Mii Swordfighter (SSBU)

The Mii Swordfighter (, Mii Fencing Type) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were confirmed as a playable character on June 12th, 2018, along with the other types, Brawler and Gunner. Mii Swordfighter is classified as Fighter #52.

As with the other Mii Fighters, they have 12 voice options, provided by Yūji Kishi, Takashi Ōhara, Ryōtarō Okiayu, Michihiko Hagi, Hideo Ishikawa, Kiyoyuki Yanada, Umeka Shōji, Ayumi Fujimura, Makiko Ōmoto, Minami Takayama, and Kimiko Saitō.

The Mii Swordfighter is currently ranked 78th out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing them in the D+ tier. This is a slight improvement over their Super Smash Bros. 4 iteration, which was 56th out of 57 on that game's third tier list before ultimately going unranked on the fourth.

Attributes
The Mii Swordfighter has had their physical attributes reworked to all be relatively average. No longer determinant on the weight given to whatever Mii they're based on, the Mii Swordfighter is now an average-height, mediumweight fighter, weighing the same as. Their walk and running speed are fairly average, however they have a relatively high air speed and bear the distinction of being the only Mii Fighter who cannot wall jump. Being a Mii Fighter, the Mii Swordfighter's special moves are determinant on the player's choice, as each special move slot can hold one of three available moves. They possess a total of 12 special moves: Gale Strike, Shuriken of Light, and Blurring Blade (Neutral Special), Airborne Assault, Gale Stab, and Chakram (Side Special), Stone Scabbard, Skyward Slash Dash, and Hero's Spin (Up Special), and Blade Counter, Reversal Slash, and Power Thrust (Down Special).

One of the greatest strengths of the Mii Swordfighter is their extremely versatile and flexible set of specials, some of which are among the strongest moves in the game. Gale Strike and Chakram are fantastic projectiles which excel at distancing opponents, racking up damage, and edgeguarding. Gale Strike is among the Mii Swordfighter's best moves; while slow for a projectile, it does good damage, is an excellent tool to setup kill confirms due to its large hitbox and fixed knockback, and is very potent at ledgetrapping. Landing a Gale Strike allows the Mii Swordfighter to confirm into a multitude of moves such as back aerial, forward aerial, up aerial, Hero's Spin, and Chakram. Hero's Spin in particular is an extremely potent kill option, being able to take stocks as low as around 40% when confirming out of a Gale Strike at the ledge. Chakram is another potent projectile that is good for both initiating and deterring approaches. The smash input version is good for edgeguarding opponents with especially poor recoveries (i.e. Belmonts and Cloud) and the tilt input version allows the Mii Swordfighter to pressure the ledge and confirm into many different moves, providing them with two tools that establish a good defense-oriented playstyle. Along with being one of the few swordfighters that have access to projectiles, the Mii Swordfighter is also the only one that possesses a reflector in the form of Reversal Slash, which allows them to counter campy, projectile-heavy opponents as well. Additionally, Blade Counter, like other counters, can effectively edgeguard those who possess poor recoveries, though it isn't as effective for KO'ing near the side blast lines due to its' extensive vertical knockback. However, this does provide it with consistent KO potential.

Outside of their strong projectiles, the Mii Swordfighter possesses a few of fast and powerful normals. Back and up aerial are both very fast and powerful, the former of which is a strong tool to use for spacing and the latter for anti-airs and racking damage. Forward and neutral aerial both serve as average spacing tools, with forward air's multihits giving Mii Swordfighter several confirms on grounded opponents. Additionally, almost all of the Swordfighter's aerials can easily be comboed into from their down throw, giving the character extremely reliable damage from grabs. This, along with low aerial landing lag (with the exception of down aerial at 18 frames) results in the Mii Swordfighter having an above average aerial game due to most of their aerials being potential combo starters, while their down aerial, despite having weak set knockback, is great for gimping opponents with subpar recoveries alongside neutral and back aerial. The Mii Swordfighter's tilts, with the exception of forward tilt, are quite fast and are pretty reliable sources of damage and combo potential. Swordfighter's jab combo is relatively strong and launches at a very low angle, making it an option at setting up edgeguards and gimps. Their up tilt is generally used for juggling and starting combos at medium percentages, while their forward tilt and down tilt are more geared towards spacing and poking. The former is able to KO at mid-to-high percents near the ledge, making it a decent KO move, while the latter is safe on shield if spaced, can be used repeatedly without much risk, and reliably leads into combos at lower percents, making it another dependable combo starter the Swordfighter has.

Alongside their potent aerials and tilts are a set of powerful smash attacks and specials. While forward and up smash are both relatively laggy, they both boast a considerable amount of KO power and the same can be said for Blurring Blade and Power Thrust, the former which can KO at extremely low percents when fully charged at the edge of Final Destination.

Additionally, the Mii Swordfighter arguably has the best recovery options out of the three Mii Fighters. As in SSB4, Airborne Assault and Gale Stab both boast an incredible amount of horizontal distance while Stone Scabbard provides a high vertical distance. Skyward Slash Dash is a move similar to that of Fire Fox (with a difference being that it is disjointed), allowing the Mii Swordfighter to have both increased distance and a trajectory that can mix up edgeguarding opponents.

However, in spite of the variety of strengths that the Mii Swordfighter has, they are not without their weaknesses. For a swordfighter, they have one of the (if not the) worst disjoints in the game. Many of their swift normals simply have a lack of range in comparison to other swordfighters such as Lucina and Ike. Additionally, as mentioned before, their mobility is also very lackluster compared to other disjoint users given their average dashing/walking and air acceleration speeds, which makes it difficult for them to keep up with faster, rushdown-based characters (i.e. Sonic). While many of their specials have some form of use, there are a few that provide utility that's considered to be overshadowed compared to other specials, such as Gale Stab, which has trouble snapping to the ledge and has limited KO power and damage unless charged; and Blurring Blade, which suffers from being completely unsafe on shield, having to be charged to gain its high power, and not only sacrificing the use of two great projectiles to be used, but also having limited range itself. While Airborne Assault provides great recovery and sports surprising KO power, its "detection hitbox" mechanic means it will always lose hitbox trades and sometimes even miss opponents it should have hit, as well as being unsafe on shield, limiting its use to reading defensive options or poor aerial approaches, as well as situationally hitting ledge-hanging characters.

Furthermore, while many of the Mii Swordfighter's normals are good, their smash attacks are all very laggy and have generally poor reach, especially their up smash, which does not have a vacuum effect like that of Link, Samus, or the Mii Gunner while their good normals begin to lose their utility at higher percentages. Down tilt loses its' combo ability at mid percentages and up tilt is a fairly sluggish move against faster opponents. Additionally, their grab game is subpar, though not to the same extent as. Aside from down throw, the Mii Swordfighter's throws offer mediocre utility, especially their up throw, which deals extremely low knockback and damage and has no true follow ups. Their throws also have mediocre KO power, with their strongest throw being back throw (which doesn't KO at around 180% at the edge of Final Destination). While Gale Strike and Chakram are still very good projectiles, their start and end lag are both substantial in comparison to other projectiles, making them unsafe to use up close, further exacerbating their struggle against faster characters and giving them a rather poor neutral. Lastly, while their recovery can be very flexible, some of them either offer poor distance or are quite linear, such as Stone Scabbard which provides no horizontal distance and poses a great risk of self destructing, and Hero's Spin, which while is a good out of shield option and has a very powerful final hit, exchanges said strengths for very poor distance.

Overall, the Mii Swordfighter is a jack of all trades amalgamation of all weapon based fighters. The ability to mix and match several different special moves adds a unique layer of versatility by allowing several different playstyles for the same basic fighter, making Mii Swordfighter among the most unpredictable to fight against. However, all of the customizable special moves have a fatal flaw to prevent them from being overpowered and/or are an inferior version of a similar move other fighters possess. Mii Swordfighter is capable of walling out opponents, racking up damage, and securing a plethora of different kill confirms. They excel in mid-close range combat and ledgetrapping with the usage of Chakram and Gale Strike and can restrict projectile usage with Reversal Slash. However, they exchange these strengths for a variety of laggy finishers, a subpar grab game and average movement speed. Despite this, their strengths do outweigh their weaknesses and they have a good number of favorable or even matchups. As a result, the Mii Swordfighter has seen a surprisingly high amount of representation and results in tournaments.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
The Mii Swordfighter has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate, being overall buffed, though not enough to improve their tier standing.

Much like the, the Mii Swordfighter retains most of their previous moveset, with the majority of the Swordfighter's changes being alterations to their moveset's behavior. Like the other Mii Fighters, the Mii Swordfighter now has set attributes, including middling weight (which is identical to that of a default-sized Mii Fighter in SSB4) alongside high air speed, but average or below-average stats otherwise (falling speed, air acceleration, and walk and run speed). As a result, the Swordfighter's role as the middle-ground Mii Fighter has been reinforced.

The Swordfighter has received noticeably few changes to their standard moveset, save for up smash now consisting of two slashes that can hit three times in front, and a new dash attack: a wide dashing slash. The biggest changes come from their altered special moves. While only one of their special moves has been renamed (Slash Launcher is now Gale Stab), the majority of the Swordfighter's specials have significantly improved utility. Many now deal much higher damage, stronger knockback (or both, like Blurring Blade for example), and/or have vastly improved utility, giving the Swordfighter a larger abundance of options and fixing another of their former weaknesses. Gale Strike now functions as a standard projectile, and has fixed knockback with high hitstun, which combined with its higher damage makes it one of the most powerful combo initiators in the Swordfighter's arsenal. Shuriken of Light can now lock opponents despite its lowered damage, and gains speed as it travels. Chakram travels faster when smash thrown and deals more damage, while the slow version now lingers and returns to where it was thrown, turning it into an approach-deterring and ledge-trapping tool. Airborne Assault now gives the Swordfighter a half-second window to prevent helplessness and deals more knockback. Stone Scabbard has increased recovery distance and is capable of KOing. Skyward Slash Dash has much faster startup, making it a safer recovery option. Blade Counter can now initiate combos at low percents, or KO effectively due to its vertical angle. Lastly, Reversal Slash reflects projectiles with much more strength and speed than ever before, turning it into a devastatingly powerful reflector.

A few of the universal changes are also benefitial for the Swordfighter. The universal increases in mobility slightly improves their approach, combined with the various buffs to their projectiles. The reductions to landing lag on aerial attacks patches up the Swordfighter's notorious lag issues in SSB4, and allows many of their aerials to start combos and function as safe landing options. The changes to air dodges also improve their recovery and edgeguarding game.

However, the Mii Swordfighter has also received nerfs. Arguably the biggest ones are to their standard moveset's decreased hitbox sizes; while other moves had their hitbox sizes increased, they pale in comparison and most of them are special moves. This worsens Mii Swordfighter's spacing and disjoint while also making one of their main weaknesses more exploitable. Like the other Miis, they now have set attributes, which makes their mobility, despite being buffed overall, average while still being mediocre compared to most other swordfighters.

Overall, the Mii Swordfighter is now far more flexible in their playstyle, with their buffs to their special moveset allowing them to adapt to either an aggressive or zoner playstyle depending on the matchup. However, the reductions to hitbox sizes forces them to approach and play just as carefully. The Mii Swordfighter also still retains some other glaring weaknesses, such as below-average frame data for many of their ground moves, and a weak grab game, both of which have not altered significantly from their transition to Ultimate (and in the case of their throws, have not been changed at all). In addition, various veterans have received buffs that are more impactful than theirs at launch, while game updates have both provided even more buffs to veterans that are more noticeable than the Swordfighter's own changes, and introduced newcomer DLC characters, some of which prove difficult for the Swordfighter to overcome. Because of this, while the Swordfighter is undeniably a better character than in SSB4, they have not significantly improved compared to the rest of the cast in Ultimate, and are considered to be the weakest of the three Miis.

Update history
Mii Swordfighter so far has received the fewest changes in patches compared to the other Mii Fighters (due to not receiving any buffs or nerfs in patches 2.0.0 and 3.1.0 unlike the other Miis). The Swordfighter has been given few changes throughout the game but has mainly received nerfs. In patch 3.0.0, Chakram, Gale Strike, and Shuriken of Light were nerfed, as a result of all dealing less shield damage due to the overall nerf to projectiles from the patch.

On the other hand, Mii Swordfighter has received some buffs. In patch 3.0.0 and patch 4.0.0 respectively, their edge attack was given more range, and Blurring Blade was made to connect more reliably. In patch 7.0.0 increased Mii Swordfighter's shield size; They were the only Mii Fighter that received this change.

In patch 9.0.0, Mii Swordfighter received a buff to Hero's Spin, making the move connect with itself more reliably. This change was simply reverting a shadow nerf from 2.0.0 that caused Hero's Spin to not connect on the final hit unless the player moved backwards on their joystick for the last hit. Being an undocumented change, it was rumored to have been an accident, the rumor being supported by 9.0.0's hotfix of the move.

Patch 12.0.0, provided Mii Swordfighter with a handful of small buffs to some of his special moves. Airborne Assault deals 2% more damage and does more knockback, now becoming a decent KO move. Stone Scabbard's last hit does more damage and knockback. Blade Counter's intangibility starts 1 frame faster, has faster counter detection, and has less ending lag on activation. And finally, Power Thrust starts 2 frames faster.

As a result of these changes, Mii Swordfighter is a slightly better character than they were at launch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Mii Swordfighter's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

On-screen appearance

 * Appears from a whirlwind similar to the appearance of Gale Strike, and unsheathes their sword.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Whilst spinning, throws their sword upwards, which twirls in the air, then catches it and transitions into a defensive pose. If done repeatedly, the Swordfighter will slowly shift backward.
 * Side taunt: Spins their sword with a flourish before taking a stance, holding their sword in a reverse grip behind them.
 * Down taunt: Poses with their sword facing upwards while balancing on one foot. Based on 's down taunt.

Idle poses

 * Point their sword towards the sky. Based off a recurring pose for most sword users in Smash Bros.
 * Looks around cautiously.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Raises their sword while spinning twice on one foot, performing a flourish. Afterward, they briefly enter into a one-handed inside stance before thrusting the sword outwards.
 * Up: Drops from the sky, plunging their sword into the ground. They then remove it whilst performing a flourishing spin, which is followed by an inverted roundhouse kick and poses with their sword pointing outwards.
 * Right: Performs a low-angled inwards slash, jumps up while spinning twice, and then does a low-angled outwards slash upon landing. Afterward, they bring their sword up towards their body and then poses with it lowered.

Most historically significant players
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

See also: Category:Mii Swordfighter players (SSBU)


 * - The best Mii Swordfighter in the United States. During the early metagame, he made regional performances of 13th at and 17th at  and also taken sets over players such as  and.
 * - The best Mii Swordfighter in the world, although rarely competes in Ultimate. He holds the best Mii Swordfighter result seen at a major/supermajor with 9th at, defeating and  in his bracket. This result also stands as one of the only few notable results seen with the character in the modern meta.

Tier placement and history
In the early metagame of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many people have realized that the Mii Swordfighter had great potential to be a viable character due to having stronger frame data (with their aerials having the most notable change), better combo tools than the previous game, and a stronger set of kill confirms their moveset. This overall led to being considered a high-tier character at best, being the strongest of the Mii Fighters.

However, as the meta advanced, the viewpoint on the Mii Swordfighter's opinion has gone down considerably from release. Pros such as and  have come to believe that while they have a strong set of kill confirms and projectiles, they possess one of, if not the worst disjoint in the game, a below average speed for a swordfighter, lackluster throws aside from down throw, and struggle against rushdown and characters with significantly better disjoints such as, , and. Despite this, their strengths and results in competitive play have still been well demonstrated, thanks to players such as and, and as a result has been considered a mid tier character, though this opinion may change as the other Miis have been seeing better success, potentially leaving Mii Swordfighter as the worst of the three Mii Fighters, ranking 78th on the first and current tier list.

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

In the mode itself, the default Mii Swordfighter can be fought in the small town square where Timmy and Tommy's is located, north-northeast of the first crossroads.

Defeating Mii Swordfighter automatically adds the default Mii Swordfighter under the name Mii with a default 1111 moveset to the list of Mii Fighters for all modes where Mii Swordfighters are usable. This Mii cannot be restored if deleted.

Spirit
Mii Swordfighter's fighter spirit is available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only if the player has a Mii Swordfighter. Unlocking Mii Swordfighter 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. Unlike most fighters, the spirit for Mii Swordfighter only uses the default Swordfighter's artwork from Ultimate.

Trivia

 * Compared to the other Miis:
 * The Mii Swordfighter has a purple background effect when using a Final Smash (similar to 's background effect) as opposed to having a blue effect.
 * They use different Victory poses in team battles.
 * They have the most Spirit Battles involving Legend spirits (that being 2 battles).
 * They have the lowest jump height and no wall jump.
 * The Mii Swordfighter is the first swordfighter that possesses a reflector, in this case, Reversal Slash; after them is, who has Bounce as one of his Command Selection spells, and , whose Counterattack special can reflect projectiles in addition to its normal use.
 * Like in Smash 4, all of the Mii Swordfighter's chargeable special moves share the same charging sound.
 * The Mii Swordfighter is one of the three characters to share the same down taunt pose, the other two being and.
 * Mii Swordfighter’s pose in the group artwork for Ultimate resembles the third hit of its forward aerial.
 * As in the previous game, the Swordfighter's sword trails will change with the equipped costume, but with more variance in the different trails. Most generic outfits give the sword blue-and-white trails as it is swung, and costumes based on certain characters will often change to match the sword's color. The Lloyd, Dante, Black Knight, and Persona Protagonist costumes give unique trails that are different from the sword's color.

Espadachín Mii (SSBU)