Stale-move negation
Stale-Move Negation refers to using the same particular move over and over again, losing power with each attack.
Masahiro Sakurai added "Stale-Move Negation" to the Super Smash Bros. series in order to encourage players to try different attacks out and use characters to their fullest instead of using the same attack over and over again. When a character uses an attack (even the ones that do 1% damage), usually their more rapid weak attacks, too many times, the damage and knockback goes down until it becomes less than half its original power. This is something to remember in the Home-Run contest, as some combos will get weaker and weaker.
In Super Smash Bros. the Stale-Move Negation affected damage and knockback (but happens a lot more slowly). Here, damage and knockback decreases to 75% its original power and remains constant from that point (given attack power is 4% or higher). In Super Smash Bros. Melee the special attacks is affected by damage and knockback, all other moves only affected damage not knockback. And in Super Smash Bros. Brawl affected damage and knockback again.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee one could get "Stale Moves" as a Bonus at the end of a match. The bonus negates your points by 2000.
Some Brawl players were initially confused, as testing in Training mode seemed to show no difference in strength (in other words, damage and attack power is constant). In fact, Stale-Move Negation is not applied in Training Mode and Classic Mode in Brawl, but it is in SSBM and SSB. In addition, Stale-Move Negation is much more punishing in Brawl.
If Peach or Lucario try to counter a move they will countered as if it had not been affected, this also occurs when Ness or Lucas try to absorb with their PSI Magnet.
Most of Meta Knight's weaker attacks take a long time to be affected by the stale-move negation. Other moves like this include Mach Tornado, Drill Rush, Vegetable, Quick Attack, Reflectors (when hit with it), Double Team, Toad, Natural combos and Snake's taunts.
Here is a list of attacks that (strangely) aren't affected by Stale-Move Negation:
- A Judge number 1 when Mr. Game and Watch takes the damage (Always 12%)
- A fully charged Flare Blade when Roy takes the damage (Always 10%)
- A fully charged Eruption when Ike takes the damage (Always 10%)
- When Diddy Kong crashes while using his Rocketbarrel Boost and takes the damage (Always 5%)
- Snake's Grenade's explosion (Always 12%-13%)
- The Grapple Beam used in mid-air (Always 4%)
- The Hookshot and Clawshot used in mid-air (Always 4%)
- Luigi's down Taunt (Always 2%) In SSB and SSBM is always 1%
- All the Final Smashes
Also, the effects of Stale-Move Negation are reset when the player is knocked out.