Air dodge

Yoshi performing an air dodge in Ultimate.

An air dodge (or EscapeAir by internal Brawl files) is a technique introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee that gives temporary intangibility frames to the user in the air, preventing attacks from hitting them. It can be described as spot dodging in midair.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Fox air dodges to avoid Samus's Charge Shot in Melee.

In Melee, an air dodge is performed by fully pressing the L or R button while in the air. Air dodges cannot be done if the character is tumbling or reeling. The air dodge halts the character's momentum; if the control stick is not tilted, it leaves the character hovering in place for most of its duration, and if the control stick is tilted, it gives the character a small boost in the chosen direction. This boost can aid one's recovery, though characters cannot grab ledges until the air dodge's animation ends. Furthermore, most up specials outreach the air dodge, making it more beneficial for getting back to the stage quickly from a short distance.

After air dodging, characters enter a helpless state and fall to the ground. While air dodging, pressing the attack button while holding the shield button also allows the player to grab any nearby items, as well as use grab aerials with characters that have one: this is known as air dodge grabbing.

Air dodging into the ground is known as wavelanding, which is the primary component of the wavedash.

Using air dodges as a recovery

Real time animation of Mario air dodging in Melee.

An angled recovery is the opposite of wavedashing, since the player angles the control stick up. An angled recovery is useful when a player gets knocked off a stage that has multiple platforms, such as Temple.

In order to perform an angled recovery, the player must hold the control stick up diagonally and air dodge. The angled recovery has less lag time compared to a character's normal recovery, and it can't be negated as easily due to the intangibility it grants, but it generally doesn't go as far as a character's usual recovery move. The angled recovery is effective when the character's second jump isn't enough to make it back to the stage, but is close enough for where an air dodge will cover the remaining recovery distance. This can also be pulled off at far distances only if they're at a very high altitude. If the character is too far away, however, they will fall and self-destruct.

While angled recoveries do not provide more height or distance than standard recovery options, they still see use by multiple characters in the cast. Jigglypuff, Yoshi, and a solo Ice Climber benefit from the tactic since their up special moves do not give any recovery distance, and in the cases of Jigglypuff and the solo Ice Climber, the air dodge gives more vertical distance than their side specials. Ness also benefits from this tactic in cases where he's near the ledge but his mid-air jump was not enough to get him back, air dodging is a much safer recovery option, or on stages with narrow pits (such as Fourside) as he needs room to use PK Thunder to recover. In addition, while Samus, Link and Young Link boast relatively long and flexible recovery options, the angled recovery can allow for the trio to use their wall grapple during the ascent of the dodge; as players can air dodge in any direction, it can also be used to get the character closer to the stage in order to decrease their distance from a wall. Outside of this, most of the cast may elect to use angle recoveries in order to combat some edgeguard techniques that do not include edgehogging; air dodging into a ledge, for instance, can counter a player who is charging an attack on the edge of a stage.

Air dodge intangibility and animation length in Melee

Grabbing the ledge is possible as soon the animation length is over.

Character	Animation Length	Intangible Frames	Intangible Duration
Dr. Mario	48	4-29	26 frames
Mario	48	4-29	26 frames
Luigi	48	4-29	26 frames
Bowser	49	3-29	27 frames
Peach	49	4-19	16 frames
Yoshi	49	4-29	26 frames
Donkey Kong	49	4-29	26 frames
Captain Falcon	49	4-29	26 frames
Ganondorf	49	4-29	26 frames
Falco	49	4-29	26 frames
Fox	49	4-29	26 frames
Ice Climbers	48	4-29	26 frames
Ness	48	4-29	26 frames
Kirby	49	4-29	26 frames
Samus	49	4-29	26 frames
Zelda	49	4-19	16 frames
Sheik	49	4-29	26 frames
Link	49	4-29	26 frames
Young Link	49	4-29	26 frames
Pichu	49	4-29	26 frames
Pikachu	49	4-29	26 frames
Jigglypuff	49	4-29	26 frames
Mewtwo	39	4-29	26 frames
Mr. Game & Watch	49	4-29	26 frames
Roy	49	4-29	26 frames
Marth	49	4-29	26 frames

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Snake performing an air dodge in Brawl.

In Brawl, the air dodge has been revamped. It no longer halts the character's momentum and no longer permits the user to nudge the character by pressing the control stick; it simply grants brief intangiblity along the character's current line of movement. Following the air dodge, characters are put in their regular aerial state rather than the helpless state, and thus may attack, jump, or air dodge again following their initial air dodge.

The air dodge can now also be used when a character is tumbling or reeling, and with the introduction of hitstun canceling, characters can air dodge out of these states 13 frames after being hit, regardless of the amount of hitstun received. This is often employed by players to enable action quicker than waiting out their knockback and to limit reliance on teching. Using the air dodge at this time does not reduce knockback, a rumor that was started when it was noticed that higher-level CPUs were doing it constantly. However, an air dodge can be used for momentum canceling, and in some cases, such as Ike and Snake, it is their best option, since they yield better results using an air dodge when momentum canceling than their shortest-lasting aerial (both of their air dodges end in 39 frames, while their shortest-lasting aerials last just a few frames longer, and despite the minuscule difference, air dodging is still their best option nonetheless). In addition, they also gain the most benefit when momentum canceling using the basic method.

Air dodges now cause characters to automatically catch any item nearby during the first frames (unless they are holding one already), without having to press the attack button like in Melee. However, this also means characters can no longer grab items at any time of the air dodge, only the beginning.

Air dodge intangibility and lag in Brawl

The table here displays the frame data for the air dodge of every Brawl character. Every character has a certain amount of frames taken to perform an air dodge, and the intangibility frames starts and ends in between the total frames taken. Most characters' intangibility usually starts on frame 4 and end about 10 or 20 frames before the end of the entire air dodge; however, there are a few exceptions.

Characters	Intangibility Frames	Total Frames	Intangible Duration
Meta Knight	4-29	39	26 frames
Zero Suit Samus	4-29	39	26 frames
Diddy Kong	4-29	39	26 frames
Pit	4-29	39	26 frames
Squirtle	4-29	39	26 frames
Ivysaur	4-29	39	26 frames
Charizard	4-29	39	26 frames
Ike	4-29	39	26 frames
Snake	4-29	39	26 frames
King Dedede	4-29	39	26 frames
Lucario	4-29	39	26 frames
Wario	4-29	39	26 frames
R.O.B.	4-29	39	26 frames
Olimar	4-29	39	26 frames
Ice Climbers	4-29	48	26 frames
Ness	4-29	48	26 frames
Sonic	4-29	48	26 frames
Lucas	4-29	48	26 frames
Bowser	4-30	49	27 frames
Mario	4-29	49	26 frames
Donkey Kong	4-29	49	26 frames
Link	4-29	49	26 frames
Samus	4-29	49	26 frames
Kirby	4-29	49	26 frames
Fox	4-29	49	26 frames
Pikachu	4-29	49	26 frames
Mr. Game & Watch	4-29	49	26 frames
Luigi	4-29	49	26 frames
Zelda	4-29	49	26 frames
Sheik	4-29	49	26 frames
Falco	4-29	49	26 frames
Yoshi	4-29	49	26 frames
Ganondorf	4-29	49	26 frames
Wolf	4-29	49	26 frames
Toon Link	4-29	49	26 frames
Captain Falcon	4-29	49	26 frames
Jigglypuff	4-29	49	26 frames
Marth	5-30	49	26 frames
Peach	4-19	49	16 frames

In Super Smash Bros. 4

In Smash 4, air dodges have significantly less ending lag, now lasting from 28 to 34 frames (depending on the character, with only Bayonetta's air dodge lasting a longer time of 36 frames), compared to the previous games' 39 to 49 frames. This allows characters to execute many air dodges in quick succession to avoid attacks, as well as safely use attacks out of them; players can now jump, go through an opponent's attack with an air dodge, then retaliate with an attack or their own. This is especially beneficial for characters with quick aerial attacks, as they can do them along with an air dodge in a short hop. Jigglypuff also finds easier opportunities landing its Rest in this way. However, air dodges now produce a significant landing lag of 21 frames as the character lands with an air dodge active, even during vulnerability frames, making air dodges easier to punish on land, and thus riskier to use close to the ground. To prevent this, some characters can use an aerial attack in order to replace the air dodge's landing lag with the aerial's autocancel, a technique known as "dodge cancelling", though this requires precise timing. Some characters can also ledge cancel their air dodge to avoid significant landing lag. Unlike in Brawl, however, it isn't possible to cancel hitstun with an air dodge until the receiver takes 41 or more frames of hitstun (often between 80 and 90%) - resulting in combos being easier, but safe juggles being more difficult to pull off.

Both the shield button and the grab button (when used in midair by a character without a grab aerial) allow players to air dodge. In past installments, the grab button would cause the fighter to use a neutral aerial.

Air dodge intangibility and lag in Smash 4

The table here displays the frame data for the air dodge of every character in the current version of both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Before version 1.0.4 of Smash 3DS, Wii Fit Trainer had only 12 landing lag frames from an air dodge, while Zero Suit Samus had 15; these were later changed to the standard 21 frames used for all other characters.

Characters	Intangibility Frames	Total Frames	Intangible Duration
Mewtwo	2-24	28	23 frames
Fox	2-25	30	24 frames
Little Mac	2-25	30	24 frames
Meta Knight	2-25	30	24 frames
Pikachu	2-25	30	24 frames
Sheik	2-25	30	24 frames
Sonic	2-25	30	24 frames
Toon Link	2-25	30	24 frames
Zero Suit Samus	2-25	30	24 frames
Dark Pit	2-26	31	25 frames
Diddy Kong	2-26	31	25 frames
Duck Hunt	2-26	31	25 frames
Falco	2-26	31	25 frames
Greninja	2-26	31	25 frames
Mr. Game & Watch	2-26	31	25 frames
Pit	2-26	31	25 frames
Wii Fit Trainer	2-26	31	25 frames
Lucario	2-25	31	24 frames
Corrin	3-27	32	25 frames
Dr. Mario	3-27	32	25 frames
Kirby	3-27	32	25 frames
Lucina	3-27	32	25 frames
Luigi	3-27	32	25 frames
Mario	3-27	32	25 frames
Marth	3-27	32	25 frames
Mii Brawler	3-27	32	25 frames
Mii Gunner	3-27	32	25 frames
Olimar	3-27	32	25 frames
Pac-Man	3-27	32	25 frames
R.O.B.	3-27	32	25 frames
Rosalina & Luma	3-27	32	25 frames
Roy	3-27	32	25 frames
Samus	3-27	32	25 frames
Wario	3-27	32	25 frames
Bowser Jr.	3-28	33	26 frames
Captain Falcon	3-28	33	26 frames
Charizard	3-28	33	26 frames
Cloud	3-28	33	26 frames
Ike	3-28	33	26 frames
Link	3-28	33	26 frames
Lucas	3-28	33	26 frames
Mega Man	3-28	33	26 frames
Mii Swordfighter	3-28	33	26 frames
Ness	3-28	33	26 frames
Palutena	3-28	33	26 frames
Peach	3-28	33	26 frames
Robin	3-28	33	26 frames
Shulk	3-28	33	26 frames
Villager	3-28	33	26 frames
Yoshi	3-28	33	26 frames
Zelda	3-28	33	26 frames
Ryu	4-25	33	22 frames
Bowser	4-29	34	26 frames
Donkey Kong	4-29	34	26 frames
Ganondorf	4-29	34	26 frames
Jigglypuff	4-29	34	26 frames
King Dedede	4-29	34	26 frames
Bayonetta	5-27	36	23 frames

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Pac-Man's air dodge in Ultimate.

In Ultimate, air dodges have received a major overhaul, containing elements from all previous games. Depending on the player's control stick input, characters can use two types of air dodges:

• If no direction is held, they perform a neutral air dodge (known as simply Air Dodge officially, and EscapeAir internally), which behaves like air dodges in Brawl and Smash 4, preserving their momentum. Compared to Smash 4, these air dodges have much more ending lag (with an average duration of 49-50 frames, up from 32-33 frames), but their landing lag is effectively halved (10 frames, down from 21), and they grant slightly more intangibility (two additional frames for most characters). This causes them to be much more punishable if used high above the ground or offstage, but safer to land with.
• If a direction is held, they perform a directional air dodge (known as a Moving Air Dodge officially, and EscapeAirSlide internally) that propels them in that direction, much like air dodges in Melee, except without causing helplessness. However, instead of immediately moving in that direction and stalling in the air for most of the air dodge, characters first shift a small distance towards the opposite direction in a slingshot fashion (such as left and upward if the air dodge was aimed right and downward), then receive the full momentum in the chosen direction and begin to fall shortly afterwards. Compared to neutral air dodges, directional air dodges are more consistently useful for escaping aerial pressure due to their moving property, and can grab ledges shortly after their intangibility ends, giving them utility in recovery. However, they grant less intangibility and have much more ending lag (with a total duration of over a full second for all characters), as well as landing lag, which increases the earlier the character lands (ranging from 11 to 19 frames). As a result, they are more punishable than neutral air dodges if used improperly, while their high ending lag prevents them from being used before characters' jumps or special moves to aid recovery.

Air dodging has now received two major limitations. Characters can only air dodge once until they land, get hit, or grab a ledge; this includes the inability to use a directional air dodge after a neutral air dodge, and vice versa. Additionally, like rolls and spot dodges, they are affected by a staleness mechanic that decreases the intangibility frames of both air dodge types if any kind of dodge is used repeatedly, as well as the distance granted by directional ones. However, unlike rolls and spot dodges, their ending lag is not increased by the mechanic.

The drastic changes to air dodges significantly weaken them as a defensive option, as characters can no longer air dodge attacks multiple times in midair, nor quickly strike back at opponents with their own attacks after an air dodge. This also makes them much harder to use offstage, with directional air dodges in particular often guaranteeing a self-destruct if the player uses them at any height below the stage. As a result, aerial pressure (such as juggling) and offstage edgeguarding are more commonplace than in Smash 4, with options to negate them being more limited. However, due to their lower landing lag and the directional version's ability to grab ledges, air dodges are more effective as a recovery mixup and for getting out of disadvantageous positions if used during the right circumstances. Moreover, characters with recovery special moves that do not cause helplessness, such as R.O.B., Snake, and Sonic, or grant little distance, such as Jigglypuff and Yoshi, benefit from directional air dodges, as they can achieve longer distances at their fullest recovery potential. Overall, air dodges remain useful, but their reckless or repeated use is much more discouraged, instead rewarding players that can use them at opportune moments.

With the reintroduction of directional air dodges, wavedashing can once again be performed, alongside wavelanding. However, due to their new slingshot properties, which prevent characters from landing with them immediately after leaving the ground, as well as their higher landing lag and the increased traction across the cast, wavedashing has essentially lost most of its utility for approaching and spacing. Air dodges can also no longer be ledge canceled, hindering wavelanding mixups.

In addition to playable characters, several Assist Trophies have gained the ability to perform directional air dodges, making it more difficult for players to KO them.

Air dodge intangibility and lag in Ultimate

Unlike in previous games, where the duration of each character's air dodge was arbitrary, air dodges in Ultimate have their durations sorted across the cast so that every character falls approximately the same distance when air dodging. As a result, characters have shorter air dodges the higher their falling speed and gravity; following this correlation, Fox has the shortest ones in the game, whereas Jigglypuff has the longest ones. Likewise, directional air dodges have a longer duration if angled upward, and a shorter duration if angled downward.

Directional air dodges grant less intangibility than neutral air dodges, and both types grant intangibility three frames later if fully stale. Regardless of staleness, all characters can grab edges after the first 24 frames of their directional air dodge, resulting in most of them being vulnerable for only 3 frames if they grab an edge as soon as possible, discounting the 2-frame vulnerability period.

Characters	Neutral air dodges			Directional air dodges
	Intangibility frames		Total frames	Intangibility frames		Total frames
	Fresh	Fully stale		Fresh	Fully stale	Side	Up	Down	Diagonally Up	Diagonally Down
Bowser Jr. (Abandon Ship!)	3-30	3-30	33	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fox	2-26	5-24	38	2-19	5-18	64	75	54	70	59
Mii Brawler	3-29	6-27	40	3-21	6-20	70	86	58	80	65
Greninja	2-27	5-25	41	2-19	5-18	71	85	60	78	67
Piranha Plant	3-30	6-27	42	3-21	6-20	69	88	58	81	66
Pichu	2-26	5-24	42	2-19	5-18	70	88	60	80	65
Captain Falcon	3-30	6-27	42	3-21	6-20	72	94	62	85	66
King Dedede	4-32	7-29	43	4-23	7-22	72	96	58	86	66
Falco	2-27	5-25	43	2-20	5-19	73	94	61	85	67
Wolf	2-26	5-24	44	2-20	5-19	73	93	61	84	68
Sheik	2-26	5-24	44	2-19	5-18	74	93	63	85	67
Diddy Kong	2-27	5-25	44	2-19	5-18	74	96	62	86	68
Chrom	3-29	6-27	44	3-21	6-20	74	97	62	87	68
Roy	3-29	6-27	44	3-21	6-20	74	97	62	87	68
Incineroar	3-29	6-27	44	3-21	6-20	76	96	63	86	72
Sephiroth	3-30	6-27	44	3-21	6-20	74	97	61	86	69
Mythra	6-33	9-30	44	6-21	9-23	73	95	59	85	66
Bayonetta	5-31	8-29	45	5-21	8-21	74	93	63	85	69
Banjo & Kazooie	3-30	6-27	45	3-21	6-20	75	97	62	88	69
Mega Man	3-30	6-27	45	3-21	6-20	76	98	63	84	70
Young Link	2-26	5-24	45	2-19	5-18	76	100	63	90	70
Zero Suit Samus	2-26	5-24	45	2-19	5-18	80	98	65	90	73
Bowser	4-32	7-29	46	4-22	7-21	75	95	63	88	67
Richter	3-29	6-27	46	3-21	6-20	76	104	62	90	69
Simon	3-29	6-27	46	3-21	6-20	76	104	62	90	69
Ridley	3-31	6-28	46	3-22	6-21	78	103	64	90	73
King K. Rool	4-30	7-28	46	4-22	7-21	78	102	64	88	74
Ganondorf	4-32	7-29	46	4-22	7-21	79	103	66	91	73
Joker	3-30	6-27	47	3-21	6-20	83	100	67	90	73
Meta Knight	2-26	5-24	47	2-19	5-18	80	101	66	94	74
Cloud	3-30	6-27	47	3-21	6-20	79	104	64	94	72
Snake	4-28	7-26	47	4-22	7-21	81	108	64	99	75
Lucario	3-28	6-26	48	3-21	6-20	91	108	65	98	74
Bowser Jr.	3-30	6-27	48	3-21	6-20	82	108	67	93	77
Donkey Kong	4-32	7-29	48	4-22	7-21	82	109	66	88	73
Kazuya	3-31	6-28	48	3-22	5-20	79	101	65	93	75
Ken	3-27	6-25	49	3-21	6-20	80	102	67	89	73
Ryu	3-27	6-25	49	3-21	6-20	80	102	67	89	73
Little Mac	2-26	5-24	49	2-18	5-18	72	89	62	81	64
Corrin	3-29	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	81	107	67	97	75
Ike	4-31	7-28	49	4-22	7-21	82	108	66	96	76
Palutena	3-30	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	82	105	70	93	77
Shulk	3-30	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	83	107	68	95	77
Link	3-30	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	82	108	69	95	74
Duck Hunt	3-27	6-25	49	3-21	6-20	83	113	66	100	78
Charizard	3-30	6-27	49	3-22	6-21	85	105	70	99	78
Byleth	3-30	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	83	111	68	97	76
Pyra	3-30	6-27	49	3-21	6-20	83	109	68	97	75
Wario	3-29	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	82	104	66	97	75
Sonic	2-26	5-24	50	2-19	5-18	81	107	66	99	74
R.O.B.	3-29	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	83	111	68	100	75
Inkling	3-29	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	84	112	70	100	76
Mii Swordfighter	3-30	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	84	107	69	99	77
Hero	3-30	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	83	109	69	92	78
Pikachu	2-26	5-24	50	2-19	5-18	85	109	69	97	76
Min Min	3-30	6-27	50	3-21	6-20	85	107	71	97	78
Mewtwo	3-26	6-24	51	3-21	6-20	85	114	70	101	79
Terry	3-30	6-27	51	3-21	6-20	88	115	72	89	81
Robin	3-30	6-27	51	3-21	6-20	86	114	73	103	79
Dr. Mario	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	87	116	71	100	81
Mario	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	87	116	71	102	77
Lucina	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	85	116	69	99	79
Marth	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	85	116	69	99	79
Mii Gunner	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	87	114	73	103	82
Dark Pit	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	89	119	73	110	82
Pit	3-29	6-27	52	3-21	6-20	89	119	73	110	82
Squirtle	2-26	5-24	53	2-19	5-18	90	114	79	105	87
Steve	3-30	6-27	54	3-21	6-20	92	121	75	108	82
Pac-Man	3-29	6-27	55	3-21	6-20	96	130	78	111	87
Sora	3-31	5-28	55	3-22	5-20	93	130	75	108	84
Toon Link	2-26	5-24	56	2-19	5-18	93	123	76	111	85
Ivysaur	3-29	6-27	56	3-21	6-20	93	124	76	110	84
Lucas	3-30	6-27	56	3-21	6-20	95	126	75	117	85
Zelda	3-30	6-27	56	3-21	6-20	96	129	77	114	86
Dark Samus	3-29	6-27	56	3-21	6-20	96	130	80	113	86
Samus	3-29	6-27	56	3-21	6-20	96	130	80	113	86
Wii Fit Trainer	3-28	6-26	57	3-21	6-20	96	124	80	107	88
Luigi	3-29	6-27	57	3-21	6-20	96	127	81	113	88
Villager	3-30	6-27	57	3-21	6-20	96	128	80	111	87
Olimar	3-29	6-27	57	3-21	6-20	96	132	78	118	87
Ice Climbers	3-28	6-26	58	3-21	6-20	96	129	81	115	86
Yoshi	3-30	6-27	58	3-21	6-20	107	130	79	116	89
Isabelle	3-30	6-27	58	3-21	6-20	97	133	80	115	91
Ness	3-30	6-27	59	3-21	6-20	99	134	77	119	86
Mr. Game & Watch	3-28	6-26	59	3-21	6-20	100	132	84	123	93
Daisy	3-30	6-27	61	3-21	6-20	103	141	86	124	92
Peach	3-30	6-27	61	3-21	6-20	103	141	86	124	92
Kirby	3-29	6-27	62	3-21	6-20	102	141	82	134	91
Rosalina & Luma	3-29	6-27	62	3-21	6-20	105	144	86	124	94
Jigglypuff	4-32	7-29	63	4-22	7-21	106	158	85	132	96

Update history

1.1.0

• Bowser Jr.'s Abandon Ship! air dodge can no longer be used more than once.

6.0.0

• Jigglypuff's neutral air dodge total frames: 74 → 63
• Jigglypuff's directional air dodge total frames: 122 (side)/174 (up)/102 (down) → 106/158/85

11.0.0

• Min Min's neutral air dodge has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 51), matching the rest of the cast.

12.0.0

• Mythra's directional air dodge intangibility frames: 6-24 → 6-21

Directional air dodge distance

All characters receive the same amount of momentum from their directional air dodges, with the exception of Lucas, Ness and Mythra, who receive more, and Bayonetta, Steve, Pyra and Little Mac, who receive less, the latter receiving the least momentum out of the entire cast. As a result, the former have better opportunities to escape juggles and, when close to an edge, can use their air dodges for recovery as a more reliable alternative to their up special, which can be easily interrupted by opponents. Conversely, the latter are more vulnerable to juggling and cannot avoid edgeguards as effectively by air dodging to the ledge; while Bayonetta benefits from directional air dodging regardless due to her recovery special moves not causing helplessness, Little Mac is noticeably hindered in comparison to the rest of the cast, especially given his infamously poor air game.

All directional air dodges have their distance reduced by roughly 33.3% when fully stale.

Character	Distance
	Fresh	Fully stale
Lucas Ness	25	16.6667
Mythra	24	16
Everyone else	20	13.3333
Bayonetta Steve	17	11.3333
Pyra	16	10.6666
Little Mac	15	10

Air dodge landing lag glitch

The air dodge landing lag glitch is a glitch in Ultimate that causes special moves that place the user into a helpless state to have their landing lag reduced to approximately 1/3 of the original landing lag. This glitch is executed by first performing an uninterrupted air dodge and then using the specified special move and landing on the ground after turning helpless. The only exception is Duck Hunt, who must cancel Duck Jump using an air dodge. They will turn helpless directly after air dodging, and the glitch will be triggered on landing. The affected special moves are listed below.

• Duck Hunt (10 frames with Duck Jump)
• Ice Climber (10 frames with Squall Hammer)
• Ike (10 frames with Quick Draw)
• King K. Rool (10 frames with Propellerpack - King K. Rool needs to be helpless and not floating down)
• Meta Knight (10 frames with Mach Tornado - this also applies to Kirby via Copy Ability)
• Mii Swordfighter (10 frames with Airborne Assault and Gale Stab)
• Mythra (6 frames with Photon Edge)
• Robin (10 frames with Nosferatu)
• Wolf (10 frames with Wolf Flash)
• Any character breaking Pac-Man's trampoline, including another Pac-Man.

Notably, none of the special moves listed above are coded to have FAF frames in the designated character's moveset files. Instead all of them have the default landing lag, which is 29 frames for all characters except for Mythra, whose landing lag is instead 18 frames.

List of Assist Trophies with directional air dodges

• Akira
• Black Knight
• Bomberman
• Chef Kawasaki
• Dillon
• Ghirahim
• Gray Fox
• Guile
• Hammer Bro
• Isaac
• Klaptrap
• Knuckle Joe
• Knuckles
• Krystal
• Sablé Prince
• Rodin
• Samurai Goroh
• Shovel Knight
• Spring Man
• Starfy
• Sukapon
• Takamaru
• Waluigi
• Zero