Mario (SSBM): Difference between revisions

Mario is ranked 15th out of 26 on the current tier list, placing him in the E tier. This is very similar to his previous ranking in ''Smash 64'', where he is ranked 7th out of 12. It also places him four places lower than his clone {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} at 11th place and two places lower than his younger brother {{SSBM|Luigi}}. Like in ''Smash 64'', Mario acts as a well-rounded character, with average attributes across the board. He has above average comboing ability due to the somewhat low knockback and the angles at which his moves tend to send on, and a very versatile grab game: his powerful back throw can KO most opponents with ease and [[gimp]] some recoveries, while his up and down throws can [[chain-grab]]. Mario also has a solid [[edge-guarding]] game, with a solid projectile in his [[Fireball]], and his [[Cape]] which can easily and efficiently gimp almost every other character's recovery. Mario, however, lacks a reliable finisher, with many moves with aforementioned low knockback with the exception of his forward and down smash. His recovery is also predictable and short, though he can extend it, which leaves him vulnerable to being gimped by characters such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}. His mediocre range also leaves him with trouble against characters with disjointed hitboxes such as {{SSBM|Marth}}. Overall, Mario has average matchups in tournament play, with favorable matchups against most lower tiered characters though having disadvantageous matchups against higher tiered characters, especially against those who can either gimp or outrange him.

Very early in the ''Melee'' [[metagame]], when few players knew the potential of now-top tier characters, Mario was considered one of the best characters in the game, ranking as high as 5th on the first tier list. This could be attributed to Mario's simple but effective [[combo]] setups, strong attacks, low learning curve, and lack of any outstanding drawbacks due to being well-rounded, as well as his extendable [[recovery]]. As the metagame advanced, however, Mario's average statistics were magnified as the potentials for many other superior characters, such as {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}, and the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, were discovered. This caused Mario to slowly slip down the tier list as time progressed, as well as lose significant placing in large tournaments; eventually, {{Sm|Mango}} (under the alias "Scorpion Master") was the only person who placed anywhere significant with him, but even he rarely placed high enough to earn money from playing Mario, cashing in at 25th place at [[Apex 2010]] instead of his usual top 8 placements when using better characters. On the current [[tier list]], he ranks 15th place in the E tier; on the other hand, his clone {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} and semi-clone {{SSBM|Luigi}}, who were once widely considered worse than Mario, have surpassed him in placements. Despite the tier differences, some players, such as Shroomed, believe Mario could potentially be better than Doctor Mario, due to his faster aerials, arguably better recovery, and longer reach and disjoint in some of his attacks, such as forward Smash and down Smash, supplemented with {{Sm|A Rookie}}’s respectable representation with the character. However, other Luigi and Dr. Mario mains have since achieved stronger competitive breakthroughs (exhibited with Luigi’s bigger playerbase and Franz’s rising success), which influenced most top players to view Mario’s standing otherwise.