Editing Little Mac (SSBU)

|image = {{tabber|title1=Normal|content1=[[File:Little Mac SSBU.png|250px]]|title2=Hoodie|content2=[[File:Little Mac-Alt5 SSBU.png|190px]]|title3=Wireframe|content3=[[File:Wireframe Mac SSBU.png|250px]]|title4=Wireframe Hoodie|content4=[[File:Little Mac-Alt7 SSBU.png|190px]]}}

|tier = E+

Little Mac is ranked 81st out of 82 on the ''Ultimate'' [[tier list]], placing him at the bottom of the E+ tier, and also being ranked as the second-worst character in the game, only ranking higher than {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}. This is a noticeable drop from his ''Smash 4'' iteration, where he was ranked 43rd out of 54 at the lower end of mid-tier. Little Mac possesses a strong ground game thanks to his excellent ground mobility and numerous grounded kill moves. His smash attacks are especially strong as they have [[armor|super armor]] on startup and very respectable speed for their power, making them decently unchallengeable. His tilt attacks are also very respectable, as forward tilt serves as a quick and capable kill move, while down and up tilts can be used to set up combos. Finally, his special moves have also seen improvements from the previous game, most notably to Jolt Haymaker, which no longer sends Little Mac into freefall.  

To compensate for his strong ground game, however, Little Mac packs glaring weaknesses, the most notable one being his virtually non-existing aerial game. Although his recovery is improved from the previous game, it remains one of the worst among the roster due to his low double-jump height, being allowed only one [[Jolt Haymaker]] per airtime, and [[Rising Uppercut]]'s pitiful travel distance in the air. His aerial game is also poor due to his aerial's poor damage and knockback as well as his special moves being weaker in the air. Finally, his average stature compared to the rest of the cast and lack of disjoints give him a notable range problem, which, when combined with his low overall shieldstun outside of down-angled forward smash and sweetspotted up smash, force him to play a linear, risky neutral game, while his high fall speed contributes to his vulnerability to combos, despite granting him decent survivability for a lightweight fighter.

Little Mac offers a simple, yet polarized fighting style, performing well on the ground, but poorly in the air. While Mac is rather small in relation to the majority of realistically proportioned characters, he is of average size among the entire cast. This can make him somewhat difficult to hit, but also means that most of his moves have short [[range]], which makes [[spacing]] crucial for avoiding [[punish]]ment.

Little Mac is a [[weight|lightweight]] with very impressive ground mobility: he has the 8th fastest [[walking]] speed, the 3rd fastest [[dashing]] speed, and above-average [[traction]], granting him effective [[out of shield]] options. He also has the 3rd fastest initial dash, which has a long duration of 15 frames, giving him a long pivot and an excellent [[dash dance]] that is surpassed only by {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}}. His [[sidestep]] and [[roll]]s are tied with {{SSBU|Fox}}, {{SSBU|Sheik}} and Zero Suit Samus' for the fastest in the game, with his rolls giving the third longest distance in the game behind {{SSBU|Samus}} and {{SSBU|Dark Samus}}. These stats overall translate to him having excellent ground coverage and makes it easy for Little Mac to keep up with and punish opponents contesting with him on the ground, while also giving him fast and effective grounded defensive options. He also has fast [[falling speed]] (tied with {{SSBU|King Dedede}} for the 2nd fastest) and below-average [[gravity]], which collectively give him good vertical endurance in spite of his status as a lightweight. Aside from his great [[air speed]] (tied with {{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBU|Sonic}} and {{SSBU|Inkling}}'s for 13th fastest) and his [[wall jump]], which is the 4th highest, the rest of Little Mac's aerial attributes are notoriously poor: his [[jump]] is tied with {{SSBU|Ryu}} and {{SSBU|Ken}}'s for the 5th lowest, his [[double jump]] is the 3rd lowest, his [[air acceleration]] is tied with {{SSBU|Ganondorf}} for the 6th lowest, and his directional [[air dodge]] travels the least amount of distance. These attributes effectively force Mac to stay on the ground as often as possible to make the use of his excellent ground mobility.

Little Mac's greatest strength is his potent ground game. None of his grounded moves have more than 15 frames of start-up, whereas only his up smash has more than 30 frames of ending lag. Only five non-special moves (forward smash, back air, up smash, down smash and forward air) become active after frame 9, and only the former two after frame 10. His neutral attack, in particular, is tied with Zero Suit Samus' for the fastest move in the game, activating on frame 1 and its minimal ending lag and angles allow it to not only jab lock but also make it and {{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s neutral attack the only ones in ''Ultimate'' that are capable of jab canceling reliably. Despite his somewhat light weight, Little Mac boasts superb KO potential: his forward tilt, dash attack and smash attacks boast high damage outputs and knockback scaling, yet are also fairly fast. Forward smash can be angled, with the downward variant dealing immense shield damage and the upward variant being one of Mac's most effective vertical KO options on the ground. Up smash's coverage allows it to serve as an effective anti-air, and its sweet spot also deals a lot of shield damage. Finally, down smash is a [[semi-spike]] with a fairly long range, allowing it to [[tech chase]] as well as [[edge-guard]] easily against careless or vulnerable recoveries. Besides their speed and strength, Little Mac's grounded moves are also difficult to interrupt, which combined with his high dashing speed gives him an excellent punish game. His tilt attacks boast [[Priority#Moves that cannot rebound|anti-rebounding priority]]; this prevents them from clanking with opposing ground attacks provided they're within priority range, allowing Mac to punish opponents very quickly due to his own attacks' high speed. While his smash attacks have normal priority, they instead boast [[super armor]] during their use. This offers Mac a unique way of punishing attacks by tanking the hit while immediately retaliating - meaning devastating attacks such as most forward smashes can all be punished. These traits make him arguably the most difficult opponent to directly challenge on the ground for every other character in the roster, including himself.

Little Mac's special moves also have fair utility. [[Straight Lunge]] gains distance and power as it charges, deals heavy damage, and boasts light damage-based armor while charging, allowing him to withstand weak attacks before retaliating immediately afterward. As such, it is an effective tool against most [[Neutral attack#Infinite|infinites]] and multi-hit moves even while uncharged. The move can also be canceled by shielding, giving it utility for escaping certain combo moves such as [[Witch Twist]], and it can be turned around when released, offering decent mix-up potential and a way to get out of combos. However, Straight Lunge's considerable ending lag limits its offensive utility as it can be easily intercepted or punished, while its defensive utility depends on the character and the attack. This makes it great defensively against characters with low damage output or with reliance on multi-hits, such as Sheik or Meta Knight, but it won't help against opponents with high damage output or on single-hit aerials. [[Jolt Haymaker]] propels Mac forward with a leaping punch that travels a fair distance, can be unleashed on command, grants brief [[intangibility]] during start-up, and does not lose power when used in mid-air. This makes it useful for tech-chasing, repositioning, and escaping or punishing laggy moves or projectiles, and making it Mac's only useful KO option while in the air and off-stage. Its hitbox is tall enough that it can often clip low-hanging platforms, and catch opponents who are attempting to platform camp him. Unlike in ''SSB4'', it also does not render him helpless, making it a much less dangerous recovery move. [[Rising Uppercut]] grants brief intangibility on start-up and travels fairly high when used on the ground. This makes the move an effective combo breaker; combined with the last hit's high knockback scaling, it has a very fast startup and the fact that it doesn't lose power in the air, is also quite potent out of shield and for scoring aerial KOs. [[Slip Counter]] is an extremely fast [[counterattack]], making it useful for escaping pressure, especially aerial combos. It is also one of the few counters that slides forward before attacking, allowing Little Mac to get closer to his opponent, or even recover horizontally in response to an edge-guard attempt.

Rounding out his specials, Little Mac has a unique [[fighter ability]] called the [[Power Meter]]. Displayed over his [[damage meter]], the Power Meter fully charges by dealing 333% or receiving 100%. When fully charged, Straight Lunge is replaced by the [[Straight Lunge#KO Uppercut|KO Uppercut]], which can KO any character before 40%. KO Uppercut is also [[unblockable]] (barring [[Witch Time]]), boasts fast startup, and leaps slightly into the air (allowing it to catch opponents on low platforms such as {{SSBU|Battlefield}}'s); combined with its immense power, this can quickly turn the tide of a match or further secure a lead if used successfully. It can be comboed into from down tilt at low percents, and is the ideal tech chase option for a defensive player who tends to roll away from Little Mac when placed under pressure. However, Mac loses the KO Uppercut if [[tumbling|tumbled]] after a 4 second grace period (not including [[footstool jump]]ing), forcing him to use the move quickly. KO Uppercut also has considerable end lag regardless of whether it hits or not, and its short leap can cause Mac to fall off the stage if used while next to an edge, almost guaranteeing an accidental self destruct if not reacted to. As a result, it is inarguably one of the riskiest, yet most rewarding attacks in the entire series.

While considerably weaker than the rest of the cast, Little Mac's air game is not completely useless and have limited perks, which can be utilized for initiating short combos. Neutral aerial is by far Little Mac's most effective aerial: it is the fastest aerial attack in the game and can be spammed, making it a decent combo breaker or to interrupt opponents when jumping from ledge. It can combo into itself, drag down opponents with him as a sacrificial K.O. option, and grant niche combo opportunities into other aerials or Rising Uppercut. It also features a slightly disjointed hitbox in Mac's pelvis, which causes weak upward knockback that is surprisingly excellent for combos thanks to the move's autocancel properties, which will allow it to combo into up tilt, up aerial, or Rising Uppercut. Forward aerial is a semi-spike and is decent for combos or edge-guarding, especially against poor recoveries; it can also initiate combos into Jolt Haymaker offstage as a powerful sacrificial KO. Up aerial is very fast and can autocancel in a full hop, allowing it to combo into moves like Rising Uppercut when landing. Back aerial is the worst of its kind in the game, but is a semi-spike, has fair spacing utility, and sets the opponent up for tech chase situations when used close to the ground. Finally, down aerial is an extremely fast, weak [[meteor smash]] that is mainly useful for locking floored opponents who miss a tech, which opens up devastating punishes courtesy of Little Mac's variety of grounded KO moves. It also acts as a highly situational meteor smash, although it is unlikely to be useful outside of surprise gimping.

However, his aerials all have short range, poor damage output, and awful KO potential. While his neutral and down aerials can [[auto-cancel]] from a short hop, his forward, back, and up aerials cannot. This leaves Mac incredibly vulnerable in the air, as he has no means of properly defending himself beyond point-blank range without exhausting any of his special moves, which are limited to one use until he touches the ground. The low power of his aerials also makes them ineffective for flinching opponents, and Mac's only aerial KO options are indeed his special moves, which are highly likely to result in [[sacrificial KO]]s if misused off-stage. This also means that Mac is more severely affected by [[stale-move negation]] than most other characters, as he is effectively limited to using little more than half of his moveset in most situations, although his variety of powerful finishers can compensate it to a degree.  

Little Mac sports a mediocre grab game; Mac's pummel is among the fastest, but his grabs, while having average range, have moderate startup lag and noticeable ending lag, and the ending lag and collateral hitboxes for his throws limit their ability to KO or start combos. However, they do have some uses: forward throw can followed into Jolt Haymaker from 0%, but requires a read due to the ending lag; down throw can combo into Rising Uppercut, but has some ending lag and is susceptible to DI; his back throw has decent power and can KO at around 130%, but its collateral hitbox weakens it; up throw can combo into Jolt Haymaker at low to mid percents, and forward throw can tech chase at the same percentages. Unfortunately, this translates to his throws having very limited use, as all of them apart from down throw are only effective for creating space. This severely limits Mac's options when attempting to utilize throws, and makes them a risky prospect in the first place when combined with his average grab attributes.

Alongside these setbacks, Little Mac is further held back by a slew of exploitable weaknesses. As expected, Mac's weak air mobility and high falling speed make him incredibly susceptible to [[gimp]]s from [[meteor smash]]es, semi-spikes, and even footstool jumps, especially if he doesn't have his double jump. Compounding this, his directional air dodge has the least distance in the game, and his air dodge's ending lag is only average relative to the cast due to the universal changes to air dodges, since the ending lag depends on the character's falling speed and gravity. Thus, it is not only a situational option while in a disadvantaged state, but also poor as a normal recovery move. Mac can grab the ledge by using a directional air dodge if he is close enough, however, allowing him to cover the remaining distance to the ledge, making it very useful if combined with his double jump and special moves. His special moves are also considerably less effective while in the air. [[Straight Lunge]] loses much of its power when used in midair, and its long charge time makes it impractical for recovery. Aerial KO Uppercut is also significantly weaker and blockable, although it still has both KO and Recovery potential. While Jolt Haymaker and Rising Uppercut are Little Mac's most effective aerial KO options, they are very poor for recovery, offering poor travel distance, small [[edge sweet spot]]s, and minimal intangibility. Jolt Haymaker does not cause [[helplessness]], allowing Mac to follow up with a wall jump, directional air dodge or Rising Uppercut; however, it travels a mediocre distance and can only be used once before landing or grabbing the [[edge]], leaving Mac one of the most vulnerable characters to edge-guarding as he is unable to use it again if he gets hit. Rising Uppercut loses roughly half its travel distance when used in midair, and while aerial Slip Counter can be a good response to an edge-guard attempt and get Little Mac back on stage, it loses its intangibility, can be predicted, and its end lag if unsuccessful is likely to result in Mac self-destructing or getting gimped by the opponent if used at a low enough altitude. As a result, it is most beneficial to attempt to recover horizontally, rather than vertically, which is nearly impossible depending on if Mac is merely launched, or (semi-)spiked. These traits result in Little Mac having more difficulty with recovering than most other characters, being commonly cited as one of, if not the worst, recovery of the cast overall. While his below-average gravity and high falling speed grant solid vertical endurance for a lightweight, they also make him very vulnerable to combos and juggling. Additionally, the super armor granted by Mac's smash attacks still causes him to take full damage and must be timed carefully to avoid being punished. These traits make Mac extremely prone to momentum shifts; his lacking air game and overall frailty allows opponents to easily combo or even [[zero-to-death]] him after one mistake, even if Mac was otherwise dominating the match.

 

Overall, Little Mac excels with a very specific, methodical playstyle that is reminiscent of a real-life boxer; a defensive bait and punish style, that entails keeping constant control of the middle of the stage, capitalizing on the opponent's mistakes, staying on the ground as much as possible, and utilizing his excellent ground mobility to his advantage. Because of his polarizing strengths and weaknesses, players must reach a higher than average level of play than most other fighters in order to use Little Mac effectively: he can be difficult to utilize despite his straightforward fighting style, as his severe disadvantage state forces him to play extremely carefully, despite his high mobility and power. Players must learn to utilize Little Mac's long rolls, fast air and fall speed, and super armor on smash attacks to approach projectile-based opponents, and take advantage of his powerful ground tools to condition opponents to make mistakes.

Despite being a lower mid-tier character in ''SSB4'', Little Mac has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to ''Ultimate''. While he has received good improvements both directly and from game engine changes, he also received heavy nerfs to his combo potential, and is mostly harmed by the universal engine changes, compared to most of the cast who benefit from said changes. As a result, he is considered to be nerfed overall.

Little Mac's biggest buff involves his notoriously poor [[recovery]]. Previously notorious for having one of the single worst recoveries in the game, it has been extended and has greater mix-up potential due to readdition of directional [[air dodge]]s, [[Jolt Haymaker]] no longer causing [[helpless]]ness while traveling more distance, and [[KO Uppercut]] granting recovery distance in midair. His attributes have also been modified, as he now has a considerably faster [[air speed]] which helps him recover easier, higher jumps which no longer make him as vulnerable to platform [[camping]] (while also improving his recovery), and the second-highest [[falling speed]] which makes it easier for him to return to the ground. His higher weight not only improves his endurance, but also allows him to benefit from [[rage]] more effectively despite its weakening, making him harder to KO when combined with his longer recovery.

Among other buffs, some of Little Mac's ground moves have been improved. His [[neutral attack]] is even faster, can jab cancel with more ease, and can now jab [[lock]]. His [[forward tilt]] connects better on aerial opponents, and [[down tilt]] has more range. All versions of [[forward smash]] have lost their blindspots, and [[up smash]] has more active [[super armor]] frames. [[Straight Lunge]] now gains damage while charging, can now be shield-canceled, can be turned around if needed, and deals a consistent 30% when fully charged. Aside from its helpless state being removed, Jolt Haymaker also has significantly improved safety on hit. The aerial version of [[KO Uppercut]] now has more knockback, improving its KO power (though it remains a highly situational KO option). His grabs have also received much more range and have lost their previous blindspots, no longer being the shortest in the game.

Little Mac also benefits heavily from some of the universal changes. Since the alterations to grounded movement have returned some of the aspects of [[dash dancing]], this grants Little Mac one of the game's best dash dances. The ability to [[dash cancel]] into any grounded attack and the introduction of [[spot dodge]] canceling arguably benefit him more than any other fighter, as not only he now has access to all his grounded options at any time, he is able to avoid most laggy [[punishment]] options and retaliate immediately with his strong grounded game; both of these changes improve his hard punish game. The changes to [[shieldstun]] make it easier for him to punish aerial approaches [[out of shield]] and make his grounded attacks safer, benefitting his ground-based playstyle, while this is complemented by the universal nerfs to grabs and [[shield grab]]s, which now make him more difficult to punish out of shield without a sufficiently ranged move. The nerfs to defensive options ([[shield]]ing, air dodges, [[roll]]s, and spot dodges) further improve his pressure ability and punish game, while he still possesses some of the best defensive options of the cast. Finally, the changes to [[jostle]] mechanics now make his attacks easier to sweetspot and much harder to whiff up close, such as Straight Lunge's infamous whiffs at point-blank range in ''SSB4''.

However, the nerfs Little Mac has received to his strong grounded game and Jolt Haymaker are harsh enough to eclipse his useful buffs. His best moves for racking up damage are weaker as his neutral attack, the infinite and up tilt all deal less damage (with the latter being less safe at low percents); the former no longer has [[Priority#Moves that cannot rebound|anti-rebounding priority]], while the latter's lower damage makes it less likely to out-prioritize attacks. [[Down tilt]] has more ending lag, reducing its combo potential, especially beyond low percents and weakening most of his damage racking abilities while either narrowing or outright removing some of its KO confirms. Down throw has altered and increased knockback, making it better for combos at low percentages, but worse at high ones. As a result of these changes, Little Mac's grounded game has actually become worse despite his much easier access to his options, as he now has to deal slightly more hits and his moves have less followup potential, while he still lacks useful moves to edgeguard or attack offstage opponents with, apart from down tilt, [[down smash]], and the newly buffed Jolt Haymaker. His recovery has also ironically become less consistent than before, as Jolt Haymaker can now only be used once before landing, making misuse or interception of it usually fatal for him; as a result, his offstage survivability still weighs on the opponent predicting one of few options he is able to use while recovering, especially his double jump.

In addition, despite some of the universal changes improving Little Mac, other indirect changes have harmed him just as much. The increased damage on [[edge attack]]s (since they now deal more than 8% throughout the cast) means Straight Lunge's armor can no longer withstand them, removing a mind game option. The nerfs to defensive options to become stale if overused, while letting Little Mac punish opponents more easily, make his defense more exploitable due to his awful aerial game making him reliant on dodges and shielding. The limitation to a single air dodge until a character gets hit or lands on the ground, as well as the higher ending lag on one, is especially notable, as this makes him even more susceptible to juggling if his air dodge is misused, and much more susceptible to [[gimp]]ing despite his improved recovery, as combined with the ability to use Jolt Haymaker once before landing makes it difficult to fully extend his recovery. The changes to jostle mechanics, while making his moveset more consistent, make it easier to corner Little Mac and read his fairly linear [[approach]]. However, the removal of [[perfect pivot]]ing, the universal reduction of [[jumpsquat]]s and [[landing lag]] are the changes that hinder him more than any other character: the former change eliminates his extremely strong micro spacing tactics, while the changes to dash-canceling do not fully compensate for this; the latter two changes benefit his terrible aerial game far less while strengthening most of the cast's aerial games to varying degrees, making him more vulnerable to combos and aerial rushdowns and limits him more to shielding a move or directly contesting them by making use of his smash attacks' super armor to muscle through them, which can be risky.

Overall, despite some changes to Little Mac's awful recovery, safety on shield and the ability to dash cancel moves, Little Mac has lost many of the tools that made him effective in the previous game such as his deadly hit confirms, and is now forced to contend with the rest of the cast's improvements due to the revamped game physics, which leads to a less rewarding and much more patient playstyle then ever before. All of this amounts to Little Mac performing worse than he did in ''SSB4''.

|dashdesc=A lunging {{iw|wikipedia|overhand|boxing}}. It is fast for a dash attack (frame 7), covers a decent distance, and can be a situational KO option, having enough knockback to KO Mario at 136% while near the edge of Final Destination, thus making it moderately strong for a dash attack. It can also hit opponents hanging on edges, and due to its generous hitbox, finds a lot of use trapping opponents on an edge. However, due to its lack of shieldstun, it is notoriously punishable on shield, however, it can [[cross-up]] most of the cast on shield. The angle is different for the 3 frames in which the hitbox is active: it launches at 80° on frame 7, 70° on frame 8, and 60° on frame 9, with the late hit being notable for its ability to combo into KO Uppercut. It can combo into itself at low percentages. It resembles the attack portion of Von Kaiser's Spin Attack, which is used during Title Defense Mode in the Wii version of ''Punch-Out!!''

''Up'': An uppercut. It launches opponents vertically, has the largest hitbox out of all three punch variations, and grants [[super armor]] on frames 8-15. Altogether, these traits make it the easiest variation to land as well as a useful anti-air attack. It is powerful and launches vertically to the point that it KOs Mario at 102%, allowing it to finish off fighters who have poor vertical endurance. On opponents at 0% (or at very low percentages with rage), should Little Mac use his armor to break through an attack and successfully connect this move, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DJNmgJDm8&t=20s it can frame trap opponents into many vertical moves, including KO Uppercut], due to the [[Special Zoom]] giving Little Mac extra hit advantage. On certain characters at very low percents and with no DI/DI in, a second forward smash can connect if the opponent uses a slow out-of-shield option or aerial. On {{SSBU|Battlefield}} at very low percentages, it can also set up a [[tech-chase]] if the hit opponent lands on a platform. It resembles Little Mac's Star Punch and One-Star Punch in the NES and Wii versions of ''Punch-Out!!'', respectively.

''Down'': A body hook. It deals the most damage out of all three punch variations, and its high [[shieldstun]] makes it safer on shield than the other two punch variations. It is among the most damaging forward smashes in the game, on par with {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}'s and surpassed only by {{SSBU|King Dedede}}'s and {{SSBU|Kazuya}}'s. As of update 13.0.0, its [[shield damage]] output has increased to the point that when uncharged, it will break shields if it is followed by down tilt. Conversely, it will instantly break a full shield when it is fully charged. It also grants super armor on frames 9-15. However, it has very low knockback growth; while this makes it unable to KO at realistic percentages, it can be used to set up a tech-chase because of its very low launching angle.

|grabdesc=[[wikipedia:Grappling hold#Clinch hold|Clinches]] the opponent. In addition to having average range, Little Mac possesses moderate ending lag in his grabs. Unlike in ''SSB4'', Little Mac's grabbox no longer has blindspots on his hand and arm, although the grabbox does not extend past the palms of his boxing gloves. A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1If8eSLKwI roll cancel boost grab] noticeably improves the range of Little Mac's standing grab, and even enables his grabs to [[cross-up]] opponents at the cost of possibly being difficult to perform. Little Mac's dash grab has long range due to him rushing forward before the grabbox comes out, and his pivot grab also has decent range and extends to cover his full boxing gloves. However, they both have noticeable startup as well. Little Mac's grabs heavily resemble Bear Hugger's Bear Hug in the arcade and SNES versions of ''Super Punch-Out!!'' and in the Wii version of ''Punch-Out!!''

*{{Sm|Kwaz|USA}} - The best Little Mac player in the United States in the early metagame. He regularly placed top 16 at tournaments in his region, including a 7th-place finish at the superregional {{Trn|Smash Out 2019}}. He has also seen some success at majors, including placing 33rd at the majors {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}} and {{Trn|CEO 2021}}.

*{{Sm|Peanut|USA}} - The best Little Mac player of all-time and the only solo-Little Mac player who consistently places top 64 at majors. His 13th-place finish at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind 2023}} is tied for the highest placement for a Little Mac player at a major.

*{{Sm|Tarakotori|Japan}} - The best Little Mac player in the early metagame, and is still one of the best Little Mac players in the current metagame, playing the character alongside {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}}. His 13th-place finish at {{Trn|Umebura SP 4}} is tied for the highest placement for a Little Mac player at a major.

 

During the early metagame, players had high hopes for Little Mac due to improvements to his notoriously awful recovery and ability to cancel grounded moves. However, Little Mac's changes and the game’s mechanics proved to be detrimental to some of his best tools, especially his ground game, while his weak aerial game, notoriously the worst in ''Smash 4'', was made even worse. Because of this, opinions on Little Mac dropped significantly, with the consensus believing that he is not only a bottom tier, but possibly the worst character in the game. Even in spite of useful buffs and representation from top Little Mac mains such as {{Sm|Kwaz}}, {{Sm|Peanut}}, and {{Sm|Tarakotori}}, his cons have largely prevented him from achieving consistent success in top-level play, and his overall representation remained in the bottom 10 for most of the game's lifespan, bottoming out at 81st from January-June 2022. As such, Little Mac was ranked 81st on the first tier list, ranking in the D- tier alongside {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}.

 

However even around the release of the first tier list, Little Mac's reception had began improving ever so slightly: improving results from Peanut and the occasional strong performance from Tarakotori gave Little Mac better overall representation; notably, by the end of 2023 Little Mac left the bottom 10 for the first time since 2019, ranking 69th in terms of representation. Although still considered unviable, with his placement remaining unchanged on the second tier list, this small improvement meant he was no longer ranked in the same tier as Ganondorf.