Editing Greninja (SSBU)

Greninja is ranked 34th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing it in the B+ tier. This is a marginal rise from its 26th out of 54 placement in ''SSB4''.

One of Greninja's most notable traits is its high mobility which complements its grounded moveset. Greninja's dash attack comes out on frame 7 and has very low ending lag, as well as the ability to cross upon shields. Its knockback angle allows for many true follow-ups and strings over a large range of percents. Its neutral jab attack comes out on frame 3, making it a good grounded combo breaker. It can also lock, which gives Greninja access to potent punishes from opponents missing techs. Its down tilt is an excellent combo starter due to its low startup, ending lag and vertical launch angle. Greninja's up tilt is a frame 9 disjointed hitbox that acts well as an anti-air and can also be a combo starter. Its smash attacks are also reliable in their own right; its forward smash is quick for its range and power, down smash is an excellent punishment option for ledge regrabs, as well as sending at a low angle, and up smash is a potent combo finisher.

Greninja also has a very strong air game due to its aforementioned air speed and jump height. Greninja's aerials are reliable for multiple situations and all have low landing lag (except for down aerial, at 30 frames). Its neutral aerial is a decent low percent combo starter due to it having incredibly low landing lag and a good launch angle. It can also KO at high percentages. Its forward aerial acts as a combo finisher from its combo starters and can KO moderately early. Forward aerial's low landing lag and disjointed nature also make it safe on shield in many situations when spaced correctly. Its up aerial is a great juggling option with low all-around lag and boasting good KO potential near the upper blast line. Greninja can also utilize its multihits to drag down opponents to create tech chase and jab lock situations. Its back aerial is a very fast follow up or offstage edgeguarding option. Down aerial can be used as a mix up to return to the stage from far above, as well as perform surprise combos on hit with both its [[meteor smash]] and sourspot hitbox.

Greninja's grab game is overall very effective, due to its grabs being among the longest ranges of any non-tether grab in the game. Its forward, up, and back throws can KO at high percentages. Down throw acts as a middle percent combo starter, as well as a strong DI mix up, especially at higher percentages at ledge as a 50/50 between DI in and out in conjunction with forward throw. Up throw acts as a versatile combo starter that can lead to juggling situations. Because of this, Greninja has plenty of options off of a grab, as not one of its throws could be considered useless.

Finally, Greninja's special moves are effective in various situations. [[Water Shuriken]] acts as a versatile zoning tool, as well as a high-percentage KO option when fully charged. At low-to-mid percents, it is also a combo starter, allowing Greninja to rush down its opponent and follow up with any aerial attack or an up smash. [[Shadow Sneak]] works as an effective recovery mix up, as well as a potent KO move from a good read or pseudo-combo finisher. Despite lacking an offensive hitbox, [[Hydro Pump]] is a good recovery move for its long distance, and can be used for gimping recoveries due to having windbox properties. [[Substitute]] is a counterattack with the unique attribute of being able to be aimed in one of 8 different directions upon a successful counter. These angled follow ups allow for Greninja to gain pseudo-follow ups as well as KO earlier by picking the optimal angle in regards to stage positioning.

However, Greninja is also flawed in many ways. One of Greninja's primary flaws is its inability to break out of disadvantage state. While not as bad as the previous game, Greninja still has difficulties escaping combos due to its fast falling speed and its aerials still having relatively high startup. This can sometimes be alleviated with its back or down aerials, but both are not very effective due to back aerial's almost entirely horizontal hitboxes and down aerial's landing lag. Another option is aerial Water Shuriken, which stalls Greninja in the air and can be used as a landing mix up, as well as Hydro Pump landing mix ups.  

Another notable weaknesses is Greninja's multihit moves, especially back air and up air, being notoriously inconsistent, allowing opponents to escape out of these moves. As both aerials are some of Greninja's best combo tools, the inconsistency greatly affects its combo game.

Greninja's biggest weakness, however, is its terrible out of shield game, which is arguably the worst of the entire cast. Because of its high short hop, its aerials slow startup, and lacking a fast grab (although it has good range), Greninja lacks an effective out of shield option faster than frame 14. While its back aerial is fairly quick at frame 5 (making it frame 8 out of shield), it is unable to hit opponents in front of Greninja and is very inconsistent at hitting opponents behind Greninja due to its high short hop. Jumping or rolling out of shield are potential options to reset neutral, but they are very predictable and easily read. Thus, when Greninja is pinned down in shield, it has difficulty escaping the situation without being heavily punished. Combined with its vulnerability to combos, this gives it an atrocious defensive game.  

Altogether, Greninja's playstyle requires players to think like an actual ninja: utilizing Greninja's superb mobility and fast attacks to rush down opponents, saving the slower attacks for potential mixups, mindgames and surprise KO options, and remaining unpredictable to prevent being trapped into disadvantageous positions.

Greninja has been greatly buffed in the transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate''. An assortment of its traits, such as its strong combo game and great mobility, that made up its playstyle have been further improved, while the general engine changes benefit said playstyle.

Most of the universal changes notably benefit Greninja. As with all other characters in the game, Greninja's already quick mobility is faster like most characters, which benefits its hit-and-run playstyle. The ability to [[dash-canceling|run cancel into any ground move]] allows Greninja to further exploit its amazing ground mobility, allowing for easier setups into its combo starters, such as [[up tilt|up]] and [[down tilt]]s and [[dash attack]]. The universally reduced landing lag on aerial attacks gives Greninja an easier time landing and comboing, while the universal 3-frame jumpsquat improves Greninja's ground-to-air potential. The implementation of [[spot dodge]] canceling and the changes to [[perfect shield]]ing improve its potential punish game, due to its wide variety of combo starters and fast frame data.

Aside from the universal changes, Greninja has also received notable direct buffs. The biggest ones were to its [[grab]] game; its standing grab is faster and its pummel, previously one of the worst in ''SSB4'', deals less damage but is significantly faster, making it better all-around. Greninja's [[forward throw]] has higher knockback, allowing it to KO in an emergency, as with [[up throw]]. Its up and [[down throw]]s also have better combo and juggling potential due to the universal changes to mobility — down throw notably now allows for potential KO confirms into [[forward aerial|forward]] and [[back aerial]]s Outside of its improved grab game, Greninja now has a new down tilt that has lower ending lag and sends at more favorable angles, and its dash attack sends at a higher angle, further improving Greninja's combo game. [[Water Shuriken]] has more range, improving Greninja's camping ability combined with its faster mobility. [[Substitute]] now slows opponents down and offers Greninja intangibility during all of its attack variations, bringing it in line with other counterattacks. Greninja's KO power has also been buffed, with [[forward smash]] and forward aerial receiving higher knockback, [[up smash]] connecting better into its second hit, and [[down smash]] having faster startup.

In terms of universal changes, some of them are as benefitial as they are detrimental to Greninja. The changes to [[air dodge]] mechanics slightly improve its previously below average edgeguarding game, but also make it more vulnerable to combos. The increased [[shieldstun]] makes Greninja's own attacks much safer on shield, but also weakens its already poor [[out of shield]] game, forcing it to abuse the revamped perfect shielding. Lastly, the weakening of [[rage]] makes it slightly harder for Greninja to take advantage of it, despite compensating for its lighter weight.

Collectively, Greninja's strengths and weaknesses are more defined. It now performs much better as a hit-and-run, combo-centric character, with excellent mobility and various KO options and set-ups at a variety of percentages, but with its light weight and attributes making it just as vulnerable to combos while keeping its terrible out of shield game. Despite its nerfs to its previous footstool combos, Greninja has been generally compensated due to the gameplay changes to the engine and the buffs to its moveset giving it a more traditional combo game. That said, various veterans have also been buffed to varying degrees, especially through game updates, while Greninja has comparatively received minor, unimpactful changes from them. Nevertheless, Greninja has improved from ''SSB4'', keeping up with the rest of the cast in ''Ultimate''.

Greninja has received a mix of minor buffs and nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates. Some important nerfs include removing the ability to cancel endlag with Hydro Pump and the universal projectile shield damage nerf affected Greninja's safety and neutral game making actions in general less safe. To partially compensate, other aspects like down smash and pummel were made more reliable and increased shield size improve the potency of rushdown.

These changes did not affect Greninja in significant ways, and thus Greninja's competitive standing has remained virtually the same since the game's launch.

|pummeldesc=Compresses target with water. Decent speed.

|nsdesc=Uses Water Shuriken, which can be charged. Depending on how long the move is charged, the shuriken will be larger and do more damage, however the speed and distance will decrease as a result. At full charge, it hits multiple times and can kill with a Shadow Sneak follow-up at low and medium percents. It is also a decent KOing option at higher percents. A fully charged water shuriken that is reflected at a higher speed will have trouble landing the final hit on Greninja because of the looping hits not moving Greninja far enough for it.

|dsdmg=13% (up or down), 12% (diagonally), 11% (left or right)

*{{Sm|JW|Canada}} - The second-best Greninja player in North America in the early metagame and the best player from Canada for the first half of 2019. He is best known for defeating {{Sm|MkLeo}} at {{Trn|Pound 2019}}, ultimately placing 9th, and he has also placed 13th at {{Trn|Shine 2019}} defeating {{Sm|Goblin}} and 17th at {{Trn|The Big House 9}} defeating {{Sm|Kola}} and {{Sm|ESAM}}. Although less active in the post-online metagame, he remained Canada's best Greninja player, notably placing 4th at {{Trn|Pinnacle 2021}} defeating {{Sm|Ouch!?}}, before becoming inactive in 2023.

*{{Sm|Lea|Japan}} - The best Greninja player of all-time who spearheaded Greninja's early metagame, ranking 21st on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]] and placing 5th at several {{Trn|Umebura|series}} majors as well as 7th at {{Trn|2GG: Kongo Saga}} defeating {{Sm|Shuton}} and {{Sm|Dabuz}}. He remained the best Greninja player in the world until his hiatus in mid-2022, notably placing 7th at {{Trn|Kagaribi 7}} during this time, and has sporadically competed since with mixed results.

*{{Sm|Somé|Japan}} - The second-best Greninja player in Japan's early metagame, winning {{Trn|Karisuma SP 4}} and {{Trn|TSC 11}}, and also placing 7th at {{Trn|Sumabato SP 4}} defeating {{Sm|Etsuji}}, 9th at {{Trn|Umebura SP 6}} defeating {{Sm|HIKARU}}, and 13th at {{Trn|Umebura SP 4}}. He took a hiatus from offline competitive play due to the pandemic and did not return until 2023.

*{{Sm|Stroder Ame|USA}} - Plays a variety of characters and primarily played Greninja in the early metagame. He was the second-best Greninja player in the world during this time, ranking 29th on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]]. He is best known for winning {{Trn|Crown}} over {{Sm|Kurama}} and has also placed 5th at {{Trn|Ultimate Nimbus}} defeating {{Sm|Tweek}}, 5th at {{Trn|Glitch 8 - Missingno}} defeating {{Sm|Cosmos}} and {{Sm|Maister}}, and 13th at {{Trn|2GG: Prime Saga}} defeating {{Sm|ESAM}}. He has since switched to other characters but continues to use Greninja as an occasional secondary.

*{{Sm|Tarik|Germany}} - The second-best Greninja player of all-time and the best Greninja player after Lea's hiatus, ranking 55th on the [[LumiRank 2023]]. He is one of the best players in Europe in the post-online metagame, having placed 7th at several European majors such as {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2023}} and {{Trn|King Con}} and having multiple wins over {{Sm|Bloom4Eva}} at ranked events. Internationally, he is known for placing 5th at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind 2023}} defeating {{Sm|SHADIC}} and defeating {{Sm|Shuton}} at {{Trn|Port Priority 8}}, {{Sm|Onin}} at {{Trn|GENESIS X}}, and {{Sm|ShinyMark}} at {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}.

In the early metagame, players quickly noticed that Greninja had been buffed from ''Smash 4'', with improved versatility and speed, and despite losing its [[footstool]] combos, it gained a stronger combo game thanks to improved frame data on moves such as its dash attack, up throw, down throw, and neutral air. Greninja's high learning curve did not deter players such as {{Sm|Stroder}}, {{Sm|Jw}}, and {{Sm|Lea}} from seeing success with the character, and Greninja became a popular pick in competitive play, culminating in the character peaking at 10th in terms of representation between July and December 2019. Due to Greninja's buffs and its strong representation, it was considered an upper-high tier character in the early metagame.

This perception shifted following the end of the online metagame, especially as Greninja players began pointing out frustrating traits in the character's movesets, most notably inconsistencies in Greninja's multihit moves. Furthermore, Greninja's best players from before the pandemic either became less active, changed mains, or had worse performance: for example, Lea would go on hiatus in 2022, with mixed results in the events he has attended since, while Stroder would begin playing other characters over Greninja. Although Greninja still saw strong results from players such as {{Sm|Tarik}}, Greninja's overall representation would drop, bottoming out at 45th between January and June 2022. Greninja's lower representation and more apparent flaws led to a colder reception than in the early metagame, and as such, Greninja was ranked 33rd on the first tier list, towards the lower end of high tier.  

Following the release of the first list, Greninja's results would noticeably improve, thanks to Tarik's results remaining strong and the rise of many other Greninja players, including {{Sm|Tsuna}} and {{Sm|Anarchy}}, in their respective scenes. Continued efforts from dedicated mains prevented Greninja from dropping further, and he only slid down a spot to 34th on the second list, ranking towards the middle of B+ tier, with this drop mainly being the result of the meteoric rise of {{SSBU|Bayonetta}} and {{SSBU|Corrin}} from the first tier list. Overall, although less common than the early metagame, Greninja remains a rather viable pick in the post-online metagame.

**It also resembles {{SSB4|Fox}}'s character portrait from ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' but with the arm and leg positions mirrored.

*Greninja's down taunt has a unique property where it will seemingly be absorbed by counters without triggering the counterattack, even against grounded opponents despite the grounded hitboxes being standard hitboxes. This is because despite the grounded hitboxes being standard hitboxes that are counterable like any other hitbox, the aerial hitboxes actually take priority over the grounded hitboxes, and the aerial hitboxes are windboxes, which cannot trigger counters but will still be negated by them. Since counters respond to both grounded and aerial hitboxes, the game treats this interaction as a windbox connecting with a counter and completely ignores the regular hitboxes that hit grounded opponents.

**As Greninja's down taunt is the only attack in the game with direct windboxes that trigger hitlag for the user, this gives the unique appearance of the attack striking the counter but being negated.

**Strangely, this does not apply for {{SSBU|Snake}} and {{SSBU|Kazuya}}'s taunts that have damaging hitboxes

**Coincidentally, both are final evolutions of starter Pokémon and both have Dark as their secondary type.