With her Charge Shot, Missile and Bomb, Samus has three different projectiles to keep her opponents in check from a distance. When fully charged up, her Charge Shot is quite powerful. For her Final Smash, she launches a wide laser beam that can be moved up and down!
Samus (サムス, Samus) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was suggested to appear on the then-unnamed Ultimate's announcement trailer, and officially confirmed in the gameplay trailer on June 12, 2018 during E3 2018. She retains her modified Metroid: Other M design from Smash 4 and is classified as Fighter #04.
Samus has historically been a lower-ranking character in the Smash Bros. series, with her Super Smash Bros., Brawl and pre-patch SSB4 incarnations infamously considered among the worst characters in their respective games. Even after being heavily buffed via patches, at the end of SSB4's meta game, she was tied with Robin for 37th place out of 55 characters - putting her in the lower part of the mid tier. As such, Samus has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, but has been generally buffed overall. She greatly benefits from the universal changes, most notably the reduced landing lag and weakening of shields, making her aerials safer to use for approaching. Her mobility has been improved, with her previously slow and punishable roll having been significantly increased in speed, making it more usable as an escape option. Her grab game has also been considerably strengthened, with her grabs having less ending lag relative to the rest of the cast, and all throws dealing more damage and knockback; in particular, her up throw is now her strongest throw and a viable KO option at high percents, while her down throw has increased combo potential due to its lower ending lag. Adding to this, her repertoire of projectiles has been further improved, as Bombs explode earlier on contact with enemies, Missiles deal more damage and have less ending lag, Super Missiles stall for a longer time before flying forward, and most notably, Charge Shot can be charged in the air, used as a combo tool and deals far greater damage, leading the way to devastating (albeit situational) shield break combos. This gives Samus more opportunities to charge up her most threatening move, and strengthens her zoning and punish game, evoking her very projectile-heavy fighting style in her home series. Lastly, her dash attack, down tilt and down smash all deal noticeably more knockback, improving her KO ability. With her heightened offensive power, Samus' playstyle now more closely veers towards a balanced "mighty glacier" similar to Link, with potent KO ability (particularly through her Charge Shot), below-average mobility, and generally well-rounded attributes.
However, Samus has received some nerfs that, while fewer in comparison to her buffs, drastically affect her playstyle. The most notable is her dash attack, previously an excellent combo tool and often considered her best move, which has received higher ending lag and a more horizontal angle that prevent it from comboing, instead being repurposed into a KO move with much more situational use. Samus is also one of the characters hindered the most by the nerfs to rage, removing her ability to take off stocks at very early percents by setting up a Screw Attack with high rage, which was a commonly exploitable tactic in conjunction with her dash attack. Furthermore, her neutral attack, infamous for its inability to connect both hits at most percents, has been made even worse by the lower knockback on the first hit and its slower transition into the second hit, removing its most reliable setups at higher percents and rendering the second hit nearly useless. Because of the nerfs to her more polarized offensive options, Samus now relies on a more patient playstyle that revolves around shield pressure and threatening foes with her improved Charge Shot.
Overall, Samus is a walking tank among the "all-rounder" characters like her Power Suit would suggest, with high endurance and focusing on hard-hitting punishes and combos both at long range and mid range, but having difficulty dealing with rushdown and disjoints. Together with her Echo FighterDark Samus, Samus's results are developing more rapidly than they did in SSB4, with successes such as Vorst placing 17th in Full Bloom 5 exclusively using Samus, ESAM using her as an occasional secondary and reaching 13th place in Glitch 6, and most notably Joker, who has placed highly with her even at national-level tournaments such as Low Tier City 7 and 2GG: SwitchFest 2019. Samus is therefore considered to be better relative to the cast than in SSB4 and is near-universally considered to be a mid-tier character, making Ultimate her second-best iteration in the series (next to Melee) in a similar vein to Link in the Smash 4 era. Additionally, she is stronger in doubles, where a teammate can take advantage of her projectiles and trapping; Joker has attained multiple first-place finishes with his brother Meme while primarily using Samus.
Samus's overall color scheme is significantly more vibrant. The Varia Suit's visor is more opaque, and it along with the suit's accents are now lime green rather than emerald like in Brawl.
Samus's eighth costume, formerly based on Dark Samus, has been replaced with a black and yellow costume due to Dark Samus's inclusion as a playable fighter.
Samus's idle animation is altered slightly; she now faces the foreground at an angle instead of facing directly forward, and her Arm Cannon is positioned slightly lower.
Samus has two new victory poses and one slightly modified:
She fires a Super Missile and strikes a pose similar to her official artwork.
She lands on the ground and readies her arm cannon.
She retains her kneeling victory pose, however the shots now resemble the shotgun blast from her Melee Charge Shot custom move from Smash 4 rather than small explosions.
The first hit has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.8×).
The first hit has reduced knockback to keep opponents closer to Samus (8 base/80/100 scaling → 20/15), akin to other neutral attacks. However, unlike the case with other characters, this is a nerf for Samus as it further worsens the first hit's ability to true combo into the second hit at higher percents, while also hindering its jab cancel setups.
The first hit transitions slower into the second hit (frame 13 → 15).
The first hit inflicts 4 additional frames of hitstun, increasing its safety on hit at low percents, although due to the aforementioned changes, it still fails to truly connect into the second hit.
Forward tilt has three different hitboxes instead of four, no longer possessing a sourspot that deals 7% (8% if angled). This makes its damage output more consistent.
The sourspot deals more knockback (20 base/70 scaling → 30/80), increasing its safety on hit and KO potential.
Down tilt has increased knockback scaling (48 → 65), giving the move KO potential against middleweights under 160%, compared to being unable to KO under 200% in Smash 4. This change brings it closer to its Brawl strength.
Up smash has a different kind of autolink angle (366° → 368°), and the second to fourth hits use weight-independent knockback (although not on all hitboxes), allowing it to connect more reliably when used out of a run, and making it more consistent across characters.
The hitboxes aren't placed as far horizontally (X offset: 9u/9u/-1u → -3.5u/6.5u/6.5u (hit 1), 7.3u/9u/-1u → -3.5u/6.5u/6.5u (hits 2-4), 9u/-1u → -3.5u/7.8u (hit 5)), and all except the last hit's are smaller (5.5u/5.5u/4u → 4.5u/5u/5u (hit 1), 6u/5.5u/4u → 4.5u/5u/5u (hits 2-3), 6u/6u/4u → 4u/5u/5u (hit 4)), reducing the move's range.
It has a higher SDI multiplier (0.8× → 1×), and the first to fourth hits no longer use set knockback. Coupled with the aforementioned hitbox changes, this causes the move to connect less reliably overall.
Down smash has increased knockback scaling (46/48 (front/back) → 58), with the front hit and back hit now KOing at around 200% and 165% (respectively) from the center of Final Destination. It is no longer the weakest smash attack in the game by a considerable margin.
It has an altered ending animation, with Samus retaining more momentum from the kick.
The first hit has altered angles (80°/280°/60° → 367°/18°), while the first to fourth hits deal more set knockback (15 → 25 (hit 1), 30 → 35/40 (hits 2-4)). These changes overall improve its linking capabilities.
The first four hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.8×), but a higher SDI multiplier (0.8× → 1×).
The first four hits' feet hitboxes use the autolink angle (361° → 367°) and set knockback (0 base/130 scaling → 25 set/100 scaling), allowing them to connect more reliably.
The hits after the first are faster (frame 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 → 7, 10, 13, 16).
However, the move's total duration remains unchanged, giving it more ending lag and making it harder to combo multiple up aerials.
Up aerial has more landing lag (12 frames → 18).
The first four hits' leg hitbox deals much more set knockback (30 → 90) and launches at a higher angle (80° → 84°); however, it inflicts 10 less frames of hitstun than usual. As a result, and combined with its increased landing lag, it connects less reliably into the following hits without having increased combo potential.
Due to its lower amount of hits, it deals less total damage (11% → 10.9%), despite the second to fourth hits dealing more damage (1% → 1.3%).
Its initial auto-cancel window is shorter (frames 1-4 → 1-2).
The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1x → 1.8×).
The last hit has an altered animation, with Samus thrusting her foot upward.
It has less startup (frame 3 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 9 → 7), but deals much more hitlag (4 frames → 14), drastically increasing its effective duration. This hinders its damage racking ability, no longer being one of the fastest pummels in the game.
Samus has a new up throw: she blasts her opponent upward with her arm cannon. It uses the flame effect, and consists of two hits instead of six, with its damage being redistributed (1% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw) → 5% (hit 1), 7% (throw)).
It has increased knockback scaling (70 → 72) on top of its higher damage, making it powerful enough to KO middleweights under 190%.
It releases opponents faster (frame 28 → 16), making it harder to DI. Opponents are also released closer to Samus.
However, its total duration remains the same, increasing its ending lag.
Down throw releases opponents one frame slower (frame 20 → 21), but has less ending lag (FAF 42 → 38). Combined with Samus's faster jumpsquat and jump speed, this noticeably improves its combo potential.
It has lower base knockback (80 → 60), but higher knockback scaling (50 → 75). This gives it new followup options at low percents, such as a dash attack and dashing up smash, without hindering its combo potential at higher percents due to the aforementioned changes.
It launches at a slightly lower angle (80° → 74°).
Both Homing Missiles and Super Missiles deal more damage (5% → 8% (Homing), 10% → 12% (Super)) without compensation on knockback, improving the KO ability of Super Missiles.
Both types of Missiles have slightly less ending lag (FAF 57 → 55 (Homing), 59 → 58 (Super)).
Super Missiles travel faster and stall initially before flying forward, similar to the Turbo Missile custom move from Smash 4. This allows them to effectively stay out for a longer time, improving their camping potential.
Samus can drift horizontally after firing a Missile in midair, and Missiles don't halt her aerial momentum.
Missiles have updated designs. When firing a missile, Samus's visor and armor lights flash blue in reference to Samus's palette when Missiles are selected in the original Metroid.
Screw Attack has less lag before Samus begins falling.
Grounded Screw Attack has less startup (frame 5 → 4), making it more effective out of shield.
The looping hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×), and a lower SDI multiplier for the aerial version (1× → 0.5×), allowing them to transition faster and making them harder to escape.
The last hit has a slightly larger hitbox (9.6u → 10u), allowing it to connect better from the looping hits.
Due to rage being changed to not affect set knockback, the linking hits of Screw Attack can no longer KO off the top blast line at low percents, removing Samus's early KO setups.
Grounded Screw Attack deals up to nine hits instead of eleven, but has increased damage on its first hit (2% → 3%) and last hit (1% → 2%).
The last hit's knockback was not fully compensated (50 base/240 scaling → 56/190), slightly improving its KO potential.
The grounded version's last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (2× → 2.5×).
The move uses unique sound effects on hit, rather than standard "kick" sound effects.
Samus has received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates.
Update 2.0.0 increased the range of Samus' Missile, which allows her to space better and deal damage at safer ranges, though the move has increased ending lag when used in the air (no longer being faster than Dark Samus' version). Additionally, Bomb is less laggy when grounded, which allows her to act out of it more effectively, and reduces her chances of getting punished.
However, the nerfs to the shield damage of various projectiles in update 3.0.0 affect Samus more negatively than most other characters, as she can no longer use her Charge Shot to apply shield pressure as effectively as she could in previous versions, reducing its potency.
The lag upon waking up from the sleep effect has been adjusted, matching the rest of the cast.
Up smash's auto-link angle hitboxes have less knockback. This removes the possibility of launching opponents at an unusually fast speed if the move fails to connect.
A left-handed jab followed by a forearm club with the Arm Cannon. Despite dealing above-average damage for a neutral attack, it is poor overall, as opponents can usually act out before the second hit connects by shielding or using a fast attack, while the second hit may not even connect at high percentages. Depending on the opponent's weight, it is safe and a true combo at high percents, but only if the first hit connects relatively close to the arm and not at the fist. The second hit does have KO potential at very high percentages, however.
A reverse roundhouse kick. Deals more damage and knockback at her foot, while her leg deals less damage and knockback. Can be angled, which causes it to deal more damage, but may cause it to miss shorter characters on the ground if angled up. The foot sweetspot deals rather potent knockback for a tilt attack, which can KO at the edge at around 125%. At varying percentages, depending on which part of the move is landed, it can lead into a guaranteed Charge Shot, as regardless of teching, Charge Shot can catch the opponent's option in time if they are knocked down.
An axe kick, which is identical to Captain Falcon's up tilt. It behaves unusually as it meteor smashes grounded opponents, but launches aerial opponents at a horizontal angle. This allows it to set up combos against the former at a wide range of percents, while still being a reliable edgeguard tool, due to its wide coverage and powerful enough knockback to KO aerial opponents at around 95% at the edge. At high percents, the grounded meteor can also set up KO confirms into a fully charged Charge Shot. However, the move has noticeable startup, due to coming out on frame 15, making it Samus's slowest normal attack on the ground.
Kneels and quickly thrusts her Arm Cannon downward to fire a small, fiery blast. It is very fast, due to coming out on frame 6, and deals respectable damage and knockback for a tilt attack, KOing at around 160% off the top blast line. It is useful as a close range anti-pressure option on opponents in front of Samus, or as a punishment option. However, its very high ending lag leaves it easy to punish if shielded of missed.
A shoulder tackle with a white aura around Samus, similar to the Shinespark technique from her home series. Deals more damage and knockback near the middle of the attack, KOing opponents at around 150% from the center of Final Destination, and earlier near edges. However, the early and late hits are noticeably weaker, and the move lacks combo potential, especially compared to its previous appearance.
Quickly thrusts her Arm Cannon forward to fire a small, fiery blast. Functions similarly to Mario's forward smash, with the blast being the most powerful part of the move. It is one of the fastest forward smashes in the game, coming out on frame 10, while the blast has the highest knockback out of her smash attacks, KOing at around 100% from center stage. However, it is rather weak otherwise, with the Arm Cannon KOing at around 135% and the sourspot taking priority over the sweetspot. It can be angled like her forward tilt, with the upward angle dealing more damage and knockback, though it can typically miss as a result; conversely, the downward angle can hit ledge hanging opponents, but deals slightly less damage and knockback.
Fires five fiery blasts in an overhead arcing motion. True to its name, this move works best as an anti-air attack, as its multiple hits give a good amount of aerial protection. Conversely, it is unable to hit grounded opponents unless they are close enough to Samus. It is also her most damaging smash attack, dealing 18% total uncharged. However, due to its hits being spread above Samus, it can fail to fully connect if the opponent is hit from too far.
A legsweep. A semi-spike with decent speed and high base knockback, allowing it to set up edgeguards and punish rolls effectively. However, it is relatively weak from center stage, with the front hit not KOing until around 200%.
A spinning roundhouse kick, similar to the aerial version of the Counter Attack from Metroid: Other M. Comes out in frame 8. Hits on both sides quickly and can autocancel with a short hop fast fall. Its front hit and sweetspotted back hit also deal powerful knockback, which makes it a viable KOing option offstage or near the edge, as well as a decent combo finisher and one of the strongest aerials of its type.
Fires five fiery blasts in a slow, downward arcing motion. Fast, coming out on frame 6, thus having the second lowest startup lag of Samus's aerials. The first four hits drag opponents into the rest of the move using the autolink angle, with the last hit carrying the entire attack's knockback. Samus' main aerial move for both combos and protection. Extremely useful as an edge get-up option or against air dodges due to its multiple hits, and using the move immediately after a short hop can hit opponents with the last hit before Samus lands again. It's her only aerial that does not autocancels In a short hop.
A back kick. It is fast and deals powerful knockback when sweetspotted, which makes it an excellent KOing option, especially when edgeguarding. When sweetspotted, it is among the strongest back aerials in the game, KOing at around 110% from center stage.
A diagonal corkscrew flying kick, hitting multiple times. It is her fastest aerial, due to coming out on frame 5. Grounded opponents can be hit by the last hitbox if Samus lands while starting the move in the air, although it is difficult to do so, and risky due to the move's high landing lag. It can be used as a follow-up after a dash attack, grounded up tilt, down aerial, or down throw, all of which can be followed up with another up aerial and/or can be finished off with a Screw Attack. On stages with platforms, it even has potential for a zero-to-death when using a platform to extend the combo. Can KO if used high enough and close to the blast line.
Swings her Arm Cannon in a downward arcing motion. Hitting with the move's trail meteor smashes opponents, while the edges of the move at the very start and end deal decent horizontal knockback. Autocancels from a short hop, and due to its relatively low ending lag, the meteor smash is excellent for starting combos on grounded opponents, much like her up tilt.
Fires the Grapple Beam. A useful spacing option due to having only 8 frames of landing lag. It autocancels from a full hop and has impressive range, being the longest grab aerial in game. In addition to its recovery and spacing capabilities, it is good at setting up combos at close range upon landing, due to its low landing lag. Unlike in previous games, however, hitting an opponents causes the Grapple Beam to retract earlier, while not reducing the move's ending lag.
Fires the Grapple Beam. It has impressive range and is the longest tether grab in the game. However, it is tied with her Zero Suited form's grab as the second slowest in terms of ending lag, making it very punishable if missed.
Twirls the opponent overhead, then flings them forward. Although its knockback has been increased, it remains too weak for KOing at realistic percents, unless Samus has rage and is at the edge of the stage.
Puts the opponent above herself and blasts them upward with her Arm Cannon. Samus's most damaging and strongest throw, possessing enough knockback to KO middleweights under 190% from ground level and without rage. At low percents, it can also combo into an up aerial against large characters, as well as Screw Attack against most characters, though the latter will only connect its hits reliably on a few characters.
Swings the opponent high above her head, then slams them onto the ground. A reliable combo starter, with its followups including a dash attack, small step forward smash or dashing up smash at low percents, a neutral, back or up aerial up to mid percents, and a forward aerial up to high percents.
Charges a ball of energy and fires it. Boasts excellent KO potential when fully charged, and is a useful intercepting move at a low charge. KOs at 70%-110% depending on rage and the opponent's weight and DI. Can be used to break shields if used in conjunction with her neutral attack, up or down tilts, aerials, Bomb and Super Missile. When using her forward tilt to launch the opponent into tumbling, it can set up a guaranteed combo into Charge Shot regardless of the opponent's tech option, as Charge Shot will always catch their tech direction.
Fires a Missile, which homes in on the opponent. If the special button is tapped like a smash attack, Samus will instead fire a Super Missile, which stays in place for a short while before traveling in a straight line, and deals more damage and knockback. Both variations deal low knockback, but can be used to break a shield if used in conjunction with a fully charged Charge Shot. Both Missile variations can also be used as set-ups by opening up an opportunity for a grab aerial, or Charge Shot, while the Super variation sets up better for a true combo into a forward jumping Charge Shot at high percentages. The Homing variation is also useful for catching recoveries and forcing air dodges, which can open up punishment opportunities.
3% (grounded hit 1), 1% (grounded hits 2-8), 2% (grounded hit 9), 1% (aerial hits 1-12)
Leaps upward to perform a high-speed somersault while discharging energy. Shoots upward if initiated from the ground, while it gains distance slower if started in the air. A useful out of shield option, due to coming out on frame 4 on the ground, and deals good knockback that can KO around 100% while near the upper blast line.
Rolls into her Morph Ball form and drops a Bomb, which explodes after a set time. Useful to force an opponent to shield and for edgeguarding, being capable of 2 frame punishes if timed correctly. It can also break shields depending on their health if used along with her up and down tilts or a fully charged Charge Shot.
Left: Lands on the ground and readies her Arm Cannon.
Up: Fires multiple shots from her Arm Cannon while kneeling, then strikes a pose. The pose is based on her appearance on the cover of Metroid II: Return of Samus.
Right: Fires a Super Missile and strikes a pose similar to her official artwork.
A flourished remix of the theme that would play when Samus Aran obtained a new power-up or addition to her Power Suit. It would also play when Samus defeated Ridley or Kraid.
Initial impressions of Samus in Ultimate were very negative, primarily because she had lost the combo potential of her dash attack, one of her most useful tools in Smash 4, along with her general lack of aesthetic or mechanical changes compared to fellow veterans such as Link (her unsafe jab, seemingly unchanged from Smash 4 and once again acknowledged in in-game tips, was a common point of mockery). This led players to believe that Samus had stagnated from her Smash 4 incarnation, and many pre-release tier lists ranked Samus as one of the worst characters in the game (or even the single worst) based on initial impressions.
However, as the game launched and time went on, Samus began to amass some results and improve her reputation more quickly than in Smash 4, largely due to her improved projectile game and KO potential; until her nerfs in version 3.0.0, many people cited her terrifying shield-break potential with Charge Shot as one of her primary strengths. While said nerfs have made shield breaks more difficult to pull off using the character, Samus retained her other previous strengths and weaknesses and benefited from the nerfs to some of her most difficult matchups such as Wolf, Olimar and Pichu, causing her loss of shield break setups to only become a slight nerf in the long run. As such, Samus' results continue to be moderately successful for her low representation, particularly when combined with her Echo Fighter Dark Samus, who is preferred by some players over the original Samus due to her marginally better hitboxes and roll.
The opponents Samus faces are akin to the battles that she has faced throughout the Metroid series. In addition, all of the battles take place on stages from the Metroid universe.
Each character can be unlocked by clearing Samus' Classic Mode, or the Classic Mode of any preceding character, if all preceding characters have been unlocked. Once all the above characters are unlocked, clearing Classic Mode with any of them will default to Mario's character unlock tree, starting with Sonic.
Samus was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to fight an army of Master Hands.
During the opening cutscene, Samus was present when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Samus attempted to fight back against the beams by shooting them with her arm cannon, but to no avail. Samus was vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters (except for Kirby).
In gameplay, Zero Suit Samus has a separate awakening battle from Samus.
Samus can be found blocking the path of the bridge once engulfed in light and a location reminiscent of Pac-Maze. Defeating her is necessary to progress through the story, making her an obligatory unlock.
Samus is later seen among several other fighters, making their last stand against Galeem and Dharkon. She also shows up in the ending where Galeem emerges victorious against Dharkon, witnessing Galeem engulf the world in light.
Samus's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Samus in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.
Additionally, Samus makes an appearance in various Primary and Support Spirits. Note that Zero Suit Samus' Fighter Spirit is not listed here due to her status as a separate playable character (despite the fact that she is the puppet/possessed fighter who represents Young Samus).
Samus' neutral attack's notorious unreliability is alluded to in one of the tips, stating that "Foes can often put up their shields in between the first and second hits of this combo. It's safer to just hit with the first attack and then flee."
Samus is the only female character on the game's starting roster (excluding Pikachu's female alternate costumes).
Samus is the only one of the original 12 characters (and only starter character) from Smash 64 to have an Echo Fighter, that being Dark Samus.
Samus is the only character to have an Echo Fighter that represents a separate entity in addition to a non-clone fighter representing an alternate form of herself.
Samus is the only Original 8 fighter whose Classic Mode unlock column has no characters who debuted in Melee.
Samus is one of only four characters who faces no humans in Classic Mode, despite her penultimate echo opponent Dark Samus possessing human-like traits.
The other three fighters who share this attribute with Samus are Yoshi, Pichu, and Bayonetta.
Samus is the only character to travel to all Metroid universe stages in Classic Mode.
In her official artwork, Samus's pose matches the image of her alongside Anthony Higgs from Metroid: Other M. This same image was used on the official Other M website with Higgs removed, and was used as Samus' primary promotional image across various media prior to the release of Metroid: Samus Returns.
While Samus' playable design has not been updated to the more recent Metroid: Samus Returns, her Fighter Spirit uses her artwork from said game rather than Other M. This suggests that Samus' retention of her SSB4 design is a consequence of newer Metroid games having been introduced too late in the development cycle for Ultimate to properly integrate their designs into the game; the newest design overhaul in the base roster belongs to Link, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild having been released many months before Samus Returns and teased for several years beforehand.
Samus's overall color scheme is significantly more vibrant. The 
Like all characters, Samus's 
Forward roll grants less 
Missile now follows 
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