Charizard (SSB4)/Up smash

Overview
Charizard bats one wing upwards in front of it in an arching manner, while then batting its other wing upwards in an arch from behind. Its startup is exceptionally fast; with the first hitbox coming out on frame 6, it is tied with ' and the Pits' up smashes for second fastest startup among up smashes in the game, with only 's up smash having faster startup. This combines well with Charizard's very fast dashing speed, making running up smashes an especially effective option. The wings are additionally intangible, while covering a huge amount of space above Charizard, enough so that Charizard can directly challenge and beat about any downward-hitting attack in the game without getting hit, including down aerials with large disjointed hitboxes such as 's dair and 's dair. The first wing strike also reaches a decent amount in front of Charizard, so he can use it to effectively scoop up grounded opponents into the second hit.

The first swing does 5% in damage, while the second deals 11% in damage, resulting in the up smash dealing a decently high 16.8% in damage if both hits connect on its first usage. The knockback of the second hit is exceptionally powerful regardless of where it hits, and it will KO around 100-130% before rage, with being KO'd at about 111% above Charizard, while  is KO'd at 88% and  is KO'd at 133%. With maximum rage, up smash will KO about up to 20-30% sooner, with the aforementioned KO percentages becoming 87%, 69%, and 106% respectively. Its launch angle is also a mostly vertical 83 degrees, so when combined with its high knockback scaling, DI has little effect on extending survival from it, with optimal DI extending survival by about only 3-5%.

Usually the first hit will connect opponents seamlessly into the second hit regardless of rage. However the farthest hitbox of the first swing is a meteor smash with nearly nonexistent set knockback. When this hitbox connects on a grounded opponent, they will not be lifted off the ground and they can act before the second hit comes out, meaning they can put their shield up before the second hit comes if they're in position to be hit by it. If it connects with an aerial opponent, it'll drop them down right next to Charizard in a standing ready position while the second hit usually soars harmlessly above them. When this hit connects, the opponent is in a prime position to harshly punish Charizard if they react fast enough, as seen in this example.

For ending lag, the final hitbox ceases on frame 22, while Charizard can first act on frame 49, so the move has a decently low 27 frames' worth of endlag. However due to the nature of the move, rarely will Charizard hit an opposing shield with this last frame. Against an opponent on an above platform, the second hit will usually connect on its first active frame, resulting in effectively 32 frames of endlag, which with its only moderate damage output, results in only moderate shieldstun, giving a shielding opponent 23 frames to act before Charizard. This is enough time for opponents to drop their shield and fall through a platform to punish with an aerial without needing to shield drop. If the first hit connects with a shielding opponent on its first hitbox while they're out of range for the second hit, the move is severely punishable; the move will have a severely high 42 frames of endlag with a shielding opponent having 37 frames of advantage while being barely pushed back. The move's decently high total duration also means should the move whiff completely, there's a decently wide window for the opponent to punish Charizard. Overall the move fares poorly on shield and can be whiff punished with ease, so while it can be landed easily, Charizards can't mindlessly use the move without getting punished for it.

Application
Due to its power and ease of landing, this is one of Charizard's primary KO moves and overall its best KO move. It can be easily landed through a soft read and can be realistically landed as a raw move in neutral, though is usually landed on an opponent in disadvantage, particularly as they're landing as the move works wonderfully for covering opponent's landings. Charizard additionally possesses an effective and semi-reliable kill setup into the move; at KO percents when Charizard has an opponent caught in its jab, the second hit will lightly pop the opponent up, where the hitstun + lag from landing shortly afterward will allow Charizard to wait out the window for following through with the final hit and instead go for an up smash that can hit the opponent in this situation. If the opponent airdodges in this situation, the second hit will still usually hit them and KO, while if they try jumping out, the range of the first hit may still nab them

Besides KOing, the move is a key part of Charizard's exceptional advantage state. It's a fast and very effective anti-air as previously covered, so when combined with Charizard's very fast dashing speed, Charizard can cover landings extremely well, and opponents will have to actively out-think and out-maneuver Charizard to avoid being caught in it. Then with its vertical launch trajectory and high knockback, it puts opponents right back in the air to be potentially caught again and put into a cycle where they cannot land; it's not uncommon for Charizards to land multiple up smashes in a row once they get the opponent in the air, which with its high damage output, will snowball their damage at a rapid rate. As such, alongside being a primary KO move, it also serves as an important damage racker for Charizard. Stale-move negation is of little concern with repeatedly using up smash, as an immediate usage after a fresh usage will KO only 4-6% later and each additional immediate successive usage will KO later at half that rate, so the damage output from Charizard's up smash will well outpace the staling rate and remain an effective KO move, while Charizard possesses plenty of other good KO moves to KO with.

For damage racking purposes, Charizard has multiple setups into the move at low to mid damages. The most common is down throw into up smash, a true throw combo that works from 0% to 10-30%, that deals a decently high 22% while setting the opponent up in an immediate disadvantage state, though at this point the opponent usually isn't sent high enough for Charizard to snowball its advantage. Charizard can also followup its back throw with up smash at these percents for an even greater 27% damage, though this combo isn't true and requires a bad airdodge or landing option from the opponent to hit. Another true combo that can work at low percents is following up an autocancelled neutral aerial with up smash, with this usually occurring when Charizard causes an opponent to slide off a platform with nair. At middish percents, Charizard can true combo a grounded opponent being struck by down aerial into an unavoidable up smash should they not tech the dair, for up to 31.5% damage. And at very low percents, it's possible for Charizard to true combo Rock Smash into up smash; at these percentages the opponent can be hit by the rock shards after being struck by the initial hit, while the rock shards can override the knockback of the strong initial hit and leave the opponent slightly above Charizard, leading to an unavoidable up smash. The Rock Smash to up smash combo deals up to a staggering 47% in damage, far outstripping the damage output of any other Charizard combo, while leaving the opponent in an unfavorable position that Charizard can abuse.

Despite being a smash attack, the move has some defensive utility. Being such a good and quick anti-air, Charizard can use it to defend itself from aerial approaches that aren't attacking Charizard from sufficiently far enough horizontally. The move also has utility as an effective out of shield option, with a jump-cancelled up smash being a frame 6 OoS move (thus beating out Charizard's grab for its fastest OoS option and being as fast as the fastest grabs in the game), while having enough horizontal reach in front of Charizard to OoS punish poorly spaced moves, and quick, weak short-ranged moves like various jabs and tilts. It can also of course OoS punish moves while the opponent is in some vicinity above Charizard that he can't shieldgrab or safely hit with Fly, such as a going through its shield with Afterburner Kick.

For a final utility, while the meteor hitbox on the first swing is usually a drastic detriment that prevents the second hit from hitting and causes Charizard to get punished for landing up smash, it's weak enough that it can be used to jab lock opponents. This usage rarely pops up, as Charizard can only hit the biggest opponents knocked down on the ground with this hitbox when at equivalent ground levels. A scenario to jab lock with it usually only occurs when an opponent is knocked down on a platform above Charizard, though should the jab lock occur and the second hit misses, Charizard doesn't have enough time to jump up onto the platform to get a more substantial punish, and thus can only charge up smash for its most substantial punish, overall resulting in only slightly more damage than both hits connecting initially on the opponent would have caused. The most substantial usage of this utility occurs in the Charizard ditto match; should a Charizard hit the other's shield with Flare Blitz, a properly-spaced running reverse up smash will hit the knocked down Charizard with the meteor hitbox and jab lock them, allowing them to then be punished with a charged forward smash.

Overall Charizard's up smash is one of its best moves and one of the best up smashes in the game despite its punishability and occasional connection issues, and learning how to effectively utilise it in all its utilities is important for a player to effectively push Charizard's advantage and defensive games.

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