Sephiroth (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Sephiroth is a tall, [[lightweight]] fighter, tied with {{SSBU|Kirby}}, {{SSBU|Mewtwo}}, {{SSBU|Pikachu}} and {{SSBU|Olimar}} as the 7th [[Weight|lightest]] in the game. He has the 14th slowest [[walk]]ing speed, yet his [[dash]]ing speed and [[traction]] are both above-average, with the former being marginally faster than {{SSBU|Hero}}'s. Despite his height, Sephiroth's [[crouch]] is deceptively low. In the air, Sephiroth's overall [[jump]]ing force and [[air acceleration]] are both average, he has slow [[air speed]] and below-average [[air friction]], and yet he has the 11th fastest [[falling speed]] and above-average [[gravity]]. Notably, Sephiroth's short hop is tied with {{SSBU|Steve}}'s for the lowest in the game, which aids him very well in the neutral game.

Sephiroth's possesses a unique [[fighter ability]]: the [[Winged Form]]. Like [[Aura]] and [[Super Special Move]]s, it is a comeback mechanic that activates when Sephiroth has received sufficient damage. This threshold is influenced by the score count/stock count; it activates at ≈90% when the score/stock count is even and will activate earlier or later if Sephiroth's score/stock count is behind or above the opponent's, respectively. Upon activation, Sephiroth's wing unfurls and grants him a third jump, a 1.3× damage multiplier, and much higher mobility overall. In particular, Sephiroth gains the 7th fastest dashing speed (tied with {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}'), the highest traction (surpassing {{SSBU|Sonic}}'s), as well as higher air speed, air acceleration and air friction. Sephiroth's smash attacks also gain damage-based [[armor]] that can withstand up to 20%, making them incredibly risky to challenge, save for a few exceptions. Winged Form deactivates after a cetain amount of time based on attacking and especially KOing opponents.

Sephiroth's ground game offers him fairly crucial tools, with a moveset reminiscent of {{SSBU|Cloud}} to similar effects. Neutral attack, despite having the shortest range of his grounded moves, is Sephiroth's fastest move while having decent melee range for a neutral attack, making it one of his few reliable tools to quickly ward off an opponent. Forward tilt has incredibly long range (comparable to Simon's) and can be angled, making it a superb spacing option and a viable KO option at high percentages when fresh, especially in Winged Form. Up tilt boasts incredible vertical range, a decently long duration, can scoop opponents in front of him and renders his upper body [[intangible]] for a brief period.  Down tilt is Sephiroth's fastest tilt attack and, although it is slightly slower than Cloud's down tilt, it functions almost identically to his: it boasts great range by propelling Sephiroth forward and significantly lowers his hurtbox, giving him a way to punish more ranged attacks. Dash attack, despite being fairly punishable due to being his slowest melee attack, covers a lot of ground and has respectable power, making it useful as both a burst option and a situational but potent KO option.

Sephiroth's smash attacks also boast varying degrees of utility. Forward smash is a very long-ranged slash that is potent at punishing and spacing, especially in Winged Form, and boasts excellent KO potential at the middle of the blade, but is very slow and easily punishable. Up smash is an overhead arcing slash, much like {{SSBU|Ganondorf}} and {{SSBU|Ike}}'s up smashes. Although it is weaker than theirs and slower than Ganondorf's, it is Sephiroth's best anti-air option due to sporting more range overall, to the point that it allows him to cover an area wider than an entire platform of [[Town and City]]. Down smash only hits in front of Sephiroth, but it is faster than his forward smash and has the unique property of becoming even stronger if the Masamune's blade hits the ground, dealing immense [[shield damage]]. This makes it a good mix up tool to break shields and a niche [[edgeguarding]] option due to how low the hitbox extends.

Sephiroth's air game also comprised of long ranged options. Neutral aerial has the shortest range, but is his fastest option in the air, covers his entire body, and its overall low lag allows it to be used very flexibly, such as for warding off close-ranged opponents, including from [[out of shield]], or for starting or continuing combos. Forward and back aerials serve similar purposes as spacing options in the air. Forward aerial comes out faster and is a stabbing attack with a tipper sweetspot and has a unique property where it can be used to pierce solid walls and perform a pseudo-[[wall cling]] up to three times in a row before landing. Back aerial is Sephiroth's strongest aerial and is a slashing attacking with a middle sweetspot, making it incredibly deadly in Winged Form, even if used from a short hop. Up aerial, like up smash, covers a wide arc above Sephiroth, though its sluggish frame data makes it punisable if used recklessly. Sephiroth's down aerial, Hell's Gate, is a powerful [[stall-then-fall]] that is a [[meteor smash]] at the start; when combined with its massive range, going an incredible distance underneath surfaces, it can reliably [[2 frame punish]] an opponent.

Sephiroth's grab game is surprisingly effective compared to other sword users. He holds the distinction of having three combo throws, though each gradually becomes less effective the more damaged the opponent is. Down throw is Sephiroth's most varied combo throw until mid-percentages, as it can lead into neutral, forward, back and up aerials, or be used for mix-ups. It also becomes even more effective in Winged Form in spite of [[rage]], as Sephiroth's enhanced mobility can allow him to catch up to the opponent faster. At low percentages, up throw can set the opponent up for a neutral aerial or up tilt, the former of which can lead to longer combos and the latter of which can lead to juggling. Back throw launches at a favorable angle while having low ending lag. This makes it notable for leading into follow-ups until high percentages, including an infamous KO confirm into back aerial, which becomes especially dangerous when he is in Winged Form. In stark contrast to his other throws, forward throw lacks combo potential, but is nevertheless useful. Thanks to being a [[semi-spike]], it can be used to set up an edge-guard or a tech chase, which could potentially allow him to score an early KO.

Sephiroth's [[side special]], [[Shadow Flare]], is arguably his best special move: it is unique among [[charge]]able projectiles in that, while the initial projectile deals little damage and cause flinching, it generates larger, darkness projectiles that do not immediately attack the opponent, but instead orbit around them and deal damage by homing in. Depending on how long it is charged, one to three projectiles can be generated by a single Shadow Flare, and up to five projectiles can be orbiting a single opponent at a time. Its range is also comparable to his sword attacks on top of having low lag all around, making it easily spammable and useful for spacing.

One of Sephiroth's most defining traits is his [[range]]. He notably sports among the longest overall range in ''Ultimate'', thanks to his signature weapon, the Masamune, and surpassed only by {{SSBU|Min Min}} in this regard. This gives him a great advantage in terms of safety and pressure. Unlike other swordfighters, Sephiroth's {{b|sweetspot|hitbox}} hitboxes differ between his stabbing and slashing attacks: his stabs (up tilt, down smash, forward aerial, and down aerial) have sweetspots positioned along the tip of Masamune (very much like {{SSBU|Marth}} and {{SSBU|Simon}}'s own [[tipper]]s) with a mediumspot at the center of the blade, whereas his slashes (forward tilt, forward smash, up smash, back aerial, and up aerial) have sweetspots positioned along the upper center of its blade (similarly to {{SSBU|Roy}}'s inverse tipper, but with better range overall) with mediumspots at the tip. Opponents can be deterred from approaching over fear of being hit at any time, and the various sweet spots force opponents into certain positions to avoid the most damage, which Sephiroth can use to trap and punish them. Sephiroth's extremely low short hop also helps him in the neutral game, as it allows him to mix up whichever attack he will use, allowing his other attacks to be kept fresh until he is in a prime position to use them. Said tools, combined with his grounded mobility, can sometimes even help him counteract opponents with good zoning games, such as {{SSBU|Toon Link}}, {{SSBU|Villager}}, or Simon. Sephiroth's range can also allow him to effectively poke opponents, gradually whittling away at both their health and patience until they are forced to take drastic actions that could easily backfire. Thanks to Shadow Flare, the opponent can also eventually be put into said disadvantage more easily at best, or simply force them to avoid the damage and thus reset the neutral game at worst. His Winged Form helps significantly on both regards, as his increased mobility allows Sephiroth to reposition himself more easily while also increasing the damage he can deal and, unlike other fighter abilities like [[Limit Gauge]] or [[Rebellion Gauge]], it will not disappear until Sephiroth is KO'd or has inflicted a lot of damage, which can potentially lead to him turning the tables on the opponent should they try to play around him carelessly.

However, for as many strengths as he has, Sephiroth also possesses a notable amount of weaknesses. Perhaps the most notable of them is his frailty: Sephiroth's tall frame results in him being prone to get more easily hit by most attacks, which is further compounded by him being a fast falling lightweight. Much like {{SSBU|Mewtwo}}, these traits collectively result in Sephiroth being easy to combo and KO compared to many other characters of his size and/or weight. Adding to this is Sephiroth's recovery: his polarized air physics result in him covering a mediocre distance midair, meaning that careless use of his resources can lead Sephiroth to be easily edge-guarded or gimped, in spite of both of his recovery options having their perks. Blade Dash, his quickest recovery option, does not cover as much distance as other recovery moves and does not fully protect Sephiroth other than from the front, which can leave him vulnerable to sufficiently disjointed moves. On the other hand, Octaslash offers excellent protection that can deter opponents from edge-guarding Sephiroth because of its range and power making it useful for [[edge-guard breaking]], but has the slowest start-up, leaving Sephiroth vulnerable to being put at a worse position in the air. Semi-spikes can also be especially deadly for Sephiroth, as his air physics do not give him too much air time.

Furthermore, Sephiroth's overall frame data is unimpressive to compensate for his long range. Even his fastest aerial attack, neutral aerial, has mediocre start-up for an attack of its kind. This means that opponents can easily punish Sephiroth if certain moves are spammed or used carelessly. On top of this, Sephiroth's sword moves at the base of the Masamune all deal poor damage, knockback, and pushback, meaning that if improperly spaced, Sephiroth's moves can be easily punished at close range. Moves like up tilt and forward aerial have narrow ranges that can easily be avoided or shielded, while up aerial and down aerial are highly commital attacks that are sometimes difficult to reliably connect. Outside of neutral aerial, Sephiroth's melee-based moves also tend to have high ending lag, which results in him not having much in the way of mixing up his pressure at close range. Adding to this is Sephiroth's grab game, which is polarized in spite of its respectable utility; his grabs are short-ranged, his pummel is merely average, and his throws lack KO potential due to their meager damage outputs, average knockback, and/or unsuitable launching angles. All of these issues result in a poor close-quarters game that, when combined with his frailty, collectively culminates in Sephiroth being vulnerable to rushdown-based pressure if the opponent is able to keep up with his defense, such as {{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} or {{SSBU|Pikachu}}.

Another prominent issue on Sephiroth's moveset is his inconsistent KO potential. Due to his moves' sourspots, Sephiroth must always be at a distance from the opponent in order for them to KO reliably. His differing sweetspot mechanics can also work against him, due to how varied their locations are. His stab attacks possess narrow ranges and require the opponent to be at their longest range in order to be effective, which can result in them missing. On the other hand, his slash attacks do not require perfect spacing at long range to be effective, but their sweetspots are harder to land as a result of being located between the weaker sourspots and mediumspots. In regard to sword attacks, Octaslash should also be noted in that it only becomes consistently reliable for KOing while the Winged Form is active. Outside of his sweetspotted sword attacks, Sephiroth does not have many reliable ways to KO an opponent. Although dash attack's clean hit KOs at reasonable percentages, its slow start-up can make it easily predictable.  

Flare's decent damage output is mostly counterbalanced by its middling knockback and slow start-up and speed, making them easy to shield, [[absorb]], or [[reflect]]. This results in it failing to KO at reasonable percentages like Megaflare and Gigaflare, which themselves are compensated by even less range and even slower start-up. As a result, Sephiroth must be careful when it comes to being able to secure KOs in spite of his impressive damage racking potential. Although Shadow Flare has low overall lag, it still must be used wisely, especially if used by a character with a reflector, as it can result in Sephiroth being struck for high damage himself and allow the opponent to capitalize on it. While Octaslash covers a great distance on its own and is risky to edge-guard, characters with counterattacks can easily use this to their advantage, which can leave Sephiroth at an even worse spot for recovering. Finally, despite its animation suggesting otherwise, Scintilla cannot reflect projectiles whatsoever (although it can stop them without effort). It also does not directly protect Sephiroth (especially from behind) and its damaging hitbox is treated as a projectile, making it a double-edged sword if reflected.

Last but not least, Sephiroth's Winged Form suffers from its own limitations. Despite the wide array of benefits it grants, including being able to mitigate the previously mentioned weaknesses, it only activates whenever Sephiroth receives damage, and is further dependent on his standing against an opponent. While the Winged Form can activate as low as 30% if Sephiroth is 2 stocks behind the opponent, it conversely activates as late as 110% if Sephiroth is 2 stocks ahead. Thus, the Winged Form suffers from consistency issues similarly to [[Aura]] in that Sephiroth will have to play very carefully if he is to keep his advantage, which is easier said than done due to his noticeable frailty. Although the Winged Form's damage-based armor on Sephiroth's smash attacks can definitely help him power through incoming offense, reckless usage of his smash attacks can render him predictable and open to being punished. Additionally, Sephiroth cannot regain the Winged Form until he gets KO'd, which can result in Winged form going to waste if Sephiroth is not able to capitalize on its benefits properly.

In the end, Sephiroth is arguably the most unique swordfighter in ''Ultimate'', as his playstyle is a polarizing hybrid of the glass cannon and turtle archetypes, resulting in a high learning curve. His high overall damage output, immense range, varied sweetspots and effective projectiles grant him a respectably solid ranged melee playstyle, as it can become difficult for the opponent to approach Sephiroth should he consistently make the right choices, and it is equally difficult to surmount him should he break through the opponent's zone or defense. However, Sephiroth's inconsistent KO potential, polarized grab game, and poor close-quarters game can leave a much-to-be-desired offensive playstyle, and he is just as susceptible to pressure as much as he can dish it out himself. The benefits offered from his Winged Form can seriously help him on this regard, as it can help him greatly recover from a deficit should he be able to survive long enough, but his frailty means he also must play carefully in order to retain this advantage.