Yoshi (SSB)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	A (5) (North America) ? (10) (Japan)

“	Yoshi is the cute dinosaur who lives on a tropical island. You'd be surprised what he can do with a simple egg.	”
—Super Smash Bros's instruction manual

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. He is known for his unique double jump, shield and slew of low-lag, yet often powerful moves.

Yoshi is voiced by Kazumi Totaka, who had previously voiced him in Yoshi's Story, albeit via recycled voice clips from the game of the same name.

Yoshi currently ranks 5th in the tier list and places him in the A tier, all while being his best placement in the series. Yoshi is known for having unique properties compared to the other characters in the game: his shield—which is an egg rather than the standard energy bubble—doesn't shrink, making him completely immune to shield stabbing, allowing parrying techniques, and also lasts slightly longer than the normal shield. In addition, his midair jump gives him a type of armor throughout its duration, allowing him to escape combos and even hit back. Yoshi's stats are rather unique as well; despite him having above average weight, he has decent dashing speed and the fastest air speed in the game. Yoshi's down aerial is the most effective damage racking move in the game, dealing a maximum of 56% damage, while landing the move is made even easier using the double jump cancel technique, which can also be applied to his other useful aerials. His forward aerial is an effective meteor smash with very quick startup yet high power, along with the ability to combo into it with moves such as forward tilt. Yoshi has useful combo options outside this, including a versatile up tilt that can juggle fastfallers or heavyweights at any percent due to having set knockback, and lead into an aerial or up smash, with a late-hitting neutral aerial being able to followup with another up tilt to continue the combo.

However, Yoshi's above average weight and size make him rather easy for quicker characters (such as Pikachu and Fox) to combo. In addition, his grab is very slow and punishable, yet having limited range compared to other tether grabs. Yoshi also lacks a rising up special to recover, forcing him to use his double jump, meaning that if he flinches out of his double jump, he will be unable to recover. Yoshi's biggest problems, however, are his huge difficulties dealing with pressure, especially shield pressure, as well as lacking reliable approach options with considerable range, making it very easy for characters with disjointed moves (most particularly Kirby's up tilt) to simply outspace him constantly.

Yoshi's properties give him balanced matchups, with his matchup spread having an average of 50:50. He generally has trouble against higher tiered characters, but can do well against lower tiered characters, though he has a handful of even matchups against characters near or below him on the tier list. However, because of the results and representation other characters have had, as well as Yoshi being buffed on international releases of the game, he is ranked 10th in the Japanese tier list, where he has mostly below-average matchups, though unlike the NTSC version, he is considered a hard counter against Luigi.

Attributes

Yoshi's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Yoshi in the Smash 64 instruction booklet.

Yoshi is a surprisingly heavy character (third heaviest character in Smash 64), yet is relatively quick, with the fastest air speed in the game, with a moderately fast dashing speed and fast walking speed to complement this. He has an average falling speed and fast falling speed. Unlike other characters, Yoshi's shield is not a bubble, but a Yoshi egg, which lasts slightly longer than other shields. It is also immune to shield stabbing due to the shield covering his whole body and not shrinking (rather, it becomes darker to indicate how close it is to breaking). However, it takes slightly longer to get out of than other shields. Yoshi has a rather sluggish roll, limiting his OoS options (though he can jump out of his shield, unlike in Melee and Brawl). Yoshi lacks a third jump, but his double jump is very large and also gives him a special type of armor during most of the animation. The unique properties of his double jump allow him to "double jump cancel counter", which enables him to escape combos and counterattack.

Yoshi has many KO moves, such as his forward smash and forward aerial (the latter of which can meteor smash). He has a huge amount of combo moves, such as his forward tilt and up tilt. The former has high hitstun and can easily combo into itself or a forward aerial. The latter hits opponents vertically with set knockback, allowing it to easily lead into aerials such as back aerial and up aerial. This is also an effective KO setup at higher percentages. His up tilt can also juggle fastfallers at any percentages, which can also be done in conjunction with an up aerial. Yoshi's down tilt also has set knockback, and sends opponents on a semi-spike trajectory, making it a useful gimping move. Yoshi can use a well-known glitch-tactic called double jump cancel, allowing him to use aerials quicker and combo with aerials more reliably. It's especially effective with his down aerial, which can rack up a huge amount of damage (maximum of 56%) somewhat quickly. Yoshi can parry attacks by timing a shield correctly (within 4 frames of being hit), which allows him to use an attack out of his shield immediately; and while the foe still has freeze frames to endure. In high level play, Yoshi is known for being able to break shields quickly using his Z-cancelled neutral aerial while using DJC. This is known as a shield break combo. His DJC'd down aerial can also break a shield if used correctly.

Yoshi also has a projectile in his up special move, Egg Throw. It is difficult to control, however, due to the arc that it travels in, and it is too slow and short-ranged to be as effective as some of the other projectiles in the game. The explosion does have good range and power, though.

Yoshi has a number of weaknesses, however. He has a lot of trouble dealing with pressure, especially from characters tiered higher than him. While his recovery can travel a decent distance due to his very high air speed, getting hit out of his double jump basically leaves him helpless, as he lacks a third jump to use. Even weak projectiles such as Fox's Blaster can cause Yoshi to lose his double jump. Yoshi's grab is slow, laggy and lacks range compared to other ranged grabs (Link and Samus's grabs). Yoshi is also fairly vulnerable to some combos due to his tall size and heavy weight. In addition to this, his reliable approach options lack range, giving him large trouble dealing with moves like Kirby's up tilt and Ness's down smash while approaching.

Yoshi has very average matchups overall. Against characters tiered higher than him, he is heavily countered by Pikachu and Kirby, and also has trouble against Captain Falcon and Fox. Overall, Yoshi does well against the lower tiers and poorly against the higher tiers, granting him a spot around the very middle of the tier list.

Difference between game versions

Japan to NTSC

Yoshi was buffed overall in his transition to NTSC. His air and falling speeds are faster, both of which help significantly his combo ability. His down smash is also a more reliable KO move. However, Yoshi also got some nerfs, the most noticeable of them being indirect ones due to the removal of momentum sliding and the higher SDI presence. Nevertheless, this makes Yoshi much better than in the Japanese version, which is reflected in his tier position.

Attributes

• Yoshi's double-jump has increased armor.
• Yoshi has increased air speed (40 → 44).
• Yoshi has increased falling speed (55 → 58).
• Yoshi has increased gravity (2.7 → 2.8).
• The removal of momentum sliding slightly hinders Yoshi's approach.

Ground attacks

• Down smash deals 1% more damage (13% → 14%).

NTSC to PAL

Yoshi was negligibly buffed in his transition to PAL due to the reduction of the landing lag on his forward aerial.

Attributes

• Forward aerial has less landing lag when not Z-canceled.

Moveset

Yoshi's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Two kicks.
			5%
Forward tilt			13%	Kicks suddenly forward. Can be angled. Below average upward diagonal knockback. Useful for setting up his fair spike due to its hitstun. Referred to as the best forward tilt in Smash 64 due to its very fast speed and good power.
Up tilt			12%	Upwards headbutt, has set upwards knockback. Great for setting up combos, and a very useful move if used correctly.
Down tilt			10%	Tail sweeps in front of him, with set knockback while sending opponents on a semi-spike trajectory. Great for edgeguarding.
Dash attack			12% (clean), 8% (late)	Headbutt tackle, punishable due to a small bit of ending lag. Resembles Pikachu's dash attack, but with less ending lag.
Forward smash			18%	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. Can be used to intercept linear and/or predictable recoveries.
Up smash			18%	Forceful headbutt. Has good horizontal knockback from behind to top, average upwards knockback when hit near the end. Yoshi's head is invincible during this attack.
Down smash			14%	Tail sweeps on both sides, moderate horizontal knockback for a smash attack, and has some ending lag.
Neutral aerial			14% (clean), 11% (late)	Sex kick with below average horizontal knockback. Can be used to edgeguard somewhat. When used while DJC'd and Z-cancelled, it can be an effective shield break combo.
Forward aerial		Noggin Dunk	18%	Aerial headbutt forward, a meteor smash. Great knockback for a meteor smash of its speed, can KO at medium percentages and combos into other aerial attacks at lower percentages, as well as having some use as a combo starter when used against a grounded opponent. It can KO grounded opponents at very high percentages.
Back aerial			16%	A kick backward with both feet, the move has good horizontal knockback and can be combo'd into, as well as being a strong edgeguarding move.
Up aerial			15%	Whips his tail upwards, is very powerful in combos using DJC, and can KO vertically, notably from an up tilt at high percentages.
Down aerial		Flutter Kick	56% if all hits connect	Flutter Kick that is capable of meteor smashing at high percentages, does 14 hits of 3-4%. Out of all moves in Smash 64, it has the highest damage output, being able to deal a whopping 56% if all hits connect, being especially effective on characters with large, vulnerable hurtboxes such as Donkey Kong. It can be used on its own as a shield break combo, It is automatically made less useful as a combo move due to being a multi-hit attack, therefore easy to SDI out of. With DJC, it can be a dangerous combo starter.
Grab			—	Yoshi, along with Link and Samus, has an "extended grab". He uses his tongue while standing. This allows him to grab opponents from a distance, but the grab is very laggy if it misses. The grab range is notably shorter than Link and Samus's.
Forward throw			12%	Reels back with opponent in mouth and throws them forward, good horizontal knockback.
Back throw			16%	Turns around, and throws his opponent backwards, has better knockback than f-throw.
Forward roll Back roll		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Swirls around, tail extended.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Swirls around, tail extended.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6%	Twirls up and whips his tail. Short range.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6%	Steadily gets up, reels his head back, and headbutt forward.
Neutral special		Egg Lay	5%	Sticks his tongue forward (with much less lag than his grab). If it hits an opponent, they will be damaged and trapped in an egg behind Yoshi. Tilting the control stick rapidly back and forth will help the opponent escape the egg more quickly. It can also be performed in the air as a specialized grab.
Up special		Egg Throw	14% (egg)	Throws an egg, which deals damage and moderately low knockback (but rather high for a projectile), being able to combo in very specific situations. The trajectory can be altered using the Control Stick.
Down special		Hip Drop	18% (body), 4% (stars)	A Ground Pound attack. If done on the ground, Yoshi leaps forwards and then does the attack. If done in the air, Yoshi simply drops down. Produces vertical knockback that can KO at high percentages, though due to somewhat high startup and ending lag, it is mainly used to intercept linear recoveries that end up onstage, such as Fox's Fire Fox and Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong.

On-screen appearance

• Breaks out of a Yoshi egg, similar to his entrance from Super Mario World.

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.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Yo-shi *claps 3 times*	Yo-shi *claps 3 times*
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A combination of two small musical excerpts from Yoshi's Story.

• Looks up with his hands and waves.
• Glares at the screen and punches, then turns back facing right.
• Punches the air and gives a finishing pose.

In Competitive play

Matchups

International versions

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

In the early metagame, it was seen that Yoshi did well against lower tiered characters with a few exceptions and struggled against the higher tiered ones. He was shown to be beaten by Pikachu, Kirby, Fox, Falcon and go even with Mario. Kirby was known to be his worst matchup due to Kirby's up tilt outranging Yoshi's grab and any move Yoshi can throw out. This was made worst by a frequent number of Kirby players, along with a lot of high tier players, being frequent in tournament and giving Yoshi trouble. This would give the consensus that Yoshi had balanced matchups throughout the cast in the early metagame.

However, in the current metagame, Yoshi's matchups against the higher tiers have changed signficantly. Yoshi is no longer seen to have troubling matchups against Fox, Kirby and Pikachu due in part to his parry techniques. His double jump armor is able to with stand the multi hit moves of Kirby and Pikachu, even at high percents. His high weight and falling speed gives Fox trouble combo'ing him at low percents. Yoshi's combo game is shown to be strong on the entire roster, with him having a few zero to death combos on Pikachu and Fox. He still does have even matchups with Mario and Luigi, but is shown that they aren't counters as originally thought. The only matchups that Yoshi still struggles to deal with in the current meta is against Falcon and Kirby. Falcon has a strong combo game, powerful attacks to knock Yoshi out of his armor and options to edge guard him. Kirby still has his neutral and back aerials to help him gimp Yoshi off stage while those moves also allow him to trade with Yoshi's eggs. At the current moment, Yoshi is shown to have a stronger matchup chart than originally thought.

Japanese version

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups (JPN Version)

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Yoshi professionals (SSB)

Numbers in brackets indicate position in 64 League Rankings 2017

•  Bloodpeach (#Honorable Mention)
•  Bonobono (#20 (2016))
•  Fireblaster (#32)
•  Hiyo (#20) Japan's 2nd best Yoshi, 7th at Snosa III.
•  Janitor (#51)
•  Kurabba (#3) - Best Japanese Yoshi, 7th at Super Smash Con 2016, 2nd at Super Smash Con 2017
•  Pete (#63 (2016))
•  Prince (#13) Known for his combos; used to be Japan's best Yoshi. Placed 9th at Super Smash Con 2016.
•  Shears (#48)
•  SheerMadness (#39)
•  tacos (#14)
•  Wizzrobe (#5) - Best American Yoshi
•  Yobolight (#54)

Tier placement and history

In the early metagame, Yoshi was just seen as an average character, who had troubling matchups against the majority of the characters ranked above him with a few even matchups. Due to his matchups and tournament presence looking to be average at best, Yoshi was ranked 8th on the first tier list in middle tier. However, Yoshi's tournament presence increased and his strengths were shown, which resulted in his increase to 6th of B tier on the second tier list. By the third tier list, Yoshi would stay at 6th, but would move to C tier, still being seen as a mid tier character.

In the time between the third and fourth tier list, Yoshi's tournament presence was greatly increased and with the look of his matchups appearing to become more favorible as time went on. Yoshi would see a lot of tournament success due to the abudance of strong and deciated Yoshi players in Wizzrobe, Prince and Kurrabba. Their knowledge of Yoshi and how he works allowed for difficult matchups, like Fox and Pikachu, appear to be even. Due to their success and the changing thoughts on Yoshi matchups, he would rise to 5th of A tier, where he is now seen as a high tier character. In the years since the last tier last was posted, Yoshi would go on to have more success, with him now being considered to have surpassed Fox as this point and might be 4th on the next tier list.

Techniques

Yoshi's hurtboxes when performing a shield counter.

Yoshi (SheerMadness) performing a DJC counter on Fox (Mr Bushido).

Double jump cancel

DJCing is a glitch-technique that can be used by Yoshi and Ness. It involves using an aerial just after starting a double jump. This cancels the momentum of the double jump and allows quicker aerials, while also being able to speed up short hops, making short hopped DJC'd aerials especially effective when Z-cancelled. It can also help with aerial combos, particularly against floaty characters (who he can DJC repeatedly against with the various aerials), and can be used in conjunction with moves such as up tilt and manoeuvres such as soft platform dropping while performing a DJC up aerial on fast fallers.

Parry

Parrying refers to Yoshi techniques that involve using the unique properties of his shield or double jump to counterattack opponents.

Shield counter

By shielding at the precise frame a move hits, Yoshi can drop his shield immediately and attack out of it.

Double jump cancel counter

The unique properties of Yoshi's double jump allow him to use the armor to power through an opponent's attack, while using an aerial with fast startup (preferably a neutral aerial) to counterattack.

In Single Player

Yoshi appears as an opponent in the second stage of Single Player mode. The stage takes place on Yoshi's Island without cloud platforms and pits the player against a team of eighteen Yoshis. The first six Yoshis have different alternate costumes from each other, as do the next six and the final six. If the player manages to defeat them in the order they appear, they will be awarded the 50,000-point bonus Yoshi Rainbow.

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)

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only character to boast unplayable variants, Blue Yoshi and 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, in 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 unique 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.
• Yoshi, Jigglypuff, and Kirby are the only characters without a helpless state.
• Oddly Yoshi's congratulations screen has his saddle colored yellow instead of red.
• This is the only game in the Super Smash Bros. series where Yoshi is placed as a high tier thus far.
• Yoshi's inclusion marks the only time to introduce a new character from the Yoshi universe.