Counterattack

For Sora's move of the same name, see Counterattack (Sora). For the remix of a music track from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, see List of SSBU Music (Xenoblade Chronicles series)#Counterattack.

Lucario's Double Team is an example of a counterattack.

A counterattack is a type of special move. Debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee, a counterattack will, on use, put the user into a shield-like state followed by a sizable period of lag. Should any normally blockable attack hit the user during these guard frames, the attack will be blocked (without depleting the health of their shield) and the user will automatically retaliate with an attack of their own, presumably hitting whoever was attacking unless it was a projectile, or some other attack that out-ranges the counter. Usually, if no attack hits a counterattack's counter hurtbox, the move fails.

Properties

Roy's Counter after countering Flare Blade in Melee.

Some counterattacks do more damage when they activate against a stronger attack, with knockback scaling to match the damage, while some deal a fixed amount of damage. Counterattacks usually activate fast enough that it is impossible for a melee attacker to shield the retaliating hit, although the attack itself can usually be blocked; there are a few exceptions, such as Shulk's Vision in Super Smash Bros. 4, which is unblockable. Counterattacks also do not trigger if the fighter is invincible, even if the opponent hits them. The animation will simply play as if they were not hit at all.

A correctly-timed counterattack can tilt the momentum of a match towards the user, though as they are generally not effective on reaction, reading the opponent is crucial. Simply using counters repeatedly in hopes of successfully landing one in will result in a competent opponent waiting until the move's lag to punish, or simply using a grab, which is immune to counterattacks.

While unblockable attacks cannot be countered (except with Witch Time), as previously mentioned, depending on the move, the user may still not receive damage because of the initial invincibility frames. Unlike reflectors, there is no limit to how much damage can be countered. In SSB4, however, there is a cap on how much damage a counterattack can inflict, at 50%. The only exception is Shulk's Vision; its damage cap can be raised or lowered depending on which Monado Art is currently active. In SSB4, counterattacks also cannot counter some explosive attacks, such as Link's Bombs and Steel Diver missiles, and instead give the user protection against them during the counter frames. Stronger explosions can be countered, however, such as the Bob-omb.

Prior to SSB4, counterattacks lacked any special aesthetics upon activating. In SSB4, most counterattacks, upon activating, emit a unique particle effect identical to a sinus rhythm. This applies to all counterattacks lacking a separate particle effect, namely the entire cast that possesses a counterattack, save for Greninja and Lucario. Each counterattack's sinus rhythm is distinct (ex. Palutena's is blue, Little Mac's is red, etc.). In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, an additional visual effect occurs if a strong enough attack is countered, with the user emitting a large, bright yellow flash.

List of counterattacks

User	Move	Multiplier	Limits	Description
Bayonetta	Witch Time	N/A	N/A	Bayonetta performs a stationary backflip that slows down the opponent for a certain period of time, based on the overall damage of the opponent, how frequently Witch Time itself is used, timing, and whether the move countered is a projectile. If performed too late, she instead activates Bat Within, a teleport that reduces the amount of damage taken. Unlike most counterattacks, Witch Time does not damage the opponent or stop the opponent’s attack, but allows Bayonetta to perform any attack (along with grabs) while the targets are slowed down. This is the only counterattack in the series that is capable of countering non-grab unblockable attacks.
Chrom	Counter	1.35×	8-50%	Functionally identical to Roy's Counter, with the only differences being the lack of a flame effect and altered knockback values.
Corrin	Counter Surge	1.2×	10-50%	Corrin transforms into a dragon, dodges the opponent's attack, and stomps the ground, launching opponents vertically on both sides with surges of water. This is one of the two counterattacks in the series that sends opponents directly upwards, instead of diagonally in a given direction (alongside Mii Swordfighter's Blade Counter in Ultimate). It is also the only counterattack that avoids attacks instead of negating them; thus, single-hit projectiles will not shatter upon contact, and other attacks can hit other opponents nearby when the counter is triggered.
Daisy	Toad	—	3.5% per hit	Functionally identical to Peach's Toad, but with a blue-spotted Toad.
Greninja	Substitute	—	14% (vertical), 13% (diagonal), 11% (horizontal) 13% (vertical), 12% (diagonal), 11% (horizontal)	Greninja vanishes, being replaced by the Substitute Doll or a wooden log, and then reappears while attacking with a sliding kick with eight possible directions, controllable by tilting the left control stick. The ability to control the direction of Greninja's dash allows it to confuse opponents or even use this counterattack as a recovery. If aimed directly downwards, Substitute will meteor smash opponents if it lands. However, the counterattack is slow enough to avoid/shield (much like Lucario's Double Team) and does not give Greninja intangibility or invincibility, making it possible for multi-hit attacks to interrupt the counterattack. In Ultimate, however, the opponent slows down and Greninja gains invincibility during the attack, making it more effective overall.
Ike	Counter	1.2×	Minimum 10% 10%-50%	Ike's Counter does 1.2× the damage of the attack, with a minimum of 10%. In Brawl, it has higher start-up before the counter window when compared to Marth's, although Ike's version has less ending lag. SSB4 removes some of the increased start-up (now frame 9), putting its speed more in line with Marth's, and it has the second-longest counter window in the game (surpassed by Lucario and Shulk's counters), but Ultimate would add on a considerable amount of ending lag to both the counter pose and the counterattack, causing it to become one of the laggiest counters in the game.
Incineroar	Revenge	—	2.4%	A weak counterattack that prevents knockback, but multiplies the damage received roughly by 0.4× instead of negating it. In addition, it increases the damage and knockback of the next attack Incineroar lands, and has the fastest start-up of any counterattack in the series (frame 3).
Joker	Tetrakarn	1.6×	12-50%	Will only counter when Arsène appears; otherwise, he uses Rebel's Guard which can be held for much longer compared to other counterattacks, as long as the special button is held, reduces the damage taken by 0.4× and quickly fills his Rebellion Gauge, and pushes the opponent back with a weak counter if releasing the counter right after being hit, or can be held for longer if being continuously attacked. It is tied with Incineroar's for the fastest start-up of any counterattack, at frame 3. Tetrakarn (with Arsène active) has an extremely fast start-up (at frame 4), very low endlag compared to other counters, has large hitboxes and is one of the most damaging counterattacks in the game, dealing 1.6× the damage of the attack. If Tetrakarn is hit by an incoming projectile, it becomes a Makarakarn and reflects any projectiles that it is touching. This makes Joker's counterattack with Arsène functionally similar to Palutena's or King K. Rool's.
King K. Rool	Gut Check	1.5× (gut), 1.05× (shockwave)	12-50% (gut), 8.4-35% (shockwave)	K. Rool will expand his stomach and counterattack any damage and/or reflect any projectiles. However, the counter/reflection hitbox is confined to K. Rool's stomach, leaving him open to attacks from above, below, or behind. In exchange for its directional and positional requirements, it is one of the strongest counters in the game with a damage multiplier of 1.5×.
Little Mac	Slip Counter	1.3× 1.5×	10-50%	Little Mac does a fake-out, dodging the opponent's attack, and socks them with an uppercut while dashing forward. Said dash can make Slip Counter a useful though risky horizontal recovery option. In Ultimate as of patch 13.0.0, Slip Counter has one of the highest damage multipliers at 1.5x.
Lucario	Double Team	—	11% 11% 12.5%	Lucario vanishes out of the way of an attack and reappears behind the opponent, striking them with a flying kick. Lucario has the option to attack in the opposite direction too. It is the slowest of all counterattacks to hit once activated, to the point of it being possible to simply avoid in some cases, along with being able to be shielded. Its power does not change based on the activation attack, but is instead dependent on Lucario's Aura. At maximum Aura, it has incredibly high knockback, to the point of being able to KO medium percentage opponents.
Lucina	Counter	1.2×	8-50%	Functionally identical to Marth's, but with a different animation on both the initial defensive stance and the actual counterattack; the latter's altered animation causes it to have shorter horizontal range. Acts faster than Roy or Ike's, but has more lag afterwards.
Marth	Counter	— 1.1× 1.2×	7% minimum 8% 8-50%	Acts faster than Roy or Ike's, but has more lag afterwards. In Melee, Marth's Counter does 7%, regardless of the attack. In Brawl, it has a multiplier of 1.1×, with a minimum of 8%. In SSB4 and Ultimate, its multiplier is 1.2× and has higher base knockback, which make it much more reliable at KOing via countered strong attacks at lower percents.
Mii Swordfighter	Blade Counter	1.25× 1.5×	8-50%	The Mii leans back a bit and holds their sword behind them in reverse grip. Should anything attack them during this, the Mii will respond with a quick slash. In Ultimate, the retaliating slash sends vertically instead of horizontally, and briefly staggers the opponent before attacking. This trait allows the move to hit opponents through normally invincible moves such as Banjo & Kazooie's Wonderwing and Hero's Kaclang.
Mii Brawler	Counter Throw	1.5×	14-50%	The Brawler takes a defensive pose with their hands covering their face. If an opponent hits the Brawler while they are in their counterattack frames, the Brawler proceeds to grab the opponent and throw them behind them (however, it fails to counter projectiles or any attacks hitting the Brawler's legs, and sufficiently disjointed attacks can cause the throw to fail to connect). As the counterattack is a grab, it is able to grab through Wonderwing. The attack has a multiplier of 1.5×, making it one of the strongest counterattacks in the game, tied with Gut Check and Scintilla. Also of note is how quickly the Brawler can attempt another counter if it fails; they can attempt to counter nearly twice as fast as most other characters (specifically, a failed counter for the Brawler ends after a mere 38 frames, while Ike, for example, does not regain control until 73 frames have passed).
Palutena	Counter	1.3×	10-50%	Palutena puts up her shield, and if hit while it is active, she strikes back with her staff. The staff's length gives this counterattack a slightly longer horizontal range than most, though it is still small relative to Palutena's size; additionally, its vertical range is minimal. Also one of the two counterattacks with a sourspot in SSB4 (along with Vision), and has relatively low knockback scaling. In Ultimate, this move is combined with Reflect Barrier, allowing it to also serve as a reflector; it also no longer possesses a sourspot either.
Peach	Toad	—	3% per hit 2% per hit 3.5% per hit	Peach pulls out Toad and holds him in front of herself. Toad operates slightly differently than other counterattacks: Peach does become invincible during part of the move, but not for the entire counterable duration, and hitting her does not activate the counter. Instead, Toad has a separate hurtbox that activates the counter, which is a set of spore shots that fire at random angles and deal damage unaffected by the countered attack's damage. The spores are projectiles, and thus can be absorbed and result in the move having the longest reach of any counterattack. In Smash 4, the counterattack activates if Peach is hit anywhere, making it more reliable. In Ultimate, Peach now crouches behind Toad, who guards her by himself.
Roy	Counter	1.5× 1.35×	No limit 8-50%	Roy's version of this move is aesthetically unique, as it creates an explosion when he attacks. In Melee, Roy's Counter has a multiplier of 1.5×, with no minimum. In SSB4 and Ultimate, it has a multiplier of 1.35×, with a minimum of 8%. Roy's Counter activates a few frames later than Marth's (frame 8) and, with the exception of Ultimate, has a shorter duration as well.
Sephiroth	Scintilla	—	2-4% (hits 1-3), 6.5-18% (hit 4)	Sephiroth creates a hexagonal barrier which counters any attack it hits. Unlike most counters, the damage is a linear range based on the countered attack instead of a multiplier; the lowest damage occurs with a hypothetical 0% damage attack and the highest from an 18% or greater attack. The barrier only counters attacks in front of it and will shatter if hit with an attack that deals 25% or more. The move can be used even when the opponent doesn't attack albeit with minimal damage compared to it actually countering an attack.
Shulk	Vision	1.3×	Minimums: 10% (normal), 7% (sour), 13% (forward), 10% (forward sour) Minimums: 10% (normal), 9% (sour), 13% (forward), 10% (forward sour) Maximum 50%	Shulk leans forward and holds the hilt of the Monado, and attacks with an outward slash if hit. It is unique as it possesses two different versions: a slow but wide-ranged slash, or a quick dashing slash with higher base knockback that can be only done if Shulk is grounded. It has the longest counter window in the entire series when fresh, but the window becomes shorter each time the move is used. The window can be recharged over time by simply not using the move. Additionally, it is one of the two counters with a sourspot in SSB4 (along with Palutena's Counter).
Sora	Counterattack	1.5×	9-30%	Sora holds the Kingdom Key in front of him in a defensive stance. When hit, his opponent will cancel their attack and briefly recoil like with Mii Swordfighter's Blade Counter. This similarity thus also allows the move to hit opponents through normally invincible moves. It is more reliable than Blade Counter since both its trigger box and hitbox are larger, but to compensate it only protects in front of Sora, like Gut Check and Scintilla. This move also has the ability to deflect projectiles. Unlike other reflectors, it does not send the projectile in the opposite direction, but will still grant ownership of it to Sora and multiply its damage by 1.4x.

Notable counterattacks

Sephiroth's Scintilla in Ultimate

• The strongest counterattacks (in terms of highest damage multipliers) have varied throughout the series:
  • Roy's Counter in Melee and Smash 4 both had the highest damage multiplier in the game by default, dealing 1.5× and 1.35× damage of the attack countered, respectively. In Smash 4, only Shulk's Vision with the Buster Monado Art active could match that damage multiplier.
    • Roy's Counter in Melee is also known for its seemingly low knockback angle; this is actually because, being a counter, it is able to trigger the Ceiling glitch and cause the opponent's vertical momentum to abruptly halt mid-knockback while their horizontal momentum continues. This glitch actually buffs the move dramatically due to effectively granting it a semi-spike launch angle past a certain knockback threshold.
  • The most damaging counter attacks in Ultimate:
    • As of 3.0.0, Joker's Tetrakarn has the highest damage multiplier in the game. It deals 1.6× the damage received.
    • Mii Brawler's Counter Throw, King K. Rool's Gut Check, and Little Mac's Slip Counter (as of 13.0.0) are tied for the second highest damage multiplier dealing 1.5× of the damage countered.
• Marth and Lucina’s Counter in Smash 4 and Ultimate is considered one of their best edge-guarding tools due to the move having faster startup and high knockback. This allows them to gimp most characters with poor recoveries at low strength.
• Shulk's Vision in SSB4 is arguably the most potent of all standard "hit-and-retaliate" counterattacks, thanks to its high damage multiplier and knockback, alongside the longest counter window of any counterattack; opponents will tend to trigger the counterattack due to its sheer duration. The move was initially nerfed in Ultimate, as it has less knockback growth and is no longer unblockable, though its knockback was buffed through patches.
• Corrin's Counter Surge launches opponents upwards and can infamously KO aerial opponents at high blast zones at any percent range depending on the move. Its damage multiplier was originally 1.3×, which allowed Corrin to KO opponents at a very low percentage against uncharged smash attacks, which made it the most potent counterattack in the game by far, despite having a lower multiplier compared to Roy's Counter and Shulk's Buster Art-boosted Vision. As of update 1.1.5, its multiplier has been lowered to 1.2×, which brought its power much more in line with other counterattacks. In Ultimate it was weakened further as it has less knockback, had reduced range, and can no longer be interrupted as early.
• Bayonetta's Witch Time in SSB4 is considered to be the best counterattack in the game, thanks to its ability to slow enemies down, thus granting Bayonetta a very forgiving time window to set up into her extremely effective combo game. Additionally, it is very safe for a counterattack, thanks to it granting intangibility during the move, while being hit at the end of Witch Time triggers Bat Within, halving damage taken from the attack that triggered it. However, it is significantly less effective in Ultimate because of its duration being much shorter on enemies below 100% and its increased ending lag.
• Joker's Tetrakarn, King K. Rool's Gut Check, Palutena's Counter/Reflect Barrier, and Sora's Counterattack in Ultimate are notably the only counterattacks that can also function as a reflector.
  • Gut Check is the only one of those that acts as a counterattack and reflector simultaneously, meaning that characters shooting projectiles at point blank will be struck by both the counterattack and the reflected projectile, potentially allowing for an OHKO.
  • However, Sora's Counterattack does not change the reflected projectile's direction -- it merely "claims" the reflected projectile as one of Sora's.
• Palutena's Counter, Little Mac's Slip Counter, and Joker's Tetrakarn are the only multiplier counterattacks in Ultimate to not OHKO at any damage percentages even at max damage. However, it is less situational for Little Mac if the opponent does not DI properly.
• As noted, the Mii Brawler's Counter Throw is unique in many ways: alongside it having an extremely high damage multiplier of 1.5×, it is also very quick overall with very low startup and ending lag, but a narrow counter window. It also whiffs against sufficiently disjointed hitboxes and will not negate projectiles, while leaving the Brawler's legs vulnerable. As a result, it is a speedy but high-risk high-reward counterattack.
• Incineroar's Revenge is a unique buff-inducing counterattack: it will minimize damage taken from an attack and gain a "stack" of Revenge depending on damage countered, weakly knocking nearby opponents back but significantly powering up the next move that connects with an opponent. With enough stacks, Incineroar is capable of dealing 70% in a single hit with certain moves (smash attacks, Alolan Whip), giving it the strongest possible attacks of any character without modifiers (such as Spirits).
• Peach and Daisy's Toad, along with Sephiroth's Scintilla, are the only counterattacks that retaliate with projectiles. Any attack with reflective properties can cause these counters to deal extreme damage and knockback back to their users, with Scintilla being especially vulnerable due to its damage scaling with the countered attack, instead of dealing fixed damage like Toad.
  • Sephiroth's Scintilla is also the only counterattack that can break when countering excessively strong attacks. Breaking Scintilla doesn't damage Sephiroth, but it is thus unable to score OHKOs off of highly damaging attacks.
• Sora's Counterattack is the only multiplier-counterattack where its maximum damage can only reach up to 30%.

Trivia

Robin's forward smash being countered by Marth, Ike, then Roy in sequence.

• It is possible, albeit difficult, to counterattack a counterattack. This is seen in Roy's reveal trailer for SSB4. If done perfectly with multiple players, counterattack damage can be stacked consecutively until it reaches the 50% cap, which is usually accompanied by one-hit KO power.
  • This situation is easiest to achieve with Scintilla, as it will always activate regardless of being attacked or not.
• Due to Toad being the only neutral special counterattack, it is the only counterattack that Kirby can copy or use.
• SSB4 has become somewhat notorious for the high number of counterattacks it features, as counterattacks were relatively uncommon in Melee and Brawl, which had three and four, respectively.
  • Counterattacks became a common down special archetype starting from SSB4, with 13 characters utilizing a counterattack. Ultimate continues the trend with an additional 7 characters, as well as Mii Brawler gaining a counterattack as a custom move. This brings the total up to 21.
• Byleth and Robin are the only fighters from the Fire Emblem universe that do not possess a counterattack.
• While all counters are technically able to trigger the Invisible Ceiling glitch in Melee, Marth and Peach's counters will almost never trigger the glitch due to their low knockback.
• If the Shadow Assist Trophy freezes a character performing a counterattack, the counter hitbox will remain active and trigger if hit. The frozen character will not attack until being unfrozen, but will remain intangible in the mean time.
  • This is another example of being able to counterattack a counterattack, as most characters have ample time to attack the frozen character then counter them when unfrozen.