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| {{ArticleIcons|series=y||competitive=y}}
| | :''For the move used by [[Marth]], [[Roy (SSBM)|Roy]], and [[Ike (SSBB)|Ike]], see [[Counter]]. |
| {{for|other uses|Counter (disambiguation)}}
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| In relative terms, a '''counter''' is a character that can be used with reasonable success and/or ease against another character. [[Matchup]]s are typically measured in a ratio to determine counters. | | In relative terms, a '''counter''' is a character that can be used with reasonable success and/or ease against another character. [[Matchup]]s are typically measured in a ratio to determine counters. |
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| ==Hard counter== | | ==Hard counter== |
| A '''counter''' or '''hard counter''' is when a character holds a strong advantage against another. It is always used in relative terms; in ''Melee'', for instance, {{SSBM|Peach}} is often said to be a hard counter to the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}. Thus, Peach '''counters''' the Ice Climbers. An example in ''Brawl'' is that the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} are a hard counter to {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}. A hard counter usually has a combination of the following elements, such as an infinite or "zero-death" (from zero damage to death) [[combo]] or [[chain throw]], an especially high imbalance in the characters' abilities, the ability of one character being able to KO the countered character considerably early or [[gimp]] them with considerable ease, and the inability for the countered character to [[approach]] effectively, that makes the match extremely difficult for the countered character. In terms of matchup ratios, a hard counter is usually considered to be 35-65 or worse. | | A '''counter''' or '''hard counter''' is a character that holds a strong advantage against another. It is always used in relative terms - in ''Melee'', for instance, [[Peach (SSBM)|Peach]] is often said to be a hard counter to the [[Ice Climbers (SSBB)|Ice Climbers]]; Peach '''counters''' the Ice Climbers. An example in ''Brawl'' is that the [[Ice Climbers (SSBB)|Ice Climbers]] are a hard counter to [[Ganondorf (SSBB)|Ganondorf]]. A hard counter usually has some element, such as an infinite or "zero-death" (from zero damage to death) [[chain grab]], an especially high imbalance in attack [[priority]], or inability for the countered character to approach effectively, that makes the match extremely difficult for the countered character. A hard counter is usually considered to be a match-up that is 35-65 or worse. |
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| ===Other notable examples of hard counters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' games=== | | ===More examples of hard counters in all three Super Smash Bros. games=== |
| ==== ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' ====
| | *In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', [[Donkey Kong (SSB)|Donkey Kong]] and [[Luigi (SSB)|Luigi]] hard counter [[Jigglypuff (SSB)|Jigglypuff]] and [[Kirby (SSB)|Kirby]] hard counters [[Yoshi (SSB)|Yoshi]]. Donkey Kong can cargo release and then re-grab into a [[Giant Punch]] from 0% to KO while Luigi kills Jigglypuff with his [[Super Jump Punch]] as low as 30%. Kirby's up tilt out-prioritizes all of Yoshi's moves preventing Yoshi from approaching. Many characters hard counter Samus and Link and no one hard counters Fox, Kirby or Pikachu. Most hard counters are due to range in ''Super Smash Bros.'' or the easiness of one character to "zero to death" another one. |
| Most hard counters in ''Super Smash Bros.'' are due to range, or the ease of one character being able to "zero to death" another.
| | *In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', [[Kirby (SSBM)|Kirby]] is hard countered by [[Fox (SSBM)|Fox]] and [[Marth (SSBM)|Marth]] hard counters Luigi. Kirby's light weight allows Fox to kill him very quickly while Luigi struggles with approaching characters with priority and high range. Sheik, due to chain grabs, also hard counters various characters, most notably [[Bowser (SSBM)|Bowser]]. Hard counters in ''Melee'' vary from range to priority to approach. |
| *{{SSB|Donkey Kong}} and {{SSB|Luigi}} hard counter {{SSB|Jigglypuff}}. Donkey Kong can cargo release Jigglypuff and then regrab it into a [[Giant Punch]] from 0% to KO while Luigi KOs Jigglypuff with his [[Super Jump Punch]] as low as 30%.
| | *In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', [[Pikachu (SSBB)|Pikachu]] hard counters Fox due to a "zero to death" chain grab and a majority of characters hard counter Ganondorf and Captain Falcon. Among the worst match-ups in all the Super Smash Bros. games is the Ice Climbers versus Ganondorf, usually considered to be 90-10 in the Ice Climbers' favor as Ganondorf does not have enough range to avoid being shield grabbed and infinite [[chain grab|chaingrabbed]] to a KO. Most hard counters in ''Brawl'' are due to chain grabs, as there are many characters who do not have the range to avoid being grabbed. |
| *{{SSB|Kirby}} hard counters {{SSB|Yoshi}}. Kirby's up tilt outspeeds and outreaches all of Yoshi's moves, thus preventing Yoshi from approaching effectively.
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| *Many characters hard counter Samus and Link, and no one hard counters {{SSB|Captain Falcon}}, Kirby, or {{SSB|Pikachu}}.
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| ==== ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' ====
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| *Among the worst matchups in the game is {{SSBM|Sheik}} against {{SSBM|Bowser}}. Once Sheik lands a grab, she can [[chaingrab]] Bowser to extremely high percentages and then send him offstage with nearly any combinations of aerials, then easily edgeguard his poor recovery. Bowser's sluggish movement and abysmal neutral allow Sheik to easily grab him, and he has no setups of his own to offset this weakness.
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| *{{SSBM|Peach}} hard counters {{SSBM|Roy}}. Roy struggles to get any sort of opening on Peach; with weak aerials and a poor down tilt, almost all of Roy's approach options can be crouch cancelled by Peach, leading to an inevitable punish. He also gets nothing off of grabs, as they all send Peach too far away to follow up with any meaningful attack. Roy also struggles to KO Peach until absurd percentages nearing 200%; his smash attacks are the only attacks in his moveset with KO potential, but Peach easily spaces out of their range just by floating. In return, Peach can dismantle Roy off of one opening by simply knocking him into the air, abusing his terrible aerial game, or sending him off-stage where she can cover nearly all his recovery options with good [[Vegetable]] placements.
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| *{{SSBM|Fox}} hard counters {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}} because of how susceptible the latter is to Fox's typical pressuring and KO setups. Game & Watch's terrible shield allows Fox to easily shield poke him while applying shield pressure with aerials. Unlike several other light characters such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, who can use their weight to their advantage by avoiding Fox's combos at high percentages, Mr. Game & Watch has a faster falling speed and suffers much more [[hitstun]], meaning that Fox's up throw on him unavoidably combos into up aerial even well past KO percentages.
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| ==== ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' ====
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| *{{SSBB|Pikachu}} hard counters {{SSBB|Fox}} due to a [[zero-to-death]] [[chaingrab]] with Pikachu's down throw that is extremely easy to execute.
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| *{{SSBB|Marth}} hard counters {{SSBB|Ness}} and {{SSBB|Lucas}} due to a zero to death grab release. Ness's and Lucas's unusually long ground release animation allows Marth to regrab or set up a KO move at high percentages.
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| *A large amount of characters hard counter Ganondorf. Among the worst matchups in all the ''Super Smash Bros.'' games is the Ice Climbers versus Ganondorf, usually considered to be at least 90-10 in the Ice Climbers' favor, as Ganondorf does not have enough reach or fast enough attacks to avoid being shield grabbed and infinite chain thrown to a KO, while lacking the mobility to avoid being grabbed nor the ability to get through the Ice Climbers' zoning, and the fact that [[Flame Choke]] is made completely ineffective by the Ice Climbers' 2-in-1 gimmick.
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| ==== ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' ====
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| *{{SSB4|Meta Knight}} hard counters {{SSB4|Rosalina}}, due to the ease at which his fast and high base knockback moves can eliminate [[Luma]], and his ladder combos being extremely effective against Rosalina. Her large size and floatiness make it very difficult, if not impossible, to escape them, and she gets KO'd by said combos at very early percents due to her light weight. Meta Knight can start these ladder combos just by landing his very fast and large range dash attack.
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| *{{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} is considered to hard counter all large heavyweight characters, due to their large size and weight making it very difficult for them to escape her very punishing juggles and ladder combos, and their size making it impossible for them to [[SDI]] out of [[Boost Kick]]. These attributes lead to them sustaining even more damage than usual when punished, while still getting KO'd at rather early percents, nullifying their main advantage of being able to live a lot longer and abuse [[rage]] to get early KOs. Additionally, most large heavyweights have poor neutral games, making them unable to exploit Zero Suit Samus's primary weakness of having a weaker neutral herself.
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| ==== ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' ====
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| *{{SSBU|Villager}} hard counters {{SSBU|Piranha Plant}}, as [[Pocket|pocketed]] [[Ptooie]] is absurdly strong, rendering Piranha Plant's best neutral tool very risky to use. This forces Piranha Plant to try and rush Villager down with its mediocre mobility and lackluster approach options. Villager's [[Villager (SSBU)/Forward smash|forward smash]] is also an incredibly efficient [[Edgeguarding]] tool against Piranha Plant's linear [[recovery]].
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| *{{SSBU|Olimar}} is usually agreed upon to be a hard counter to {{SSBU|Samus}} by completely blocking Samus' [[Samus (SSBU)/Neutral special|Charge Shot]], on which she relies heavily to fuction, with his [[Pikmin Throw|Pikmin]], making the neutral game extremely skewed in his favor, as Samus does not have enough options to be able to approach nor zone Olimar when her neutral special is neutered. This is also the case against {{SSBU|Duck Hunt}}, who has three different specials which block Charge Shot in [[Trick Shot]], [[Clay Shooting]] and [[Wild Gunman]].
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| ==Soft counters== | | ==Soft counters== |
| A '''soft counter''' indicates a matchup that favors one character noticeably, but only slightly. In ''Melee'' for instance, {{SSBM|Fox}} can be said to soft counter {{SSBM|Sheik}}. In ''Brawl'', {{SSBB|Snake}} can be said to be a soft counter to {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}. A soft counter tends to fare better, usually through an advantage that can't be capitalized on as easily. In terms of numbers, soft counters are usually 55-45 or 60-40 matchups. These matchups also tend to change depending on the stage. As with the {{SSBB|Meta Knight}} versus Snake matchup, it is routinely said that Meta Knight only has a slight advantage on [[Halberd]] due to its low ceiling, while Meta Knight has a large advantage on [[Brinstar]] due to the aerial based fighting it supports. Regarding matchups in which {{SSBB|Marth}} soft counters his opponent, many of these matchups are more in his favor on [[Battlefield]]. Most soft counters are defined as being soft counters on the [[starter stage]]s, as there is usually a slightly greater chance of the advantageous character winning on the starter stage. | | A '''soft counter''' indicates a match-up that favors one character noticeably, but only slightly. It also sometimes indicates an even match-up between two characters far away from each other on the tier list - in ''Melee'', for instance, [[Donkey Kong (SSBM)|Donkey Kong]] can be said to counter or soft counter [[Fox (SSBM)|Fox]], though the match-up is generally considered about even. In ''Brawl'', [[Meta Knight (SSBB)|Meta Knight]] is said to be a soft counter to [[Snake (SSBB)|Snake]], but the match is generally accepted as even. A soft counter tends to fare better, usually through an advantage that can't be capitalized on as easily. In terms of numbers, soft counters are usually 55-45 or 60-40 match-ups. These match-ups also tend to change per stage. As with the Meta Knight versus Snake match-up, it is routinely said that Snake has an advantage on [[Halberd]] due to its low ceiling. Regarding match-ups in which Marth soft counters his opponent, many of these match-ups are slightly more in his favor on [[Battlefield]]. Most soft counters are defined as being soft counters on the neutrals, as there is a slightly greater chance of the advantageous character winning on the neutral. |
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| Players often switch to a counter when [[counterpick]]ing. | | Players often switch to a counter when [[counterpick]]ing. |
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| ===Examples of soft counters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' games=== | | ===Examples of soft counters in all three Super Smash Bros. games=== |
| *The majority of matchups in ''Super Smash Bros.'' are soft counters outside the examples said above. This is due to the very heavy [[combo|combo game]] and easy-access [[Zero-to-death combo|zero-to-deaths]] in the game. | | *The majority of match-ups in ''Super Smash Bros.'' are soft counters outside the examples said above. This is due to the easiness of "zero to deaths" in the game and the equally high priority moves of basically all characters outside of [[Pikachu (SSB)|Pikachu]], who hard counters multiple characters, and [[Samus (SSB)|Samus]], who is said to counter no one. |
| | | *Most of the higher-tier versus middle-tier match-ups in ''Melee'' are soft counters. |
| *Many high tier versus high tier matchups in ''Melee'' are soft counters, including {{SSBM|Sheik}} against {{SSBM|Falco}} and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} against {{SSBM|Yoshi}}. | | *In ''Brawl'', soft counters tend to change per stage. [[King Dedede (SSBB)|King Dedede]] is usually said to soft counter Snake, but this may change on stages where Snake can more easily escape chain grabs. |
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| *In ''Brawl'', soft counters tend to be influenced by the stage they are played on. {{SSBB|King Dedede}} is usually said to soft counter Snake, but this may change on stages where Snake can more easily avoid chain throws or suffer less damage from them. | |
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| *Most matchups are heavily disputed one way or another in ''Smash 4'' among higher tier characters, though some generally agreed upon soft counters include {{SSB4|Sonic}} beating {{SSB4|Mario}} and {{SSB4|Diddy Kong}} beating {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}}.
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| *In ''Ultimate'', due to the number of characters and matchups, the balancing being usually considered better and the community being the largest out of any ''Super Smash Bros.'' game, most soft counters are heavily debated, and universally agreed upon soft counters are rare.
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| *[[Character matchups (SSB)]] | | *[[Character matchups (SSB)]] |
| *[[Character matchups (DSB)]]
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| *[[Character matchups (SSBM)]] | | *[[Character matchups (SSBM)]] |
| *[[Character matchups (SSBB)]] | | *[[Character matchups (SSBB)]] |
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| [[Category:Terms]] | | [[Category:Terms]] |
| [[Category:Competitive play]]
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