Luigi (SSBM)/Air dodge

Hurtbox visualization of Luigi's air dodge.

Overview

Luigi sticks his limbs out and seemingly dips into the background partially, becoming completely intangible for ⁵⁄₁₂ of a second, before returning to the foreground and entering freefall. Among spot dodges, Luigi's is fairly average in all regards: it gives him the median intangibility length and is a frame faster than the median duration. What makes the move different is the character it's attached to, which changes its utility in a number of ways.

Like all characters, Luigi's spot dodge is the critical component to performing his wavedash; unlike all other characters, Luigi's wavedash is the best in the game, letting him slide halfway across Final Destination, while his dash-dance is subpar. This makes wavedashing's inclusion into Melee a huge boon to Luigi and partially explains his fall from grace for his Brawl incarnation, dropping down to E-tier. Aside from his wavedash, spot dodge is also used as a pseudo-third jump when he's recovering; owing to Luigi's terrible up special (in regards to its use as a recovery move), which is easily ledgehogged, and his floatiness, Luigi falls a lot less distance as compared to a non-floaty before he's able to grab ledge after activating an upwards air dodge. He can also sometimes air dodge straight onto stage by mixing up his air dodge timing due to how long he stays in the air, as compared to a fast-faller like Fox, who must use his air dodge immediately off-stage before he falls too far to avoid using his up special.

It also sees use when Luigi is the victim of juggles. Because Luigi has horrible air speed, air acceleration, and a non-disjointed down aerial, characters like Donkey Kong and Marth, who have fantastic up aerials for keeping their opponents in the air, can rack up a ton of damage, oftentimes getting Luigi up to KO percentages, from a single opening. Moves like air dodge and Luigi Cyclone, which alter Luigi's momentum, let the Luigi player mix up their timing and, hopefully, return to the ground.