Editing Sheik (SSBU)

Like most top tier characters, Sheik in ''SSB4'' was considered one of the most potent characters (and the best character in the middle of the game's lifetime), due to her nearly uncontested [[neutral game]]. Sheik went on to receive the most nerfs from game updates, and while they did somewhat reduce her effectiveness, she remained a top tier character. Possibly as a result, while Sheik has received a large mix of buffs and nerfs, the latter is more prevalent since they have worsened her strengths while amplifying her weaknesses from the previous game. Thus, Sheik has been greatly nerfed overall in her transition to ''Ultimate'', although buffs from game updates have remedied this to a degree.

Sheik's most notable nerfs are to her already weak damage output and to her poor survivability. Her main combo moves like her [[tilt]]s and neutral and forward aerials (most notably the latter), in addition to Needle Storm and Bouncing Fish, all deal less damage. This gives Sheik a notoriously harder time racking up damage, requiring her to string much more hits just to deal any noticeable damage; this is exacerbated by her lack of KO ability. Although the weakening of [[rage]] has slightly improved her endurance and, most importantly, her combo consistency, this is counterbalanced by her weight lowering to the point of being the sixth lightest character in the game (which makes her lighter than small characters such as {{SSBU|Kirby}} and {{SSBU|Pikachu}}) while also worsening her already lackluster KO potential. As a result, Sheik is unable to take significant advantage of rage, much like in ''SSB4''.

The universal changes to the game's engine have brought both positive and negative changes to Sheik, but have hurt her overall. The game's faster launch physics, changes to jostling mechanics (which prevent cross-ups and instead pushes characters away), and the reintroduction of directional air dodges hinder many of Sheik's combo strings and KO set-ups. Furthermore, the prevalence of the newly introduced [[short hop]] multiplier on aerial attacks (which causes them to deal less damage) means Sheik doesn't benefit as much from the new [[1v1 multiplier]] as the rest of the cast due to her semi-reliance on aerials done out of a short hop; this, combined with the lower damage on her combo moves, further exacerbates her worsened damage racking ability. While Sheik does benefit from the universally faster [[jump]]squats, mobility and lower [[landing lag]] like the rest of the cast, she already had highly impressive mobility and the overall fastest frame data in ''SSB4'', which causes the rest of the cast to benefit more than her from their buffs in those aspects, allowing them to keep up with her.

However, Sheik has received some useful buffs besides the universal changes. Her dashing speed has increased even further, and is now among the top 5 fastest among the cast. Her [[neutral infinite]] connects more reliably and has less ending lag, making it more consistent for damage racking despite its individual hits dealing less damage. Her up tilt, down tilt and Needle Storm (especially the aerial version) also have less ending lag, improving their combo potential.

Sheik's generally least useful moves in ''SSB4'', such as her dash attack, down smash, down aerial and up throw, each deal more damage and/or knockback. Her smash attacks as a whole have also been buffed, with forward smash and down smash's hits connecting more reliably, and up smash's first hit having more power and slightly more range. [[Burst Grenade]] has less ending lag and no longer causes [[helpless]]ness, while [[Vanish]] grants more intangibility when used on the ground. Sheik has a new [[pummel]] that has gone from one of the slowest to one of the fastest, allowing it to be used more safely and rack up more damage. Finally, and most notably, her [[back aerial]] now deals more damage and knockback, improving its previously lacking KO potential when sweet spotted (though it is still a relatively weak aerial).

In the end, Sheik's nerfs noticeably outweigh her buffs, as the former have both worsened her key strengths and exacerbated her main flaws, while the latter was not significant enough to compensate despite giving her more consistent options. This makes her worse than her ''Smash 4'' iteration, and one of the most nerfed characters in the transition to ''Ultimate''.