Long-Stem Strike

Long-Stem Strike
	; Piranha Plant using Long-Stem Strike in Ultimate.
User	Piranha Plant
Universe	Mario
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Stalking Piranha Plant

Long-Stem Strike (ロングレンジパックン, Long Range Pakkun) is Piranha Plant's down special move.

Overview

When used, Piranha Plant hides back into its pot/pipe. When the button is released, Piranha Plant shoots out and bites viciously - the longer the charge, the farther Piranha Plant reaches. The move can be "canceled" by pressing the attack button while charging, which causes Piranha Plant to bite early without extending, but at the cost of uncharged damage.

The pot has 15% damage-based armor during the attack from frame 9 until shortly after the release, and a direction can be inputted to turn Piranha Plant left or right. Upon release, this reduces to 12%. It also has a 0.8× damage multiplier, which does affect KO percentages. The new damage scales with the 1v1 multiplier last, meaning 10% base damage will reduce to 8% first, and then be multiplied up to 9.6%. The 1v1 multiplier, as usual, does not affect KO percentages itself. This means that the reduced damage before being multiplied will be what is used in knockback calculation. Overall, Long-Stem Strike has valid use for defensive and offensive purposes.

However, one must be careful when turning before the strike, as the pot/pipe cannot change directions after an initial input. If it lies on its side the attack is stuck at a specific angle, making it easier to dodge. It can also get stuck on the ground if tilted too much in the air, leaving the character wide open to attack or grabs. Knowing how to control this is essential to the move's success.

Upon release, Piranha Plant possesses a proximity detection hitbox that will trigger the attack as soon as an opponent is reached, but it can be started early via pushing the attack button while charging or pressing the special button again mid-strike. However, the difference is negligible offensively and is largely used for mixups and fake-outs. The attack itself possesses intangibility on the head from frames 1-6, allowing it to go through projectiles. It also deals 5 HP bonus damage to shields, making it useful for shield breaks. Piranha Plant's hurtbox is, however, expanded during the attack, and any knockback taken will start momentum from the pot/pipe. Due to this, it is possible to meteor smash and counterattack Piranha Plant from very far away.

Instructional quote

Move List		Withdraws into the pot and then pops out to bite opponents. The longer it's charged, the more range it has.

Strike Cancel Glitch

Piranha Plant performing Strike Cancel.

Prior to 4.0.0, Piranha Plant had a glitch with Long-Stem Strike that would replace the Bite animation with Ptooie's Swallow animation. To perform this, Piranha Plant would have to get hit by an opponent's attack a frame before, or on the frame, that Ptooie would be swallowed. Then, if Long-Stem Strike were to be used and slightly tilted, the Bite animation would instead come out as the Swallow animation, removing the hitboxes, intangibility and essentially any reference of the bite attack completely. The tech had very little utility due to the arduous process of managing to fulfill the conditions, but it did find its way into battles by chance.

Origin

Stalking Piranha Plants in Yoshi's Woolly World.

This is a reference to the Stalking Piranha Plants that first appeared in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. When they are encountered, the height of their stem changes sporadically, making it hard for the player to jump past.

It is also similar to the Elasto-Piranha variant from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time which also have the ability to expand their stem upwards.

Gallery

Piranha Plant using Long-stem Strike on Wario
Long-Stem Strike as shown by the Move List in Ultimate.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	ロングレンジパックン, Long Range Pakkun
English	Long-Stem Strike
French	Tige extensible
German	Langhals-Schnapper
Spanish	Tallo elástico
Italian	Lungostelo
Chinese (Simplified)	远距离吞食
Chinese (Traditional)	遠距離吞食
Korean	롱 레인지 뻐끔, Long Range Pakkun
Dutch	Strekgewas
Russian	Длиннокусь