Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU)/Down aerial

Overview
takes out the giant key from the version of , and then performs a downward-diving thrust while holding it beneath himself, making the move a stall-then-fall aerial. Similar to, Mr. Game & Watch can influence his descent while using down aerial.

This move is surprisingly disjointed and descends quite quickly, making it difficult to challenge directly from below. It also has decently strong KO potential, with a meteor smash on the early hit and a strong late hit. Running off with down aerial to try and meteor smash is also a valid strategy, as Mr. Game & Watch will survive even without a jump. This makes it a decent landing option in disadvantage, especially when considering the strong autocancel. If one full hops and then uses Fire, it can also autocancel. It can also work from a side platform on Battlefield. This can make the move significantly safer than most stall-and-fall aerials, though he still remains vulnerable during the move's animation.

However, like many stall-and-fall aerials, down aerial has its drawbacks. It has very high landing lag which can make it punishable upon landing, although its landing hitbox can mitigate this to a degree against careless opponents. The move also leaves Mr. Game & Watch completely vulnerable from the sides and above, making it among the most punishable moves in his kit. It is also still possible to challenge down aerial from below with moves such as 's strong, intangible up aerial. In addition, it only deals 4 frames of shieldstun with both the aerial and landing hitboxes, making it extremely unsafe on shield (-17 with the landing hitbox). Due to how the shield is hit in-context, this usually allows opponents to jump out of shield and avoid the landing hitbox, making it even less safe.

Update History
   

Hitboxes

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Attack
The move first sets Mr. Game & Watch's vertical momentum to 1 on frames 1-11, then to -3.1 from frame 12 onward.



Trivia

 * The clean hit is coded as an extended hitbox despite not actually being extended. This prevents it from interpolating.