Editing Byleth (SSBU)

|image = {{tabber|title1=Male|content1=[[File:Byleth SSBU.png|250px]]|title2=Female|content2=[[File:Byleth-Alt1 SSBU.png|250px]]|title3=Both|content3=[[File:fighter-byleth.png|250px]]}}

|tier = B-

|ranking = 50

Byleth is ranked 50th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him towards the middle of the B- tier. Byleth's greatest strength is his range, as he possesses long and disjointed range on many of his moves, especially those that use [[Areadbhar]], allowing him to pressure opponents from afar. His Areadbhar moves especially have a sweetspot at the tip of the lance that deals increased damage and knockback. In addition, [[Sword of the Creator|up special]] has a lot of utility outside of being a tether recovery: at early percents and very high percents, Byleth can combo the tip of his up special into one of his aerials, potentially taking an early stock, while at middle percents onward, the tip spikes opponents, and Byleth can use the move offstage against opponents with a poor or exploitable recovery. Finally, all of Byleth's other weapons have great utility as well, with [[Failnaught]] and his down smash being great for tech chases and shield breaking at different distances, while his neutral air is a great combo tool or combo starter thanks to its relatively fast startup and landing hitbox.

 

 

Overall, Byleth remains true to his "distance demon" archetype: he is best when fighting opponents at a distance with long-ranged and high-damaging moves, and his tools can even be used to steal early stocks from unsuspecting opponents. However, Byleth must also be careful with how he uses his moves, as throwing them out carelessly may allow opponents to get closer and punish hard. Although initially received lukewarmly due to his slow movement, opinions rose significantly when {{Sm|MkLeo}} began playing the character, but eventually mellowed as very few players were able to come close to MkLeo's performances.

Byleth is a tall, middleweight swordsman, yet has poor overall mobility (similarly to {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}, {{SSBU|Incineroar}} and {{SSBU|Dr. Mario}}), high startup and ending lag on many of his moves, and a rather short [[grab]] range. In the words of ''Super Smash Bros.'' series creator [[Masahiro Sakurai]], Byleth is a "distance demon",<ref name=Presents>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aqVlLlKkcg Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth"]</ref> since his optimal playstyle involves using his {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Heroes' Relics}} to zone out opponents at mid-range, similarly to {{SSBU|Marth}} and {{SSBU|Shulk}}. Thanks to his variety of weapons, Byleth's overall range is fittingly long in line with his archetype, and his attacks are generally very strong, especially for a middleweight, although this comes at the cost of his frame data being rather sluggish. All of these traits make Byleth's general gameplan very patient: his sluggishness and strength make it important for him to plan ahead and learn the opponent's habits before covering their options with his range and arsenal of hard-hitting weapons.

Byleth was slightly buffed in update 11.0.0. The most notable buffs were to [[Sword of the Creator]]: its decreased overall lag improved its utility for recovering, combos and as an out of shield option,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZLY-UGqA9k Byleth got BUFFED! - Patch 11.0 Byleth Analysis (Smash Ultimate)]</ref> while its increased base knockback improved its KO potential while offstage and removed its dead zone (the latter of which improved its consistency). [[Areadbhar]] became safer on shield thanks to it receiving shieldstun multipliers. In addition, it has less ending lag when used in the air; this slightly improved its recovery and edgeguarding potentials. Down smash and down aerial gained slightly higher knockback, which improved their already considerable KO potentials. On an extended note, down aerial's shield damage output was also increased.

|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})

|grabdesc=Reaches out with his left hand. Standing grab has fast startup, but possesses high ending lag.

|pummelname=Grab Kneebutt ({{ja|つかみニーバット|Tsukami Nībatto}})

|pummeldesc=A knee strike. Unique compared to other pummels, being faster but weaker compared to other pummels like {{SSBU|Bowser}}, while having more ending lag compared to most other pummels, though not to the extend of {{SSBU|Robin}}. As a result, it is a fairly underwhelming pummel.

|nsdesc=Wields {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Failnaught}} to fire an arrow. He can charge it for more speed and damage, change directions while charging, and can [[charge-cancel]] via [[shield]]ing until a certain duration. It must be charged a bit before it can be fired, similarly to how [[Bullet Climax]] cannot be shield-canceled instantaneously and must charge first. Charging to its maximum duration will cause Byleth to rear back with a long pause, before firing a powerful arrow that hits instantly and has a similar animation and range to the [[Staff]]; reaching full charge will prevent Byleth from cancelling the move manually. A fully charged arrow can nearly break full shields and gains the properties of an energy projectile, as it can be [[absorb]]ed. Also, while it can be [[reflect]]ed, the fully charged arrow cannot be [[inhale]]d or [[pocket]]ed. Byleth may occasionally say "Failnaught!" while using this move. The fully charged version pushes Byleth back and up when used in the air.

|ssdesc=Wields {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Areadbhar}} to perform a lunging, upward slash. Areadbhar possesses a [[sweetspot]] on its blade, as opposed to the weaker shaft. It has impressive horizontal and vertical range. If the move is smash inputted, Byleth lunges further, which improves its range. The aerial version involves Byleth backflipping to swing Areadbhar, which covers an area that his aerial attacks cannot and slightly propels him forward but at the expense of lag. The aerial version is effective at the ledge, as Byleth is able to sweetspot ledges while performing an aerial swing, which allows it to be used for edgeguarding or edgehogging. Byleth may occasionally say "Areadbhar!" while using this move.

|usdesc=Thrusts the Sword of the Creator diagonally upward to extend its whip form. It functions as a [[tether recovery]] that can attach to walls and allow Byleth to jump off up to three times consecutively without landing. If it connects with an opponent, the move instead acts like a [[hit grab]]: Byleth latches onto the opponent before [[footstool jump]]ing them, which deals damage based on how far away the opponent was. If their percentage is at least 50% when they are footstool jumped, it becomes a [[meteor smash]] that cannot be [[tech]]ed. This footstool jump has only one frame of ending lag, allowing Byleth to immediately follow up, with combos into moves such as neutral aerial (though this particular combo is only effective against {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}), all other aerials, and reverse inputted side special. Against grounded opponents, the move first launches them up with the sword to allow Byleth to latch onto them. When activated in the air, it instantly cancels all of Byleth's knockback, which can improve his endurance.

|dsdesc=Wields {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Aymr}} to perform a sluggish, but extremely powerful downward slash. It has [[super armor]] during its grounded startup, can be reversed once, and Byleth can drop through platforms while performing it. Like other "bold" moves (such as [[Falcon Punch]], [[Warlock Punch]] and [[Hatchet Man]]), it triggers [[Special Zoom]]. When successfully executed, Aymr can break shields in a single hit. When it is used successfully while falling off the battlefield, by an edge, and it hits the battlefield, Byleth will be suspended, ending the fall. Much like the aforementioned "bold" moves, it expectedly has extremely high lag all around in exchange for its power, making it a very risky yet rewarding move mainly used for hard reads. Byleth may occasionally yell "A...ymr!" while using this move. When used in the air, Byleth is stalled slightly just before the hitbox comes out. It resembles {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Flickering Flower}}, a combat art learned exclusively by Edelgard upon mastering the {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Emperor}} class in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses''.

*Plants the Sword of the Creator into the ground along with the other Heroes' Relics already planted into the floor, says "Each battle, a chance to grow." ("{{ja|この経験は糧になる|Kono keiken wa kate ni naru}}", ''This experience will encourage you.'') and then swings their left arm out while facing the background before lowering their left arm to their side. Combines one of Byleth's lines after winning a battle exchange pre-time skip with the game over screen in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses'', where all 4 of the main Heroes' Relics are planted on the ground.

===Most historically significant players===

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''See also: [[:Category:Byleth players (SSBU)]]''

*{{Sm|MkLeo|Mexico}} - The greatest ''Ultimate'' player of all time who first used Byleth in grand finals at {{Trn|Frostbite 2020}} before maining him towards the end of the online metagame. He continued his domination in the competitive scene while using Byleth, including winning some of the largest events of 2021 and 2022, such as {{Trn|Riptide}}, {{Trn|Smash World Tour 2021 Championships}}, {{Trn|GENESIS 8}}, and {{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational}}. He eventually returned to {{SSBU|Joker}} in 2023, though he keeps Byleth as a counterpick character, and since then no other Byleth players were able to come close to his level of consistency.

*{{Sm|Reno|Japan|p=Japan}} - One of the best Byleth players in the world since the second half of 2023. He first broke out on the scene after placing 5th at {{Trn|Seibugeki 14}} defeating {{Sm|KEN}}, making him the first Byleth player other than MkLeo to place top 8 at a major. Although he remained inconsistent afterwards, he has seen great success at many other large Japanese events, including placing 2nd at {{Trn|Gen 2.0}}, 3rd at both {{Trn|Yokohama BaySmash Big 1}} and {{Trn|DELTA 8.5}}, and 7th at {{Trn|Maesuma'U22}}.

*{{Sm|Rizeasu|Japan}} -  Though known for playing a variety of characters, one of his best characters is Byleth, and he is considered the second-best Byleth player in the world at his peak between 2021 and the first half of 2023. His 2nd-place finishes at both {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 14}} and {{Trn|UltCore Second}} remain the closest a Byleth player aside of MkLeo came to winning a major, as well as his only two major top 8 performances. In addition, Rizeasu has also won {{Trn|Chūbu Smash Chronicle 1}} with primarily Byleth.

Initial opinions on Byleth, shortly after release, were mostly lukewarm, if not negative. Most players believed Byleth was a mid-tier or even a low-tier fighter, citing his poor frame data, slow mobility, limited landing options, and poor matchups against faster characters that can fight up close. An early success for Byleth came at {{Trn|Frostbite 2020}}, where {{Sm|MkLeo}} used him to defeat {{Sm|Maister}} in grand finals; despite this, most players remained unimpressed, citing how MkLeo used {{SSBU|Joker}} until the very last game of the tournament, Maister's poor record against MkLeo, and {{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s weakness against long ranged characters, in addition to matchup inexperience due to Byleth's then-recent release. A few weeks afterwards, the [[COVID-19]] pandemic hit North America, forcing a halt of tournament activity and leaving most of Byleth's early metagame development to proceed online. Although scarce in competitive play, Byleth eventually found noticeable representation from MkLeo in mid-2020, who chose to play Byleth over Joker as he was unsatisfied with how Joker played under additional input lag. Although his performance was worse online, MkLeo nevertheless remained one of the best players in the online era. Buffs to Byleth during the pandemic further improved his standing, and more players began believing Byleth to be a viable threat. However, players still dismissed Byleth as MkLeo's "online main", implying that Leo didn't take online tournaments as seriously and would eventually return to Joker when offline tournaments came back.

MkLeo defied these expectations by continuing to use Byleth in the offline metagame, often using him as his sole character or alongside {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}} throughout 2021 and 2022. With Byleth, MkLeo achieved dominance on par with what he had with Joker before the pandemic, and he placed no less than second in every tournament he has attended until {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 4}}, all the while winning the majority of them. His efforts were finally able to convince most skeptics into believing that Byleth was viable.

Although many players in the community began considering Byleth as a potential high-tier, dissenters questioned whether Byleth truly deserved to rank that high or whether his success was largely due to MkLeo's skill as a player. Data collected by [[OrionRank]] curator {{Sm|Barnard's Loop}} also showed that MkLeo made up roughly 66% of all results obtained by Byleth up to November 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/LoopBarnard/status/1461497570925101058|title=Byleth data up to November 2021}}</ref> On the other hand, the only other Byleth player with consistently strong achievements globally at that time was {{Sm|Rizeasu}}, a player who played many other characters alongside Byleth, and therefore his success was not attributed to just one character. These dissenting opinions eventually leveled out to Byleth's placement on the first tier list, where he was ranked 32nd. Despite ranking as a high tier, this placement was considered low for a character used to win multiple majors.

Following the first tier list, Byleth's overreliance on MkLeo became a greater issue as MkLeo's performances with and usage of Byleth began declining towards the end of 2022. By the following year, MkLeo had returned to playing Joker and began picking up other secondaries, although he maintained Byleth as a counterpick at times when his other characters did not work. Outside of MkLeo, Rizeasu continued to use Byleth in his roster while {{Sm|Reno|p=Japan}} also became a prominent player in the Japanese scene. Although both players were successful, neither of them were able to fill the gap left by MkLeo. With dwindling representation at a national level and MkLeo himself admitting that Byleth did not fit well with the current metagame, Byleth fell 10 spots to 42nd on the second and current tier list, ranking near the top of B- tier, marking one of the biggest drops from the first to second tier list.

[[File:SSBU Congratulations Byleth.png|thumb|Byleth's [[congratulations screen]].]]

|1||{{CharHead|Marth|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Temple]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Story 5 Meeting}}''||The stage references how Marth used Temple in single player modes in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', due to that game not having a ''Fire Emblem'' stage. Marth starts with 100 HP.

|3||{{head|Ike|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Ike|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Brown}} {{SSBU|Ike}} (×2)||[[Castle Siege]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Eternal Bond}}''||The '' {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Radiant Dawn}}'' Ike will appear after the ''{{iw|fireemblemwiki|Path of Radiance}}'' Ike is defeated. They each start with 100 HP.

|6||{{Head|Byleth|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}{{head|Byleth|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}{{CharHead|Byleth|SSBU|hsize=20px|color=Yellow}} (×3)||[[Garreg Mach Monastery]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Fódlan Winds}}''||The three Byleths' color schemes represent the house leaders in ''{{iw|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Three Houses}}''. The red Byleth prefers down specials, the blue one prefers side specials, and the yellow one prefers neutral specials, referencing the primary weapons of {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Edelgard}}, {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Dimitri}}, and {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Claude}}, respectively. The CPUs will always have these costumes even if the player uses these costumes. They each start with 50 HP.

Male Byleth's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} as Byleth. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Byleth has been downloaded. Unlocking Byleth in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???".  As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and are purely aesthetic. Female Byleth has a fighter spirit of her own, only available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with their artwork in ''Ultimate''.

Byleth unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Byleth's unlock notice after downloading him from the [[Nintendo eShop]].

<!--NOTICE BEFORE EDITING: When using pronouns, use those that match the gender of the default when referring to their Smash incarnation (treating the alternate gendered variant as a character costume like Alph) and gender neutral for home series info. However, completely omitting pronouns is entirely a valid style, as long as the sentence stays coherent. Additionally, do not add in anything about either Byleth's trailer or the character himself is the most disliked. We didn't do any of that for previous games so there's no reason to do it here.-->

*Byleth's internal codename is "master", referencing their role as a professor in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses''.

*Byleth is the first character to have two different splash screens without alternate costumes that completely change the character, due to the male and female variants having different names in Japanese.

*Male and female Byleth have slightly different idle stances; female Byleth holds the Sword of the Creator with its tip pointed upwards, while male Byleth holds it with its tip pointed downwards. All animations that can be played from their stand animations (like their idle animations) are subsequently affected through the animation blending. Additionally, their idle pose and [[victory pose]]s are different between each other.

*Byleth is also the only character in the game to debut after ''Ultimate''{{'}}s original release in December 2018, which was also the case with fellow ''Fire Emblem'' characters [[Roy]] and [[Corrin]] in their debuts.

*When either male or female Byleth is [[Star KO]]'d in the English language, they shout, "My battle ends here...!" This is a reference to a line of dialogue when they die in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses''. However, in the Japanese language, they simply scream. This trait is shared with {{SSBU|Pit}} and {{SSBU|Min Min}}, the latter of which applies to all languages.

*Unlike most humanoid fighter models in ''Ultimate'', the bind pose of male and female Byleth is uniquely an "A-pose" instead of a [[T-pose]].<ref>[https://twitter.com/firubiii/status/1222377730550980610]</ref> This is shared with {{SSBU|Terry}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}}.