Ice Climbers (SSBU)/Forward aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Popo's forward aerial.

Hitbox visualization showing Nana's forward aerial.

This article or section may require competitive expertise. You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Overview

Each of the duo rolls forward and slams their mallet down overhead. It appears to be another case of a "slow but strong forward air that spikes" in a similar vein to Donkey Kong, Yoshi, or Cloud. It has surprisingly low landing lag for a move of its kind. This on top of its major shieldstun make it unreasonably safe, giving the Climbers a 3 frame advantage on shield. As such, it's one of the safest moves in the game. Despite leaving next to no openings afterward, their forward air does not give up on power in the process. The move deals staggering damage, almost thirty percent if the partner's sweetspot connects, and has solid launch power as well.

While it's main purpose is as a low-risk kill move, the Ice Climbers' forward aerial still has its fair share of combo potential, both into and out of it. Thanks to its low landing lag, it can lead to a dash attack at low percents to rack up colossal amounts of damage with the aerial strings that follow. Despite its lengthy windup, it's also possible to use forward air as a combo finisher out of a down throw or up aerial at certain percents. This can lead to a relatively early KO if the sweetspot lands on its victim, and does great damage either way. As per the norm with these two, forward air gains a variety of additional uses with the help of some desyncing.

As the only move in the Ice Climbers' kit that spikes, it's one of their most dangerous (but not easiest to land) edgeguarding tools. It can also serve as a reverse-edgeguarding tool. If both climbers are knocked offstage, they can use forward aerial to a rhythm, warding off or punishing edgeguarding attempts with the constant desynced swinging until the duo finds a safe position to recover.

While the Hammer Slam has a lot going for it, just like any move, it's not without its weaknesses. On top of being slow to start, most of the big, round motion is a lie. It only lasts for 2 frames near the middle, offering next to no vertical coverage or leeway on lining up an attack, which can cause players to end up moving too early and/or landing right before the move comes out.

While the move's coverage and activity are disappointing, its extreme upsides greatly outweigh its questionable hitbox placement, making for an overall great attack for a variety of situations that even has important and respectable use in its weakest state.

Hitboxes

Leader

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless
0	0	0	12.0%	0		Forward	40	95	0		3.0	havel	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
1	0	0	12.0%	0		Forward	40	95	0		3.0	havel	0.0	3.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
2	0	0	12.0%	0		Forward	40	95	0		4.5	havel	0.0	7.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All

Partner

The sweetspot has two possible X offsets depending on whether the partner is facing right or left (respectively), preventing issues with the Z-axis.

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless
Clean hit
0	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		3.5	havel	-3.5	0.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
2	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		3.5	havel	-3.5	3.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
3	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		4.5	havel	-3.0	7.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
1	0	0	12.0%	0		Forward	20	100	0		4.5	top	2.0 or -2.0	6.0	11.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Kick		All	All
Late hit
0	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		3.5	havel	-3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
2	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		3.5	havel	-3.0	3.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
3	0	0	9.0%	0		Forward	40	114	0		4.5	havel	-2.5	7.0	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Punch		All	All
1	0	0	12.0%	0		Forward	20	100	0		4.5	top	2.0 or -2.0	6.0	11.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Kick		All	All

Timing

Attack

Initial autocancel	1-2
Leader	19-20
Partner (clean, late)	19, 20
Ending autocancel	49-
Interruptible	57
Animation length	64

Leader
Partner
Autocancel

Landing lag

Interruptible	11
Animation length	16

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Autocancel

Interruptible

Trivia

• The partner's late hit is erroneously coded as a hand-type attack, rather than a hammer-type attack like the clean hit and the leader's attack.

Ice Climbers's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Floor attack (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Edge attack
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash