Shield break combo
A Shield Break Combo is a combination of attacks that enables a character to break an opponent's shield without the opponent having to hold down shield for the duration of the combo.
How it Works
Normally, when one is shielding and then lets go of the shield button, the shield disappears. This does not happen when the shield is under attack. If one lets go of shield while the opponent's attacks are making contact with the shield, the shield will stay until the attacks stop for a certain amount of time (this is called shield stun). As the attacks make contact, the shield gradually shrinks. If the shield size decreases too much, the shield will break, causing the shielder to become stunned in place for a few seconds, depending on the damage. Normally, there is enough delay after an attack to allow the shielder to remove the shield if he/she chooses to do so, but there exist certain combos in which attacks are executed quickly enough so that the shield stays up for the duration of the combo, at the end of which the shield breaks.
A shield break combo must have these properties:
- The attack(s) have very little start up or cooldown delay. In other words, there exists very little time in between hitboxes
- The hitboxes of the attacks are rather large. The hitbox must make contact with the shield each time or else the shielder will be shield jabbed. Therefore, a large hitbox is required to hit the increasingly diminutive shield.
Examples
- Ness's DJC'd dair chain (SSB only)
- Kirby's dair into up tilt chain into forward smash (SSB only)
- Yoshi's DJC'd nair chain into down smash (SSB only)
- Fox's Shine cancel chain (SSB and Melee)
Variants, Special Situations
There exist combos that are not always called "true shield break combos," but nevertheless can be utilized to break shields. These combos work only under certain situations. The two most common ones are the shield not being at full strength at the start of the combo and the shielder somehow being locked in a fixed position during the combo due to a feature of the stage.
Examples
- Samus's bair followed by up smash while the opponent is up against a wall (SSB only)
- Kirby's up tilt chain while the opponent is up against a wall (SSB only)
- Link's neutral A chain while the opponent is up against a wall (SSB only)
- Yoshi's DJC'd nair chain (SSB only)
- Pillaring with Falco (SSBM only)
- Peach's dsmash (SSBM only)
- Yoshi's Down Air (Both but much easier in SSB)
- A low-cooldown attack into a multi-hit attack is often considered a shield break combo
