Ganondorf (SSB4)

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As in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', Hironori Miyata's portrayal of Ganondorf from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess}}'' was repurposed for ''Smash 4'', with mostly returning voice clips from ''Brawl'', and in addition to some new ones sourced from the game.

Ganondorf is ranked 53rd out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the G tier and tying him with {{SSB4|Zelda}}. This is a very slight improvement from his ranking in ''Brawl'', where he was the game's lowest-ranking character. As in previous games, Ganondorf remains as the game's archetypal super [[weight|heavyweight]], boasting high endurance, slow yet powerful moves that can KO very early, along with a capable [[edgeguard]]ing game courtesy of hard-hitting aerials. This is further enhanced by the buffs to his mobility, combo game and already high power, in addition to the general changes to game mechanics patching up several key weaknesses he had in ''Brawl''. Altogether, Ganondorf's high power allows him to deal ruthless punishes when the opportunity arises, in addition to being capable of ending stocks with very few hits.

Ganondorf is ranked 53rd out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the G tier and tying him with {{SSB4|Zelda}}. This is a very slight improvement from his ranking in ''Brawl'', where he was the game's lowest-ranking character. As in previous games, Ganondorf remains as the game's archetypal super [[weight|heavyweight]], boasting high endurance, slow yet powerful moves that can KO foes very early, along with a capable [[edgeguard]]ing game courtesy of hard-hitting aerials. This is further enhanced by the buffs to his mobility, combo game and already high power, in addition to the general changes to game mechanics patching up several key weaknesses he had in ''Brawl''. Altogether, Ganondorf's high power allows him to deal ruthless punishes when the opportunity arises, in addition to being capable of ending stocks with very few hits.

However, Ganondorf still remains significantly disadvantaged by his slow mobility, very sluggish frame data when compared to the cast, and large target, making him exceptionally susceptible to rushdowns, combos and [[projectile]] [[camping]], in addition to giving him a linear [[approach]]. His grab game, outside of [[Flame Choke]], is also very lackluster, while his [[recovery]] is still easily exploitable due to being slow, linear and predictable. Finally, Ganondorf has a fair number of unrewarding moves that can neither combo or KO reliably, despite his overall power.

As a result of these factors, Ganondorf still relies primarily on punishes and hard reads, and his weaknesses from ''Brawl'' are still prominent; however, he is commonly considered to fare better against difficult matchups, despite still being ~~lackluster~~ overall. This has resulted in Ganondorf gaining a low amount of representation in tournaments, in addition to attaining ~~below-average~~ success. Nevertheless, he is popular in the ''SSB4'' community due to his extremely strong, over-the-top, and extravagant punishment options that can easily KO unaware opponents, with a number of dedicated players such as {{sm|Gungnir}}, {{sm|Vermanubis}} and {{sm|~~Ray Kalm~~}}, some of which even use him as a solo main in tournaments despite his standing on the tier list.

As a result of these factors, Ganondorf still relies primarily on punishes and hard reads, and his weaknesses from ''Brawl'' are still prominent; however, he is commonly considered to fare better against difficult matchups, despite still being poor overall. This has resulted in Ganondorf gaining a low amount of representation in tournaments, in addition to attaining minimal success. Nevertheless, he is popular in the ''SSB4'' community due to his extremely strong, over-the-top, and extravagant punishment options that can easily KO unaware opponents, with a number of dedicated players such as {{sm|Gungnir}}, {{sm|Vermanubis}} and {{sm|Pon}}, some of which even use him as a solo main in tournaments despite his standing on the tier list.

==How to unlock (3DS version only)==

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Ganondorf is among the best [[edgeguard]]ers in the game, as his powerful aerials are relatively fast for their immense power (excluding forward aerial and down aerial) and send foes far away from the stage even at medium percents, spelling trouble for any fighter without a long-distance recovery. His down aerial is the most powerful [[meteor smash]] in the game with low ending lag, and his up aerial's late hitbox is among the best [[gimp]]s in the game with its [[semi-spike]] angle and high [[hitstun]]. Finally, his back aerial is a deceptively fast, safe and powerful KO move, as it starts up as fast as {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}'s with relatively little lag and can autocancel in a short hop, despite its immense power. His grounded moveset is also useful for punishing impromptu recoveries, such as using an up tilt against badly positioned fighters or an up smash against horizontal recovering characters like {{SSB4|Ike}}. Ganondorf also has the lowest and safest ledge grab, allowing him to camp on the ledge effectively and giving him decent protection from opponents when hanging from a ledge.

However, Ganondorf possesses many notable flaws. His shield is very vulnerable to [[shield stab]]bing due to its small size relative to his height. Also, small characters, such as {{SSB4|~~Kirby~~}}, can easily avoid his attacks due to the majority of his moves having short range, poorly placed hitboxes with low durations, while also extending his hurtboxes and makes him vulnerable to trading or simply being grabbed out of an attack despite being visually out of range. Although Ganondorf's frame data is similar (albeit slightly slower) to {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} in terms of start up (barring neutral attack, up tilt, and Warlock Punch), his attacks are very difficult to land while being easily punished due to high ending lag and/or landing lag; most notoriously, his forward aerial has the highest ending lag out of all of his aerials, and cannot autocancel even from a full hop, forcing Ganondorf to enter the landing animation. As a result of his high end lag, some of his moves are completely unsafe on shield, making it very difficult to take full advantage of his extreme shield breaking capabilities.

However, Ganondorf possesses many notable flaws. His shield is very vulnerable to [[shield stab]]bing due to its small size relative to his height. Also, small characters, such as {{SSB4|Pikachu}}, can easily avoid his attacks due to the majority of his moves having short range, poorly placed hitboxes with low durations, while also extending his hurtboxes and makes him vulnerable to trading or simply being grabbed out of an attack despite being visually out of range. Although Ganondorf's frame data is similar (albeit slightly slower) to {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}’s in terms of start up (barring neutral attack, up tilt, and Warlock Punch), his attacks are very difficult to land while being easily punished due to high ending lag and/or landing lag; most notoriously, his forward aerial has the highest ending lag out of all of his aerials, and cannot autocancel even from a full hop, forcing Ganondorf to enter the landing animation. As a result of his high end lag, some of his moves are completely unsafe on shield, making it very difficult to take full advantage of his extreme shield breaking capabilities.

Additionally, Ganondorf's overall physics leave him with very poor mobility and approaching options, which makes closing the distance or creating space considerably difficult for him, and he is easily zoned out by projectile characters due to him lacking a projectile himself. Also, his high knockback and sluggish moves, his poor range as well as his terrible air speed all give him a very poor combo game, as he cannot easily or reliably pursue his opponents in the air while his aforementioned high power moves will almost always knock his opponents too far away for follow-ups. However, Ganondorf himself is very easy to combo; his heavy weight, tall stature, low air speed, and unsafe landing options make him very susceptible to combos and juggling, and his poor [[out of shield]] options gives him difficulty protecting himself against rushdowns. Overall, this makes Ganondorf rely heavily on proper spacing and mindgames, as he cannot afford to whiff a single move.

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His recovery remains very lackluster and one is of the worst in the game due to its low distance, low air speed and high vulnerability to edgeguarding and gimps. Flame Choke's and [[Dark Dive]]'s lack of speed, distance and resilience allows Ganondorf to be knocked away by even the weakest of moves, despite the former's fearsome sacrificial KO potential. Even if Dark Dive is landed and lets him reuse the move, it's high ending lag also makes it highly susceptible to being teched and punished, with opponents being able to act before Ganondorf can.

Finally, despite his status as a powerhouse, Ganondorf still possesses some moves that offer little reward due to their inability to combo reliably or KO at realistic percentages (with some not even KOing past 200%), such as his neutral attack's sourspot, neutral aerial's late hitboxes, Dark Dive, and all his throws.

Finally, despite his status as a powerhouse, Ganondorf still possesses some moves that offer little reward due to their inability to combo reliably or KO at realistic percentages (with some not even KOing past 200%), such as his neutral attack's sourspot, neutral aerial's late hitboxes, Dark Dive, and all of his throws.

Ganondorf drastically benefits from some of his custom moves; most notably, Wizard's Dropkick and Dark Fists. While Wizard's Dropkick is weaker, cannot [[meteor smash]], and has slightly more ending lag when performed in the air, it is excellent against projectiles and for recovery, acting as a superior version of [[Flame Choke]]'s recovery that does not leave him helpless while allowing Ganondorf to fly over projectiles while attacking. Dark Fists is a two-hit attack with better horizontal reach, [[armor]], and very potent power, giving him impressive protection against edgeguarders if used as a recovery and a very effective out-of-shield option, something that he lacks. When using both of these moves on his moveset, Ganondorf is granted a very efficient recovery and improved offensive prowess, as he can travel high distances while being exceedingly difficult to edgeguard without being punished. For other notable customs, Warlock Blade offers better utility over Warlock Punch due to its lower start-up, increased range, [[transcendent priority]], and high shield damage, but replaces one of Ganondorf's best punishing options due to its reduced strength. Flame Chain and Flame Wave are semi-viable alternatives to Flame Choke, with the former being a multiple hitting attack with decent horizontal knockback and the latter having high damage and strong KO power; however, both are laggier and sacrifice powerful combos, while the latter covers significantly less distance, to the point where it only reaches opponents directly in front of Ganondorf. The rest of his custom moves are ineffective as they offer very little bonuses over the default or other custom moves; the best example is Warlock Thrust, which has extremely minimal KO power and high ending lag to overwhelmingly outweigh its benefits of a larger hitbox and faster start-up. However, while his [[Character customization|custom moves]] address his recovery issues and make him a more dangerous character with better staying power, they are not allowed in the standard metagame.

Ganondorf (SSB4): Difference between revisions

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@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 As in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', Hironori Miyata's portrayal of Ganondorf from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess}}'' was repurposed for ''Smash 4'', with mostly returning voice clips from ''Brawl'', and in addition to some new ones sourced from the game.
-Ganondorf is ranked 53rd out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the G tier and tying him with {{SSB4|Zelda}}. This is a very slight improvement from his ranking in ''Brawl'', where he was the game's lowest-ranking character. As in previous games, Ganondorf remains as the game's archetypal super [[weight|heavyweight]], boasting high endurance, slow yet powerful moves that can KO very early, along with a capable [[edgeguard]]ing game courtesy of hard-hitting aerials. This is further enhanced by the buffs to his mobility, combo game and already high power, in addition to the general changes to game mechanics patching up several key weaknesses he had in ''Brawl''. Altogether, Ganondorf's high power allows him to deal ruthless punishes when the opportunity arises, in addition to being capable of ending stocks with very few hits.
+Ganondorf is ranked 53rd out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the G tier and tying him with {{SSB4|Zelda}}. This is a very slight improvement from his ranking in ''Brawl'', where he was the game's lowest-ranking character. As in previous games, Ganondorf remains as the game's archetypal super [[weight|heavyweight]], boasting high endurance, slow yet powerful moves that can KO foes very early, along with a capable [[edgeguard]]ing game courtesy of hard-hitting aerials. This is further enhanced by the buffs to his mobility, combo game and already high power, in addition to the general changes to game mechanics patching up several key weaknesses he had in ''Brawl''. Altogether, Ganondorf's high power allows him to deal ruthless punishes when the opportunity arises, in addition to being capable of ending stocks with very few hits.
 However, Ganondorf still remains significantly disadvantaged by his slow mobility, very sluggish frame data when compared to the cast, and large target, making him exceptionally susceptible to rushdowns, combos and [[projectile]] [[camping]], in addition to giving him a linear [[approach]]. His grab game, outside of [[Flame Choke]], is also very lackluster, while his [[recovery]] is still easily exploitable due to being slow, linear and predictable. Finally, Ganondorf has a fair number of unrewarding moves that can neither combo or KO reliably, despite his overall power.
-As a result of these factors, Ganondorf still relies primarily on punishes and hard reads, and his weaknesses from ''Brawl'' are still prominent; however, he is commonly considered to fare better against difficult matchups, despite still being lackluster overall. This has resulted in Ganondorf gaining a low amount of representation in tournaments, in addition to attaining below-average success. Nevertheless, he is popular in the ''SSB4'' community due to his extremely strong, over-the-top, and extravagant punishment options that can easily KO unaware opponents, with a number of dedicated players such as {{sm|Gungnir}}, {{sm|Vermanubis}} and {{sm|Ray Kalm}}, some of which even use him as a solo main in tournaments despite his standing on the tier list.
+As a result of these factors, Ganondorf still relies primarily on punishes and hard reads, and his weaknesses from ''Brawl'' are still prominent; however, he is commonly considered to fare better against difficult matchups, despite still being poor overall. This has resulted in Ganondorf gaining a low amount of representation in tournaments, in addition to attaining minimal success. Nevertheless, he is popular in the ''SSB4'' community due to his extremely strong, over-the-top, and extravagant punishment options that can easily KO unaware opponents, with a number of dedicated players such as {{sm|Gungnir}}, {{sm|Vermanubis}} and {{sm|Pon}}, some of which even use him as a solo main in tournaments despite his standing on the tier list.
 ==How to unlock (3DS version only)==
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 Ganondorf is among the best [[edgeguard]]ers in the game, as his powerful aerials are relatively fast for their immense power (excluding forward aerial and down aerial) and send foes far away from the stage even at medium percents, spelling trouble for any fighter without a long-distance recovery. His down aerial is the most powerful [[meteor smash]] in the game with low ending lag, and his up aerial's late hitbox is among the best [[gimp]]s in the game with its [[semi-spike]] angle and high [[hitstun]]. Finally, his back aerial is a deceptively fast, safe and powerful KO move, as it starts up as fast as {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}'s with relatively little lag and can autocancel in a short hop, despite its immense power. His grounded moveset is also useful for punishing impromptu recoveries, such as using an up tilt against badly positioned fighters or an up smash against horizontal recovering characters like {{SSB4|Ike}}. Ganondorf also has the lowest and safest ledge grab, allowing him to camp on the ledge effectively and giving him decent protection from opponents when hanging from a ledge.
-However, Ganondorf possesses many notable flaws. His shield is very vulnerable to [[shield stab]]bing due to its small size relative to his height. Also, small characters, such as {{SSB4|Kirby}}, can easily avoid his attacks due to the majority of his moves having short range, poorly placed hitboxes with low durations, while also extending his hurtboxes and makes him vulnerable to trading or simply being grabbed out of an attack despite being visually out of range. Although Ganondorf's frame data is similar (albeit slightly slower) to {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} in terms of start up (barring neutral attack, up tilt, and Warlock Punch), his attacks are very difficult to land while being easily punished due to high ending lag and/or landing lag; most notoriously, his forward aerial has the highest ending lag out of all of his aerials, and cannot autocancel even from a full hop, forcing Ganondorf to enter the landing animation. As a result of his high end lag, some of his moves are completely unsafe on shield, making it very difficult to take full advantage of his extreme shield breaking capabilities.
+However, Ganondorf possesses many notable flaws. His shield is very vulnerable to [[shield stab]]bing due to its small size relative to his height. Also, small characters, such as {{SSB4|Pikachu}}, can easily avoid his attacks due to the majority of his moves having short range, poorly placed hitboxes with low durations, while also extending his hurtboxes and makes him vulnerable to trading or simply being grabbed out of an attack despite being visually out of range. Although Ganondorf's frame data is similar (albeit slightly slower) to {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}’s in terms of start up (barring neutral attack, up tilt, and Warlock Punch), his attacks are very difficult to land while being easily punished due to high ending lag and/or landing lag; most notoriously, his forward aerial has the highest ending lag out of all of his aerials, and cannot autocancel even from a full hop, forcing Ganondorf to enter the landing animation. As a result of his high end lag, some of his moves are completely unsafe on shield, making it very difficult to take full advantage of his extreme shield breaking capabilities.
 Additionally, Ganondorf's overall physics leave him with very poor mobility and approaching options, which makes closing the distance or creating space considerably difficult for him, and he is easily zoned out by projectile characters due to him lacking a projectile himself. Also, his high knockback and sluggish moves, his poor range as well as his terrible air speed all give him a very poor combo game, as he cannot easily or reliably pursue his opponents in the air while his aforementioned high power moves will almost always knock his opponents too far away for follow-ups. However, Ganondorf himself is very easy to combo; his heavy weight, tall stature, low air speed, and unsafe landing options make him very susceptible to combos and juggling, and his poor [[out of shield]] options gives him difficulty protecting himself against rushdowns. Overall, this makes Ganondorf rely heavily on proper spacing and mindgames, as he cannot afford to whiff a single move.
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 His recovery remains very lackluster and one is of the worst in the game due to its low distance, low air speed and high vulnerability to edgeguarding and gimps. Flame Choke's and [[Dark Dive]]'s lack of speed, distance and resilience allows Ganondorf to be knocked away by even the weakest of moves, despite the former's fearsome sacrificial KO potential. Even if Dark Dive is landed and lets him reuse the move, it's high ending lag also makes it highly susceptible to being teched and punished, with opponents being able to act before Ganondorf can.
-Finally, despite his status as a powerhouse, Ganondorf still possesses some moves that offer little reward due to their inability to combo reliably or KO at realistic percentages (with some not even KOing past 200%), such as his neutral attack's sourspot, neutral aerial's late hitboxes, Dark Dive, and all his throws.
+Finally, despite his status as a powerhouse, Ganondorf still possesses some moves that offer little reward due to their inability to combo reliably or KO at realistic percentages (with some not even KOing past 200%), such as his neutral attack's sourspot, neutral aerial's late hitboxes, Dark Dive, and all of his throws.
 Ganondorf drastically benefits from some of his custom moves; most notably, Wizard's Dropkick and Dark Fists. While Wizard's Dropkick is weaker, cannot [[meteor smash]], and has slightly more ending lag when performed in the air, it is excellent against projectiles and for recovery, acting as a superior version of [[Flame Choke]]'s recovery that does not leave him helpless while allowing Ganondorf to fly over projectiles while attacking. Dark Fists is a two-hit attack with better horizontal reach, [[armor]], and very potent power, giving him impressive protection against edgeguarders if used as a recovery and a very effective out-of-shield option, something that he lacks. When using both of these moves on his moveset, Ganondorf is granted a very efficient recovery and improved offensive prowess, as he can travel high distances while being exceedingly difficult to edgeguard without being punished. For other notable customs, Warlock Blade offers better utility over Warlock Punch due to its lower start-up, increased range, [[transcendent priority]], and high shield damage, but replaces one of Ganondorf's best punishing options due to its reduced strength. Flame Chain and Flame Wave are semi-viable alternatives to Flame Choke, with the former being a multiple hitting attack with decent horizontal knockback and the latter having high damage and strong KO power; however, both are laggier and sacrifice powerful combos, while the latter covers significantly less distance, to the point where it only reaches opponents directly in front of Ganondorf. The rest of his custom moves are ineffective as they offer very little bonuses over the default or other custom moves; the best example is Warlock Thrust, which has extremely minimal KO power and high ending lag to overwhelmingly outweigh its benefits of a larger hitbox and faster start-up. However, while his [[Character customization|custom moves]] address his recovery issues and make him a more dangerous character with better staying power, they are not allowed in the standard metagame.