Wolf (SSBU): Difference between revisions

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Wolf is ranked 21st out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him in the A tier. This is a moderate improvement over his 14th out of 38 placement in ''Brawl''. Wolf is an all-around fighter with many different playstyles to choose from. He has a solid fundamental combo game with up throw and down throw as good combo starters. His moveset offers a lot of versatility, with his tilts functioning as safe pokes or kill options and his smash attacks as solid finishers. His aerials are all useful for both starting and extending combos, as well as edgeguarding. His back aerial, in particular, is one of the strongest in the game when sweetspotted and can be confirmed from a forward aerial. His specials are also crucial to his gameplan: his {{b|Blaster|Wolf}} is a strong projectile that can force approaches and apply chip damage from a distance, acting as his primary tool in neutral, [[Wolf Flash]] and [[Fire Wolf]] offer quick recovery to the stage and serve as powerful finishers, and his {{b|Reflector|Wolf}}  is effective for extending combos as well as serving as his primary defense against zoning. Wolf also has excellent air mobility, allowing him to chase his opponents in the air with ease.
Wolf is ranked 21st out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him in the A tier. This is a moderate improvement over his 14th out of 38 placement in ''Brawl''. Wolf is an all-around fighter with many different playstyles to choose from. He has a solid fundamental combo game with up throw and down throw as good combo starters. His moveset offers a lot of versatility, with his tilts functioning as safe pokes or kill options and his smash attacks as solid finishers. His aerials are all useful for both starting and extending combos, as well as edgeguarding. His back aerial, in particular, is one of the strongest in the game when sweetspotted and can be confirmed from a forward aerial. His specials are also crucial to his gameplan: his {{b|Blaster|Wolf}} is a strong projectile that can force approaches and apply chip damage from a distance, acting as his primary tool in neutral, [[Wolf Flash]] and [[Fire Wolf]] offer quick recovery to the stage and serve as powerful finishers, and his {{b|Reflector|Wolf}}  is effective for extending combos as well as serving as his primary defense against zoning. Wolf also has excellent air mobility, allowing him to chase his opponents in the air with ease.


Despite all these strengths, Wolf has some weaknesses. Wolf is a fast-faller middleweight, which makes him fairly easy to combo despite having a frame 2 air dodge. His recovery is also fairly linear and easy to intercept as it gets 2 framed fairly easily or loses to counterattacks which can leave vulnerable to gimps and edgeguards. While Wolf has good range in many of his attacks, he can have trouble against characters who have longer disjoints than him, such as {{SSBU|Roy}}, {{SSBU|Chrom}}, and {{SSBU|R.O.B.}} Finally, Wolf can sometimes struggle taking stocks at higher percents, as his most potent finishers, including up smash and back aerial, are burdened with excessive startup lag.
Despite all these strengths, Wolf has some weaknesses. Wolf is a fast-faller middleweight, which makes him fairly easy to combo despite having a frame 2 air dodge. His recovery is also fairly linear and easy to intercept as it gets 2 framed fairly easily or loses to counterattacks which can leave vulnerable to gimps and edgeguards. While Wolf has good range in many of his attacks, he can have trouble against characters who have longer disjoints than him. Finally, Wolf can sometimes struggle taking stocks at higher percents, as his best finishers, including up smash and back aerial, are burdened with excessive startup lag.


Overall, Wolf has a solid fundamental gameplan for players to pick up. He functions like a glass cannon, being able to dish out damage with a strong neutral and advantage while having poor offstage survivability, struggling taking stocks from time to time, and being easy to juggle. Wolf has attained a lot of representation across the board through ''Ultimate'''s lifespan. He was among the most-played characters in the early metagame, with {{Sm|Zackray}} representing him greatly in the early metagame while several top players had a pocket or co-main Wolf. Despite a fair decline in the post-pandemic metagame, he is still relatively popular, piloted by loyal Wolf mains such as {{Sm|Atelier}}, {{Sm|Jakal}}, and {{Sm|Ouch!?}}.
Overall, Wolf has a solid fundamental gameplan for players to pick up. He functions like a glass cannon, being able to dish out damage with a strong neutral and advantage while having poor offstage survivability, struggling taking stocks from time to time, and being easy to juggle. Wolf has historically been a very popular character in competitive play, especially in the early metagame where his results were primarily spearheaded by {{Sm|Zackray}} and several other top players who had a pocket Wolf. As such, he was considered one of the best characters in the early metagame. However, his representation and reputation declined as the metagame progressed as a result of nerfs and his weaknesses becoming more apparent, though he remains relatively popular in competitive play thanks to loyal mains such as {{Sm|Atelier}}, {{Sm|Jakal}}, and {{Sm|Ouch!?}}.


==How to unlock==
==How to unlock==
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|[[File:Wolf Cheer German SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Wolf Cheer Spanish SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Wolf Cheer Russian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Wolf Cheer Korean SSBU.ogg|center]]
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===Tier placement and history===
===Tier placement and history===
For most of competitive ''Ultimate'', Wolf was considered an incredibly popular pick in competitive play. This was especially true in the game's first few months, where players recogonized that Wolf's buffs from ''[[Brawl]]'', which gave him a powerful projectile courtesy of his Blaster, effective combos due to his modified physics, and a notorious [[edgeguard]]ing tool in his down smash, allowed him to dictate the flow of battle through use of his Blaster, overall speed, and combo ability. As such, Wolf was arguably the most popular character in the early metagame, ranking 1st for January-June 2019 and 2nd for July-December 2019 for character representation by [[OrionRank]], and was regularly one of the most used characters at majors, including being the most used character in {{Trn|Pound 2019}}'s top 128<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/apr/21/wolf-pack-came-out-full-force-super-smash-bros-ultimate-during-pound-2019-here-are-top-128-character-usage-stats/|title=The Wolf pack came out in full force for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during Pound 2019, here are the top 128 character usage stats}}</ref> and the third-most used character in {{Trn|EVO 2019}}'s top 256.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/aug/04/super-smash-bros-ultimate-usage-stats-evo-2019/|title=Yoshi, Fox, and Wolf were the three most used characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate top 256 at EVO 2019}}</ref> Spearheading Wolf's huge playerbase was {{Sm|Zackray}}, who regularly finished top 8 at majors and even won {{Trn|Umebura SP 2}}, the only major win from a player who primarily played Wolf. In addition, several top players also had pocket Wolves that they used on occasion, including {{Sm|MkLeo}} and {{Sm|Tweek}}, the two best players in the world at that time. Tweek especially used both {{SSBU|Wario}} and Wolf to win {{Trn|Frostbite 2019}}. Wolf's strengths and popularity led many to consider him as one of the best characters in the game.  
For most of competitive ''Ultimate'', Wolf was considered an incredibly popular pick in competitive play. This was especially true in the game's first few months, where players recognized that Wolf's buffs from ''[[Brawl]]'', which gave him a powerful projectile courtesy of his Blaster, effective combos due to his modified physics, and a notorious [[edgeguard]]ing tool in his down smash, allowed him to dictate the flow of battle through use of his Blaster, overall speed, and combo ability. As such, Wolf was arguably the most popular character in the early metagame, ranking 1st for January-June 2019 and 2nd for July-December 2019 for character representation by [[OrionRank]], and was regularly one of the most used characters at majors, including being the most used character in {{Trn|Pound 2019}}'s top 128<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/apr/21/wolf-pack-came-out-full-force-super-smash-bros-ultimate-during-pound-2019-here-are-top-128-character-usage-stats/|title=The Wolf pack came out in full force for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during Pound 2019, here are the top 128 character usage stats}}</ref> and the third-most used character in {{Trn|EVO 2019}}'s top 256.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/aug/04/super-smash-bros-ultimate-usage-stats-evo-2019/|title=Yoshi, Fox, and Wolf were the three most used characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate top 256 at EVO 2019}}</ref> Spearheading Wolf's huge playerbase was {{Sm|Zackray}}, who regularly finished top 8 at majors and even won {{Trn|Umebura SP 2}}, the only major win from a player who primarily played Wolf. In addition, several top players also had pocket Wolves that they used on occasion, including {{Sm|MkLeo}} and {{Sm|Tweek}}, the two best players in the world at that time. Tweek especially used both {{SSBU|Wario}} and Wolf to win {{Trn|Frostbite 2019}}. Wolf's strengths and popularity led many to consider him as one of the best characters in the game.  


Despite his popularity, as time went on, Wolf's weaknesses became more apparent: his linear recovery left him vulnerable to edgeguards and gimping, while his falling speed left him vulnerable to combos. In addition, subsequent patches nerfed his down smash's knockback, which further hurt Wolf's KO ability, as his other best KO options often had high starting lag. Initially, this led several of his best players to drop him, most notably Zackray; however, other Wolf players were still able to fill that void, such as {{Sm|Atelier}}, {{Sm|Jakal}}, and {{Sm|Ouch!?}}, and as such, Wolf's representation remained in the top 10 for the following few years. However, none of these players were able to reach the top-level consistency that Zackray had; in fact, Atelier and Jakal themselves were notoriously inconsistent in competitive play. As such, opinions on Wolf would mellow out significantly as time went on, with more and more players believing he was overrated. This was reflected in Wolf's ranking on the first tier list, where he was ranked 11th in the upper half of S- tier. Although he remained a top tier, he was no longer considered one of the best characters in the game.
Despite his popularity, as time went on, Wolf's weaknesses became more apparent: his linear recovery left him vulnerable to edgeguards and gimping, while his falling speed left him vulnerable to combos. In addition, subsequent patches nerfed his down smash's knockback, which further hurt Wolf's KO ability, as his other best KO options often had high starting lag. Initially, this led several of his best players to drop him, most notably Zackray; however, other Wolf players were still able to fill that void, such as {{Sm|Atelier}}, {{Sm|Jakal}}, and {{Sm|Ouch!?}}, and as such, Wolf's representation remained in the top 10 for the following few years. However, none of these players were able to reach the top-level consistency that Zackray had; in fact, Atelier and Jakal themselves were notoriously inconsistent in competitive play. As such, opinions on Wolf would mellow out significantly as time went on, with more and more players believing he was overrated. This was reflected in Wolf's ranking on the first tier list, where he was ranked 11th in the upper half of S- tier. Although he remained a top tier, he was no longer considered one of the best characters in the game.
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