Yoshi (SSB4)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Super Dragon
Tier	C (15)

“	Yoshi Rolls into Battle!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) was confirmed to return as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4 during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct. He was among the first wave of amiibo figures and was the last of the original eight starting characters of Super Smash Bros. to be announced. Yoshi is voiced by Kazumi Totaka, whose voice clips were used from earlier installments of Super Smash Bros., and every other game Yoshi spoke in since Yoshi's Story.

Yoshi is ranked 15th out of 56 on the tier list, placing him in the C tier alongside Captain Falcon. This makes him the second highest ranking mid-tier character and is a vast improvement from his placement of 27th out of 38 in Brawl. Yoshi sports a healthy mix of speed and power, boasts the highest air speed in the game and possesses a double jump which not only gains the most distance, but also has armor, making him difficult to contend with in the air. Another of Yoshi's greatest assets is his Egg Throw, an effective and versatile projectile. However, his grab game is poor, his rolls and sidesteps are short distanced and are among the slowest in the game, and he has very little vertical recovery outside of his double jump, making him vulnerable to gimping.

Attributes

Yoshi is relatively heavy, possesses average walking speed and air acceleration, a fast dashing speed, the fastest air speed, below average gravity and among the lowest falling speed and traction ratings. These give him excellent aerial mobility and great ground mobility, without making him frail or susceptible to juggling. Additionally, he has the ability to crawl.

Yoshi's greatest strength is the utility of his moves. His neutral and tilt attacks are all very fast, leaving him exposed for very small amounts of time. They additionally send opponents either vertically or horizontally, allowing follow-ups or edgeguarding opportunities. His dash attack has decent knockback and a lot of momentum, allowing easy cross-ups and making it tricky to punish. His smash attacks possess decent speed and high power while not lacking in range either. His down smash is, like down tilt, a semi-spike, making it very good at both edgeguarding and KOing. His aerial game is also versatile and benefits a lot from Yoshi's stats. His neutral aerial has a lasting hitbox and comes out very quickly (on frame 3), making it great at breaking combos and juggles. His forward aerial can either meteor smash or send opponents diagonally with high knockback, and is capable of autocancelling in a short hop. His up aerial is his strongest aerial and can easily KO opponents vertically, complimented by its long range. His back aerial is excellent at edgeguarding, because the first two hits launch opponents at the autolink angle and the third hit has high base knockback. Finally, his renowned down aerial is the most damaging aerial in the game, dealing up to 32% damage, making it excellent for both racking up damage and pressuring shields.

His special moveset is also very useful. Egg Lay immobilises opponents and allows for free hits. If opponents don't break out of the egg while near the edge, they will also be KO'd or unable to recover. Egg Roll can be used instead of dashing as a retreating option and deal some damage in the process. Egg Throw gives Yoshi a dependable projectile that can be used to stop approaches, or let Yoshi close in on the opponent. Lastly, Yoshi Bomb can be used out of shield, as a surprise KO move, or as an alternative to fast falling.

However, Yoshi has noticeable weaknesses. His main weakness is his vertical recovery. While his stats alone allow for long horizontal recovery, his Egg Throw gives minimal vertical distance. Even though he has the highest midair jump with a certain amount of launch resistance, he is overly reliant on it to recover, and has no hope of doing so if he's hit out of it. This makes him heavily susceptible to meteor smashes and footstool jumps. Another weakness is his poor grab game. His grab, despite having good range, has moderate startup and high ending lag, making it very punishable if missed. His pummel is the only positive trait of his grab game, being quick and decently damaging. His forward and back throws are his fastest and strongest throws, but they can't KO until 270% and have only three follow-ups (dash attack, up smash and forward aerial), with none of them being guaranteed. His down throw has too high base knockback and is too slow to combo effectively. Lastly, his up throw is too weak to KO even well over 350%, too strong to combo, and too slow to pressure. Finally, his ability to escape pressure is limited, since his rolls don't give much distance and, along with his sidestep, are among the slowest in the game.

Yoshi can gain noticeable benefits from his custom moves. Lick can act as a potential KO move, since it has unusually high knockback for a special move. Egg Launch deals more damage and can throw opponents offstage, minimizing their chances of recovering and giving Yoshi some space. Heavy Egg Roll is slower, but deals much more damage and has launch resistance throughout. Light Egg Roll has more power and moves higher and faster, but ends after the bounce. High Jump gives more distance, improving vertical and horizontal recovery, at the cost of not throwing eggs. Star Bomb has less power, but the stars are larger and more damaging. Crushing Bomb is slower and has no stars, making it easily punishable, but has much more power, KOing as low as 80%.

Overall, Yoshi is a balanced character. His weaknesses are easily exploitable, but outside of that, he has no real problem dealing with any opponent.

Changes from Brawl

Yoshi has been significantly buffed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Many of his attacks have more speed and utility in addition to improving his combo game. He also has less trouble KOing with some of his attacks thanks to his new KO set-ups and his KOing options having been strengthened. Yoshi can now jump out of shield, removing his main weakness in Brawl. However, Yoshi received sizable nerfs to his damage racking ability. Many of his attacks also deal less damage, most of his aerials have higher landing lag and he can no longer perform his powerful air release chain grab. In addition, his fastest grab (pivot grab) has more ending lag. Despite these nerfs, Yoshi's buffs have had a significantly greater impact, leading to him being a better character than in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Yoshi looks significantly more cartoonish and his body has been somewhat re-proportioned, making him better resemble his recent appearances in the latest Mario and Yoshi games. To further keep in-line with the more vibrant aesthetics in SSB4, his overall color scheme is now noticeably brighter compared to the much darker and more reserved color scheme he had in Brawl.
• Like Bowser, Yoshi's posture is more erect and he has a more "battle ready" stance after having stood hunched over like a dinosaur in the previous Super Smash Bros. games. This is translated into his moveset, be it through a tweaked animation or a completely new attack.
• Yoshi's straighter pose also adjusts his hurtbox, resulting in its shape becoming less awkward. However, he will still revert to his previous hunched standing animation from Brawl if he holds a small item, which curiously includes his previous idle poses as well.
• The eggs formed with Yoshi's on-screen appearance, shield, Egg Throw, Egg Lay and Egg Roll now match his selected color. However, a Yoshi swallowed by Kirby's copied Egg Lay will be trapped in an egg featuring his own selected color.

Attributes

• Yoshi is lighter (107 → 104), worsening his endurance but making him less susceptible to combos.
• Yoshi dashes faster (1.68 → 1.86).
• Yoshi's air speed is slower (1.316 → 1.28). Despite this, his air speed is still the fastest in the game, barring Cloud with a full Limit Gauge.
• Yoshi is able to jump out of shield for the first time since SSB. His shield drop is now significantly quicker as well (17 frames → 7) to match that of the rest of the cast, no longer being the worst in the game. This greatly expands his defensive options and allows him to combat pressuring situations with much greater ease than in Brawl. [1]
• Yoshi's double jump now decelerates after starting at full speed.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack deals 2% less damage (9% → 7%).
• Neutral attack's first hit can set up moves more reliably, particularly his up smash.
• All tilts deal less damage (8%/9%/10% → 8%/7% (forward), 11%/10% → 7% (up), 10%/5% → 5%/4% (down)).
• Forward and down tilts are faster.
• Yoshi has a new dash attack, a running side kick. It has more range, less lag, and a longer slide afterwards compared to the previous dash attack.
• All smash attacks deal less damage (16% → 15%/14%/13% (forward), 16% → 14% (up), 14%/13% → 12%/10% (down)).
• Yoshi has a new up smash, a backflip kick. It has increased knockback (23 base/83 growth → 37/95) and less ending lag compared to the previous up smash.
• Up smash has significantly less range behind Yoshi.
• Down smash's sweetspot has much stronger knockback (30 base/53 growth → 40/81) and is now a reliable KOing option again, although it is not as powerful as it was in Melee.

Aerial attacks

• All aerial attacks deal less damage (12%/9%/6% → 10%/7%/5% (neutral), 16%/15% → 15%/14% (forward), 14% → 10% (back), 13% → 12% (up) and 33% → 32% (down)). However, all aerial attacks, except for up aerial, had their knockback compensated.
• Neutral, forward and back aerials have higher landing lag (9 frames → 11 (neutral), 16 frames → 17 (forward), 9 frames → 19 (back)).
• Forward aerial is faster and is active longer (frames 19-21 → 16-20).
• Back aerial's hits connect together better.
• Back aerial now only hits three times as opposed to four, resulting in 4% less total damage (14% → 10%).
• Back aerial's damage was adjusted, but its total damage remains the same (hit 1: 4% → 2.5%, hit 2: 3% → 2.5%, hit 3: 3% → 5%).
• Back aerial's animation has slightly changed. Its last hit is now more accentuated.
• Down aerial's animation is significantly faster and the increased shieldstun as of update 1.1.1 enables it to pressure shields more effectively. Its last hit now hits grounded opponents horizontally, which makes the move safer to use on grounded, non-shielding opponents.
• Down aerial's last hit launches aerial opponents upwards, removing its meteor smashing potential.

Throws/other attacks

• Fixed a glitch where opponents could escape from the tip of Yoshi's tongue during his grab and before they enter his mouth, resulting in a game crash.
• Due to the removal of chain grabbing, Yoshi is no longer capable of an air release chain grab.
• Pivot grab has more ending lag.
• Front and back floor attacks deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).

Special moves

• Egg Roll no longer puts Yoshi into a helpless state. Yoshi can also, for the first time, jump during Egg Roll, allowing the player to mix up the way by which they approach the target as well as dodge incoming projectiles.
• Egg Throw is slightly faster. Yoshi also no longer loses horizontal momentum while performing Egg Throw, allowing it to be used for approaching and combos, as well as greatly increasing his horizontal recovery.
• Egg Throw deals 3% less damage (9% → 6%) and covers less distance. Yoshi can also no longer edge cancel Egg Throw.
• Egg Throw's animation has been slightly changed. A small rainbow trailing is emitted behind the egg when Yoshi throws it.
• Aerial Yoshi Bomb's base knockback has been increased (55 → 70). This restores its niche as a situational KOing option and a potent surprise attack.
• Yoshi no longer vocalizes when performing Yoshi Bomb.
• Super Dragon's Fireball deals 1% more damage (17% → 18%) and passes through multiple opponents.
• Super Dragon deals less damage overall. Its duration has also been noticeably decreased.

Update history

Game updates have brought Yoshi a few slight buffs and nerfs. These include increases to the landing lag of his down aerial and the start-up lag of Egg Lay in update 1.0.4 and his forward smash's range being decreased in update 1.0.6. However, he has also obtained a few buffs as well that help compensate, as well as making his recovery better with customs on. Yoshi also benefits from the changes to shield mechanics brought about recent updates, which allow his down aerial and Yoshi Bomb to wear down shields much better.

1.0.4

• Four frames of intangibility have been added to Yoshi's head, nose and arms for his initial shielding animation. This leaves him less susceptible to shield poking, as his head is not fully covered by the shield during these first frames.
• Dash attack has more ending lag (FAF 45 → 50).
• Egg Lay has more startup lag (frame 17 → 21) and a longer total duration (FAF 40 → 44).
• Egg Lay and Egg Launch have smaller grabboxes (5u/6.8u → 4u/5.9u).
• Fixed the "Giant Yoshi Glitch", which allowed characters to grow to ridiculous sizes in Multi-Man mode after being swallowed by Egg Lay.
• Fixed a glitch which allowed Yoshi to teleport back to an edge after using his up special after a ledge jump.
• Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to execute a super high High Jump immediately after using Yoshi Bomb.
• Fixed a glitch which allowed Yoshi to slide far forwards with his up special after performing a boost pivot grab.
• Yoshi can no longer slide on slopes with Yoshi Bomb.

1.0.6

• Ledge attack's ending lag decreased.
• Part of forward smash has been made irreversible.
• Forward smash's range decreased.
• Upward angled forward tilt's start-up lag decreased.

1.1.0

• Back aerial's SDI multipliers decreased: 1 → 0.5 and its hitbox angle has been altered
• Back aerial stops auto-cancelling earlier: frame 11 → 6.
• Fixed a glitch where Yoshi Bomb could enable Yoshi to grab a ledge so long as he was very close to it and the control stick was tilted upward or toward the stage.

1.1.1

• High Jump's ending lag decreased by 4 frames.
• Ledge get-up attack's shield damage increased: 0 → 1.

1.1.4

• Trip invincibility and all trip followups except floor attack have one less frame of invincibility.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Quickly kicks with his left foot and then his right foot. The first hit can set up a KOing option like down smash, while the second can combo into dash attack or dash grab at low percents.
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		8%	Spins and swipes opponents with his tail. A very quick move.
	→		7%
	↘		8%
Up tilt			7%	Crouches down and flicks his tail upward. A good combo starter.
Down tilt			5% (base), 4.5% (mid), 4% (tip)	A low sweep with his tail. A semi-spike.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 6% (late)	A running side kick followed by an awkward stumble.
Forward smash			13% (tip), 15.5% (nose), 14% (body)	A headbutt.
Up smash			14% (clean), 12% (late)	A backflip kick. It can hit opponents immediately after performing Egg Lay.
Down smash			12% (tail), 10% (body)	Quickly strikes forward and then backward with his tail. It is a semi-spike like his down tilt.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 7% (mid), 5% (late)	A flying kick. A standard sex kick, the size of his foot is larger during the attack to indicate an extended reach. Useful for spacing and a decent edge-guarding option.
Forward aerial			15% (body), 14% (head)	Winds up and slams his head downward. Can meteor smash if spaced properly. It has a slightly tweaked animation in that Yoshi now bends his head to the side while performing the attack. Capable of auto-cancelling from a short hop.
Back aerial			2.5% (hits 1-2), 5% (hit 3)	Rapidly wags his tail to repeatedly swat the opponent. The final hit has been accentuated.
Up aerial			12%	Flips his body and flicks his tail upward. A great KOing option.
Down aerial			3% (hits 1-6 center), 2% (hits 1-6 sides), 2.2% (hits 7-13 center), 1.5% (hits 7-13 sides), 1% (hit 14), 1% (landing)	A downward Flutter Jump. Yoshi rapidly kicks the opponent, with the last kick can now being able to hit opponents horizontally, improving the attack's potential on grounded opponents. The most damaging aerial in the game and a very useful tool for pressuring shields.
Grab			—	Uses his tongue to grab an opponent and pull them into his mouth. His dash grab cause him to trip if he does not grab the opponent. Despite its appearance, Yoshi's tongue is not a tether, though its range and lag are between tethers and normal grabs.
Pummel			2%	Yoshi chews on the opponent.
Forward throw			7%	Spits the opponent forward.
Back throw			7%	Spits the opponent backward.
Up throw			5%	Spits the opponent upward.
Down throw			4%	Spits the opponent into the ground.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups			7%
Neutral special	Default	Egg Lay	7%	Swallows the opponent and turns them into an egg. When encased in an egg, the victim receives less damage and can button mash in order to break free, but they are completely immobile and vulnerable to Yoshi's attacks while trapped. They also stay trapped longer the higher their damage is.
	Custom 1	Lick	10%	Pokes the enemy with his tongue, similarly to how it operated in The Subspace Emissary. Surprisingly powerful, it is able to KO under 150%.
	Custom 2	Egg Launch	10%	The egg Yoshi lays is fired backward, but it is easier to break out of.
Side special	Default	Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Seals himself inside an egg and rolls around, barreling through opponents to attack. While he can jump, the move only does damage while on the ground.
	Custom 1	Heavy Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Significantly slower, but also significantly stronger and grants super armor.
	Custom 2	Light Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Considerably stronger and faster, but bounces once and breaks on the second bounce.
Up special	Default	Egg Throw	1% (contact), 5% (explosion)	Throws an egg in a controllable, parabolic arc. When used in midair, it gives Yoshi a small boost upward, which gets weaker and weaker with each consecutive use. A very versatile projectile.
	Custom 1	High Jump	0%	Increases the height gained, but does not throw eggs.
	Custom 2	Timed Egg Throw	9%	Eggs are stronger when they explode, but travel harmlessly through enemies instead of exploding on contact. It also gives no boost upward when performed in midair, making function similarly to how Egg Throw did in SSB and Melee.
Down special	Default	Yoshi Bomb	4% (hop), 15% (ground drop), 12% (air drop), 4% (stars)	Quickly leaps into the air to perform a Ground Pound, which produces stars when he lands. Deals bonus damage to shield and nearly able to destroy a full shield when all parts of the grounded version connect.
	Custom 1	Star Bomb	3% (hop), 4% (drop), 8%/6%/4% (stars)	The Ground Pound has much less power, but the stars produced are larger and stronger.
	Custom 2	Crushing Bomb	5% (hop), 18% (drop)	The Ground Pound has much more power, but is slower and produces no stars.
Final Smash		Super Dragon	3% (contact), 6%/4%/3% (fire breath), 18%/14%/12% (fireball)	Sprouts a pair of angelic wings and gains the ability to breathe fire. While transformed, Yoshi can shoot large fireballs with the attack button, and can breathe a continuous stream of flames by staying idle. Lastly, Yoshi can make use of his newfound power of flight and invincibility to charge into rivals, but taking damage reduces the amount of time he stays transformed, as with most other transformation-based Final Smashes.

On-screen appearance

• Yoshi bursts out of a Yoshi Egg.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Dances around in a circle and says "Yoshi!" upon finishing.
• Side taunt: Yoshi chases his tail, followed by a brief pause to stare at it.
• Down taunt: Looks towards the screen and jumps excitedly up and down with his arms flailing, saying "Yoshi! Yoshi!" The taunt originates from Super Smash Bros.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Does a short dance.
• Looks around.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Yo-shi!	Yo-shi! *claps 3 times*
Pitch	Group chant	Female

Victory poses

A flourished remix directly from Brawl based on the beginning of the title theme in Yoshi's Story.

• Punches the air, then strikes a pose with his arms outstretched. This is his "character chosen" animation from Super Smash Bros.
• Looks up at the sky with his hands together, spins once, and performs the V sign.
• Angrily performs two alternating punches and then turns his back to the screen, facing right. This is likely a humorous reference to Akuma's Raging Demon from Street Fighter, which has an identical ending pose.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Yoshi	3111	2111	1311	1211	3211
	3311	2211	2311	2113	3112

Notable players

•  Aiba
•  DIO
•  Djay
•  Firefly
•  Flow-Yo
•  GenMuH
•  JFK
•  KDB
•  Leepuff
•  Nikes
•  Poltergust
•  Raptor
•  Regrahlt
•  Rice
•  Sky
•  Tarex
•  The Wall
•  Yoshidora

Trophies

Yoshi

As dependable a partner as one could hope for, Yoshi often aids Mario in his adventures. Yoshi can swallow just about anything and make an egg of it instantly. He's got some serious airborne power, making launching opponents skyward and then following up with more attacks a wise choice.

They say man's best friends is a dog, but Mario's may well be Yoshi. He lives on Yoshi's Island, and can swallow up just about anything, then lay it as an egg. In this game, jumping is his forte - he can leap really high, then quickly land again, making chasing after launched opponents and getting in sneaky follow-up strikes easy.

: Super Mario World (08/1991)

: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)

Yoshi (Alt.)

Yoshi's up special move Egg Throw is a projectile attack that travels farther the longer the button is held. Yoshi will also rise a bit if this move is used in midair. The side special Egg Roll turns Yoshi into a rolling, damaging egg. Yoshi won't roll off an edge if no directions are pressed.

When you use the Egg Throw up special, how far Yoshi throws the egg depends on how long you hold the button. In mid-air, the move also makes him rise a bit. Egg Roll, a side special, sends him rolling inside an egg. If you don't control him while he's rolling, he'll stop just before he rolls off the edge of a platform.

: Super Mario World (08/1991)

: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)

Super Dragon

Wings sprout from Yoshi's back and he transforms into a super-cool dragon! While transformed, Yoshi is invincible and will constantly breathe fire. He can also ram into foes and shoot fireballs at them. The fireballs are great for launching foes and most powerful when used at close range.

A pair of wings appear on Yoshi's back, turning him into an angelic dragon. While the Final Smash is active, he can fly freely through the air, and is invincible to boot. He constantly breathes fire, can ram into opponents, and can also shoot fireballs that deal a lot of damage and have great launching power, especially at close range.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• YoshiAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Super Dragon

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Regulars: Yoshi is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starter characters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• King of the Yoshis: Yoshi must defeat seven other Yoshis in a stock match.

Co-op Events

• Food Fight: Yoshi, Wario, and Pac-Man are all opponents that Kirby and King Dedede must defeat.
• Robots vs. Dragons: A giant Yoshi appears as one of the opponents that Mega Man and R.O.B. must defeat.
• Scheming Sorcerer: Yoshi and Toon Link must defeat male and female Robin, followed by giant male Robin and giant metal female Robin.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

The eggs Yoshi creates are now in the selected color.

Gallery

• 

  Yoshi's introduction picture.

• 

  Yoshi's amiibo.

• 

  Taunting alongside Kirby, Pikachu, and Villager.

• 

  Yoshi's forward tilt with Zelda's Phantom Slash.

• 

  Using Egg Throw on a Smash Ball.

• 

  Using Egg Lay.

• 

  One of Yoshi's poses.

• 

  Yoshi Bomb with Bowser and Toon Link.

• 

  Using Egg Lay.

• 

  Down taunt with Kirby.

• 

  Getting hit by a banana peel from Diddy Kong.

• 

  Posing with Luma.

• 

  Jumping away from a shark with Pikachu and Diddy Kong.

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  Yoshi on the cover for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only member of the Original 8 to not be revealed at E3 2013 and the last one to be revealed overall.
• Yoshi is the only non-DLC veteran that is not an alternate form or part of a set to have splash art and an introduction tagline accompany his reveal.
• Yoshi is the only member of the Original 8 and one of the only three SSB characters to be absent from non-DLC posters containing newcomers, the other two being Ness and Jigglypuff, except they do not appear in any poster art.
  • The only poster he is shown in is the one for Bayonetta.
• Even though Yoshi does not vocalize the Yoshi Bomb anymore, he still has the sound effect for it in the Sound Test.
• This is the first game where Yoshi receives new alternate costumes under normal circumstances.
• Yoshi, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff are the only characters to use voice clips from all four Super Smash Bros. installments.
• Yoshi is the only returning character who can no longer enter helplessness through any of his special moves in the transition to SSB4.
• Yoshi & Captain Falcon are the only characters in C-tier. While Yoshi is considerd "cute" captain falcon is far from that statement