Wizard's Foot

Wizard's Foot (, Violent Ogre Leg) (commonly called the Wizkick, Warlock Kick, Ganon Kick, or similar variations) is Ganondorf's down special move.

Overview
Ganondorf rushes forward or downward with his leg extended (depending on if he is on the ground or in the air), covering a decent amount of distance forwards, dealing damage and relatively high knockback. It is functionally similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick, but the main differences are that it uses darkness instead of flame, it travels slower and it has more consistent power throughout its duration.

Much like a Falcon Kick, if Wizard's Foot goes into a wall (including the blocks in the stage Green Greens), Ganondorf will bounce off and gain height, though this animation has a significant amount of ending lag.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee




In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the grounded version of Wizard's Foot comes out on frame 14, lasts until frame 35 and it takes 77 frames to complete (69 frames if the move ends in the air). The move deals 15% along with high horizontal knockback, with the move KOing at around 115% in the middle of Final Destination and at around 75% at the ledge. This makes it a rather powerful KO option although the grounded version is quite situational due to its slow speed. The move has a lot of ending lag so if Ganondorf misses the move or if the opponent shields it, he is left wide open for a punish, especially since he moves towards the opponent (although the move does deal a good amount of shield damage). This often makes the risk of using the move too high, with the move only really being useful as a punishment option. Even in situations where Ganondorf can land the move, he often has better punishment options which are either stronger, safer or both. As an additional note, when Ganondorf hits an opponent, he slows down a considerable amount (70% its original speed), which applies to every target Ganondorf hits.

In the air, the move functions quite differently. The move comes out on frame 15, lasts until frame 30 and takes 58 frames to complete. The move deals 14% and it is a powerful spike, which allows it to be used for edge-guarding. The move does have good knockback for a spike, which can lead to opponents being KOed although the move is difficult to land and as Ganondorf travels downwards with a considerable amount of lag, there are instances where Ganondorf will not be able to make it back to the stage if he does not use Wizard's Foot high enough. The move also has deceptively poor range, with Ganondorf's leg and foot being completely exposed, making the move difficult to land and easy to intercept. The move is also not very effective against opponents on stage. The move cannot KO Mario on Final Destination unless he is over 200% and if the move hits an opponent in the air and they land on stage, the move will not KO them at all.

If Ganondorf lands with the aerial version, a small shockwave is formed. This shockwave deals 12% damage, it can only hit opponents on the ground and it has low vertical knockback. Ganonorf can land both the aerial version and the landing hit at very low percents which deals 24%. The main issue with landing with an aerial Wizard's Foot however is that the move has an incredibly high amount of landing lag (57 frames). This makes the move incredibly punishable and the vertical knockback on the shockwave is very poor, which makes the move easily punishable on hit, right up until higher percents. Even when the move cannot be punished on hit, the move is still far too laggy for Ganondorf to be in an advantageous position.

These factors make using aerial Wizard's Foot as an attack incredibly situational attack as it is incredibly unsafe and difficult to land. This is further compounded with Ganondorf's down aerial as while down aerial is a meteor smash, it is much safer and stronger, making it the preferred option overall. Wizard's Foot is more consitently rewarding if it lands on an opponent off stage due to its spiking properties but down aerial is much more rewarding on stage and the risk for doing it is much lower.

There is one property the aerial version does have which does make it useful in some situations. When Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot in the air after a double jump and he does not land, it restores Ganondorf's midair jump (just like Falcon Kick). This does give Wizard's Foot some utility as it can be used to aid Ganondorf's recovery if he is launched quite high. It is even more applicable to use for this purpose than Falcon Kick due to Ganondorf's lower falling speed, allowing him to use it in instances where Captain Falcon would not be able to. While this does not greatly improve Ganondorf's very poor recovery, it does at the very least give Ganondorf an extra option when recovering in some situations, making it useful for this purpose.

Overall, Wizard's Foot is a very high risk, high reward move which is powerful when it lands in the right situations but the extreme risk of doing it makes it an incredibly situational move overall, with its main use being for recovering rather than using it as an attack.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl




In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wizard's Foot has seen a plethora of changes. Ganondorf now grunts when using the move and the move has seen some slight changes to its speed. The move has more startup lag (with both versions now being frame 16) and it has slightly less active frames however, it also has one frame less ending lag, both on the ground and in the air.

The grounded version has seen numerous changes, with most of them hindering the move. The move has an updated animation where Ganondorf instead side-swings his right leg forward for the kick, and tucks in his body away from his direction when traveling forward. As Ganondorf is travelling forwards, his foot is positioned higher, which makes the move easier to low profile under. In Melee, and  were the only characters who could crouch under the move and even they could get clipped by the move depending on what part of their crouching animation they were in. In Brawl however, pretty much every small character can crouch under the move and even characters like could occasionally crouch under it (despite the move's closer hitboxes being larger).

The move's horizontal range is significantly shorter overall. The move's foot hitbox is not only smaller but it has been moved a lot closer to Ganondorf: so much so that the move does not even cover Ganondorf's foot anymore. This results in the move having deceptively short range and overall making it easier to intercept.

One of the largest blows to the grounded version however is that it has seen a rather severe power reduction. The move deals less damage, only dealing 12% up close and dealing an even lower 10% from afar. In addition to this, the move deals much less knockback. The sweetspot does not KO Mario at the middle of Final Destination until around 175% and the sourspot does not KO him until he is at 215%. The move does KO much earlier at the ledge but the sweetspot still does not KO the opponent until they reach 115% (with the sourspot KOing 30% later than that and these KO percents do not factor in DI or momentum canceling). The move has gone from being a very powerful KO move to a move with rather subpar KO power. To make matters worse, the sourspot is positioned the furthest away from Ganondorf so unless Ganondorf starts the move really close to the opponent, he will most likely land the much weaker sourspot. All in all, this has practically removed Wizard's Foot's use as a punishment tool as it is too weak and Ganondorf has faster and stronger tools to use to punish his opponents (mainly dash attack in situations where Wizard's Foot is an option). The move also deals less shield damage which along with its lower damage and the changes to shields, makes it less risky and even easier for shielding opponents to punish.

On the positive side, the grounded version did see one significant beneficial change. Once Ganondorf stops travelling forwards, the move can now be edge canceled. This is a rather significant trait as it completely removes the move's ending lag if Ganondorf uses it at the right distance. This not only makes the move much safer to use as an approach tool but at lower percents, the move can even lead into a mixup if it hits an opponent at the ledge, granting the move some utility.

The aerial version has also seen a fair amount of changes. One negative change the move received is that it no longer restores Ganondorf's double jump if he has already used it. This significantly hinders the move's recovery potential and it hinders the move's safety if it is performed after a double jump. On the positive side however, the move has much larger hitboxes and it now has a foot hitbox, making it much harder to intercept.

During the move's first three active frames, the move still launches opponents downwards. The move now functions as a meteor smash, with it now being possible to meteor cancel. This is due to the changes to meteor canceling, with the game now detecting Wizard's Foot as a meteor smash (despite retaining its launch angle). This makes Wizard's Foot a less reliable edgeguarding move, especially since the changes to meteor cancelling have also improved the effectiveness of down aerial. On the positive side however, the move now deals 15% during these first three frames and it has considerably higher knockback, which compensates for the move now being meteor cancellable.

For the rest of the aerial version's duration, the move now launches opponents vertically with much higher knockback. This makes the move much stronger against opponents who are on or above the stage. The move is capable of KOing Mario at 93% on Final Destination at ground level and even earlier if he is in the air. When combined with the move's larger hitboxes, this makes the move much riskier to challenge if it is used on stage. The main downside this has however is that it makes the move less effective against opponents off stage, further hindering its edgeguarding potential.

The landing hit as a whole is more effective. The move now only has 44 frames of landing lag. While this is still a very high amount of landing lag, it is still a considerable improvement over the 57 frames it used to have. The hitboxes also deal more knockback and they have more range, which makes the attack less punishable overall, especially on hit. The only real downside the move has in comparison to its Melee counterpart is that it now only deals 8% instead of 12% although its other improvements more than make up for this.

Quake
As well as the general improvements the landing hit has received, Ganondorf now has some ways to get the landing hit out quickly, giving it some additional utility. A useful property the move now has is that if Ganondorf performs Wizard's Foot as soon as he jumps, he will immediately land with it. This is known as a Quake and it does have its uses. The main use it has is as an Out of Shield option. The move has decent range on both sides of Ganondorf and it comes out on frame 10 as an OoS option. This is Ganondorf's second fastest Out of Shield option (behind his grab) by multiple frames and it has more range than his grab, making it a useable option to punish moves his grab can't reach and moves where his other options are either too slow or can even go over the opponent. It is also Ganondorf's fastest option to punish opponents behind him by more than a few frames, making it useful to punish opponents behind him or to punish opponents while ignoring whether they cross him up or not. This grants Wizard's Foot utility in an area where it was incredibly situational before.

Another situation where Ganondorf can get an immediate landing Wizard's Foot is when he is going through a moving platform. If Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot while going through a moving platform (either as a platform cancel or after platform dropping) he will immediately land. This can be used to quickly land on a moving platform with a hitbox but the main use it has is as a shield platform drop punish. It is Ganondorf's fastest option out of a shield platform drop and it can be perform faster than his regular Quake OoS. The main limitation this has however is that it only works on moving platforms, making it situational to use in this way.

One more (yet rare) situation where Ganondorf can get an instant landing Wizard's Foot is when he is in a specific animation frame where he is considered airborne and grounded. This frame can be set up by either doing an air dodge and landing the frame after the animation ends or by ending a grounded Wizard's Foot with the aerial animation (which can be set up by either doing it from one platform to another or by using Wizard's Foot at the ledge while facing away from it). This situation is very rare, difficult and risky to set up however but when Ganondorf is in this situation, he gains access to another technique.

Flight of Ganon
Ganondorf has access to another strange technique, which abuses the game's buffer system and the specific animation frame mentioned previously. If Ganondorf buffers a double jump and a Wizard's Foot on the specific aerial/grounded animation frame, Ganondorf will shoot up, very high into the air. This can be used to make Ganondorf go much higher into the air than he normally can but the technique takes a lot of time to set up and as Ganondorf is rising, he is unable to do anything, heavily limiting its effectiveness.

Overall, Wizard's Foot in Brawl is an interesting move. The grounded version is a much weaker move which can be a lot safer when used in the right situations while the aerial version is a lot stronger but it has lost utility in areas where it was useful before. The landing hit is stronger, safer and has more utility than it ever did previously. Wizard's Foot does have its uses, such as an Out of Shield option or as a mixup to approach but it is not the most spectacular move Ganondorf has either, making it a situation move overall.

In Super Smash Bros. 4




In Super Smash Bros. 4, Wizard's Foot has see some changes. The grounded version has seen a couple of notable improvements. The move now deals 2% more damage on all hitboxes, making it a stronger KO move. The foot hitbox is now as strong as the near hitboxes were previously while the near hitboxes now KO at around 153% at the middle of Final Destination and just over 100% at the edge. In addition to this, the grounded version also has more range, with the move no longer having deceptively short horizontal range. The move also retains its ability to be edge-canceled unlike Falcon Kick, allowing it to retain its approach potential when used near an edge.

The aerial version was unchanged but it did benefit from multiple universal changes including the removal of meteor canceling and the universal increase to shield damage, making it more reliable off stage as well as making it riskier to shield. It also indirectly benefits from the power reduction down aerial received, now making it a more powerful move than down aerial at lower percents although down aerial is still a superior edgeguarding option overall. The aerial version is hindered by the fact that grounded opponents can now tech meteor smashes although this only hinders the clean hit. The landing hit was also unchanged, at least in terms of its speed and properties.

Many of the move's unintentional properties have been removed however. When the grounded version is used at the edge, Ganondorf will no longer go into the aerial ending animation. He will still go into it if he goes to one platform to another but this is more situational. When Ganondorf gets the aerial ending animation on the ground, he will still go into the animation transition frame but the animation frame functions differently. Ganondorf is now considered to be on the ground when this animation frame occurs. On the one hand, this does give Ganondorf instant access to his ground actions which he did not have before however, this also removes his instant access to his double jump and aerial Wizard's Foot. This subsequently removes Flight of Ganon which does not hurt the move too much but it does reduce the move's utility.

Ganondorf has also lost his ability to instantly quake which has removed the utility the landing hit previous had. Wizard's Foot can no longer be used as a somewhat fast Out of Shield option which can hit on both sides because of this, making it practically useless OoS, especially since forward tilt and dash attack are faster and stronger. Ganondorf can still instantly land with Wizard's Foot if he drops through a platform and immediately performs Wizard's Foot (and it can even work on any platform now) however, it functions in a different way that makes it practically useless. When Ganondorf instantly lands with Wizard's Foot, he will only land for one frame before falling through the platform again. As the landing hit comes out on frame 2, the landing hit does not come out in this situation, removing any utility this technique would have gained if the hitbox did come out. This especially hurts the move on moving platforms as Ganondorf could land and instantly get out the landing hitbox on them before. Altogether, these changes remove the utility the landing hit had previously with the move now only being useful to tack on some extra shield damage after an aerial Wizard's Foot.

In earlier versions of the game, the grounded version retained its power from Brawl and while it had improved range, the move still failed to fully cover Ganondorf's foot. In version 1.1.5, the move received a damage and range buff which made it a stronger KO move as well as making it harder to intercept.

Overall, Wizard's Foot is a more rewarding move than it was in Brawl but the move has lost some of the utility it had before due to losing some of its exploits. It remains a risky approach option which can be difficult to land and can be easily punished if it does not hit.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate




The move on the ground was significantly buffed in power and speed. The foot now does 16% damage and the leg does 14% (as opposed to the other way around in Brawl and Smash 4), making the sweetspot easier to land overall which KOs around 93% near the edge of Final Destination, with the sourspot only occurring when used at point-blank. The move was also sped-up with reduced ending lag on the ground, making it much less susceptible to being punished while also being a decent combo starter when used at low percentages. Its animation was also altered, with him bending his knee forward before kicking, being closer to its appearance in Melee, with Ganondorf travelling and kicking much closer to the ground, meaning that characters with a low crouch posture and smaller characters can no longer consistently low profile underneath his foot.

However, it no longer has a thigh hitbox. Additionally, both versions have significantly smaller hitboxes. This makes the move much harder to land, and makes the aerial version less effective at anti-juggling.

Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:


 * 1) Wizard's Foot: Default.
 * 2) Wizard's Dropkick: The kick moves at a 45 degree angle downward, and Ganondorf jumps to use it in the air when used on the ground; despite this it does not have the aerial version's shockwave and ending lag. This move significantly remedies Ganondorf's flaws towards projectiles and recovery, as it vaults over projectiles and the aerial version travels faster and further than Flame Choke while also not causing helplessness. Deals less damage and cannot meteor smash, and has slightly more start-up and slightly more ending lag in the air, but less ending lag on the ground. The kick's darkness is a dark blue color. :
 * 3) Wizard's Assault: A faster and further kick that travels through foes, but with more start-up and ending lag, slightly less damage, and sends opponents behind Ganondorf which makes it difficult to KO with. In the air the kick goes straight down, but the distance traveled makes it invariable suicide when used off-stage, even with a full hop and double jump. This custom is considered inferior to Wizard's Foot/Dropkick due to its flaws providing increased predictability and lack of KO power, less useful for off-stage and edgeguarding, and its advantages being considerably less effective than the latter's. The kick's darkness is a magenta color. :

Origin
The Wizard's Foot is a move original to Smash, as it is directly based off of the Falcon Kick. The main visual difference is the flame effects are replaced with purple particle effects as a reference to the dark magic Ganondorf possesses and frequently uses.

Trivia

 * The animation used when Ganondorf bounces off a wall by using this move is the same as the animation used when releasing an opponent from the Dark Dive.
 * The animation appears slightly different in Ultimate, however this is because Dark Dive's release has a frame speed multiplier of 0.75 and Wizard's Foot doesn't.
 * If used on the ground, it can send Ganondorf right over certain items, such as Diddy Kong's Bananas, without activating them.
 * If Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot just as he hits a spring in a custom stage, he will launch more than twice as high. This can cause a self-destruct in the Subspace Emissary if he uses Wizard's Foot at specific springs in stages such as The Forest.

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