Sephiroth (SSBU)/Neutral aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Sephiroth's neutral aerial.

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Overview[edit]

Sephiroth snaps his fingers, causing a burst of dark energy around himself. Being among the faster moves on Sephiroth's moveset, this is one of his most important moves as it fulfills a number of roles. Firstly, its range all around him and its relative speed compared to his other out of shield options such as up smash and shield grab makes it one of his only viable offensive options against shield pressure. Its low landing lag makes it both quite safe to use on opponents shields and a potent move for setting up combos; notably, it combos into itself, forward aerial and back aerial, with the former working at very low percentages and the latter two for a surprisingly long time, typically until the opponent reaches high damage. Its confirm into back aerial is especially dangerous near the ledge, being able to kill as early as 40% depending on the opponent’s weight and directional influence.

A few noteworthy drawbacks are its start-up and lower disjoint compared to many of Sephiroth’s other moves. While the hitbox consists of a large circle covering Sephiroth's character model, it only lasts for 2 frames, and due to its frequent use in Sephiroth's neutral, it runs a higher risk of staling from overuse, causing it to become slightly less safe on shield. Furthermore, while it is his fastest option out of shield, it is still frame 12 when buffered out of a short hop, limiting its use as an immediate counterattack after blocking an opponents move.