Editing Mario (SSBU)

Mario is currently ranked 22nd out of 82 characters on the [[tier list]], being in the A tier. This is a slight drop from his 9th out of 54 ranking in ''Smash 4'' where he stood at the lower end of top tier, despite not facing many changes during the transition. Much like his previous incarnation, Mario's greatest asset is his fast frame data; most of his moves have little startup lag and have relatively low end lag. This results in Mario being fairly difficult to [[punish]] relative to most of the cast. His combo game is quite flexible, as Mario can rack up damage quickly and reliably with a myriad of options to do so. In particular, his up aerial is one of the best [[juggling]] tools in the game, as the move can very easily chain into itself and can lead to near inescapable kill setups either on the top blast line or near the ledge. In addition, he also has a versatile moveset: a disruptive [[projectile]] in his [[Fireball]], a [[reflection]]-based and [[reverse]]-based move in his [[Cape]] that can counteract [[camping]], and a decent, if niche [[edgeguard]]ing option with [[F.L.U.D.D.]]

However, Mario also has some notable weaknesses. His moves have short range, with his hitboxes being relatively small and stubby when compared to the rest of the cast. This causes him to have difficulty against characters with long or disjointed range. Mario also suffers from a lack of consistent KO setups, due to having predictable, low range, and unsafe kill options at high percents, alongside his short frame and relative floatiness for a middleweight. He also struggles at KOing opponents in general, as he lacks any reliable finishers outside of his smash attacks: while his [[back throw]] is slow and vulnerable to [[DI]] and other moves like back aerial, down aerial and [[Super Jump Punch]] tend to be dependent on edgeguarding or being near the top of the [[blast line]] to KO. Mario’s recovery, while good, is still predictable due to [[Super Jump Punch]] only travelling a mere average distance. Lastly, Mario's average attributes do not allow him to quickly gain an advantage either, as the strengths of other characters can contest his, with the most notable being his overall range.

Overall, Mario's strengths outweigh his weaknesses, and he has seen strong results in competitive play thanks to the efforts of players such as {{Sm|Dark Wizzy}}, {{Sm|Kurama}}, and {{Sm|Snow|p=Japan}}.

Despite Mario's numerous strengths, he is not flawless. His attributes, while well-rounded, are not exactly exceptional, as many characters outclass him in various ways. Notable examples of this include {{SSBU|Pikachu}} having a more versatile edgeguarding game, {{SSBU|Luigi}} and {{SSBU|Kazuya}} having better combo potential, {{SSBU|Steve}} having a superior camping game, {{SSBU|Sonic}} having substantially faster mobility, {{SSBU|Bowser}} having significantly stronger attacks, {{SSBU|Snake}} and {{SSBU|Sora}} having a much more effective recovery, and {{SSBU|Shulk}} and {{SSBU|Min Min}} having drastically larger reach. In particular, the last one is his main weakness: his attacks generally possess relatively poor range.

His lack of reach (which was further worsened by the changes to his up-tilt and [[dash grab]]) prevents him from fighting at a safe distance, and consistently forces Mario to approach characters on his own. This leads to him having great difficulty against characters with large or [[disjointed]] range, particularly weapon users like {{SSBU|Lucina}} and {{SSBU|Cloud}}. While back air is Mario's most effective spacing tool, it too suffers from a mediocre range that limits its utility against disjointed attacks, and fireball, while an overall solid projectile, is slow and lacks [[transcendent priority]], which means it can easily be beaten by any attack with a large hitbox, making it mostly an unreliable tool for [[camping]]. While Mario's pressuring capabilities are formidable, his susceptibility to getting spaced out is among the worst in the game due to his moves possessing very stubby and small-sized hitboxes, this results in Mario having a lot of difficulty in approaching and getting his combo game started if his opponents space him properly, as even a character with a slightly disproportionate disjoint can severely limit his ability to get in. In such cases, he will often be forced to rely on reads and make good for what he has when he gets an opening.

Another notable weakness is that Mario can also have some difficulty scoring KOs, as he has few strong and reliable finishers and can have difficulty landing them, especially at high percents, which are further compounded by his short range, which limits his options. Outside of his forward and up smashes, none of his other KO moves are very reliable and consistently effective for doing what they're supposed to: his down smash can only KO reliably with its back hit and is unsafe on shield, Super Jump Punch can only KO at very high percentages or close to the blast zones, his back aerial has short range and is unsafe against disjoints, his down aerial has even shorter range and can sometimes have trouble connecting, his back throw is very slow and very susceptible to [[DI]], and his forward aerial is slow and must be sweetspotted (mid hit) in order to meteor smash, while the early hit and late hit (first and last active frame, respectively) have too much ending lag to be used as a combo extender while still being unreliable for killing due to their rather low knockback. Because of this, Mario tends to rely too much on his forward and up smashes or reads to score a KO, and his inconsistent KO potential is further worsened by the changes to rage, which hinders him more than other characters, as it doesn't increase knockback as much as in ''SSB4''. Since it also no longer affects set knockback, he can't use his Super Jump Punch’s connecting hits as a KO confirm at low percents anymore if he has high rage, similarly to {{SSBU|Samus}}'s [[Screw Attack]] and [[Peach Parasol]]. Because of this, he must keep his forward and up smashes fresh and be careful to not get predictable  especially with the existence of [[stale-move negation]]. While his forward and up smashes are considered among the best of their type, they have their flaws too: the former has noticeable endlag and a sourspot located on Mario's arm, which, while very difficult to hit with, outprioritizes the sweetspot and has rather mediocre power, while the latter has poor range in front of him, to the point where it will sometimes miss completely against short, crouching, or characters with hurtbox shifting properties.

Despite being known for his jumping ability (hence his original nickname, Jumpman), Mario's recovery is easy to gimp and is quite predictable. Despite his fast air speed and high double jump, Super Jump Punch, while fast and relatively safe, travels a merely average amount of distance altogether. This means that if Mario is knocked off stage without his double jump, he is extremely vulnerable to edgeguarding, and one hit could be all it takes to kill him. This also leaves Mario very vulnerable to semi-spikes, as they will likely launch him too far to recover at high percentages. Aside from Super Jump Punch, Mario has no other recovery options aside from utilizing [[Cape]]'s momentum stalling as a mix-up. Nevertheless, Super Jump Punch still offers a serviceable amount of recovery ability and can get the job done, should it be used properly.

 

 

Overall, Mario has many clear strengths and very few exploitable glaring weaknesses, resulting in said strengths outweighing said weaknesses. All in all, his above average mobility and largely reliable combo ability allows him to get the edge easily against most characters, as it is hard to escape from his wrath once he gets the advantage, while it is also easy for him to escape from his opponents’ wrath and regain the advantage. However, because of his low range, Mario must almost always fight in close quarters, and he often relies on [[read]]s to secure KOs. Mario has to be very careful off-stage as well inspite of his respectable edgeguarding game, as one exploit of his defenses can cause him to be unable to recover.

Mario has undergone a mixture of buffs and nerfs in his transition to ''Ultimate'', but despite being directly nerfed overall, the indirect changes to the game's engine drastically benefit his playstyle, and he has also received buffs to some of his underwhelming moves from his ''SSB4'' incarnation. As a result, it is difficult to determine if he was buffed or nerfed overall.

Mario has received a few direct noteworthy buffs. [[Fireball]] has reduced endlag, a slightly larger hitbox, and inflicts more hitlag on opponents, greatly improving its safety and follow-up potential. [[F.L.U.D.D.]] has reduced ending lag and a stronger pushback effect as a result of its increased set knockback, allowing Mario to disrupt and edgeguard opponents with it more effectively. As a result of his buffed specials, Mario's approach and already oppressive edgeguarding ability have been improved. A few of his standard attacks have received buffs as well; [[forward tilt]] is much more effective as a spacing option due to its higher base knockback, lower ending lag, and the increased [[shieldstun]] for [[tilt attack]]s. Additionally, his [[down aerial]] connects more reliably than before and deals increased damage and knockback, improving its damage-racking capabilities and KO potential. [[Forward smash]] also deals consistent damage across all angles, and when angled up or down, has increased knockback scaling, slightly improving its already impressive KO potential even further.

However, Mario has also received noteworthy nerfs. A notable detriment to his toolkit is the universal nerfing of [[grab]]s; while his throws' excellent utility and his potentially devastating throw combos from ''SSB4'' remain, the increased startup on his dash and pivot grabs, the increased ending lag of all of his grabs and the reduced range on his dash grab make it harder for Mario to make use of his potent grab game. Furthermore, his neutral game, while still solid, has been toned down due to changes to some of his best moves. For example, his [[up tilt]], one of his most pivotal moves, has an altered animation, causing the move's initial hitbox to be positioned higher above the ground while worsening its horizontal range; this not only further exacerbates his already bad range, but also significantly hinders the move's use as a reliable follow-up from his [[down throw]] at any percent against most characters, worsening both the move's combo potential and Mario's overall punish ability, as up tilt was considered to his most effective damage racking option. This is partially compensated by up throw's improved combo potential at low percents, however. His [[dash attack]], while it can still serve as a [[2 frame punish]] at the edge, is no longer capable of [[stage spike|stage spiking]] off-stage opponents, due to its late hit's knockback angle being altered to send opponents away from Mario rather than towards him; additionally, the move's new animation gives him less protection overall. Additionally, the increased knockback on his forward tilt causes the move to lose its locking potential. On top of this, [[Super Jump Punch]] sweetspots edges three frames later, to the point of causing Mario to land on the stage and become much more vulnerable if he does not use it from a far enough distance; additionally, due to the changes to [[rage]], it is much less effective for taking out stocks off the upper [[blast line]] below high percents. Finally, the changes to air dodging are a double-edged sword for Mario; while this makes Mario more effective at edgeguarding his opponents, it is conversely also easier for his opponents to edgeguard as a result.

Overall, Mario retains all of his strengths from ''SSB4'', with his extreme combo and edgeguarding abilities benefiting well from the reworked mechanics despite the nerfs to his moves, though he now possesses a slightly worsened disadvantage state to go with it. His playstyle is fundamentally different due to ''Ultimate''{{'}}s reworked mechanics, requiring players to utilize different strategies in order to achieve the same level of effectiveness that his previous incarnation was capable of. Combined with the higher playstyle diversity among the cast, this results in a slightly higher learning curve and cerebral curve. In short, despite his changes, Mario performs similarly effective as in ''SSB4'', remaining a good choice at all levels of play in ''Ultimate''.

|utiltdesc=A spinning uppercut. Effective for comboing into itself at low percents, and into aerial attacks from mid to high percents; however, the former combo can be escaped with the proper combination of [[DI]] and [[SDI]], and can be punished on hit at very low percents. Unlike in ''SSB4'', the move's altered animation results in the hitbox being positioned fairly high to the ground on the first frame it is active, creating a blind spot and making it fairly difficult or even impossible to hit shorter or crouching characters with the move. It vaguely resembles the second hit of the [[mariowiki:List of weapons in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars|Mega Glove]]'s combo from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars}}''. KOs at 160%.

|fsmashdesc=A palm thrust that produces a small explosion. Though it is Mario's slowest ground attack, coming out on frame 15, it is among the quicker forward smashes and considered among the best in the game for several reasons: It is Mario's most powerful KO move when sweet spotted, KOing as low as 65% by the ledge and 90% center stage, the fireball itself is disjointed, can be angled downwards or upwards to hit ledge hangs, and the start-up animation has Mario pull back his hurtbox deceptively far, inadvertently allowing him to avoid several attacks. However, the sweet spot is out prioritized by the sour spot, necessitating good spacing to land.

|usmashdesc=An upward arcing headbutt. One of Mario's most reliable KO options, being able to KO most middleweights at around 120%. Its quick startup at frame 9 makes it a useful out of shield option, as well as being difficult to react to if the opponent is within its range. His head is intangible while its hitboxes are active, giving it pseudo-disjointed range. Its hitboxes reach behind Mario a good distance but do not reach as far in front of him, thus having trouble hitting short or crouching opponents in front of him. It has very fast interruptibility for its strength, at frame 40, and its damage output is also just enough to make it difficult for most characters to punish out of shield.

|dsmashdesc=A breakdancing variation of the {{s|mariowiki|Sweep Kick}} from ''Super Mario 64''. It hits in front of and behind Mario, and both hits [[semi-spike]] opponents, though the front hit is rather weak in comparison to the back hit. Mario's fastest smash attack, coming out as fast as all his tilts. Also capable of hitting ledge hangs. The first hit KOs at 153%, whereas the second KOs at 126%.

|fairdesc=An {{iw|wikipedia|overhand|boxing}}. When hit clean, it is a [[meteor smash]] with enough knockback to KO under 45% offstage and has deceptively high combo potential. It has the slowest startup of his standard moveset (frame 16), high ending lag, and is Mario's only aerial that doesn't autocancel in a short hop. Other than lacking combo potential, the early and late hits are too weak to KO reliably unless near the ledge.

|bairdesc=A {{s|wikipedia|dropkick}}. Has fast startup with low ending and landing lag, and more range than most of Mario's other aerials, making it an effective [[spacing]] tool and horizontal combo extender at low percents, as well as having the ability to pseudo [[Wall of Pain]] off stage. Also capable of KOing at higher percents near the ledge, and can be used twice in a short hop, or with neutral, up and down airs.

|pummeldesc=A headbutt. Average power and speed.

|fthrowdesc=Spins the opponent around once and throws them forward. Can be followed up with dash attack at lower percents, or be used to set up tech situations and mixups, or edge guards. It can KO at around 200% at the ledge. It is based on the throw that he uses against [[Bowser]] in ''Super Mario 64''.

|dash      = 1.936

|rdash      = 38-42

|run        = 1.76

|rrun      = 37-40

|baseaccel  = 0.01

|addaccel  = 0.07

|[[File:Mario Cheer English SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Mario Cheer Japanese SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Mario Cheer Italian SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Mario Cheer Dutch SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Mario Cheer French NTSC SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Mario Cheer French PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]

|[[File:Mario Cheer German SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Mario Cheer Spanish NTSC SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Mario Cheer Spanish PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Mario Cheer Russian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Mario Cheer Korean SSBU.ogg|center]]

*{{Sm|Dark Wizzy|USA}} - One of the best Mario players of all-time and was the uncontested best from the second half of 2019 to the start of the online metagame due to his streak of top 8s at majors around that time.  

*{{Sm|Kurama|USA}} - The best Mario player of all-time who was the uncontested best from mid-2022 to early 2024. He was ranked as high as 11th on the [[UltRank 2022]]. His runner-up placement at {{Trn|Port Priority 7}} and 3rd placement at the {{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational}} remain his best performances.

*{{Sm|Lui$|USA}} - Although more known for his {{SSBU|Fox}} in the early metagame, he also co-mained Mario, using the character to place 7th at the supermajor {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2019}} and 17th at the supermajor {{Trn|Glitch 7 - Minus World}}. He dropped both characters during the online metagame in favor of {{SSBU|Palutena}}.

*{{Sm|Snow|Japan|p=Japan}} - Began competing offline in mid-2022 and eventually became the best Mario player in Japan in 2023, with his best runs during this time including placing 2nd at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22"}} and 5th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 14}}. He also eventually became the best Mario player in the world in 2024 and one of the best Mario players of all-time. He has placed in the top 8 of Premier tournaments, getting Mario's best performance of the year with his 3rd place at {{Trn|Umebura SP 11}}, and he also defeated most of the top 5 players of the season, including {{Sm|acola}}, {{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}, {{Sm|Sonix}}, and {{Sm|Hurt}}.

Fortunately, Mario's representation saw a rebound in 2022 thanks to Mario's best players remaining dedicated to the character. For one, Prodigy, now going by Kurama, began seeing a streak of strong performances on-par with what Dark Wizzy had pre-pandemic. In addition, although he never regained his former glory, Dark Wizzy still saw strong performances once in a while. Finally, new Mario players began making their marks on the scene, most notably {{Sm|Nao|p=Hokkaido}} and {{Sm|Snow|p=Japan}} in Japan. These positive results helped reverse Mario's declining representation in the metagame as well as opinions on the character. As it stands, Mario is ranked 22nd on the current tier list solidifying his status as a viable high tier, with some players arguing he should be considered a top tier.

|4||{{CharHead|Squirtle|SSBU|hsize=20px}}, {{CharHead|Ivysaur|SSBU|hsize=20px}}, {{CharHead|Charizard|SSBU|hsize=20px}}, and {{CharHead|Pikachu|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Pokémon Stadium]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Pokémon|Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Blue (Brawl)}}''||Horde Battle (2 at a time). {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}} is absent.

|6||{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Larry}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Morton}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Wendy}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Iggy}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Roy}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Lemmy}}{{Head|Bowser Jr.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Ludwig}} [[Bowser Jr. (SSBU)|Koopalings]] and {{CharHead|Bowser Jr.|SSBU|hsize=20px}} ||[[Princess Peach's Castle]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Super Mario Bros.|Fortress Boss - Super Mario Bros. 3}}''||Horde Battle (3 at a time).<br>The Koopalings are fought in the order they are fought in their debut of ''Super Mario Bros. 3''.

Mario's default fighter spirit can be obtained by completing {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} as Mario. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold. Unlocking Mario in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His Builder and Wedding outfits have fighter spirits of their own, available through the shop, and in the Wedding outfit's case, can be obtained by scanning the Wedding Mario amiibo or by completing a challenge (Games & More: ''As Luigi, play solo All-Star Smash and deal damage with a taunt 3 times''). Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in ''Ultimate''.

SSBU spirit Goo-Goo Buggy.png|81. Goo-Goo Buggy

Link Kirby Mario and Cloud artwork.png|Link, Kirby, Mario and Cloud artwork, as posted by Tetsuya Nomura's official Twitter account.

Sora Trailer.png|Shaking {{SSBU|Sora}}'s hand in his reveal trailer.

SSBUWebsiteOlimar2.jpg|With {{SSBU|Olimar}}, {{SSBU|Pac-Man}} and {{SSBU|Sonic}} on [[Gaur Plain]].