Razor Leaf
| Razor Leaf | |
|---|---|
 Ivysaur using Razor Leaf in Brawl. | |
| User | Ivysaur |
| Universe | Pokémon |
| Article on Bulbapedia | Razor Leaf (move) |
| “ | Throw out a leaf like a throwing star. The leaf flies forwards in a straight trajectory. | ” |
| —Brawl's instruction manual | ||
Razor Leaf (はっぱカッター, Leaf Cutter) is a move that appears in Brawl as Ivysaur's side special move. Ivysaur shoots a large, single leaf, which knocks opponents back significantly for a ranged move.
Overview
With this move, Ivysaur sends a leaf as a ranged attack, making between 5%-8% of damage. It may curve mildly in a random direction at the end of its reach. It is very useful for canceling others' attacks. This strategy is often used when recovering back on to the stage with Ivysaur, as its up special move is only a tether recovery (see Vine Whip) and a projectile must be used to clear edge-guarders and edge-hogs. Nonetheless, despite the leaf's long range, it will disappear after a short while and has a slight arc, so Ivysaur players must be in a decent position to the opponent before unleashing the move. Razor Leaf can actually be "Smash-thrown", like Samus's missiles, by tapping 
. This makes the leaf travel a bit faster, and about a character or two character lengths further, but the trajectory cannot be arced as effectively. Due to its high startup lag, low knockback, slow speed, and unpredictable trajectory, it is considered to be one of the worst projectiles in Brawl.
Origin
Razor Leaf is a Physical (as of Generation IV) Grass-type attack introduced in Generation I. It is used exclusively by Grass-type Pokémon. One unique thing is that it can hit all opponents in a double battle and has a 12.5% chance of doing a critical hit, which is bigger than most attacks' chance of 6.25%. Also, in Brawl, Ivysaur launches a single leaf, while the animation for the move on Pokémon shows a flurry of leaves hitting the opponent.
Use by other Pokémon
- Venusaur - When Venusaur appears in Saffron City, it shoots multiple Razor Leaves in one direction, racking damage and causing moderate knockback.
- Chikorita - Chikorita appears from a Poké Ball in Melee and Brawl where it uses Razor Leaf in similar fashion to Venusaur, but these have minimal knockback, allowing for even better damage racking, or even edgeduarding. Chikorita produces the leaves by shaking the leaf on its head. Strangely, depsite the prescense of a grass effect element in Brawl, these leaves just use the slash effect.
- Snivy - Snivy can appear from a Poké Ball in SSB4. Its Razor Leaf works similarly to Chikorita's version, but the leaves are more spread out.
