Donkey Kong (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Donkey Kong received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate'', though despite receiving more buffs than nerfs, the latter are more prominent than the former, as they either weakened or removed the traits that he had in the previous game. Because of this, Donkey Kong has been nerfed overall.

Donkey Kong received has several useful buffs, among the most notable ones being to his special moves. [[Giant Punch]] no longer leaves him helpless when used in the air, giving him a new edgeguarding option. [[Headbutt]] now grants him [[super armor]] before the hit comes, and moves deal their full damage when opponents are buried, which improves the moves' versatility and alleviates some of his difficulty with landing safely, as he can now opt to directly contest a powerful move while he's being juggled. Grounded [[Spinning Kong]] has less difficulty at linking its multi-hits and has faster super armor. while the aerial Spinning Kong is now a proper multi-hitting move with a finishing hit, making it more safe. [[Hand Slap]] is generally faster and the aerial version has reduced landing lag, which gives Donkey Kong a very useful combo starter and allows it to confirm into KOs at high percentages.

His biggest buff, however, comes from a vastly improved forward throw (cargo throw), which now grants him much more options and turns it into his most versatile throw, as well as one of the very best throws in the game overall. His [[dash attack]] also has less ending lag, giving him another combo starter if the late hit is landed and making it much safer if shielded. Donkey Kong's already impressive KO power has been further increased as well, as most of his moves deal more knockback. Finally, Donkey Kong also benefits to some of the universal changes, as his already great mobility has improved from faster walking and dashing speeds, the universal 3-frame jumpsquat change improves his ground-to-air [[out of shield]] game and allows him for with combo opportunities, and the increased [[shieldstun]] and reduced [[landing lag]] on aerial attacks makes his attacks even safer on shield (the latter despite the reduced shieldstun on aerials).

However, the fewn direct nerfs Donkey Kong received are severe enough to eclipse his buffs. Like {{SSBU|Bowser}}, his biggest nerf is to his previously infamous combo throw, his cargo up throw - it now has more knockback, which severely hampers both its combo ability (now mostly limiting it to up aerial) and its infamous "Ding Dong" KO confirm at high percentages. Although his grab game was overall buffed, Donkey Kong is one of the characters who suffers the most from the universal nerfing of grabs, making them less safe for him to use. His pummel was also nerfed as well, making it less reliable for racking up damage. Thus, this makes it less feasible to rely on his grab as his main way to rack up damage, forcing Donkey Kong to use other methods to rack up damage. Other nerfs include his up aerial having shorter range, which hinders its versatility, and Spinning Kong gaining less horizontal distance and no longer granting intangibility on startup, overall worsening his already poor recovery. Many of his attacks no longer have disproportionately long intangibility, now only matching the hitbox duration of attacks such as his tilts and his up aerial.  

Although he has gained some notable benefits from them, the universal changes to gameplay mechanics hamper Donkey Kong more than they help him overall. While the universal increase in mobility, faster jumpsquat and reduced landing lag on aerials improve his own mobility and combo game, it also means opponents are more likely to close in the distance on Donkey Kong, allowing them with more combo opportunities on him. The increased shieldstun, reduced landing lag and the universal nerfing of grabs also make it harder for Donkey Kong to react to a shielded attack; the universal nerfing of grabs is especially harmful, as it one of his key points to his gameplan. Altogether, this hinders Donkey Kong's grounded out of shield game, limiting him to directly contesting them by making use of his moves' super armor to muscle through them, which can be risky despite his large weight. Lastly, the changes to [[air dodging]] worsen Donkey Kong's recovery, as they give him less protection and make him easier to edgeguard. Overall, all of these changes worsen Donkey Kong's defensive game, which is further notable since the game's engine prioritizes more aggressive playstyles than defensive ones, and thus forces him not only to [[approach]] more, but to be more unpredictable at doing so.

In the end, Donkey Kong has potentially received many more options for racking up damage and be less predictable, but the worsening of his KO confirm and grabs means Donkey Kong can no longer close out stocks as early as before. While both his strengths and weaknesses are more defined than before, the gameplay mechanics accentuate more his weaknesses compared to his strengths, which has subsequently caused his nerfs to overshadow his buffs. As a result, Donkey Kong fares worse in ''Ultimate'' than in ''Smash 4'', and is one of the characters to be nerfed the most in the transition. His overall perception in competitive play has been inconsistent; while he was initially believed to be improved from his already good standing from ''Smash 4'' (doing exceptionally well in early tournaments), as the metagame has evolved, his tournament representation went down significantly to the point in which it is rather poor. Many of his players have either dropped him or become inactive, with his most noticeable player, {{Sm|Konga}}, gathering average to somewhat lackluster placements in tournaments and temporarily quitting competitive play, while others like {{Sm|HIKARU}} and {{Sm|Tweek}} have also dropped him (though HIKARU would pick him back up as a co-main at the start of 2020). Currently, top players generally see Donkey Kong as a mid or low tier character; nevertheless, he has seen respectable success and representation from players such as {{Sm|DKwill}}, {{Sm|Doctor A Ness}}, {{Sm|Runes}}, {{Sm|ShiNe}}, {{Sm|Sou}} and {{Sm|YMCA}}, which is further compounded with the buffs he received in 6.0.0. Until further notice, Donkey Kong's tier placement remains debatable.