King K. Rool (SSBU)/Back throw

King K. Rool back throw hurtbox visualization

Overview

King K. Rool's back throw is one of his more violent attacks, having him drag the opponent across the floor before throwing them back. While it was considered to be one of King K. Rool's worst moves prior to 8.0.0, said version has made it a far more respectable move.

Back throw's main purpose is as a strong kill throw, KOing at around 110%. With rage in play, the KO percentages become very low, which is backed by K. Rool's amazing longevity. Back throw can also be used to start ledgetrap situations from a reversal. This option is generally considered decent if K. Rool is backed into a corner. This is generally seen as the best use for the move, especially considering that with Rage, the move can KO below 100%. Given K. Rool's usually mediocre disadvantage state, this is crucial to his success.

If the opponent is at a high percentage, back throw's brutal 35° angle can make recovery difficult. As a result, this sets up for very easy edgeguards with neutral aerial. This angle can also put characters such as Roy in very disadvantageous situations offstage, often forcing them to burn a jump to even have a chance of recovering. As a result, back throw can effectively invalidate some characters offstage, with characters such as Little Mac and Corrin having no hope unless they DI perfectly.

Using back throw as a platform tech situation option is a valid play, though only at very precise percentages, usually around 30%. Against opponents with large hurtboxes, this can have a slightly higher percent range, giving it more niche matchup utility. This can be abused in a similar vein to forward throw: getting situations for forward aerial or Crownerang. This is a good surprise option, but is also very reactable due to how long the animation of the move is. As such, this is not often seen in high level play. The knockback angle in 8.0.0 has also made it a bit more DI-specific, making it even less useful.

Back throw can be used for damage building alongside a returning Crownerang from behind, but this is rarely seen due to the setup required: the crown has to be thrown either backwards, or a lot has to happen within a single second. Due to the length of time it takes for the throw to happen as well, it's possible for back throw to cause a Crown Cancel instead, due to it entering the Crown Catch Range. On top of all this, it deals just barely more damage than up throw, just around 2%. The endlag also makes situations afterwards less than favorable. Overall, this is largely seen as suboptimal.

Update History

8.0.0

• Back throw launches at a lower angle (45° → 35°), allowing it to KO around 20% earlier.

Throw Data

Kind	ID	Damage	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	H×	Effect	Type	Sound
Throw
Throw	0	11.0%		Forward	70	56	0	0.0×			None
Break	0	3.0%		Forward	40	100	0	0.0×			None

Timing

Invincibility	1-32
Turnaround	32
Throw release	32
Interruptible	63
Animation length	77

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Vulnerable

Invincible

State change

Throw point

Interruptible

King K. Rool's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · 3) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack · Edge getups
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash