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Super Smash Brothers Brawl FAQ
By: Chris "Amazing Ampharos" Immele

I. Table of Contents

I. Table of Contents
II. Introduction
III. Character Bios
IV. Classic Mode
V. All Star Mode
VI. Event Battles
VII. Target Smash
VIII. Home-Run Contest
IX. Multi-Man Brawl
X. Boss Battles
XI. Subspace Emissary
XII. Challenge Board
XIII. Trophy List
XIV. Sticker List
XV. Other Unlockables
XVI. Speed Unlocking
XVII. Credits and Conclusion

II. Introduction

Welcome to my FAQ on Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is, 
as of the writing of this FAQ, the latest entry into Nintendo's wonderful Smash 
Bros fighting series, and the game is a complete joy to play. However, it's 
also a completionist's nightmare; there is a very large amount of unlockable 
content that is sure to drive anyone looking for that "perfect file" mad. The 
game also features a very diverse cast that is sure to prove daunting for all 
but the most dedicated of fans. That's where I come in. This FAQ is meant to 
walk players through unlocking everything in the game. If you just want a 
rundown of the characters and some basic tips on how to use them and unlock 
them, look to section III. If you want a thorough walkthrough on how to do 
everything, sections IV through XI and section XV are for you. If you are 
looking for a list of what there is to get without so many of the details, 
sections XII through XV are ideal. If you just want to get everything you'll 
need to play serious matches with your friends as quickly as possible and don't 
care about any of the smaller things, section XVI is where you'll want to head. 
If you want to read an overly obligatory section with little real content, 
well, sections II and XVII are pretty cool.

III. Character Bios

In this section, I'll be covering the entire cast and giving a summary of how I 
see them. I'm going to be candid about which characters I believe to be good or 
bad; I'd be doing readers a disservice if I tried to give a positive impression 
of the entire cast to avoid offending anyone. I'll also discuss generally how I 
believe each character should be used. I'm not doing character guides, but I 
hope I can provide enough to help players get started with everyone.

Also, I must give an obligatory disclaimer. I don't play the whole cast nor am 
I necessarily the best player out there. I have studied the game in great 
depth, and I have really done my best to fairly show how each character works, 
but if I made mistakes or glaring omissions, don't get upset. Also, the part 
where I discuss character match ups is pretty iffy. I mostly just guessed 
there, and I'm probably frequently wrong. Rather than looking at the characters 
I name, it would be better to look at the reasons I suggest some things might 
be problems as potential holes in that character's style.

Mario

In theory, Mario is supposed to be a balanced character without significant 
strengths or weaknesses. Unfortunately for Mario, theory doesn't always hold. 
Mario definitely has below average range and power, and coupled with his 
average speed and lack of special properties, this puts him in a bad position. 
As things stand, he seems to be one of the worst characters in the game.

This is not to say that Mario is without merit. Mario has a decent set of smash 
attacks that he should be quick to rely on. Of special note is his powerful 
forward smash; this will be his main source of kills. His forward and down 
tilts are mostly just sources of quick damage with little notable about them, 
but his up tilt is a handy move for popping enemies up into the air so keep it 
in mind. His running attack is a decent sliding kick which you should use for 
surprise damage once in a while, but despite the ease of use, it's not good to 
overuse as it gets very predictable. His jab combo is just a typical safety 
move.

In the air, Mario's biggest problem is his slow forward aerial. It has a weak 
hit early in the swing and a nice spike late in the swing, but it's really too 
slow to be practical for general use. If approaching the enemy head on in the 
air, it's generally wise to instead rely on his weak but quick neutral aerial. 
Mario is at least blessed with fast and decently powerful up and back aerials, 
but neither are likely to be getting a whole lot of kills. His down aerial 
might seem appealing at first, but it's generally too slow to be one of his 
most relied upon moves.

Mario's grab game pretty much revolves entirely around his powerful back throw. 
This throw is his second and last reliable source of kills; be sure to exploit 
it heavily. Mario has pretty short arms so getting grabs is generally 
difficult; using his up smash out of a shield will be generally more useful 
until the enemy is near killing percentages.

In terms of his special moves, Mario's only real gem comes in the form of the 
Cape. This move is far worse than it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee, but 
it's still a solid move that new Mario players should try their best to 
integrate into their games. It turns around all attacks that hit it, completely 
reversing the attack's trajectory or the enemy's momentum. It causes enemy 
projectiles to become dangerous to them as well so it can be used to send 
things such as Samus's missiles right back at her. If it hits a standing 
opponent, it will turn them around, but it does not turn around shielded 
opponents which means that it's not a safe option against opponents waiting for 
you to attack. A major use is to ruin recoveries by turning them around and 
causing the momentum to fling the foe away from the stage, but Mario players 
will now have to jump out over the ledge to take full advantage of this as 
clever opponents will be sure to still be within ledge grab range if you do it 
from the ground. The last use of the Cape is for recovery. Using it in the air 
causes Mario to stall and push forward very slightly. Using it consecutively is 
a sure way to die, but using it just once right before the triple jump can be 
useful.

Mario's other three specials are pretty lackluster. His Fireballs are weak with 
poor range so they aren't of use for projectile spamming. The main use of 
Fireballs is to do a short hop, throw one Fireball, and then chase after it. 
This helps Mario approach the enemy as they have to deal with the Fireball 
right as Mario is about to attack them. Mario's Super Jump Punch does poor 
damage and leaves him very vulnerable; only use it to recover. Fludd is 
generally useless, but the one scenario I have found it handy is to ruin Ness's 
and Lucas's recovery. If you blast them with water as they steer Pk Thunder, 
they will be pushed away but not interrupted which almost always leads to their 
death.

Mario is capable of wall jumping but not crawling or wall clinging. Mario can 
only jump once in the air. His roll is fairly slow but covers a lot of ground 
so it can be of use sparingly, and his spot dodge is a very ordinary one.

All in all, Mario doesn't really stack up to the other fighters, but don't take 
that as a sign that he's useless. Mario still has a wide array of tools and can 
be used highly competently to pose a serious threat. His Cape especially is a 
unique tool that in the hands of the right player can cause extreme frustration 
to opponents; it's the main gameplay reason Mario should be considered over 
other characters. It's especially pivotal when battling Marth, Ike, or other 
characters with great range advantages on Mario; he can turn them around even 
if he only hits the tip of their attacks with his cape. However, other than his 
Cape, Mario has few options against such great range characters; they will 
likely be his hardest opponents.

Luigi

How to unlock:

-Play 22 brawls.
-Have Luigi join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic mode without continuing.

Luigi is Mario's oddball brother, and the way he plays makes that very clear. 
His voice, animations, and general style all feel just a bit odd. Specifically, 
Luigi is a really upward oriented character; he has an uncanny number of moves 
that are designed to knock the opponent up into the air. The fact that he 
compliments this with a really solid set of aerials makes him a coherent and 
effective character. I wouldn't call Luigi one of the best characters in the 
game at all, but he's definitely a solid contender.

Luigi's main goal with his grounded attacks is to get the enemy up into the 
air. All three of his smashes do this well, but you should primarily rely on 
his quick and wide-ranged down smash. If you need a really quick move to pop 
them up, his up tilt is a great option as well. His forward tilt sends them at 
a horizontal angle you won't find useful, and his down tilt is a very weak 
close range move with a high likelihood to trip them though it can pop them up 
very usefully if they are at a high percentage. I'm sure many of you find his 
running attack enthralling, but hold off on it. It's not as ridiculously unsafe 
as it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee, but it's still a weak move that 
doesn't lead into anything better.

In the air, Luigi's pride and joy is his great forward aerial. He does a very 
quick and fairly powerful chop that can be a source of kills and a great way to 
rack damage. His up, back, and down aerials are also all fast and decently 
strong so he can throw a good aerial out no matter what his orientation to his 
opponent. His neutral aerial is interesting insofar as it sends the enemy 
straight up with a lot of power; it can be an effective tool to get surprise 
star KOs.

Luigi's grab game is pretty similar to Mario's insofar as he's really concerned 
with his very powerful back throw. However, if Luigi is unable to kill after a 
grab, he should instead use his up throw as that puts opponents up in the air 
which is right where Luigi wants them. Luigi should also occasionally use his 
Super Jump Punch out of his shield for the chance to land a Fire Jump Punch, 
but only do that when the opponent puts himself in just the wrong position.

Luigi's specials are a mixed bag. His Fireball is a pretty horrible projectile; 
it has very poor reach and generally doesn't flow with the rest of his game. 
Throw them out if the opponent tries to stay just out of arm's reach of Luigi, 
but generally Luigi should look to his other moves in combat. The Green Missile 
is a pretty horrible move outside of recovery. It does poor damage unless 
charged up, and while Luigi can charge it as long as he wants, it's super 
predictable and easy to avoid. It will do good damage if he gets a misfire 
which is a 1/8 chance on each use, but Luigi is too good to need to rely on 
something like that. However, in the narrow context of recovery, it is useful 
to Luigi as he gets good horizontal distance from it and can continue doing any 
moves in the air he wants after using it.

Luigi's Super Jump Punch is fairly mediocre for recovery and completely 
pathetic with the weak hit, but if you are right inside of them when you use 
it, Luigi will do a Fire Jump Punch which will deal massive damage. This is one 
of Luigi's most treasured sources of kills; he should always be looking to 
sneak one in once the opponent is hurt enough to succumb. A good trick is to do 
one or two hits of his jab combo and to interrupt it by throwing out the Super 
Jump Punch. This is very hard to impossible for them to avoid once you get the 
hits from the jab, and it's a really easy chance at a Fire Jump Punch. Luigi 
similarly gets a lot of utility out of his Luigi Cyclone. On the ground, he can 
use it to cover distance very quickly; it is a very good way to both get 
surprise attacks and approach enemies. If Luigi has not used Luigi Cyclone 
since the last time he has touched the ground, he is able to rise if the player 
presses B rapidly which makes it a very handy tool in ensuring Luigi always 
makes it back to the ledge.

Luigi cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl. This is useful as he 
can crawl under Pit's arrows, but he is too tall to crawl under any of the 
projectiles from the Star Fox characters. Luigi only has one midair jump. 
Luigi's roll and spot dodge are pretty much identical to Mario's; his roll is 
slightly slow but covers good ground, and his spot dodge is very ordinary. 
Luigi can get a fixed knock back straight up hit with his down taunt, but it's 
too slow and low range to be useful. It can even spike if it hits a recovering 
opponent, but unless a truly golden opportunity comes along, it's just an 
obscure detail. Additionally, Luigi has unusually low traction which isn't very 
important but should be kept in mind.

Since Luigi's game revolves so much around the air, Luigi's matches revolve 
around how his opponents fare there. Since characters like Kirby, Meta Knight, 
and Jigglypuff frequently enter the air voluntarily, Luigi should be a great 
choice against them. Otherwise his matches don't tend to be particularly 
notable though I would watch out for Marth and Ike whose range will give him 
significant trouble. Luigi is a solid, balanced choice with an interesting and 
unique play style; he's definitely worth considering.

Peach

Peach is a very interesting character mostly because of her ability to float. 
If she holds the jump button in the air she will float once she reaches the 
peak of that jump, and if she holds down she will automatically float without 
needing to reach the peak of her jump or perform her double jump if it is still 
unused. Her floating opens a lot of options for her in the air; she can be 
either stationary or sliding directly horizontally while doing her aerial 
attacks. This mechanic is her main appeal as a character, but all in all, she's 
still probably a bit below average.

Peach's ground game isn't terribly noteworthy, but she does have some good 
stuff. Her up smash is a great killing move if she hits with the sweet spot, 
and her down smash of Super Smash Brothers Melee fame is still useful to 
quickly score a few hits to rack up damage though it has pretty much no hope of 
ever killing anyone. Her forward smash is an odd move that randomly uses either 
a good knock back tennis racket, a weaker knock back but better range golf 
club, or a straight up hitting frying pan. The move as a whole is a decent kill 
move, but the randomness makes it hard to use it for anything else. Her down 
tilt and forward tilt both are handy for knocking the opponent up into the air, 
but her down tilt is generally better. Her up tilt hits with a super explosion 
of hearts and love that knocks the opponent pretty far but doesn't kill until 
higher percentages; it's still good to use frequently. Her running attack is 
above average as well; mix it in.

Peach will usually want to be floating when she does her aerials, and all five 
are useful. Her neutral aerial is her most valued one as it throws out a quick 
and powerful attack that hits on both sides of Peach. Her forward aerial packs 
quite a punch; she should use it mostly as a finisher. Her up aerial sends them 
up further so she can continue juggles and score KOs off the top. Her down 
aerial, on the other hand, is a damage racking move. If the opponent is at low 
percentage and grounded, it's a very handy tool to do a lot of damage to them. 
Her back aerial is a quick smack from her rear end to anyone behind her; use it 
if someone dares go there. With all five of them, remember that you can do them 
while floating very close to the ground, chase them with your float while the 
aerial finishes, and then immediately land and do a move on the ground. This is 
the core of Peach; use it and abuse it.

Peach's grab game is pretty much unremarkable as none of them can kill and she 
has typical grab range, but if she does score a grab, she should use her down 
throw with aspiration to lead into something more potent as it pops them up 
right behind her. Since she gets fairly little out of grabs, she might want to 
consider using her up smash out of a shield, but the extremely vertical 
orientation of the hit on it makes that frequently unsafe.

Peach's specials are mostly pretty average. Well, Toad is excluded there; he's 
just plain useless. If you were curious what he does as it's not immediately 
obvious, he counters attacks, but even for a counter move he's unbelievably 
slow and easy to punish. Her Peach Bomber is a pretty cool move that extremely 
bad Peach players are known to use dozens of times in a row without using any 
other attacks. She winds back for a bit and then hurls herself nearly 
straightly horizontal a little more than a third of the length of Final 
Destination. When it hits, it releases an explosion of hearts and love and does 
solid if not particularly noteworthy damage and knock back. It's fairly 
powerful and mobile if predictable and easy to punish; be sure to mix it in 
once in a while but not too often.

Her Parasol is her nominal recovery move though in practice she usually doesn't 
need it. She shoots up a small distance and begins floating down, and the 
Parasol can be put away by pressing down. The really novel thing is that she 
can bring it out again by tapping up so she can make her return to the stage 
very unpredictable by varying her falling speed; it is the main reason she's 
such a pain to kill. Her Turnips are handy to use to interrupt opponents by 
tossing one at an opponent right before attacking, but their poor range makes 
them bad spam. They can be caught easily as well which can make throwing them 
counterproductive from time to time. Peach also cannot throw them while 
floating unless the player inputs down + B, but this will only do the shorter 
ranged throw. Occasionally, she gets a very powerful turnip that has a face 
like that of an old man; use floating aerials and other special moves to knock 
them off guard so you can kill with it. She also can pull bombs (which aren't 
actually Bob-ombs as she can hold them indefinitely) which are even more 
powerful, Beam Swords which turn her into a huge range machine of death, and 
Mr. Saturn which when thrown with a smash throw devastates shields.

Peach cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl and has only one midair jump. She 
has a somewhat fast roll and spot dodge, but her real special property is 
floating which has already been covered in depth. One last trick with it though 
is that she can cancel her dash with a jump into a float very low to the ground 
which she can automatically end to land and be in a neutral position on the 
ground. It's tricky to do; you need to basically hit forward to do a dash and 
do a quarter circle motion toward down as you hit jump and then release them 
all just as the float starts. This lets her vary the length of her dash however 
she wants and do just about anything she wants out of it; take advantage of it 
if you can get the timing down.

Peach's ability to float lets her glide right over projectile spammers so she 
will match up fairly well against someone like Pit, Falco, or Snake. Characters 
such as Wario, Jigglypuff, and Squirtle who can outmaneuver her in the air will 
prove problematic, and characters with especially high speed or power such as 
Bowser or Fox could be pretty successful at rushing or plowing past her 
shenanigans. In general she will probably find herself having to work a bit 
harder than most other characters to win matches, but she has enough tricks 
that she should still remain on the lower end of viable.

Bowser

Bowser is advertised as the game's biggest and heaviest character, and he fits 
the bill nicely on both counts. Unfortunately, he has the single worst flaw a 
character can have; he is quite slow. Still, Bowser has a combination of solid 
reach, great power, and surprisingly decent mobility that make him a decent if 
flawed character. He doesn't really rise above the problems heavy characters 
tend to have, but he puts up a decent showing.

Bowser's ground game has great power all around so he will mostly be looking 
for speed and safety in his attack selection. His forward tilt is a good attack 
to look to for a starter; it has huge range and is fairly quick so he can feel 
confident in general throwing it out. His up tilt pops them up nicely and has 
the added bonus of hitting behind Bowser as well as above him; it's a great 
move to throw out with your back turned. His down tilt still has a good deal of 
power for how quick it is, but it will be difficult to land hits with it. All 
three of his smashes are beastly. His up smash is only useful as an answer to 
opponents coming straight down on him or on a platform above him, but the 
damage makes it worth it. His down smash is a wonderful way to punish opponents 
for rolling about you rapidly or otherwise staying in your face and playing 
evasively; it racks up really huge damage. His forward smash is the only one 
you should be reserved about; it isn't particularly more powerful than his 
other smashes, and while the way he recoils his head is very useful, it's 
slower and more punishable than his other smashes. If Bowser needs to get an 
opponent away from himself quickly, his jab combo is really his only option.

Bowser's aerial game will mostly revolve around his quick forward aerial, but 
his others still have use. His up aerial does massive damage if he can connect 
with it, but that's easier said than done. His back aerial is generally very 
easy to hit with and pretty powerful, but it's a very unsafe move due to the 
absurdly long landing lag. The best way to use it is to either use it really 
high in the air where it will recover before landing or to hit the edge after 
using it. His neutral and down aerials are just not very good and should only 
be used in obscure circumstances where they seem like they can hit where other 
things cannot.

Bowser's grab game is easily forgotten because he has a special move that is 
basically a better grab, but he still has a few things he can do with them. His 
general best bet is his back throw to try to get the opponent over the ledge, 
but if the opponent is very hurt, his up throw will be more beneficial. His 
down throw seems appealing, but he is so slow after it that he really can't 
follow it up with anything. He may very well want to mostly use Whirling 
Fortress out of his shield; it's a solid option for him.

Bowser's specials are split half and half between great and terrible. Let's 
start with terrible. His Fire Breath really isn't very good. The fire dies down 
relatively quickly, it is difficult to connect, and the damage is all around 
poor. The main use for this will be to use it near the ledge angled downward to 
force the opponent to take many hits from it before they can make it back. His 
Bowser Bomb is also pretty poor; it's incredibly unsafe upon landing so he can 
only plausibly use it if he's going to hit the ledge. Of course, in that 
context, it is handy.

His Whirling Fortress is a wonderful move. It's not only useful for recovery; 
it really shines when used on the ground. Bowser can slide along the ground at 
a good and dangerous pace while using this move; it helps him out for 
approaches and generally scoring quick damage, two things that would be quite 
difficult for him otherwise. The fact that as an up special he can use it 
directly out of a shield only makes it sweeter. Of course, most players are 
simply enamored with his Flying Slam and with good reason. Bowser does a quick 
grab motion and then slams the opponent down. Bowser and his opponent both can 
direct where they land, and being at higher percentage causes either side to 
have a lesser influence. This is a very safe and quick move, it is an aerial 
grab, and it is a wonderful suicide attack should you choose to use it that 
way. Just be smart about suicide; only do it when you are gaining an advantage 
by dying at a higher percentage or are up in stock. Also, if this move doesn't 
hit the opponent and finishes its animation in midair right above the ground, 
Bowser gets his second jump back. He can exploit this to effectively levitate 
over the stage which may throw some opponents off, but it's not a terribly big 
part of Bowser's game.

Bowser cannot wall jump or wall cling which is no surprise at all, but he can 
crawl for some mild humor but no actual gain. He has one midair jump and a 
typical spot dodge, but his roll is fairly quick and should be used a bit more 
than most characters would. His ledge attack at under 100% is also a 
surprisingly good move; be sure to take full advantage of it.

Bowser's great strength will let him get early kills in all matches, but it is 
usually counter balanced by the fact that faster characters will be getting 
more hits. Bowser can definitely handle a character like Jigglypuff who is 
extremely affected by his strength and doesn't have particularly great speed, 
but characters like Sheik and Fox will probably prove too much for Bowser. 
Bowser's massive size also makes him a prime target for projectile spamming 
from characters such as Pit or chain throws from King Dedede or Wario; those 
will be hard matches. At the very least, his great weight can be a boon against 
the lighter power characters so he can approach foes such as Zelda, Lucas, and 
Pikachu with a bit of confidence.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong has never been a popular character, but he's the original Smash 
Bros. heavy character. He's generally a bit faster than Bowser, but he isn't 
quite as powerful. Donkey Kong is a bit better in the air than Bowser whereas 
Bowser is more of a grounded character. DK's range is also a bit better 
overall. Still, fans of one character will probably find a kindred character in 
the other even if they don't really play alike. Also, much like Bowser, Donkey 
Kong is quite playable but still clocks in at below par.

On the ground, Donkey Kong will want to rely on his greater reach moves which 
also happen to be his generally quicker ones. He has an excellent forward tilt 
that covers a lot of distance in front of him and is quick; it should be 
heavily relied on. His up tilt covers a wide arc over his head and behind him; 
it too should be used frequently. His down tilt is also quick, but it is really 
only useful for occasionally tripping opponents as the knock back on it is 
incredibly unuseful at all percentages. His forward smash is his best smash in 
terms of speed, range, and power; you should rely on it heavily. His up smash 
is good for hitting opponents above him, and his down smash is good for 
sweeping out rolling characters, but neither are particularly good.

In the air, Donkey Kong's main weapons will be his excellent back and up 
aerials. His back aerial is extremely quick and powerful; he can string 
together series of these in rapid short hop approaches for great profit. His up 
aerial hits a large area as he slams with his huge head and is effective at 
scoring kills off the top of the screen and should be used whenever DK managed 
to get beneath an opponent. His biggest problem up here is his horrible forward 
aerial; it's so slow you will never hit anyone with it. When approaching from 
the front, use his neutral aerial instead. His down aerial is a somewhat handy 
spike; mix it in as it's worth the effort.

Donkey Kong's grab game is really defined by his unique cargo carry mechanic. 
When he grabs an opponent, he can hit forward to lift them on his back from 
which he can carry them around. Other than the obvious use for suicides, this 
can let him set up attacks by carrying them to more favorable places. DK should 
usually cargo to up throw to attempt to follow up with an up aerial, but he can 
really mix it up a lot depending on circumstance. He can also use his Spinning 
Kong out of a shield which is generally a good choice.

Donkey Kong's specials are all close range hits and have mixed usefulness. His 
Ground Pound can rack up damage decently if it hits just right, but it is 
incredibly unsafe and pretty hard to hit with so it really should be used very 
seldom if at all. His Headbutt is similarly an interesting move that isn't very 
good. Hitting with it is like hitting with a damaging Pitfall item, but the 
move's range is poor as is its speed so it is mostly just asking to be 
punished.

The Giant Punch is a high quality move. It's a really great killing move, and 
it has super armor that Donkey Kong should exploit to ensure he delivers his 
powerful attacks. However, throwing the punch in midair leaves Donkey Kong 
helpless until he lands so it should mostly be used from the ground. His 
Spinning Kong is a very quick move coming out that deals decent damage; he 
should whip it out from the ground from time to time for easy damage. It is 
also his main recovery move, but it has incredible landing lag when used from 
the air so he should really try to hit the ledge with it.

Donkey Kong cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair 
jump. He has a typical roll and spot dodge as well; his only really special 
property is his cargo throw.

Donkey Kong's matches are mostly in the same vein as Bowser's with the 
difference being that his generally greater speed lets him do much better 
against speedy characters like Fox. Of course, his lower power similarly isn't 
doing him a lot of favors against a character like Jigglypuff or Kirby; it's a 
trade off that Donkey Kong probably wins by a small margin. Donkey Kong may not 
be flashy or popular, but he has his monkey business, and that makes him 
somewhat viable.

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong was always everyone's favorite when playing the Donkey Kong Country 
games, and he's a favorite here too. He's an all around speedy character in 
both mobility and attacking, and that's an excellent thing to be. He has a lot 
of quirky moves that serve him very well; he's an excellent character all 
around.

On the ground, Diddy Kong really needs to know his good moves from his bad 
ones. The general rule is that tilts are good and smashes are bad. His forward 
smash is weak and fairly easy to punish, but his forward tilt comes out faster 
and with better damage. His up tilt is a good upward hitting move, but it's 
much easier to punish than his up tilt which does the same job but better. The 
big exception is in the downward direction as Diddy Kong has a fast and 
effective down smash while his down tilt is one directional with unuseful knock 
back. Diddy Kong also has an incredible running attack. It's very fast and ends 
so quickly that Diddy Kong can follow it up with other attacks without being 
punished. This means that Diddy Kong should frequently rely on his running 
attack for approaches as he can often flow into another move before a shield 
grab would interrupt him. This is a great contrast to his jab combo which is 
one of the worst in the game; never use his jab combo.

In the air, Diddy Kong's two big assets are his quick and powerful forward and 
back aerials. He can approach from either direction and rely on a quick hit 
that is decently powerful up in the air; his back aerial is the one with a 
little more speed while his forward aerial is the one that packs the power. His 
up and neutral aerials are very weak, but they are quick so he can use them to 
rack damage when the enemy is very near. His down aerial is tricky to use, but 
it's a wonderful spike so try to sneak it in if the opportunity arises.

Diddy's grab game leaves something to be desired, but given that his other 
options out of a shield are also lackluster, he must rely on it. In general he 
should go for his up throw to try to lead into aerials; his back throw sends 
them too far away to do anything, and his other two throws are just generally 
bad.

Diddy's specials aren't great, but he has some cool stuff here. His Peanut 
Popgun is a rather lousy projectile that is extremely slow and easy to avoid; 
only pull it out if the opponent is giving you an ideal chance to projectile 
spam. Even then, be cautious as the peanuts can actually be caught and then 
thrown back at Diddy as items. His Monkey Flip and Rocketbarrel Boost are both 
quality recovery options that make it easy for him to get back to the stage, 
but neither is that great otherwise. His Monkey Flip will spike them if he gets 
the grab hit from it in the air, but it's tricky. Rocketbarrel Boost needs 
practice to recover well with it, and if he gets hit during it, the barrels 
might fly off rendering him helpless. If you want to use Diddy, spend some time 
in training mode getting the timing on this move down.

His one really high quality special is his ability to summon banana peels. He 
can only have two at a time, but he cannot trip on his own banana peels. He can 
toss them at opponents to trip them up, but the main use is to plant them in 
clever places that will severely restrict the foe's movement. When they trip, 
Diddy can move in and punish while his bananas on the ground keep them locked 
down. It's really hard to explain just how to plant them efficiently; the 
general rule is that you should try to put one between you and the opponent and 
the other in the place you figure the opponent most wants to go.

Diddy Kong can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl. He is short enough to crawl 
under Pit's arrows but not any of the Star Fox characters' lasers. He has one 
midair jump, a fairly quick roll, and an unfortunately slow spot dodge which he 
should generally avoid.

Diddy's speed gives him advantage over the big and slow characters such as 
Bowser, but he will find faster powerhouses such as Pikachu, Lucas, and Zelda a 
real problem. Mr. Game & Watch and Marth's combination of speed and priority 
could also be a big worry. Otherwise Diddy should expect generally even to 
slightly favorable matches as he's not particularly extreme; he can expect to 
perform well in a wide variety of situations.

Yoshi

Everyone is divided over who is good and bad, but few are divided over Yoshi's 
standing. Yoshi is just obviously a pretty bad character, but he's really not 
completely without merit. Yoshi has a slippery control in the air that, 
combined with his very fast running speed, can make him somewhat unpredictable, 
and he has surprising reach on several attacks. He's also surprisingly heavy. 
Even if he isn't very good, he can at least be full of surprises.

A good general rule with Yoshi's ground attacks is to watch whether they use 
his tail. All of his tail based attacks are good whereas his head and feet 
based ones are lackluster. All three of his tilts are good and will be his 
primary attacks on the ground. His up tilt pops them up into the air which is 
fairly useful for Yoshi; use it whenever you have an opening. His forward tilt 
and down tilt serve similar purposes; both are great moves to get the opponent 
away and score a little damage. Yoshi also uses his down smash like a "fourth 
tilt" since it covers a wide area quickly so it's great for racking up damage. 
Unfortunately, he has to rely on his slow, poorly ranged forward and up smashes 
for kills; Yoshi has trouble in this department.

In the air, Yoshi's two best moves are his up and back aerials. His back aerial 
covers a huge range and racks up damage very nicely; use this move as often as 
possible as it's one of Yoshi's best. Yoshi's up aerial will probably be his 
most important killing move as it comes out quickly and hits opponents straight 
up. Don't allow this move to be worn down by stale move negation as Yoshi has 
very few other good killing options. Yoshi's neutral aerial is a decent option 
for a quick hit, but it's very weak so it should be used sparingly. Speaking of 
using moves sparingly, only use his forward aerial when you're sure you can hit 
the spike as it is extremely slow and easy to punish. His down aerial is a very 
difficult move to hit with, but it should be used anyways due to its great 
ability to rack up damage on a clean hit.

Yoshi's out of shield game is just pathetic. His grab has big range, but it is 
incredibly slow which makes it hard to use effectively. His up and down throws 
both pop opponents up nicely and can be good options to attempt to follow up 
with an up aerial, but he lacks direct killing power in grabs. His saddest 
problem, however, is that he cannot jump out of his shield. This means that he 
must roll, grab, or drop his shield after blocking an attack; he cannot do an 
aerial or an up smash or special. His roll is also a very slow roll so it 
really leaves him pretty helpless after blocking.

Yoshi's specials are mostly bad. His Egg Roll leaves him very open if your 
opponent has a decent sense of timing; only use it for quick retreats and 
surprise attacks. His Ground Pound is generally a bad move due to how unsafe on 
landing it is; it should mostly just be used when Yoshi will hit the ledge 
after using it. It is also somewhat useful if you can hit the opponent on the 
way up as it forms a small combo, but given the risk, it usually isn't worth 
it. Yoshi's Egg Lay is handy; he can use it to somewhat replace his slow grab 
with the bonus of being able to use it in the air. He really can't follow up 
turning an opponent into an egg with anything; just try to get a back or down 
aerial on them quickly before they break out.

Yoshi's Egg Toss is his primary special. With careful aim, Yoshi can bombard 
opponents anywhere from right next to him to about two thirds of Final 
Destination away; good Yoshi players absolutely must master subtle aiming with 
this move as solid projectile spam is one of the few things Yoshi can really do 
well. In the air, it gains Yoshi a bit of height, but the returns diminish so 
much after each use that it should only be used once. It's the closest thing to 
a triple jump Yoshi has by the way; his recovery is pretty easy to mess up. 
Additionally, this move can be used for a pretty clever edge stall. Yoshi can 
let go of a ledge by hitting back and then immediately throw an egg. The height 
he gains should be just right to grab the ledge again if done right. With 
practice, Yoshi can snipe at the opponent with eggs while enjoying a lot of 
invincibility from constant ledge grabbing.

Yoshi cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl. Yoshi is short enough 
to duck under Pit's arrows, but while crawling he gains a bit of height so he 
gets hit which means he can only use crawling to very slowly approach Pit. Of 
course, he cannot duck under any of the team Star Fox projectiles at all. Yoshi 
has a very slow roll which he should seldom use, and his spot dodge seems 
slightly slower than average. Yoshi's inability to jump out of a shield is a 
huge handicap which severely limits his game, but he does have the minor 
benefit of having a shield that never shrinks. It will break like every other 
character's shield, but it changes colors instead of growing smaller and always 
covers his whole body. Yoshi also has a tremendous weight gain when he is 
starting his double jump which allows him to take many attacks without 
flinching, but this only helps him in recovery. Yoshi can continue following 
the path of his double jump while attacking as well which allows him to very 
quickly gain height during an attack; I suggest using up aerials out of his 
double jump to catch opponents coming down.

All in all, Yoshi is just a character with a lot of problems. He has a lot of 
special properties which are good, but then his inability to jump out of a 
shield takes it all away. His shield game as a whole turns out to just be awful 
as he is cursed with a bad grab and roll; he really doesn't have much he can do 
after blocking. Yoshi also is a poor character at racking up kills which just 
does him no favors. I really can't say much about specific matches as Yoshi 
will have trouble with most characters for the same reasons, but he should have 
a somewhat palatable match with Wario due to his ability to outrange Wario and 
control space. He also can have a generally good time against characters such 
as Bowser and Ganondorf with very poor mobility thanks mostly to eggs, but I'm 
really just struggling to find anything to help out poor Yoshi.

Wario

Wario is from the start an obviously unusual character, but his play style is 
even more off the wall than you would at first expect. While he does have high 
weight, he doesn't play like the heavy characters at all; he is actually most 
similar to Jigglypuff! Wario uses his amazing aerial mobility and an array of 
attacks with surprising speed and power to make himself into a large threat on 
the battlefield, but his absolutely horrible range really limits him. He seems 
above average, but his inability to threaten from afar seems like it keeps him 
from the upper echelons of play.

On the ground, Wario should definitely mostly rely on his tilts. Wario has a 
powerful and medium speed forward tilt that will be his main source of grounded 
kills. His forward smash is a more powerful option, but it has a range so awful 
that it is usually really impractical to connect with. Still, it's actually 
quick so he can be tricky by comboing into it after a weak aerial such as his 
forward aerial. His upward attacks are similar except his up smash is just a 
damage racking move; it's a move to generally refrain from using. Wario's down 
tilt is a fairly slow option, but it is still a better choice than his super 
slow down smash.

In the air is where Wario really shines. Wario's forward aerial will be his 
most used and relied upon move as he can jump in, attack with it, and weave 
back out to land out of range of retaliation. This is the central Wario 
strategy so be sure to use it frequently. Wario's neutral aerial and up aerial 
can be difficult to connect with, but they are his two main killing options in 
the air. His up aerial kills off the top pretty easily, and his neutral aerial 
sends them much farther away. His down aerial is just a damage dealer, but it's 
pretty potent with little landing lag so use it whenever the chance arises. His 
one aerial to generally avoid is his back aerial since it has so much landing 
lag when he hits the ground during it. It's pretty powerful though so you can 
mix it in; just be sure to use it after full hops or from higher up in general 
so Wario completes the move before landing.

Wario's grab game is as quirky as you have come to expect from this character. 
His main killing throw is his forward throw while his back throw generally gets 
poor distance which is the exact opposite of nearly every other character. 
However, when you aren't going for a kill, you should look to his up and down 
throws. Wario's up throw sets the opponent up for aerials, but Wario has a 
chain grab out of his down throw against Bowser and Donkey Kong. After the 
throw, the opponent is knocked right behind Wario so he can turn around and 
grab again. While those two are the only ones against which he can pull off 
long forced grab combos, he can frequently get several in a row with the 
others. If they don't directionally influence, he doesn't even have to move to 
continue against Ganondorf, Captain Falcon, Wolf, or Falco. Pick whatever 
throws best suit the situation to make sure Wario is maintaining maximum 
pressure.

Wario's special moves are pretty odd and for the most part pretty limited. His 
Bite is a very short range move, but it can be used as an aerial grab and can 
interrupt many low priority attacks, especially from Sonic. For the most part 
this move shouldn't be used much, but it can be viable defensively. If the 
opponent gets into Wario's mouth, the Wario player should press B rapidly to do 
as much damage as possible. Wario can also eat various projectiles, but 
explosives still hurt him so this is pretty limited. The useful things he can 
eat are R.O.B.'s gyro, Peach's turnips, Wario's bike and bike fragments, Diddy 
Kong's peanuts and banana peels, and Zero Suit Samus's suit parts. He can also 
eat King Dedede's Waddle Dees while they walk around on the ground, but he 
can't eat them as they are being thrown. Speaking of Wario's bike, it's a 
pretty poor attack in general since he is very vulnerable unless he is doing a 
wheelie which makes him very slow, but he can use it in the air and then leap 
from it for recovery. Only one bike can be out at a time so Wario players 
should try to keep the bike ready to use for this purpose.

Wario's Corkscrew is a pretty bad recovery move and has such poor range that it 
can seldom be used as an attack, but, if the opponent is caught in the entire 
thing, it will do good damage. It should be used very sparingly save when the 
height is truly needed to make a recovery, but it can be a good surprise attack 
if a golden opportunity arises. Wario's Wario Waft has some use for recovery if 
it is really needed, but the best use of the move is to wait for it to fully 
charge and then use it as a finishing blow. It takes approximately 1 minute and 
51 seconds for the move to fully charge, but the charge is retained between 
stock.

Wario cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl for little practical 
benefit. Wario has but one midair jump, and he is unfortunate to have both a 
slow roll and a slow spot dodge.

Wario's only big handicap in most matches is his horrible range so characters 
with huge range are going to make this problem most apparent. Marth and Ike 
just completely outdistance Wario, and even characters like Olimar and Mr. Game 
& Watch could prove problematic. However, Wario's superb aerial control means 
that characters such as Jigglypuff and Squirtle who were relying on superior 
aerial control to win could be in trouble. Wario also tends to do well against 
very low priority characters such as Sonic and characters who try to attack 
from very close range such as Captain Falcon.

Link

This is another case where being candid won't earn me many friends, but it must 
be done. Link is really bad in this game for the sole reason that Toon Link 
exists and is way better at using what's essentially the same move set. The 
only real reason to use Link is to be stubborn; those who want to use Link and 
win should just pick Toon Link. Okay, that's out of the way. I'm going to 
assume everyone from this point on is stubborn and wants to use Link to his 
potential even if he's an obviously inferior character. Link has some good 
stuff; he can play a solid keep away game with his three projectiles, and his 
melee attacks have solid range and power thanks to his sword.

Link has a lot of good moves on the ground so he'll be spending a lot of time 
here. His forward and up tilts both swing over his head and hit in front of 
him, but they hit in different directions. His up tilt hits up, and his forward 
tilt hits forward. Use whichever one fits your specific needs, but both are 
great, quick, high range moves Link should use a lot. His down tilt is a bit 
slower, but it tends to poke under shields and is nice for popping the enemy 
into the air. Link's down smash is a typical one that clears out opponents 
rolling around too much, and his up smash is a great damage dealer that tends 
to set the opponents up in the air nicely. However, Link's real gem on the 
ground is his forward smash. He does one fairly low knock back but decently 
damaging swing, and if A or any direction on the c-stick is pressed somewhat 
within the timing of the attack, he'll do a very powerful follow up swing. He 
can vary the timing to be very unpredictable which makes this move very 
dangerous. If you just want to do a double attack as quickly as possible, 
simply mashing A will make it happen. Link's jab combo and running attack are 
also both decent, but neither is anything special.

Link in the air is also pretty solid as he has six pretty good aerials. Yes, I 
meant six. His forward aerial is a nice range and speed double sword hit; he 
should be sure to throw it out at every opportunity. His back aerial is a 
double quick kick of pretty average strength that he should also use a lot. His 
neutral aerial is also a kick, but it is so weak that it's less useful by 
comparison to the back version. His up aerial is pretty slow and has a lot of 
landing lag, but it has very high priority and decent power so Link can throw 
it out with confidence to approach enemies coming at him from below. Link's 
down aerial is a fan favorite for its great power, but the move is very slow 
thanks to huge landing lag. Only use it when you are sure to hit. If it hits 
twice, all landing lag is canceled so it's a somewhat more viable move against 
the Ice Climbers than normal. Link also has a sixth aerial he can use by 
hitting Z in midair to fire his Clawshot. This move has literally no landing 
lag, and despite how weak it is, it has solid range. Short hop approaching with 
the Clawshot is a great tactic that Link should be sure to exploit, but this 
move has a very long recovery time in the air so when Link is not able to 
quickly land during the move he should only use it to tether the ledge as per 
the move's original purpose.

Link's grab game is pretty hampered by his relatively slow grab, but for his 
absolutely huge range, it's at least of a tolerable speed. None of his throws 
are particularly good unfortunately, but his down throw does leave them close 
enough to follow up with a quick attack if they are at low percentages. His up 
smash out of a shield will be useful, but his Spin Attack should generally not 
be used like that.

Link's special moves mostly revolve around the concept of spamming projectiles. 
If he needs to quickly apply pressure in a nearly straight line in front of 
him, he should shoot his Bow. His Gale Boomerang can be angled to hit at a wide 
variety of locations, and it should be used to control space and force the 
opponent to not go where he most wants to go. Unfortunately, the gale effect is 
really bad; pulling the enemy in if the enemy is prepared is actually to Link's 
disadvantage as he was using his projectiles to keep them out in the first 
place. Be ready for it to happen, but in general, don't try to hit with the 
returning Gale Boomerang. Link's last fun tool is his ability to throw bombs. 
Link should always try to be tossing these just where the opponent wants to go, 
and given their high power, they will be very effective at keeping the enemy at 
bay. Link will especially profit from throwing a bomb right as he's running at 
an opponent to force the opponent to answer the bomb just moments before Link's 
attack. If the opponent gets clever and starts catching many bombs, delay 
tossing them so they explode as they reach their target. It's an easy mistake 
for Link players to make to not use enough projectiles, but they are really 
what make Link the character he is. At almost all times in a match, Link should 
either have at least one projectile out or should be following up on the 
immediate advantage gained from his projectiles that were there shortly before.

Link's Spin Attack is his recovery option, and this is getting its own 
paragraph so I can make it a very clear point. The Spin Attack should only be 
used for recovery. On the ground, it is slow, predictable, and fairly weak. 
Charging it only makes Link even more slow and predictable, and it really can't 
be used to spike like it could in Super Smash Brothers Melee. The "combo" down 
throw to Spin Attack does not work. Seriously, only use this move for recovery, 
and you'll be a much better Link player.

Link cannot crawl, wall jump, or wall cling, and he has only one midair jump. 
His roll is a little on the slow side which limits its use, but he does have a 
pretty typical spot dodge. Link can use his Clawshot as a tether in the air 
both as an attack and as a way to automatically grab ledges if he is within 
range. Link's shield (the one he is holding, not the one he gets by pressing a 
shield button) can also be used to block projectiles. If Link is in an idle or 
crouching pose and a projectile hits his shield, Link will be pushed slightly 
back and take no damage. If he hasn't moved at all for a while, he sometimes 
moves his shield slightly to his side which leaves him open, but crouching 
prevents this from happening. Also, just in case you were wondering, Link's 
shield does not block the recoil from the main cannons on the Great Fox at 
Corneria.

Due to the whole outclassed factor, Link will obviously not enjoy a match 
against Toon Link. His shield and wide array of versatile projectiles makes him 
a great choice against other projectile abusers such as Pit, but against the 
faster and stronger swordsmanship of Marth, he'll be in trouble. Small 
characters that can hurt him very badly once they get inside such as Olimar and 
Ness could also be issues. However, in general, Link shouldn't expect too 
extreme of advantages or disadvantages in battle. He has a wide array of decent 
but not spectacular options that should keep his head just above water against 
most foes.

Zelda

Before talking about Zelda or Sheik, I'm going to spend a bit of time talking 
about their ability to transform back and forth with their down special. In 
general, this is a really bad strategy. The transformation is very slow, and 
the opponent can usually hit them with a powerful attack when it ends. They are 
fully invincible while changing, and since the change time lasts the duration 
of the time it takes for the game to load the data on the other character, it 
is not a consistent duration which makes predicting when to smash them 
difficult. The transformation will happen faster if your opponent is the 
character you are turning into, and pausing in the middle of the transformation 
can also speed it up. However, unless you are really having trouble in the 
match and feel like you could use a new character to turn things around, you 
should start as the one you want to use and stick it out until the end.

Anyway, Zelda is pretty much just a powerhouse of a character. She's light and 
has some speed issues, but her ability to consistently score low percent kills 
is second to none. That's right, even such powerhouses as Ike and Bowser can't 
kill as easily as Zelda can. Zelda is definitely an above average character who 
can compete with the best though she's not really one of the best herself, and 
she's a great choice if you are looking for someone with power.

On the ground, Zelda has a lot of decent, high damage options. Her forward 
smash is a good move to hit opponents approaching from the front as the magical 
burst is far out in front of her, and the move hits hard. Her up smash is of 
similar use against aerial foes as it catches them in the magic ring doing big 
damage. Her down smash has no magic and only a small hit area; reserve it for 
those who like to roll too much. Of her tilts, her best is easily her forward 
tilt as it pops the enemy right above her in a really useful way. At low 
percentages, she can lead into an up smash for massive damage, and at higher 
percentages, she can attempt an up aerial for a finisher. Her up tilt covers a 
huge area so it's a nice safety move; use it when you just want to get the 
enemy away. Her down tilt is just a tripping move at lower percentages that 
should only be used to get a quick hit and maybe stab under a shield, but at 
higher percentages, it pops the enemy up and can lead into an up smash the same 
way the forward tilt could at lower percentages. Her jab and running attack 
aren't particularly special, but both are good ways to push an enemy away due 
to the magic burst in front of them.

In the air is where Zelda makes it clear that she is absolutely deadly. Her 
forward and back aerials are pretty much identical in all but direction, and 
both are ridiculously dangerous. If she hits with the tip of her foot where 
there's the magic burst, the game will pause for a bit to let everyone see that 
a big hit has just been landed, and then the foe will be electrocuted and fly 
away with incredible knock back. This kills ridiculously early, and since Zelda 
has two moves here, she doesn't have to worry about stale move negation very 
much. This is how she gets kills; abuse this very heavily. Her up aerial isn't 
quite as notable of a killer, but it is still great. On a weaker character, it 
would probably be a main kill move. She creates an explosion above her with 
good knock back; you can use this to easily score star KOs on opponents who 
dare try to approach from above. Her neutral aerial isn't strong like the 
others, but it hits over a wide area so it's a good option if you need a safe 
move in the air. Her down aerial is a third lightning kick, but it sends foes 
straight down. Use it for spikes, but the small hit area means you will 
probably use it the least of Zelda's aerials.

Zelda has some prospects of killing with her back throw so it should be her 
option if the opponent is very hurt, but her best trick with grabs in general 
is to do a down throw followed up by a lightning kick. Her up throw is a good 
choice for those middling percentages where the down throw isn't as effective 
but the back can't kill; she can put them up in the air and try to threaten 
them with her up aerial. You probably could have guessed that up smash out of 
shield is useful for Zelda; it's a great way to rack damage against foes that 
try to land behind you to avoid a shield grab.

Zelda only has three real special moves due to her transformation, but they do 
their jobs. Farore's Wind is a wonderful recovery with hits in just the right 
places to make it hard to punish. It should be used mostly for recovery, but 
Zelda should try to be unpredictable with it and end in unexpected places. 
She's covering a huge distance with it so the question is really more one of 
where you want to recover to instead of one of if you can recover at all. If 
she's in an unfavorable position on the course, Farore's Wind can also be an 
effective way to relocate. Be sure to practice this move and the nuances of 
positioning if you are serious about Zelda; it's important. Nayru's Love can 
act as a reflector, but it has too much delay between uses to be effective at 
that. In general, it's a pretty bad move; Zelda should only use it if she needs 
a quick hit all around her body which is pretty seldom.

Zelda's really important special move is Din's Fire. She can direct this to a 
large extent, and she can choose when to detonate it so she can effectively use 
it to harass opponents over a huge area in front of her. It is an effective 
keep away move and at higher percentages can be used to lead opponents off the 
top of the screen; abuse this frequently and force opponents to come to you. 
However, watch out as if she uses it in the air, she'll be helpless until she 
lands. This is a bad move to use in the air in general; use it from the ground 
when you think you have found a good defensive position.

Zelda cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and she has only one midair jump. 
Her roll is somewhat above average speed wise, but her spot dodge seems a 
little slow. Both are still within the range at which she can use them like 
most characters do.

Zelda's power in the air means that the lightweights who try to approach her 
from the air are going to have a hard time. That means Jigglypuff, Kirby, and 
Meta Knight mostly. She can even do pretty well against such characters as Toon 
Link and Mr. Game & Watch thanks to her ability to so easily score kills, but 
it might be unfair to say she has an advantage. Against the heavier slow 
characters, she might struggle a bit since they can actually kill her easier 
than she can kill them, but in general, she shouldn't expect to find any foes 
terrible problems. Ness and Lucas can answer her projectile better than she can 
answer theirs and also kill really easily; she'll have some of her more intense 
fights against them.

Sheik

Sheik is what happens when Zelda wonders what it would be like to be a ninja. 
Much unlike Zelda, Sheik is a pure speed character. Be it attacking or just 
running around, everything Sheik does is very, very fast. However, in just as 
much of a contrast to Zelda, Sheik is weak and has trouble getting kills. Sheik 
is overall probably a worse character than Zelda, but Sheik is not without 
merit and appeals to an entirely different sort of player. If you're a big fan 
of a character who is proficient at rush downs and has a surprisingly good edge 
guarding game, Sheik just might be your character.

On the ground, Sheiks will mostly be relying on her very quick tilts. Her 
forward tilt is easily her best; it is ridiculously fast, covers a large area, 
and moves Sheik slightly forward. She can oftentimes string several of these 
together on opponents to rack up solid damage. Her up tilt hits over a narrow 
area but hits very high up making a great move to answer opponents from above, 
and her down tilt is a quick way to poke under a shield and leads into aerials 
at higher percentages. Her running attack is also very quick and pops opponents 
right up into the air; it's a good choice. Her forward smash is really limited 
since it has pretty much no killing potential and has a long animation, but she 
should go for it when she is fairly sure she can hit since it racks damage 
nicely. Her down smash is not only great for clearing out those who roll too 
much but is also her best option to do right after landing from an aerial; it 
just lets her keep up her constant string of attacks. Her up smash is hard to 
hit with, but it's her only move from the ground that has any hope of killing 
so go for it if the chance arises or a shield should break.

In the air, Sheik has a few killing options and a few damage dealers, but most 
of her stuff is still quick. Her forward aerial is a quick swat that is handy 
for racking up damage, but it has almost no killing potential. Her back and up 
aerials can kill in their respective directions at higher percentages, and both 
also come out very quickly. Her neutral aerial is just a standard weak but 
quick neutral aerial that she won't be using too much, but it's not a bad move 
so there's no harm in mixing it in. Her down aerial plunges her downward in a 
predictable fashion with more landing lag than Sheik usually has; use this move 
when you want to be generally ineffective and give your opponent a free grab. 
Other than her down aerial, you will notice that none of Sheik's aerials have 
noticeable landing lag; abuse this and flow from air to ground in a constant 
flurry of attacks.

Sheik's grabs don't give her any kill options, but her down throw is a 
wonderful throw to lead into other attacks. Depending on how the opponent 
directionally influences, she will get different aerials out of it, but she can 
usually hit with an aerial after a down throw. At lower percentages, she 
sometimes will want to up throw to follow up with an up aerial, but that's a 
nice case. If she is being shield pressured and is looking to turn things 
around with a kill, she could always up smash out of a shield. It will surely 
catch the opponent off guard.

Sheik's three special moves are not particularly noteworthy but are worth some 
attention. Her Chain is more or less entirely useless as an attack, but it can 
be used as a tether recovery over the ledge. Vanish is a teleport she can 
recover with much like Zelda can, but she has a small hop before she disappears 
and doesn't get a second hit after she appears again. Master teleporting around 
with Sheik to make recoveries as unpredictable as possible. Her last special, 
Needle Storm, is easily her most useful. Pressing B causes her to begin 
charging needles, and pressing it again causes her to release. The more she has 
charged, the more needles she shoots. In general, she should just double tap B 
to throw one needle quickly. From the ground, it's a great way to interrupt an 
opponent before rushing in to attack, and in the air, it goes at a downward 
angle that can really mess with opponents trying to recover.

Sheik can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl. She is short enough to crawl under 
both Pit's arrows and Fox and Falco's lasers, but Wolf's laser will still nail 
her. She can even crawl under Samus's Super Missiles and Charge Shot as long as 
it is not near to a full charge. Sheik has a quick roll and a typical spot 
dodge as well.

Sheik's blinding speed makes her more than a match for the big slow characters 
such as Bowser or King Dedede, but the characters who are not so slow but have 
a lot of power and priority could be concerns. This means Olimar, Marth, and 
Mr. Game & Watch could be hard matches for her. She will also do well against 
characters like Pit and Snake as her speed lets her maneuver around projectiles 
better than most, and she is so much faster than them up close that she can do 
great damage.

Ganondorf

How to unlock:

-Play 200 brawls.
-Have Ganondorf join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic on Hard or greater with Link or Zelda.

Well, here comes Ganondorf. Ganondorf, like all characters from the Zelda 
series, has a lot of fans, but he is just a catastrophe of a character. The 
idea is that he's slow but has enough strength to make up for it. Ganondorf 
certainly does have absolutely phenomenal strength, but slow only begins to 
describe. Ganondorf is so slow that he has pretty much no ability to follow up 
any attacks with any other attacks and gets punished time and time again every 
time he misses anything. Ganondorf has easily the game's worst attack speed and 
mobility so everyone can just take turns abusing his flagrant and nearly 
insurmountable weaknesses. Ganondorf does still have a few high points that 
dedicated players can focus on, but only use him if you are willing to accept 
being at a disadvantage from the word go in pretty much every match.

Ganondorf has no trouble doing damage if he can hit so his main goal on the 
ground is to find attacks with which he can hit. It's a pretty hopeless goal, 
but let's see what he has. Ganondorf's fastest attack is unsurprisingly his 
jab. He has no jab combo; it's just a single quick sucker punch. Use it to keep 
enemies on their toes and to score easy damage. Ganondorf also has a pretty 
quick running attack, but it leaves him open to shield grab so watch out. Of 
his tilts and smashes, his somewhat decent forward tilt should be what he 
primarily falls back on, but his down tilt, despite the poor hit and only 
average speed, is still useful. Never, ever use his up tilt; even with the 
vacuum effect that pulls them into the huge hit, it is way too slow to ever be 
useful. All three of his smashes are slow but very strong; use them when the 
opponent gives you a golden opportunity and is in the appropriate direction 
(rolling around in the case of the down one).

In the air, Ganondorf's best bet by far is his quick and fairly powerful up 
aerial. This move does a flip all around him, and it has very little landing 
lag. Abuse it heavily. Ganondorf also has a good option in his back aerial as 
it is quick and has almost no landing lag as well, but the hit area is very 
small. Try in general to rack up damage with the up aerial and finish with the 
back aerial. The forward aerial is very strong, but it's very easy to punish if 
you miss so only use it occasionally. The neutral aerial is a just plain bad 
move, and the down aerial is a very interesting choice. It sends the enemy 
straight down and have a very nice bounce when they hit the ground. The move is 
really slow with somewhat poor and awkward range, but it's often a good idea 
for Ganondorf to try to position himself for this move. If he gets really 
lucky, a hit from this might even lead into his up aerial, but you shouldn't 
expect one move to lead into another in general with Ganondorf.

Since Ganondorf can't follow up on anything, his best option out of a grab is 
to just throw them up so he can try to hit with an up aerial as they come down. 
Grabbing is pretty much all he should do out of a shield as his grab is 
actually a pretty quick one.

Ganondorf has exactly one good special, but let's cover the other three first. 
His Wizard's Punch is exceedingly strong, but it's so laughably slow that he 
should never expect to hit with it. He can tap and hold the opposite direction 
while starting it up to reverse it, but that's a rare trick he should only try 
to pull if he really needs to land a huge hit to come back from the opponent's 
lead. Dark Dive is a below average recovery, but due to the awkward way he 
throws himself up, it's very hard to hit as an attack and leaves him very open 
to punishment. It's quite hilarious when he hits someone with the grab portion 
of this move, but the move should really be saved for just recovery. His 
Wizard's Foot seems like a fast option at first, but it is very predictable and 
easy to punish even more so than most of Ganondorf's other moves. Due to the 
relatively great speed at which Ganondorf flies across the course, it can be 
good as a surprise attack, but leave it at that. In the air, it is a somewhat 
reasonable option to get down quickly though it has enormous landing lag. Use 
it just once in a while just like on the ground. Especially don't use it over 
the edge; it's a suicide move all the way.

Ganondorf's one real point of pride is his excellent "Flame Choke" which is his 
forward special. This move lets him cover ground quickly, but it has enough lag 
afterward that he can't immediately follow up with an attack. However, if he 
can hit with it which isn't that hard, he'll do some damage and plant the enemy 
right on the ground. He really has nothing to follow this up with, but it's a 
good way to deal damage. Your best bet is probably to try to predict the 
enemy's movement and time well to follow up with this move again, but don't 
expect to pull off long strings. Used in the air, this move slams opponents to 
the ground and leaves them there so it's pretty much the same thing and handy 
to escape juggles. If you slam them down over a pit, the predictable happens 
and Ganondorf does a "suicide throw" to both of your demises. However, if you 
miss, Ganondorf is left in a helpless state and will probably die alone so only 
use this over a pit if you're sure to hit. Speaking of pits, watch out as 
Ganondorf can kill himself if he goes over the edge with this move.

Ganondorf cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair 
jump. His roll is just a tiny bit slow, and his spot dodge is very ordinary.

Ganondorf really has trouble against the entire rest of the cast, but due to 
the extreme nature of the differences, his greatest problems will come from 
speed characters such as Fox and Sonic. Ganondorf is at his best against very 
light and floaty characters such as Jigglypuff and Kirby who he can kill with a 
very small number of attacks and against whom he can more easily exploit his 
few quick aerials.

Toon Link

How to unlock:

-Play 400 brawls.
-Have Toon Link join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic mode after clearing The Subspace Emissary.

Those unfamiliar with Toon Link might not be sure about what makes him better 
than Link. The main thing is speed; Toon Link is ridiculously fast. He has one 
of the highest running speeds in the game, all of his attacks are quick, and he 
has a combination of floatiness and solid aerial control that lets him do what 
he needs to do in the air. Factor in the fact that his projectile game is even 
better than Link's and you have what is rightly considered by many to be one of 
the best characters in the game.

Toon Link's ground game is essentially just a faster, lower range version of 
Link's. Toon Link's forward and up tilts both swing overhead and in front of 
him, and each one sends the enemy in the direction its name indicates. Toon 
Link has a down tilt that just sends the enemy away weakly, but his down tilt 
is very quick so he can easily use it to get the enemy away if he gets in 
trouble. Toon Link's down smash is a really great move; it can not only clear 
out rolling foes but generally does big damage to everyone it hits. He hits 
enemies toward him instead of away with his down smash so he can frequently hit 
with both hits, and the knock back on it is pretty high. Toon Link's up smash 
is a quite powerful single hit that not only hits above him but in front of 
him; he should use this to go for kills off the top as it is quite effective. 
Toon Link has the same double forward smash Link has, but due to his small 
size, it's far more deceptive. Toon Link should delay the second hit as long as 
possible to sucker opponents into trying to approach, and then he can use it to 
hit way out in front of him with an exceedingly powerful strike. Toon Link also 
has fast and useable options in his running attack and jab combo; nothing he 
has on the ground is bad.

Much like Link, Toon Link also has six solid aerials. However, Toon Link mostly 
gets single sword strikes instead of multiple hits. Toon Link's forward and 
back aerials are both quick slashes in the appropriate direction, and he should 
use both to generally attack foes on either side. His neutral aerial is weak 
but hits all around him so it's a good defensive move, and his up aerial, much 
like Link's, is a high priority option to hit above him. However, unlike with 
Link, Toon Link doesn't have a terribly large amount of landing lag on his up 
aerial so he can use it more frequently with confidence. Toon Link's down 
aerial is a very interesting move; he plunges down on his opponent with great 
speed, but if he hits, he bounces upward. After a second hit, the move 
automatically ends and he can do another move. With good timing and spacing, 
Toon Link can bounce from opponents many times in a row to rapidly rack up 
large damage, but watch out as the move has a substantial recovery time upon 
landing. Toon Link can also use his Hookshot as a decent attack in the air by 
pressing Z to try to exploit a move with literally zero landing lag, but the 
range is a bit too short to rely on it very often. However, it recovers much 
faster than Link's in the air so he can use it from higher up without as much 
risk.

Toon Link's grab game mostly comes down to his down throw while being mindful 
of his slower than average grab. None of his throws are likely to kill, but his 
down throw puts opponents in the best position for Toon Link to follow up with 
his powerful arsenal of dangerous attacks. Toon Link should also use his up 
smash out of a shield somewhat often; it's a powerful option that lets him do 
big damage all around himself.

Toon Link's projectile game is essentially the same thing as Link's so I'm 
going to save the repetition and only point out how it is different. Toon 
Link's Boomerang has a weak hit on the return instead of a gale effect so he 
can use it to control space much more effectively. The hit on the way back is 
weak, but it stuns the enemy. Toon Link can approach from the front and his 
Boomerang comes back to hit them from behind, and the combined attack will be 
very hard to answer. Toon Link's bombs are also slightly weaker but with a much 
better blast radius; he can use this fact to control space even better with 
them. His arrows are also a bit slower, but due to his better Boomerang, he 
doesn't lose out on his ability to control the space in a line right in front 
of him. The arrows are still useful if the Boomerang is out on another mission; 
be sure not to neglect them.

His Spin Attack is still a strictly recovery move. He gets a ton of air from it 
much unlike Link, but on the ground, it sucks the opponent in to rack up damage 
instead of knocking them away. The damage really isn't that great, and the move 
is dangerous. Seriously, I repeat again, only use the Spin Attack to recover.

Toon Link can wall jump, but he cannot wall cling or crawl. He has only one 
midair jump, a slightly slow roll, and a slightly quick spot dodge. His shield 
has the same properties Link's does right down to the trouble during idle 
animations; read Link's section for more information.

Toon Link doesn't have trouble against any characters really. He's just a 
ridiculously powerful character who has an answer for everything. Marth can 
give him some trouble if he gets past the wall of projectiles, and characters 
who are very quick in the air such as Meta Knight or Jigglypuff have more hope 
than most of getting past the flurry of projectiles and then catching the 
speedy Toon Link behind them. Toon Link is clearly one of the game's best 
characters so he can go into any match with confidence that he has the tools he 
needs to win. Play Toon Link like the champ that he is and strike fear into 
your enemies' hearts.

Samus

Samus has historically been a big projectile spammer, but she's less effective 
at it in this game. She's actually just a not very effective character all 
around. She's slow and overly floaty with a move set that doesn't really 
benefit from her floatiness, and despite being a 6'6" tall woman in a giant 
robotic suit of armor, she frequently has trouble getting kills.

Samus's ground game is largely a lead in to her air game; her down tilt is a 
quick blast to knock opponents into the air, and her up tilt is a slow but wide 
range kick that does the same thing. Her down smash also sends opponents up and 
is fast so she can use it for that as well as the usual punishment of overly 
zealous roll abusers. Her forward tilt is quick but has poor and unuseful knock 
back so it's just a move to get opponents away, but her forward smash is one of 
her main killing moves. Her up smash creates several blasts over her head that 
are great for racking up damage on an opponent coming down on her; perhaps this 
move would work well with another that knocks the opponent into the air? She 
also has a pretty standard fare jab combo and running attack that she can mix 
in.

In the air, Samus has a few quality options. Her back aerial is very quick with 
just enough knock back so it can be quite dangerous if she attempts to chase 
with it. Her up aerial has very poor knock back, but if she can catch an 
opponent in it, it racks up damage nicely. Her forward aerial works on the same 
principle but hits over a pretty huge area; she should use it when she needs to 
just cause damage. Her neutral aerial is pretty standard fare with a quick but 
weak hit, but the knock back is enough so that she could throw it out, land, 
turn around, and then edge guard with the back aerial in hope of a kill. Her 
down aerial is actually a pretty good move. It hits over a small area, but it's 
a high damage spike. Don't use it a whole lot since it's not a move you can 
expect to hit with often, but it will always be rewarding when it does hit. 
Samus also has her great "sixth aerial" in her Grapple Beam. By pressing Z in 
the air, Samus shoot out her very long Grapple Beam which has absolutely no lag 
upon landing. She mostly will make approaches by doing this move after a short 
hop over and over again to rack up damage from a very safe distance.

Samus is a character with very few options out of a shield as her roll is 
awful, and her grab is very slow. If she does get a grab, her two main choices 
are to either do a down throw followed up by a forward aerial or an up throw 
followed up by an up aerial. Her up smash probably won't be very handy out of a 
shield, but she can use the Screw Attack out of her shield for some decent 
results.

Samus's special moves are all useful to her. Her Charge Shot and Missiles 
should both be used to constantly harass opponents. She should rain Super 
Missiles on opponents to rack up damage and even kill the more weakened ones 
and use free moments to charge up the Charge Shot which is a great finisher for 
when an opening arises. If the opponent has made himself difficult to approach, 
standard homing Missiles can be used to make the position indefensible. For the 
unaware, she does a "smash" motion to fire a Super Missile while a "tilt" 
motion fires a standard Missile. Additionally, Samus cancels her Missile firing 
animation if she hits the ground while doing it so firing one just at the right 
height so it will come out as she lands is a great way to shoot a bit more 
quickly or to do any attack or even rush at the opponent right after a shot.

Samus's Bombs are useful to let her get down without opponents harassing her 
from above, and she can lay a bomb between herself and her opponent to 
effectively control space for a short period of time. In the air, she can bomb 
jump by laying a bomb, not pressing anything else, and then laying a second 
bomb to stall her in the air just as the first bomb would hit her. This is 
handy in recovery; serious Samus players should definitely practice it. Her 
Screw Attack is a handy recovery move and also is effective at racking up 
damage. It leaves Samus pretty open if she misses, but it's a good move to mix 
in every once in a while.

Samus can wall jump but not wall cling or crawl. Samus has the single slowest 
roll in the game that she should almost never use, but her spot dodge is 
decent. If a Samus user inputs up taunt, down taunt, up taunt extremely 
quickly, Samus will do a one way transformation into Zero Suit Samus.

Samus won't like Snake as he accomplishes what she does with her projectiles 
with his much better. Pretty much all other characters with solid projectile 
games such as Link, Pit, or Falco will cause her trouble. Very fast characters 
such as Fox, Sonic, or the mildly ironic Zero Suit Samus can rush her down 
pretty effectively as well. Being a projectile user, she will like fighting 
slower targets such as Bowser, and she should be able to handle herself against 
even quicker power characters such as Lucas and Zelda.

Zero Suit Samus

Zero Suit Samus may be a fan favorite for all the wrong reasons, but as an 
actual character, she's pretty interesting. She's very fast with good range and 
a few moves that have a handy "stun" effect. She generally lacks power and has 
what is probably the single worst grab in the game, but otherwise she's a solid 
contender worth serious consideration.

On the ground, Zero Suit Samus has fast tilts and wide range smashes that 
compliment each other nicely. Her forward tilts and jab combo both have very 
little knock back but great speed and are essentially just tools to knock the 
opponent away. Her up and down tilts both pop opponents into the air, and her 
down tilt sends low percent opponents low enough that she can sometimes follow 
up with a running attack. Her running attack is actually pretty decent; she can 
use it once in a while. Her forward smash isn't very powerful, but it hits an 
absolutely huge range in front of her and is decently quick so she should be 
sure to use it. Her up smash racks up decent damage and sends the opponent back 
up into the air so it's a great move for juggles. Her down smash is her most 
interesting move; it stuns the opponent which gives her time to do whatever she 
wants. She can go for loops with her Plasma Wire or try for a finisher with the 
Plasma Whip; she has choices. Yes, her down smash does suspend aerial foes in 
midair; it's quite cool.

In the air, Zero Suit Samus has a bit of an odd problem. She has a delay after 
jumping during which she cannot attack that means she can't do aerials until 
the peak of her jumps. That makes her aerials far less useful to her than they 
would be to other characters. Her forward aerial is a weak double kick in front 
of her that is only good for damage racking, and her neutral aerial causes her 
to spin her whip around her for weak but safe damage. Her up aerial starts off 
with horrible knock back, but the damage scaling is nice so it can be a source 
of off the top kills for her. Her back aerial also has some decent power and 
speed so it's useful. Her down aerial is a horrible diving move that just 
leaves her open; I suggest against ever using it. Despite having her 
prominently featured whip, she actually doesn't have a "z" aerial attack so 
this is all she has to work with.

Her grab game has a lot of problems. Her only good throw is her down throw 
which she can lead into a Plasma Wire which is generally a pretty productive 
choice; if the opponent really messes up, she can do loops like this. However, 
getting that grab will be hard. She has what you will notice is the slowest 
grab in the game so despite its bad reach it's pretty bad. However, that's only 
the beginning of her woes. If the opponent is too far away and sufficiently 
short, he can duck under her grab! Even big opponents like Charizard can duck 
under it at the right ranges so in effect it's just very unreliable. She might 
consider using her up smash and Plasma Wire out of a shield instead, but both 
only hit right on top of her and above her.

Zero Suit Samus has some interesting specials. Her most useful one is her 
forward special, Plasma Whip. This move has one and only one use, and that is 
as a fantastic kill move. It hits far in front of her and has great knock back. 
She could also use it to tether ledges, but that's not really practical. Her 
Paralyzer is also an interesting move since it's a ranged stun attack, but the 
way she has to charge it to get any respectable distance or stun time makes it 
very limited so she should not use it very often. Her Flip Jump has no 
attacking properties when used normally, but if she hits a wall during it, she 
will automatically do a wall jump. It's useful for recovery. She can press B 
after using it to do a kick that is surprisingly powerful, but it's not an 
attack that can be used very often due to the way this move repositions her.

Her Plasma Wire is a very interesting move. It hits above her like her up smash 
racking up good damage, but the hit at the tip is a spike. She can use this on 
opponents near a ledge for great profit, but more commonly she uses it to plant 
the opponent right back on the ground in front of her. This can set them up for 
a down smash which lets her try to make this into a loop. She really can't keep 
that up for very long since they can use directional influence to escape, but 
it's a nice attempt that she should go for. This is also her main recovery 
move, but watch out when dangling from the tether and not grabbing the ledge as 
this does not restore her double jump. If she has used three tethers within 
range of a ledge since actually standing on solid ground, this move won't come 
out quite right so be careful.

Zero Suit Samus can wall jump and crawl but not wall cling. While crouching she 
gets hit by Pit's arrows, but while crawling she moves lower to the ground and 
can avoid them. She is even low enough to the ground while crawling to avoid 
the lasers of Fox and Falco as well as Samus's Super Missiles and uncharged 
Charge Shot. Just remember to keep moving if using this tactic. Zero Suit Samus 
has a fairly ordinary roll and spot dodge she uses like most characters can use 
them. If you were wondering how to start a match as her, you just hold a shield 
button during the transition to the character select screen. Assuming you 
picked Samus as your character, you will start as Zero Suit Samus. When she 
enters battle, Zero Suit Samus drops several armor fragments she or other 
characters can pick up and throw as weapons. They stick around for quite a 
while and are pretty dangerous; take advantage of them at the start of a match.

Zero Suit Samus's speed makes her more than a match for the slowest of 
characters, and her range could make her a problem for the very poor range 
Wario and Sonic. Her difficulties in the air, however, will make her easy prey 
for characters such as Jigglypuff, Kirby, and Meta Knight, and the great 
priority Olimar, Marth, and Mr. Game & Watch have little to fear from her.

Pit

Despite being from an almost literally unknown game from well over a decade 
ago, Pit has quickly become a fan favorite in brawl. Pit has multiple jumps, an 
up special that lets him literally fly, a weapon which causes most of his 
attacks to have disjointed hit boxes, a very spammable projectile, and two 
different moves that reflect projectiles. However, I'm going to burst some 
bubbles. Pit is wildly overrated. He's definitely a good character, but he's 
not really one of the best. Pit is surprisingly slow, and that means his game 
largely degenerates into arrow spamming. He's still potent, and there's still a 
lot to learn, but don't see his list of strengths at a glance and assume too 
much of him.

Pit's better moves for the most part are actually on the ground; he has some 
good stuff here. His forward smash comes out and goes away quickly, but the 
hitting part of it sticks around for a long time in front of Pit which makes it 
a wonderful move to use if the opponent has broken through your wall of arrows. 
The best part is that it knocks them away in just such a way that you could 
resume shooting arrows! His up smash is like a faster version of Link's and is 
a solid option to nail opponents coming down on him, and his down smash is 
mostly just a punishment for those who like to roll around him which is pretty 
common if they've started using rolling to get past arrow spam. His forward 
tilt is really horrible; don't use it. His down tilt is a really good move to 
knock opponents in the air which is not something you typically want to do, but 
if you find it something you suddenly need to do, remember the move. His up 
tilt is a double flip kick that is used in pretty much the same circumstances 
as the up smash but only when you need a bit of a faster move. It won't see 
much play, but it's not a bad move. Pit's jab combo is also good for knocking 
opponents away, but his running attack is poor and should be avoided.

Pit's aerials are shockingly disappointing. His best one is probably his down 
aerial which is a wide slash beneath him. The move is fairly slow, but it hits 
a wide area. Pit's forward and back aerials are quick, and his back aerial has 
decent power, but they both have pretty horrible range so they are of limited 
use. Pit's neutral aerial is extremely weak, but it hits all around him so it's 
a good move to throw out when you need to get them away from you. His up aerial 
has some power and damage racking potential, but it's very slow and hits over 
an awkward area so it won't see a lot of use. Also, Pit may have multiple 
jumps, but his aerial mobility is surprisingly poor. He really can't chase 
opponents in the air nearly as well as one would think.

Pit's grab game is fairly poor, but if he does get them grabbed, he'll mostly 
just be using it to throw them forward or backward so he can continue with the 
arrows. If they are at a very high percentage, his up throw will be the first 
throw to kill. Pit's up smash hits to his sides so up smash out of shield is 
also a viable option for him.

Pit has some interesting and very useful special moves that Pit players should 
learn well. Let's start with the most important one in his arrow. Pit can press 
B to shoot an arrow in a straight line. If he presses up or down while it is in 
flight, he can arc it. He can vary this quite a bit so he can really hit over a 
much bigger area than it would at first seem. If he holds B instead of just 
tapping, he can charge the arrows to do more damage, and he can aim the bow up 
or behind him. When he fires up, he obviously hits left or right to arc it 
instead of up or down. Pit can fire arrows in rapid succession so he can really 
use them to shut people down. I'm not going to beat around the bush; the best 
way to play Pit is to stay away from them and rain arrows. A few characters 
have easy ways to reflect or absorb them, but those few aside, Pit can just 
abuse arrows all day. If they jump in at you to interrupt the arrows, just use 
a smash to knock them away and continue. Eventually the smash will just kill. 
Pit also uses these while recovering as he can fire one after each jump without 
really losing recovery ability, and it makes attacking him while recovering 
much more difficult.

Pit's Wings of Icarus are his recovery move, and they literally let him fly. 
After bringing them out, simply direct Pit with the control stick to fly 
wherever you want. These last for a super long time; Pit can use them to fly 
underneath a lot of stages. Stalling by constantly flying under the stage will 
be banned in any reasonable rule set, but Pit can still exploit this to recover 
to the opposite ledge to get past an opponent or other such nonsense. For the 
record, yes, you can fly under Final Destination. Pit can interrupt this by 
attacking, but watch out as if Pit for whatever reason terminates using this 
move, he cannot use it again until he touches the ground. That includes being 
hit; make sure using this is the last thing you do before hitting the ground or 
the ledge. Pit's forward special is a spinning blade attack that is nearly 
useless, but it does reflect projectiles at least. The main use for it is to 
use it while on ice to slide forward very quickly while having a constant whirl 
of death before you. Pit's last special is his Mirror Shield which is actually 
very useful to him. It's an unbreakable shield in one direction that he can 
keep out as long as he wants, and in practice, it works similarly to Mario's 
Cape. If they attack it, they will just be pushed back, but moves such as Fox 
and Falco's Illusion or Meta Knight's Drill Rush will be reflected causing them 
to fly in the opposite direction. This also reflects projectiles so Pit is sure 
to always have an answer to obnoxious projectile spammers other than himself. A 
lot of Pit players neglect this move, and it's a huge mistake as it's a very 
valuable part of Pit's arsenal that he needs to integrate into his game for 
maximum effectiveness.

Pit cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he can glide and has three 
midair jumps. Pit's roll and spot dodge are both decently quick and will be of 
good use to him.

Pit's matches pretty much go by how well he can spam arrows. Ness, Lucas, Fox, 
Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch instantly say no to his arrows so they will be big 
problems. Characters like Jigglypuff and Meta Knight who can easily float over 
the spam and then outperform Pit up close will be hard matches, and Snake will 
be a very hard match as he can not only do far more damage than Pit with the 
stuff he's tossing out, but Snake can easily duck and crawl under Pit's arrows. 
Pit should expect to do very well against all the big and heavy characters, 
especially Ganondorf with his poor mobility.

Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers are not a very popular character, but given how exceedingly 
good they are, they sure should be. Having two characters at once is a huge 
advantage, and the fact that they are both very strong with disjointed hit 
boxes from many attacks thanks to the hammers only helps. Due to the 
difficulties of using two characters in unison, the Ice Climbers are the 
hardest character to master, but the rewards are well worth it. I must caution 
that, more than with most characters, I will only be scratching the surface of 
the Ice Climbers here. They are too deep of a character for me to do adequate 
justice, and either way, I'm not an especially skilled user of them.

The Ice Climbers more than any other character really like to keep their feet 
on the ground, and this is largely due to their great ground based attacks. All 
three of their smashes are quick and powerful, especially if they both hit. 
Their up smash hits both in front of them and above them, and it is effective 
at scoring kills off the top. Their forward smash delivers good knock back to 
anyone in its way in front of them, and it has solid speed and range. Their 
real pride is their amazing down smash. It's very fast, deals loads of damage, 
and has great knock back. It even sweeps all around them to not only punish 
roll abusers but generally anyone near them. They can seriously use this move 
over and over again as it does everything a smash should ever be expected to 
do. Their jab combo, forward tilt, and down tilt are all slightly different 
ways of simply knocking the opponent away weakly, and each can be used in the 
subtly different circumstances that would call for them. The up tilt is a 
hammer spin that does great damage; mix it and the up smash up to deal with 
enemies from above. Their running attack pops enemies up into the air, and it's 
their quickest way to do that.

In the air, they have four decent options and one horrible option. Their back 
aerial is really quit and does a lot of damage if both climbers hit; use it 
frequently. Their up aerial is somewhat powerful and quick; it's a good way to 
kill very weakened foes off the top. The forward aerial is slow, but unlike 
most slow forward aerials, the speed makes up for it. Additionally, this move 
has the odd quirk that Popo's hits horizontally while Nana's hits straight 
down. The neutral aerial is a standard weak knock the foe away attack that's 
good for some breathing move, and the down aerial is a standard down plunging 
move that's really horrible and really shouldn't be used.

Grabs are definitely what define higher level Ice Climbers play. I'll start 
easy and get more complicated. The simplest thing to try with the Ice Climbers 
is to abuse Nana's ability to attack independently out of a grab. Try tapping 
different directions on the c-stick while the opponent is grabbed (don't hold 
Z). Popo will do his grab attack, and Nana will hit them with smashes! Next try 
hitting down and B. Popo will do a down throw while Nana hits them with 
Blizzard if you do it right, and this is a very nice way to rack up some 
damage. The extra bit of delay from Blizzard also makes it easier for the Ice 
Climbers to follow up with other attacks. With subtle motions, you can easily 
make Nana do a Hammer Squall or forward tilt to a grabbed opponent, but notice 
that the second attack Nana hits with always launches the opponent. This is to 
prevent the infinites from Super Smash Brothers Melee from existing again, but 
you can exploit this to have Nana hit with a forward tilt and then a forward 
smash. You can also press X or Y to jump with Nana while you have an opponent 
grabbed; this is handy to do a powerful down throw to forward aerial combo. The 
Ice Climbers can chain grab with their down throw, and in fact Popo alone can 
do it. Just do a down throw and then do a running grab forward. You should be 
able to get another grab. This only works at lower percentages, and some 
characters break out sooner than others. It's still a great trick you should 
learn. The last trick I have to share is the forward throw infinite. I cannot 
do this consistently, but the general premise is to do a forward throw and then 
as Popo is throwing input a dash grab. If you do it just right, Nana will run 
up and grab the opponent. You can repeat this alternating between Popo and Nana 
for an infinite combo. It may seem like this was a huge section on grabs, but 
this is really only the surface. If you're serious about the Ice Climbers, you 
will find that what I've written here is a minimal introduction to their grab 
game.

The Ice Climbers have some really handy specials as well. Their Ice Block is a 
rather handy projectile that accelerates logically based on the slant of the 
ground it is on. They can use this to harass foes at a distance, and if they 
can desynchronize, they can fire these in an alternating pattern that makes 
them very difficult to deal with. Their Hammer Squall is useful for recovery 
and grab combos, but otherwise it shouldn't be used much. Do note that mashing 
B very quickly while recovering with it improves the air you can get. Belay is 
their other recovery move, and it's pretty handy. They jump up connected by a 
rope, and if Nana grabs the ledge, she will pull Popo to it. A lone Ice Climber 
can still get a little air from using this move so it's still worth trying 
right below the edge even without Nana. Their Blizzard is a handy damage 
racking move. It hits on both sides if used on the ground, but if used in the 
air, both Ice Climbers shoot forward. That being said, the best use is to do a 
short hop before using Blizzard. It is also very useful in grab combos, but 
then again, everything is.

The Ice Climbers cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and they have only one 
midair jump. Their roll and spot dodge are very average as well. They only 
count as dead if Popo dies, but Nana has her own invisible damage counter. 
Nana's shield also depletes separately, and I believe but am not sure that they 
have independent stale move negation. They can be desynchronized, but both 
still accept inputs which can have different impacts on them. The two easiest 
ways to do this are to either get a grab which leaves the other one free to do 
whatever or to hit a shield button and a direction simultaneously. For some odd 
reason, Nana will roll the wrong direction which puts them out of synch. The 
Ice Climbers are able to share a ledge which is very handy, but either climber 
occupying the ledge will prevent any enemy from grabbing it. Lastly, the Ice 
Climbers ignore the slippery effect of icy surfaces. They don't slide on them, 
and they don't trip more often on them.

The Ice Climbers tend to do well against most characters, but their greatest 
fear are light characters who can make safe attacks on them from the air. Light 
characters break out of grab combos easier, and the Ice Climbers are less 
powerful in an aerial contest so that's no good. Mr. Game & Watch and Meta 
Knight are two characters that come quickly to mind, but even someone like 
Jigglypuff or Kirby could do somewhat well against the Ice Climbers. Bowser and 
Donkey Kong in particular can expect a very hard match as their combination of 
size, weight, and falling speed makes them the easiest characters for anyone to 
do grab combos against. Being that the Ice Climbers are grabbing experts, 
that's no good for them.

R.O.B.

How to unlock:

-Play 160 brawls.
-Have R.O.B. join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Collect 250 different trophies.

R.O.B. is a character that seems to have few fans; being an obscure NES 
accessory probably isn't helping him. However, being unpopular does not make 
him bad. R.O.B.'s ability to fly even better than Pit, solid projectile game, 
array of surprisingly quick and powerful attacks, and unique momentum based 
attacks make him a solid contender. He has in some respects inherited the 
spirit of Peach from Super Smash Brothers Melee, but that comparison breaks 
down if analyzed too deeply.

On the ground, R.O.B.'s game mostly revolves around his down smash. This is a 
very fast and very powerful move with almost no delay after it finishes so 
R.O.B. can just throw out another one. R.O.B. should be using his down smash at 
every opportunity as it really is his best choice in most grounded 
circumstances. It's especially effective against rolling opponents or right 
after R.O.B. lands from an aerial, but don't hesitate to use it in a variety of 
situations. His forward smash is also a solid choice, and it has more killing 
power than his down smash. It's slow enough that he has to show some degree of 
caution using it, but it's a solid move to throw out as a finisher thanks to 
its incredible range. His up smash is probably his single best killing move, 
but he should use it seldom as the hit area on it is very small. If you can get 
a clean hit, it's a pretty likely star KO, but recognize that isn't terribly 
likely. R.O.B.'s up tilt is a great move to pop enemies up in the air, and his 
forward tilt and trip inclined down tilt are both great ways to knock enemies 
away. All three tilts are very quick so R.O.B. shouldn't hesitate to throw them 
out. His tilts largely obsolete his jab combo, but it's not bad, and he has a 
good enough running attack that he should mix it in.

In the air, the general rule with R.O.B. is to mostly try to attack with his 
arms. His forward aerial is not a move that will get many kills unless he can 
string several of them together, but it's very fast and safe. It should be 
R.O.B.'s main option for approaching opponents. His up aerial is a wonderful 
damage racking move that's also very safe, and it gives R.O.B. great incentive 
to try to put enemies up in the air. R.O.B.'s other three aerials utilize his 
jets which makes them pretty interesting but difficult to use. His neutral 
aerial is quite hard to hit with due to the slow way R.O.B. spins, but it is 
actually quite powerful so it is R.O.B.'s main way to look for KOs in the air. 
The back aerial is a jet burst that pushes R.O.B. forward which requires a lot 
of practice to be able to integrate. The momentum shenanigan makes R.O.B. very 
hard to punish after this move, but it also makes it easy to dodge. The plus 
side is that the hit area on this move is deceptive; it covers R.O.B.'s whole 
body. Try to mix it in against opponents you have under pressure; used well it 
can make their situation far worse. His down aerial is a jet burst that knocks 
him upward, and it's a great spike. This move should can be used while falling 
to make R.O.B.'s decent unpredictable, and over pits it's a great way to get 
easy kills. Those are about the only two contexts in which it is useful; 
refrain from using it otherwise.

R.O.B. has a very speedy grab with a solid array of throws. His up and down 
throws both pop opponents up nicely, and both his forward and back throws have 
quite a bit of power. His forward and back throws also have very quick 
animations so they can be effective to keep enemies off base; they will be 
flying before they realize they were even grabbed. Use whichever one fits the 
specific need.

R.O.B. has two good projectiles, the ability to fly, and a totally useless move 
as the sum of his specials. Arm Rotor is the useless one; never use it. 
Seriously, this move has absolutely no redeeming qualities and only leaves 
R.O.B. open; it's a candidate for least useful attack in the game. His laser 
and gyro are his two main projectile options, and he mixes both up to apply 
great pressure. His laser is constantly charging, and the current degree of 
charge is indicated by the LED on R.O.B.'s head. In general this move should be 
fired at full charge when the enemy is off guard to score a quick amount of 
solid damage after which R.O.B. can charge in, but don't hesitate to use a 
weaker version at need. However, since his laser has charging issues, his main 
weapon is his gyro. He can press down + B to begin charging and again to fire 
prematurely. If he has a full charge, he'll blink and can fire by pressing down 
+ B just once. Once fired, the gyro flies along a low arc until it skids to a 
halt on the ground. It then spins on the ground hurting everyone except R.O.B. 
who comes in contact with it. Anyone can grab it and toss it around as well; 
R.O.B.'s ability to run up to it without getting hurt makes that easier for 
him. It flies farther if it is more charged, does more damage, and also lasts 
longer on the ground. The uses for this move are nearly infinite. R.O.B. should 
be charging his gyro if he has free time during which he would do nothing else, 
and he can fire it safely as most grounded opponents. If they shield, the gyro 
just disappears which is no loss. If it hits, it knocks them off base and lands 
on the ground to control valuable space. He can fire this from the air for 
great surprise attacks, and the threat of him doing this really multiplies the 
amount of space he can control at any time. It's a great anti-recovery move 
even as it falls along a nice path that can be an unstoppable wall that 
prevents an opponent's ascent. The only downside is that only one gyro can be 
on the screen at once; be sure if one is out that you are somehow using its 
presence to your advantage. If it is not being helpful, just toss it off screen 
to destroy it.

R.O.B.'s recovery option comes in the form of his incredible jet engines. By 
pressing up + B, R.O.B. can literally fly around. He will be firing the jet if 
he holds up or B, and otherwise after using this move he will be in a "ready to 
fly" state that limits his options. He can attack right out of it with any 
aerial, but he cannot air dodge or use special moves. After attacking, he 
leaves the flying state. He can use this move infinitely in the air, but he has 
a fixed time for which his jets can be firing. Once it is exhausted, he must 
stand on the ground to recharge it over time. The recharge time is actually 
very quick, but be careful as clinging to a ledge does not count. He not only 
can use this move to make pretty much any recovery he wants, but he can chase 
opponents way over ledges with confidence that he'll make it back. He can also 
jet to reach opponents super high in the air to follow up with up aerials for 
star KOs. If he finds himself needing to cancel his flight mode to air dodge or 
fire a projectile, his quickest option is to use his forward aerial due to the 
very fast animation though his down aerial's ability to stall him in the air 
makes it sometimes a better choice.

R.O.B. cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair jump. 
He has a fast roll with tons of invincibility frames that may be the best roll 
in the game so he should abuse it heavily, but his spot dodge is a bit slow. 
R.O.B. also has a very rigid body that doesn't change size much when he 
crouches or performs attacks so watch out for that.

R.O.B.'s combination of keep away tactics, a clear out down smash, and unique 
aerial options give him odd matches. He tends to struggle against very fast 
characters who can dance around his game and harass him; Sonic is an unusually 
hard match for R.O.B.. However, his supreme over the edge abilities make him 
very dangerous to characters such as Ike, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Ganondorf, 
and Ivysaur who have few options to alter their trajectories in the air. 
R.O.B.'s great down smash and projectile game also mean that characters who 
have a lot of difficulty approaching from the air will have some trouble with 
him; this mostly applies to the Ice Climbers.

Kirby

Kirby used to be a fan favorite back in the days of the first Super Smash 
Brothers, but ever since his atrocious showing in the sequel Super Smash 
Brothers Melee, Kirby has been a character few are willing to use. In this 
game, Kirby is a somewhat decent character, but he lives in the shadow of his 
fellow Dreamland denizen Meta Knight. Kirby actually has some decent priority 
on his attacks, and he has generally more power than Meta Knight. In some ways 
Kirby manages to be a middle ground between Meta Knight's hyper fast version of 
floaty and Jigglypuff's slow but strong version so pick Kirby if you want a 
floaty character but the others just aren't working for you.

Kirby's ground game is mostly a source of KOs and lead ins to aerials as you 
would expect from a floaty character. His up tilt, down smash, and up smash all 
knock opponents into the air, and all three have somewhat different uses. His 
up tilt is an extremely fast close range move that Kirby should go for if he 
wants to try to lead into something else. His up smash is a slower and more 
powerful and widely ranged option that is also an occasional source of star 
KOs. His down smash is fairly unreliable for popping them into the air since it 
only does that near the base of Kirby's feet whereas the tips send them 
horizontally, but the move is quick and sweeps around Kirby so it can both 
punish those who roll too much and generally sweep out if Kirby does not know 
where they will be. Kirby also has an excellent forward smash that is quick and 
powerful; it will be one of his main KO moves. His down and forward tilts are 
mostly just safety moves with his down tilt having the added bonus of being the 
natural move from his very safe crouching position; use them as such. Kirby's 
jab combo is rather bad unless he can pin an enemy against a wall, but his 
running attack can be a decent damage dealer and will tend to poke through 
weakened shields.

Kirby's aerials give him a wide array of good options in all directions, but 
his best is probably his simple back aerial. It's just a quick kick to his rear 
that he can frequently hit with and then chase to apply pressure. His forward 
aerial is also good and racks up damage quickly, but it's slow enough so that 
it should mostly be used when you know it's the last hit you are going to get 
before letting them away. His up aerial is a quick flip that knocks the enemy 
right back up. Kirby can also chase with this move, and it keeps the enemy in 
the air where Kirby wants them. Kirby's down aerial is a solid air to ground 
attack as it racks up damage nicely if all the hits connect, but it also has a 
spike at the end so Kirby can use it over the ledge for great profit. 
Unfortunately, Kirby's neutral aerial is just too weak and slow to be worth it; 
only mix it in when you absolutely need to get them away in the air.

Kirby's grab game is mostly about down throws against low percent foes and up 
throws against more injured ones. The down throw pops the enemy up fairly near 
Kirby so Kirby can keep up the pressure, and the up throw does the same with a 
bit more height and the added bonus of ending with Kirby actually in the air. 
Kirby's up smash out of a shield is also handy so be sure to use it once in a 
while.

Kirby has an array of interesting but mostly bad specials. His Hammer is quite 
strong but also very slow; only use it once in a while to keep opponents 
guessing. It's somewhat safer in the air and gives Kirby KO power in the air 
where he otherwise would have lacked it and cancels somewhat quickly when 
hitting the ground, but it's still a very slow move. Kirby can exploit a glitch 
with this move actually; if the move ends in the air right above the ground, 
Kirby will regain all of his midair jumps. It's seldom useful, but if Kirby 
masters the timing, he could theoretically never actually touch the ground. 
However, if Kirby wants to hit the ground very quickly, the Rock is a good 
option. Actually, descending quickly to outrace an opponent is about all the 
Rock is good for, and it should usually be canceled before actually hitting the 
ground as the move is pretty much begging to be grabbed.

Kirby's Final Cutter is handy for recovery if you somehow need help there, and 
it can be a generally good surprise move once in a great while. The shockwave 
it sends out is a projectile that is sometimes useful, but it's more of a 
novelty than a serious combat weapon. Kirby's Inhale is certainly very cool, 
but don't overlook the move's use when not eating foes. Once a foe is in 
Kirby's mouth, he can press down or B to eat the foe while pressing A or Z will 
spit the foe out. If the foe is someone like Peach who has a very bad power, 
spitting for some damage is usually better. Kirby can also walk around with 
them in his mouth and jump from the ground, and this is the source of his great 
suicide game. Kirby uses Inhale either over or very close to a pit and falls 
into the abyss with them. Kirby can even sometimes spit opponents out very low 
and toward the stage from which they cannot recover, but Kirby can. However, in 
terms of stealing powers, Kirby just has to look at what's useful. Taking the 
great projectiles from the Star Fox characters, Pit, or Snake will certainly be 
a great choice, and the powers he gets from Mario, Donkey Kong, Ice Climbers, 
Samus, R.O.B., Ivysaur, Lucario, and Ike can be handy from time to time. 
Otherwise, stealing powers is probably not worth the effort, but you might want 
to note anyway that Kirby has somewhat different properties on several moves. 
Don't worry though; he can still do reverse Falcon Punch! Also, if you have a 
change of heart about a power, Kirby can taunt to drop them. Kirby's down taunt 
is the quickest choice by a large margin.

Kirby cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has five midair jumps. 
Kirby has a nice, quick roll but a somewhat slow spot dodge. Kirby's crouch is 
also super low so he can use it to duck under a lot of attacks.

Kirby does well where floatiest usually do well and poorly where they usually 
do poorly. He can float above the problems that projectile spammers bring, but 
powerful opponents such as Ike or Bowser could be an issue. Kirby's poor range 
could make Marth a concern as well, and his general trouble scoring kills in 
the air will make Jigglypuff a hard match.

Meta Knight

Everyone loves Meta Knight, and it's not just because he looks cool. Meta 
Knight's attack speed is unparalleled, and his floatiness lets him pressure 
foes in a way that most other characters can only dream of. He does have 
serious issues with securing kills, but all in all, he's still a very dangerous 
character who can hold his own against the best.

On the ground, Meta Knight will either be looking for kills or looking to send 
the opponent into the air. His forward tilt is actually a three move combo that 
pops enemies up, but his main tool will be his up tilt which is very quick move 
that sends the target straight up. His down tilt isn't useful knock back wise, 
but it's so ridiculously fast that he can use it to poke under shields very 
safely. All three of his smashes have killing potential and are quick enough to 
be relatively safe, but they slow down Meta Knight's pressure game so he should 
only use them for finishers. Obviously his up smash goes for off the top kills 
which his forward smash aims for the side. His down smash is a kill move mostly 
for foes to the back and that are rolling; the back swing seems generally more 
powerful. His jab combo is fun, but it shouldn't be used in a serious match, 
and his running attack is mediocre.

In the air, the general plan is to just do an aerial in whatever direction the 
enemy is. All of them are quick damage dealers with little KO power so they're 
pretty interchangeable. The forward and back aerials are multi-hit attacks that 
should be used when the enemy is already in trouble more than the up and down 
aerials which are single hits that cover a wide area. For approaching the down 
aerial is a generally solid option due to the wide hit and the general ease 
with which Meta Knight can maneuver to the high ground. The neutral aerial, 
however, is simply bad. Don't use it often.

Meta Knight doesn't get a lot out of his grab game, but his best seems to be 
his forward throw. This pops them into a perfect position to chase with a 
forward aerial. His down throw can somewhat accomplish the same thing as well, 
and his back throw scales up to be somewhat powerful against high percent foes 
so remember them. His Shuttle Loop out of shield is a big thing he can do; 
expect to get many kills this way.

Meta Knight's specials all have utility in recovery, but most are pretty 
limited otherwise. The Tornado is a surprisingly hard move to punish, but the 
damage is weak on it so Meta Knight shouldn't use it much for his pressure 
game. Drill Rush can rack up damage very nicely with a clean hit, but it often 
leaves Meta Knight vulnerable so use it sparingly. His Dimension Cape lets him 
do a short range teleport to get out of trouble, and he can hold B to do a weak 
attack right afterward. It's another one of those moves that you should use 
sparingly, but it's a great move to keep in mind for a tight spot. His main 
special is his Shuttle Loop. This move does a slicing loop and then puts Meta 
Knight into a glide which robs him of all of his jumps once complete. The 
initial swing from it is very powerful; it's Meta Knight's main kill move. Use 
it and abuse it, especially out of a shield which allows Meta Knight to score 
kills when he seems to be at a disadvantage.

Meta Knight cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has five midair 
jumps and can glide. His roll and spot dodge are very typical ones that he can 
use like most characters would.

Meta Knight's aggressive swordsmanship and floatiness put together make him the 
worst nightmare of characters like Pit and Snake that like to keep enemies at 
bay. Speed characters such as the Star Fox characters will also likely find 
Meta Knight difficult as his attack speed is every bit as good as their and he 
has a sort of aerial movement they can only envy. Of course, powerhouses like 
Ness and Donkey Kong will relish Meta Knight's relative difficulty scoring 
kills, and characters like Ike, Marth, and Mr. Game & Watch will give him a run 
for his money by outranging and out prioritizing him.

King Dedede

King Dedede is a very silly character. He's not only silly in the sense that 
he's a floating self proclaimed penguin king with a giant hammer either. King 
Dedede is big, heavy, and slow, but he has multiple jumps and a generally great 
recovery along with a solid projectile. That's a very non-traditional 
combination, and it is pretty effective. I would hardly put King Dedede as a 
top class character, but he's solid and very useable.

King Dedede has quick, useful tilts and very powerful smashes that form the 
core of his ground game. His down tilt is very quick so even if the knock back 
is bad, he can use it as a nice safety move. His forward tilt, on the other 
hand, just has huge range for its speed. He can use it to harass foes from 
safety, and due to the range he can easily form a combo with it out of his down 
throw. His up tilt pops foes up nicely with solid damage scaling that actually 
lets it kill at very high percentages. His up smash is another great source of 
star KOs, and for the speed, it's generally a great move. His forward smash is 
actually very slow, but it does massive damage. King Dedede should use it 
seldom, but when he finds an opening, it's the perfect move to punish an unwary 
opponent. His down smash also sends opponents upward which lets him lead into 
aerials, and it clears out pesky rolling foes as an added bonus. King Dedede 
also has a quick and damaging jab combo, but don't use his slow running attack 
even if you really love the Kirby nostalgia.

In the air, King Dedede's main claim to fame is his amazing back aerial. It's 
quick with good enough knock back to eventually kill but not enough so that he 
couldn't chain them together. King Dedede's multiple jumps also move him fairly 
little in the air so he can use them with the back aerial in rapid succession 
to lead opponents across stages; it's wonderful. His forward aerial is somewhat 
outclassed because of this, but it's still useful due to the large hit area and 
the way it scales up to pretty high power as the opponent takes damage. 
Dedede's up and down aerials have no real killing power, but both are great at 
racking up damage so they should be used against lower percent foes. His 
neutral aerial is just a typical "knock them away" move so use it as such.

King Dedede's grab game revolves almost entirely around his chain grabbing down 
throw though it should be noted that his back throw has some KO potential. In 
general, King Dedede should do a down throw and then do a running grab to 
regrab his opponent. This isn't really forced very often, but it's a pretty 
powerful tactic anyway. Do note that it won't work at all against lighter 
characters such as Mr. Game & Watch and Jigglypuff. Against Donkey Kong, Mario, 
Luigi, and Samus, he can quickly regrab them before they complete bouncing 
away, but he must use his grab attack to slow the stale move negation if he 
wants to continue indefinitely. Bowser can almost be caught in an infinite 
combo the same way, but King Dedede must move forward slightly if he wants to 
do that.

King Dedede really only has one good special so let's cover the others first. 
His Inhale is pretty much the same thing as Kirby's except it's slower, 
stronger, and can't take powers. Of course, since it can't steal powers, 
pressing down does nothing and either A or B eject the foe. Read Kirby's 
section for more in depth about this move, but it's generally not that great. 
His Jet Hammer seems cool and does big damage, but it's just too slow to be 
practical. If his opponent has a broken shield, he can use it by charging to 
the point where he starts taking damage by holding the charge too long as a 
great KO move, but it's really not even better there than King Dedede's forward 
smash. His Super Dedede Jump is pretty interesting; he can direct which way he 
moves as he begins his ascent and then follows a set path until he crashes into 
the ground, creating stars like Yoshi does with his ground pound. King Dedede 
cannot grab a ledge during this either, but he can cancel the move by hitting 
down on either the control stick or the c-stick which lets him directionally 
influence and grab ledges. If he cancels too low to the ground, he'll suffer a 
funny but highly disadvantageous animation as he struggles to get up.

Waddle Dee Toss is really King Dedede's main and best special attack. He 
randomly throws Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, and Gordos with a ratio of 35:10:4 
respectively. Waddle Dees are a quick projectile that can be used to harass 
opponents well; they're like a better version of Peach's turnips as they can't 
be caught even if they are attackable. Waddle Doos are pretty much the same as 
Waddle Dees, but when they wander on the ground, they occasionally shoot 
lasers. Gordos simply fly off the screen after being thrown, but they do much 
better damage and knock back than the other two. King Dedede can only have two 
minions on the screen at once, and they can be eaten by his or Kirby's Inhale 
or Wario's Bite. He can rethrow ones on the ground even if they once belonged 
to an enemy as well. Generally, they are just a wonderful space controlling 
projectile; use them as such.

King Dedede cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has four midair 
jumps. His roll is quick and useful, but his spot dodge is simply average.

King Dedede largely does well against other heavy characters due to his ability 
to more easily grab combo and projectile spam them as well as survive to high 
percentages with his great weight and recovery. On the other end of the 
spectrum, characters with serious priority problems like Sonic may find Dedede 
a bit tough to handle. However, most very quick characters and characters with 
great aerial control such as Wario will be able to outmaneuver King Dedede and 
generally make the game hard for him.

Olimar

Olimar is a very misunderstood character. Notably, he's far less unusual and 
hard to master than everyone thinks. His big claim to fame is that he u