Mii Gunner (SSBU)

The Mii Gunner (, Mii Shooting 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 Swordfighter. Mii Gunner is classified as Fighter #53.

As with the other Mii Fighters, the Miis 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 Gunner is ranked 61st out of 82 on the current tier list, placing them in the C+ tier. This is a major improvement from their Super Smash Bros. 4 iteration, which was 53rd out of 57 on that game's third tier list before ultimately going unranked on the fourth.

Attributes
The Mii Gunner has been redesigned to be the slow, yet durable combatant of the three Mii Fighters. They are tied with Link, Yoshi, Captain Falcon, and Min Min in terms of weight, possess an average walking speed, the 5th slowest dashing speed, and 14th slowest air speed in the game. As with the other two Mii Fighter types, the Gunner has access to 12 different special moves: Charge Blast, Laser Blaze, and Grenade Launch (Neutral Special), Flame Pillar, Stealth Burst, and Gunner Missile (Side Special), Lunar Launch, Cannon Jump Kick, and Arm Rocket (Up Special), and Echo Reflector, Bomb Drop, and Absorbing Vortex (Down Special).

Like the other Mii Fighters, one of the primary strengths of the Mii Gunner is their diverse set of versatile specials. As the long range and projectile-heavy Mii Fighter, many of their specials excel at neutralizing approaches, racking up damage, edgeguarding, and shield pressure from a distance. Charge Blast is a very good KO'ing option which is extremely consistent, quick, and powerful when fully charged. Gunner Missile is good at both spacing and keeping enemies out. The Super variant deals a solid bit of damage and knockback while the Homing variant can wall out approaches and also help the Gunner initiate approaches of their own. Laser Blaze racks up decent damage while also causing flinching, making it a valuable tool similar to 's Blaster. Finally, Flame Pillar and Bomb Drop are both good tools for ledgetrapping and setting up kill confirms. A bomb drop at mid-high percentages can reliably confirm into back aerial while an opponent trapped in Flame Pillar can be combo'd into a fully charged Charge Blast. Additionally, the Mii Gunner can also further solidify their defensive playstyle with the usage of Echo Reflector and Absorbing Vortex, both of which aid in countering other campy or projectile-based characters.

Accompanying the Mii Gunner's vast collection of zoning specials is a very interesting and varying set of normals. While many of the Gunner's normals suffer from mild ending lag, they either possess high KO'ing power or range. and are both among the longest-ranged moves in the game (the latter of which can secure very early KO's at the top of the blast line and the former being an excellent way of reading rolls and covering landing options). and are good tools to push pressuring opponents off of them. is a very useful move, which not only can edgeguard and space opponents from a distance due to it being a projectile, but it also pushes Mii Gunner (referred to as "gundashing"), which helps mitigate the Mii Gunner's lacking mobility and recovery. Alongside the aforementioned moves are a slew of moves that have respectable KO'ing power such as, , , , and.

Lastly, the Mii Gunner has adequate choices for recovery. With the exception of Cannon Jump Kick, Lunar Launch and Arm Rocket both provide a fantastic amount of distance, especially Arm Rocket, which has far more control both horizontally and vertically. This combined with their heavy weight gives the Mii Gunner a decent ability to survive at higher percents.

Mii Gunner does not come without their flaws. While many of their moves have tremendous range or KO'ing power, most of them are very laggy. This is especially prominent with their up and down tilts, which both have decent start up but significant ending lag while moves that are fast such as forward tilt and neutral air have poor range and KO potential. As a result, they struggle to acquire reliable KOs outside of a fully charged Charge Blast. Laser Blaze is a fairly slow and easily interceptable projectile; Grenade Launch travels in a very slow and short-ranged arc that no longer can be charged or controlled; Flame Pillar has relatively substantial lag on both ends and doesn't last as long as other flame-arc moves; and Bomb Drop can be hit back to the Gunner, making it a poor choice to use against opponents with disjoints.

As mentioned before, the Mii Gunner has terrible mobility. Their air speed, dashing speed, and initial dashing speed are among the slowest in the game, making them a very sluggish fighter both on the ground and in the air outside of gundashing. Additionally, their status as a heavyweight makes them very easy to combo despite their decent survivability, and while their recoveries are good, they do not come without their weaknesses. Arm Rocket, despite its fantastic mobility and distance, possesses no damaging hitbox and allows the Mii Gunner to be easily gimped by opponents with attacks that can reverse the Mii Gunner such as and the ; Lunar Launch, while in possession of good vertical distance and a relatively powerful projectile, has poor horizontal distance; and Cannon Jump Kick trades recovery potential for offensive power, providing very little distance both horizontally and vertically while also being slow and easily intercepted.

Overall, the Mii Gunner is a jack-of-all-trades amalgamation of various projectile-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 character, making Mii Gunner among the most unpredictable to fight against. However, all of the customizable special moves have fatal flaws to prevent them from being overpowered and/or are inferior versions of similar moves other fighters possess. Their strengths do marginally outweigh their weaknesses, and as a result, Mii Gunner is a fighter that excels at walling out opponents while struggling up close. Their multitude of projectiles provides them with countless options to keep opponents away, rack up damage, and edgeguard. However, they must be mindful and extremely careful, as one mistake can cause them to take a huge chunk of damage. They are a relatively simple character to pick up with a playstyle similar to and can be a potent zoner, but due to their aforementioned weaknesses, they are considered to be worse at zoning than characters such as Samus,, and the Belmonts.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
The Mii Gunner has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in their transition from SSB4 to Ultimate, but was buffed overall.

Like the other s, the Mii Gunner now has set attributes, including high weight (now weighing as much as, surpassing the largest possible Mii Fighter in SSB4) that significantly increases their survivability in general, especially since the Gunner's below average falling speed has been unaltered. The Gunner has retains their general moveset, though with various buffs to it. Their inconsistent neutral attack and up aerial now connect better due to faster transition speed, and some of the Gunner's moves have been given more utility due to a reduction of lag (most notable with forward tilt), greatly increased damage, or KO potential. The second hit of down smash now acts individually for each hit instead of leading into one another, making it more useful as a traditional smash attack. Their grab game was also improved; standing grab has vastly more range, all of their throws deal more damage (especially up throw), and down throw is now much more reliable for starting combos until mid percentages. As well, a few of the universal changes are benefitial for the Gunner, with the universal frame 3 jumpsquat and reductions to landing lag giving them faster access to their air game and leaving them less vulnerable against shielded attacks.

Most of the Gunner's zoning-based special moves have been significantly buffed. Many of their strongest projectiles (such as Charge Blast, grenades from Grenade Launch, super missiles from Gunner Missile, and Stealth Burst) deal vastly increased damage or knockback, alleviating some of the Gunner's difficulty to land KOs. Special moves that haven't gained power buffs instead have improved utility: Flame Pillar is now a multi-hit move that can initiate follow-ups; Laser Blaze has no damage falloff, improving its usage in long-distanced camping; Echo Reflector reflects projectiles with more power and far higher speed; Bomb Drop has less ending lag, a longer fuse, and can be manually detonated, improving its use in stage control; and Absorbing Vortex heals for more damage in addition to having an actual hitbox, giving it situational use for combos and disrupting. The Gunner's recovery moves have also been buffed, as Lunar Launch and Cannon Jump Kick travel a longer distance, the latter now has excellent out of shield KO power, and Arm Rocket's trajectory can be altered during travel.

However, the Mii Gunner has received notable nerfs. Their powerful tilts have been slightly toned down, limiting their fastest grounded KO options. Forward aerial, previously a pinnacle of the Gunner's neutral game, had its distance reduced without compensation for landing lag. Albeit vastly buffed, some of the Gunner's specials have also seen downgrades; Grenade Launch's startup was heavily increased and it can now only fire in one direction and trajectory, while its lowered ending lag does not compensate for its loss in utility, and Gunner Missile's homing missiles now sacrifice homing ability for speed, making them less effective.

Despite their numerous buffs, universal gameplay changes have been detrimental to the Gunner overall. The weakening of rage slightly tones down their KO power at low percentages (though in a few cases, this is compensated by their moves' standalone KO power being increased). The biggest hindrance comes from the universal increase in mobility; it prioritizes faster-paced, more aggressive gameplay, and this allows some most of the cast to get past the Gunner's zoning tools with varying degrees of ease, while the Gunner's mobility has been reduced itself, as many of their stats being significantly below average or even among the worst (notably their run and initial dash speeds, and their air speed). This forces them to rely on spacing to compensate for their significantly lowered movement speed.

Overall, the Mii Gunner's changes have further pronounced their caveats and flaws. Their playstyle has been repurposed into a slow-moving, hard-hitting heavyweight projectile fighter, relying on their above average staying power and their special moveset's zoning abilities to rack up damage and force opponents into making a mistake to capitalize on, similar to and ; changes to their special moves also allow many more of their combinations to shine through. However, the Gunner's slower attributes further enforces their zoner-centric playstyle, and they must still contend with a decidedly poor melee approach, their moveset's heavy ending lag, and difficulty in landing some of their powerful KO options. It's also important to note that game updates have given other returning veterans various buffs, whereas the Gunner has received comparatively less significant changes, as well as nerfs from their projectiles' shield damage affecting them more than most other characters. In the end, the Gunner is a better character than they were in SSB4, they are considered the second most viable of the three Miis, and perform better relative to the cast, though not at the same level of various other returning characters.

Update history
Mii Gunner has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in balance patches, but was overall buffed. While their forward aerial auto-cancels earlier and their up smash connects more reliably, the nerfs to the shield damage of various projectiles in update 3.0.0 affect Mii Gunner more negatively than most other characters.

Starting with update 3.1.0, Mii Gunner would be given nothing but buffs. Said update and update 4.0.0 would buff their up smash, to help it connect better and stop opponents from launching out before the move was finished. Update 10.1.0 buffed their up throw to connect better. Update 11.0.0 gave their forward smash more range, removing a crippling blind spot. Update 12.0.0 provided small buffs to some of their special moves. The time to fire an additional laser from Laser Blaze was widened, Lunar Launch starts 2 frames faster, Cannon Jump Kick now has more intangibility frames after leaving the ground, and Absorbing Vortex now has 3 frames less of ending lag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Mii Gunner's hitboxes, see here.
 * Mii Gunner can wall jump.

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

On-screen appearance

 * Emerges from a burst of electricity, then points their arm cannon to the left side of the screen.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Using their free hand to hold the arm cannon, they aim it towards the left side of the screen, slightly kneeling down in a "readying" pose. They then proceed to aim to the right, with the arm cannon slightly angled higher. Each time the Gunner points their arm cannon, it makes a clicking noise while emitting a brief flash from the tip. No matter what direction the Gunner faces, they always aim in the same direction. Unlike in Smash 4, the Mii Gunner now shows an angry expression instead of a neutral one.
 * Side taunt: They raise their arm cannon in an upward position and cock it while facing forward. A brief flash is emitted from the tip of the arm cannon.
 * Down taunt: While kneeling, they thrust their arm cannon onto the ground and proceed to release small bursts of fire.

Idle poses

 * Briefly examines their arm cannon.
 * Points their arm cannon to their right, then glances to their left cautiously.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Rolls in from offscreen, then fires their arm cannon left and right before spinning and firing one final shot.
 * Up: Performs their up smash, a cannon shot in front, then a barrage of shots similar to their forward smash.
 * Right: Swings arm cannon around twice before firing it while pointing it ahead, simultaneously emitting a burst of flame. Appears similar to the Mii Gunner's neutral attack in Smash 4.

Tier placement and history
Much like the other Mii Fighters, the Mii Gunner was perceived lukewarmly on release due to the improvements to their movesets. While the severe nerfs to their mobility were noted, along with the loss of their more infamous camping tools (most notably a shorter forward aerial, weaker Gunner Missiles, and the nerfs to Grenade Launch), the buffs to their other moves more than made up for it, as it improved a majority of attacks that were lackluster in Smash 4 (such as forward smash, up aerial and their throws). Overall, they were considered a relatively average "zoner"-type character. Despite this, the Gunner was one of the most obscure characters in competitive play in the early metagame; both the Mii Gunner and were overshadowed by the extremely positive perception of the, who took in most of the Mii Fighter's representation overall.

As the metagame progressed, Mii Gunner started to see brief yet limited success from players such as and. The character received even more success following the end of the online era thanks to the efforts of, who had taken sets from several top players and consistently placed highly at regional-level tournaments. Despite these results, professionals still agree that the Mii Gunner is significantly outclassed by other zoners with similar playstyles, such as. Regardless, Mii Gunner is ranked 61st on the first and current tier list.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Mii Gunner players (SSBU)


 * - The best Mii Gunner player of all-time, placing highly at majors such as 9th at the major and 33rd at several supermajors, including  and.
 * - The best Mii Gunner in Europe in the early metagame, placing 25th at the major and 33rd at the major  while defeating  in the former, the best win for a Mii Gunner player during this period.
 * - One of the best players who is also the best Mii Gunner player in Japan. He used Mii Gunner as a secondary at many tournaments such as his 2nd place at  with a win over, and others such as 9th at  and 33rd at.

Role in World of Light
Although the Mii Gunner is absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, they were vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except for ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

In the mode itself, the default Mii Gunner can be found on the island that leads to the Forest Hill.

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

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

In Spirit Battles
Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

Trivia

 * From September 1st to September 7th, 2019, Google search results for the Mii Gunner had risen to an all-time high, presumably because of the September 2019 Nintendo Direct and the accompanying announcement of the Sans costume for the Mii Gunner.
 * Out of all the Mii Fighters' special moves, Arm Rocket is the only one that does not deal damage.
 * Despite no longer wearing the ammo backpacks, the Palutena's Guidance conversation about Mii Gunner still referenced them prior to patch 1.2.0.
 * Mii Gunner is one of five characters whose unlocking battle in World of Light is not on either or an Ω form stage. The other four are, , , and.
 * The Mii Gunner is the only Mii that does not possess a counterattack, instead having a reflector.
 * The Mii Gunner's pose on the panoramic artwork resembles them charging up the projectile that comes out of their forward aerial.
 * In World of Light, Mii Gunner is one of the few fighters who is not affiliated with Dharkon in any way, as all of their encounters as themselves or as a puppet fighter are all associated with Galeem. Toon Link,, , , , , , , and all share this distinction as well.