Lag

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For the lag associated with playing online, see Wi-Fi lag. For the lag associated with certain televisions, see display lag. For the lag associated with connecting with attacks, see freeze frame.

Lag is a catch-all term used to indicate periods of time where a character is busy doing something and is left vulnerable. The two main categories of lag are startup lag and ending lag. The more lag a move has, the easier it is to evade the attack and punish the user. Generally, more powerful KO moves have greater startup and/or ending lag.

Start-up lag

Zero Suit Samus's Plasma Whip has a noticeable amount of start-up lag.

Start-up lag, also known as just start-up and windup, is the delay between a move being initiated and the move having an effect, such as the length of time before a hitbox is first produced. Examples of moves with extreme start-up lag include Ganondorf's Warlock Punch and King Dedede's forward smash. Examples of moves with the least start-up lag of 1 frame include Fox's and Falco's Reflector in Melee and Jigglypuff's Rest. Flinching during start-up will prevent the move from being executed.

The primary advantage of lower start-up lag is that the attack gives the opponent less reaction time, as well as the ability to hit before other attacks, and the user greater flexibility in being able to land the attack (making such attacks all around easier to land). Characters having access to low start-up lag attacks is important for success in competitive play; part of the reason Pikachu in SSB64, Fox in Melee, and Meta Knight in Brawl are considered the best characters in their respective games is that the general start-up lag of their attacks is among the fastest. Conversely, a major part of why Bowser in Melee and Ganondorf in Brawl have always been considered bottom tier characters is that the general start-up lag of their attacks are the worst in their respective games.

Ending lag

Ending lag, also known as cool down, is the delay between the move's effect finishing and another action being available to begin, such as the length of time after an attack's hitboxes ceases that the character can move again. Almost all attacks have more ending lag than startup lag, though generally, attacks with lower start-up lag tend to have proportionally more ending lag and vice versa. Rest and Ike's forward smash are notorious for having an extreme amount of ending lag. Moves known for having especially low ending lag include Meta Knight's up aerial and Lucario's forward smash. Typically an attack's ending lag can't be avoided, but some attacks can avoid ending lag without the character being flinched or out-prioritised, such as grabbing a ledge with a recovery move before it ends, and jump cancelling Fox's and Falco's Reflector in Melee. Additionally, aerials can avoid their ending lag by the character landing before completion, which despite this inducing landing lag, it can be overall faster if the character lands soon enough and the attack's landing lag is low enough (a prominent example of this is Ike's neutral aerial in Brawl, which has a huge amount of ending lag, but rather low landing lag, thus landing earlier can be utilised to circumvent the attack's high ending lag). Also, if a character using a standard land attack is no longer on land before the attack finishes (such as from being pushed off by wind or the platform underneath them ceasing to exist), the attack will abruptly end with the user free to move, thus avoiding the attack's ending lag (special moves though will continue if this occurs while using them).

The primary advantage of lower ending lag is that the less ending lag there is, the less punishable the move is, thus the more safe it is to use. Since the attacks end sooner, low ending lag attacks are also more effective at comboing, as they allow a greater window to followup landed attacks before the opponent can respond properly or respond at all. While having attacks with low ending lag is considered important in competitive play and characters higher up on the tier list typically have lower ending lag attacks, it isn't held in equal regard to start-up lag is. Marth for example, is considered a top/high tier character in both Melee and Brawl, despite most of his attacks having high ending lag, while there are no characters in any of the games ranked high that has comparatively high start-up lag attacks. More attacks can be very effective in spite of high ending lag (Jigglypuff's Rest in Melee being the most notorious example of such, as despite its ridiculously ending lag and ridiculously small hitbox, its start-up lag of 1 frame makes the move very landable, where its extreme power can be utilised), while there are few attacks that can be very effective in spite of high start-up lag (Ganondorf's Melee up tilt on the opposite spectrum, is an extreme power attack with a small hitbox that has proportionally low ending lag, but its start-up lag is so ridiculously high the move is almost impossible to land without the opponent being incapacitated, thus its extreme power can realistically never be utilised). Moves that are very effective in spite of high start-up lag have a combination of significant attributes beyond just low ending lag (the aforementioned Lucario f-smash is considered one of the best f-smashes in Brawl despite being one of the slowest in start-up, as the move not only has very low ending lag, but also has potential extreme power with great reach, making it one of the few powerful KO moves that can often be used with no repercussions if it fails to land).