Sheik (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Sheik is currently ranked 31st out of 82 characters placing her in B+ tier. This is a large drop from her top tier placement in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', where she was ranked 4th out of 54. Sheik's main strength would revolve around her unrivaled frame data. Most of her attacks come out at no later than frame 4 or 5, and have very little end lag, enabling maximum reliability for most of her moves and combos to connect, as well as safety on shield. Possessing the best frame data of any character in the game would also grant her arguably the best [[neutral]] game, a strong edgeguarding game, highly effective special attacks, and one of the best advantage states of any character. Furthermore, she boasts a powerful and flexible recovery, with [[Vanish]] and [[Bouncing Fish]] giving her extensive range and distance that would reliably bring her back to the stage, as well as being fast and reliable KO options. Sheik also possesses one of the best neutral specials in the game, with [[Needle Storm]] not only being useful for zoning, camping, or connecting combos, but also confirms into KOs offstage with Bouncing Fish.

However, Sheik has weaknesses, the most prominent being her poor endurance. She is the sixth lightest character in the game, and her high falling speed and gravity makes her prone to easy combos and early KOs. Furthermore, despite [[Rage]] being a useful mechanic for Sheik's kit, she would often not be able to endure long enough to benefit from it, as her subpar KO ability could allow opponents, especially heavyweights, to live at percents high enough to KO Sheik first. Furthermore, despite having the arguably best neutral and combo game, it is sometimes held back by her absurdly low damage output and complicated KO ability. Her grab game is also rather average, particularly down throw, would require precision and depend on DI and percentage to combo into mainly up air, forward air or back air reliably, or to confirm into a KO. Despite having long combo strings, Sheik would have to win neutral multiple times to be able to inflict any significant damage to her opponents, which means that despite having an excellent neutral game, she would have to make sure to refrain from losing neutral as long as possible, otherwise an opponent would easily catch up to her damage output. Finally, despite her plethora of KO options having quick frame data and being mostly safe on shield, they are burdened with either awkward hitboxes or the requirement of a platform extension or prior combo string. Up smash and down smash in particular, the latter works as an [[out of shield]] option but is often inconsistent and only KOs at much higher percents, while the former has a rather large sourspot, and often requires a combo and/or platform extension to KO reliably. Bouncing Fish is burdened with a lot of end lag, so it is somewhat unreliable in neutral for a KO and would mainly require a combo string as well.

Overall, Sheik is a character with powerful unique abilities and gameplay. She has a somewhat high learning curve, so her combo and KO abilities depend on the player putting in consistent effort to perform meaningful gameplay with the character. The general consensus on her was mostly poor in the early metagame, with players particularly highlighting the excessive nerfs she received transitioning into Ultimate. However, significant buffs from patch updates would put the character's representation in a better shape, especially during the post-pandemic metagame. The consensus right now is that she is a high effort-high reward character that is only viable after one has significantly mastered her capabilities. Sheik remains a viable character, proven by players such as {{Sm|WebbJP}}, {{Sm|Eim}}, {{Sm|Mr.R}}, and {{Sm|VoiD}}.

|ftiltdesc=A roundhouse kick. Deals very poor damage, but its minimal start-up (frame 5) and ending lag (FAF 25) compensates for this. As a result, it boasts excellent combo potential from low to high percentages, including a up aerial at high percentages for a potential KO confirm.

|dsmashdesc=A modified butterfly kick performed from the {{iw|wikipedia|windmill|b-boy move}} (a breakdancing move). Despite having a slightly below-average overall damage output for a smash attack, it is very unreliable for KOing due to it second hit's meager damage output. As of update 7.0.0, it has respectable start-up (frame 8) for a smash attack, which makes it decent at punishing rolls and setting up edge-guards.

Updates granted Sheik several useful buffs that improved her best moves. Furthermore, some of Sheik's former players -- most notably {{Sm|VoiD}} and {{Sm|Mr.R}} -- began picking her up again and showcased how Sheik's neutral game and advantage state, while not as prevalent as in the previous game, were still rather strong. This led many to consider Sheik as underrated in the metagame, and this is most apparent in Japan, who believed Sheik was a top tier character; this resulted in Japan having several notable Sheik players place highly at tournaments, most notably {{Sm|Eim}}. Her improving results and increasing representation helped shift opinions on her viability. As it stands, Sheik is ranked 35th on the current tier list, with Japan notably ranking Sheik 10 places higher. Still, some player believe the character should be ranked higher due to her ability to overwhelm opponents, as well as the rise of many other Sheik players such as {{Sm|WebbJP}}.

|6||{{CharHead|Mii Brawler|SSBU|hsize=20px}} (x2) {{CharHead|Mii Gunner|SSBU|hsize=20px}} (x2) {{CharHead|Mii Swordfighter|SSBU|hsize=20px}} (x2)||{{SSBU|Final Destination}}||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Super Smash Bros.|Meta Crystal}}''||Horde Battle. Items do not appear.

**Who doesn't fight characters from her own series.