Jigglypuff (SSB4): Difference between revisions

Jigglypuff is ranked 58th out of 58 on the [[tier list]], placing it in the H tier at the very bottom of the list. This is a very slight drop from its already abysmal ranking of 36th out of 38 in ''Brawl''. Jigglypuff retains its strong air game; it has nearly unrivaled aerial mobility thanks to its multiple [[midair jump]]s and good [[juggling]] ability thanks to its fast and long-lasting aerial attacks. All of these attributes facilitate a strong [[edgeguarding]] ability, for it can perform its signature [[Wall of Pain]] technique, and it has a potent finisher in its back aerial. Additionally, [[Rest]] has regained most of its KO power that was lost in ''Brawl''. However, Jigglypuff also retains its glaring weaknesses, as it still suffers from a terrible ground game due to its slow mobility, short [[reach]], and lackluster [[grab]] game with no grab combos to speak of. Jigglypuff also has severe issues KOing, with laggy finishers and Rest being very difficult to land without a hard [[read]]. Its endurance is unarguably the worst, as it is extremely floaty and is the [[weight|lightest]] character in the game. This is exacerbated by the new [[rage]] mechanic and weaker [[shield]]s, the latter of which exploits its deadly [[shield jump]].

Overall, Jigglypuff's weaknesses completely nullify its strengths, and as a result, it remains a bottom tier character, but with Ganondorf now rising past Jigglypuff, it has dropped from third lowest to absolute worst. Jigglypuff has not received any buffs over game updates as of [[1.1.6]] resulting in its placement, even though several other bottom-tier characters have been buffed in past updates. Due to these facts, Jigglypuff has received virtually no tournament representation or results at high levels of play, having only seen some success thanks to {{Sm|Hungrybox}}, {{Sm|Serynder}}, and {{Sm|CrazieCuban}} performing decently with it in regional tournaments.

Unsurprisingly, Jigglypuff's main strength is, as in many other titles, its formidable air game. Excluding back aerial, all of its aerial attacks have lingering hitboxes, and in the case of down aerial, multiple hits. Their duration is the primary reason Jigglypuff is deceptively difficult to challenge in the air, as opponents will most likely collide with an attack's final frames. Additionally, and with the exception of up aerial, all of its aerials have enough range to be [[spacing|spaced]] correctly thanks to Jigglypuff's aerial mobility, allowing it to zone and [[approach]] opponents safely in the air. Finally, all of them have at least one area they excel in. Neutral aerial is Jigglypuff's fastest aerial and one of the strongest [[sex kick]]s in the game, even when stale, and can easily [[gimp]] poor recoveries due to its late hitbox being just strong enough. Due to its speed and power, it also works as a good [[out of shield]] or approach option. Forward aerial has the second weakest knockback of Jigglypuff's aerials, but due to this, it has good combo game, allows it to easily put opponents offstage, and is the main component of the very well known [[wall of pain]]: once an opponent with a poor recovery is sent off-stage, Jigglypuff can followup with several other forward aerials until they reach the blast zone, from where Jigglypuff can finish the opponent off with another forward or a neutral aerial. Back aerial is Jigglypuff's strongest aerial, KOing reliably at 135%. It is also safe on shield due to its high damage output and above average hitlag, though it is also its slowest aerial, making it a bit predictable. Up aerial has an immensely long-lasting hitbox, which can spell trouble for any opponent that has issues dealing with [[juggling]]. Lastly, down aerial can be used as a highly damaging out of shield or pressuring option, and has low ending lag. It can sometimes also work as an anti-juggling option against characters with slow aerial mobility or moves.

Finally, Jigglypuff has a trump card in [[Rest]], its signature move: it has very high knockback at all percentages, to the point where it can reliably KO any character at 70%. It hits on frame 2 with a [[flower]] effect and has full [[invincibility]] until Jigglypuff closes its eyes. In addition to being an incredible [[punish]], Rest is made even scarier by Jigglypuff's ability to true combo into the move, though this is sometimes situational. The easiest way to confirm one is with forward aerial: hitting with the move's final frames will lead into an unavoidable Rest, which becomes even more potent if used in the air or with high [[rage]]. Depending on the opponent's falling speed, a jump may be necessary to reach them. Another reliable way to confirm one is by landing with up aerial: should Jigglypuff land immediately after hitting the opponent, Rest can be landed without fail. This combo works optimally on platforms due to its limited percentage range and its ability to KO as low as 35%. Up tilt can also lead into Rest, which can be used to rack up at least 30%, but opponents get sent too far away after low percentages. Finally, retreating with down aerial can also work, but aside from being the hardest to perform, it is also the least likely to succeed. Other methods of safely using Rest involve [[crouching]], [[buffering]], a [[footstool jump]] or interrupting an opposing neutral attack, though few characters are vulnerable to these methods, and they usually require impeccable timing. For all its potential, however, Rest has the slowest [[interruptibility]] in the game, allowing Jigglypuff to move only after five and a half seconds if the move is inputted, and thus being a gamble to attempt in almost any circumstance.

Furthermore, Jigglypuff has a very problematic ground game. While most of its ground moves are fast in proportion to their power, its crippling lack of range and slow ground approach prevent it from racking up large amounts of damage with only a few moves. This is further worsened when considering the utility of its grounded attacks: neutral attack's incredible speed can lead into additional follow-ups, forward tilt is fast and highly damaging, up tilt can KO at unusually low percentages, and down tilt is a [[semi-spike]] with high base knockback. As for its smash attacks, forward smash has incredibly high knockback scaling, while down smash has intangibility and the lowest launch angle of any other conventional semi-spike. Its grab game also has similar issues: while Jigglypuff has some of the fastest grabs in the game and the second most damaging set of throws (tied with {{SSB4|Ganondorf}} and being surpassed only by {{SSB4|Bowser}}), the former have very short range and the latter lack any follow-up or KO potentials. This also results in Jigglypuff being easily kept at bay by shields without usage of Pound's high [[shield damage]].

Jigglypuff's approach, despite being good in the air, is overall predictable and flawed. Most of the time, Jigglypuff might have to be close to the opponent, read its reaction in order to approach, or bait it in order to make its move. Its aerial moves aren't good for approaching from a long distance as they're unsafe on shield when late, and its dash attack is terrible at doing so due to its long duration and despite its low cooldown. Coupled with the overall short range on its attacks, it is at a big disadvantage against characters with big disjoints like {{SSB4|Marth}}, {{SSB4|Shulk}} and Cloud. Half of Jigglypuff's special moveset is largely useless. [[Rollout]] is a chargeable attack that can KO incredibly early no matter where it is used, but is incredibly predictable and immobilizes Jigglypuff even after a successful hit. [[Sing]] has awkward timing, little range and does not work on aerial opponents. Its [[sleep]] effect can also be shortened with [[button mashing]], reducing its otherwise devastating consequences. As a result, Jigglypuff has no reliable recovery move, instead relying on its remaining jumps and Pound to recover, making it easy to gimp in spite of its usual off-stage comfort. Sometimes, a footstool jump might be all what it takes to gimp Jigglypuff to its doom.

Lastly, Jigglypuff has among the least effective custom moves, like {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}}, {{SSB4|Zelda}} and {{SSB4|King Dedede}}, with only three having utility that overall surpass the default versions. Relentless Rollout has much less power, but is much faster, hits multiple times and pierces opponents, making it less punishable and allowing it to be used as a recovery mix-up. Pound Blitz is slower and less powerful, but can still pressure shields while hitting multiple times and granting more momentum. Hyper Voice is better for protecting Jigglypuff, since it deals realistic knockback and works in the air. These benefits are marginal, however, and its other custom moves are disregarded in favor of the default versions, due to their infamously low utility, most notably, Spinphony is most of the time considered the worst custom move, as it has very high startup, a very long interval between its active hitboxes, and very long ending lag, which are flaws that more than make up for the moves' utility at reversing opponents out.

On one hand, Jigglypuff has already received better representation and results than in Brawl, as it has more dedicated players, such as {{Sm|Serynder}} and {{Sm|RDR7}}, who have performed decently at their local regionals while solo maining the character. It has also benefited from a slightly more favorable matchup spread, as certain dominant characters from Brawl, such as {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, have been nerfed. On the other hand, however, Jigglypuff's popularity among competitive players still remains quite poor due to its extremely risky character design, and the buffs it received do not compensate well enough for its nerfs. As a result, it is one of the few characters to have been nerfed in its transition from that game, alongside {{SSB4|Meta Knight}}, {{SSB4|Marth}}, {{SSB4|Falco}}, {{SSB4|Olimar}} and {{SSB4|King Dedede}}. However, it is important to note several points: the former three characters (as well as several bottom tiered characters like {{SSB4|Charizard}}, {{SSB4|Ganondorf}} and {{SSB4|Zelda}}) have received buffs over game updates while Jigglypuff has not. Despite the latter two characters not receiving noticeable buffs on game updates, their nerfs in the transition are not significant enough to worsen their respective standings among the ''SSB4'' cast when compared to Jigglypuff's more critical flaws. And finally, the majority of the ''Brawl'' cast has also been buffed to varying degrees, most notably its fellow low tiered companions, with two prominent examples being {{SSB4|Mario}} and {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}. Due to this, Jigglypuff's standing among the rest of the cast is worse than in ''Brawl'', which is reflected in its tier position, and is once again seen as non-viable in competitive play.

*{{buff|Jigglypuff [[dash]]es faster (1.1 → 1.155) now being the second slowest.}}

Jigglypuff is notorious for not receiving any direct changes despite being universally considered a bottom-tier character. However, the changes to shield mechanics in updates [[1.1.0]] and [[1.1.1]] indirectly nerfed Jigglypuff, as the increased [[shieldstun]] makes its susceptibility to being instantly KO'd by having its shield broken more of a liability. Conversely, these changes also make Jigglypuff's attacks slightly safer on shield (most notably its back aerial) and benefits Pound's high shield damage output, slightly improving its limited approach. It also benefits from the nerfs given to some of its hardest match-ups in recent game updates, such as {{SSB4|Sheik}}, {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}}, though not by much. Overall, Jigglypuff fares worse relative to the cast than it did during the initial release, due to not receiving any truly significant changes from game updates.

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|desc=Emerges from a [[Poké Ball]].

In the early metagame, it was widely believed by most players that Jigglypuff's buffs from ''Brawl'' would allow it to perform better in ''SSB4''. However, its results and representation outside of [[Doubles]] play were never as high as other characters that would rank above it in the future, and it would soon become clear that Jigglypuff had ironically lost much more than it gained in the transition. Despite the improved balancing of other characters, it infamously remained stagnant in game updates. It would at first rank 55th out of 56 characters in the first [[tier list]], one place near the bottom of the J tier. Jigglypuff continues to languish in the bottom tier, and due to still being unchanged by recent game updates while other bottom-tier characters like {{SSB4|Zelda}} and {{SSB4|Ganondorf}} have received numerous buffs, it is currently ranked as the worst character on the second tier list, placing 58th out of 58 characters at the very bottom of the H tier.