Mario (SSBB): Difference between revisions

'''Mario''' ({{ja|マリオ|Mario}}, ''Mario'')  is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', who also appears in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' {{s|mariowiki|Charles Martinet}} reprises his role as Mario, now providing new voice clips, sounding more akin to his appearances from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}'' onwards.

Mario is ranked 31st out of 38 on the current [[tier list]], the top position of F tier. This is a vast drop from his previous placement in ''Melee'', where he was ranked 15th out of 26, and his worst placement in the series to date. Mario possesses fast, low lag attacks throughout his moveset, as well as strong [[combo]]ing capabilities, with his [[up tilt]] and [[up aerial]] being especially good [[juggle]]rs on their own that can set up additional attacks well. Additionally, Mario possesses a notable [[gimp]]ing and disrupting tool in his [[Cape]], an effective projectile in his [[Fireball]], and even an effective [[out of shield]] option in his [[Super Jump Punch]]. However, he inherited problems from his ''Melee'' incarnation, which had been exacerbated. Mainly, he has poor [[reach]] with nearly every attack, giving him problems dealing with characters who have disjointed hitboxes (such as {{SSBB|Marth}}) and is easily gimped due to his predictable and short [[recovery]]. Mario also still possesses poor [[KO]] potential: He only has a few mediocre finishers (all being [[smash attack]]s), while his {{mvsub|Mario|SSBB|back aerial}} has below-average power, only KOing at very high percents, and his {{mvsub|Mario|SSBB|forward aerial}}, despite being a [[meteor smash]], is slow and too weak for KOing unless sweetspotted. As a result, he has no other effective finishers outside of his forward and up smashes, which combined with the existence of [[stale-move negation]], makes it difficult for him to score a KO, forcing him to not overrely on his forward and up smashes and keeping them fresh to take the stock. Lastly, his rather standard abilities are outshined by the abilities of most characters. This has resulted in poor [[matchup]]s beyond low tier, and terrible [[tournament]] results. However, on the Japanese tier list, Mario is ranked 25th out of 36 in the top of D tier, where he is considered to be a mid tier character rather than a low tier.

Despite his low tier list placement, Mario has a few noticeable strengths. He has relatively quick frame data, with fast options across his entire moveset, both on the ground and in the air. He has some decent grounded options, such as his [[forward smash]] being his strongest finisher and one of his longest-ranged attacks, [[up smash]] with its fast speed and [[intangibility]], and his [[up tilt]] setting up for [[juggling|juggles]] and KOing at very high percentages. His [[grab]] game is versatile as well, with [[Back throw]] leading to KOs at high percentages, forward throw having the potential to set up for offstage situations, and [[up throw|up]] and [[down throw]] sending at favorable angles for juggles or combos. However, his grounded moveset does have some negatives. [[Down smash]], despite its very fast speed, is a rather weak finisher, and his [[down tilt]] is widely considered one of the worst moves in the entire game.

His specials are useful too. [[Fireball]] is a projectile that is able to interrupt approaches and can somewhat remedy Mario's short range. [[Cape]] is a [[reflector]] that can also be used to [[gimp]] opponents, and can be used as a option for [[recovery]] as it boosts Mario upwards slightly. [[Super Jump Punch]] is Mario's main recovery move and Mario's fastest [[out of shield]] option. As it deals a reasonable amount of damage, it can also be used as a combo finisher. Lastly, [[F.L.U.D.D]] does no damage, but it can be charged to unleash a powerful [[windbox]] that can be used to push opponents away, leading to edgeguards or simply blowing them offstage.

Despite his strengths, he has many glaring flaws. Compared to ''Melee'', his already poor KO potential has been further worsened. His forward and up smashes are relatively weak compared to the rest of the cast, his back aerial has short range, back throw is easy to [[DI]] due to its slow startup, and forward aerial is slow, laggy, and can be [[meteor cancel]]led. However, Mario's most glaring flaw is his poor reach. While Mario does have a projectile, the rest of his attacks are very short ranged, forcing him to get up close to do meaningful damage or land KOs. Coupled with Mario's average speed, he can have difficulty landing hits on enemies who outrange him, such as {{SSBB|Marth}} and {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}. His recovery is also rather mediocre. While Super Jump Punch is fast, it follows a predictable path and doesn't go particularly far, leading to Mario getting gimped rather easily. His grab game, while decent, is rendered less effective by his short grab and [[hitstun canceling]] limiting his combo potential.

Mario has received a mix of [[nerf]]s and [[buff]]s from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl'', but his buffs are flooded over by his more pronounced flaws from his previous incarnation, and the changes to ''Brawl''{{'}}s mechanics hinder Mario more than they help him. As a result, he was heavily nerfed overall. The removal of [[wavedashing]] hinders Mario's mobility and grounded approach, while the introduction of [[hitstun canceling]] limits Mario's combo game, and his up and down throws cannot chaingrab anymore because of that. His already mediocre KO power was reduced even further, almost completely removing his back throw's KO potential and his back aerial is still weak for its type, KOing opponents onstage only at very high percentages, forcing him to overuse his forward and up smashes to secure a KO, with the former being slower, and his smash attacks in general are less useful overall, with forward smash's sweetspot being weaker and is now outprioritized by a stronger sourspot while up smash and the front hit of down smash also deal less damage and knockback.

Overall, Mario is considered less effective than he was in ''64'' and ''Melee''. He is one of the characters to have been the most severely nerfed in his transition from ''Melee''.

*{{change|Mario has been updated graphically, with his overalls looking more realistic. Additionally, the color of his cap, shirt, and overalls are a darker shade of red and blue and his skin became paler, matching his appearance used since ''Luigi's Mansion''.}}

*{{change|Mario no longer vocalizes during his first jump, and all of his jumps make variations of the "boing" noise from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''; the pitch increases with each jump: the short ground and wall jumps make a shortened version, the high ground jump uses the unaltered standard version, and the second jump and [[Super Jump Punch]] each make higher-pitched versions.}}

*{{change|Mario shouts at both the start and end instead of saying "Here we go!" at end during his left- and right-inputted victory poses; he also now vocalizes during his up-inputted victory pose.}}

*{{change|Mario has been given updated voice clips, rather than reusing voice clips from ''Super Mario 64'', like in ''Smash 64'' and ''Melee''.}}

*{{change|Mario's character model is slightly smaller, more in line with his own games, making him harder to hit but decreasing his reach.}}

*{{change|Mario is slightly [[Weight|lighter]] (100 → 98).}}

*{{change|As with the returning veterans, Mario's [[falling speed]] was reduced (1.7 → 1.28). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario falls faster. While improving his vertical endurance, it makes him more vulnerable to combos and worsens his already poor recovery.}}

*{{buff|Mario's [[traction]] has been unchanged (0.06). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario's traction is significantly higher, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.}}

*{{buff|Mario's additional [[air acceleration]] is higher (0.025 → 0.08), increasing the total amount (0.045 → 0.09) despite his base air acceleration being lower (0.02 → 0.01). His air acceleration has gone from being the 5th lowest out of 26 characters in ''Melee'' to the 13th highest out of 39 characters in ''Brawl''.}}

**{{buff|Holding down the attack button now makes Mario quickly repeat the first hit of neutral attack until it connects, improving its [[punish]] potential.}}

**{{nerf|The last hit has more startup with a shorter duration (frames 5-9 → 7-10), more ending lag (FAF 23 → 30).}}

**{{buff|Forward tilt deals more base knockback (6 → 8), and no longer deals minimal [[set knockback]] (1 → 0) when angled down.}}

**{{nerf|Down tilt deals less damage (8%/9% → 5%/7%), with only a slight increased to its base knockback (10 → 20).}}

**{{nerf|Its sweetspot deals less damage across all angles (19% (up)/18% (non-angled)/17% (down) → 18%/17%/16%).}}

**{{nerf|Its sweetspot has less knockback scaling (95 → 90).}}

**{{nerf|It deals less damage (15% → 14%) and has decreased knockback scaling (97 → 90), hindering its KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|Its front hit deals less damage (16% → 15%).}}

**{{nerf|Its front hit has less knockback scaling (75 → 73), hindering its KO potential.}}

*{{change|All aerials except forward aerial have decreased landing lag (16/8 frames → 10 (neutral), 15/7 frames → 10 (back), 15/7 frames → 10 (up), 23/11 frames → 19 (down)). Due to the removal of [[L-canceling]], however, their landing lag is not fully compensated.}}

***{{nerf|However, this makes the move less consistent at edgeguarding overall as the clean hit has a much shorter duration (frames 18-22 → 17-19).}}

**{{buff|Mario's lower falling speed makes the move safer to use off stage.}}

***{{buff|Its reduced knockback enables the late hit to lock opponents for longer.}}

**{{nerf|Due to hitting six times instead of seven coupled with the loop hits dealing less damage, the move's maximum damage potential is lower (14.74% → 12%).}}

**{{buff|Standing [[grab]] has less startup lag (frame 7 → 6) and both his standing and dash grabs have less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30 (standing), frame 41 → 40 (dash).}}

**{{buff|Fireball can now be [[B-reverse]]d.}}

**{{buff|It deals slightly more knockback and a larger hitbox.}}

**{{nerf|Fireballs travels a shorter distance.}}

**{{buff|Cape can now be [[B-reverse]]d.}}

**{{buff|It now reverses the opponent's momentum rather than just reversing their direction, and temporarily reverses their controls as well, making it much more effective as a disrupting tool. Mario also now has access to several new techniques such as the [[Cape Glide]], greatly improving its utility.}}

**{{nerf|Its effectiveness as an edgeguarding tool have been reduced due to characters being able to grab the ledge from behind in ''Brawl''.}}

**{{nerf|If Mario hits certain characters out of their specials moves with Cape (including {{SSBB|Sonic}}'s [[Spring Jump]], {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s [[Fire]], {{SSBB|Snake}}'s [[Cypher]] or {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}'s [[Monkey Flip]]), they will be able to reuse their specials making Cape a non-viable edgeguarding option against those characters.}}

**{{buff|Its last hit deals more knockback (40 (base)/140 (scaling) → 52/145) and launches at a higher angle (50° → 60°), allowing it to KO near the upper blast line much more effectively.}}

**{{nerf|It now deals seven hits instead of nine, with its hitbox timings altered (frames 3-24 → 3-15), shortening its duration and reducing its total damage output (14.1% → 12%).}}

**{{nerf|It can no longer cancel itself into a [[wall jump]].}}

**{{change|Super Jump Punch has an altered landing animation where Mario lands on his back as opposed to his feet.}}

**{{change|Mario has a new down special: F.L.U.D.D., replacing Mario Tornado from ''Melee''. It is a [[charge]]able move that fires water that pushes opponents away.}}

**{{buff|F.L.U.D.D. is a much more effective edgeguarding move due to pushing opponents away, has much greater reach than Mario Tornado, and can be angled to adjust its hitbox positioning, improving its safety.}}

**{{nerf|Compared to Mario Tornado, F.L.U.D.D. cannot extend Mario's recovery or hit opponents behind him, and does not deal any damage.}}

**{{change|Mario now has a [[Final Smash]]: Mario Finale. Mario fires two large streams of fire that hits multiple times and goes full screen. The two streams grow larger vertically as the move progresses, and opponents that are hit get trapped in the attack and are forced to travel with it.}}

|dtiltdesc=Performs a legsweep. Though it has low startup lag and surprisingly decent range, it deals low damage, has high [[ending lag]] and low vertical knockback. This means that when Mario connects the move, the opponent almost always has the advantage overall him. The move is flat out [[Punishment|punishable]] on hit all the way up to mid percents or even high percents, depending on the opponent's character. As such, it is Mario's least effective move and it is even considered to be one of the worst moves in the game.

|dashdesc=Performs a sliding tackle. Also from ''Super Mario 64''. Has low diagonal knockback behind Mario that is difficult to follow up on. It has low startup lag and a long duration but it does not cover a ton of distance at a quick speed, making dash attack fairly unspectacular overall.

|usmashdesc=Sends opponents skyward with a headbutt. For an up smash, it has relatively low startup and ending lag. It has serviceable knockback, KOing Mario at around 124% on Final Destination. Another finisher. Mario's head is [[intangible]] while the [[hitbox]]es are active. All these factors make up smash a fairly solid move overall.

|uairdesc=Performs a bicycle kick. Very low startup and ending lag with low knockback, it works very well as a juggler at low to mid percentages although it has short reach. It can also KO opponents horizontally at very high percents if they are close to the horizontal blastzone. Overall a very useful move.

|dairdesc=Performs several discus spinning clotheslines followed by a backfist body stretch. Like his down special in earlier games, it looks somewhat like the Spin Jump from various ''Mario'' games, originating in ''[[Super Mario World]]''. It it a multi-hit attack with low startup and ending lag, as well as a decent auto-cancel window. The final hit does decent vertical knockback, KOing at very high percents. The first five hits have set knockback and the move has a landing hitbox which deals horizontal set knockback. It is overall a useful move, being a quick move to rack up damage and set up juggles although it has short horizontal range, the multi hits can be SDIed out of and even it the opponent does not SDI out, they can still avoid the final hit if they have a very fast aerial or a move with intangibility during its first few startup frames.

|bthrowdesc=Spins around three times then throws his opponent backwards. It is similar to when Mario grabs Bowser by the tail, and then swings him around in an attempt to throw him into the bombs in ''Super Mario 64''. While a very slow throw, he can damage other characters with the character he is swinging around. This is by far Mario's strongest throw and it can KO Mario as low as 111% at the ledge, and at 179% from the center of Final Destination. While powerful for a throw, it is very slow, making it very easy to DI, limiting its KO potential, although as the throw is weight dependent, this is harder for lighter characters to perform. It is Mario's most damaging throw.

|usdesc=Jumps upwards, dragging opponents along. Mario can slightly alter the trajectory when using it. It comes out very quickly on frame 3, making it the fastest up special and [[out of shield]] option by two frames. This allows Mario to punish attacks on shield no other character can (without powershielding). It also has deceptively long range and intangibility while its first hitbox is active, further cementing its effectiveness out of shield, as well as the latter point allowing it to be used in pressure situations. The opponent can fall out of the move however, limiting its effectiveness against strong opponents. As a [[recovery]] option however, it does not go extremely high or far, it is fairly linear and it can easily be edgehogged, making it easily exploitable off stage overall.

|dsdesc=Pulls out F.L.U.D.D. from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Sunshine}}'', who blasts a water stream that pushes back opponents, although without damaging them. Mario can charge it for longer distance, store the charge, and alter the angle of the stream when it is unleashed. Can be used for [[edgeguarding]] but it is overall not a very strong option as the pushback from the water is often too weak.

*{{Sm|Boss|USA}} - While better known for being considered the best {{SSBB|Luigi}} in ''Brawl'', he also frequently used Mario at high-level tournaments and was considered as possibly Mario's best player too. Boss' 17th placing at {{Trn|Apex 2009}} and {{Trn|MLG Columbus 2010}} using Mario alongside Luigi are the best major placements anyone ever achieved playing Mario in any capacity.

*{{Sm|Irios|France}} - The best Mario player in [[Europe]] and possibly the best Mario player in the world during ''Brawl'''s competitive life. Irios most notably placed 5th at [[Bushido Impact 9]] using solo Mario, one of the largest European ''Brawl'' tournaments, and has defeated {{Sm|Mr. R}}.

*{{Sm|KirinBlaze|USA}} - Dual mained Mario with {{SSBB|Link}}, and was one of the very few well-renown Mario mains in ''Brawl''. KirinBlaze's most notable results were placing 33rd at {{Trn|MLG Raleigh 2010}} and {{Trn|Pound V}}, which are the only times aside from Boss' aforementioned placings that someone placed top 64 at a ''Brawl'' supermajor or major using Mario in any capacity.  

Since the very beginning of ''Brawl'' competitive play, Mario has always been viewed by competitive players as a low tier, nonviable character; as such, he never experienced a period of positive competitive prospects. Although Mario's own attributes were only slightly [[nerf]]ed from ''Melee'', players quickly noticed that his comparatively standard abilities failed to standout against the many overpowered newcomers added to ''Brawl''. Mario was additionally more severely hindered by the new [[hitstun cancelling]] mechanics than most other characters, due to his heavy reliance on [[combo]]s to compensate for his lackluster damage-per-hit, as well as having very few KO options also making him more relatively hindered by the much more severe [[staling]] mechanics. These traits kept Mario from being viable even in the early stages of competitive ''Brawl''.

On the [[List of SSBB tier lists (NTSC)|Brawl Back Room's tier lists]], Mario was never ranked higher than 27th on the second tier list, and he would then be consistently ranked in 31st place on all subsequent tier lists, remaining eternally in the low tiers. Mario's competitive viability never improved in ''Brawl'', with very few players ever maining Mario and even fewer playing him at a high level, resulting in very low representation in tournaments and similarly poor results. In [[low tier tournament]]s, however, Mario is one of the most successful characters, as players can easily pick him up due to his low learning curve and play him to a reasonably competent degree. Along with this, Mario performs reasonably well against other low tier characters, including a few positive [[matchup]]s against those who are lower-tiered than him. This kept Mario from ever dropping farther in the tier list, but with his inability to viably compete against the majority of the cast ranked above him, and the lack of any competitive breakthroughs for Mario leading to a stagnant [[metagame]], he could never rise any higher on the tier list and never became a relevant character in competitive ''Brawl''.

In the beginning, trophies of Mario and {{SSBB|Kirby}} are thrown into the [[Midair Stadium]], where they come to life and have a friendly fight (a reference to the introduction in [[Super Smash Bros.|the first game of the series]], where Mario and Kirby prepare to fight each other towards the end). The player chooses the one they want to play as, where the character not chosen is the opponent. After the battle between the two, the winner revives the loser, they shake hands, and wave to the [[crowd]]. Suddenly, ominous red clouds appear above the stadium, and the [[Halberd]] emerges from them. It releases [[Shadow Bug]]s which form into [[Primid]]s. {{SSBB|Peach}} and {{SSBB|Zelda}}, who were watching the match, come to help, and after defeating all of the enemies, they are all confronted by the [[Ancient Minister]]. After seeing two R.O.B.s setting up a [[Subspace Bomb]], Mario runs to try and stop it, only to be blasted out of the stadium and [[Star KO|Star KO'd]] by a cannonball apparently fired by [[Petey Piranha]].