Editing Mario (SSBB)

'''Mario''' ({{ja|マリオ|Mario}}, ''Mario'')  is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', who also appears in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' He is the icon of [[Nintendo]] and the ''Mario'' series. {{s|mariowiki|Charles Martinet}} reprises his role as Mario, now providing new voice clips, sounding more akin to his appearances from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}'' onwards.

Mario is ranked 31st out of 38 on the current [[tier list]], the top position of F tier. This is a vast drop from his previous placement in ''Melee'', where he was ranked 15th out of 26, and his worst placement in the series to date. Mario possesses fast, low lag attacks throughout his moveset, as well as strong [[combo]]ing capabilities, with his [[up tilt]] and [[up aerial]] being especially good [[juggle]]rs on their own that can set up additional attacks well. Additionally, Mario possesses a notable [[gimp]]ing and disrupting tool in his [[Cape]], an effective projectile in his [[Fireball]], and even an effective [[out of shield]] option in his [[Super Jump Punch]]. However, his inherited problems from his ''Melee'' incarnation have been further exacerbated. Mainly, he has poor [[reach]] with nearly every attack, giving him problems dealing with characters who have disjointed hitboxes (such as {{SSBB|Marth}}) and is easily gimped due to his predictable and short [[recovery]]. Mario also still possesses poor [[KO]] potential: He only has a few mediocre finishers (all being [[smash attack]]s), while his {{mvsub|Mario|SSBB|back aerial}} has below average power, only KOing at very high percents, and his {{mvsub|Mario|SSBB|forward aerial}}, despite being a [[meteor smash]], is slow and too weak for KOing unless sweetspotted. As a result, he has no other effective finishers outside of his forward and up smashes, which combined with the existence of [[stale-move negation]], makes it difficult for him to score a KO, forcing him to not overrely on his forward and up smashes and keeping them fresh to take the stock. Lastly, his rather standard abilities are outshined by the abilities of most characters. This has resulted in poor [[matchup]]s beyond low tier, and terrible [[tournament]] results. However, on the Japanese tier list, Mario is ranked 25th out of 36 in the top of D tier, where he is considered to be a mid tier character rather than a low tier.

Mario is considered a beginner character that people can learn with. This is due to him having no major size or speed flaws and is considered to be rounded in traits. Despite being an average-sized middleweight, Mario is one of those characters who {{SSBB|King Dedede}} can [[Chain grab|infinitely chain grab]] [[Cheap|without a wall]], which is a significant problem at high-level play. Mario's biggest flaw is not a lack of KO moves, but rather in landing them. As mentioned above, although he has a number of powerful KO moves in his arsenal it can be difficult to land them. For example, his [[forward aerial]] is a [[meteor smash]] if sweetspotted, which helps him edgeguard, but it is not very reliable unless sourspotted, and it can be difficult to sourspot. His back throw, while one of the strongest throws in the game, requires grabbing the opponent, and Mario has a very short grab range. His side special, the [[Cape]], allows him to turn enemies around and reflect projectiles. The cape also propels him forward a little when used in the air. Additionally, the cape reverses momentum and can be used to [[Cape Glide]] which greatly enhances his edgeguarding capabilities. His neutral special, the [[Fireball]], is spammable and helps him control the enemy's approach, it can also be used to hinder some characters offstage. His down special, [[F.L.U.D.D.]], has to be charged up and deals no damage but [[push]]es enemies back similar to {{SSBB|Squirtle}}'s [[Water Gun]] (but notably less powerful) and can also be used as an effective edge-guarding move on recoveries like {{SSBB|Link}}'s [[Spin Attack]]. This can make it difficult to recover for some characters, while for others, it is a mere hindrance. Also, it takes a long time to charge, meaning Mario must wait a good amount of time before it is effective, although it can be saved by shielding and rolling. Excluding F.L.U.D.D. and Fireball, Mario does not have many long ranged attacks. For his recovery, he can wall jump and use his Cape, along with his [[Super Jump Punch]]. Super Jump Punch, however, is a relatively poor recovery move in general and is easily edge-guarded due to its predictable trajectory, though it can be used as a decent out-of-shield option. F.L.U.D.D. can also be used to push him back horizontally. His smash attacks are quick, so he can execute them with little start-up lag without much fear of retaliation. He is also known for being a good juggler thanks to possessing quick attacks that can follow up decently.

Mario has received a mix of [[nerf]]s and [[buff]]s from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl'', but his buffs are flooded over by his more pronounced flaws from his previous incarnation, and the changes to ''Brawl''{{'}}s mechanics hinder Mario more than they help him. As a result, he was heavily nerfed overall. The removal of [[wavedashing]] hinders Mario's mobility and grounded approach, while the introduction of [[hitstun canceling]] limits Mario's combo game, and his up and down throws cannot chaingrab anymore because of that. His already mediocre KO power was reduced even further, almost completely removing his back throw's KO potential and his back aerial is still weak for its type, KOing opponents onstage only at very high percentages, forcing him to overuse his forward and up smashes to secure a KO, with the former being slower, and his smash attacks in general are less useful overall, with forward smash's sweetspot being weaker and is now outprioritized by a stronger sourspot while up smash and the front hit of down smash also deal less damage and knockback.

*{{change|Mario has been updated graphically, with his overalls looking more realistic. Additionally, the color of his cap, shirt, and overalls are a darker shade of red and blue and his skin became paler.}}  

*{{change|Mario no longer speaks during his first jump, and all of his jumps make variations of the "boing" noise from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''; the pitch increases with each jump: the short ground and wall jumps make a shortened version, the high ground jump uses the unaltered standard version, and the second jump and [[Super Jump Punch]] each make higher-pitched versions.}}

*{{change|Mario shouts at both the start and end instead of saying "Here we go!" at end during his left- and right-inputted victory poses; he also now vocalizes during his up-inputted victory pose.}}

*{{change|Mario now has two new taunts: a side taunt where he spins, removes his hat and puts him back on his head, resembling the level clear animation from ''New Super Mario Bros.'', and a down taunt where he spins around in the air, falls to the ground and the gets up, similarly to his dying animation in ''Donkey Kong''.}}

*{{change|Mario's character model is slightly smaller, more in line with his own games, making him harder to hit but decreasing his reach.}}

*{{change|Mario is slightly [[Weight|lighter]] (100 → 98).}}

*{{change|As with the returning veterans, Mario's [[falling speed]] was reduced (1.7 → 1.28). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario falls faster. While improving his vertical endurance, it makes him more vulnerable to combos and worsens his already poor recovery.}}

*{{buff|Mario's [[traction]] has been unchanged (0.06). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario's traction is significantly higher, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.}}

*{{buff|Mario's additional [[air acceleration]] is higher (0.025 → 0.08), increasing the total amount (0.045 → 0.09) despite his base air acceleration being lower (0.02 → 0.01). His air acceleration has gone from being the 5th lowest out of 26 characters in ''Melee'' to the 13th highest out of 39 characters in ''Brawl''.}}

**{{buff|Holding down the attack button now makes Mario quickly repeat the first hit of neutral attack until it connects, improving its [[punish]] potential.}}

**{{nerf|The last hit has more startup with a shorter duration (frames 5-9 → 7-10), more ending lag (FAF 23 → 30).}}

**{{buff|Forward tilt deals more base knockback (6 → 8), and no longer deals minimal [[set knockback]] (1 → 0) when angled down.}}

**{{nerf|Down tilt deals less damage (8%/9% → 5%/7%), with only a slight increased to its base knockback (10 → 20).}}

**{{nerf|Its sweetspot deals less damage across all angles (19% (up)/18% (non-angled)/17% (down) → 18%/17%/16%).}}

**{{nerf|Its sweetspot has less knockback scaling (95 → 90).}}

**{{nerf|It deals less damage (15% → 14%) and has decreased knockback scaling (97 → 90), hindering its KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|Its front hit deals less damage (16% → 15%).}}

**{{nerf|Its front hit has less knockback scaling (75 → 73), hindering its KO potential.}}

*{{change|All aerials except forward aerial have decreased landing lag (16/8 frames → 10 (neutral), 15/7 frames → 10 (back), 15/7 frames → 10 (up), 23/11 frames → 19 (down)). Due to the removal of [[L-canceling]], however, their landing lag is not fully compensated.}}

***{{nerf|However, this makes the move less consistent at edgeguarding overall as the clean hit has a much shorter duration (frames 18-22 → 17-19).}}

**{{buff|Mario's lower falling speed makes the move safer to use off stage.}}

***{{buff|Its reduced knockback enables the late hit to lock opponents for longer.}}

**{{nerf|Due to hitting six times instead of seven coupled with the loop hits dealing less damage, the move's maximum damage potential is lower (14.74% → 12%).}}

**{{buff|Standing [[grab]] has less startup lag (frame 7 → 6) and both his standing and dash grabs have less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30 (standing), frame 41 → 40 (dash).}}

**{{buff|Fireball can now be [[B-reverse]]d.}}

**{{buff|It deals slightly more knockback and a larger hitbox.}}

**{{nerf|Fireballs travels a shorter distance.}}

**{{buff|Cape can now be [[B-reverse]]d.}}

**{{buff|It now reverses the opponent's momentum rather than just reversing their direction, and temporarily reverses their controls as well, making it much more effective as a disrupting tool. Mario also now has access to several new techniques such as the [[Cape Glide]], greatly improving its utility.}}

**{{nerf|Its effectiveness as an edgeguarding tool have been reduced due to characters being able to grab the ledge from behind in ''Brawl''.}}

**{{nerf|If Mario hits certain characters out of their specials moves with Cape (including {{SSBB|Sonic}}'s [[Spring Jump]], {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s [[Fire]], {{SSBB|Snake}}'s [[Cypher]] or {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}'s [[Monkey Flip]]), they will be able to reuse their specials making Cape a non-viable edgeguarding option against those characters.}}

**{{buff|Its last hit deals more knockback (40 (base)/140 (scaling) → 52/145) and launches at a higher angle (50° → 60°), allowing it to KO near the upper blast line much more effectively.}}

**{{nerf|It now deals seven hits instead of nine, with its hitbox timings altered (frames 3-24 → 3-15), shortening its duration and reducing its total damage output (14.1% → 12%).}}

**{{nerf|It can no longer cancel itself into a [[wall jump]].}}

**{{change|Super Jump Punch has an altered landing animation where Mario lands on his back as opposed to his feet.}}

**{{change|Mario has a new down special: F.L.U.D.D., replacing Mario Tornado from ''Melee''. It is a [[charge]]able move that fires water that pushes opponents away.}}

**{{buff|F.L.U.D.D. is a much more effective edgeguarding move due to pushing opponents away, has much greater reach than Mario Tornado, and can be angled to adjust its hitbox positioning, improving its safety.}}

**{{nerf|Compared to Mario Tornado, F.L.U.D.D. cannot extend Mario's recovery or hit opponents behind him, and does not deal any damage.}}

**{{change|Mario now has a [[Final Smash]]: Mario Finale. Mario fires two large streams of fire that hits multiple times and goes full screen. The two streams grow larger vertically as the move progresses, and opponents that are hit get trapped in the attack and are forced to travel with it.}}

|dtiltdesc=Performs a legsweep. Though it has low startup lag and surprisingly decent range, it deals low damage, has high [[ending lag]] and low vertical knockback. This means that when Mario connects the move, the opponent almost always has the advantage overall him. The move is flat out [[Punishment|punishable]] on hit all the way up to mid percents or even high percents, depending on the opponent's character. As such, it is Mario's least effective move and it is even considered to be one of the worst moves in the game.

|dashdesc=Performs a sliding tackle. Also from ''Super Mario 64''. Has low diagonal knockback behind Mario that is difficult to follow up on. It has low startup lag and a long duration but it does not cover a ton of distance at a quick speed, making dash attack fairly unspectacular overall.

|usmashname=Lead Headbutt

|usmashdesc=Sends opponents skyward with a headbutt. For an up smash, it has relatively low startup and ending lag. It has serviceable knockback, KOing Mario at around 124% on Final Destination. Another finisher. Mario's head is [[intangible]] while the [[hitbox]]es are active. All these factors make up smash a fairly solid move overall.

|fairname=Meteor Knuckle

|bairdesc=Dropkicks backward. It has very fast startup lag, low ending and landing lag, decent range and serviceable knockback, which makes it one of Mario's most useful moves. Can [[wall of pain|WoP]] at low to mid percentages and KO Mario at around 164% from the center of Final Destination.  

|uairdesc=Performs a bicycle kick. Very low startup and ending lag with low knockback, it works very well as a juggler at low to mid percentages although it has short reach. It can also KO opponents horizontally at very high percents if they are close to the horizontal blastzone. Overall a very useful move.

|dairname=[[Mario Tornado]]

|dairdesc=Performs several discus spinning clotheslines followed by a backfist body stretch. Like his down special in earlier games, it looks somewhat like the Spin Jump from various ''Mario'' games, originating in ''[[Super Mario World]]''. It it a multi-hit attack with low startup and ending lag, as well as a decent auto-cancel window. The final hit does decent vertical knockback, KOing at very high percents. The first five hits have set knockback and the move has a landing hitbox which deals horizontal set knockback. It is overall a useful move, being a quick move to rack up damage and set up juggles although it has short horizontal range, the multi hits can be SDIed out of and even it the opponent does not SDI out, they can still avoid the final hit if they have a very fast aerial or a move with intangibility during its first few startup frames.  

|bthrowname=Airplane Swing

|bthrowdesc=Spins around three times then throws his opponent backwards. It is similar to when Mario grabs Bowser by the tail, and then swings him around in an attempt to throw him into the bombs in ''Super Mario 64''. While a very slow throw, he can damage other characters with the character he is swinging around. This is by far Mario's strongest throw and it can KO Mario as low as 111% at the ledge, and at 179% from the center of Final Destination. While powerful for a throw, it is very slow, making it very easy to DI, limiting its KO potential, although as the throw is weight dependent, this is harder for lighter characters to perform. It is Mario's most damaging throw.

|dthrowdesc=Slams his opponent into the ground. Mario's weakest throw. Its vertical trajectory allows it to set up an up aerial juggle with a successful [[read]], but the opponent is put into tumble at 0%, which allows them to air dodge any potential followups.  

|nsdesc=Fires a weak, bouncy ball of flames that is shot from his hand as a projectile. The move is not too slow and its trajectory can make it useful to hit opponents from above. Overall a useful projectile which is a key part of Mario's game plan.  

|usdesc=Jumps upwards, dragging opponents along. Mario can slightly alter the trajectory when using it. It comes out very quickly on frame 3, making it the fastest up special and [[out of shield]] option by two frames. This allows Mario to punish attacks on shield no other character can (without powershielding). It also has deceptively long range and intangibility while its first hitbox is active, further cementing its effectiveness out of shield, as well as the latter point allowing it to be used in pressure situations. The opponent can fall out of the move however, limiting its effectiveness against strong opponents. As a [[recovery]] option however, it does not go extremely high or far, it is fairly linear and it can easily be edgehogged, making it easily exploitable off stage overall.

|dsdesc=Pulls out F.L.U.D.D. from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Sunshine}}'', who blasts a water stream that pushes back opponents, although without damaging them. Mario can charge it for longer distance, store the charge, and alter the angle of the stream when it is unleashed. Can be used for [[edgeguarding]] but it is overall not a very strong option as the pushback from the water is often too weak.

|desc=A green pipe appears, Mario pops up and says "Let's-a go!" May be inspired by how Mario gets to {{s|supermariowiki|Princess Peach's Castle}} in ''Super Mario 64''.

|desc-side=Takes off his hat, twirls around with it out, and puts his hat back on; similar to his "level clear" animation from ''{{s|mariowiki|New Super Mario Bros.}}''.

===Matchups===

Mario has a very poor matchup spread, especially beyond low tier. He counters one character, Ganondorf, soft counters three characters and has seven even matchups, but is soft countered by sixteen other characters, countered by five and hard countered by four. The lack of real strengths outside of his fast attacks puts him at a disadvantage against most of the cast, with his combo game possessing less use due to the introduction hitstun canceling, which combined with his struggle in landing his KO moves, limit his offensive game and approach. Characters like {{SSBB|Marth}} or {{SSBB|Meta Knight}} can easily edgeguard him and exploit his poor range. To make things worse, all of his matchups he does well against are all considered non-viable.

*{{Sm|Ally|Canada}} - A top Mario player in ''[[Smash 4]]'' who used Mario as a secondary in ''Brawl''.

*{{Sm|BoScotty|USA}} - A top player in the Chicago region.

*{{Sm|Boss|USA}} - {{SSBB|Luigi}} player who also contributed to Mario's metagame.

*{{Sm|Irios|France}} - The best Mario player in Europe. Placed 5th at [[Bushido Impact 9]].

*{{Sm|KirinBlaze|USA}} - Dual mained Mario with {{SSBB|Link}}.

*{{Sm|XeroXen|USA}} - Former Mario player.

Since the very beginning of ''Brawl'' competitive play, Mario has always been viewed by serious players as a low-tier, nonviable character; as such, he never enjoyed a period of positive competitive prospects. Although Mario's attributes were not significantly nerfed from ''Melee'' (where he is considered a relatively viable mid-tiered character), professionals quickly noticed that his comparatively standard abilities around the board could not keep up with the newer and better competition. These traits kept Mario far from being viable, even in the earlier, underdeveloped metagame of ''Brawl''; as such, despite his still strong attacks and low learning curve, his apex of potential for most players reached nowhere compared to that of many other characters ranked higher than him. As the metagame for other characters developed, Mario never had any competitive breakthroughs or significant advancements in general, steadily driving him further and further down the tier list.

Ever since ''Brawl''’s metagame stagnating, Mario has been consistently stuck in 31st place. It is unlikely that Mario's competitive viability will ever improve in ''Brawl'', due to his usage stemming from very few players ever maining Mario and even fewer playing him at a high level (a trend that has proven), resulting in very low representation in standard tournaments. Despite this, Mario is a relatively common character at low tier tournaments; players can easily pick him up due to his low learning curve and play him to a reasonably competitive degree. Along with this, Mario performs reasonably well against other low tier characters, including a few positive matchups against those who are lower-tiered than him. While this cannot make Mario rise any higher, as he fares poorly against a majority of the cast ranked above him, it prevents him from possibly dropping any lower on the tier list.

[[File:SubspaceIntro-Mario.png|thumb|250px|Mario in ''[[SSE]]'']]

Mario is the main protagonist and the leader of the army of the heroes in [[The Subspace Emissary]], and he is the first character to be formally introduced. In the beginning, trophies of Mario and {{SSBB|Kirby}} are thrown into the [[Midair Stadium]], where they come to life and have a friendly fight (a reference to the introduction in [[Super Smash Bros.|the first game of the series]], where Mario and Kirby prepare to fight each other towards the end). The player chooses the one they want to play as, where the character not chosen is the opponent. After the battle between the two, the winner revives the loser, they shake hands, and wave to the [[crowd]]. Suddenly, ominous red clouds appear above the stadium, and the [[Halberd]] emerges from them. It releases [[Shadow Bug]]s which form into [[Primid]]s. {{SSBB|Peach}} and {{SSBB|Zelda}}, who were watching the match, come to help, and after defeating all of the enemies, they are all confronted by the [[Ancient Minister]]. After seeing two R.O.B.s setting up a [[Subspace Bomb]], Mario runs to try and stop it, only to be blasted out of the stadium and [[Star KO|Star KO'd]] by a cannonball apparently fired by [[Petey Piranha]].

They later catch up to the Ancient Minister in a desert, and after failing to stop a Subspace Bomb from detonating, barely escape the blast. Mario then leads his team at [[the Canyon]], saving {{SSBB|Marth}}, {{SSBB|Ike}}, {{SSBB|Lucas}}, {{SSBB|Pokémon Trainer}} and {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} from a horde of Primids. The ten of them camp out for a while, until Mario spots an enormous explosion of Subspace Bombs from the [[Isle of the Ancients]]. Shortly afterward the Halberd lands, which has been retaken by {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, {{SSBB|Lucario}}, {{SSBB|Snake}}, Peach, Zelda, {{SSBB|Fox}}, {{SSBB|Falco}}, and {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}. Next to it is the [[Falcon Flyer]], containing {{SSBB|Samus}}, {{SSBB|Pikachu}}, {{SSBB|Olimar}}, {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}}, {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}, {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}, and {{SSBB|R.O.B.}}.

===Using [[stickers]]===

Since Mario's primary attacks are kicks, Leg stickers have the widest effect, with Arm attacks as a secondary. Using a Head sticker will usually only affect Mario's up smash (since pummels cannot be used against most enemies), while a Flame one will affect both his Fireball and his forward smash's sweetspot. The Mario Tornado is considered a Spin attack, but as it's Mario's only Spin attack, using a Spin sticker will not have a very large effect. This also applies with Weapon stickers and his Cape.

The following stickers can either only be used by Mario, or can only be used by a select few, including Mario:  

==In [[Event Match]]es==

===Solo Events===

===Co-op Events===

==Trophies==

Mario's main and [[Final Smash]] trophies can be obtained by clearing {{SSBB|Classic Mode}} and [[All-Star]] mode respectively with Mario.

 

::''A familiar overall-clad figure who is Nintendo's flagship character. His courage and jumping ability have seen him through countless adventures. He's a multitalented plumber with the knowledge of a physician, a top-notch golfer, and a veteran tennis umpire. Is his jumping prowess a boon from his girder-climbing days?''

 

{{Trophy games|console1=NES|game1=[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]|console2=NES|game2=[[Super Mario Bros.]]}}

 

 

{{Trophy games|console1=Wii|game1=Super Smash Bros. Brawl}}

 

Mario - Brawl Trophy.png|Classic

Mario Finale - Brawl Trophy.png|[[Mario Finale]]

*Mario is tied with Kirby for being playable in more levels of the [[Subspace Emissary]] than other characters, being playable in 9 levels. Despite this, it is possible to never play as him at any time (as the player always has other characters available to use instead of Mario).

**He is also one of several characters who can be unlocked before the [[Great Maze]] but cannot fight any bosses in the story on the first playthrough.

*Despite having a very close relationship in the ''Mario'' series, Mario and {{SSBB|Luigi}} never interact with each other in the Subspace Emissary.