Samus (SSBM)

Samus (, Samus) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Returning as a veteran from the previous game, Samus, similarly to, reprises her role as a short-ranged fighter with numerous ranged options.

Samus is ranked 11th on the current tier list, placing her in the B+ tier, a significant improvement from her 8th (out of 12) position in Super Smash Bros. This is mainly due to her effective projectiles, supplementing her KOing power and her approaches. She also has a good air game that is complemented by a versatile back aerial. Samus' recovery is among the best in the game; her bomb jumps, ability to wall jump, grappling beam, and heavy weight all contribute to making her among the toughest characters to KO horizontally. She also possesses techniques exclusive to her, such as the Super Wavedash and Extended Grapple, that aid her approach on opponents. However, she is floaty, allowing her to be easily juggled and KO'd vertically. She is also highly susceptible to combos in general, due to being floaty, heavy, and tall in stature. Her primary combo starter, her grab, is also very laggy if it misses, though it can be extended in the NTSC version. Regardless, Samus has decent matchups all-around in the current metagame.

Attributes
Samus is a unique character. Although a tall heavyweight, she is unusually floaty, uncharacteristic of characters in her weight class. Her high weight (only being lighter than and ) lets her have amazing horizontal survivability. Her slow falling speed (the second slowest in the game, tied with ) allows her recovery to travel more distance and gives her better potential combo game. However, it also makes her more susceptible to vertical KOs, even with her high weight, and it also gives her a poor SHFFL.

Arguably Samus's most valuable asset is her high range. While lacking a disjointed hitbox, Samus has a variety of long-reaching attacks and long-ranged projectiles that can assist with her ground-based approach. Charge Shot can quickly become one of her most powerful attacks, while her Missiles can act as both an approach option when non-tapped and as a powerful finisher when tapped. Samus's average traction and low falling speed also grant her a long wavedash that can mesh well with her long-ranged smash attacks, as well as her modestly-ranged tilts; assuming the player has particularly good timing, Samus also has access to the longest wavedash in the game, the Super Wavedash, which can also potentially surprise enemies due to its speed. While laggy, Samus sports one of the longest grabs in the game, and a technique that is unique to the NTSC release of the game can allow her to extend its reach by three, in addition to allowing it to home in on enemies.

Samus's recovery is also among the longest and most flexible in all the game. While Screw Attack grants relatively little horizontal and vertical distance, its multiple hitboxes can potentially frustrate edgeguarders. Samus, however, owns arguably more options for her recovery than any other character in the game. Her average air speed and low falling speed aid her approach toward ledges, while her natural ability to wall-jump can aid her recovery on stages with walls underneath the ledge, such as Fountain of Dreams or. Samus's down special, her bombs, can allow her to bomb-jump onto the stage without the loss of jumps, and her grab air can allow her to enter "safe zones" underneath the stage, as well as acting another long recovery technique. Owing to these variety of options, edgeguarding against Samus can be extremely difficult, especially for characters with poor recoveries. For Samus herself, this long recovery also grants her a powerful edgeguarding game of her own, aided by her fast and powerful neutral and back aerial attacks.

Samus also has a very good defensive game; Despite Samus's shield leaving her legs exposed, which can leave her vulnerable to shield stabbing, and having a poor roll, due to it's low speed, she still has very strong defensive options. For one, she has one of the best Crouch cancels in the game, due to her high weight, and having very good options out of it, such has her down smash and down tilt. Her screw attack also offers a quick and difficult-to-punish out of shield option, due to being invincible for the first couple frames of the move which helps her when getting pressured. It can also work as a combo breaker, but this can be risky if missed. Her nair is also a good combo breaking tool, due to being decently quick (frame 5) and being powerful. Her defensive game is also complimented by her amazing horizontal survivability and great recovery, which allow Samus to frequently live to very high percents against characters without strong vertical finishers (and sometimes characters with them).

Despite having a good approach on the ground, Samus's aerial approach suffers due to her strange variety of attributes. Her below average falling speed and high jumps give her a poor SHFFL, despite the presence of low ending lag for her aerials when L-canceled. Her low falling speed also can prevent her from quickly pursuing enemies that have been knocked into the ground; as such, Samus can have particular difficulty in comboing fast-fallers, even with her variety of throws. Tying into this, Samus's grab is extremely laggy and can easily be punished if she fails to grab an opponent with it.

Changes from Super Smash Bros..
Samus has been significantly buffed from Smash 64 to Melee, as she was considered to fare poorly in Smash 64 due to her poor approach and lack of reliable combos. She is often considered the most buffed character from Smash 64 to Melee along with. Most of her attacks have received significantly better frame data, such as a faster neutral attack and forward tilt.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * 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:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down 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:
 * 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:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Grabs:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Back throw:

Special Moves

 * Charge Shot:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Missile:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Screw Attack:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:
 * Bomb:

Version history
Like some other characters, Samus has received some changes in the PAL version of Melee, which nerfed her overall, as she can no longer use the Extended grapple or bomb out of a grapple.

PAL

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

Stats
NTSC

PAL

Most historically significant players

 * Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the 2019 MPGR, which recognizes the official top 100 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Melee. "HM" indicates an honorable mention on the 2019 MPGR.


 * See also: Category:Samus players (SSBM)


 * - Known as the best Samus in France before becoming inactive. Placed 3rd at, 5th at , 7th at , and 17th at both and  with wins over , , and . Took ’s Peach to last stock.
 * - The best Samus in NorCal. He is currently ranked 17th on the NorCal Melee Power Rankings and was ranked 92nd on the 2016 SSBMRank. Placed 17th at, 25th at , 33rd at with wins over , , and.
 * - The current best Samus in Europe. Placed 5th at, 13th at , and 17th at both and . Has beaten  and.
 * - One of the most influential Samus mains of all time, has multiple top 12 placements at majors/supermajors. Has beaten, , , and . Placed 14th on the 2018 MPGR.
 * - Known as one of the best Samus players in the world before becoming inactive. Placed 13th at, 7th at , 13th at , and 25th at with wins over , , and . Placed 46th on the 2019 MPGR.
 * - Currently the best active Samus player, although better known for his Project M . Placed 9th at, 33rd at , and 17th at , , and with wins over , , , , and . Placed 44th on the 2019 MPGR.
 * - Best Samus in Japan. Placed 3rd at, 17th at , and 25th at . Previously ranked 8th on the Japan SSBM Rank 2018.
 * (#7) - Reached 6th on the 2016 SSBMRank with Samus, and was formerly regarded as the world's best Samus player by many before he switched to in early 2015. He has since switched mains to  and, but is still considered one of the best Samus players in the world, notably placing 5th at  going solo Samus and 4th at  going mostly Samus.
 * (#27) - One of the best active Samus players in the world, and one of the best Melee players in New Jersey. Placed 9th at, 17th at both and , and 25th at  with wins over , , and.
 * - Formerly the best Samus with HugS in the Golden Age of Melee; still competes occasionally in New York.

Tier placement and history
Samus’s large number of buffs from her transition from 64 to Melee was immediately noticed by players, and was reflected by her high rankings in initial tier lists, hovering around 6th and 9th. This was primarily due to her improved projectile game, additional combo options, and improved recovery. Although she has a smaller playerbase than most high-tier mains, her representation and performances from dedicated mains such as allowed her to remain in the higher tiers for many years. Unfortunately, innovations in other characters's metagames have been discovered, and professionals have adapted to Samus's defensive fighting style that rendered her zoning game less effective. This has resulted Samus dropping in placements through recent Melee tier lists. In the current metagame, rarely uses her in high-level tournaments, and  has recently dropped her in favor of Sheik. As it stands, while her zoning game remains effective against the meta, her declining presence in tournaments and increasing competitive prospects towards other top-tiers has made her fare worse against the rest of the cast compared to the early metagame, and as a result she currently sits at 11th place at the bottom of B+ tier.

In Classic Mode, Samus can appear as an ordinary opponent, as an ally or opponent in the team battles, alongside either or, as a giant opponent, or as a metal opponent. When alone she appears either on Brinstar or Brinstar Depths, while when on a team with Captain Falcon she appears on Big Blue.

Adventure Mode
Samus is once again fought on the Brinstar stage, after Samus is beaten, the planet will start to explode and the player must evacuate to Samus's ship before the planet explodes, if not they will lose a life.

All-Star Mode
Samus and her allies are fought on Brinstar.

Event Matches
Samus is featured in the following event matches:
 * Event 3: Bomb-fest: The player chooses any character and must defeat and Samus on Princess Peach's Castle. Link and Samus will only use their bomb special moves, and only items that create explosions (such as the Motion-Sensor Bomb and the Bob-omb) will spawn on the stage.
 * Event 8: Hot Date on Brinstar: The player chooses any character and must defeat Samus in a three-stock match on the Brinstar. The player starts and respawns with 102% damage, while Samus starts and respawns with 130%.
 * Event 15: Girl Power: The player chooses any character and must defeat Samus,, and in a two-stock match on Fountain of Dreams. The character the player chooses is tiny, while the female combatants are normal sized.
 * Event 17: Bounty Hunters: The player plays as Samus, teamed up with Captain Falcon (with Friendly Fire turned off), and must defeat before Captain Falcon does on Jungle Japes. The event results in failure if Captain Falcon delivers the finishing blow, if Bowser self-destructs, or if Samus dies.
 * Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Samus is the first opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. The player battles her on Brinstar, which will transition to the next stage if Samus gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat her along with Link, Zelda, Captain Falcon, and.
 * Event 27: Cold Armor: The player uses Samus must defeat three metal Samuses on the Brinstar Depths. The player-controlled Samus has one stock, while each metal Samus have two.
 * Event 36: Space Travelers: The player uses must defeat Samus,, Fox, Captain Falcon and . The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on.

Trophies
In addition to the normal trophy about Samus as a character, there are two trophies about her as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Samus on any difficulty:

Trivia

 * In the instruction booklet, the screenshots of Samus' special moves are on Corneria, as opposed to the other characters, whose special moves are shown on one of their home stages.
 * Samus' render pose closely resembles the official artwork for her appearance in Smash 64.