Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in competitive play: Difference between revisions

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in competitive play (edit)

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 As with most new ''Smash'' games, character viability was significantly different from ''Smash 4.'' In the early days of Ultimate, some popular veteran picks included {{SSBU|Palutena}}, {{SSBU|Pichu}}, {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}, {{SSBU|Lucina}}, {{SSBU|Olimar}}, {{SSBU|Peach}} (along with her new Echo Fighter {{SSBU|Daisy}}), {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}}, {{SSBU|Snake}}, and {{SSBU|Wolf}}. Many veteran characters received multiple buffs that made them significantly more viable. Pichu's self-damaging was offset by its great combo game and kill power, Palutena's reduced landing lag made her aerials oppressive, Olimar and Wolf received hitbox buffs to their smash attacks, and Peach's use of float canceling to perform highly damaging strings and combos made her a top tier threat, to name a few. As for newcomers, early opinions of {{SSBU|King K. Rool}}, {{SSBU|Simon}} and {{SSBU|Richter}} were strong, but it was a matter of time before their weaknesses were highlighted. {{SSBU|Inkling}} was once commonly thought to have the most potential, with the ink effect allowing damage to racking up very quickly. Many top tiers from previous iterations fell, including {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}}, {{SSBU|Sheik}}, {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBU|Rosalina & Luma}}, {{SSBU|Sonic}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}}, {{SSBU|Corrin}}, {{SSBU|Meta Knight}}, and most notably {{SSBU|Bayonetta}}, who had been drastically nerfed as a result of her controversial dominance in ''SSB4''. Other characters saw a handful of buffs that made them significantly more viable, albeit not overbearing, than in past iterations, including {{SSBU|Pac-Man}}, {{SSBU|Greninja}}, and {{SSBU|Ike}}.
-After launch, Olimar, Peach, Daisy, Pichu, Wolf, Pokémon Trainer, Snake, and Lucina were commonly viewed as among the best characters in ''Ultimate'', though numerous patches have toned some of them down. Peach, Daisy, Wolf, and Lucina were still viewed as top tiers after nerfs, albeit less dominating, while Olimar and Pichu fell out of "Top Tier" status in the eyes of most players. Patches also improved other lower tier characters, such as {{SSBU|Sheik}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}}, {{SSBU|Ken}}, and {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}}, to where they see much more tournament representation and results. The advent of DLC characters had some wary of a new overpowered character. {{SSBU|Hero}}'s use of randomised mechanics and being able to kill opponents at low percents with ease had some players argue the character should be banned, but no such ban was ever widely implemented, and Hero's results remain decent at best. Instead, {{SSBU|Joker}} rose from being viewed as a decent high tier to a universal top tier with {{Sm|MkLeo}}'s dominance. Nerfs saw other already viable characters steal the spotlight, including {{SSBU|Pikachu}} with its strong combos and confirms. As it stands, the top 3 characters were widely considered to be Joker, Pikachu, and {{SSBU|Palutena}}, though many Japanese players also make the argument for {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}; Pikachu is widely believed to have the strongest kit in the game, though its smaller playerbase means the character lacks strong results.
+After launch, Olimar, Peach, Daisy, Pichu, Wolf, Pokémon Trainer, Snake, and Lucina were commonly viewed as among the best characters in ''Ultimate'', though numerous patches have toned some of them down. Peach, Daisy, Wolf, and Lucina were still viewed as top tiers after nerfs, albeit less dominating, while Olimar and Pichu fell out of "Top Tier" status in the eyes of most players. Patches also improved other lower tier characters, such as {{SSBU|Sheik}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}}, {{SSBU|Ken}}, and {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}}, to where they see much more tournament representation and results. The advent of DLC characters had some wary of a new overpowered character. {{SSBU|Hero}}'s use of randomised mechanics and being able to kill opponents at low percents with ease had some players argue the character should be banned, but no such ban was ever widely implemented, and Hero's results remain decent at best. Instead, {{SSBU|Joker}} rose from being viewed as a decent high tier to a universal top tier with {{Sm|MkLeo}}'s dominance. Nerfs saw other already viable characters steal the spotlight, including {{SSBU|Pikachu}} with its strong combos and confirms. As it stands, the top 3 characters were widely considered to be Joker, Pikachu, and {{SSBU|Palutena}}, though many Japanese players also make the argument for {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}; some thought Pikachu was believed to have the strongest kit in the game, though its lack of notable results prevented regions like Japan and Europe from rating it any higher.
 ''Ultimate'' has shown to be the best game in the series in terms of character balance. It is fairly common to see an entirely unique character pool in top 8s for many major tournaments. Additionally, there are few low- and bottom tiers that are seen as completely unviable, and there are no top tier characters that over-centralize the metagame in the same vein that {{SSBM|Fox}} in ''Melee'', {{SSBB|Meta Knight}} in ''Brawl'', and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}} in ''Smash 4'' did. So-called low/bottom-tier characters have received decent results as well; {{Sm|Ben Gold}} notably won Australia's largest major with King K. Rool, a character who at the time was notably viewed as one of the worst characters in the game. While there may be clear high-tier and low-tier characters in ''Ultimate'', the gap between the two is nowhere near as significant as it was in previous games.