Wolf (SSBU)

Wolf in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Team Star Wolf
Tier	A (24)

Wolf (ウルフ, Wolf) is a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside the rest of the returning roster during the E3 2018 Nintendo Direct. Wolf is classified as Fighter #44, the last fighter number of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl veterans.

Jay Ward reprises his role as Wolf's English voice actor from Brawl with new voice clips that match his portrayal from Starlink: Battle for Atlas. In the Japanese version, he is now voiced by Kōsuke Takaguchi, reprising his role from Star Fox 64 3D and Star Fox Zero, replacing Mahito Ōba from Brawl.

Wolf is ranked 24th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the middle of the A tier. This is a moderate improvement over his 14th out of 38 placement in Brawl. Wolf is an all-around fighter with many different playstyles to choose from. He has a solid fundamental combo game with up throw and down throw as good combo starters. His moveset offers a lot of versatility, with his tilts functioning as safe pokes or kill options and his smash attacks as solid finishers. His aerials are all useful for both starting and extending combos, as well as edgeguarding. His back aerial, in particular, is one of the strongest in the game when sweetspotted and can be confirmed from a forward aerial. His specials are also crucial to his gameplan: his Blaster is a strong projectile that can force approaches and apply chip damage from a distance, acting as his primary tool in neutral, Wolf Flash and Fire Wolf offer quick recovery to the stage and serve as powerful finishers, and his Reflector is effective for extending combos as well as serving as his primary defense against zoning. Wolf also has excellent air mobility, allowing him to chase his opponents in the air with ease.

Despite all these strengths, Wolf has some weaknesses. Wolf is a fast-faller middleweight, which makes him fairly easy to combo despite having a frame 2 air dodge. His recovery is also fairly linear and easy to intercept as it gets 2 framed fairly easily or loses to counterattacks which can leave vulnerable to gimps and edgeguards. While Wolf has good range in many of his attacks, he can have trouble against characters who have longer disjoints than him. Finally, Wolf can sometimes struggle taking stocks at higher percents, as his best finishers, including up smash and back aerial, are burdened with excessive startup lag.

Overall, Wolf has a solid fundamental gameplan for players to pick up. He functions like a glass cannon, being able to dish out damage with a strong neutral and advantage while having poor offstage survivability, struggling taking stocks from time to time, and being easy to juggle. Wolf has historically been a very popular character in competitive play, especially in the early metagame where his results were primarily spearheaded by Zackray and several other top players who had a pocket Wolf. As such, he was considered one of the best characters in the early metagame. However, his representation and reputation declined as the metagame progressed as a result of nerfs and his weaknesses becoming more apparent, though he remains relatively popular in competitive play thanks to loyal mains such as Ouch!?, Jakal, Masha and Atelier.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Wolf being the 51st character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Fox or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after Bowser Jr.
• Have Wolf join the player's party in World of Light.

Wolf must then be defeated on Lylat Cruise (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Wolf's attributes and moveset give him a versatile gameplan, somewhere in the middle ground between Fox's focus on pressure and Falco's focus on punishes. This is reflected in his attributes: he has a slow dashing speed (though his initial dash is quite fast), an above-average walking speed, the 11th fastest falling speed, above-average air acceleration, and high gravity, most of which are not uncharacteristic of the Star Fox characters. Unlike the other "space animals", however, Wolf has the 6th fastest air speed in the game. This grants him mobility that is fairly average overall, but relatively balanced compared to Fox and Falco. Additionally, Wolf is also significantly heavier than them, as he is a middleweight (tied with the Ice Climbers, Lucario, Villager, Mythra, and Steve). Although Wolf's special moveset and vertical mobility are derived from his fellow Star Fox fighters, the similarities end there, with Wolf's being the most unique of the trio.

Wolf's Blaster is the centerpiece of his neutral game. With the lasers causing higher knockback (and therefore hitstun) than the average projectile, and having a long duration with transcendent priority, they grant him the ability to disrupt opponents' approaches, even when their grounded mobility is superior to his own, and its unique close-range hitbox on the bayonet give it some utility in close combat, dealing substantial damage if it connects. Lasers can often force opponents to jump over them, leaving them vulnerable to Wolf's fast aerial attacks; these are comprised of a neutral aerial sex kick with a powerful clean hit, a disjointed forward aerial that can combo into itself and his other aerials, a back aerial with moderate startup offset by its impressive power and hitboxes, an up aerial with fast startup and a wide arc well-suited to juggling, and a down aerial that consistently meteor smashes opponents.

Wolf also possesses large hitboxes on several of his attacks, with many of them being disjointed, greatly aiding his devastating punish game as he can easily combo and deal massive damage from very few openings. While he can apply pressure from a distance, Wolf's close-range options are not lacking either. Forward tilt and down tilt are decent poking tools, the latter of which can trip at low percents, while up smash deals serious damage, covers a wide area around him, and has decent knockback. His neutral and forward aerials are quite fast and difficult to punish even if shielded, while his standing grab is tied for the fastest in the game. Further augmenting his strong neutral game are his dash attack and Reflector, the former which is useful for punishing aerial approaches and KOing at high percents, and the latter which allows him to deal with opposing camping while also having a close range hit that can be followed up with aerials.

Once Wolf has won the neutral exchange, he has several options to rack up damage. Forward aerial can combo into itself, other aerials, and into a grab at very low percents, from which up throw can lead into another forward or up aerial until mid to high percents. Down throw can lead into a dash attack at low percents, while dash attack can extend the combo by chaining into up tilt or up aerial at very low percents. Should an opponent air dodge in an attempt to escape pressure, Wolf's aerial mobility allows him to chase them down and punish them, usually with up tilt or up aerial to continue juggling them, or with a back aerial to send them offstage.

After Wolf has inflicted a sufficient amount of damage, he can then attempt to score a KO via his numerous KO options. The most reliable one is his back aerial: its quick autocancel and decent range allow it to be spaced safely, and it can KO relatively early if sweetspotted (at around 110% from center-stage), while still possessing respectable power with its sourspots. His side special, Wolf Flash, can either meteor smash or semi-spike opponents at the end of the dash, depending on which hitbox connects, both of which are incredibly powerful. Wolf's up special, Fire Wolf, consists of looping hits and a deceptively strong final hitbox.

Other notable finishers are his forward smash and down smash: the former is safe on shield and potentially when whiffed thanks to it possessing deceptively low ending lag despite its high startup, whereas the latter posseses a powerful sweetspot that enables it to KO as low as 50% at the edge and makes it an effective 2 frame punish. At higher percentages, Wolf has several other moves (forward tilt, sweetspotted up tilt, dash attack, clean neutral aerial, up smash, and back throw) that each sport respectable KO potential in the event he is unable to land his primary KO options.

However, Wolf does possess noticeable weaknesses, the most notable of which is his recovery. Wolf Flash and Fire Wolf are both linear and offer unremarkable travel distance compared to other recovery options. Unlike Fox and Falco, Wolf's side special renders him helpless; this essentially restricts him to using only one of his specials as a recovery option, which leaves him with a much shorter recovery distance overall. This also leaves Wolf highly vulnerable to gimps and edgeguarding, with meteor smashes in particular being deadly against him even at low percents, to the point where exploiting his recovery offsets the increased horizontal endurance his higher weight would otherwise provide.

Though he is not short of finishers, Wolf can frequently have difficulty landing his most powerful ones due to their slow startup (with back aerial and all his smash attacks having more than 12 frames of startup), his below-average dashing speed, and his lack of guaranteed setups into them. Although he possesses true setups into Wolf Flash, such as from his forward aerial or down throw at medium percents, they are very risky to pull off, as he can either end up offstage after its use and thus inadvertently self-destruct (since it renders him helpless) or miss the sweetspots and end up vulnerable due to its high landing lag. Lastly, Wolf is, like Fox and Falco, very susceptible to combos because of his high falling speed and gravity. However, Wolf's heavier weight and lack of sufficiently fast options to escape pressure (his fastest aerial attacks start on frame 7) make this weakness even more apparent compared to Fox and Falco.

Overall, Wolf is a non-traditional glass cannon. He sacrifices the power of other glass cannons like Mewtwo and Mr. Game & Watch for sheer versatility, due to his combination of an effective projectile for disrupting and forcing approaches, fast approach options of his own, and an abundance of combo and KO options, which allow him to keep up the pressure on his opponent even after winning the neutral game. As such, Wolf is able to adapt to nearly any playstyle. However, due to his vulnerability to combos, poor recovery, and trouble securing KOs, Wolf must also be well aware of his opponents, as a single mistake can cause him to sustain heavy damage from combos and end up in a position where he, in turn, can easily be KO'd.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Wolf has received some of the most noticeable changes of any returning veteran, similarly to Link and Mr. Game & Watch. In Brawl, Wolf's moveset was rather unpolished compared to the rest of the cast, likely due to his late inclusion into the roster; by contrast, most of Wolf's moveset has been significantly reworked in Ultimate to be more polished and further distinguish him from Fox. This has led to a much larger overhaul in Wolf's moveset compared to other veterans, as several of his attacks either have altered or completely new animations alongside mechanical changes. As a result, Wolf has received a large mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition from Brawl, but has been considerably buffed overall.

Like most of the returning veterans, Wolf's initial dash is much faster, while his dash and air speed have been slightly increased. In addition to this, however, his fast falling speed is significantly faster, no longer providing the smallest falling speed increase out of the cast by a considerable margin, greatly enhancing his aerial approach and landing ability. Coupled with his superior mobility are the buffs to his Blaster, already an effective projectile in his previous appearance, and his new dash attack; the former's blasts deal more damage and knockback, while the latter covers much more horizontal range and is stronger. Both of these changes improve his neutral game, now boasting one of the most respectable ones among the cast.

Wolf's entire moveset has been generally improved. He has a new neutral aerial that gives him a vastly more effective approach option, his forward aerial has become an excellent combo starter due to its reduced ending and landing lag, and his back and up aerials have had their knockback noticeably increased (most notably the former). Back throw now deals enough knockback to be a KO option at the edge, and up throw and down throw have useful combo starters at low percentages. Wolf Flash and Fire Wolf are far stronger, giving him two more powerful, albeit risky, KO options; the former in particular can now be aimed up or down, slightly improving his horizontal recovery and potentially making the clean hit easier to land. Reflector has a stronger damage multiplier, which, combined with its intact speed multiplier, makes it the best of the three space animals.

Wolf also heavily benefits from the changes to gameplay mechanics. Aside from his faster mobility, the new air dodge mechanics, as well as the changes to hitstun canceling, allow Wolf to combo and juggle his opponents for a longer period of time; he has gained not only several more ways to start combos, but also KO setups into his powerful back aerial and Wolf Flash. The drastic weakening of momentum canceling allows his moves to KO earlier and overall put his survivability more in line with the cast. The removal of edgehogging in favor of ledge trumping and the removal of chain grabbing and meteor canceling also significantly improve his survivability; in particular, Wolf benefits from meteor canceling far more than any other returning veteran, as it puts his own survivability more in-line with the rest of the cast while making his down aerial and Wolf Flash more effective for KOing offstage.

However, Wolf has received a few significant nerfs as well. Some of his moves have received increased lag, such as his forward smash, down smash, and his renowned back aerial from Brawl, in exchange for more power; the latter two are particularly noteworthy due to their previous speed and already decent power. Because of this, Wolf has a more difficult time scoring KOs without resorting to setups at medium percentages, as his finishers are much harder to land in general, forcing him to either time them precisely or lure the opponent into them.

Additionally, several of Wolf's moves have less range to varying degrees. His new forward smash does not move him a considerable distance forward, while his forward aerial has lost its deceptively large disjoint. His recovery has also worsened due to both Fire Wolf and Wolf Flash's travel distances being shortened; unlike Fox's or Falco's own side special, Wolf Flash also still leaves him helpless after the move, which makes him more susceptible to edgeguarding than in Brawl. Wolf's neutral and forward aerials, while possessing greater combo ability and safety, are also weaker, and the former also has slower startup. Wolf's new down throw is now less effective for tech-chasing and setting up edgeguards because of its higher launch angle (though this is mitigated by Wolf's newfound combo game).

Despite Ultimate's new mechanics heavily benefiting Wolf, he has also seen a few nerfs from the changes to the mechanics, most notably the removal of DACUS, which hinders his grounded approach. Lastly, Wolf is much lighter, worsening his survivability (especially horizontally, due to the changes to momentum canceling), while he remains an easy combo target due to his high falling speed and the changes to hitstun canceling.

Overall, Wolf's buffs have drastically altered his playstyle for the better, though he now possesses a higher learning curve. He is now able to take advantage of his less polarized moveset and has gained a varied combo game that makes up for the loss of his previous damage-racking options in Brawl, but his higher frailty means he must keep playing carefully to avoid opponents from taking advantage of him. Wolf's buffs and benefits from the revamped game engine eclipse his nerfs overall, and he is widely agreed to perform better in Ultimate than in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Wolf's design takes some elements from his appearance in Star Fox Zero. He now sports a traditional eye patch instead of a visor, and his normal eye is red instead of purple. His fur is also more detailed and fluffier due to the game's graphical improvements.
• Wolf's jacket is now purple with heliotrope accents and has a more traditional appearance: it has a collar, buttons, a zipper, and a belt; it also appears to have more depth, and his necklace and choker have been replaced with a hop bush bandana (which he also wears on his left leg). His gloves match his jacket and are wrapped around in bands. Wolf's boots are less traditional and now have metallic plating strapped to them, with additional metal detailing protruding from his heels and toe boxes that resemble claws; he also wears shin guards that possess similar metallic details, and his knee pads are asymmetrical. The spikes on his shoulder pads and knee pad are significantly more protruding and are now old gold instead of gray. Lastly, Wolf no longer carries his reflecting device around. These changes make Wolf's design largely unique to Ultimate.
• Wolf has been updated with features introduced in Smash 4.
  • Wolf has a Boxing Ring title, a Palutena's Guidance conversation, and three new alternate costumes. All of his alternate costumes are completely renewed, with two of them being based on his teammates Andrew Oikonny and Pigma Dengar.
  • Wolf has voice clips for suffering high knockback, and waking up from sleep status when not suffering from any knockback similar to a few other characters such as Palutena and Cloud. Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf also share similar additions for the latter.
• Like many other characters, Wolf is more expressive. He now smirks in an evil manner on certain occasions, like his side taunt, spotdodging, when grabbing opponents, and his up victory pose.
• Wolf's landing sounds have been changed, with the loud metallic boot "clinks" from Brawl being replaced with softer ones.
• All of Wolf's claw-based attacks now sport purple claw trails.
• The majority of Wolf's animations are more fluid and polished with a majority of them (air dodge, rolls, spot dodge, shielding, etc.) now being unique to him rather than being borrowed from Fox's.
• Walking, dashing, and falling animations have all been altered.
• Crouching animation has been altered. He now kneels akin to the other spacies instead of laying on all four limbs. However, he transitions to his crouching animation from Brawl when holding a small item.
  • Wolf's new crouching animation doesn't lower his hurtboxes as much as before, making it easier to hit him vertically.
• Wolf's fur has physics-based movement.
• Wolf's ears now have unique animations, such as bending while dashing and twitching during his Brawl idle animation.
• Wolf's up taunt has him face the screen, regardless of which side he's currently facing.
  • The howling voice clip has been sped up to match the new animation.
• Wolf has a new side taunt, where he smirks and does a beckoning gesture with two fingers while asking "Are you scared?". This replaces his taunt from Brawl, in which he kicked the air three times and said "What's the matter, scared?".
• Wolf's crowd cheer only has the audience howling, instead of going "Wooolf! - *howl*".
• All of Wolf's victory poses have been given either updated animations or dialogues.
  • He has a new left-inputted victory pose where he claws the air and poses, replacing the victory pose where he snarls, crosses his arms, and then laughs.
  • His up-inputted victory pose now has him saying "You're good, but I'm better.", one of his famous lines from Star Fox 64. This replaces his "I will be the one to...take you down!" line from Brawl, which remains unchanged in Japanese.
  • His right-inputted victory pose ending animation has been altered as he now extends his right arm, keeping his left arm closer to his face as the camera zooms in. In addition, he now says "Weaklings, the lot of you." instead of "Weaklings, the bunch of you.".
• Wolf's specific victory dialogue against Fox ("Playtime's over, Star Fox!") has a chance of being used on any of his three victory poses rather than solely on the left-inputted victory pose.
• Wolf's tumbling animation no longer detaches his left arm from his elbow.

Attributes

• Wolf stands in an upright, much less awkward posture, similar to Yoshi and Bowser in their transitions from Brawl. This translates to his moveset, be it through a tweaked animation or a completely new move. However, he transitions to his idle animation from Brawl when holding a small item.
  • Wolf's new upright posture makes him harder to hit horizontally, but easier to hit vertically.
• The changes to hitstun canceling both help and hinder Wolf: they allow him to combo his opponents much better than in Brawl, but make him more susceptible to combos due to his fast falling speed.
• The 19% damage increase to shields, higher shieldstun and more limited out of shield options allow Wolf to pressure shields much more effectively, with many of his attacks now being safe on shield with proper spacing.
• The changes to momentum canceling both help and hinder Wolf: it makes his stronger moves more likely to KO and renders his vertical endurance more in line with the rest of the cast, but also worsens his horizontal endurance.
• The removal of meteor canceling benefits Wolf far more than any other character, as he is equally as vulnerable to meteor smashes as the rest of the cast instead of having a significantly longer meteor cancel delay, while making his own meteor smashes much more effective.
• The removal of chain grabbing significantly improves Wolf's survivability and matchups against several characters, most notably no longer being vulnerable to guaranteed zero-to-death combos.
  • However, it also slightly hinders Wolf's damage racking game, as he could chain grab with his down throw in Brawl.
• The removal of glide tossing and super glide tossing hinders Wolf's approach while holding items.
• Like all characters, Wolf's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
• Wolf is significantly lighter (102 → 92), going from a semi-heavyweight to a lighter middleweight (weighing the same as the Ice Climbers, Lucario and Villager). This significantly hinders his endurance, while not making him much less susceptible to combos from other characters due to the changes to hitstun canceling.
• Wolf walks slower (1.3 → 1.208).
• Wolf runs faster (1.4 → 1.54).
  • Wolf's initial dash speed is much faster (1.7 → 2.09).
• Wolf's air speed is faster (1.222 → 1.281).
• Wolf's fast fall speed is much higher and more in line with the rest of the roster (1.9 → 2.88), being far more useful than before.
• Wolf's traction is higher (0.07 → 0.11).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 32 → 30).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 32 → 35).
• Spot dodge has more startup and grants less intangibility (frames 2-20 → 3-17).
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 50 → 45).
• Air dodge grants less intangibility (frames 4-29 → 2-26).
• The changes to air dodging help Wolf overall, as they allow him to juggle his opponents more easily than in Brawl when coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling. They also give Wolf an effective way to mix up his recovery and landing options, the latter due to his fast falling speed.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits both transition into the next hits faster (frame 9 → 7).
  • The first hit deals less damage (3% → 2%).
  • All hits have smaller hitboxes (4u/3u/3u → 1.6u/1.8u/2.2u/2.2u (hit 1), 3u/3.5u/4u → 2u/2.5u/3u (hit 2), 5u/4u/4u → 2.5u/2.8u/4u (hit 3)) with a shorter duration (2 frames → 1 frame).
  • The first two hits have higher hitlag multipliers (1× → 1.6× (hit 1), 1.2× (hit 2)) and SDI multipliers (0.5× (hit 1), 0.3× (hit 2) → 1×).
  • The third hit no longer deals extra shield damage (6 → 0).
  • The first two hits have altered angles (80°/35°/30° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 20°/15°/45° → 361° (hit 2)) and knockback (22/26/28 base/30 scaling (hit 1), 35/50/15/25 (hit 2) → 25/20 base/25/20 scaling) to keep opponents close to Wolf, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect better and jab lock, but worsens their jab cancel setups.
  • Neutral attack has a much cleaner look overall. The ending hit is a third claw swipe instead of a lunging bite.
• Forward tilt:
  • The changes to shield hitlag from Brawl make forward tilt safer on shield, as shielding opponents now experience the same hitlag as Wolf from the first hit instead of much less, preventing them from punishing him before the second hit comes out.
  • The first hit has less knockback scaling (110 → 70), allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • Forward tilt has more ending lag (FAF 33 → 35).
  • The first hit is no longer impossible to SDI (0× → 1×).
  • The first hit has a different angle (361° → 60°) and a lower hitlag multiplier (3× → 1.8×).
  • The second hit has more base knockback (40 → 55), but less knockback scaling (120 → 106). This slightly worsens its KO ability from center stage, but improves it near edges.
  • The move has an updated animation where Wolf forcefully brings his claws together.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt's hitboxes that affect both grounded and aerial opponents have reversed priority (10%/9%/8% → 8%/9%/10%), making the sweetspot harder to land.
  • All hitboxes except the grounded-and-aerial sweetspot are smaller (6u/5u/5u → 4.5u).
  • The grounded sweetspot launches at a lower angle (88° → 80°).
  • It has a new ending animation where Wolf flicks his nose with his thumb while smirking.
• Dash attack:
  • Wolf has a new dash attack: a lunging kick instead of a backflip.
  • It no longer halts Wolf's momentum, instead boosting him forward a considerable distance. This drastically increases its horizontal range, despite its hitboxes being smaller (3.5u/4.5u/5u → 2.5u/3.5u/4u). It can also cross-up opponents despite the changes to the jostle mechanics.
  • It has a longer hitbox duration with a clean hit and late hit, though with the former still lasting longer than the previous dash attack's hitboxes (frames 11-13 → 11-14 (clean), 15-18 (late)).
  • The clean hit deals more damage (9% → 11%) and has increased knockback (50 base/80 scaling → 40/40/45 base/92/91/85 scaling), noticeably improving its KO potential. Combined with its previous buffs, this allows it to punish landings and whiffed attacks much more effectively.
  • Due to its new animation and smaller hitboxes, dash attack has less vertical range.
  • It no longer deals extra shield damage (1 → 0), although it is still more damaging against shields due to its increased damage output.
• Forward smash:
  • Wolf has a new forward smash: a forceful standing palm strike that deals one hit instead of two.
  • Due to dealing one hit with the same damage as the total of the previous hits (5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) → 15%), and its knockback values being unchanged, it is more consistent and much stronger, allowing it to KO middleweights at 100% from the center of Final Destination, compared to being unable to KO below 140% under the same circumstances.
  • It has double the startup lag (frame 10 → 20), no longer being one of the fastest forward smashes in the game.
    • However, it has less ending lag (FAF 46 → 42), especially given the slower startup. Coupled with its increased damage and much higher shieldstun, it is now safe on shield and can be used to bait approaches.
  • It does not have Wolf lunge as far forward, and its hitboxes are smaller (4.5u/4u/3u (hit 1), 6.5u/5u (hit 2) → 3.5u/3u), significantly decreasing its range.
• Up smash:
  • The second hit has a longer duration (frames 20-22 → 20-23).
  • Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 44 → 48).
  • The removal of DACUS significantly hinders its utility for approaching.
  • The second hit has a consistent angle (95°/361° → 95°), with the hitboxes on Wolf's body no longer launching horizontally, and has different knockback values (40/50 base/85/100 scaling → 85 base/65 scaling), strengthening the leg hitboxes, but weakening the body hitboxes. This improves its vertical KO power, but removes its ability to KO earlier horizontally.
  • The move has an altered animation: a breakdance-style rotation followed by an upward dropkick. The hits are also clearly highlighted by trails.
    • This animation change now properly matches its hitboxes for the first hit.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash deals more damage (14%/12% → 16%/14% (hit 1), 13%/10% → 14%/12% (hit 2)). The sweetspots also deal increased and consistent knockback (40/50 base/50 scaling → 37/93 (hit 1), 40/50 base/90 scaling → 50/90 (hit 2).
  • The sourspots deal increased knockback scaling (60 → 80), significantly improving their KO potential.
  • The hitboxes launch at a lower angle (35°/361° → 30°/35°), allowing them to semi-spike. Combined with their knockback increase, they can KO opponents near edges at much lower percents, especially if Wolf has rage.
  • Down smash has noticeably more startup (frame 8 → 14 (hit 1), 14 → 21 (hit 2)), and more ending lag (FAF 35 → 44).
  • The second hit has considerably smaller hitboxes (5.5u/4.4u/4.4u → 2.5u/3u/3.5u).
  • The move's animation has been altered: Wolf swipes both sides with one hand.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Wolf has a new neutral aerial: a sex kick similar to Fox's.
  • It has one frame less landing lag (10 frames → 9).
  • It deals more damage (8% → 12% (clean), 3%/1% → 8% (late)).
  • The clean hit uses three hitboxes instead of only one (4u → 4.2u/4.2u/3.5u), while the late hit has larger hitboxes (4u/2.5u/2.5u → 4u/4u/3u), and both cover a larger area in front of Wolf due to the move's new animation. This greatly improves its utility as an approach option.
  • The late hit no longer has weak set knockback (5 set/100 scaling → 0 base/100 scaling) or a rehit rate, increasing its safety and preventing it from overriding the knockback of the stronger clean hit. Combined with the changes to hitstun canceling, this also increases the move's combo potential on landing.
  • Neutral aerial has more startup and a shorter hitbox duration (frames 4-34 → 7-26).
    • However, the clean hit has a longer duration (frames 4-5 → 7-9).
  • The clean hit deals less knockback (40 base/100 scaling → 30/75), slightly weakening its KO potential despite its increased damage.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has less ending lag (FAF 52 → 41), making it safer to use offstage.
  • It has significantly less landing lag (30 frames → 10), which alongside the changes to hitstun canceling turns it into an excellent combo starter from low to mid percents, with followups including tilts, a grab, aerials (including more forward aerials), and Wolf Flash. This also makes it much safer on shield.
  • It deals less damage (11% → 9%) and knockback (40 base/95 scaling → 45/85), drastically hindering its KO potential.
  • Its hitboxes are much smaller (7u/5u/4u → 4.5u/4u/3.5u), no longer possessing a large disjoint.
  • Forward aerial sends opponents at a less vertical angle (75° → 60°).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's weakest hitbox has been removed, while all its other hitboxes deal more damage (13%/11%/10% → 15%/13%/11%) and have increased base knockback (20 → 37). This drastically improves its KO potential, with the sweetspot KOing middleweights under 110% from center stage, and the middlespot doing so under 130%.
    • However, its increased knockback removes its ability to lock opponents at lower percents.
  • Back aerial is noticeably slower overall, possessing twice as much startup with a shorter duration (frames 6-9 → 13-15), and more ending (FAF 30 → 45) and landing lag (9 frames → 15). This hinders its utility for challenging opponents' approaches and starting combos, and makes it riskier to use offstage.
    • However, due to the move's auto-cancel window remaining unchanged, its slower startup makes it harder to punish if used in a short hop.
  • The sourspots are smaller (5.3u/4.7u → 4.5u/4u) and now take priority over the sweetspot, requiring more careful spacing to KO efficiently with the move.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has more knockback scaling (75 → 85), improving its KO potential.
  • The changes to hitstun canceling noticeably improve its combo potential.
  • It has one frame more landing lag (9 frames → 10).
  • The outermost hitbox is smaller (5.5u → 5u).