Final Smash Meter

Final Smash Meter (, Charge Trump Card), often shortened to FS Meter, is a feature available as an option in the Rules selection in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It was revealed during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on August 8, 2018. It allows players to have a chargeable meter and unleash a weaker Final Smash when the meter is filled. It is similar to Super Meters from traditional fighting games.

When the Final Smash Meter is enabled, a colored bar is present below each player's damage meter. The bar fills as each player deals and receives damage, like Little Mac's Power Meter. The meter will reach full charge after taking 200% or dealing 500%. The meter also slowly fills over time, taking 9 minutes and 16 seconds to fully charge without any damage given or taken (this is shortened to 6 minutes and 26 seconds with one Fast Final Smash Meter skill and down to 6 minutes and 12 seconds with two Fast Final Smash Meter skills). Recoil damage does not charge the meter.

Once a player fills their meter, they enter Final Smash standby and can use a weaker version of their Final Smash compared to via a Smash Ball. If a player has entered Final Smash standby through a Smash Ball, the meter fills instantly and the player can use their Final Smash at full power. The meter will empty completely after the Final Smash is used. It will also deplete to around 60% charge if a player is KO'd while in standby, 90% if they are currently losing, and will deplete completely if the Smash Ball is obtained and subsequently lost.

Starting in version 4.0.0, the meter will also deplete over time once filled, draining completely after 20 seconds and causing the player to lose their Final Smash standby. This does not apply to Spirit battles or Final Smashes granted from a Smash Ball.

Only one Final Smash may be active at any given time, even though multiple players can be in standby at once. While a Final Smash is in progress, other characters with full meters temporarily leave standby, using their regular neutral special move instead. They return to standby when the Final Smash concludes.

Changes
Each Final Smash has its own values for the damage and knockback multipliers applied when using the Final Smash via the meter. While most final smashes have a damage multiplier of 0.7x, some don't have their damage reduced by as much. Additionally, while many Final Smashes have a knockback reduction in addition to the damage reduction, some actually have their knockback increased slightly, although this is always offset by the reduced damage, and thus these Final Smashes still KO later.

In competitive play
While the Final Smash Meter removes the randomness associated with the spawning of the Smash Ball, it also incentivizes stalling to charge the meter, rewards players for receiving damage more than dealing it, and does not sufficiently nerf some Final Smashes whose effects are disproportionately powerful, in addition to existing balance issues that have been present with Final Smashes since Brawl. As a result, the Final Smash Meter remains banned in all typical competitive tournaments.