LUCARIO RETURNS!
His aura stronger than ever, Lucario uses strong close and mid range attacks to get an edge on foes!
JAB: AURA PAWS
Lucario does two jabs while his paws are covered in Aura energy. These two are incredibly fast and deal about 2% each, but are boosted by his current damage percent like all his aura moves! For reference, his new Aura is based around the % you all see in the game. So at 50% taken, all his moves do 50% more damage (2% -> 3%), and at 100% they do double (2% -> 4%)!
Aura Paws can end in a kick for 4% that does not have the aura effect, but decent knockback for spacing purposes. Players can either choose to use the two jabs as a "Magic Series" for other ground moves, or simply as a spacing option with the kick.
FTILT: IRON SPIKE
Spinning on his heel, Luc takes a step forward and does a vicious backhand with the spike on his left Paw with a bit of Aura effect. When it lands, the foe takes no Knockback but instead a whole lot of hit-stun on top of 5% that grows with damage. Thanks to Aura, this can be another follow-up from his jab at later %'s as the hit-stun covers the move's rather lackluster end lag allowing for great ground pressure.
DTILT: LOW SWEEP
From a crouch, Lucario juts his foot out far, poking at foes and popping them up with 6% dealt for their troubles. This is his only tilt that doesn't benefit from aura, but instead has set knockback meaning it will always send foes up about 2/3 of his own height off the ground. Like nearly all his ground moves, it makes a great option out of Jab (especially into jab again!).
UTILT: HALF-MOON KICK
Facing towards / away from the camera, Lucario's foot is coated in Aura as he does a sweeping kick upwards that starts behind him and ends in front of him, covering an entire 180* ! This is a fantastic juggler at 7%, but may leave him open at times on the ground as it takes a while to cover in front of himself, so spacing it against aerial foes, or foes behind yourself is ideal.
DASH: FLYING KICK
Dashing forwar-
~~WHACK!~~
ZOROARK APPEARS!
Introduced as the 1st Pokemon of Generation V, the Illusion Pokemon quickly became a fan favorite and rival of Lucario. Zoroark joins the cast as an incredibly tricky character, relying on deception to win fights as if a foe manages to see through him, his frailty often spells defeat.
ILLUSION
His signature ability, Zoroark takes the form of another fighter when he first appears into a battle... or at least he would if it wasn't blatantly obvious you hovered over and selected him. If you go that route you ignore one of his best traits!
Instead, to activate illusion you simply have to hold down the Z button while selecting another character. Once selected, you can let go of the button as the trick is in place, you will start the match as a totally different character, such as
Lucario. From here, you have a
Knockback threshold that dictates how long you can keep up your disguise, in this case it is
High meaning that most any move with high base power (IE: most smashes) will knock Zoroark out of the illusion in a puff of black smoke. Zoroark can also manually get out of the illusion, but we'll save that bit for a moment.
As for the use of Illusion itself? Trickery of course! While active, you control the moveset of whoever you're disguised as, able to use all of their abilities with a catch: you deal
Illusion Damage. This type of damage is rather self explanatory: the pain the enemy feels is merely an illusion of injury that begins to heal once the illusion fades away. In other words, damage dealt while masquerading as another character will begin to rapidly heal
(10% a sec!) once the illusion is broken. While surely detrimental to be found out early on, being able to use anybody's abilities early in a match can surely be a great advantage! If you are particularly skilled, illusionary attacks can even net KO's, but it is highly unlikely against foes actively trying to get rid of illusions and thus healing faster than you can re-damage them.
STATS
- Size: 7
- Weight: 3
- Fall Speed: 7.5
- Air Speed: 9
- Ground Speed: 9
- Traction: 8
About the size of Marth and with the same weight as Fox, Zoroark is an incredibly fast character (when not impersonating somebody slower) with outstanding jumps comparable to Luigi's, and a dash as fast as Captain Falcon with air speed of which few can compare. That said, he is a bit of a Fast Faller which combined with his size and middling weight makes it somewhat easy to combo him and eventually KO.
SPECIALS
NEUTRAL B: DOUBLE TEAM
With a Tap of the B button, Zoroark performs a simple roll as the character he is disguised as, a back roll by Default that you can turn into a front one by inputting the direction quickly after pressing the button. After the roll if complete, you'll notice that you no longer control the illusion, it having become a
lvl 9 AI with High KB Threshold and all.
So wait, what happened to Zoroark? Well, he is right where you left him:
Invisible at the spot you performed Double Team!
While invisible, you have access to Zoroark's normal moveset (except for Double Team again) with the catch of tossing out any move will reveal yourself to the world, so you better be crafty in your approach: use the decoy to lure the foe into a powerful attack / grab, or just capitalize on a hit to perform an extended combo from the shadows! If you manage to get hit while invisible, you only have
Medium KB Threshold, meaning most things that just cause knockback (not just stun/etc) will be enough to reveal you, so be careful!
As for when you are visible, the input will have Zoroark split in two! Zoroark will roll backwards or forwards (based on your input) and your Double Team shadow will roll opposite. Your shadow looks identical to you in every way, even down to the player tag above your head so be careful not to be confused yourself. The Shadow Clone is the same as a normal illusion, with it just being Zoroark instead. The clone can use all of your moves except for Neutral B and Side B, the former due to it being Zoroark who makes the illusions and the latter for reasons we'll see in a moment.
A second press has you perform the split once again! This time however, you reduce the KB threshold from
High to Medium for both of your clones. Additionally, double tapping the input quickly has your clone split this time into two clones, allowing for even more trickery against your foe. You then have to wait for both clones to be defeated to use Double Team again (and as a side note, your illusions go away when you lose a stock, including your starting one if for some reason you suicide).
In the air, the illusion will double jump if used while disguised, while Zoroark falls back down invisibly. Otherwise, one of you will double jump while the other falls down normally, control is given up the same way with Up giving control to the Jump and no input / Down giving control to the faller.
Clearly the cornerstone of Zoroark's mind games, learning when to pull off your illusionary mischief is critical to mastering Zoroark. Never give away your secrets or else you'll be caught!
UP B: PURSUIT
Zoroark leaps forward, trailed with a dark aura into a somersault that deals 10% and moderate KB before bouncing back to the spot he used it from, with him being able to home in on enemies if you direct the analogue in their direction just after the input. From the air it mirrors Lucario's extreme speed in appearance, but Sonic's Homing Attack in function as he is safe from special fall if he hits a foe, but a miss can spell trouble.
As a recovery, it only goes a far as Sheik's Up B, with it squeaking out to 2 platforms total distance if you chase a foe down with it. But otherwise is just a decent "chase" attack with a bit of start up not unlike his fighting/steel rival's (even if said rival can recover further away...)
SIDE B: FAINT ATTACK
Zoroark leaps forward , trailed with a dark aura into a somersault that deals 10% and Moderate KB before going right through you and skidding to a halt. He then just stays there for a brief moment before fading to nothingness. Unknown to the enemy, the REAL Zoroark has been
invisible since the first frame of Side B, the Pursuit knock-off being a decoy to cover his tracks!
Your main method of attaining invisibility again, the decoy dealing merely illusionary damage is a small price to play to escape into your invisible state once again. The standard invisibility rules apply here, but there is something of note in regards to his normally lackluster Up B:
INVISIBLE UP B: FOUL PLAY
Pursuit is the one attack that does not take you out of invisibility, and that is because it is replaced by Foul Play. What the new move does is have Zoroark zoom toward the foe from up to 2 platforms away in a barely visible blur and then perform the action of his choosing. The trick to this is to wait however, as each second you spend in invisibility adds 1% to the damage of the attack you pop out with (and subsequently the power due to more damage). The catch here being that in order to get a huge pay off you need to remain hidden and let your illusions do the work as long as possible else the boost is wasted, that and your opponent being tricked / mid hit in order to be hit when you reveal yourself as well.
While invisibility is a powerful tool, it is also incredibly dangerous for the Zoroark player. It can be easy to lose track of yourself at times especially if you jump around often while invisible. Zoroark naturally will
NOT go off edges while invisible, but he can still leap off them if you aren't careful!Luckily his fast aerials can reveal himself quickly if you fear losing yourself in the air, but you may also pop out at a bad time. Mastery over invisibility is another core of Zoroark's gameplay, allowing him to land tons of free hits, escape offense and even KO more efficiently.
DOWN B: NIGHT DAZE
His signature move, Night Daze is a localized explosion of Dark Energy that is about the size of Bowser, dealing 18% and moderate-high (at high %) Radial KB. For a time after detonation, the area is completely dark, fading slowly over 5 seconds. Despite the slow start up, Night Daze allows Zoroark to act very quickly after the hitbox emerges, and start playing under the cover of darkness.
Aside from being one of his premiere KO options, the darkness created is a nice asset to your bag of tricks. Covering the start-up of many moves, or just anything in general can give an edge similarly to invisibility for a time if you manage to pull it off safely. While not -as- useful a setup as say, Faint Attack, the offensive use of Night Daze cannot be ignored, especially when you
and your clones use it!
STANDARDS
JAB: FURY SWIPES
Zoroark puts his claws to use as he does two incredibly quick swipes back and forth for 2% each in a repeating pattern as long as you mash the A button. The move has a bit of surprising reach given his long arms, but especially given how he takes a small step forward with each swipe, making for as easy pressure tool to tear at opponents if they don't wise up and simply out-prioritize it.
FTILT: SHADOW CLAW
His hand covered in dark energy, Zoroark tears through the air in front of him in an angle-able, horizontal slash that leaves a trail of 3 distinct marks in it's wake. Hitting foes for a solid 7% and 45* medial 45* knockback, the shadowy claw mark remains in the air where he created it for a second afterwards to deal 3.5% and flinching to foes who touch it. A second may not sound like much, but when the move is as fast as it is you could easily surprised by the shadows!
DTILT: SCRATCH
From a crouch, Zoroark stretches out a claw and sweeps the floor in front of him, slashing at his foe's ankles for 5% and tripping them / dealing light-medium 45* downward knockback. Like with his jab, the maneuver is lightning fast, nearly comparable to Meta Knight's own sword poke!
UTILT: SHADOW BALL
His claws glow with dark energy yet again as he tucks it to his side, charging the energy a brief moment before lifting his claw directly above him as the shadows literally burn around his paw! Having the most start-up of his standards, Shadow Ball also has the longest duration (not counting Shadow Claw). The multi-hit attack lingers above his head, dealing 5 hits of 2% and flinching followed by a hit for 4% (14% total) and mediocre radial knockback, the entire attack taking about as long as Mario's Up Smash to perform. Again, given the height and reach of Zoroark it isn't hard to use this as a poke through platforms or easy juggler/anti-air, you just need to be wary of the lacking horizontal reach of the move.
DASH: NIGHT SLASH
While dashing ahead on all fours, a press of the A button has Zoroark's claws glow with dark energy once again as he does a quick hop and a sweeping slash, before halting his momentum briefly as he lands and recovers. While most of the time the slash does a decent 7% and vertical knockback, hitting with the slash the
moment it appears will deal 14% and suprisingly high diagonal knockback, enough to start killing around 160%+ !
While only active for about a frame or two, the slash can be a great finisher in a critical situation if you think you can land it, otherwise it is a decent cross-up and pop-up move given his speed to follow up on both the normal vertical and diagonal hits.
SMASHES
FSMASH: FLAMETHROWER
Crossing his arms as he charges, his eyes glowing a feint red before unleashing a dark spray of
crimson flames from his mouth! Contrary to appearance, this attack still hits with the darkness element and is a favorite scare tactic for Zoroark, as despite the start up, the dark flames actually reach a rather nice distance of about his height away from him and linger for about 2/3 of a second as they deal damage similar to Charizard's own maneuver. Better yet, the range extends with charge to a max of the Fire/Flying type's as well!
However as you may have guessed by the hint, "scare tactic" is a pretty accurate statement, as the flames are
Illusionary. The damage begins to heal as soon as the flames end, but while active the hit-stun is all too real: take advantage of foes who fall prey to the trick by dashing forward the moment you spray out the fire!
The jet of fire is merely a trick, but that doesn't mean there isn't a real attack here. The moment he spews the dark fire, Zoroark creates a hitbox the size of the fireball from Mario's Fsmash that deals 14-20% and high radial KB just outside of his mouth, the move only taking about a 10th of a second to complete before Zoroark can move freely through his fake flames. Great when used from the shadows to cover the start-up weakness, it is also an amazing move to take advantage of when shadow clones perform it. So while weak for a smash (the base KB is about the same as Dash Attack), the utility can really get under your foe's skin quite quickly.
USMASH: U-TURN
Zoroark's left claw glows with dark energy as he brings it down and to his side during the charge up, crouching slightly as well before springing up and back with a somersault for an acrobatic slashing attack. Dealing 15-21%, the slash is only really active while he leaps up, sending foes flying up at a near vertical diagonal that can kill around 140% with low ceilings.
The fun part comes from the flip however, as he somersaults a whole platform behind himself! For reference, the leap is enough that if performed below a platform on the edge of one end, he would land swiftly on top the other edge with no landing lag, facing the opposite direction due to the spin attached. This creates some fun movement options as once the flip is done he is free to DI, jump, fast fall, etc one in the air, or if he lands go right into a dash / another U-Turn. Be wary of spacing however, as the attack isn't really reliable on shields given it only hits briefly unlike his Fsmash's flames, but is stellar for pestering a foe and retreating as other illusions (or yourself) take advantage of your victim's frustration.
DSMASH: DARK PULSE
Charging one paw at a time with darkness as he charges up this smash, upon release Zoroark directs the energy downward to create a localized shockwave of darkness on the floor around him! Foes how are adjacent to him as he performs the more receive 16-22% and very high horizontal knockback, while foes within half a platform radius take only 8-11% and light-medium diagonal knockback for their trouble.
An almost "alternate" version of Night Daze, while strictly ground bound in both input and hitbox, Dark pulse can net some early KO's at around 120% (compared to Night Daze which can be around 100 or less in the air / off stage) but also act as a poking / AoE option due to the pulse that travels along the ground to hit multiple foes surrounding you. It also doesn't hurt that it is a bit faster than Night Daze to come out as well, although it has some end lag unlike his Down Special which may be costly on a whiff.
AERIALS
NAIR: SLASH WHEEL
Performing a super quick somersault, Zoroark spins in a tight ball about 3 times within a half second, raking foes with the claws on his hands and feet for 6 hits of 3% for a possible total of 18%! Given it's low ending lag, it makes for a perfect "drill" to be used from a running leap, or just air to ground conversion as he cuts through enemies and leaves them open for a follow-up.
FAIR: DARK CLAWS
Zoroark reaches back with both arms, before making a huge vertical slash in front of him, comparable in many ways to Marth's of Fair except with only about 1/2 of the range of that maneuver. The move deals a solid hit of 11% with medium KB, the upper half of the move sending foes diagonally upward and the lower half being a very slight diagonal downward angle, both great for follow-ups.
Like with his Ftilt however, the claws create a dark tear through the air and leave a lingering hitbox for 5% and flinching around for a second in the shape his claws traveled! Though not as abuse-able as Ftilt due to the move being substantially longer, being airborne allows for many different placements of your claws for various extra hits if you are crafty, as well as easy capitalization on the illusionary versions your shadow clones may create.
BAIR: SHADOW SLASH
Eyes flashing red as he draws his right claw back, Zoroark whips around after a moment to deliver a devastating crimson slash behind himself for 15%! Dishing out extreme horizontal knockback, the move can be a pain to land due to the start up, end lag and very narrow hitbox, but it has the same power as his sweet spotted Dash Attack. The ability to land it off stage is where it really counts however as the angle and power when close to a boundary can spell a quick defeat for many a foe.
UAIR: SNARL
Leaning forward slightly as his eyes glow, Zoroark whips his head back in an arc as he releases a close ranged spray of crimson flames again with what almost sounds like a cackle. The Dark fire covers a decent arc above himself, about the range of MK's up aerial (though nowhere near as fast) and deals 7% with radial knoackback except for the very end of the move, where shutting his mouth with a fiery bite deals 12% and medium diagonal knockback. A useful juggle option with style, it also has some neat spacing aspects with the ending bite that can send foes offstage much easier or even KO if you're both up high enough at the right %'s.
DAIR: SHADOW ASSAULT
Looking down, Zoroark leans back mid air, turning himself to face toward/away from camera as he covers his claws in dark energy and does two jabs downward before righting himself swiftly. Each jab deals 5% and pops foes up on top of stalling his aerial momentum briefly. A great cross up next to Nair to get people off the ground, the slightly unique hitbox placement of left-right can make for interesting spacing and poking opportunities.
THROWS
GRAB & PUMMEL: PUNISHMENT
Zoroark's grab has average range, but above average speed as he reaches out with his right claw to nab his prey (presumably from the shadows). Once caught, mashing the A button has Zoroark rapidly stab the foe's midsection with glowing claws, mirroring the speed and damage of his rival Lucario.
DTHROW: EVISCERATE
Dropping the foe down on their back, Zoroark stands over them and begins slashing down at his victim viciously, hitting 6 times for a total of 12%! The last hit deals diagonal knockback in front of Zoroark, popping foes up just slightly and easily tech-able outside of extreme percentages, allowing for potential re-grabs and more claw action.
UTHROW: SLASH
Zoroark tosses the foe up lightly before in the same motion following up with a violent slash from below with the other claw. Dealing 9%, Slash always deals a set amount of Knockback high enough for foes to touch the top platform of battlefield from below, making for an excellent juggle-starter and mix-up to his Dthrow which while rewarding, requires more reading on Zoroark's part than Uthrow to follow up on.
SIDE THROW: DARK ILLUSION
Zoroark's eyes glow red as he grabs his victim with his other claw, grinning wickedly as his whole body glows like with Night Daze before creating a brief energy pulse surrounding the two! Dealing 9% the victim is send out in front of Zoroark with mediocre knockback... as well as behind Zoroark.
Wait, where is Zoroark exactly? Well, he has
disguised himself as his foe!
Like with Double Team, the direction (Back, Forward) dictates which of the two is Zoroark and which is the Enemy, with only the Zoroark player knowing who's who at first, which can terribly mess with your victim's actions temporarily.
While disguised as your opponent, you behave just like any other disguise: able to dispel it as a shadow clone with Neutral B, and otherwise having access to illusionary versions of their moves (Dark illusion itself deals illusionary damage to boot). A nice, final trick under your belt that allows you to make players double take once again as if you restarted the match!
FINAL SMASH
SUPER NIGHT DAZE
With the power of the Smash ball at his disposal, Zoroark is able to unleash his full power with a Smart-Bomb sized night daze that deals an incredible 36% damage and extreme radial KB to all enemies in range, leaving nothing but destruction in it's wake!
PLAYSTYLE
Zoroark is a master illusionist and trickster, and while his claw based moveset may be simple, the best tricks always seem so on the surface.
In order to get a firm grasp on how to best use his abilities, you have to master the art of observation, prediction and timing. While his illusions are certainly powerful, using them at the wrong time, place or even frequency can land Zoroark in trouble as once caught he is relatively easy to combo and KO due to his limited recovery and fall speed. As an easy example, most of the time Zoroark will be chosen via the Illusion method of starting under the guise of a different character for his first stock. This allows you to predict how the foe may react to said character as opposed to Zoroark normally. Choice really comes into play here due to your neutral special separating you from your illusion, so characters that really enjoy using Neutral B may cause suspicion if you disguise yourself as them and avoid using it for a time. Immediately rolling (Double Team) may also cause suspicion at times, but is more subtle due to using it to possibly avoid a projectile. A better time to split would usually be when you would roll anyways, in order to not tip off the foe that you are actually Zoroark in disguise!
From this point, you can safely observe how your prey behaves as they fight off your illusion for a moment, and calculate how to abuse the situation the best. That said, it usually is not easy as you are merely invisible, not invulnerable and can still be hit and discovered by foes who send out a flurry of attacks. Either netting a free grab and starting a combo, or biding time for Foul Play to give you a strong first impression are examples of invisible "traps" you can use against foes as they unknowingly fall right into your claws.
Once visible however, you have to fight the foe more or less head on s after a while your Faint Attack mix-up shouldn't be as reliable as a smart opponent can use Prediction and Observation against you as well, which is where timing comes into play. While Zoroark could try being merely aggressive with his slashing claws, he lacks overall power and priority to really contest with other fighters despite his speed. Instead, he has the ability to redirect where they attack with Double Team and Faint Attack! These maneuvers can throw off the foe's observations and in turn make them take all the wrong actions when trying to fight Zoroark, most notably wasting a laggy KO move on nothing but a puff of smoke while the real Zoroark prepares Night Daze from behind, or shielding what they thought was Pursuit only to be grabbed by an invisible assailant soon thereafter.
On the less "tricky" side, Zoroark has amazing special attacks at his disposal with Illusionary Damage. Given his shadow clones of both himself and other characters (chosen at the start or borrowed via Dark Illusion) are capable AI in their own right, they can be a great source of damage while they last, and can allow for some amazing combos and damage racking for Zoroark to take advantage of. He must be quick on his feet however as the illusions are incredibly frail, and only having two out at once makes for a 1/3 chance of foes figuring out which to chase based on how you move about. In some cases, it may be an advantage to "play dumb" as the player may not recognize you as a player, but rather one of the AI and ignore you temporarily!
Either way, Zoroark is one of the most cerebral characters out there for all parties involved when he joins into a match. Getting in your head from the character select screen all the way to the end, the Illusion Pokemon's endless bag of tricks will keep players occupied for years to come.
