Yoshi (SSBB)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in SSB4
Final Smash	Super Dragon
Tier	D (27)

“	A denizen of Yoshi's Island whose huge jumps lend superior air mobility.	”
—Brawl manual description

Confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on July 24, 2007, Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is relatively unchanged from the previous games except for one thing - he can now use his Egg Throw as a recovery move (though it only gives him a small upwards boost). His smashes are less powerful, but his aerials and tilts are slightly more powerful. He has also taken on his upright posture and his appearance is like his recent appearances in future Mario games. He appears to be slightly larger now in relation to the human-sized characters as well.

Yoshi currently ranks 27th on the tier list at the last spot of mid tier, a significant drop from his 12th position in Melee. Yoshi is a unique character; he is a heavyweight with the fastest air speed in Brawl, possesses a recovery that revolves around the best midair jump in Brawl, and possesses a unique shield that does not shrink, making him completely immune to shield stabbing. Yoshi in general has great all around movement speed (possessing a fast walking and dashing speed to compliment his air speed), and fast attacks throughout his moveset. Additionally, Yoshi possesses grab release options on several characters (which include chain grabs on nearly half the cast and a forward aerial meteor smash follow up), which is complimented by one of the best pivot grabs. Yoshi also has among the best horizontal survivability with above-average vertical survivability due to his heavyweight status and average falling speed, good reach all around, a great get off move in his jab, and a great anti-air projectile in Egg Throw. Yoshi has some strong flaws however, the most major of which being his abysmal out of shield options, as he is unable to jump out of shield (the only character with this hindrance), which combines with his slow standing grab and poor roll dodge for one of the worst close up games (resulting in Yoshi being easy to pressure). Yoshi also has an over-reliance on his double jump to recover, making footstool jumps, meteor smashes, or certain special grabs very dangerous to him (although he can air dodge during his second jump to gain invincibility). Other flaws include his slow and laggy standing and dashing grabs and an awkwardly large hurtbox on his nose that makes it easier to hit and space Yoshi. Overall, this has resulted in average matchups and average tournament results for Yoshi.

Attributes

Yoshi is a rather heavy character, tied with Wario in weight, but rather small and fast for his weight. He is very maneuverable in the air with a slow falling speed and the fastest air speed in the game, which are not usually attributes found in heavyweights. His moves generally have decent speed (although not as quick as several characters), and his range is good for non-disjointed moves. His Flutter Kick (down aerial) can hit for 35% if used correctly, making it among the most damaging attacks in the game (although this can be escaped with SDI). Arguably the most notable aspect of Yoshi's moveset is his midair jump, which is the farthest-reaching in the game, and gives him limited knockback resistance during the ascent. As long as Yoshi has his double jump, he can also be an effective edge guarder, either finishing enemies off with his meteor smashes, or using his neutral aerial at the right time to knock them back even further. This also allows Yoshi to perform a pseudo-wavedash, known as the Dragonic Reverse, which allows him to move and attack somewhat spontaneously. However, it is very difficult to execute, so its actual usage is limited.

One significant flaw with Yoshi is that, because of his minuscule third jump, Footstool Jumps, grabs (such as special grabs that can catch in the air), and attacks with enough knockback to cancel his midair jump's resistance can be devastating to Yoshi should they be performed while he is in his second jump. He is quite speedy on the ground, but he has few effective ways to advance on the opponent. Yoshi's standing grab range has lots of start up lag, and his dash grab is very punishable, with both being relatively short for tether grabs. However, Yoshi arguably has the best pivot grab in the game. His specials are largely situational due to a mix of poor range and speed. Egg Throw, for example, is an effective projectile attack that can help change directions in midair and can help recovery, but it can be hard to use because it travels in an arc, which can make it hard to hit with. Although his shield gives him immunity to shield stabbing and lasts slightly longer than others, it has a long exiting animation (taking 17 frames to shield drop instead of 7 frames for anyone else) and it cannot be jumped out of, giving him arguably the worst out of shield options in the game when considering his very slow standing grab, making him have a near impossible time punishing the opponent for hitting Yoshi's shield. His roll is also poor, though he has one of the best spot dodges in the game.

Yoshi's major advantage is in his grab-release on a large number of cast members. He has a grab-release on at least nineteen cast members, and he can grab-release-spike seven of those.

Yoshi is a character with very clear advantages and disadvantages. Many of his advantageous match-ups stem from his grab-release or other tricks he can pull off, but his relatively short and laggy grab can be an impediment (though he can pivot grab to remedy this). Yoshi's extremely high learning curve and difficulty in using his chain grabs on some characters means that only dedicated Yoshi players can do very well with him.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Yoshi has received massive buffs, such as stronger tilts and aerials, a much better grab game due to his new air release option on a large portion of the cast, and a majorly improved recovery, and he is considered to be overall greatly buffed in the transition from Melee to Brawl. However, the severely decreased knockback to his down smash, forward aerial and Yoshi Bomb and damage to his down air, as well as losing a powerful recovery option in Egg Roll, the drastic changes applied to his double jump and worsened comboing ability due to the loss of double jump canceling have harmed Yoshi very significantly. Furthermore, he still cannot jump out of shield, which is an exacerbated problem in Brawl's defensive play, where a character's out of shield game is much more important. As such, his major buffs don't compensate for the intensity of the nerfs he received, making him a much less effective character than in Melee.

Aesthetics

• Yoshi's appearance is that of his upright, bubblier appearance used in all future Mario games.
• While Yoshi's tail is smaller in Brawl, his tail grows bigger for attacks where it is used than it did in Melee.
• The spikes on his back are curved rather than spiky, like they are in his appearances recent prior to Brawl's release.
• His tongue also makes a different sound.

Attributes

• Yoshi is very slightly lighter (108 → 107), slightly worsening Yoshi's already strong endurance but making him less susceptible to combos.
• Yoshi's air speed is faster (1.2 → 1.316).
• Yoshi's falling speed is slower (1.93 → 1.29). However, Yoshi still falls faster when comparing to the returning veterans, making him even easier to combo due to his hunched stance but improving his endurance.
• Yoshi has an overall drastically improved recovery, due to his increased air speed and his Egg Throw now giving him a slight hop, as well as the fact that since he can not double jump cancel; he can now use his aerials during his midair jump to fend off edge-guarders without killing the momentum from his midair jump. Additionally, Brawl's new air dodge mechanics allows Yoshi to air dodge while keeping the momentum of his midair jump, essentially giving him an invincible recovery move.
• If Yoshi attacks during his double jump he does not stop momentum, unless he uses his special moves, like Egg Throw. This means that Yoshi can no longer double jump cancel with his aerials, significantly hindering his combo ability.
• Getting hit out of his double jump causes him to receive full knockback of the move that caused it, instead of the difference in knockback.
• Yoshi's traction is lower (0.06 → 0.0426), especially when comparing with the returning veterans, now going from the 15th highest in Melee to the 4th worst.

Ground attacks

• Most of Yoshi's tilts are stronger.
• Yoshi has a new forward tilt: a tail swat instead of a strong kick. It deals less damage (13%/12%/11% → 10%/9%/8%.
• Down tilt no longer has set knockback, instead having very small knockback growth.
• Forward smash has been weakened (32 base/94 growth → 20/92).
• Up smash lasts one frame longer (5 → 6).
• Down smash was weakened drastically, to where it can no longer reliably KO.

Aerial attacks

• Most of Yoshi's aerials are stronger.
• Neutral aerial deals less damage and knockback (though it is still rather strong).
• Neutral aerial has a new animation.
• The hits of Yoshi's down aerial and back aerial flow into each other much more easily, strengthening their combo ability.
• Forward aerial's meteor smash is much weaker, going from the third strongest meteor smash in Melee to a meteor smash of average power in Brawl and harder to land, since it now has another hitbox that hits horizontally, even though it deals 1% more damage than the meteor-smashing hitbox.
• His down aerial has drastically lower overall damage output (53% → 35%), though it's still the most damaging aerial attack in the game by a considerable margin.

Throws/other attacks

• Yoshi no longer vocalises when grabbing; the relevant vocalisations are moved to Egg Lay.
• Yoshi now has grab release followups on a significant portion of the cast, such as a chain grab on 17 characters and a guaranteed followup into his forward aerial meteor smash offstage.
• Introduction of a great pivot grab significantly improved Yoshi's grabbing game, and help boost his defensive game.
• Forward, back, and up throws deal 1% more damage.
• Down throw has a different trajectory, making it better at setting up followups.

Special moves

• Egg Roll now gives virtually no horizontal distance when used in the air while still sending him into a helpless state if the move has been canceled, making it completely ineffective as a recovery move (even though it also almost completely negates momentum, this is negligible, as Yoshi will be guaranteed to fail to make it back to the stage if he uses it this way under normal circumstances).
• The eggs from Egg Throw deal less damage and knockback, and they can no longer be tossed backwards, (while this nerf is nullified because he can now reverse this move), they additionally have a finite number of throwing angles.
• Yoshi Bomb now causes Yoshi to plummet at a faster speed. Additionally, when Yoshi Bomb is used from the ground, it produces a weak hitbox during the rise that takes an enemy standing directly in front of Yoshi up with him, comparable to Final Cutter.
• The aerial version of Yoshi Bomb deals significantly less knockback and is no longer a KO move under 150%.

Moveset

For a visual representation of Yoshi's attack hitboxes, see this page.
For a more detailed information regarding Yoshi's moveset and attack hitboxes, see this page.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Yoshi quickly kicks with his left leg, then with his right leg. The feet Yoshi strikes with are invulnerable.
			6%
Forward tilt	↗		10%	Yoshi spins and swipes opponents with his tail. Can be angled up or down. When angled up, it can KO at 197% from the center of Final Destination.
	→		9%
	↘		8%
Up tilt			11% (tail), 10% (tail tip)	Yoshi crouches and flicks his tail upwards.
Down tilt			10% (tail), 5% (tail tip)	Yoshi performs a low sweep with his tail.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 7% (late)	Yoshi does a running headbutt. Does decent knockback and can KO at 187%.
Forward smash			16%	Yoshi slams his head forward with a powerful headbutt. Yoshi's head is invincible during the attack. Can be aimed up or down. KOs at 112% when uncharged and 72% when fully charged.
Up smash			16%	Yoshi headbutts upwards. Yoshi's head is invincible during the attack, similar to his forward smash. KOs at 131% when uncharged and 85% when fully charged.
Down smash			14% (front), 13% (back)	Yoshi strikes on both sides with his tail. Very quick, but has surprisingly low knockback. KOs at 178% when uncharged and 123% when fully charged with the front hit.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 9% (mid), 6% (late)	Yoshi performs a sex kick. The size of his foot is larger during the attack to indicate an extended reach. KOs at 142% from the center of Final Destination.
Forward aerial			16% (body), 15% (head)	Yoshi winds up and slams his head downward. The head meteor smashes and can KO at 187%, while the body deals horizontal knockback and can KO at 132%.
Back aerial			4% (hits 1), 3% (hits 2-3), 4% (hit 4)	Yoshi wags his tail rapidly, hitting four times.
Up aerial			13%	Yoshi flips his body and flicks his tail upward. Considered Yoshi's best KO move.
Down aerial			2-3% (hits 1-7), 1-2% (hits 8-14)	Yoshi rapidly peddles his feet as he descends. Can deal up to 35% on large opponents.
Grab			—	Yoshi uses his tongue to grab an opponent and pull them into his mouth. His dash grab cause him to trip if he doesn't get anyone. Despite the appearance, Yoshi's tongue isn't a tether, though it's range and lag is between tethers and normal grabs.
Pummel			2%	Chews on the opponent.
Forward throw			7%	Yoshi spits the opponent forwards.
Back throw			7%	Exactly the same as the forward throw, just backwards.
Up throw			5%	Yoshi spits the opponent upwards.
Down throw			4%	Yoshi spits the opponent into the ground.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and headbutts both sides of himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Gets up and spin kicks both sides of himself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up and whips his tail both sides of himself.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6%	Gets up and whips his tail.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			12%	Slowly gets up and slams his head forward with short range. The third most damaging ledge attack in the game.
Neutral special		Egg Lay	7% (egg), 4% (escape)	Yoshi swallows the foe and turns them into an egg.
Side special		Egg Roll	4-12%	Yoshi eggs himself and rolls around. The damage done is based on how fast he's moving. At max speed, it can KO at roughly 170%.
Up special		Egg Throw	1% (contact), 8% (explosion)	Yoshi throws an egg in a controllable parabolic arc. This moves gives Yoshi a small boost when used in the air.
Down special		Yoshi Bomb	4% (hop), 15% (ground drop), 12% (air drop), 4% (stars)	Yoshi plummets downwards, producing stars when he lands. KOs at 111% (both hits), 123% (ground drop), and 163% (air drop).
Final Smash		Super Dragon	8% (ram), 6% (fire breath), 17% (fireball)	Yoshi grows wings and starts breathing fire everywhere.

Chain grab list

The following characters can be chain grabbed through an air release by Yoshi, though some are harder to chain grab than others:

• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Diddy Kong
• Wario
• Link
• Ganondorf
• Zero Suit Samus
• Pit
• Meta Knight
• King Dedede
• Falco
• Captain Falcon
• Pikachu
• Squirtle
• Charizard
• Ike
• Lucas
• Snake
• Sonic

On-screen appearance

• Bursts out of a Yoshi Egg.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Dances around in a circle and says "Yoshi!".
• Side taunt: Spins around, chasing his tail, then looks at it.
• Down taunt: Waves to the screen, saying "Yoshi! Yoshi!" This is an update of the taunt he had in SSB and Melee.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle pose

• Does a short dance.
• Looks around.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Yo-shi!	Yo-shi!
Pitch	High female	High female

Wii Remote selection sound

• Yoshi lays an egg and says "Yoshiii!".

Yoshi's selection sound

Victory poses

An orchestrated flourish combining two small musical excerpts from Yoshi's Story.

• Looks up at the sky with his hands together, spins once, and gives a V sign with his hand.
• Punches the air, then makes a "ta-da" pose. This is his "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros..
• Angrily, he punches a few times, and then turns his back on the screen facing right.

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Yoshi has average matchups all around. He is hard countered by one character, Falco, countered by four characters, soft countered by eleven characters, has 10 even matchups, soft counters five characters, counters three characters, and hard counters two characters.

Notable players

See also: Category:Yoshi professionals (SSBB)

•  Deltacod
•  Karamity
•  HadesBlade
•  Poltergust
•  Raptor
•  Zudenka

Tier placement and history

Yoshi has always been considered one of the worst characters in the game, ranking 32nd in the first tier list shortly after Brawl's release. Yoshi then fell to 33rd on the second tier list (January 2009), the lowest spot above the bottom tier and putting him in the bottom 5. Yoshi hovered in low tier while rising slightly over the next few tier lists. Players such as Poltergust gained good tournament results with a low tier character, such as in WHOBO 3, where he placed 17th, as well as 2nd in Brawl low tier singles using only Yoshi. Yoshi then rose into mid tier on the sixth tier list (July 2011), where he ranked 28th place. Yoshi also jumped up two places in the seventh tier list (April 2012), his highest placement so far. He is currently ranked 27th in mid tier in the eighth and current tier list, as of April 2013. His current placing is, however, debatable by the community: there are some players that think Yoshi should be slightly higher, while some players think Yoshi should be even lower.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Yoshi in SSE

After removing the Master Sword from a pedestal in a forest, Link encounters Yoshi, who is sleeping on a tree stump. However, the passing Halberd drops Shadow Bugs, which in turn form Primids. Peaceful sleep is now impossible, so Yoshi teams up with Link to fight them off.

Yoshi's next role in the story depends on which princess Kirby saved at the stadium. If Peach was rescued, Yoshi and Link battle against a Shadow bug clone of Peach (who was recently trophied by Bowser), who was trying to trophify an unsuspecting Mario and Pit until Link sliced the cannon in half. After the battle, the trophy disintegrates. Thinking that they killed the real princess, Mario and Pit attack Link and Yoshi. If Zelda was saved, then Mario and Pit would fight a Shadowbug clone of her instead, and Link and Yoshi would attack Mario and Pit. Either way, both teams fight each other. After Link and Yoshi/Mario and Pit defeat the opposing characters, King Dedede passes by in the cargo and snags the trophies with a metal arm, while Link/Mario notices the real trophy of Zelda/Peach in the back. After King Dedede raises his fist in triumph, Kirby jumps onto the cargo and performs a Final Cutter, severing the arm and reviving the trophies. Pit/Link quickly hits the cargo with an arrow as it passes by, damaging it. Kirby, Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit then team up to find Dedede's castle. After going through a set of caves, they arrive at the castle, only to find it in ruins from an ambush by Bowser. They only find a hole in the wall and they venture through a second set of caves until they catch up to Bowser at a cliff. They try to stop him from taking Zelda/Peach, but fail. Bowser then takes the princess' trophy up to the Halberd.

Later on, they find the Ancient Minister setting off a Subspace bomb, and see the real regret that he feels in this deed. As the bomb goes off, Yoshi carries Mario to safety by running really fast, while Pit, Kirby and Link fly overhead on a warp star. Yoshi carrying Mario in this SSE cutscene reflects on how Yoshi was used for transportation for Mario (most notably in Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World).

Yoshi joins his companions when they reinforce Marth's team in the Canyon. Later, he joins the heroes in the battle against the Subspace Gunship and again against Tabuu. After being trophied by Tabuu's Off Waves, Yoshi is revived by Dedede and Kirby, and afterward, joins Sonic and the others against Tabuu and successfully defeat him to end the Subspace Invasion.

Playable appearances

• The Forest
• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Wilds (Part II)
• The Canyon
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part II))

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars: Yoshi is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• Event 11: Yoshi's Rainbow: As the Ice Climbers on Rainbow Cruise, the player must KO the Yoshis in the following order: Red, pink, yellow, green, light blue, and blue. Not KOing them in that order is an instant failure.
• Event 12: Sleeping in the Eggs: Using Yoshi’s Egg Lay, the player must put Kirby and Pikachu in eggs simultaneously. [1]
• Event 37: The Pirate Airship: As Toon Link, the player must KO both Yoshis on Pirate Ship while the ship is in the air.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 3: Fastest, Shortest, Sudden Death: Yoshi and King Dedede must survive for 10 seconds against Lucas and Pit on WarioWare Inc. All players start at 300% for this event.
• Co-Op Event 5: The Yoshi Team of 50: As Meta Knight and Pit, KO all 50 Yoshis on Rainbow Cruise before completing one lap of the stage.
• Co-Op Event 9: Those Who Wait in Onett: Lucas and Ness must defeat Luigi and Yoshi on Onett.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Two players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies

Yoshi's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Yoshi.

Trophy descriptions

Yoshi

A creature that hails from Yoshi's Island. Yoshi's come in a variety of colors, and all possess gentle personalities. No matter what problems they face, they always look like they're having fun. Yoshi's use their long tongues to grab and swallow fruit and enemies. They can convert what they swallow into eggs, which they then lay. They also give Mario rides.

: Yoshi's Safari

: Yoshi's Story

Super Dragon

Yoshi with wings on his back that give him the power to fly freely across sky. In this state, he can spew giant fireballs. He is more mobile and powerful, but the inertia makes movement quirky, so it takes some skill to master flight. Yoshi returns to a normal state after a set period time has passed.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• 

  Classic Mode trophy

• 

  Super Dragon trophy

Alternate costumes

Yoshi's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only character with a ranged grab but no tether recovery.
• Yoshi is one of only two characters who never uses their hands for any attack (including grabs), the other being Ivysaur.
• Yoshi holds the world record for Co-op Target Smash!! Level 4 with Pikachu (completed in 4.81 seconds).^{[citation needed]}
• With a Bunny Hood, Yoshi can use Egg Throw to stall in certain places, such as under the lip of the original Pokémon Stadium.
• Because Yoshi's down taunt involves leaning forwards out of the plane of gameplay, certain fast and thin hitboxes including Palutena's Arrows and R.O.B. Blaster shots can be dodged with it.
• Yoshi's grab puts the opponent in a unique state and uses a different pulling technique than all other extended grabs. Due to how these interact, the opponent is considered grabbed before Yoshi is considered fully grabbing. As a result, it is possible to begin mashing out of Yoshi's grab before actually entering Yoshi's mouth. Should the opponent be grabbed at near the maximum distance the grab can reach, it is possible to break out of the grab before they even reach Yoshi's mouth, in which case the game will crash. While this may result in a forfeit under tournament rules, it can only happen at extremely low damages, and only with exceptional mashing skills.
• Yoshi and Mr. Game & Watch are the only characters in Brawl who have a better average matchup than a character above them in the tier list.
• Yoshi is the only veteran character possessing an unusual meteor cancel window.

External links

• Confirmation of Event Match
• Yoshi's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Yoshi Character Guide on SmashBoards