Yoshi (SSB)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros.
Yoshi
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	C (6)

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī, sometimes spelled Yossy in Japan) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros.

Yoshi ranks 6th in the C tier on SSB's current tier list due to having the most damaging move in the game (his down aerial), a very unique double jump which allows him to get out of combos and/or reduce knockback of moves and to DJC, and a unique shield that allows him to egg parry. However, despite having a these properties, Yoshi has a terrible grab and bad out of shield moves which prevents him from properly dealing with characters with high pressure, namely Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu.

Attributes

One of Yoshi's most known attributes is his shield. It lasts slightly longer than other shields, and it is immune to shield stabbing because it covers his whole body. On the down side, Yoshi has a sluggish roll, and it takes slightly longer for Yoshi to exit his shield than other characters. Yoshi's neutral special move (Egg Lay) swallows enemies, does a little bit of damage, and then turns them into eggs. His up special move, Egg Throw, is a projectile. The arc that it travels in can make it difficult to use, even though it has a good explosion range. His down special move, Yoshi Bomb, is only useful when used to stop Yoshi from being juggled and for recovering on the ledge. High level Yoshi players will position themselves above the ledge then Yoshi Bomb to grab the ledge to prevent from being edge guarded. Yoshi's grabs have good range due to being tether grabs (although they are still relatively short for tether grabs), but they have plenty of start-up lag. Yoshi's throws can be comboed. Other pros of Yoshi include being a good juggler, since his up smash is both fast and powerful and his up tilt is very quick and has set knockback, the ability to double jump cancel, having a shield break combo, and having two spikes (his strong forward aerial and weaker down aerial). His down aerial can also do up to 56% damage if timed correctly, which makes it the most damaging move in the game.

File:Yoshistoryending.jpg

Yoshi's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

He also has a good edgeguard move, his down tilt, which has set horizontal knockback, and good range, and easily disrupts opponent's recoveries. Yoshi has knockback resistance during his second jump, but he lacks a third jump. Thus, he is highly vulnerable to being hit after his second jump while recovering.

In high level play, Yoshi is known for double jump cancels to break shields and double jump cancel Counters which enables Yoshi to hit opponent who have already hit him. Yoshi can also use his Counter coupled with his ability to parry to escape combos. Yoshi can parry by using the shield at a perfect moment [within 4 frames of being hit] and can then hit his attacker immediately. Yoshi can also Double jump cancel, Edge-Cancel Egg, and Egg Bomb Cancel. What holds Yoshi back, however, is the worst grab in SSB. Yoshi's learning curve is substantial being that he must often use mind games to approach characters, in which his are harder to learn. Yoshi's floatiness also makes him one of the easiest characters to 0-death combo with every character being able to combo him fairly easy. Yoshi is also countered heavily by the top 3 characters in SSB (Pikachu, Kirby, and Fox), with the biggest counter being Kirby. Yoshi overall does well against the lower tiers and does poorly against the higher tiers, granting Yoshi a lower middle spot. What sets Yoshi apart is that his unique hit box and the overall lack of high level Yoshi players makes him a unique match up for any character.

Moveset

Ground Moves

Normal

• Neutral attack- Double kicks, little horizontal knockback on second kick, 3, 5%
• Forward tilt Kicks suddenly forward, 13% damage. Can be angled. Below-average upward diagonal knockback. Useful for setting up his forward aerial spike due to its hitstun. Referred to as the best Forward Tilt in SSB due to its very fast speed and good power.
• Up tilt Upwards headbutt, 11% damage with set upwards knockback. Great for setting up combos, and a very powerful move if used correctly
• Down tilt Tail sweeps in front of him, 10%, with set horizontal knockback. Great for edgeguarding.
• Dash attack Headbutt tackle, 12%, punishable due to a small bit of ending lag. Resembles Pikachu's, but with less lag.

Smash attacks

• Side smash Rears his head back [which can often throw off players attacking Yoshi] and then thrusts his head forward. Short ending lag, and has above-average horizontal knockback, 18%
• Up smash Forceful headbutt. Has good horizontal knockback from behind to top, average upwards knockback when hit near the end. 18%
• Down smash Tail sweeps on both sides, 14% on both sides, weak horizontal knockback for a smash attack, and has some ending lag.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Twirls up and whips his tail. Short range. 6% damage.
• 100% ledge attack- Steadily gets up, reels his head back, and headbutt forward. 6% damage.
• Floor attack- swirls around, tailed extended. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial: Sex kick with below-average horizontal knockback. Can be used to ledge guard. This move also is a great shield breaker when coupled with DJC, 9-14%.
• Forward aerial: Aerial spiking headbutt. Great knockback for a spike of its speed, can KO at medium percentages and combos into other aerial attacks at lower percentages, 15-18%.
  

  Yoshi's aerial attacks
• Up aerial: Whips his tail upwards, does 12-15%, and very powerful in combos using DJC.
• Back aerial: Double Back Kick that has good horizontal knockback, does 12-14%
• Down aerial: Flutter Kick that is capable of spiking at high percentages, does 14 hits of 3-4%, a maximum of 56%. Is the most powerful move (in terms of damage and combos) . It is a shield breaker when used fully on platforms and can combo out of and into other moves. Less useful due to being a drill. When double jump canceled, it can be a dangerous combo starter.

Grabs & throws

His grab consists of pulling his head back and then launching his tongue forward. Has long ending lag if missing, but has a good range.

• Forward throw, reels back with opponent in mouth and throws them forward, 9-12% of damage with good horizontal knockback
• Back throw turns around, and throws his opponent backwards, does 12-16% with better knockback than forward throw.

Special moves

Yoshi in the SSB instruction booklet.

Yoshi's special moves

Neutral special	Egg Lay
Up special	Egg Throw
Down special	Hip Drop	Yoshi Bomb

Taunt

Spins 450 degrees while saying "Yoshi!", facing its left after the 450 degree twirl. He then does the following twice: raises his heels off the ground, raises his arms and opens his mouth, and says "Yoshi!" once while spinning.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

Strategies

Special Combos

• Up tilt with a down aerial to a finishing move. It should rack a large amount of damage and KO at a low percentage. This can be DI'd out of however due to it being a drill.
• Up tilt with a forward aerial towards the edge of a stage. Great knockout, great spike.
• Neutral special move (Egg Lay) to a down aerial. Racks up less damage than a regular down aerial due to the Yoshi Egg absorbing half of the damage.
• Spam up tilt and up aerial for juggling.
• Up tilt to an up smash to KO.
• Up tilt to DJC aerials

Recovery

Yoshi's lack of a third jump is a major hindrance for beginner players, who often steer clear of him. However, Yoshi arguably has one of the best recoveries in the game. This is due to the fact that Yoshi gains knockback resistance during his midair jump, and that it can be canceled. The method of recovery then goes as follows: Yoshi uses his second jump at the last possible moment and then does an aerial attack right when he's above the ground, minimizing the time in which he is vulnerable of being edgeguarded. It is also important to note that while Yoshi gets only a second jump, he can cover much more distance than many other characters.

Description

From the Game

Yoshi is the friendly dinosaur of Yoshi's Island. He began as Mario's partner, but has since built his own identity, and now appears in many games. He uses his unique ability to turn whatever he swallows into an egg as his foremost attack. Yoshis come in a rainbow cloud of colors and are said to have a high IQ from a very early age.

Works:

• Super Mario World (SNES)
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
• Yoshi's Story (N64)

From the Instruction Booklet

Yoshi is the cute dinosaur who lives on a tropical island. You'd be surprised what he can do with a simple egg.

Costumes

File:Alt-yoshi.jpg

Yoshi's changeable palette swaps in SSB

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only character to boast completely unplayable variants, a regular Blue Yoshi and a Pink Yoshi, seen when the player fights the Yoshi Team in the 1P Game.
• If the player uses Yoshi against the Yoshi Team, all colored Yoshis still appear, and in exactly the same shade as the player's Yoshi.
• Yoshi takes after his look in Super Mario 64, but because Super Smash Bros. came out a while after that game, and animation techniques were improved in that time, his appearance was slightly updated.
• Yoshi is the only character who has a different shield (an egg).
• Yoshi, along with Donkey Kong, is one of two characters in the original Super Smash Bros. to never be portrayed with head wear in-game.
  • Interestingly, they both wear headgear in the later game Mario Party 2.
• Yoshi, along with Jigglypuff, is the only character without a helpless state.