Momentum canceling: Difference between revisions

'''Momentum canceling''' is a technique employed in [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]] that is important in competitive play. The technique involves executing certain actions to halt or reduce the aerial momentum of a character that is knocked into the air. Since, in ''Brawl'', attacks and [[air dodge]]s can be performed while [[tumble|tumbling]] and [[tumble|reeling]], it is possible to use these moves, in combination with others, to slow a character's aerial movement, and avoid crossing [[blast line]]s and being [[KO]]d. A prominent example of a momentum canceling move is [[Mr. Game & Watch (SSBB)|Mr. Game & Watch]]'s [[Oil Panic]], which negates all aerial momentum, and may be used after tumbling has ended.  

When combined with [[directional influence]] (DI), momentum canceling can allow characters to survive to [[percentage]]s as high as 200%. While less effective against attacks with high [[knockback|knockback scaling]], such as [[Luigi (SSBB)|Luigi]]'s forward smash, this technique is essential in competitive play and helpful in casual matches.

#If knocked vertically, the character must initiate a [[fast fall]], which can be achieved by using the [[c-stick]] (or the [[Wii remote]]'s [[Directional pad|d-pad]]), to perform a [[down air]] in conjunction with the previous step. If knocked back horizontally, a [[special move]] that negates unwanted momentum should be used. If the character has none, a [[midair jump]] should instead be performed.

To momentum cancel when launched vertically, a character must perform an [[aerial attack]] and fast fall. Both the aerial and the fast fall can be achieved by tapping down on the c-stick, since this will input a [[dair]] and fast fall simultaneously. It should be noted that [[Stall-Then-Fall|stall-then-fall]] attacks '''do not''' assist vertical momentum canceling. Players whose characters possess stall-then-fall dairs should instead tap the c-stick in a different direction to carry out a different aerial, and tap the control stick down to fast fall.

The following chart shows each character's vertical momentum canceling abilities, and ranks them in terms of their maximum vertical endurance, that is, the highest percentage at which they can survive vertical knockback. Characters were hit by [[Olimar (SSBB)|Olimar]]'s dair using [[Olimar (SSBB)#Blue Pikmin|Blue Pikmin]], from the center of [[Final Destination (SSBB)|Final Destination]]. This information is courtesy of OmegaTyrant<ref>[[User:Omega Tyrant#Vertical Momentum Canceling Chart|Testing details of Omega Tyrant's vertical momentum canceling chart]]</ref>.

If a character does not have a special move that negates momentum, their statistics in the "Special MC" columns are copies of those in the "Basic MC" columns, and are displayed in grey. Note that [[Lucario (SSBB)|Lucario]]'s fair is most beneficial when used in basic momentum canceling with no DI, but his dair is most beneficial when used in momentum canceling with DI. As such, his dair appears in the position of other characters' "Special Moves". Similarly, Snake and Ike have air dodge ("AD") displayed instead of an aerial.

|1.|| Donkey Kong / bair / [[Spinning Kong]] ||'''155% /163%'''||'''176%'''||'''204%'''||'''189%'''||'''199%'''||'''234%'''

|2.|| Bowser / fair / none ||'''157% / 165%'''||'''174%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''174%'''</span>||'''192%'''||'''204%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''204%'''</span>

|3.|| Yoshi / uair / [[Egg Roll]] ||'''149% / 157%'''||'''169%'''||'''181%*'''||'''181%'''||'''197%'''||'''204%*'''

|4.|| King Dedede / bair / [[Super Dedede Jump]] ||'''152% / 159%'''||'''165%'''||'''172%*'''||'''184%'''||'''194%'''||'''204%'''

|7.|| Ganondorf / uair / [[Flame Choke]] ||'''149% / 155%'''||'''165%'''||'''168%*'''||'''181%'''||'''192%'''||'''197%*'''

|8.|| Samus / uair / none ||'''151% / 159%'''||'''167%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''167%'''</span>||'''182%'''||'''195%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''195%'''</span>

|9.|| Charizard / uair / none ||'''151% / 157%'''||'''165%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''165%'''</span>||'''182%'''||'''195%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''195%'''</span>

|10.|| Captain Falcon / uair / none ||'''145% / 152%'''||'''164%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''164%'''</span>||'''178%'''||'''189%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''189%'''</span>

|11.|| Lucario / fair / dair ||'''144% / 152%'''||'''164%'''||'''164%'''||'''177%'''||'''188%'''||'''188%'''

|12.|| Wario / fair / none ||'''148% / 160%'''||'''163%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''163%'''</span>||'''184%'''||'''188%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''188%'''</span>

|13.|| Link / bair / none ||'''146% / 152%'''||'''162%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''162%'''</span>||'''177%'''||'''186%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''186%'''</span>

|14.|| R.O.B. / fair / [[Arm Rotor]] ||'''149% / 155%'''||'''156%'''||'''157%'''||'''179%'''||'''180%'''||'''184%'''

|15.|| Mr. Game & Watch / nair / [[Oil Panic]] ||'''124% / 132%'''||'''140%'''||'''157%'''||'''152%'''||'''161%'''||'''184%'''

|16.|| Sonic / fair / [[Spin Dash]] ||'''139% / 145%'''||'''156%'''||'''156%**'''||'''169%'''||'''179%'''||'''183%'''

|17.|| Diddy Kong / bair / [[Monkey Flip]] ||'''137% / 144%'''||'''153%'''||'''160%'''||'''167%'''||'''171%'''||'''182%'''

|18.|| Ivysaur / bair / none ||'''143% / 151%'''||'''155%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''155%'''</span>||'''175%'''||'''182%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''182%'''</span>

|19.|| Wolf / bair / none ||'''142% / 151%'''||'''164%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''164%'''</span>||'''178%'''||'''179%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''179%'''</span>

|20.|| Ness / nair / none ||'''139% / 147%'''||'''154%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''154%'''</span>||'''170%'''||'''179%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''179%'''</span>

|21.|| Lucas / nair / none ||'''138% / 147%'''||'''153%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''153%'''</span>||'''170%'''||'''179%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''179%'''</span>

|22.|| Pit / fair / none ||'''139% / 146%'''||'''152%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''152%'''</span>||'''169%'''||'''179%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''179%'''</span>

|23.|| Mario / uair / none ||'''142% / 150%'''||'''160%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''160%'''||'''173%'''||'''177%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''177%'''</span>

|24.|| Ice Climbers / uair / [[Squall Hammer]] ||'''137% / 144%'''||'''151%'''||'''156%'''||'''166%'''||'''174%'''||'''177%'''

|25.|| Marth / fair / none ||'''134% / 141%'''||'''152%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''152%'''</span>||'''163%'''||'''176%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''176%'''</span>

|26.|| Luigi / fair / none ||'''142% / 149%'''||'''158%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''158%'''</span>||'''171%'''||'''174%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''174%'''</span>

|27.|| Peach / uair / none ||'''137% / 144%'''||'''152%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''152%'''</span>||'''166%'''||'''173%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''173%'''</span>

|28.|| Toon Link / bair / none ||'''138% / 145%'''||'''155%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''155%'''</span>||'''168%'''||'''172%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''172%'''</span>

|29.|| Zelda / bair / none ||'''133% / 140%'''||'''148%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''148%'''</span>||'''161%'''||'''170%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''170%'''</span>

|30.|| Zero Suit Samus / uair / [[Flip Jump]] ||'''128% / 136%'''||'''145%'''||'''147%'''||'''158%'''||'''167%'''||'''169%'''

|31.|| Olimar / uair / none ||'''131% / 137%'''||'''144%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''144%'''</span>||'''158%'''||'''167%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''167%'''</span>

|32.|| Falco / uair / none ||'''128% / 135%'''||'''143%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''143%'''</span>||'''159%'''||'''166%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''166%'''</span>

|33.|| Pikachu / uair / [[Skull Bash]]||'''127% / 135%'''||'''143%'''||'''149%'''||'''156%'''||'''157%'''||'''165%'''

|34.|| Meta Knight / uair / [[Drill Rush]] ||'''126% / 133%'''||'''141%'''||'''160%'''||'''154%'''||'''156%'''||'''164%'''

|35.|| Shiek / fair/ none ||'''129% / 137%'''||'''143%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''143%'''</span>||'''163%'''||'''163%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''163%'''</span>

|36.|| Kirby / uair / none ||'''127% / 134%'''||'''139%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''139%'''</span>||'''155%'''||'''161%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''161%'''</span>

|37.|| Fox / uair / none ||'''123% / 132%'''||'''138%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''138%'''</span>||'''158%'''||'''158%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''158%'''</span>

|38.|| Jigglypuff/ bair / [[Pound]] ||'''120% / 127%'''||'''131%'''||'''131%**'''||'''146%'''||'''150%'''||'''155%'''

|39.|| Squirtle / uair / none ||'''123% / 131%'''||'''141%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''141%'''</span>||'''153%'''||'''154%'''||<span style="color:#999999;">'''154%'''</span>

When combined with his uair, the fastest aerial in the game, [[Meta Knight (SSBB)|Meta Knight]]'s side special negates a substantial amount of horizontal momentum without [[DI]], surpassed only by Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong. However, the use of DI provides very little extra benefit, allowing Meta Knight to survive at damages only 4% higher than instances in which DI is not used. The effectiveness of Drill Rush is further limited by the helpless state it leaves Meta Knight in, which can leave him vulnerable, especially when his slow horizontal air speed is taken into consideration.

Overall the second best momentum canceling move in the game, second only to Oil Panic, [[Donkey Kong (SSBB)|Donkey Kong]]'s up B, Spinning Kong, completely negates all momentum upon its first frame of activation, both horizontal and vertical momentum. This, in combination with his fast bair and his heavy weight, allows him to survive longer than every other character in the game when knocked horizontally, including Bowser. It puts him in a [[helpless]] state however, which is the reason Oil Panic is considered superior. Its landing lag may also leave DK vulnerable upon his return to the stage, but Spinning Kong can always cover the distance required to return to any neutral stage after momentum canceling. It also negates vertical momentum as well, but is impractical for this task other than getting hit diagonally upward as a result of DIing upwards as it leaves Donkey Kong helpless and Donkey Kong can survive longer vertically through the basic method.