Soaring Slash
| Soaring Slash | |
|---|---|
 The initial slash (left) and the descent (right). | |
| User | Chrom |
| Universe | Fire Emblem |
| “ | Jumps upward and then slashed down while twirling. Drops straight down and launches opponents to the ground. | ” |
| —Description from Ultimate's Move List | ||
Soaring Slash (翔流斬, Soaring-Style Slash) is Chrom's up special move in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Overview
Soaring Slash is very similar to Aether, Ike's recovery move. However, instead of throwing his sword upwards and jumping to catch it as Ike does, Chrom performs a slash upwards, and then jumps with his sword still in hand, twirling in the air before coming back down. Soaring Slash offers near-negligible horizontal movement, as it stops all of Chrom's momentum and sends him straight up and down with very little horizontal influence at the peak of the jump. As a result, it is inferior as a recovery, even in comparison to Aether. Chrom does have higher air speed than Ike, however, making up for some of Soaring Slash's lacking lateral movement.
Soaring Slash grants Chrom super armor before he leaps upwards, in a similar vein to Aether and grounded Blazer.
| Attack | Startup | Super Armor (grounded) |
|---|---|---|
| Soaring Slash | Frame 10 | Frames 10-29 |
| Aether | Frame 15 | Frames 5-35 |
| Blazer | Frame 9 | Frames 4-9 |
Like Aether and Climhazzard, the descent of Soaring Smash contains a powerful meteor smash, which will reliably hit opponents due to the initial slash of the ascent leading directly into the spike, and Chrom having no sourspots on his sword. The spike hitbox of Soaring Slash will usually KO opponents, even at low percentages, although Chrom must generally sacrifice his stock in order to land the spike. As such, the move can be used as a Sacrificial KO. Previously, Chrom will reach the bottom blast zone after the opponent, meaning it can be used to secure the final KO of a match and allow Chrom to win, but as of 2.0.0, Chrom now dies first due to decreased knockback and slightly faster fall speed.
Chrom has various voice clips that will play while using the move, including "Out of my way!", "I'll end you!", "How about this?", and a loud grunt.
Origin
Chrom originally performed this move in the Two Falchions cutscene of Fire Emblem: Awakening, when he was fighting against Lucina in her Marth disguise in Arena Ferox. He is also capable of performing a move very similar to Soaring Slash in Fire Emblem Warriors.
Gallery
Soaring Slash as shown by a Skill Preview in Ultimate.
Trivia
- If Chrom is hit out of Soaring Slash around the time he gains super armor, his sword will experience a visual glitch and permanently glow with its usual sword trail. This lasts until Chrom uses a sword-swinging move.
