Spirits/Amiibo Metagame Discussion

[HansShotFirst20]

A thread to discuss the generally neglected Spirits metagame, including spirit-boosted Amiibo.

Spirits are a big part of Ultimate, and it's sad to see that battles using them are generally disregarded outside of World of Light/Spirit Board. It's a fun thing to do on the side -- seeing which combinations of Spirits on which fighters break the game the most; so I'm making this thread to see if anyone else shares interest in this little sub-metagame of Smash's newest installment.

 

[KahunaLagoona DX]

I mean, I don't really use Spirits unless I'm either on Spirit Board/WoL or Training amiibo with a set focused on parrying to teach them the skill.

As for Spirits use with amiibo - well the Spirits Metagame with amiibo is generally not as healthy as it was in Smash 4 with Customs/Equipment, and even the amiibo communities that used Equipment had a ban on certain combinations like Exploding Perfect Shield, etc.

I know the amiibo community of Exion Vault tends to focus on Vanilla (No Spirits) amiibo because they banned Armor Knight + Move Speed Up, as those were the only Spirits that worked out well in terms of amiibo AI. Some gimmick sets used Instadrop for amiibo like Kirby/Jiggs/Falco for some moderate degree to success... Although anything on Ice Climbers is a dud since the Icies' amiibo AI doesn't even register Nana as an entity nor does it give her any buffs/effects from Spirits.

AND The amiibo Metagame, Spirits or Vanilla is completely dominated by Bowser, whose only weak match up is Little Mac. So...

 

[HansShotFirst20]

I mean, I don't really use Spirits unless I'm either on Spirit Board/WoL or Training amiibo with a set focused on parrying to teach them the skill.

As for Spirits use with amiibo - well the Spirits Metagame with amiibo is generally not as healthy as it was in Smash 4 with Customs/Equipment, and even the amiibo communities that used Equipment had a ban on certain combinations like Exploding Perfect Shield, etc.

I know the amiibo community of Exion Vault tends to focus on Vanilla (No Spirits) amiibo because they banned Armor Knight + Move Speed Up, as those were the only Spirits that worked out well in terms of amiibo AI. Some gimmick sets used Instadrop for amiibo like Kirby/Jiggs/Falco for some moderate degree to success... Although anything on Ice Climbers is a dud since the Icies' amiibo AI doesn't even register Nana as an entity nor does it give her any buffs/effects from Spirits.

AND The amiibo Metagame, Spirits or Vanilla is completely dominated by Bowser, whose only weak match up is Little Mac. So...

Exion banned Bowser, too lol,

 

[Spiny Top]

I can’t shake the feeling that spirits were a big missed opportunity in Ultimate. If they were better balanced and implement it could have a thriving PvP scene, and be at the forefront of competitive tournament play.

After I acquired them all, I formed some teams and searched out arenas with spirits on. Did that for a while, like several weeks. It was fun, don’t get me wrong but was a bit lacking in balance and deeper strategy. There were plenty of hokey strategies like DK cargo up throws with lightweight and boosted jump, where he grabs you and jumps into the blast zone then throws for an instant kill. Super armor completely changes the game on a fundamental level when playing against it. You can’t ever jab, and can’t tilt until high percent or you will catch a smash to the face for it. Auto heal is too abusable and promotes camping. A lot of the item spirits are bad because you don’t respawn with your chosen item after loosing a stock.

It could be the premiere competitive mode in Ultimate if it was balanced and deeper and more interesting. Like I said missed opportunity.