Pokémon with that regard, as opposed to severly causing a detriment for them.
My point is still, in order to be a great player, you have to invest the time in order to learn and experience everything of the character regardless of personal preference.
It requires dedication and hard work, but at the end of the day, that's what makes it even all the more rewarding for the players that invest it.

 

[DJ3DS]

3 most obnoxious for glory characters to vs

Mario same old boring obnnoxious comboes every match, boring to fight.

Bayonetta self explanatory

Corrin too safe, should have less range and be able to punished much easier.

Quite frankly I actually look forward to playing FG Bayonetta, because they almost all have no idea what they're doing and no game plan against anyone who is happy to camp.

 

[Deleted member]

3 most obnoxious for glory characters to vs

Mario same old boring obnnoxious comboes every match, boring to fight.

Bayonetta self explanatory

Corrin too safe, should have less range and be able to punished much easier.

>Corrin's moves
>Safe
Choose one, buddy

 

[Zinith]

How will this game's For Glory be better if that's possible?

 

[ZephyrZ]

Invincibility starting on frame 1 instead of frame 2 or 3 isn't much a boon, almost all the times you evade a move with a frame 1 dodge you would have still done so with a frame 3 dodge (the complaints about Bayo escaping combos with Bat Within were unwarranted 90+% of the time when other characters with their air dodges would have still escaped the same combos). Additionally you can't use Pokemon Change to cancel hitstun, thus it can't be used to escape true combos where that extra couple of frames could allow you to escape a combo a couple % sooner. And 40+ frames total is a big deal when you're not moving/changing drift nor producing any hitboxes, your opponent is not threatened by anything and does not need to try chasing you at all, they can just sit there and punish as they please.

This is assuming they just wait to punish you. Standing in place and using shield also counters Rock Smash, from my experience. The 72 frames of Rock Smash, with 26 of those frames being endlag, is a huge deal regardless of if you're producing a hitbox or not.

Look, I'm not saying Rock Smash is a worthless move or that Pokemon Switch is going to be completely perfect, but I feel like you're really overselling one and underselling the other. If Rock Smash has awful drawbacks that are still managed to be justified by its strengths as an escape tool, I don't see why Pokemon Switch couldn't be the same (even if we can't agree on how awful the drawbacks are going to be).

It's not a matter of switching to a "garbage" character, it's a matter of switching to a character you're worse with, on top of being in disadvantage, leaving you in a weakened position to fight back against your opponent and get the opportunity to switch back to your desired pokemon; you're usually going to end up taking a lot of damage or losing your stock before you can switch back. Or if you're a robot that has no concept of individual character aptitude and can play them all equally at a high level, you're going to be wanting to play the pokemon that is best at the matchup from the getgo, so you'll be willingly switching to a worse matchup on top of being in disadvantage (which depending on how the balance goes, could be a really big drop in your matchup advantage), meaning you're still fighting in a weakened state and have to both escape disadvantage and then outplay your opponent in neutral enough with a worse character in the matchup to make the two switches back to the best pokemon.

You don't have to play all three equally, just competently enough to 1) not get your butt totally kicked during that time and 2) get a throw or Smash attack so you can launch your opponent far enough away that its safe to switch. If you have solid fundamentals and understand each pokemon's kits to a basic degree, you should be able to play all of them somewhat competently. Yeah I can't pull off Mega Man's crazy footstool combos or consistently kill with DHD but if I can still get a grab with them and toss my opponent offstage, I don't see why someone couldn't do that with Squirtle or Ivysaur with practice.

This argument is starting to go in circles.