Zelda (SSBU)/Up tilt

Hitbox visualization showing Zelda's up tilt.

Overview[edit]

Zelda waves her arm overhead with magic in a major arc at a moderate speed. It has large, moderately disjointed hitboxes that reach most platforms at their peak, and also hit all around her, making it an effective anti-air. Additionally, it has 13 active frames, making the move excellent at catching dodges and getups. It can catch landings directly, or punish neutral air dodges with moves like pivot grab and frame trap directional air dodges with dash attack.

The hitboxes launch mostly upward and slightly inward; the angle ranges from almost straight up (DI out) to up with a noticeable inward component (DI in). The most frequent hit frame will be the very first active one (frame 7). At very low percents, it can combo into jab or up special if the opponent does not have a fast enough escape option. At low percents, it can combo into itself and up smash, then into neutral aerial and Lightning Kick at mid percents.

Up tilt punishes a neutral ledge getup on one of its latest active frames, comboing into back air for a very early KO.

Its active frames comprise nearly half its duration, making it a remarkably low-lag move relative to its hit detection. Consequently, the later the move hits, the higher Zelda's frame advantage is. Turning around after a down air at mid percents for the back hit will improve up tilt’s extension potential, for instance. If the late frames are landed, the follow-up window will be very generous, and most notably it will be able to KO confirm into up aerial. On shield, it can be as low as -2, in which case Zelda can perform various mixups (such as an immediate back aerial, or back aerial out of shield) if opponents try to punish her without a fast enough option.

Zelda can exploit the low ending lag of up tilt by turning her back to the opponent before using it, either in a simple turnaround or from a pivot cancel. The nature of the move becomes reversed, leaving her more vulnerable to the opponent at the beginning, but better covering possible approaches in toward the end with minimal cooldown. As immediate front coverage is more so needed in close-quarters combat and certain combos, a reversed up tilt becomes a stronger option in many situations.

Among its few downsides, up tilt’s hitboxes are tied to her extended arm (which is vulnerable to being hit) and will only cover one area at a time. While the relative cooldown is low, the move per se is not spammable, as the overall frames (29) are still a moderate commitment. It also relies on the later frames for shield safety and its higher percent confirms. At high percents, it loses most of its reward; it will no longer combo into anything, yet simultaneously will not KO until very high percents.

Hitboxes[edit]

ID	Damage	Angle type	BK	KS	Radius	Bone	Offset	H×	SDI×	T%	Sound	Hit bits	Hit part
0	7.2%	Standard	45	110	5.5	armr	4.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All
1	7.2%	Standard	45	110	3.0	armr	1.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All
2	7.2%	Standard	45	110	3.0	shoulderr	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All