Yoshi (SSBB): Difference between revisions

While Yoshi was considered a high-tier in the current metagame of ''Melee'', he was initially perceived as one of the worst characters in the early metagame of ''Melee'' due to the fact that he has been heavily nerfed during the transition from ''[[Smash 64]]''. As a result, Yoshi has been heavily [[buff]]ed during the transition to ''Brawl''. Although he was initially considered to be overall greatly buffed due to him being thought as a low-tier character or even among the worst, Yoshi has nevertheless received a mixture of buffs and [[nerf]]s, due to the fact that as Yoshi's metagame in ''Melee'' developed, he was now considered to be a more superior fighter in comparison to what he was initially thought to be before, but the changes caused by the transition to '' Brawl'' caused him to be drastically nerfed.

Yoshi has received noticeable direct buffs, especially to his [[grab]] game: due to his introduced [[air release|aerial grab releasing]] option on a sizeable portion of the cast and his new effective pivot grab. In addition, his [[pummel]] is much quicker in exchange for inflicting less damage, and his [[forward throw|forward]] and [[back throw]]s have been re-purposed as KO throws at higher precentages and as both serviceable combo starters at lower precents due to the removal of [[DI]] against non-[[tumbling]] attacks, whereas [[down throw]] has became a more superior [[combo]] starter, even in spite of the drastic changes to [[hitstun]]. Aside from the improvements to his grab game, the remainder of his moveset has also received comparative improvements: his [[forward tilt]] and [[up tilt]] have been given more amounts of range, with the former having its combo potential improved, and the latter now being able to hit grounded opponents more consistently. His [[down tilt]] no longer deals set knockback and now launches at the [[sakurai angle]], making it more effective at [[edgeguarding]], although it has gained a sourspot located at the hilt of Yoshi's tail. Finally, [[dash attack]] and his [[smash attack]]s (excluding down smash) have also gained additional [[intangibility]] on Yoshi's nose during the periods where the hitboxes are active, improving their rather situational abilities to psuedo-[[counterattack]] most attacks and nullify incoming [[projectile]]s.

Moreover, his aerial game has been enhanced comparatively, and Yoshi has heavily benefited from ''Brawl''{{'}}s altered mechanics: the removal of [[double jump cancel]]ing has now allowed Yoshi to perform "rising" aerials during his [[double jump]], which improves his aerial prowess. The universal reduction of [[landing lag]] also supplements the safety and combo ability of Yoshi's [[aerial attack]]s, effectively substituting for the loss of [[L-canceling]]. The introduction of [[lock]]ing improves the utility of [[neutral aerial]]'s stale hit, and the changes to [[meteor canceling]] improves [[forward aerial]]'s reliability at edgeguarding and KOing when sweetspotted, whereas it is generalized as an overall more effective KO option due to its new strong sourspot. [[Back aerial]]'s inconsistency of connecting all hits have been addressed, and [[up aerial]] can be performed twice out of a single short hop due to its reduced ending lag and the universal reduction of [[falling speed]]s, with the latter re-purposing it as a stronger KO option. Finally, all of [[down aerial]]'s hitboxes flow more consistently into each other, improving its combo and damage-racking abilities.  

His mobility has been heavily increased, especially in the air, once again having the fastest [[air speed]] in ''Brawl''. This is further supplemented by ''Brawl''{{'}}s slower and more defensive gameplay, which improves Yoshi's approach. His most overwhelming flaw, his [[recovery]], has also been heavily addressed: his [[jump]]ing height has been increased, especially his [[double jump]], wihich is now the absolute highest in the entire game in terms of height. In addition, [[Egg Throw]] now causes Yoshi to temporarily stall in the air and perform a slightly acquired jump-boost, which combined with its larger [[edge sweetspot]]s, alleviates one of Yoshi's core flaws since previous game. The aforementioned introduction of [[jab lock]]ing improves the utility of his jab's first hitbox and neutral air's stale hitboxes, leading into more reliable follow-ups. Down tilt has also received 30% chance of [[tripping]], leading into additional amount of situational follow-ups. Finally, the introduction of [[hitstun canceling]] makes him invulnerable to combos, whereas it does not compromise his own combo game by a considerable degree, and the introduction of [[momentum canceling]] further enhances his great survivability, especially with [[Egg Roll]].

However, Yoshi has also received several huge direct nerfs that counterbalance his buffs, and ''Brawl''{{'}}s altered and introduced mechanics overall plagued him. His KO potential was drastically reduced, as the severe reductions to knockback and damage in a considerable portion of his moveset, most notably his [[smash attack]]s, [[sweetspot]]ted forward aerial and [[Yoshi Bomb]], and halved the max damage to his down aerial, removed down smash and Yoshi Bomb's KO potential and up smash is now among the weakest, leaves him capable of KOing consistently only with his now weak [[forward smash]], his [[neutral aerial]] and his [[up aerial]], while Egg Roll no longer gives him horizontal distance, making it completely useless for recovering and removes its utility outside of [[momentum canceling]], and the drastic changes applied to his double jump and worsened comboing ability, due to the loss of [[double jump canceling]] and the addition of the [[hitstun canceling]], have harmed Yoshi drastically as twice as any other returning veteran.  

Arguably Yoshi's most detrimental nerf, however, is to his formally abysmal [[shielding]] game. His shield is significantly worse, going from being unorthodox, yet still useful in ''Melee'' to being almost being unusable compared to the rest of the cast in ''Brawl''. He still lacks the ability to jump [[out of shield]] and has lost all his advanced techniques out of shield, such as [[parrying]], which is an exacerbated problem in the influence to ''Brawl''{{'}}s defensive play, where a character's out-of-shield game has much more prominence. This is made worse by the fact that Yoshi now suffers from the same amount of [[shieldstun]] as the rest of the cast. His [[shield grab]], while improved from ''Melee'', is still among the slowest in the game and is extremely situational at best. The only positives his shield provides are the fact it still cannot be [[shield stab]]bed and that he possesses one of the best [[spot dodge]]s in the game, which has had its [[invincibility]] increased from ''Melee''. This causes him to have the worst defensive game in ''Brawl'', with terrible out-of-shield options and the loss of all his advanced techniques.

*{{buff|Yoshi [[dash]]es slightly faster (1.6 → 1.68), especially relative to returning veterans, going from the 10th fastest out of 26 fighters in ''Melee'' to the 11th fastest out of 39 in ''Brawl''.}}

*{{buff|[[Spot dodge]] grants more [[intangibility]] (frames 2-15 → 2-20).}}

*{{nerf|Yoshi's [[traction]] is lower (0.06 → 0.0426), especially when comparing with the returning veterans, now going from the 15th highest in ''Melee'' to the 4th worst. Due to the removal of [[wavedashing]], this impairs him overall, which is further exacerbated by his poor [[shield]]ing game and a character's out-of-shield game being more imperative than ever.}}