Wario (SSBU)

Wario (, Wario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside and the rest of the returning roster. Wario is classified as Fighter #30.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, 's portrayal of Wario from Super Smash Bros. Brawl was repurposed for Ultimate.

Wario is currently ranked 24th out of 82 characters on the current Ultimate tier list; a significant improvement from his tier placement in Smash 4 where he was ranked 40th out of 54.

Wario is one of the characters that benefited the most from Ultimate's engine as he is no longer affected by a long jumpsquat animation. Since all jumpsquats were standardized to frame 3, Wario has a much easier time at utilizing his fantastic aerials which are all fast and deal large amounts of damage. Wario's already strong combo game was made much more effective due to this, and thanks to the other buffs he received, he now has many reliable combo strings that either dish out a ton of damage or reliably combo into Wario Waft. As a whole, Wario is able to kill very early and reliably thanks to said Wario Waft, as well as his new dash attack and forward tilt which serve as reliable and effective kill moves. Wario's camping game is also surprisingly effective as his decent grounded movement and fantastic aerial movement allow for him to wait until Waft is charged.

However, Wario still suffers from core issues that hold him back. Wario retains his relatively short range which has made him struggle against the many top tiers who have massive hitboxes and swords or can camp him effectively. Due to this and a lack of a projectile, Wario's neutral game is noticeably poor as he has a lot of trouble getting in versus some of these characters making it difficult for him versus some of these characters.

Despite this and the nerfs to his recovery, Wario's strengths greatly overshadow his weaknesses. Although Wario would receive nerfs via patch updates and would gain more difficult matchups against newer DLC characters such as, & , , and , he is still a viable character with decent representation, in particular amassing consistently high results from players such as.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following: Wario must then be defeated on WarioWare, Inc. (the Ω form is used in World of Light).
 * Play VS. matches, with Wario being the 24th character to be unlocked.
 * Clear with  or any character in her unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after.
 * Have Wario join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes
Wario is a short heavyweight character with a great air game and surprisingly fantastic movement in the air. He boasts the 8th fastest air speed in the game, in addition to being tied for the 2nd best air acceleration. Wario also sports an above average falling speed and the 26th highest gravity, which alongside the previous attributes gives him an amazing aerial prowess despite having low jumps. However, his grounded mobility pales in comparison, as his dashing speed and traction are average at best, and his walking speed is the 12th slowest in the game. Using his high mobility and versatile aerial attacks, Wario is able to dip in and out of the fray to bait attacks and punish. Wario's attacks in general also tend to be disjointed, as his hands don't have a hurtbox. He's also fairly hard to hit since he's relatively nimble and short for a heavy character, though fairly wide, meaning he can still be vulnerable to combos and juggles.

Furthermore, Wario boasts strong aerials, with his down, and back aerials being potent kill moves, while the up aerial is a highly damaging juggling and combo extension tool, with limited killing ability as well. Thanks to Ultimate's universal 3-frame jumpsquat, he can finally utilize his forward and neutral aerials as fast moves that can combo and pressure his opponents. Wario's air control and quick aerials also make him very effective at edgeguarding.

Wario's ground game contrasts with his air game in that it focuses more on power than speed. His forward tilt and forward smash are among the strongest in the cast, although both are rather slow, and the latter is best suited for hard reads. His up and down tilts are great combo tools that could potentially lead into kill moves, and his new shoulder tackle dash attack is both extremely fast in terms of startup and one of the strongest dash attacks in the game.

Wario's grabs are not particularly fast but have above average range. His throws have their fair share utility, with his up throw being able to combo into his up aerial and his down throw being both quite damaging and great for keeping opponents close to pressure them further. Forward throw deals decent damage, and back throw having a strong collateral hitbox that is good at knocking away other combatants.

Wario's special moves are also very unorthodox, and they demand practice to be usable at their highest potentials. Chomp is one of the best command grabs in the game, having deceptively long range and decent startup. It heals Wario if it connects, can effectively cover certain edge recoveries and even kill at high percents, negate certain attacks such as Wonderwing, and absorb many projectiles, often with the benefit of further healing him and slightly increasing the charge of his Wario Waft. His Waft is his most significant move because, with time, it is a highly damaging kill move with an extremely fast startup. With Waft in his arsenal, any match can be turned around with the right read. Wario Bike gives Wario an unorthodox approach option that covers for his fairly slow ground movement, and the bike itself continues to move forward and hit opposing fighters even after Wario dismounts it. This gives him a large pseudo-projectile which can apply pressure when used effectively, but the bike has a respawn time which prevents this from being used as a normal projectile. It can be used to surprise unsuspecting players as an approach tool that can blow past some projectiles, dismounted and thrown like an item with kill power, a very effective recovery tool, and a way for Wario to heal and charge his Waft when he eats it. On the flip side, Wario cannot shield or dodge while on the bike and is vulnerable, opponents can throw it right back at him, and if it's destroyed, he has to wait six seconds before using it again, which can leave him helpless while recovering as his up special, the Corkscrew is rather lackluster as a recovery on its own (although it is a decent out-of-shield option as it is his fastest recovery move).

For all of his strengths, Wario does have several weaknesses to counterbalance them. His range is rather mediocre, especially in moves such as neutral aerial and forward aerial, and he lacks projectile attacks outside of a dismounted Wario Bike and thus must take a risk to deal damage. While his bike recovery can go a far distance, it is fairly easy to gimp him when he uses it, so Wario players have to be careful with when and how it is used. While Wario does have some fast moves, he is certainly slower and heavier on average than most characters that share his weaknesses, so he can sometimes be overwhelmed in the neutral against small characters with better range than him. Wario will have to use his overall high mobility to bait his opponents into making mistakes and capitalize on them with his highly damaging combos and powerful kill moves.

Despite having a variety of KO moves, Wario can have a difficult time landing them. Firstly, he is burdened with a rather poor set of smash attacks. All three have extremely high ending lag and are very unsafe on shield making them easily punishable while only having average or slightly above average power. Forward smash is very strong but suffers from slow startup and very high ending lag with deceptively short range, up smash has decent startup and grants Wario head intangibility, but has massive ending lag to the point where Wario will be standing at the end of the animation of the move and still be in lag. Finally, down smash has fast startup coming out on frame 8, but has extreme ending lag and very mediocre power which makes it one of Wario's least useful moves. His other KO moves such as his Back aerial, forward tilt and Dash attack also suffer from being sluggish or predictable on top of lacking legitimate kill throws as his forward throw has had its knockback reduced from its previous iteration. This means Wario can often be reliant on Wario Waft for an easier, early KO and is left with a more difficult process of finishing off opponents should it miss.

All in all, Wario is a quite mobile and versatile heavyweight brawler that rewards patient players who know how to use his movement and signature Waft to their fullest potentials. His damage-racking ability and kill power also rewards players heavily for finding creative ways to get around his rather poor range and lack of a proper projectile, and his versatile options and movement give players just the tools to do it.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Possibly due to his lower tier status in Smash 4 (41st out of 55 characters), Wario has been significantly buffed in his transition to Ultimate. His combo game has been strengthened drastically, and the changes to gameplay mechanics benefit both the aggressive and patient sides of his playstyle.

Wario has received both direct and indirect changes that grant him a much more dangerous offensive game, which he previously did not boast about in previous installments. His neutral aerial has been altered, possessing more range, both hits lingering for much longer, and the move now having an extremely lenient amount of ending lag of only four frames; while up tilt has had its knockback reduced to the point that, despite losing all of its KO power, has gained drastically more combo potential at low to mid-percentages. These two moves are now some of the game's best combo starters, with their late hits leading into a repertoire of moves even at high percentages. The power of his moveset has also been strengthened overall; most notably, his new forward tilt, back aerial and new dash attack all deal greater knockback; the former also has more range that's disjointed, allowing it to 2 frame punish with more ease when angled, and the latter can be used as an effective tech-chasing tool. Chomp now has actual KO potential and heals damage from Wario when biting an opponent or eating projectiles, overall improving his already good survivability. Wario Bike now possesses actual knockback, allowing it to be used situationally as a projectile.

The changes to the game's engine benefit Wario. As with the rest of the cast, Wario's overall mobility has been improved, with his faster grounded and aerial mobility, and streamlined 3-frame jumpsquat, allowing for a safer approach and utilization of his strong aerial game; the former change also allows Wario to camp opponents and build up his Wario Waft, while the latter change gives him a more viable out of shield game. Directional air dodges also add a new option to his already great and versatile recovery. The universal lower landing lag on aerial attacks benefits Wario the most, as this has granted his neutral, forward and up aerials more reliable combo potential such as into his other aerials and, most infamously, Wario Waft.

In spite of this, Wario did receive a few notorious nerfs to his best moves in SSB4. Wario Bike, similarly to its Brawl incarnation, can no longer be used immediately after despawning or being destroyed, forcing Wario to wait six seconds before it can be used again, which limits Wario's recovery should he end up offstage while its cooldown is in effect. Forward throw, previously his only throw with consistently good KO potential, is much weaker due to its redistributed damage output; this hinders his grab game, as he no longer has any reasonably viable kill throws, and forces him to rely on Chomp to KO an opponent. Finally, game updates have caused Wario Waft's higher levels of charge to possess slower startup, impairing their usage as standalone moves such as out of shield, though the move still retains its fear factor through Wario's newfound combo game allowing it to confirm into it. Wario also retains a few weaknesses from SSB4, notably a vulnerability to camping.

Overall, Wario has become a more reliable "lightning bruiser", with an intrincate combo game that can lead into devastatingly low percentage KOs as well as having more reliable kill power at high percentages, though at the cost of a few of his tools from the previous game being toned down. Game updates have watered down a bit the effectiveness of Wario's kit, but they haven't dramatically impacted his viability. All in all, his buffs outweigh his nerfs, and he has been a very successful character in competitive play, in stark contrast to his mediocre SSB4 iteration.

Update history
Wario received buffs, nerfs and a few glitch fixes, but was nerfed overall. Update 2.0.0 made Wario grab the ledge sooner after using down aerial. Update 3.0.0 brought slight buffs to Chomp, increasing its swallow box size and giving it less ending lag after eating a small projectile. 3.0.0 also made it so Wario would flash yellow when Wario Bike was ready to use again. Update 8.0.0 fixed Wario's forward throw so that the hitbox no longer blatantly misses characters like Ganondorf, and lowered the ending lag when Wario ate food using Chomp. Update 9.0.0 buffed Corkscrew so that now it links more reliably and deals more damage overall.

While most changes were negligible, patch 11.0.0 affected Wario the most. His up tilt was given less active frames, and the third and max level of Wario Waft have more startup and ending lag. Though as compensation, the super armor on the max Waft now starts earlier and lasts longer. All these changes together nerfed one of Wario's notoriously dangerous and easiest set-ups, and making Wario Waft less effective overall.

Update 13.0.1 graced Wario with small buffs for one last time, making his neutral attack deal more damage (to the point that it is tied for the third most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the game) and have less ending lag.

While Wario was made a somewhat less effective character overall, it was not enough to massively dent Wario's status and prowess in competitive play, and Wario is still seen as a top tier character with fantastic results to this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Wario's hitboxes, see here.
 * Wario can crawl.

On-screen appearance

 * Crashes onstage with his bike while laughing. Wario then jumps off and his bike explodes as he dusts himself off.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Laughs so hard that his jaw unhinges, then forces his mouth shut with his hands.
 * Side taunt: Shakes his rear end at the screen with his hands extended in each direction while making an "Unh-unh!" kind of noise.
 * Down taunt: Faces the screen and shouts "Wah!" three times, with the third "Wah!" having the most enthusiasm. For each "Wah!" Wario holds up three fingers forming a "W" (his initials), first with his left hand, then his right, then both hands simultaneously.
 * Bike taunt: Laughs and faces the screen while doing his signature "W" hand sign with both hands, and then picks his nose with his left hand.

Idle poses

 * Bashes his fists together twice.
 * Scratches his bottom while looking towards the screen.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Walks forward, pats his belly twice, then farts, sniffs his behind, and scratches his head, saying "Ooh!" in surprise.
 * Up: Spins around with his motorcycle, stops while facing the screen saying "Yes!", plucks the end of his mustache, and holds up three fingers in the shape of a W.
 * Right: Laughs gloatingly and then falls over, rolling on his back.

Tier placement and history
Since the beginning of Ultimate's metagame, Wario was commonly said to be superior to his previous iterations due to his more consistent KO options, his already fast speed being further increased, and his stronger, more reliable combo game. His waft is also notorious as a comeback mechanic for closing out stocks when in a dire or last stock situation. Wario also benefits from having a frame 3 jumpsquat greatly as he can now make more use out of his air game.

Unlike in Smash 4 where Wario's results diminished as the metagame went on, he has maintained the same level of success from all of his top players. , in particular, has won several majors with the character, winning, , , and. is also the best player in Europe by a large margin, having won almost every European major and placing consistently high at majors in North America, most notably winning and getting 2nd at  with the character. Japan developed Wario's potential even further as he is one of the most represented characters in Japan, with many players such as, , and using him as a main or secondary. Due to his dominance across the world, opinions on Wario have been extremely positive as, , , , , and believe that the character is among top 5 in the game with  and  claiming that he is the absolute best character in the game.

However, this is slightly debatable due to nerfs that Wario received in patch 11.0.0 which nerfed his up tilt and his Wario Waft. These nerfs have made it noticeably harder for Wario to land his easiest confirms into waft. On top of that, Wario's notorious combo game is worse due to up tilt's nerf. Therefore Wario is seen as a less effective character than before; however, throughout 2022, Wario has still been achieving fine success in bracket, with Glutonny notably being rather dominant throughout the first half of the year at North American majors, having taken sets off of MkLeo,, , Dabuz and more, with popular opinion still being that the character is a high tier at the very least, currently placing 24th on the first tier list.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Wario players (SSBU)


 * - One of the best Wario players in Japan but has since dropped the character. Placed 1st at, 3rd at , 5th at , and 9th at both and . Ranked 24th with the character on the Fall 2019 PGRU.
 * - The best Wario player in Australia but has since switched to mostly . Placed 2nd at both and ,3rd at, 4th at , and 5th at   with wins over players such as , , and .Ranked 3rd on the Australian Power Rankings.
 * - The best Wario player of all time. Placed 1st at, and , as well as 2nd at  and 3rd at . Ranked 1st on the PGRU v3 EU and 3rd on the PGRU v3 NA.
 * - Co-mains and Wario and is the best Wario player in Japan after COVID-19 pandemic. Placed  3rd at, 5th at , 7th at both  and , and 17th at  with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 44th on the Experimental Smash Player Rankings.
 * - Co-mains Wario alongside and is one of the best Wario players in the United States. Placed 2nd at, 5th at , 13th at , 17th at , and 25th at  with wins over players such as  and.
 * - Formerly used Wario alongside and was considered one of the best Wario players in Japan. Placed 1st at both  and, 3rd at , 5th at , and 13th at . Ranked 11th with the character on the Fall 2019 PGRU.
 * - The best Wario player in the world in the early metagame, but has since relegated the character to a secondary. Placed 1st at, 2nd at and , 7th at , and 9th at . Ranked 3rd with the character on the Fall 2019 PGRU.
 * - The best Wario player in Norway but has since switched to mostly . Placed 2nd at, 13th at , 17th at , and 33rd at with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 41st on the European Smash Rankings.
 * - Formerly used Wario as a secondary alongside and  and is one of the best Wario players in the world. Placed 1st at both  and, 2nd at , 3rd at , and 7th at . Ranked 12th with the character on the Spring 2019 PGRU.

: I'm-a Gonna Win!
All of Wario's opponents are champions who utilize brute strength and hard, heavy-hitting attacks, much like Wario himself. The only base roster heavy characters absent are and.

While the English title refers to Wario's catchphrase in the international version of : "I'm-a Wario! I'm-a gonna win!", the Japanese title more accurately reflects the theme of the route, translating roughly to "My super strength is number one!"

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Wario has  accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light
Although Wario does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Wario was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He can be found in the sub-area. A switch must be pressed to change the orientation of the lever blocking him.

Spirits
Wario's default fighter spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Wario has been unlocked. Unlocking Wario 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. His classic outfit has a fighter spirit of its own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Wario also makes an appearance as a legend-class primary spirit as his alter ego, Wario-Man.

Trivia

 * Wario's entry on the Japanese Super Smash Blog was on August 2nd, 2018, the same day  was released in Japan.
 * Wario's buttons on his overalls in the E3 video, his showcase video, and one of his website screenshots were incorrectly gold, as opposed to their usual white. However, in the final game, the error was corrected.
 * Wario, along with and, each have a Classic Mode route that consists almost entirely of super-heavyweight fighters.
 * One of the Japanese website screenshots that show Wario using his neutral aerial shows him doing the move with an angry expression on his face, which was changed in the final release with Wario having a happy expression while using the move.
 * Despite receiving non-English voice actors in non-English versions of WarioWare Gold, Wario is still voiced by Charles Martinet in all versions of Ultimate.
 * Wario's overalls outfit has odd properties with his face in covering textures such as and the Metal Box's activation, with his face being covered instantly by these instead of gradually.
 * Prior to 8.0.0, Wario's forward throw did not work correctly on due to the first hit not connecting properly.
 * Wario and R.O.B. are the only first-party sole fighters of their series that can be found in The Dark Realm.
 * In Wario's biker outfit, because his jacket has been given more physics-based movement, certain animations will cause it to disconnect, exposing a gap underneath his arm.

Wario (SSBU)