Mii Brawler (SSBU)

Mii Brawler in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Super Smash Bros.
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Custom
Final Smash	Omega Blitz
Tier	A (25)

The Mii Brawler (Mii格闘タイプ, Mii Hand-to-Hand Fighting Type) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were confirmed as a playable character on June 12th, 2018 along with the other Mii Fighter types, the Swordfighter, and the Gunner. Mii Brawler is classified as Fighter #51.

As with the other Mii Fighter types, the Mii Brawler has 12 voice options, provided by Yūji Kishi, Takashi Ōhara, Ryōtarō Okiayu, Michihiko Hagi, Hideo Ishikawa, Kiyoyuki Yanada, Umeka Shōji, Ayumi Fujimura, Makiko Ōmoto, Minami Takayama, and Kimiko Saitō.

The Mii Brawler is currently ranked 25th out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing them in the middle of the A tier, making him the highest-ranking Mii Fighter in the game. This is a drastic improvement from their Super Smash Bros. 4 iteration, where they were ranked 55th out of 57 on the game's third tier list before ultimately going unranked on the fourth one. This also makes Ultimate's Mii Brawler the highest ranked Mii Fighter in the series. Mii Brawler possesses high mobility and fast frame data, allowing him to have a strong combo game that can lead into a KO, especially on stages with platforms or short ceilings. Additionally, Custom Moves allow for an extra degree of adaptability and are commonly allowed in tournament play, with some options having very effective strengths, such as Suplex (an extremely damaging command grab) and all three up special moves (Soaring Axe Kick is a surprisingly disjointed and effective out of shield option with a powerful meteor smash, Helicopter Kick has potent combo and KO potential at the sides of a stage, and Thrust Uppercut can net early KOs through platform combos). It should also be noted that the strengths of his ladder combos only exemplify in doubles, particularly from characters with great launchers, such as Mr. Game & Watch. Overall, this gives the Brawler an effective rushdown combo playstyle.

However, not all of their weaknesses can be mitigated by their specials. Mii Brawler has exceptionally poor range, with only two of their moves (Shot Put and Burning Dropkick) having decent area coverage. Their range lacks even compared to other close-range fighters like Pikachu or Wolf, and their combo ability starts falling off at higher percents, making it difficult to close off stocks due to their lack of reliable high-percent kill confirms. Their fast fallspeed limits his edgeguarding, and also leaves him prone to long combos like Fox, and his weight is the lightest out of the Mii Fighters, giving the Brawler the lowest survivability. Finally, their recovery, while customizable and varied, can be rather lacking, as most of their recovery moves grant average distance apart from a few options, such as Feint Jump, and their aforementioned fast falling speed further compounds this issue.

Overall, Mii Brawler is widely considered a well-rounded, close-range fighter with useful tools to deal with any situation. While their representation in the early metagame was very minimal, numerous buffs have significantly boosted Mii Brawler’s standing in the meta, and his representation skyrocketed, especially in the late-Ultimate metagame, thanks to players such as KID, Lunamado, and Rizeasu. Although their representation remains somewhat weaker compared to other characters within the same tier, their infrequent appearances in top-level competition have been to great success. As such, they are considered the best of the 3 Mii Fighters.

Attributes

Being the "up close and personal" Mii Fighter, the Brawler now possesses a good walking/dashing speed (tied with Toon Link and Mewtwo for walk speed and the 25th fastest dash speed) and the ability to wall jump in exchange for now being a middleweight fighter (sharing the same weight as Inkling, Ness, and Lucas) with a fast falling speed, an above-average air speed, and an average air acceleration. As a Mii Fighter, their specials are determinant on the player's choice. Like the other two Mii Fighters, they have access to 12 different specials: Shot Put, Flashing Mach Punch, and Exploding Side Kick for neutral special; Onslaught, Burning Dropkick, and Suplex for side special; Soaring Axe Kick, Helicopter Kick, and Thrust Uppercut for up special; and Head-On Assault, Feint Jump, and Counter Throw for down special.

As with other Mii Fighters, one of the strengths of the Mii Brawler is their diverse set of special moves. Many of their specials help rack up damage, improve their recovery, or possess fantastic KO power. Shot Put is a fantastic tool for edgeguarding due to its arc and strong knockback. Moves such as Burning Dropkick and Feint Jump both aid the Brawler's recovery, providing decent horizontal distance. Suplex serves as a potent mindgame special, as well as an excellent way of racking up damage, dealing about 20% for each successful Suplex landed, even when stale.

Accompanying their varying specials, the Mii Brawler is a fairly nimble fighter with great combo potential. Their walking and dashing speeds are above average, and many of their normal attacks have relatively low start-up and ending lag. All of their tilts and aerials (with the exception of down aerial) come out fairly quickly and are safe on shield when properly spaced or timed. Up tilt can lead to airdodge chases at very low percentages and chain into itself at low-mid percentages, while down tilt can combo into the forward aerial and neutral aerial at low percentages and other aerials/special moves at higher percentages. Neutral aerial is an excellent sex kick that boasts a wide range of utility due to its speed and extremely low landing lag, making it a very useful tool for edgeguarding, initiating, continuing, and breaking combos, and approaching. Forward tilt serves as a decent spacing tool due to its no longer having a sour spot and its ability to be angled, while down tilt is a very good combo initiator, capable of comboing into a variety of moves. Dash attack comes out very quickly and stays active for a long time while covering a large distance, making it extremely effective for whiff punishing or catching landing opponents. Additionally, Mii Brawler has a plethora of moves that have high KO potential. Forward smash deals extremely high knockback and can KO at low-mid percentages, and additionally can be confirmed out of a landing neutral air at mid percentages. The initial hit of up smash is a potent finisher that has very low start-up. Many of their specials can secure early KOs as well, especially Thrust Uppercut and Helicopter Kick. Exploding Side Kick is as strong as Falcon Punch and is safe on shield; Head-On Assault, Suplex, and Soaring Axe Kick can perform sacrificial KOs at low percentages (the first of which also breaks shields); and Counter Throw is among the strongest counters in the game.

In addition to his normals, all of Mii Brawler's throws, except for back throw, serve a purpose beyond positioning. Down throw is the Brawler's strongest throw in most situations, as it confirms into almost any aerial until high percentages, at which point it can be used to confirm into Helicopter Kick or Thrust Uppercut. At extremely high percents (190%+), it will begin to KO opponents off the top of stages with lower-ceiling blast zones. Forward throw also serves as a kill throw, capable of KOing opponents at high yet reasonable percents near ledges, where they may be expecting another KO move like back aerial or up smash, adding to the Brawler's corner pressure. Lastly, while up throw does not KO or combo, it does the most damage of any of Mii Brawler's throws at 11% (13.8% in 1v1s), making it a useful tool for simultaneously dealing a large amount of damage and setting the opponent up for juggling.

Additionally, Mii Brawler has a plethora of excellent defensive tools. Neutral aerial serves as a quick out of shield option with its 6-frame start-up, factoring in the initial jump squat frames. Up smash hits on frame 8 and has Mii Brawler's legs intangible for the first half of its active frames, making it a great anti-air option. Finally, all of Mii Brawler's up specials also serve as great out-of-shield options, with Soaring Axe Kick having excellent range to punish disjointed attacks and retreating aerials, Helicopter Kick coming out as fast as up smash while being reversable, and Thrust Uppercut being Mii Brawler's fastest OOS option at frame 3, allowing it act both as a punish to some of the game's safest moves and a pre-emptive anti-air against landing aerials and jumping opponents.

In terms of recovery, Mii Brawler has some good options. Soaring Axe Kick has great height but suffers horizontally. Burning Dropkick, Helicopter Kick, and Feint Jump provide better horizontal recovery. Feint Jump, much like Zero Suit Samus's Flip Jump, is a good tool that can both mix up and extend Mii Brawler's otherwise lackluster recovery, as well as aid in escaping juggles thanks to its frame 2 invincibility, a frame faster than their airdodge. It can also be used to cancel one's momentum in order to survive at slightly higher percentages. However, if Mii Brawler is hit out of Feint Jump, they will be unable to use it again until they grab a ledge or land on stage. Burning Dropkick can be used multiple times, and its decent travel distance can be further improved by B-reversing it in the air. Helicopter Kick travels at a low angle, giving it excellent horizontal recovery potential but weak height. Thrust Uppercut is a fast recovery option, but is perhaps the most restrictive up special Mii Brawler has for recovery.

However, Mii Brawler does not come without their own flaws. In exchange for their decent mobility and speed, their middleweight status does not grant him high survivability. This is further exacerbated by their fast-falling speed and susceptibility to combos. Furthermore, the Mii Brawler lacks tools to force approaches, and has to make hard commitments with moves such as neutral air or dash attack when approaching due to a lack of safe options.

Another issue with the Mii Brawler is a lack of reliable kill confirms at high percents. At those percentages, many of Mii Brawler's combo setups stop confirming. Many of his KO options are flawed, being extremely laggy (such as forward smash and Onslaught) or having poor range (Down Smash and Up Smash). What few confirming moves Mii Brawler does have at these percentages in landing up aerial or neutral aerial can cause the Brawler to become predictable. Because of this, they must rely on back aerial, out-of-shield options, hard reads, and tech-chasing to secure stocks without assistance from confirms.

Overall, the Mii Brawler is a jack-of-all-trades amalgamation of all hand-to-hand-based fighters. The ability to mix and match several different special moves adds a unique layer of versatility by allowing several different playstyles and gameplans for the same basic fighter, making Mii Brawler among the most unpredictable to fight against. Depending on circumstances, the moveset of Mii Brawler can be updated to better combat an opponent, such as using Helicopter Kick for heavier opponents or Soaring Axe Kick versus characters with disjoints. However, all of the customizable special moves have a flaw to prevent them from being overpowered and/or are an inferior version of a similar move other fighters possess, such as Feint Jump to Flip Jump or Head-On Assault to Bowser Bomb. The Brawler's very good frame data, above-average mobility, and a variety of moves that can combo, juggle, and secure KOs are held back by their poor range and limited off-stage presence due to his fast fall speed. While their strengths do overshadow his weaknesses, many players have considered the Mii Brawler to be generally inferior to characters who have a similar fighting archetype, such as Mario and Squirtle.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

The Mii Brawler has been the most extensively modified of the Mii Fighters. With their height and weight now being fixed, the Mii Brawler now has set attributes, now being a middleweight fast faller with high mobility and effective close combat abilities, making their playstyle along the lines of other combo-oriented "footsies" fighters like Little Mac or Squirtle. The Brawler is also the Mii whose custom moves have been the most extensively modified. As a result of their moveset overhaul, the Mii Brawler has received a large mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate; while they were initially believed to have not been buffed enough to raise their standing on release, game updates would provide substantial buffs for the Brawler, and the changes to game mechanics have been mostly positive for them. Overall, the Mii Brawler was considerably buffed in the transition to Ultimate.

In terms of move changes, aside from some animation changes that set their moves apart from other characters, the Brawler's standard moveset has been noticeably improved. Their moves' functionalities have not been significantly altered, with quality-of-life changes like forward tilt losing its sourspot, forward aerial being faster, and moves such as their smash attacks and back aerial seeing moderate to high increases in knockback. Similarly to the other Mii Fighters, the Brawler's default special moves have been buffed significantly: Shot Put has less endlag and sends at a lower angle that makes it more useful, Onslaught has increased KO potential overall, Soaring Axe Kick covers slightly more distance and the descending part now has to be manually inputted, and Head-On Assault can now KO and deals increased shield damage. These changes give them a larger abundance of powerful moveset choices, fixing one of the Brawler's former weaknesses and allowing the Brawler to function just as effectively without altered custom moves.

In addition, the Brawler is the Mii Fighter to have the biggest access to entirely new special moves, as each directional input (neutral, side, up, down) has a new special move that replaces another: Ultimate Uppercut was replaced by Flashing Mach Punch, a powerful multi-hit move that renders the Brawler invincible should the move connect; Headache Maker was replaced by Suplex, a damaging command grab; Piston Punch was replaced by Thrust Uppercut, a variant with more recovery potential and combo ability but less KO power; and Foot Flurry was replaced by Counter Throw, a unique counterattack with short counter frames, but low cooldown and a retaliating hit in the form of a command grab. Each of these moves now gives the Brawler a new option to handle several different situations.

The Brawler also benefits significantly from some of the universal changes to the gameplay mechanics. The universally increased mobility has notably improved the Brawler's grounded mobility, as it grants them a more respectable initial dash, as well as their ground-to-air and air-to-ground mobility due to their faster falling speed and gravity. The ability to perform any grounded attack out of a run and the universally lower landing lag also alleviate their notoriously poor grounded approach. These three changes have collectively improved the Brawler's neutral game, which was a major weakness they had in SSB4. The changes to air dodges also allow the Brawler to catch opponents with more ease and potentially juggle them for a longer time, which is further compounded by the Brawler's improved mobility.

However, the Mii Brawler has also received some noteworthy nerfs. The Brawler's set attributes are a double-edged sword, as their lower weight, slower air speed, and higher falling speed and gravity make them easier to combo and KO and render their aerial mobility more polarized, while also removing their neutral and forward aerials' ability to autocancel from a short hop. Additionally, some of the Brawler's best moves have been nerfed: down throw's higher knockback scaling limits follow-ups after mid percents despite the Brawler's streamlined jumpsquat, vastly reducing the KO power of their combo strings, save for Thrust Uppercut. The Brawler's best follow-up options from down throw also have weaker KO potential, since Helicopter Kick has lowered knockback, and Thrust Uppercut's knockback is lower compared to Piston Punch. As a result, the Brawler must now use their tilts and aerial attacks to combo.

Despite Soaring Axe Kick's vastly improved utility and distance, some of the Brawler's other recovery choices have been nerfed in distance, making the Brawler's recovery less reliable than before: Onslaught travels a reduced distance if performed in the air, Burning Dropkick now has a fixed distance and cannot be charged (which also reduces its utility) and Feint Jump travels at a more downward angle, which when combined with the Brawler's increased fall speed and gravity gives the move less distance. The changes to the Brawler's special moves have also removed two of the Brawler's approach options, as the loss of Ultimate Uppercut removes a super armor option in exchange for invincibility when Flashing Mach Punch connects, and the loss of Foot Flurry removes one of their only approaching attacks in exchange for a counterattack in Counter Throw (though due to the Brawler's improved mobility, the loss of these two moves is overall alleviated). Finally, some of the changes to gameplay mechanics adversely affect the Brawler as well. The removal of perfect pivoting removes a useful microspacing tactic, while the changes to air dodges, while improving the Brawler's juggling and edgeguarding ability, also make them easier to edgeguard.

In the end, the changes to the Mii Brawler's moveset have improved their moveset overall and allow more of their special moves to shine due to their new utility, allowing the Brawler to more reliably adapt to a combo-based hit-and-run playstyle, though at the cost of weaker down throw combos and their strongest special moves being put in line with the rest. Of note is that the Brawler still retains some of their former weaknesses from SSB4 despite them being toned down, such as a polarized neutral game due to their poor range and only passable projectile, trouble at landing their most powerful KO options, and a vulnerable recovery. Game updates, however, have provided the Brawler with some notable buffs, compensating for some of their initial nerfs and significantly improving their options in the neutral game. As a result, the Brawler has vastly improved from their appearance in SSB4, and they are widely considered to be the most effective out of the three Miis.

Aesthetics

• Mii Brawler's name on UIs is now said Mii Brawler across all English and Asian versions of the game, rather than Mii Fighter in the Japanese version.
• Players can customize the Mii Brawler's voice clips from 12 different voices, with 3 different pitches.
• Mii Brawlers have had their body proportions adjusted: they are now much more realistic, compared to the more cartoony proportions they had in Smash 4.
• While still based on the "Guest C" Mii, the default Mii Brawler has an altered appearance. He has slightly darker skin (which is closer to the skin tone of "Guest C"), his hair is longer, and he has a different mouth and eyebrows, giving him a more stern expression instead of a neutral one as he did in Smash 4.
• The default outfit for the Mii Brawler has significantly more detail. They now have a stylized character-colored shirt, blue soles and toes on their boots, black arm-length gloves instead of yellow wrist-length gloves, and extra padding on their forearms, knees, and shins.

Attributes

• Like all characters, the Mii Brawler's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• As with the other Mii Fighter types, the Mii Brawler now has fixed attributes:
  • Mii Brawler walks faster (1.15 → 1.26).
  • Mii Brawler dashes faster (1.72 → 1.92).
    • Mii Brawler's initial dash is much faster (1.6 → 1.97).
  • Mii Brawler's traction is significantly higher (0.045 → 0.12).
  • Mii Brawler has a slower air speed (1.2 → 1.15).
  • Mii Brawler falls much faster (1.7 → 1.92). This slightly improves their vertical mobility, but makes them more vulnerable to combos.
  • The Mii Brawler's gravity is much higher (0.1 → 0.192). This lets the Brawler reach their maximum falling speed faster, improving their mobility, but reduces their jump height and makes them much more susceptible to combos and meteor smashes.
  • The Mii Brawler now has a set weight of 94, down from 100 in Smash 4. This makes their weight on par with Ness, Lucas and Inkling, and makes them the lightest Mii Fighter. The Mii Brawler is now lighter than the lightest possible Mii in Smash 4, hindering their survivability, while still being more vulnerable to combos due to their faster falling speed and gravity.
• Due to their higher falling speed and gravity, the Mii Brawler's short hop and full jump last for a shorter time (short hop: 36 frames → 28, full jump: 55 frames → 41).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with reduced intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16) and increased ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 27 → 26).
• Spot dodge has more startup with reduced intangibility (frames 2-17 → 3-17).
• Air dodge has increased intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 45).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Apart from the final hit, all of neutral attack's hits deal less damage (hit 1: 3% → 1.8%, hit 2: 2% → 1%, looping hits: 1% → 0.5%).
  • The first hit has two additional hitboxes, but reduced hitbox sizes (2.8u/4.0u → 1.6/1.6/1.8/1.8). This reduces the attack's vertical range.
  • The second hit has altered hitbox sizes (4.0u/2.8u/2.8u → 3.0/3.5/3.5).
  • The first two hits have increased hitlag (1.0x → 1.8x hit 1/1.2x hit 2).
  • The infinite's hitbox is larger (3.5u → 4.0), increasing its vertical range. It also has reduced hitlag (1.0x → 0.6x) and a lower SDI multiplier (1.0x → 0.4x). These changes make it much harder to escape.
  • The infinite has modified stretch positionings (Z-axis: 15.5 → 8.0, Z-stretch: 9.0 → 15.5). Overall, the infinite's horizontal range is unchanged.
  • The finisher's hitbox is no longer an extended hitbox, but now has has three additional hitboxes. All of them have reduced sizes (4.5u → 3.5/3.5/3.5/3.5). This gives the move around the same range.
  • All hits except for the finisher send at lower angles (hit 1: 45˚/80˚ → 361˚/361˚/180˚/361˚, hit 2: 94˚/45˚/45˚ → 361˚/180˚/180˚, infinite: 75˚ → 361˚). This allows the attack to connect significantly better, and allows the two first hits to lock.
  • All hits except for the finisher no longer have set knockback (hit 1: 10/15 set/100 scaling → 25/25/20/20 base/25/25/15/15 scaling, hit 2: 25/15/15 set/100 scaling → 25 base/25/20/20 scaling, infinite: 10 set/100 scaling → 7 base/20 scaling).
• Forward tilt:
  • All angles no longer have a sourspot on the Mii Brawler's leg that deals less damage.
  • All angles have altered knockback (12 base/100 scaling → 34/86). This makes the move safe on hit at low percentages, but slightly hinders its KO power at high ones.
• Dash attack:
  • Both the clean and late hits have a new hitbox on the Brawler's leg. This makes the attack more likely to connect.
  • The late hit's farthest hitbox has slightly reduced size (3.5u → 3.2), reducing the attack's range.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has a slightly different animation: it now leaves an electrical trail on the Mii Brawler's fist (though it does not deal electric damage). The Mii Brawler also no longer flexes their fist during the ending animation; instead, the Brawler pumps their arms downwards.
  • The Mii Brawler now steps further forward when using their forward smash, giving it slightly more range.
  • The move lasts for one more frame (frame 17 → 17-18).
  • The move deals more knockback (30 base/100 scaling → 35/102), improving its already great KO power.
• Up smash:
  • The clean hit deals more knockback (32 base/93 scaling → 33/96).
• Down smash:
  • Both hits deal more knockback (front: 31 base/80 scaling → 41/85, back: 83 scaling → 88). This improves the move's KO power, especially the front hit.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials except down aerial have less landing lag (Neutral: 10 → 6, Forward/Back: 14 → 11, Up: 14 → 10).
• Neutral aerial:
  • The move has reduced ending lag (FAF: 56 → 46). It is no longer the sex kick with the most ending lag by a significant margin.
  • Mii Brawler's leg no longer extends at the start of the move. Due to the hitboxes being attached to the feet, this results in the clean hit having considerably less range. Also, due to Mii Brawler's higher fast speed and gravity, it can no longer auto-cancel in a short hop.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has a new animation: the Mii Brawler now does two alternating kicks inwards, instead of a spin kick.
  • Both hits deal more damage (hit 1: 4% → 5%, hit 2: 5% → 6%).
  • The second hit has faster startup (frame 18 → 15), allowing both hits to connect better while rising.
    • However, this means the first hit is now more difficult to use the first hit to initiate combos by landing.
  • The first hit no longer has set knockback (40/40 set/100 scaling → 39/47 base/10 scaling) or sends at the autolink angle (366˚ → 25˚), making it connect less reliably when falling or moving backwards.
  • One of the hitboxes on both hits is larger (hit 1: 3.0u → 3.5, hit 2: 4.0u → 4.3).
    • However, both hits' hitboxes have modified positionings (hit 1: 4.2/0.0 X-axis → 4.2/-1.0, hit 2: 4.2/0.0 X-axis → 4.2/-1.3). This decreases the second hit's range very slightly.
  • The move auto-cancels earlier (frame 43 → 30). However, the move is still unable to auto-cancel from a short hop due to the Brawler's faster falling speed and gravity.
• Back aerial:
  • The move deals more damage (10% → 12%) and has more knockback scaling (100 → 105), significantly improving its KO potential.
  • Mii Brawler's leg no longer extends at the start of the move. Due to the hitboxes being attached to the feet, this results in the move having considerably less range.
• Up aerial:
  • The move deals more damage (8% → 9%). This makes it safer on hit, improving its combo ability.
• Down aerial:
  • The meteor hitbox has significantly more knockback scaling (80 → 95), although it is still weaker than the clean hit on grounded opponents.

Throws and other attacks

• Pummel deals less damage (3.25% → 1.3%) but is much faster.
• Forward throw:
  • It launches at a lower angle (45˚ → 42˚), improving its ability to set up edgeguards and slightly improving its KO potential.
• Back throw:
• The first hit deals more damage (2% → 4%).
• The move has a more fluid animation.
• Up throw:
  • It deals more damage (8% → 11%), although it is still incapable of KOing until Sudden Death percentages.
• Down throw:
  • The move has more knockback scaling (100 → 120), making followups more difficult at mid percents and completely removing them at high ones. The reduced knockback of Helicopter Kick and the replacement of Piston Punch with Thrust Uppercut also make down throw KO setups only effective at low percents (with the aid of platforms) and mid percents (near the edge).

Special moves

Neutral specials

• Shot Put:
  • The move has less ending lag after throwing the ball (FAF: 80 → 68).
  • The iron ball's clean hit sends at a lower angle (67˚ → 47˚), improving its utility at keeping opponents away and its edgeguarding ability.
  • The iron ball deals slightly more damage as it bounces (first bounce: 11% → 11.25%, second bounce: 8% → 8.4%).
  • The iron ball appears to be smaller. However, its hitbox remains the same.
• Exploding Side Kick:
  • The move now causes Special Zoom when it lands.
  • A reversed Exploding Side Kick deals more damage (27%/25% → 28%/26%).
  • The aerial Exploding Side Kick's sourspot deals very slightly less damage (19.55% → 19.549999%), though this is unnoticeable in gameplay.
  • An aerial reversed Exploding Side Kick deals more damage (22.95%/21.25% → 23.799999%/22.1%).
  • The move has increased knockback (grounded/aerial: 35 base/79 scaling → 40/80, reversed/aerial reversed: 35 base/79 scaling → 40/77). This makes the move safer on hit and slightly improves its KO power.
  • Both reversed versions have faster startup (frame 58 → 52).
  • Exploding Side Kick has significantly lower ending lag (grounded/aerial: FAF 90 → 80, reversed/aerial reversed: FAF 98 → 82), making it much safer on shield.
  • The move can be reversed much later (up until frame 48, just before the kick comes out). Coupled with the new dodge mechanics, this makes the move better for punishing a dodge.

Side specials

• Onslaught:
  • Onslaught has a different animation: the Mii Brawler now throws in a mixed barrage of punches and kicks, with the final hit being a backflip kick.
  • Onslaught has a new mechanic: Onslaught deals increased knockback as the Mii Brawler's damage accumulates, similarly to and separate from the effects of rage, but this multiplier lowers to 1x when the move is successfully used. It takes approximately 8 seconds until Onslaught's knockback multiplier returns to its increased value; a purple sparkle briefly appears on the Mii Brawler's shoes this happens. Due to this, the move is now capable of KOing at around 100% if not fully stale, and much lower with rage due to both the move's multiplier and rage stacking together.
  • Grounded Onslaught's second to last hit is now a meteor smash that drags opponents to the ground (75˚ → 270˚) and has higher knockback, with the opponent not being able to tech the hit, even at low percentages. This allows the entire move to connect consistently at higher percents.
    • However, the meteor smash will cause opponents to drop out of the move if they are near an edge, though this can be used to gimp opponents with weak vertical recoveries, and can set up for edgeguards.
  • Both versions now hit seven times instead of five. Each hit now deals more and consistent damage (grounded: 1.2% loop hits/1.2% hit 4/4% final hit/8.8% total → 2% hit 1/1.5% hits 2-6/5% hit 7/14.5% total, aerial: 1% loop hits/1% hit 4/4% final hit/8% total → 2% hit 1/1.5% hits 2-6/5% hit 7/14.5% total).
  • Both versions' final hit deals reduced knockback (80 base/175 scaling → 58/144). This makes the normal (stale) version KO slightly later.
  • Aerial Onslaught's final hit sends at a lower angle (80˚ → 70˚), making it prone to LSI and reducing its KO power at lower percents.
• Burning Dropkick:
  • Burning Dropkick can no longer be charged. The Mii Brawler now leaps forward and launches a fixed distance diagonally downwards after a brief pause. It has vastly reduced distance and can now miss entirely if started right next to an opponent, significantly reducing its recovery range, reliability, and utility for mindgames.
  • Burning Dropkick deals more damage compared to the previous uncharged version (10% → 13%).
  • Burning Dropkick's landing lag can be reduced by using it at the peak of a full hop.

Up specials

• Soaring Axe Kick:
  • Soaring Axe Kick's has faster startup (frame 16 → 10).
  • Soaring Axe Kick's first hit is now highlighted by a large blue trail that significantly increases its range.
  • Soaring Axe Kick's descending hit is much stronger, now being a capable KO option. It also has more base knockback, making sacrificial KOs significantly more effective especially against ledge-hanging opponents, though it still KOs the Brawler first if used offstage at 0%.
  • Soaring Axe Kick gains slightly more height and can now sweetspot the ledge halfway through the ascending hit; previously it could only do so right before the Brawler descended. This significantly improves its safety, as it was notoriously easy to intercept in Smash 4.
  • The descending part of the move now has to be initiated manually, similar to Cloud's Climhazzard. This eliminates the descending portion when recovering, which previously caused self destructs.
• Helicopter Kick:
  • The trajectory of Helicopter Kick's final hit can now be altered. Holding forward will make its knockback diagonal, while holding back will make its knockback more vertical.
  • Helicopter Kick travels significantly higher when used on the ground.
  • Helicopter Kick has slightly higher base knockback (60 → 65) and much lower knockback growth (grounded: 155 → 113, aerial: 150 → 108), reducing its knockback overall, especially if aimed upwards. Combined with the removal of small Mii Fighter attributes, this hampers its ability to KO disproportionately early through throw combos anywhere on the stage, now only being effective if near a ledge or close to the side blast zones.

Down specials

• Head-On Assault:
  • Head-On Assault has an altered startup animation, with the Brawler doing a half-backflip instead of a headbutt while rising. It also has a different ending animation; the Brawler simply stands back up again.
  • The descending hit no longer buries opponents. Instead, it deals diagonal knockback that can KO at 112%. This removes bury followups, but significantly improves its utility as an attack.
  • Head-On Assault's headbutt is now a corkscrewing attack that deals multiple hits very quickly. Each hit deals 1%, and a ground-starting attack can hit at least 3 times.
  • The descending hits deal less overall damage if started on the ground (8% → 4%).
  • Due to the multiple hits, Head-On Assault deals more damage if it lands on an aerial opponent, and it will always KO the opponent first if it the grounded version leads to a sacrificial KO. However, whoever is KO'd first is still inconsistent if the aerial version is used.
  • Head-On Assault deals significantly more shield damage, especialy the landing hit. This allows it to break full shields if all hits land.
• Feint Jump:
  • Feint Jump's kick now surrounds itself in a blue aura instead of purple.
  • The kick attack used during Feint Jump sends the Brawler flying at a more downward angle.
    • Because of this, its recovery potential has been worsened.
    • Mii Brawler can hit closer grounded opponents more easily but also can have a harder time hitting opponents from a far distance.
    • Feint Jump’s momentum is stopped completely when land