Momentum canceling
Momentum Canceling is a very important element of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's competitive play. The concept is that certain attacks will halt or reduce a character's aerial momentum, such as Oil Panic. Combined with the ability to attack and air dodge while tumbling or reeling in Brawl, this makes it possible to use these moves to avoid being KO'd.
Momentum cancelling has two steps:
- Once hit, use a fast aerial attack to escape the reeling or tumbling.
- Use the momentum-cancelling move.
This technique allows survival around 200% with most heavy characters, as long as the attack isn't ridiculously powerful like Snake's up tilt. You can take this technique farther by fast-falling and using Directional Influence on the aerial. If hit upwards, it is generally recommended that you use your down aerial as most of the character's down aerials tend to give you a slight push downwards and are easier to fast-fall with.
Vertical Momentum Canceling Chart
This is a chart showing the vertical momentum canceling abilities of each character. To momentum cancel when launched vertically, all you have to do is perform one of your aerials and fast-fall. This can simply be done by tapping down on the c-stick as this will simultaneously perform your dair and fast-fall. It should be noted that stall-then-fall attacks DO NOT help at all with vertical momentum canceling. With such characters, you'll have to tap the c-stick (or d-pad) in a direction other then down and simultaneously tap the control stick down.
These percentages were found in Training mode by hitting each character with Olimar's dair (blue pikmin). This attack was chosen since it has pure vertical knockback and KOs Mario around 150%. How well a character can vertical momentum cancel is based entirely on the difference between the speed of their normal fall and the speed of their fast-fall. Link, who has the biggest difference, has the most notable benefit of vertical momentum canceling. Wolf, who has the smallest difference, gains the least notable benefit from momentum canceling. This chart does not factor in DI because the ranking of each character would not change if DI was factored in. Characters are ranked on their total vertical endurance. Even though there are a few special moves that can stop vertical momentum, all characters survive longer through the basic method, including Mr.Game & Watch.
| Rank | Character | Non-Momentum Canceled | Momentum-Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | King Dedede | 176% | 195% |
| 2. | Snake | 172% | 188% |
| 3. | Donkey Kong | 171% | 185% |
| 4. | Link | 161% | 185% |
| 5. | Captain Falcon | 165% | 182% |
| 6. | Bowser | 168% | 179% |
| 7. | Ganondorf | 164% | 179% |
| 8. | Ike | 163% | 178% |
| 9. | Charizard | 161% | 171% |
| 10. | Wario | 159% | 170% |
| 11. | Yoshi | 159%, | 168% |
| 12. | R.O.B. | 157% | 165% |
| 13. | Samus | 156% | 164% |
| 14. | Ivysaur | 154% | 164% |
| 15. | Wolf | 159% | 161% |
| 16. | Lucario | 152% | 160% |
| 17. | Mario | 151% | 160% |
| 18. | Pit | 150% | 160% |
| 19. | Sonic | 150% | 159% |
| 20. | Diddy Kong | 147% | 158% |
| 21. | Luigi | 150% | 157% |
| 22. | Ness | 148% | 157% |
| 23. | Lucas | 147% | 157% |
| 24. | Toon Link | 146% | 157% |
| 25. | Marth | 146% | 157% |
| 26. | Falco | 142% | 155% |
| 27. | Pikachu | 138% | 154% |
| 28. | Ice Climbers | 144% | 151% |
| 29. | Fox | 134% | 150% |
| 30. | Sheik | 137% | 149% |
| 31. | Peach | 141% | 147% |
| 32. | Olimar | 139% | 147% |
| 33. | Zero Suit Samus | 138% | 147% |
| 34. | Zelda | 138% | 145% |
| 35. | Kirby | 134 | 144% |
| 36. | Meta Knight | 135% | 143% |
| 37. | Squirtle | 128% | 141% |
| 38. | Mr. Game & Watch | 131% | 137% |
| 39. | Jigglypuff | 123% | 128% |
How to Recover, after DI: momentum cancelling, etc.
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