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.

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.

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''.