Luigi (SSB4)

Luigi (, Luigi) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. His return to the series was announced during a Nintendo Direct on August 7th, 2013, which coincided with the announcement of  and commemorated the.

Charles Martinet's portrayal of Luigi from Super Smash Bros. Brawl was repurposed for Smash 4.

Luigi is ranked 18th out of 54 in the tier list, placing him in the B tier. This is a significant improvement over his low-mid tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 28th out of 38, and is Luigi's best proportional tier ranking in the series to date. Luigi's most notable strength is the utility of his moveset: his overall fast frame data makes him difficult to punish and supplements his very consistent and strong combo game; his excellent air game is supplemented by a number of his grounded moves having favorable launching angles, as well as his high jumps and the utility of his aerials: all his aerials can autocancel in a short hop with lenient autocancel windows, generally have low startup and ending lag, are good for combos and his sweetspotted back aerial and clean neutral aerial are strong KO potions; and Fireball is a fairly quick projectile with decent range.

Luigi's attributes have also improved. In addition to a much faster dashing speed, his air game and aerial mobility benefit from his much faster fast falling speed; higher gravity; lower short hop; and higher jump. Lastly, Luigi's recovery remains unpredictable and long-distanced, as Green Missile and Luigi Cyclone are both risky to intercept.

However, Luigi has retained his noticeable weaknesses from previous installments. Luigi's mobility is still slow and awkward in spite of its improvements: his faster dashing speed is slightly below-average at best, while his low traction and slow air speed still largely hinder his out of shield options, punishment ability, and the versatility of his recovery. Despite having Fireball, the majority of Luigi's range is still short, which prevents him from racking up damage from a safe distance, especially against characters that have projectiles and/or disjointed hitboxes.

Overall, Luigi tends to run hot-and-cold like in previous installments. He initially had a large playerbase and excellent results, the latter of which was demonstrated by winning B.E.A.S.T 5 with him. Although update 1.1.1 nerfed Luigi's combo game to the point that his playerbase has decreased, he has nevertheless continued to achieve excellent results at local and regional tournaments, and respectable results at national tournaments. This has been most evident with, whose consistent success--his highest point being barely finishing runner-up to in GameTyrant Expo 2017--has caused Luigi's current tier placement to become somewhat debatable.

Attributes
Luigi is a middleweight whose attributes differ noticeably from other characters of the same weight class. Although he has average walking speed, his dashing speed is slightly below-average and his traction is the lowest in the game. Luigi's aerial attributes are also very atypical for a middleweight: he has very slow falling and air speeds; low gravity; above-average air acceleration; the fourth highest jump; and the seventh highest double jump. As a result of these attributes, Luigi has overall slow mobility, and is one of the most floaty characters in the game.

Like his brother, Luigi can be very difficult to punish, thanks to all but two of his regular moves (forward smash and down aerial) hitting before frame 10. This, in turn, gives his frame data the distinction of being the fastest in the game in regard to startup lag and when excluding special moves. Luigi's excellent frame data is complemented by the impressive utility of his overall moveset. Neutral attack's damage output and range are decent, and it can be jab canceled reliably even at high percentages. Luigi's tilt attacks also have their own perks: forward tilt can be angled and, when angled downward, is capable of jab locking; up tilt has excellent combo and juggling potential; and down tilt can trip opponents or hinder their attempts at grabbing the edge.

Luigi's smash attacks are all among the fastest of their kind, have below-average ending lag, and possess enough knockback to be reliable finishers, allowing them to quickly and effectively punish opponents close to him, while being difficult to punish themselves on shield. Forward smash can be angled for higher power and deals extra shield damage, up smash is an effective anti-air attack due to rendering Luigi's head intangible while its hitboxes are active, and down smash is very useful for punishing rolls thanks to its minimal lag, respectable damage output and long range. Both up smash and down smash also have set-up potential at low percents if Luigi successfully covers the opponent's options afterward, and the latter is a reliable follow-up from down throw against heavyweights and fast fallers.

Luigi's aerial attacks are also very useful, due to their combination of fast startup, quick interruptibility (except for neutral and back aerials), and ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. Neutral aerial is a sex kick and, like in previous installments, the only one that launches opponents vertically, which benefits its clean and late hitboxes: the former is a great combo breaker and a situational KOing option near the upper blast line, whereas the latter is a very useful combo starter when SHFF'd. Forward aerial has the fastest duration of its kind and launches at the Sakurai angle; at low to medium percentages, these traits make it very reliable for approaching or down throw-initiated combos into itself, neutral aerial and up aerial, as well as a reliable edge-guarding option at high percentages. Back aerial has a very powerful clean hitbox and long range, which enable it to function as a safe and reliable KOing and edge-guarding option, or as an approach option via reverse aerial rush. Up aerial is useful for combos, since it can either extend them or, thanks to having the lowest amount of landing lag out his aerials, use its clean hitbox to start them at low percentages when SHFF'd. Lastly, down aerial has the third fastest duration of its kind, surpassed only by and 's, while its clean hitbox is a meteor smash.

Like Mario, Luigi's grab game is among the most effective in the game. His grabs are among the fastest in the game, while his pummel is tied with 's as the fourth most damaging in the game. Down throw is not only Luigi's most useful throw, but also his most useful move. Although update 1.1.1 removed its ability to set up safe KOs, down throw's combos are still among the most versatile and consistent in the game, regardless of the opponent's weight, falling speed and gravity. In regard to middleweights, it can be followed up with forward smash at 0%-10%; up tilt, up smash, any aerial attack and Luigi Cyclone at low percentages; forward and reverse aerial rushed clean back aerials at medium percentages; and clean up aerial at medium to high percentages. Despite being weakened since Brawl, back throw is as strong as ', and thus remains a reliable KOing option at high percentages. Lastly, forward and up throws have minimal utility, but are quick and deal respectable damage.

As a semi-clone of Mario, Luigi has two special moves that are derived from his older brother, yet his versions deviate in noticeable ways. Fireball is a projectile that is useful for pressuring, hindering an opponent's approach, or setting up an attack. Unlike Mario's Fireball, Luigi's is unaffected by gravity, which makes it somewhat less effective at hindering an opponent's recovery or edge-guard attempt. Super Jump Punch has very quick startup like Mario's, but propels him vertically instead of diagonally. By extension, it consists of a sweetspot and sourspot, instead of multiple hitboxes like Mario's. Its sweetspot boasts devastating power, which makes it a very potent punishment option, yet it is very risky because of its virtually useless sourspot and very high ending lag.

Aside from these, Luigi's other special moves are completely distinct from Mario's. Green Missile deals damage and covers horizontal distance, both of which can be increased thanks to its ability to be charged. However, it is also possible for Green Missile to misfire; in this case, it becomes even stronger than the fully charged version, and covers approximately 60% of. Lastly, Luigi Cyclone can function as an approach option, a KOing option near the upper blast line and, with sufficient button mashing, a recovery option. With proper timing, it can even gimp recoveries as well.

However, Luigi has noticeable weaknesses, with the most significant one being his recovery. Green Missile is slow and can be stopped by opponents willing to endure its hitbox, and if fully charged or misfired towards a wall, Luigi will get stuck in it for a considerably long time, giving opponents ample time to punish him. Luigi Cyclone requires a considerable amount of button mashing (roughly 10 presses per second for maximum distance) to be effective without prior momentum. Lastly, Super Jump Punch is the least effective recovery option in his arsenal, owing to its lack of any sort of horizontal movement as Luigi ascends. When coupled with his very slow air speed, Luigi's recovery is similar to 's, in that he is overly reliant on his double jump to recover and is very susceptible to gimps.

As in previous installments, Luigi's mobility prevents him from approaching quickly, especially from the air. This makes it significantly difficult for him to keep up with faster opponents, such as, and , which in turn hinders his otherwise excellent neutral game. As a result, Luigi is heavily reliant on using either short hopped neutral, forward and back aerials to approach, or Fireball to force approaches. However, there are a few methods that, at varying degrees, alleviate Luigi's problematic traction. Shield-stopping negates his dash's noticeable skid, which makes his approach safer.

Fox-trotting enables Luigi to dash while enduring only a very slight skid; although this makes it slightly risky, it allows him to go on the offensive more reliably, and even enables him to play mindgames. The last method is simply walking: although Luigi's walking speed is average, it is not as glaringly susceptible to his traction like his dash is. When coupled with proper usage of Fireball, this method can also enable him to maintain stage control. A notable user and proponent of the walking method is.

Lastly, Luigi's moveset has noticeable weaknesses in spite of its impressive strengths. Due to most of his range being short and his lack of a reflection move, opponents with disjointed hitboxes and/or projectiles are very difficult for Luigi to fight against effectively. Luigi's unimpressive overall mobility also hinders his moveset. Down throw is an essential aspect of his playstyle, yet his dash grab and especially his shield grab are hindered by his slightly below-average dashing speed and very low traction, respectively. Similarly, forward and clean back aerials are reliable for edge-guarding, yet they are risky to use as such while far from the edge because of his very slow air speed.

The majority of Luigi's custom moves are useful, with his most notable ones being Floating Missile and Quick Missile. Floating Missile is much riskier to intercept because it propels Luigi in a perfectly straight line, charges much faster, and is only slightly weaker than Green Missile. Quick Missile travels much farther and moves much faster, similarly to how Green Missile functioned in Melee. However, it is slightly weaker, while its considerably higher ending lag and lack of traction upon landing on a stage or platform make it much more punishable.

Iceball has a slightly lower damage output, higher startup lag, shorter range, and travels slower. However, it momentarily freezes opponents beginning at 50%, while its slower speed enables Luigi to fire multiple Iceballs in immediate succession. True to its name, Burial Header buries grounded opponents, but also covers much more vertical height; descends much faster; and has much less landing lag. However, it deals much less damage and lacks KO potential. Mach Cyclone covers almost no horizontal distance, and possesses a windbox and a concluding hitbox instead of multiple hitboxes. However, it covers a tremendous amount of vertical distance, while its lone hitbox is very powerful, making it very useful for edge-guarding. Aside from these, the rest of Luigi's custom moves are generally not worth using because of their advantages being situational at best.

Overall, Luigi can be a force to be reckoned with as long as his significant flaws are circumvented. Although his tournament representation has decreased following update 1.1.1's nerf to his down throw, Luigi has continued to achieve impressive results in tournaments regardless.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Luigi was regarded as a low tier character as while he had great frame data and surprisingly solid KO power (especially considering the speed of his attacks), he suffered from having very poor mobility and range, both of which made it extremely difficult for him to approach and his opponents could very easily keep him out. Luigi also simply did not work particularly well in Brawl's engine, as hitstun canceling and Directional Influence gave him a rather inconsistent combo game outside of low percents, which heavily hindered him as his combos were his main method of building up damage. While Luigi could build up a lot of damage with his combos, it largely relied on his opponent making mistakes, rather than him being able to abuse inescapable combos.

In Super Smash Bros. 4, Luigi has seen a mix of buffs and nerfs and while he received more nerfs overall, he has been significantly improved, largely due to the game's altered universal mechanics.

Luigi's overall mobility has been improved, especially on the ground. His dash speed is noticeably faster, his fast falling speed is higher and his air speed/traction are also marginally higher, making it easier for him to approach. Luigi also possesses a stronger grab game. His grabs are faster and have more range, and his down throw has now become an extremely powerful combo starter due to the changes to hitstun canceling/DI, making it easier and more rewarding for Luigi to utilise his grabs.

Luigi's aerials have become more effective combo tools (with the exception of back aerial). Luigi's aerials are weaker, which overall makes them more effective at performing combos (although this does come at the cost of their KO power). Luigi's down aerial in particular now has a clean hit which consistently meteor smashes aerial opponents, which not only makes it more reliable at edgeguarding, but it also makes the move a much more reliable combo tool, especially since its late hit is weaker and can still lead to combos. Luigi's back aerial was the only aerial which did not receive improved combo potential but in return, it is a stronger KO move.

Luigi's aerial Luigi Cyclone has also seen some improvements as an attack, as it connects more reliably and its final hit is stronger near the upper blast zone. Its loop hitboxes also have increased knockback and they can meteor smash opponents, which makes the move even more effective at edgeguarding opponents. Luigi Cyclone can now fairly easily edgeguard characters with poor recoveries (and even some characters with stronger recoveries such as ) at very low percents, which Luigi can set up with his down throw and down aerial. As a result of these changes, Luigi Cyclone is now a highly effective edgeguarding tool and a solid vertical KO move, rather than being an unreliable KO move and a situational edgeguarding tool.

Luigi's largest benefits however come from the changes to hitstun canceling and DI (with both being far less effective). Both of these changes, combined with his weaker aerials greatly improves his combo potential, collectively granting him one of the most potent and consistent combo games among the cast. At very low percents, Luigi can easily start a combo with his down throw, which can build up a very high amount of damage. In the most extreme cases, Luigi can even perform 0-death combos. This overall greatly improves Luigi, as he now has consistent and highly damaging combos, making it much more rewarding when Luigi successfully approaches his opponent, much like in Smash 64 and Melee (which is now easier due to his improved mobility and grabs).

However, Luigi also received some nerfs, with Luigi receiving more nerfs overall. His overall frame data is worse with a handful of his attacks having shorter durations, increased startup or ending lag, or all of the above. A fair amount of Luigi's attacks also have reduced range, with multiple attacks having smaller hitboxes and losing hitboxes in certain cases. Luigi's damage output is also lower overall, which hinders the KO potential of numerous moves including up tilt, forward smash, up smash, the front hit of down smash, all of his aerials except for back aerial (especially neutral and down aerials, and even back aerial now has a much weaker sourspot on its clean hit and it has increased ending/landing lag), back throw and Super Jump Punch. In some cases such as with his aerials and up tilt, this does act as a double edged sword, as it does also improve their combo potential but with most of his grounded moves, this purely acts as a hinderance (although the introduction of rage can compensate for this, and Luigi's solid weight means that he can build up rage fairly easily). This overall results in Luigi's KO potential going from being highly solid (especially considering his frame data) to now being closer to average, especially since numerous returning veterans had improved KO potential overall, unlike Luigi.

Luigi's grounded Super Jump Punch in general has been noticeably toned down. While the move does have increased range, it also has increased startup lag and reduced KO power, which can make it harder and less effective to confirm into in certain situations (particularly out of jab and late neutral aerial due to the former's higher ending lag and the latter's higher landing lag, although the latter's landing lag can still be negated with auto-canceling). The move also grants much less height and Luigi has less control in the air, making it much harder for him to drift to the ledge to reduce its lag. Luigi can no longer land before he enters free fall and once he does land, the move has much higher landing lag, making the move much easier to punish. The aerial version is also weaker, and it grants less height (albeit not as severely as the grounded version).

Luigi's recovery in general is now worse due to the changes to his specials. On the positive side, Luigi does have better air speed, a higher double jump, Luigi Cyclone travels more horizontal distance in the air and like with other characters, Luigi does benefit from the removal of edge hogging and the increased speed of his air dodge. However, all of Luigi's specials are worse for recovering. Green Missile can no longer auto-snap the ledge, and the regular version no longer grants Luigi intangibility, making it a much riskier and exploitable recovery move. In addition to this, Luigi is less likely to get a misfire, although the misfire does now grant Luigi some intangibility. As mentioned before, Super Jump Punch covers less distance, both horizontally and vertically and despite all of its improvements, Luigi Cyclone covers less distance with button mashing, making it a less effective vertical recovery move.

Lastly, despite the change's to the game's mechanics greatly benefiting Luigi overall, he has still seen some hinderances from them. The removal of DACUS, glide tossing and skid canceling does hinder Luigi's approach potential in certain situations. The changes to shield mechanics (particularly the changes made in version 1.1.1) made his already poor Out of Shield game even worse, as he now suffers from higher shieldstun, making it even harder for him to use his otherwise strong Out of Shield options (although he does benefit from the increase to shield damage, the removal of shield-slide offs, and a fair amount of his attacks are overall safer due to these changes). Luigi's Super Jump Punch is now a slower Out of Shield option which combined with the higher shieldstun, makes it incapable of punishing more attacks, although its increased range along with his grab also having more range allows him to punish opponents from slightly further distances, especially when combined with his slightly higher traction.

Overall, while Luigi's direct changes may not have improved him on paper, Smash 4's universal mechanics were far more than enough to make him a much more effective character, and he did receive some useful direct buffs in addition. The changes to the game's mechanics gave him a rather powerful, consistent and devastating punish game, which was something he sorely lacked in the previous game (due to his punish game being far less consistent). Luigi also has a slightly easier time approaching due to his improved mobility, combined with many characters who gave him a hard time in the previous game being toned down.

Luigi was initially considered to be a top tier in earlier versions of the game (especially after the Wii U version was released), due to his powerful punish game. After version 1.1.1 however, Luigi did receive a nerf to his down throw which noticeably hindered him. In earlier versions, his down throw was identical to its Brawl counterpart (besides its animation), but it was far more effective due to the changes to hitstun canceling and DI, as it was an excellent combo throw at lower percents, and it even had KO setups at higher percents, which worked at an extremely large percentage range. In 1.1.1, the throw had decreased base knockback, which improved its followup potential at lower percents, but it had significantly increased knockback scaling, which greatly hindered its followup potential at higher percents, and in turn, it made his KO setups far more precise. This made the throw much worse at higher percents, which considerably hindered Luigi overall. Aerial Luigi Cyclone also received reduced KO power in the patch and this along with the changes to shields in the same patch did not help him either.

Despite these changes along with the introduction of and Bayonetta in later patches, Luigi managed to sit comfortably in high tier within the later stages of the game's meta, and he overall managed to achieve consistent success in competitive play. All in all, despite still having diffiulty approaching due to his poor mobility and range, in addition to having toned down frame data, KO power and an even more exploitable recovery, Luigi is one of the most improved characters in Smash 4 (even if it is largely due to the game's universal changes), alongside, , , , , and.

Ground attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Battering item dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Pummel:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Front floor attack:
 * Back floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Front floor attack:
 * Back floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Front floor attack:
 * Back floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Front floor attack:
 * Back floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Back floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down taunt:
 * Down taunt:
 * Down taunt:
 * Down taunt:
 * Down taunt:
 * Down taunt:

Special moves

 * Fireball:
 * Green Missile:
 * Green Missile Misfire:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Green Missile Misfire:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Green Missile Misfire:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Green Missile Misfire:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Super Jump Punch:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Luigi Cyclone:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:

Update history
Luigi has been nerfed via game updates. Although he received a number of buffs, most notably to down smash, down aerial and Super Jump Punch, the nerfs that he received overwhelmingly offset them. Update 1.0.6 made Fireball's damage output inconsistent by making it consist of a clean hitbox and a late hitbox like 's, which in turn hinders its zoning potential. Update 1.1.0 further nerfed Fireball by increasing its ending lag, and almost completely removed down tilt's combo ability by altering its angle and reducing its trip chance. Most notably, update 1.1.1 altered down throw's knockback to the point of removing Luigi's guaranteed KO set-ups.

Luigi was also indirectly nerfed by the updates. The changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 make it even more difficult for him to punish from out of shield because of his very low traction. While this does also make his most damaging moves such as his smash attacks and sweetspotted back aerial safer on shield, while turning a fully charged or misfired Green Missile and sweetspotted Super Jump Punch into potent shield breaking moves, these benefits are comparatively smaller. Although these nerfs have resulted in Luigi becoming somewhat less effective than he was during the initial release of SSB4, his viability has remained largely intact.

 1.0.4

 1.0.6

 1.1.0

 1.1.1

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

Tier placement and history
Since SSB4's release, Luigi's placement was a topic of debate, as his buffs were quickly acknowledged in his transition from Brawl and saw him perceived as a mid-tier character. Positive opinions on Luigi, however, saw a sudden rise from early to mid-2015, as players recognized his down throw's outstanding combo potential. In addition, he was noted for having an even matchup against, then considered the best character in the game, thanks to multiple high-profile cases of a Luigi player defeating a noteworthy Diddy Kong player in tournaments. The most notable instance of this was achieving a bracket reset against. Thanks to these traits, Luigi was perceived by the community as both a viable main and a top-tier character, despite having fairly limited usage at high-level play.

However, Luigi's perception underwent a noticeable drop after update 1.1.1 altered his down throw's knockback to the point of heavily altering its guaranteed KO set-ups, and brought about changes to shield mechanics that made it harder for him to punish out of shield. Despite this, Luigi's down throw has shown to actually possess better combo potential at low to medium percentages, which was notably demonstrated by and. When coupled with his impressive performances up to update 1.1.1, Luigi was ranked 16th on the first tier list, his best ranking in the series at the time.

Although Luigi's combo potential remained largely intact, many players nevertheless dropped him because of his combo game's newfound flaws. This, in turn, was further compounded by the release of the DLC characters and, two matchups considered unfavorable for him at the time. As a result, Luigi was ranked 29th on the second tier list, which saw him go from being the third highest ranked mid-tier character to the middle of the mid-tier. Although respectable, this placement was nevertheless a considerable downturn, as Luigi's tier drop was tied with 's for the second largest between the first and second tier lists.

Thanks to his consistently strong results in some regions, Luigi was ranked 26th on the third tier list. Incidentally, this placement is roughly similar to where he was viewed as being in accordance to popular opinion during the very early months of SSB4's lifespan. Luigi's tier status would then improve even further, thanks to placing 2nd at GameTyrant Expo 2017 and 5th at 2GG Championship. In addition to these results, Luigi has managed to consistently achieve respectable results at the regional and national level, thanks to the efforts of, and. To reflect his renewed tournament success, Luigi was ranked 18th on the fourth and current tier list, about equal to his rank before the down throw nerf, with some players arguing that Luigi should be ranked even higher.

Most historically significant players
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the PGR 100, which recognizes the official top 100 players in Super Smash Bros. 4 of all time.

See also: Category:Luigi players (SSB4)


 * (#27) - The best Luigi player in the world. Placed 2nd at, 5th at both and , and 7th at both  and  with wins over players such as , , and.
 * - The best Luigi player in Europe as well as one of the best players from Europe during the early metagame. Placed 1st at, 9th at both and , and 17th at both  and.
 * - The best Luigi player in the world during the early metagame, prior to the 1.1.1. update. Placed 7th at, 9th at both and , 25th at , and 33rd at . He was the first person to defeat  and has also defeated players such as  and.
 * (#57) - Tri-mained Luigi alongside and  and is considered the best Luigi player in Japan. Placed 1st at, 2nd at both  and , 3rd at , and 5th at.
 * (#54) - Co-mained Luigi alongside and is one of the best Luigi players in the United States. Placed 2nd at, 7th at both  and , 9th at , and 13th at  with wins over players such as  and.

Solo Events

 * All-Star Battle: Secret: Luigi is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents have been unlockable characters in previous Super Smash Bros. games.
 * Family Ties: As, the player and a giant must defeat Luigi and.
 * Oh Yeah, Luigi Time!: Luigi must defeat a giant . After some time, a giant Mario will arrive to help the player.

Co-op Events

 * A Lurking Menace: Luigi and Mario must defeat Bowser Jr. If they wait too long, a giant Bowser will arrive and the players must defeat him as well.
 * Solidarity: and  must defeat Luigi and Mario. When they are defeated, Bowser and Bowser Jr. must be defeated as well.
 * The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
 * Wrecking Bros.: Luigi and Mario must destroy the entirety of Wrecking Crew while Wario and try to interfere.

Trivia

 * Traditionally, Luigi has always been an unlockable character revealed after an installment of Super Smash Bros. had been released. However, Super Smash Bros. 4 is the first (and currently the only) installment to break that tradition, as he was both revealed before release and is now a starter character, instead of an unlockable one.
 * Luigi's official artwork is based on his side taunt.
 * Early in SSB4's development, Luigi could wall jump. However, this was scrapped in the final release.
 * The trophy description for Luigi in the North American version of makes a reference to Weegee, a popular Internet meme. However, it could also be a reference to a number of games where he excitedly refers to himself as "Weegee".
 * Luigi's All-Star trophy in resembles his Adventure Mode trophy from Super Smash Bros. Melee, albeit with a different costume. In comparison, his alt. trophy in  resembles his official artwork from his Smabura-Ken page.
 * In, the "Luigi (With Poltergust 3000)" trophy is titled erroneously. The Poltergust that Luigi is wielding in that trophy is actually the from , as shown by it having both a slightly different canister and the  equipped. This was fixed for the PAL region's version.
 * Due to Luigi's head coming forward into the z-axis when he crouches, he can avoid certain projectiles that go behind his head.
 * is the only game where Luigi and do not have the same availability.