Wario (SSB4)

Wario in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Wario
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Wario-Man
Tier	E (41)

Wario (ワリオ, Wario) returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was officially confirmed on October 3rd, 2014 alongside Ness and Falco, coinciding with the North American and European release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. This time around, he is unlockable, as opposed to being available from the start in Brawl.

He retains his biker outfit from the WarioWare series, as well as his overalls from the Mario games. He is voiced by Charles Martinet, who voices the character in all but a few of his appearances, as well as Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi, using the same voice clips from Brawl.

In the current tier list, Wario is ranked at 41st position out of 55 characters, an enormous drop from his 10th out of 38 in Brawl. Like in Brawl, Wario surprisingly possesses great aerial mobility and good overall mobility for a heavyweight, with great aerial attacks and a strong ground game to complement this. He has great setups with most of his aerial attacks and bike projectiles as his aerials have low end lag and a huge stun hurtbox with the bike, which can be used repetitively to pressure his opponents for defense and racking up damage.

However, while some of his finishers were made more powerful, they are generally laggier, particularly in regards to startup and cooldown lag, making him more dependent on baiting and reading in order to KO opponents. Furthermore, Wario's lack of effective anti-projectile methods, along with his relatively average range, hinders his ability to space and approach, especially against characters with effective disjoints or projectiles.

While Wario has had a few high placings at tournaments, including a fifth place finish from Reflex at MLG World Finals 2015, his tournament representation has been poor for a character of his tier, with other characters near him on the tier list generally commanding larger playerbases and slightly better tournament results. Furthermore, a number of his best players, such as Abadango, have dropped him as a main in lieu of characters deemed more viable.

Attributes

Wario is a short, heavyweight character with a deceptively good air game and an excellent amount of recovery options. Wario boasts the fifth-best air speed in the game, in addition to well-above-average air acceleration, which grants him some of the best aerial mobility of any character; however, his dash and walk leave a lot to be desired. Using his high mobility and versatile aerial attacks, Wario is able to dip in and out of the fray to bait attacks and punish. In spite of its poor speed, Wario has a formidable ground game as well, with many of his attacks being rather fast with setup potential while also dealing good damage, outside of his smash attacks.

Wario's special moves are very unorthodox, and demand practice to use at their highest potential. Chomp is one of the best command grabs in the game, having deceptively long range and almost no startup or ending lag. It can effectively cover certain edge recoveries, negate certain attacks such as Spinning Kong, and absorb many projectiles, often with the benefit of healing him and slightly increasing the charge of his Wario Waft. Wario Bike gives Wario a solid approach option that covers for his low ground speed, and continues to move forward and hit enemies after he dismounts it. It also respawns very quickly when destroyed or lost, giving him a large and fairly reliable pseudo-projectile which can apply pressure when used effectively. Ending a wheelie with the Wario Bike will cause great knockback to an enemy it hits, as well as dealing a considerable amount of shield damage. When in the bike, pressing the special or jump buttons will have Wario jump off. As a result, this move can provide Wario with a literal third jump if his double jump had already been used, and this can be further extended with a corkscrew, making Wario's recovery exceedingly above average.

Despite his array of unusual attacks, Wario has overall lackluster reach and lacks a true projectile, thus he must first close the distance between him and his opponent in order to land an attack. Because of this, Wario struggles most against characters who make frequent use of long-ranged attacks, such as Shulk, Cloud, and Link. This, combined with his relative lack of reliable KO moves, especially compared with other heavyweights, means that Wario must play unpredictably, relying on deception and mindgames to earn a KO on an unsuspecting opponent.

With custom moves turned on, Wario gains a number of solid options. Speeding Bike allows for easy follow-ups after a successful hit due to its high speed being able to overtake an opponent who's been launched by it, along with being even better for recovery; however, it can be stuffed by enemy attacks easily due to its low durability. Burying Bike, while offering little for recovery, is extremely durable and can act as an effective shield against projectiles, helping to alleviate Wario's range problems. Rose-Scented Waft, while much weaker than its standard counterpart, possesses a gigantic hitbox that can make it nigh-unavoidable in the hands of a competent player, and can tack on a huge amount of damage if the opponent doesn't commit to button mashing to shake the flower off. Quick Waft, meanwhile, is decidedly stronger than the Rose-Scented Waft, charges almost four times faster than the standard, and executes faster than the other versions, giving Wario a more readily available KO option in exchange for the massive power of the standard. Corkscrew Leap offers a good deal of extra distance and speed in exchange for the damage of the standard, which leaves Wario more vulnerable during recovery in exchange for allowing him to go deeper for edgeguards than before.

Overall, Wario is a capable character with a bevy of unusual, yet useful attacks. However, Wario must stay unpredictable in order to be used effectively, lest his opponent end up seeing through his strategy.

While Wario does not have a significant amount of competitive representation, his few tournament results have been impressive, with players such as TheReflexWonder and Glutonny utilizing advanced play tactics and Wario's unconventional combo potential to reasonable effect.

Changes from Brawl

Wario received some buffs that address some of his former flaws in Brawl, but has also received several nerfs that differentiate him significantly from his Brawl incarnation, nerfing him overall. While he has technically received more buffs than nerfs, the few drastic downgrades he received ultimately caused him to further rely on a deceptive play style in order to secure KOs. He has been given multiple improvements to his recovery, being able to use his more versatile Wario Bike to recover more reliably. Many of his attacks deliver much more knockback, such as his new forward smash and the Wario Waft. Wario's ground game has been slightly improved, with many of his attacks having less start-up lag and the Wario Bike being much stronger and more reliable. Once dismounted, the Wario Bike is now equipped with traveling hitboxes, granting Wario an armored projectile of sorts. Wario's poorer aerials have been improved, with his forward and back aerials delivering increased knockback. Some moves also have less endlag, such as his down tilt.

Despite many of these changes being beneficial to Wario, he has received heavy nerfs to many of his previously effective options. One of the more noticeable nerfs was the reduction of his air speed and acceleration, although they are still the 3rd best in the game. He also is significantly harmed by the removal of DACUS as it removes his effective Gatling Combo. Although some of his moves have less endlag, others have much more, such as his forward smash, which is much less consistent due to now being slower and lacking transcendent priority and armor. Wario's aerials have been re-tooled, many of them delivering increased knockback, with the exception of his neutral and previously reliable up aerial. However, due to the vertical knockback trajectory of Wario's neutral aerial and the reduced knockback of his up aerial, Wario is now able to utilize both to capitalize on a fair amount of combo potential.

Being a heavy character, Wario does gain some benefit from the rage mechanic present in Smash 4, being able to deliver increased knockback when at a high percentage. However, without his arsenal of moves that could reliably KO, Wario's reliance on racking up an opponent's damage leaves him even more vulnerable to the increased knockback delivered by adversaries under the influence of rage. He benefits from the removal of edgehogging, as it makes Corkscrew a much more advantageous recovery option.

Wario's notorious grab release that plagued him in Brawl was also fixed in patch 1.0.4.

Aesthetics

• Wario's appearance is largely the same as it was in Brawl, although his overall color scheme is now brighter due to the aesthetic used in SSB4, which also makes his color scheme more akin to how he appears in the WarioWare series. His overalls have been detailed with denim textures as opposed to the flat textures used in Brawl, thus making his overalls more akin to Mario's and Luigi's. Additionally, his chin has become more pronounced and his arms are also more muscular.
• Wario's chest faces the foreground regardless of whether he's facing left or right.
• Wario's animations are somewhat more fluid than in Brawl. This is especially noticeable in his new idle and dashing animations.
• Wario now blinks, as opposed to in Brawl, where his eyes always remained open unless he was asleep or injured.
• Wario is now more expressive overall.
• Wario will occasionally grunt when performing his first jump.
• Taunting on the bike now plays the laugh from Wario's up taunt.

Attributes

• The animation of both Wario's initial and secondary jumps now differ from Brawl. For example, holding back upon Wario's initial jump now results in him doing a back flip.
• Wario walks slightly slower (0.85 → 0.847).
• Wario dashes faster (1.35 → 1.5).
• Wario's air speed has been slightly reduced (1.222 → 1.21), though it is still among the best in the game.
• Wario's air acceleration has been drastically reduced. (0.3 → 0.08) Which greatly hurts his air game, no longer allowing Wario to weave in and out at high speeds.
• Wario's falling speed has been increased (1.4 → 1.61).
• Wario's fast falling speed has been increased (1.96 → 2.576).

Ground attacks

• Wario can no longer use the Gatling Combo, which noticeably hinders his offensive game since he was one of the most proficient users of it in Brawl.
• Neutral attack deals 3% less damage (12% → 9%).
• The first hit of Wario's neutral attack deals consistent damage (6% (fist)/5% (body) → 4%).
• Forward tilt has less start up (frame 14 → 12).
• Forward tilt has more ending lag (FAF 37 → 40).
• Down tilt has much less ending lag (FAF 34 → 18) and deals less damage (8 to 4%) and knockback, significantly improving its combo potential.
• Dash attack deals more knockback (60 base/75 growth → 80 base/70 growth (clean), 40 base/40 growth → 100 base/50 growth (late)).
• Late dash attack deals slightly less damage (5% → 4%).
• Wario has a new forward smash: a fist-inflating backhand punch while leaning forward and standing on one leg. Compared to the shoulder tackle from Brawl, it has much more range and knockback (30 base/77 growth → 20 base/99 growth). It also cancels out projectiles better.
• New forward smash has more start up (frame 9 → 18), more ending lag (FAF 45 → 66), and lacks both the armor and transcendent priority of his previous forward smash.
• Wario has a new up smash: a head-inflating swinging headbutt while standing on one leg and leaning forward. It hits once similar to Mario and Luigi's up smash headbutt (and the animation is much more similar to the Smash 64 version), which increases its damage and knockback and makes it more reliable overall. It also has intangibility frames lasting between frames 8 to 14.
• Down smash has less ending lag (FAF 78 → 68).
• Down smash has a shorter duration (frames 8-42 → 8-36).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral and up aerials have slightly more landing lag (10 frames → 12 frames (neutral), 9 frames → 12 frames (up)).
• Late hit of neutral aerial launches opponents vertically, setting them up for a follow up attack.
• Neutral aerial clean hit deals less damage (9% → 6.5%) and has less range and edgeguarding potential.
• Forward air's clean hit is slightly stronger (20 base/100 growth → 30 base/97 growth) but deals less damage (5% → 4.5%). It also has increased range. When combined with his slower air speed, these changes both improve and worsen its combo and WOP potential.
• Back aerial has slightly less landing lag (30 frames → 27 frames). It also deals 2% more damage (10% → 12%), making it a better KO move.
• Up aerial deals 4% less damage (17% → 13%) and has reduced knockback growth (80 → 78), hindering its KO potential.. It also no longer autocancels in a short hop.
• Up aerial's lower power allows it to combo much more effectively.
• Down aerial's final hit delivers much more knockback (20 base/180 growth → 25 base/200 growth), now being a reliable KO move at higher percentages.
• Down aerial deals less damage (16% → 11.8%), has more ending lag (38 frames → 48 frames), and autocancels later (frame 25 → 42), making it no longer autocancel in a short hop. Down aerial also can no longer penetrate shields.

Throws/other attacks

• Wario's forward and back throws have swapped places.
• Forward throw delivers much more knockback. It is now the second strongest, KOing only 5% later than Bowser's.
• Back throw now damages bystanders, similarly to Mario's, Dr. Mario's, and Luigi's.
• Up and down throws deal slightly more damage (10% → 11% (up throw), 7% → 8% (down throw).
• Down throw deals more base knockback (60 → 80) and can no longer chaingrab opponents. These changes hinder its utility.

Special moves

• Chomp can now be used on energy projectiles, and using it on certain, non-energy projectiles and items (including his bike) now heal Wario for 1% (or 1.5x in the case of Food) and slightly increases the charge of Wario Waft. It also has less endlag.
• Wario faces slightly more to the screen while using Chomp, unlike the previous installment, where he faces straight.
• Wario Bike continues to deal damage after Wario dismounts, with it being able to muscle through almost any opposing projectile, thus giving Wario a new pseudo-projectile and approach option.
• Ending a wheelie now slams the bike on opponents for high damage and incredible knockback.
• Wario can no longer fall off his bike simply from riding or making turns, allowing him to ride around indefinitely until he is hit or the player dismounts. In addition, hitting an opponent with the Wario Bike while turning sharply now results in a heavier hit with increased knockback.
• Wario Bike can now be respawned immediately after being broken or disappearing from the screen, with an orange blink flashing on Wario being a visual indicator that it has respawned.
• A dismounted Wario Bike that is no longer on screen but has not crossed a blast line to despawn will now automatically despawn after 22-24 seconds.
• Throwing the Wario Bike now does increased damage to opponents, with a properly charged throw dealing up to 26% damage.
• Wario Bike is less effective at shielding Wario from projectiles as he rides it. Wheelies can also no longer be held indefinitely, and can only be done at one height. Wario can no longer dismount his bike during a wheelie, even if he rides offstage.
• A destroyed Wario Bike's tires can no longer be picked up and thrown, removing a pseudo-projectile. They can still be consumed by Chomp, but they now disappear upon contact with the ground or if the move is re-used.
• During Corkscrew, Wario now has his fists clenched to his side and thrusts his palms out towards the end, rather than having his palms open in the straight up in the air the entire time.
• Corkscrew covers more vertical distance and can now sweet spot the edge. Corkscrew also has increased base knockback (60 → 70) and with proper timing, can be used to KO near the upper blast line.
• Corkscrew deals 6% less damage (19% → 13%).
• Wario Waft has significantly more knockback growth at maximum charge (30 → 75). It is also much more difficult to self-destruct off the upper blast line with a fully charged Wario Waft.
• Wario Waft deals much less damage (42% → 27%) and gains less vertical distance.
• Unlike in Brawl, where only his stomach bulged out from under his shirt slightly, Wario's entire torso now physically bulges to the point where his frame actually becomes wider while his Wario Waft is charging.
• Wario-Man lasts for a lesser amount of time, regardless of how much damage he takes while transformed. Additionally, due to the altered functions of Wario's smash attacks, Wario-Man can no longer dash forward while performing his forward smash or create a vacuum effect with his up smash.
• Wario no longer makes an echoing "Oooooh..." once Wario-Man's duration is up; instead, he transforms back silently.

Version differences

• On the 3DS version of the game, a dismounted Wario Bike that is left off screen despawns after 24 seconds as opposed to the Wii U version which takes only 22 seconds. While seemingly negligible, the difference in time can result in an unintentional self destruct under appropriate conditions. The reasoning behind this is as of yet, unknown.
• On the 3DS version of the game, if the Wario Bike (as an item) is thrown down, it bounces once if Wario is facing right, and twice if he is facing left. In the Wii U version of the game, it bounces twice if Wario is facing right, and thrice if he is facing left.

Update history

Wario has only received very minor buffs in the game's updates. The only real significant buff he received was in 1.0.4, which fixed his notorious grab release which allowed multiple characters to combo him out of a release. Changes to the shield mechanics in 1.1.0 and 1.1.1, however, seem to favor Wario slightly due to the high hitlag his attacks have when mounting the bike.

1.0.4

• Change to DI system results in the removal of Wectoring, a glitch allowing Wario to rocket back onstage just after being able to act after knockback.
• Wario now receives additional backwards momentum when aerial grab released (0 → -0.6). Because of this, Wario is sent much further out when aerial grab released; removing most of the guaranteed followups which were previously possible against him.

1.0.6

• Bike Glitch on Palutena's Temple fixed.

1.0.8

• Jab links more reliably, and the second hit has bigger hitbox sizes and an additional hitbox.

Technical changelist

Change	Old value	New value
Unknown parameters set to 63 and 15 on many hitboxes
Jab 1 (hitbox 0) angle	65°	55°
Jab 1 (hitbox 0) base knockback	35	45
Jab 1 (hitbox 1) angle	75°	72°
Jab 1 (hitbox 1) knockback growth	50	40
Jab 1 (hitbox 1) base knockback	28	38
Third hitbox added on jab 2, positions adjusted.
Jab 2 hitbox sizes	5.5/3.5	5.8/3.8/3.3

1.1.0

• Dash attack sourspot can now hit aerial opponents.

1.1.1

• Inhaling Chomp has faster start-up.
• Minor frame speed multiplier on some unknown action.

1.1.4

• Grounded state glitch removed.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Wario	1211	1212	1213	1112	1113
	1313	2211	2111	1221	1122

Notable players

Active

•  Anuar
•  Enigwa
•  Glutonny - The best Wario player in the world, ranked 2nd on the French Power Rankings, has set wins over ANTi, Kameme, and Fatality.
•  Iota
•  LordFrieza
•  TheReflexWonder
•  Fluzi - Ranked 10th on South Carolina Power Rankings, top 16 at Final Round 20
•  Waymas

Inactive

•  Abadango
•  Nasubi
•  Tweek

Tier placement and history

Wario was at first considered to be a character around the same potency as in the Brawl metagame, with players pointing out the changes to the game's physics had benefited him more than worsening him, most notably the addition of rage, plus his KO options were improved in general. Despite his below average playerbase, players such as Abadango, Glutonny and TheReflexWonder started to demonstrate his capabilities in competitive play by adapting to a more deceptive playstyle. Even so, players would soon realize he had also lost the great potency on his aerial game, now being just slightly above average. His well-regarded status would also drop after Abadango dropped him in favor of Meta Knight. Regardless, and after an extremely solid 5th place at MLG World Finals 2015 from Reflex, Wario was eventually placed at 21st on the first 4BR tier list.

However, Wario's tournament representation and results have remained rather scarce, in particular due to the majority of the mid- and low-tiered characters eventually outperforming him in several tournaments, and the changes to the game's physics having also demonstrated they had reduced a lot of his potency at camping, to the point he had to rely much more on baiting and KOing a careless opponent with his slower, albeit more powerful moves. Eventually, Wario dropped to 34th place on the second tier list, the second largest drop (tied with Luigi) between the first and second tier lists. He then saw another very slight drop to 36th on the third tier list and, despite Glutonny's good placings throughout Europe, he has dropped to 41st on the fourth and current tier list.

Trophies

Wario

A living embodiment of gross, this villain hates Mario and loves money. He claims to have known Mario since childhood, but who can tell if that's true? In Smash Bros., he's a seriously agile heavyweight fighter. He can store up his trademark Wario Waft for explosive results. Did I mention he's gross?

If someone who hated Mario tried to draw an ugly version of him, it'd probably end up looking just like Wario. The greedy villain claims they used to be childhood friends, though... In this game, he's a heavy fighter with heavy-hitting attacks. The longer you go without using his Wario Waft move, the more explosive it'll be when you..."let it out".

: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (11/1992)

: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!/Minigame Mania (PAL) (05/2003)

Wario (Alt.)

With his Chomp special, Wario can wolf down almost anything! If you use this to gobble up healing items, they'll work better! When using his Wario Bike side special, you can jump off, pick it up, and throw it. But please, for the love of all things garlicky, JUMP OFF BEFORE YOU RIDE OFF THE STAGE.

With his Chomp special, Wario can wolf down almost anything! Hold the button, and he'll keep his gob open too. Also, if you gobble up healing items, they'll have more effect! When using his Wario Bike side special, you can jump off, pick it up and throw it. Most importantly, though, you can JUMP OFF. No need to ride off the stage.

: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (11/1992)

: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!/Minigame Mania (PAL) (05/2003)

Wario-Man

With just a little nibble of garlic, humble everyman Wario transforms into the hero of justice, Wario-Man! He's...still not really all that strong, but he does get quite a bit faster, and he can launch foes farther too. And like any good hero, he has the ability to fly...by spamming attacks in midair. Just like they all do it, right?

Just a little nibble of garlic, and the humble Everyman Wario transforms into the hero of justice, Wario-Man! He's...still not really all that strong, but he does get quite a bit faster, and he can launch foes further too. And of course, like any good hero, he has the ability to fly...by spamming attacks in mid-air. That's how they all do it...right?

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• WarioAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt.(3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Wario-Man

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Brawl: Wario is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents debut in Brawl, and reappear in Smash 4.
• Doctor Schmoctor: Wario must defeat Dr. Mario in a 1 stock battle under the flower effect.
• Fitness Junkie: As Wii Fit Trainer, the player must defeat 2 giant Warios with one slightly larger than the other. The Warios have Inhaling Chomp, Burying Bike, and Quick Waft custom moves.
• Oh Yeah, Luigi Time!: Luigi must defeat a giant Wario. After 30 seconds, Mario who's bigger than Wario will assist the player.
• Wrecking Mario: Mario must destroy all floors on the Wrecking Crew stage. 2 Warios can hinder the player's progress.

Co-op Events

• A Royal Errand: Robin and Marth must collect 500G from Bowser and Wario.
• Food Fight: Kirby and King Dedede must defeat Wario, Yoshi, and Pac-Man in a 1 stock battle. The players start with 100% damage.
• Flat Fracas: Wario and Mr. Game & Watch must defeat "Game & Watch" versions of Mario and Giant Donkey Kong in a 1 stock battle.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Wrecking Bros.: Mario and Luigi must destroy all floors on the Wrecking Crew stage. Wario and King Dedede can hinder the player's progress.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Overalls Wario costume.

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  Wario's amiibo.

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  Riding his Bike.

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  Using Chomp on Olimar.

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  Taunting next to Waluigi, Mario, and Luigi.

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  Attacking Sheik with his new up smash.

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  Using an un-charged Wario Waft.

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  Using Corkscrew as Wario-Man.

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  With Ashley and Kirby.

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  Being attacked by bees with Peach.

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  Turning with his Bike.

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  Getting stomped on.