Editing Ice Climbers (SSBU)

The Ice Climbers are ranked 51st out of 82 on the tier list, putting them at the top of the C+ tier. This is a huge drop from their 2nd out of 38 ranking in ''Brawl'', and their worst placement in the series. The Ice Climbers serve as an unconventional close-quarters combat character due to their tag-team mechanic, which allows the duo to get away with certain unfavorable situations since the partner climber causes hitlag upon shielding or taking an attack. With proper execution, they possess some of the highest damage outputs of the entire cast in terms of both raw power and combo abilities, alongside solid frame data which allows them to take on an aggressive playstyle in spite of their poor mobility. The Climbers themselves aren't too susceptible to combos due to their short stature and low falling speed, while the partner climber is capable of disrupting combo attempts by their opponent. These advantages grant the Ice Climbers a formidable advantage state and punish game, as one mistake has the potential to lead to heavy damage or a [[zero-to-death combo]], while also making their disadvantage state difficult to capitalize on if their opponent is unable to KO the partner climber quickly.

 

Despite all their strengths, the Ice Climbers have glaring flaws, mainly coming from the vulnerability of the partner Ice Climber and the loss of a few important tools between the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Ultimate''. Universal changes to prevent [[chain-grab]]bing make cheesing opponents much harder, especially since the partner climber cheers while the main climber throws an opponent. The partner climber was also made to panic when their leader is grabbed, making previously near-guaranteed grab escapes far less reliable. While they boast significant damage output and KO potential, it becomes heavily diminished if the partner is KO'd. This is not an uncommon occurrence, either, since they take 1.02× more damage and knockback and deprioritize most attempts to defend themselves if separated. Their main recovery methods, Belay and Squall Hammer, are also drastically weakened if the partner is KO'd during the stock, to the point that Squall Hammer no longer provides any height and Belay becomes nearly useless. With these handicaps on the table, defending the partner climber is essential to the character's success. It is also notoriously difficult to use the duo at their strongest, as their most formidable [[advanced technique]]s, such as [[Desynching]], require high technical skill and are difficult to perform consistently. Finally, the climbers have some innate issues such as a lack of range and an aforementioned low approach speed, alongside a mediocre out of shield game without the help of a partner.

 

Overall, the Ice Climbers have many unique advantages possessed by no other character, with an extremely high skill ceiling, many advanced techniques and potentially high payout; however, the loss of their most abusable tricks from previous games and the technical skill required to perform optimally with them have led to very low usage rates and representation at top-level play. Nonetheless, they are still a viable character and have seen some strong results thanks to the efforts of {{Sm|Big D}}.

The Ice Climbers are a pair of [[weight|middleweight]]s (weighing 92 units, the same as {{SSBU|Lucario}}, {{SSBU|Wolf}}, {{SSBU|Villager}}, {{SSBU|Mythra}}, and {{SSBU|Steve}}), with small bodies, above average [[jump]]s, below average [[air speed]] and [[air acceleration]], low [[gravity]], and slow [[falling speed]]. Unique to a majority of the roster, they are the archetypical tag team fighters, though each Climber is a unique character in their own right. The partner (Nana by default) is controlled by a CPU and mimics what the leader (Popo by default) does with a six frame delay. As such, the player is essentially controlling two characters at the same time with slight tweaks; the partner has slightly higher mobility attributes, deals less damage, receives more damage, and is knocked back farther than the leader. When separated, the partner's AI takes control over their movement, and guides them back to the leader, ignoring most opponents in their path. While one Ice Climber deals underwhelming damage on their own, the two's power combined can make them very formidable.

Most of the Ice Climbers' grounded moveset is fairly quick and disjointed, allowing for versatile use. Their [[forward tilt]] has impressive knockback growth, and can 2-frame and KO fellow middleweights at about 135%. [[Up tilt]] is short ranged, but one of the Ice Climbers' most useful moves, hitting multiple times with low knockback and dealing excellent damage. It also allows for a direct chain into a series of [[up aerial]]s until about 115%, making it paramount in initiating combos and kill confirms. [[Down tilt]] is one of their quickest grounded moves, acting as a strong semi-spike at high percentages, and making follow-ups into tech-chases or edgeguards very easy. Dash attack sends opponents above the leader for quick transitions into aerials or desynced combos similarly to up tilt. However, it has very low knockback growth, making it only useful in starting combos.

Complementing their tilts, the Ice Climbers' [[smash attacks]] are also very useful and excellent KO options. [[Forward smash]] is the duo's strongest smash, dealing impressive damage despite its quick speed, and respectable knockback even at lower percentages, reliably KOing at about 70% at edge of the stage. [[Up smash]] is similarly powerful, but is slower in its start-up and ending. It hits in a wide area directly above the Ice Climbers, and can KO at about 120%. [[Down smash]] is the fastest but also the weakest of the duo's smash attacks. Each Climber swings in one direction, and can even catch large targets with both hits, but if only the leader is currently on stage, they become vulnerable to rolls due to the lack of a hitbox from behind.

The Ice Climbers' aerials are all strong options and are the basis of most of their combos. [[Neutral aerial]] has weak knockback, but is also quick to start, very safe, fairly damaging, and has a long-lasting hitbox, making it a threatening combo and [[gimp]]ing tool. [[Forward aerial]] is an overhead swing, which is slow and deceptively inactive, but deals immense damage and is the safest air attack in the game. The partner's version of the move has a sweetspot with a very strong spike that can net a KO impressively early offstage, and acts as the Ice Climbers' deadliest [[edgeguard]]ing tool. [[Back aerial]] is an exceedingly useful move for its high speed, incredible safety, and staggering power. Up aerial is one of their best moves for a variety of scenarios. The move has excellent combo and juggling capabilities at low percent, and KOs most opponents at around 110-125% when used out of a [[down throw]]. [[Down aerial]] is a [[stall-then-fall]] that while risky to use, has respectable payoff for landing both on or off the stage, and even offers some combo potential.

The Ice Climbers' [[special]]s all have versatile uses. [[Neutral special]] has the duo each create a slab of ice that slides across the stage, shrinking as they melt. Unlike most projectiles, the ice acts more like a [[container]] or [[soccer ball]] in that the incoming projectile is completely tangible, tanking opposing projectiles even as strong as a Shadow Ball or Charge Beam. This allows the Ice Climbers to counter some projectile spam playstyles more easily. It can also freeze opponents, but not within realistic percents. If attacked with a strong enough attack, the projectile's ownership may change, allowing it to harm the Ice Climbers if collided with. When desynced, the duo can launch 1 Ice Shot at a time and in rapid successsion, making for a very dangerous edgeguard and even a frustrating zoning tool in certain matchups. Their [[side special]], [[Squall Hammer]], is a very respectable move for racking up damage and is relatively safe on shield due to the burst of movement during the final swing. With continued presses, the attack can also be used for recovery purposes, which puts them into a [[helpless]] state. It is also one of the easiest desync methods available to the player. [[Up special]], [[Belay]], covers an excellent distance, the partner Climber is completely intangible until pulling up the leader, and auto-grabs any ledges within range. They also have a situational, but strong hitbox on the way up, allowing for a risky combo finisher or anti-air, or a means to punish edgeguard attempts by opponents. Finally, down special, [[Blizzard]], is a long-lasting ledgetrap and combo extender that freezes opponents in their tracks and deals huge amounts of damage at point blank range. Using the attack while an enemy is already frozen increases the freeze time slightly and can allow the duo to make space between them and their opponent if need be, or tack on extra damage while frozen. Specifically, this move is very useful when near the ledge, as it can cover most ledge getup options and freezing an opponent near the edges of a stage can make it easy to nudge them off without any means to escape. It also has priority over some other projectiles and can cancel them if the two collide. Overall, the duo's specials are all useful in various situations and can help to create openings for additional combos or surprise KOs.

An important part of playing Ice Climbers is learning how to consistently perform a tech called [[desyncing]]. Desyncing is an advanced technique that allows a player to manipulate the partner Ice Climber into acting with different timing than usual. At its most basic form, anytime the partner Ice Climber is not within a specific range of the leader, the partner's AI will take manual control of the partner and return it to the leader. During this time, none of the leader's inputs are read by the partner and its AI inputs are prioritized until it has returned to the leader, and may act independently of the leader's current movements being performed. Using desyncs can allow for some remarkable combos and setups that are completely impossible with other fighters.

The removal of [[chain grab]]s (and by extension, [[wobbling]]) means that the duo's [[grab]] game has become more situational and in-line with the rest of the roster, limiting its effectiveness. However, while it is not as potent as it once was, the Ice Climbers' grab game is still respectable. The Ice Climbers' grab itself has been vastly changed. For starters, only the leader grabs opponents, while the partner cheers. This means that the duo can no longer grab more than one opponent at a time. Additionally, the Ice Climbers' grab has the shortest range of any grab in the game, making it difficult to grab an opponent in the first place. [[Forward throw]] is a basic throw that has moderately strong base knockback and causes [[tumble]] from 0%. But its knockback growth is far too low to KO at realistic percents. Back throw also has strong base knockback with little growth, with less damage and a higher launch angle. [[Up throw]] continues this trend to an extreme degree, with virtually nonexistent knockback scaling but very high base knockback—high enough to take stocks at very low percentages or from light and floaty characters if used on a high enough platform on a stage such as [[Palutena's Temple]]. [[Down throw]] is by far the duo's best throw. Its main use is to initiate aerial combos, desync combos, and juggles, all of which can be devastating. Most of the Ice Climbers' aerials can be used for combos out of down throw, and the opponent's placement in air can make it difficult for them to escape from a combo once it has been started, especially if desynced. While all of their throws (except down throw) are normally subpar at best, any of them can be used to hold an opponent in place for a free hit when desynced.

Barring their situational projectile from Ice Shot, the Ice Climbers have no reliable projectile and can be easily camped out or their projectiles turned against them. The range of their moves is not great—despite being disjointed, their hammers' range can still come up short and can make for some bad matchups, such as {{SSBU|Mythra}} or {{SSBU|Sephiroth}}. Arguably, the changes that hurt the Ice Climbers most are the changes to grab mechanics in ''Ultimate''. The added period of grab intangibility between grabs and the partner's lack of a grab makes the Ice Climbers' previously most potent tool, chain grabbing, nearly impossible. This significantly impedes their cheesing ability compared to ''Brawl'' or ''Melee'' and makes getting a stock off of a single grab much harder. Desyncing in itself can also have its own drawbacks. An accidental desync off of up tilt or down throw may make it more difficult to follow-up with the duo's combos, or can even cause the partner's attack to miss entirely, hindering the duo's damage-racking capabilities. Desyncing can also leave the partner Ice Climber vulnerable because of the inconsistent reaction time between the leader and the partner; abilities such as [[dodging]], and jumping can be significantly delayed, giving the opponent time to counterattack if properly read. They also retain most of the flaws that plagued them in ''Brawl'' and ''Melee'', such as the difficulty in keeping the partner alive, severe handicaps when the partner is gone, sluggish aerial mobility, and susceptibility to camping, with the former issue being further pronounced as well.

Overall, the Ice Climbers can be intimidating and difficult to understand for new players, and combined with their subpar mobility and severe handicaps when the partner is lost are also considerable barriers of entry. However, learning the quirks of the pair, especially desyncing, can open an incredibly potent and powerful game plan. This includes long and relatively free-form combos, many being zero-to-death options—some even being true—as well as other unique setups and mix-ups that very few characters have any proper answers for.

The Ice Climbers were previously infamous for having some of (if not) the most powerful damage racking capabilities thanks to [[wobbling]] in ''Melee'' and handoffs in ''Brawl'', with these even allowing them to achieve a KO from them. Most likely owing to this, the Ice Climbers were drastically nerfed in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Ultimate''.

The Ice Climbers' grab game was impacted the most; the partner climber can no longer grab the opponent or act when the leader is grabbed or throwing someone (except when in the air). This dramatically changes the way their combo game works, as it removes the Climbers' extremely powerful chain grabs they were capable of, instead forcing them to rely on [[desynching]] or bread-and-butter strings in order to combo the opponent. Moreover, the leader's grabs have noticeably more startup and ending lag, and much less range, now being the shortest grabs in the game.

Overall, the Ice Climbers are significantly less effective than in ''Brawl''. Their learning curve has become much more steep, as the removal of chaingrabbing and weakening of miscellaneous moves forces them to rely on desynching to perform at full capacity. Even with the changes to game mechanics and late game updates giving them multiple benefits, the Ice Climbers perform worse than in ''Brawl'', and are by far the most nerfed characters in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Ultimate''.

|ftiltdesc=The Ice Climbers swing their hammers horizontally. Has high knockback growth, being able to KO at around 120%-130% at the ledge.

|dashdesc=The Ice Climbers leap forward, swinging their hammers in front of themselves. It deals mostly vertical knockback that can start combos, but has weak knockback growth and is ineffective for KOing.

|bairdesc=The Ice Climbers swing their hammers horizontally behind themselves. Both hits are extremely safe, being 0 on shield with both, and even -3 even with just 1 Climber.

|uairdesc=The Ice Climbers swing their hammers above themselves in an arc. An excellent juggle tool that can quickly rack up damage both synced and desynced, and can even function as a kill confirm from down throw at around 115% on most characters.

|dairdesc=The Ice Climbers hold their hammers below themselves and fall downward. A [[stall-then-fall]], though with a slower traveling speed that is also unable to [[meteor smash]], unlike most attacks of its kind. The hitbox covers most of the Ice Climber's body, making it good for punishing opponents who attempt to juggle. As a result, it is usually used as a niche landing option.

|grabdesc=The leader moves their mallet aside and reaches out with their dominant hand. Their grab range is the shortest in the game.

|pummeldesc=A headbutt. Fast but weak. The partner takes no action at all.

|fthrowdesc=The leader knocks the opponent away with their hammer in a motion similar to a golf club.

|dthrowdesc=The leader lifts the opponent over their head with both hands and slams them on the ground. The Ice Climbers' only throw with even remotely noteworthy KO potential, it can KO middleweights at around 214% on Final Destination. It is also effective for starting combos, especially when desynced.

|nsdesc=Each Ice Climber summons a small stalagmite of ice and hits it with their hammer, causing it to slide along the ground, gradually shrinking as it travels. It bounces off walls and shields. If attacked by an opponent, the ice rebounds and will hurt the Ice Climbers if they touch it. The ice can freeze opponents at extremely high percents. The first midair use will pop the Ice Climbers up slightly.

|ssdesc=The Ice Climbers stand back-to-back while spinning around an axis with their hammers outstretched, hitting opponents multiple times. The attack is concluded with them swinging their hammers upward, which launches opponents away. By repeatedly tapping the special move button, the Ice Climbers will rise in the air, allowing them to recover. This, however, also renders them [[helpless]]. If only one Climber is present, the move deals less damage and knockback, and won't provide vertical gain. It's one of the easiest moves to use as a method to begin desyncs, and can trap opponents between each Ice Climber once a desync is achieved.

|usdesc=The leading Ice Climber throws the partner the air with a rope. The partner then pulls the leader upwards. If there is a nearby edge, the partner will target it, and then proceed to pull the leader to the ledge as well. While rising, the partner is invincible, allowing for a safe recovery for both Ice Climbers; additionally, the partner Ice Climber possesses a hitbox that deals powerful vertical knockback, though it is risky to use as an attack due to its narrow and mostly vertical reach. Without a partner, the move will grant next to no distance. Each Ice Climber becomes [[helpless]] after the move is used.

|fsdesc=The Ice Climbers summon a rotating iceberg to rise up from the center of the stage. For the duration of the Final Smash, it can be moved left and right. The range of how far it can move is shown by the mist. The iceberg deals damage to opponents who touch it: the closer they are towards the top, the more damage they take. Towards the base of the iceberg is a Polar Bear, which has high launching power. A Condor also appears, flying above, which the Ice Climbers can grab onto. This allows the iceberg to be more easily controlled without worry of self destruction, although the partner will be at risk of potentially being pushed offstage if they fail to grab it. Upon ending, the iceberg will lower itself, and the Condor will fly off to the side of the stage, leaving behind any hitchhiking fighters.

Prior to ''Ultimate''{{'}}s release, players were quick to find that the Ice Climbers lost their most devastating attributes from ''Brawl'' and ''Melee'': Their infamous [[zero-to-death]] [[chain grab]]s, [[wobbling]] and handoffs, were either heavily impaired or altogether removed due the changes to gameplay-based mechanics during the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Ultimate''. This caused players to believe that the Ice Climbers wouldn't be viable, a sentiment that would hold on throughout the early metagame.

Upon ''Ultimate''{{'}}s release, the Ice Climbers' competitive perception, which was estimated to be poor, dwindled even further, as their retained weakness were more detrimental than expected. The difficulty of maintaining both climbers in a single stock, their steep learning curve, unimpressive endurance, slow aerial mobility, vulnerability to [[camping]], on top of the removal of several quirky combos and zero-to-deaths from previous installments. As such, the Ice Climbers’ representation was minuscule, and all the players who mained the duo in ''Brawl'' completely dropped them in favor of other characters. As a result, they were widely perceived to be either low or bottom-tier.

But a few months after release, the duo's playerbase and competitive scene started to make surprising breakthroughs: with the few that stuck with them discovering new [[desynching]] setups and combos, as well as new zero-to-deaths off of desyncs. In turn, players such as {{Sm|Big D}}, {{Sm|Kie}}, {{Sm|murasat}}, {{Sm|Daiki}} and {{Sm|????}} have picked up the duo and garnered excellent results in tournaments using the duo. Big D, in particular, mastered the duo enough to the point that the Ice Climbers can beat almost every match-up across the board once their desynced zero-to-deaths have been pulled off. As a result, the Ice Climbers' improving results have gradually softened the community's perception on the duo, ranking 56th on the first tier list, and impressive performances from dedicated players led to them rising up to 51st on the second tier list, with the general consensus believing that the Ice Climbers are either upper mid-tier or high-tier at least, similar to their ''Melee'' selves, and a notable improvement compared to their initial low-tier status. Overall, the Ice Climbers remain as characters that should not be underestimated, even without the infamously strong powers of their previous iterations.