Wario's pros and cons, nerfs and buffs. (As of version 1.0.4.)

[xzx]

Overview: Oh Wario, one of the hidden characters in the game. When Smash 4 was announced, I always eagerly waited for him to be revealed on the official site. Then he was leaked before he was officially confirmed. Some people actually thought he was not going to make the cut, and even I could assume that sometimes. But really, it was obvious in one way or another that he would be a returning character. Then, when I finally got the game and unlocked him and tested him a few times, the hype didn't quite match at the end of day, even though I did my best to disregard that. Why is that?

First, I want you to see this brief video of the changes that Wario's moveset did undergo from Brawl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BBKnpzNwJM (Credits DO NOT got to me. Credits go the guy who made this video for us. Thanks!)

Even though it may seem that Wario's moveset did not undergo that many changes, it really has. Some moves have become quicker, other slower. His moves are the same, except his Brawl F-smash (Shoulder barge) got replaced by some punch. Not only did they replace his TRADEMARK MOVE (!); they made his F-smash worse. More of this to come.

Now, let us view Wario's pros and cons in general.

--------------------

Wario's pros:

+ Quick and mobile for a heavyweight character
+ Great air game (thanks to his air speed) with almost all of his aerials (which can be autocancelled effectively) having little ending lag
+ Good recovery with many options (especially his Wario Bike)
+ Has powerful finishers like Wario Waft, F-smash and wheelies
+ Is unpredictable
+ Decent punish game
+ Chomp. Do I need to say more?


Wario's cons:

- His poor range makes him very vulnerable when approaching and being approached, especially to those who have long-ranged attacks and disjointed hitboxes
- Can have trouble to actually land finishers (especially when they are staled), as most finishers are situational
- Doesn't have many reliable combos and follow-ups, even if Wario and his opponents are at 0%

--------------------

And now, let us view his nerfs and buffs in general. Let us start with his buffs:


Wario's buffs:

+ NO GRAB-RELEASE FOLLOW-UPS ANYMORE!
+ Faster and better ground game due to faster dashes and faster tilts (especially F-tilt).
+ Wario Bike: (1) It now travels faster (and further when in the air). (2) When jumped off from the ground, it becomes a travelling hitbox on its own. (3) It gained multiple hitboxes now when it turns. (4) It now has a powerful wheelie slam, which can be used in the air too! (Wario can't do wheelies in the air though.) (5) After roughly 25 seconds on the ground, it will disappear. (6) Can now be used immediately after it disappears (as opposed to Brawl, where you had to wait 3 seconds before you could use it again. Be wary that Wario can just use the bike once in the air!) (7) Wario will flash when he can use the bike again.
+ Chomp can now eat almost any item and projectile, with many of them healing Wario by 1% while charging Wario Waft a little.
+ Wario Waft can be charged by eating items, and is really powerful when fully charged.
+ Corkscrew has gained more height and now sweet spots the edge.
+ New, stronger Up-smash.
+ Less ending lag on D-smash.
+ Stronger F-smash with more range.
+ Dash attack can now trip at the end of the move.


Wario's nerfs:

- Much worsened aerial acceleration.
- Worsened air speed.
- Fewer approach options: No DACUS. Bike has less priority. No tires.
- Power decrease (most notably Up-air).
- Less multihitting moves in Dair and Up-B.
- More unsafe due to lesser multihitting moves, bike nerfs and worsened air speed and aerial acceleration.
- Worsened combo potential.
- Worsened damage dealing capabilities due to moves doing less damage overall with worsened combo potential.
- Wario Bike: (1) It is easier to knock off Wario from his bike. (2) Bike isn't as great at dealing with items and projectiles anymore. (3) Can now be broken apart when Wario rides it. (4) Harder to get off of. (5) Can only use the bike once in the air. (6) Can no longer dismount his bike during a wheelie. (7) Bike edge crashing leaves Wario off stage. (8) Landing moves on the bike doesn't count as a move hitting, which means that Wario can no longer refresh his moves on it. (9) Doesn't bounce as much as before when thrown. (10) No tires... (!)
- Wario Waft has more ending lag and doesn't travel as far.
- Chomp can't be hold as long as before.
- F-smash is replaced with a new move that is much slower with more ending lag with no launch resistance (Super Armor).
- Jab doesn't connect to itself as easily. (This is due to Wario not stepping forward on the first punch and that the punch itself has much higher knockback than before. Also, if you hit with Wario's arm instead and not the fist itself, you won't be able to connect the move at higher %s and thus you will be punished.)
- Nair is just... just... awfully nerfed. It is harder to land with smaller hitboxes and is harder to do follow-ups after. WHY.


Neither a buff nor a nerf:

> Wario's bike's stamina was reduced from 26% to 18%. + It is easier to break assuming you want to get rid of it. - Due to it being easier to break means that other characters can more easily destroy it while you ride it.

> Wario can turn around on his bike repeatedly without falling it off. + This means that he can travel on his bike as much as he wants, without being worried about falling it off on his own. - Since he can't dismount it unless he jumps it off means that he can no longer start riding it and immediately do a super sharp turn, resulting in Wario falling it off in means for different purposes, like using it as a "projectile shield" or for an item to edge guarding/stage control with, among other things.

--------------------

Conclusion: Yeah, there you have it. This is all pros and cons, nerfs and buffs I can think of, talking generally. Wario is sadly too nerfed, with many useful tools he had in Brawl now severily reduced or even removed completely. Unless Wario will not be patched to the better (which he must be), he will be Middle Tier and only Middle Tier at best, with no High Tier in sight. I think his right position on the Tier list is somewhere between mid Middle Tier and lower Middle Tier. Sadly, Wario is not a viable character. I am not here to discourage Wario players by any means (I am one too). I am here to just inform the Wario board of Smash 4 Wario's current strenghts, current weaknesses and overall changes from Brawl. Please note that this is not a guide of some sort, even if I put some details here and there. I hope you have learned something from this.

Did I miss something? Or do you think something in these lists should be changed? Should something be added or removed? Or did I screw something up? Please fill me in then. I am happy to discuss anything regarding this topic.

 

[[Obnoxshush/Dasshizer]]

Overview: Oh Wario, one of the hidden characters in the game. When Smash 4 was announced, I always eagerly waited for him to be revealed on the official site. Then he was leaked before he was officially confirmed. Some people actually thought he was not going to make the cut, and even I could assume that sometimes. But really, it was obvious in one way or another that he would be a returning character. Then, when I finally got the game and unlocked him and tested him a few times, the hype didn't quite match at the end of day, even though I did my best to disregard that. Why is that?

First, I want you to see this brief video of the changes that Wario's moveset did undergo from Brawl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BBKnpzNwJM (Credits DO NOT got to me. Credits go the guy who made this video for us. Thanks!)

Even though it may seem that Wario's moveset did not undergo that many changes, it really has. Some moves have become quicker, other slower. His moves are the same, except his Brawl F-smash (Shoulder barge) got replaced by some punch. Not only did they replace his TRADEMARK MOVE (!); they made his F-smash worse. More of this to come.

Now, let us view Wario's pros and cons in general.

--------------------

Wario's pros:

+ Quick and mobile for a heavyweight character
+ Great air game (thanks to his air speed) with almost all of his aerials (which can be autocancelled effectively) having little ending lag
+ Good recovery with many options (especially his Wario Bike)
+ Has powerful finishers like Wario Waft, F-smash and wheelies
+ Is unpredictable
+ Decent punish game
+ Chomp. Do I need to say more?


Wario's cons:

- His poor range makes him very vulnerable when approaching and being approached, especially to those who have long-ranged attacks and disjointed hitboxes
- Can have trouble to actually land finishers (especially when they are staled), as most finishers are situational
- Doesn't have many reliable combos and follow-ups, even if Wario and his opponents are at 0%

--------------------

And now, let us view his nerfs and buffs in general. Let us start with his buffs:


Wario's buffs:

+ NO GRAB-RELEASE FOLLOW-UPS ANYMORE!
+ Faster and better ground game due to faster dashes and faster tilts (especially F-tilt).
+ Wario Bike: (1) It now travels faster (and further when in the air). (2) When jumped off from the ground, it becomes a travelling hitbox on its own. (3) It gained multiple hitboxes now when it turns. (4) It now has a powerful wheelie slam, which can be used in the air too! (Wario can't do wheelies in the air though.) (5) After roughly 25 seconds on the ground, it will disapear. (6) Can now be used immediately after it disapears (as opposed to Brawl, where you had to wait 3 seconds before you could use it again. Be wary that Wario can just use the bike once in the air!) (7) Wario will flash when he can use the bike again.
+ Chomp can now eat almost any item and projectile, with many of them healing Wario by 1% while charging Wario Waft a little.
+ Wario Waft can be charged by eating items, and is really powerful when fully charged.
+ Corkscrew has gained more height and now sweet spots the edge.
+ New, stronger Up-smash.
+ Less ending lag on D-smash.
+ Stronger F-smash with more range.
+ Dash attack can now trip at the end of the move.


Wario's nerfs:

- Much worsened aerial acceleration.
- Worsened air speed.
- Fewer approach options: No DACUS. Bike has less priority. No tires.
- Power decrease (most notably Up-air).
- Less multihitting moves in Dair and Up-B.
- More unsafe due to lesser multihitting moves, bike nerfs and worsened air speed and aerial acceleration.
- Worsened combo potential.
- Worsened damage dealing capabilities due to moves doing less damage overall with worsened combo potential.
- Wario Bike: (1) It is easier to knock off Wario from his bike. (2) Bike isn't as great at dealing with items and projectiles anymore. (3) Can now be broken apart when Wario rides it. (4) Harder to get off of. (5) Can only use the bike once in the air. (6) Can no longer dismount his bike during a wheelie. (7) Bike edge crashing leaves Wario off stage. (8) No tires... (!)
- Wario Waft has more ending lag and doesn't travel as far.
- Chomp can't be hold as long as before.
- F-smash is replaced with a new move that is much slower with more ending lag with no launch resistance (Super Armor).
- Jab doesn't connect to itself as easily. (This is due to Wario not stepping forward on the first punch and that the punch itself has much higher knockback than before. Also, if you hit with Wario's arm instead and not the fist itself, you won't be able to connect the move at higher %s and thus you will be punished.)
- Nair is just... just... awfully nerfed. It is harder to land with smaller hitboxes and is harder to do follow-ups after. WHY.


Neither a buff nor a nerf:

> Wario's bike's health was reduced from 26% to 18%. + It is easier to break. - Due to it being easier to break means that Wario can not refresh his moves as many times as before.

> Wario can turn around on his bike repeatedly without falling it off. + This means that he can travel on his bike as much as he wants, without being worried about falling it off on his own. - Since he can't dismount it unless he jumps it off means that he can no longer start riding it and immediately do a super sharp turn, resulting in Wario falling it off in means for different purposes, like using it as a "projectile shield" or for an item to edge guarding/stage control with, among other things.

--------------------

Conclusion: Yeah, there you have it. This is all pros and cons, nerfs and buffs I can think of, talking generally. Wario is sadly too nerfed, with many useful tools he had in Brawl now severily reduced or even removed completely. Unless Wario will not be patched to the better (which he must be), he will be Middle Tier and only Middle Tier at best, with no High Tier in sight. I think his right position on the Tier list is somewhere between mid Middle Tier and lower Middle Tier. Sadly, Wario is not a viable character. I am not here to discourage Wario players by any means (I am one too). I am here to just inform the Wario board of Smash 4 Wario's current strenghts, current weaknesses and overall changes from Brawl. Please note that this is not a guide of some sort, even if I put some details here and there. I hope you have learned something from this.

Did I miss something? Or do you think something in these lists should be changed? Should something be added or removed? Or did I screw something up? Please fill me in then. I am happy to discuss anything regarding this topic.

It all depends on playstyle, but thanks for the list. If the f smash at least had super armor, that would be good. Though I've found his other smash attacks to be really useful.

 

[Rakurai]

You can't refresh stale moves by hitting the bike anymore.

You need to actually hit another fighter.

 

[Ultimastrike]

Kinda sad. Nobody's gonna play Wario unless they want funnies now D: But seriously. I somewhat agree he needs something. Afaik, Wario can do D3's FF NAir considering how long the hitbox is there(and Wario's Fast Fall is pretty fast too). But that's about the only use for NAir unless it's to get someone off you. And of course...GIVE US SHOULDER BARGE. It's almost as if Nintendo thought Wario needed more range with his FSmash, when in fact he didn't need it at all.

 

[Ceph]

I wish they hadn't gotten rid of his shoulder charge fsmash, that really would have made him complete :<

 

[Rakurai]

The loss of airspeed really hurts his ability to go on the offensive against characters who can outrange him with their aerials.

 

[xzx]

You can't refresh stale moves by hitting the bike anymore.

You need to actually hit another fighter.

Thanks for the clarification. Updated the OP with this new information. (Yay, another nerf...)
---
Comparing Wario's Brawl F-smash with his Smash 4 F-smash: Brawl F-smash is quicker, transcedent and has super armor, but at the cost of range and power. Smash 4 F-smash has more power and range, but at the cost of speed and Super Armor frames. His Brawl F-smash is clearly better. Speed over power any day.

Seriously, he needs his Brawl F-smash back. It needs to be changed so that the more you charge, the longer distance Wario will travel. This would compensate for the lack of range this change would do.

 

[Lord Chair]

Disclaimer: I have only played the game one day. I don't have a WiiU yet and I don't plan on getting it any time real soon, considering I have exams at the moment.

From what I gather, this is a pretty accurate list. I think it'll take some time to get adjusted to the new Wario. His core strengths have kinda shifted towards Bike and Waft and he's gotten a LOT less flexible. I expect him to get an 'optimal' playstyle in due time, which kind of saddens me because his uniqueness mostly lay with the quite far-stretching freedom you had with him in Brawl.

Something you missed, however, was the pretty big nerf to his grab range. As far as I know, this is a shared nerf with pretty much every other character so it's hard to really complain about it, but his grab RPS game was considerably stronger in Brawl because he actually outranged people in that regard. Moreover, his shield game interplayed really well with his ground-air transitioning. With this gone, he cannot create volatile situations the way he could before. If you end up shielding, you're actually just going to have a pretty bad time, especially what with Nair pretty much being out of the picture.

Another thing that's important is that it's no longer realistic to punish grounded characters with uair. Before, this was a major wildcard that had the potential to kickstart any stock not only damagewise, but also in terms of positioning. The nerfs to dair only exacerbate the problem. Dair and uair bombs were the only thing that really got him going at lower percentages because of their decent base knockback. Now, you're heavily dependent on getting a grab, something you can no longer fish for.

All is not lost. I think he'll work out in the end, he just got a lot more boring and campy at the early stages of a stock. Saving graces are his significantly improved bair, dash attack and, most importantly, Bike.

- The bair buff compensates for a lot of aerial dominance he lost with the nerfs to uair. It can now function particularly well at low-mid heights in forcing airdodges and actually getting something out of it. In Brawl, this took too much time since airdodge landings were just broken overall and you were forced to retreat pressuring bairs (or whatever, just go for uair because it was 10000 times better). It's become a more reliable killing tool and does significantly more damage than in Brawl. This is big.

- Dash attack needs not be elaborated upon. It compensates for the weaker shield game he has gotten and just feels workable overall. Workable, but boring. It's a very reactive in use and, to me, doesn't feel all too rewarding in hitting. Not because of the actual reward, the positional advantage it gives you is actually quite superb, but just because it doesn't take much thought to use.

- Bike, in this game, is major. Landing has become more difficult and even though Wario hasn't been unaffected by the airdodge nerfs, Bike has become all the more important to his game. It was a nice but situational tool to cover your landing in Brawl, now it has become quite a unique instrument. While it has been nerfed in pure strength, its flexibility has only been increased. Being able to recover high has become even more valuable than it was in Brawl and it's still a get-out-of-jail-free card in a lot of 'onstage' situations. It's up to the Wario metagame developers (who am I looking at, even?) to use it wisely. Not sparingly per se, but it has to be handled appropriately: not as an offensive tool, but as a way to support the rest of your game. Learn to accelerate, decelerate, turn, jump and wheelie at changing intervals and make sure that whenever you use it, it isn't a commitment.

Forget about fsmash by the way. Ftilt is really good now and should be incorporated in everyone's game. Usmash also gives us just a bit more much-needed flexibility. Learn to love both of them. Dtilt sucks. Don't give me that 'mindgames' bull**** because in the end you're much better off making one good read than attempting to make two really silly ones. The reward just isn't worth it.

I won't address the custom moves. They look okay, that's all I can say since I haven't had the chance to test them yet

 

[Micaelis]

Wario was my main and favorite character to play in Brawl. Initially I hated him him in Sm4sh. However, once I threw out my old expectations of the character and began making new ones, he has quickly grown to become one of my favorite if not favorite characters to play in Sm4sh once more. I challenge all the Wario naysayers to throw out your old expectations also and embrace the fat man with a fresh and new attitude.

People are severely underestimating some of Wario's new tools. Just because they are different than Brawl's tools do not make them less strong; they are just that... different and you need to utilize them so. The game's mechanics have also changed subtly enough to offer Wario buffs in many other areas not mentioned here. Directly comparing Wario's Sm4sh moves to his Brawl moves is not fair and should be taken with a grain of salt.

I'm not saying your analysis or information is incorrect. Only that your conclusion may be a bit bias or unfair. I believe Wario is high mid tier in usage. Most definitely not the top but he is a threat that does exist.

Some examples to support my claims:
- Chomp is now larger, faster, and eats projectiles. This enables Wario to safely land in many situations other characters struggle in (which is very important/amazing in this game). Also, utilizing the (most likely) best command grab in the game creates pressure and conditioning that destroys a lot of the best defensive options in this game.
- Bike is now faster and more versatile. This enables Wario to follow up and punish situations that were not feasible before. He can also use the lasting hitbox on Bike to completely zone or break through certain character's long range game (prevents projectile zoning and breaks Luma walls by hitting Luma helpless off the edge).
- Full Waft is now even stronger than half waft. This enables Waft to be useful at all points in the match (not just for damage) in addition to being very powerful (stealing games we shouldn't) in the new common 2-stock rules when coupled with Rage.
- Fair now has many strong follow up options and is faster and slightly larger. FH Fair is an amazing spacing tool and enables FF Nair, FF Chomp, or retreating follow ups. SH Fair can lead to follow ups such as Chomp, Jab, dash attack, etc. Fair can also combo into itself if they DI towards you (great for off stage).
- Late Nair combos low-mid percents into Fair/Bair/Nair/Uair or Full Waft. Coupled with Wario's better fast fall leads to decent beginning stock leads or early stock kills.
- Dair now mini-spikes at start up and kills much earlier than before. This is amazing for both gimping and kill near the edge or off stage. Dair crash (no strong hit) into stage while hitting them also frame traps some characters into a free Usmash follow up even at kill percents.
- Dtilt combos into Dtilt and creates frame traps for Ftilt, Fsmash, and Chomp. Also amazing at abusing the new 1 frame non-invincability characters get when grabbing the ledge in addition to the higher hit stun in this game guarantees they will fall under the ledge, enabling a punish such as ledge snap > falling Fair which stage spikes them.
- Ftilt is faster and stronger and helps make up for our loss of Fsmash.
- Fsmash is longer range and extremely strong now. A good read gets a stock even easier now.
- Dsmash is quick and the knockback on it has changed to send the person low. This makes Dsmash punishes near the edge very easy to follow up or fatal against worse recoveries.
- Usmash is now an amazing kill move and great at punishing rolls (very common).
- Dash Attack is quick and has potential for follow ups/frame traps out of trips. Very common to land multiple dash attacks in a row due to the trip and speed of it. It also functions amazing as anti-air with the new air dodge mechanics in the game.

I tried to touch on most moves and the pros of each one that I've found. Very rarely have Wario's moves changed in a way that makes them directly worse (personally I think Fsmash and Uair are the worse changes). His biggest nerfs are his air speed and acceleration nerfs but I expect if he had similar speeds as Brawl he would be borderline broken with his combos and punishes in the new game.

Overall I find his neutral game against characters that out range him in the air has greatly increased due to his better grounded stage options (mainly dash attack) in addition to landing lag on air dodge change. He also has an easier time applying follow up pressure and preventing most projectile zoning games with his new Bike.

Like I said earlier, give the new fat guy a chance and stop comparing him to how he was in Brawl.

Edit: Oh and
- Fthrow kills decently now and does a lot of great damage.
- Utilt is amazing anti-air with it's disjointed properties and combos into Uair (and probably Waft) at low percents

 

[Rakurai]

I've pretty much stopped trying to use him like Brawl Wario now in that I hardly ever use standard aerial attacks as approaches, and rely mostly on the bite and bike for that.

 

[Grizzmeister]

It's really quite interesting using Wario's Chomp to swallow projectiles and seeing your opponent freeze because they just realized that half of their strategy has been rendered useless.

 

[Kisatamura]

It's really quite interesting using Wario's Chomp to swallow projectiles and seeing your opponent freeze because they just realized that half of their strategy has been rendered useless.

This usually works for some characters, like Villager using Loid Rockets. A Pikachu throwing projectiles should be rushing you down either way :/

I like the players that I face on FG that are forced to approach when they let you eat your bike to recover health. It's like they don't realize that Wario can heal himself, albeit slowly if they give him the chance.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

Chomp can certainly be hilarious in some circumstances. Sometimes when consuming Samus or Lucario's fires fully charged shot/aura sphere, I have to use his laugh taunt. It seems to throw them off even more xD

*eats insanely powerful projectile*
"WAH HA HA! You have no power here!"

 

[Rakurai]

I like just sitting on the edge with Chomp sometimes, since it stuffs pretty much any ledge option other then a roll if the character's attacks aren't disjointed enough to get past Wario.

 

[SanAntonioSmasher]

I like just sitting on the edge with Chomp sometimes, since it stuffs pretty much any ledge option other then a roll if the character's attacks aren't disjointed enough to get past Wario.

I like to do this also. I usually do a jumping chomp, and hold it open. The jump covers incase they try to jump as well.

 

[Wafty]

You take more knockback getting hit off the bike as well