Observing my Smash Bros mains and Secondaries.

[ShadeStrider]

So, when Ultimate drops, I'm jumping straight into the competitive scene, and I've actually already decided who I'm going to use. While I do believe all characters should be given the ability to stand up to a decent amount of characters, I am not abandoning any of these characters due to a tier list. That being said, Competitive is probably my focus during this era of Smash Bros. So, here are my thoughts on my 3 mains and 3 secondaries.

 

MAINS

 

Mewtwo

 

Ah, Mewtwo. Mewtwo, who was initially a terrible character in Smash 4, before teleporting across the tier list. He remains one of the hardest top tiers to use, but buffing his speed and weight really did wonders for him. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with his Airdodge: as many of you know, Mewtwo's airdodge in Smash 4 was considered to be the best in the game. But now that Airdodge has been changed, I don't know how he would fair. Confusion can't be used for recovery anymore, but other than that, It's still a decent reflector. I didn't use him in Smash 4, but his playstyle intrigues me, and I think I'll use him in Ultimate.

 

Cloud Strife

 

The protagonist of my favorite JRPG of all time. Cloud players were hated in Smash 4 because Cloud was so annoying to play against (even though nobody hates Mew2King, probably because he's such a recognized player). Luckily, they seem to have nerfed him. His range has been nerfed, Limit only stays for 15 seconds after being fully charged. His up and Side Smash attacks have more endlag, though Cross Slash still doesn't... Ha. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. In addition, they nerfed Finishing Touch's hitboxes, but they also made it faster. He's still gonna be a top tier: His Aerials are still as fast as ever, though his D-Air autocancels later, and his N-air has less range and a different animation. I wasn't a Cloud Main in Smash 4 (Mainly because of his bad press), but I'm gonna have a lot of fun Meteor smashing people with his RIP Zack F-air.

 

Solid Snake

 

This guy was one of my mains in Brawl, along with Marth and Falco. That's right, I used the entire A- tier. What do you mean I can't DACUS anymore? I know people might not like his new Down Smash, but I'm fine with having a more consistent kill option. All the same, that DACUS was my favorite tool, and I'm sad to see it removed. However, his C4 now sticks more reliably, making it good for getting a quick KO when your first attack doesn't cut it. I've used this C4 more times in Smash Bros than I have in either Metal Gear Solid, or Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. I actually think that Snake might just be the best Heavyweight in Smash history. I can't wait to see him beat the crap out of Shulk, because "A Strong Man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own." (I really need to get around to playing the original Xenoblade Chronicles.)

 

 

And now, for the 

SECONDARIES

 

Roy

 

I mained Marth in Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4. This time, I'm going with Roy. Remember how awful he was in Melee? He was overall buffed from both Melee and Smash 4. They gave him better aerials, the new mechanics allow him to play more aggressively, he can now short hop auto cancel his F-air. He can probably juggle with Up Air. He's overall buffed, meaning that they gave him more ways to access his options. That Dancing blade buff also applies to Marth and Lucina, but I think I'll stick with Roy.

 

 

Falco

 

Mained him in every game since Melee. But this time, he's in as a secondary. In Smash 4, his D-air was his weakest Aerial.

His D-air was his weakest Aerial.

His D-air was his weakest Aerial.

His D-air was his weakest Aerial.

His D-air was his weakest Aerial.

His D-air was his weakest Aerial!

 

... But they made it faster. That's something, right? D-air is one of Falco's most Iconic tools: Any Falco player in Melee or Brawl worth their salt knew that this was one of Falco's most important tools. This was not the case in Smash 4. And they had the gall to reduce D-Air's knockback even further. They still haven't given his Short-hop autocancel lasers back, have they? He's overall better, but I don't know if he's gonna make it into the higher tiers.

 

Greninja

 

I picked up this ninja frog to fill the Solid Snake shaped hole in my heart. I used him alongside Marth and Falco. They buffed his down tilt, which.... I think was kinda unnecessary. They should have focused more on his other moves. Shadow Sneak has been nerfed: Those red eyes make it easier to predict. But, on the other hand, Substitute is now a usable counter. I really wish that they would have rather gave F-air more hitstun, so that Greninja could chain F-airs together. But he's already quite like Sheik, I don't think we need more similarities.

 

And that about does it. See you in the competitive Meta. Remember to pray to Shulk 5 times a day and accept His frame data into your hearts. SABDJCUS.

[Godot]

1. Mewtwo is looking about the same in power levels,  if you wanna see a great Mewtwo in action observe SDX and Abadango in action.  Here is some match footage.  Most of what Mewtwo can do in Smash 4 seems to be kept in tact in ultimate.

 

 

 

2. Regarding Cloud, Tweek, who was considered #2 used Cloud.  Cloud is still going to be good, but also remember that he loses limit if he gets hit while charging it.  Other then that he is mostly kept in tact.

 

3.  Snake will probably feel less like a heavyweight in Ultimate.  He was as op as he was in Brawl because he was originally going to be based on Ganondorf's model, and they changed their mind part ways through development.   They changed him to be Ike sized and didn't adjust his weight, power, or hitboxes.  That is why he has a telekinetic up tilt.

 

4.  Roy is mostly looking buffed due to less landing lag, but will suffer from "Marthcina is technically the better choice" syndrome.

 

5.  Falco having auto cancels back with Down Air, Bair, and lasers having less landing lag is huge, but he lost a ton of power in the process.

 

6. You don't want to think of Greninja being too much like shiek.  They actually are quite different.  Shiek is more rushdown focused and Greninja is more defensive.  Just remember to play it defensive with him and you'll do fine.

[Shanco]

Roy is actually quite different from Marth so I personally wouldn't compare them. Roy wants to use his low fast jump arc along with the new mobility mechanics to get up in the opponent's face and throw out safe moves and plus frames to open them up. He's comparable to someone like Kim from KoF.

 

However, while I'm here, here's who I'm planning on playing in SSBU.

 

MAINS
Ken
I've played Smash for a long time, but I've played SF for longer, maining Ken in most games except 3rd Strike. Ken's gonna be my go to due to his fundamental similarities to his past games, so in a way, it'll be like riding a bike. Also his shoryuken has fire and Ryu's does not.

Ganondorf
This is the character I'm most known for playing in SSB4, both on Reborn and in my local scene. I competed with Ganondorf for the first time in Project M, and after playing the SSBU demo, I noticed this Ganon and that Ganon have a lot of parallels. This is who I'll use to back up my Ken for certain matchups (namely Marth) and when my other characters aren't exactly up to snuff.

Richter
For when I need some dank defense/zoning, Richter's my man. I can't say I'm too familiar with Castlevania, having only played SotN and PoR. However he's still a lot of what I want in a defensive character: setplay, hard whiff punishes, and to always be threatening from range. His high priority on tilts is kinda bollocks, too.

SECONDARIES
Daisy
Daisy was actually going to be my main in SSBU before Ken was confirmed. That said, Daisy is on the roster solely out of inexplicable character devotion carrying over from Mario Kart. I'm a little familiar with Peach's stuff like float cancels, but I don't see me putting enough time into Daisy in this game to warrant maining her here.

Chrom
I put a lot of time into Roy in SSB4. Chrom is more or less Roy with none of the sourspot disappointment that came with maining him. Trash recovery aside (it's actually still better than Cloud's / Mac's, limit notwithstanding), he has the blend of Lucina's footsies with Roy's momentum-driven dominance in advantage.

Captain Falcon
Got a secondary Falcon in every Smash game. I might as well do the same here, although he's unlikely to cover any of Ken's / Ganon's theoretical worst MUs.

Wolf
Wolf is cool. He's a spacey with a scrappy edge to him that makes him more enjoyable against longer-range opponents. His past iterations have given him a really well-rounded, fundamental playstyle with a flashy twist.

Marth
Iunno, Marth seems really good in this game. I'll certainly keep him and/or Lucina in the back pocket.