Sonic isn't bad. He's different.
Jab seems to have shorter range, but is still 3 frames.
Ftilt is my amazing spacing tool and can get kills around 150 if you're controlling the stage like you should.
Dtilt and utilt can start combos at low percents. Utilt can also clip opponents on platforms.
Fsmash has this improved hitbox. It's no sword, but it's been jamming people pretty hard for me. If I anticipate someone coming at me from a 45 degree like angle, I basically call that aerial out with an up angled fsmash and take the stock real quick.
Dsmash can still catch people off guard, still two frame if you're good, and still punish those who regrab the ledge, but you have to do it faster because people can come up off the ledge faster in this game than in Smash 4.
Usmash is stronger and can guarantee kills earlier with a good read.
Fair is great now. If you somehow manage to connect without hitting the last hit due to landing, you can get a combo on the ground because it has a drag down effect while having less landing lag. I've done drag down into dtilt into nair, and that feels great. Short hop fair can catch people jumping predictably, clip people on a platform, give you an alternate way off the ledge, edgeguards... it's a great move.
Bair is still great. It still hurts the opponent, still has a ridiculous hitbox
Uair doesn't work. Hopefully they fix it.
Dair... eh... I'm starting to use it less and less. The spike can be clutch for earlier percents, but with the way edgeguarding works here, fair and bair are usually better choices. If I use a spring to escape, landing a "lagless" dair still makes me lag for some reason. I'd rather just fastfall then air dodge or something. It still has its uses,
Nair is my friend. Because shield grabbing got nerfed both mechanically and through our shortened grab range, I use nair OoS. This move has so much less lag now and is much safer. I never had a cross up nair on shield that's been punished. I can nair and then jab if I think the opponent is going to shield grab me. If they release the shield, nair can combo into a multitude of moves. Nair is one of those moves that does everything I ever wanted it to do in Smash.
Homing Attack, everyone agrees is great. Mix up, Punish, Edgeguarding, even Recovery against someone trying to edgeguard you... this thing is another move that does everything I ever wanted Homing Attack to do in Smash and then some.
Spin Dash still has 6 frames of invincibility, so you can definitely use it to cover landing and punish attacks still. Also, if you're having trouble killing, using a slightly charged ASC at higher percents can nab a kill for some reason.
Spin Charge is different, but still great. At low percents, you can Spin Charge into nair for 30% damage. I've gotten 35% with it in match before, it's insane. Note: you have to hold forward to max out the damage during the roll.
A falling Spring can be used to condition opponents' recoveries, and make edgeguaring easier. For example, you drop a spring right at the ledge, and the opponent gets hit. Do that enough, and the opponent is going to recover differently, either a little farther away than they usually do or a little closer, and maybe even under the stage, than they usually do. So you maintain control of the stage while still dropping Springs every time you knock the opponent off stage, and then, when they least expect it, you hit them with fair if they recover farther away for the kill, or with bair if they try to get closer.
Leffen made a tier list video, and in it, he explained that a fast character isn't necessarily a character with just a quick run speed, but with a quick initial dash. We have the third best initial dash in the game (and of course, top speed), and I've been using that to my advantage. Just like in Smash 4 where there was a pretty specific range that we were optimal at for punishing, the same applies here. You can get dash attack to keep people in the air and catch that ever so slight landing lag on their short hop aerials, you can dash real quick into a short hop fair to punish them for jumping without a hitbox, or you can hit a quick back pivot ground move to punish their landing as well.
Stage control is truly important, we do have to be a little more aggressive because shield grabbing was nerfed mechcanially (as was our grab range), and we also have to be a little more precise in our attacks and in our movement. Also, at some point we're gonna have to figure out what moves kill at what percents, because killing can be an issue, at least for me.
Also, I feel like Battlefield is smaller than what it used to be and isn't doing us any favors initially, but we just gotta adapt.
Overall, this is not a bad character. Only characters I've been struggling against are Marth, Lucina, Roy, and Mewtwo. Other than that, there are still matchups to learn, but I fear no character. Inklings are easy if you shield the roller and punish their ink recharge, KRool is easy if you don't get grabbed, and Belmonts are easy because homing attack will punish their projectiles on reaction and they're hilariously easy to edgeguard. "2nd best character in the game" Chrom gets smoked because we edgeguard him for free... sometimes the fear of Chrom getting hit leads him to lose a stock.
But yeah. I think this character is great. Definitely bottom of top tier or top of high tier.
