Ganondorf (SSBU)/Forward aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Ganondorf's forward aerial.

Overview[edit]

An overhand attack with good vertical and horizontal reach and long duration. Because of this and its above average knockback, it is one of Ganondorf's best kill options, hitting further than back aerial while KOing earlier than both up aerial and neutral aerial. It has some niche kill confirm when combined with down aerial and the late hit of dash attack, and works well in advantageous positions, such as ledgetrapping or edgeguarding. It is also a part of one of Ganondorf's deadliest shield break combo when used in combination with up smash. Its use cases in neutral are narrow, but do exist due to its high safety on shield and range, although they are fairly niche and often require the use of double jump to bait out opponents, which can be very commital with Ganondorf's mediocre recovery.

However, this move suffers from its lack of speed, high endlag and inability to be autocanceled out of a jump, making its use cases narrow outside of advantage state, as it is outclassed by neutral aerial which is faster, safer, active longer, has combo potential and is usable when rising, while forward aerial cannot be without compromising on safety.