Rosalina & Luma (SSBU): Difference between revisions

'''Rosalina & Luma''' ({{ja|ロゼッタ&チコ|Rozetta & Chiko}}, ''Rosetta & Chiko'') are playable fighters in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. They were revealed for the game along with {{SSBU|King Dedede}} and the rest of the veterans on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83o June 12th, 2018], now as unlockable fighters. Although they are a team, Rosalina & Luma are collectively classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #48]].

Rosalina & Luma are currently ranked 48th out of 82 characters in the B- tier, putting her in the center of high-mid tier. This is a a drastic drop from her 5th out of 54 placement as a top tier character in ''Smash 4''. The pair is notable for their tag team mechanic which grants Rosalina the ability to control Luma almost anywhere on the stage, giving her access to [[advanced technique|tech]] such as [[Lunar Landing]]. Together, their attacks possess disjointed range, allowing them to wall out stubby characters. Luma also can function as a "shield" of sorts, as it does not share Rosalina's [[damage meter]]. Rosalina herself has a very effective aerial game, very flexible aerial movement due to her high air acceleration, and strong juggling capabilities courtesy of her up air. Finally, her recovery is long and flexible due to [[Launch Star]] being fast and covering great distance and [[Gravitational Pull]] allows her to deal with characters who try camping her out with projectiles.  

However, Rosalina and Luma have some significant flaws. Luma's survivability is hindered by its inability to act out of tumble and it lacking defensive options such as shielding and rolling. Without Luma, Rosalina's attacks are noticeably weaker and possess less generous hitbox placement, and she loses access to some of her tech and two special moves. In addition, Rosalina's disadvantage state is poor due to her tall stature, low gravity, and low falling speed, while her light weight makes her susceptible to early KOs. Finally, Rosalina & Luma often has difficulty playing against characters that have better disjoints or can outrange their attacks.  

Overall, Rosalina & Luma's strengths rely on understanding how to make the most use out of their unique mechanic, which leads to a high-learning curve. Despite having below-average representation in the current metagame, Rosalina & Luma continues to see success from players such as {{Sm|Dabuz}}, {{Sm|Homika}}, and {{Sm|yuzu}}.

Rosalina is a tall and floaty [[Weight|lightweight]], much like {{SSBU|Mewtwo}}, and {{SSBU|Zelda}}. Rosalina is tied with {{SSBU|Falco}} for being the 14th lightest character in the game; unlike Peach or Zelda, however, her overall grounded mobility is decent, thanks to her above-average initial dash speed and slightly above-average [[walk]]ing and [[dash]]ing speeds. Rosalina has average [[air speed]], the 2nd highest additional [[air acceleration]] values in the game (behind {{SSBU|Palutena}} and tied with {{SSBU|Mega Man}}), and both her [[jump]] and double jump have significant height. Additionally, her [[falling speed|falling]] and [[fast fall]]ing speeds are among the slowest, while her [[gravity]] is the 2nd lowest in the game. Lastly, the combination of Rosalina's high jump height, low gravity and slow falling speed give her the longest jump duration in the cast, allowing her more than 1 second (71 frames) in the air with an uninterrupted full hop. As a result of these attributes, she is a very [[Falling speed#Floaty|floaty]] character with superb aerial mobility and an ability to remain airborne longer than most other characters in the game.

Due to being allied with Luma, Rosalina also follows the tag team archetype established by the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}, and perpetuated by {{SSBB|Olimar}}. Luma can remain next to Rosalina to attack with her, or it can be sent away with [[Luma Shot]] to attack from a distance. This allows Rosalina numerous possibilities to attack opponents, as she can essentially create combos by "pinballing" opponents back and forth between herself and Luma. This ability also grants Rosalina the largest and most unique range in the roster, as Luma can attack from across stage or far above/below while Rosalina remains safely out of harm’s way. Luma mechanically functions like a blend of {{b|Pikmin|species}} and [[Ice Climbers|Nana of the Ice Climbers]]: it uses a [[hit points]] (HP) mechanic like the former, in which it will be KO'd if it is dealt 40%, and it responds to player inputs like the latter. Unlike Olimar, Rosalina cannot immediately summon Luma once it is KO'd, which forces her to wait 10 seconds (7 seconds if three players are present, and 5 seconds if four or more players are present) until another Luma appears. Luma also cannot experience status effects, such as [[stun]] or [[sleep]], which can allow it to attack and fend off opponents if Rosalina happens to find herself put under a status effect that renders her unable to move or attack. Luma also cannot be grabbed, and is able to act when Rosalina herself does get grabbed.

Rosalina also has access to a unique advanced technique called Lunar Landing. If Rosalina inputs an aerial attacks right as she lands, the aerial will not come out and she will land without enduring any landing lag (Unless using down air), but Luma will continue performing its respective aerial attack. This allows for greater mix-up and follow-up potential, as well as mindgames, but requires Luma in order to actually be performed. Their dash grab also has a similar occurrence, where if Rosalina performs a dash attack and instantly grabs, Rosalina will perform a dash grab while Luma will perform its respective dash attack. This makes their dash grab a lot safer, and means they can deal an extra 3% just by landing the grab. Rosalina can also use Lunar Landing to access her advantage state by inputting Luma's respective back aerial or forward aerial as she lands which gives her the ability to [[clang]] the Lunar Landing with various projectiles or grounded moves without Rosalina herself having any ending lag, giving her an easier time landing back on stage and also providing a consistent option for her to punish certain attacks and even projectiles. When coupled with Rosalina's reliable set of throws, these traits give her and Luma even greater mix-up potential, as well as more approaching and punishing options. Using the attack canceling feature built into Ultimate's mechanics, Rosalina can preform one move while Luma does a tilt or dash attack. This also allows for multiple combos and mindgames.

Rosalina's throws possess a variety of useful increments that she can effectively utilize to set up into punishes or direct follow-ups. This produces convenient methods for her to grant a great deal of damage to her opponent very early into a stock. Rosalina's up throw constructively acts as her main combo throw which allows for exceedingly effective setups for combos into various attacks that can either combo into each other or other moves allowing for great utilization of setups into a wide variety of methods to output damage. Rosalina can consistently use her up throw to combo into her and Luma's neutral aerial, up tilt, and up aerial. This allows for Rosalina to find easy methods to rack up damage with her up throw to set up further combos or juggle her opponents with her neutral aerial or up aerial. Her forward throw is a potent tool for setting up edge-guarding when throwing an opponent off the ledge or it can act as kill throw when used at the ledge at higher percentages. Her forward throw even obtains further use with it allowing her to throw her opponent into a detethered Luma's attacks, effectively being able to use her forward throw to "pinball" her opponent at lower percentages. Her back throw is most commonly used as her primary kill throw when at higher percentages, although it can provide an opportunity to ledgetrap or edge-guard the opponent if it is used on the ledge. However, her down throw, due to its high base knockback and ending lag, is the least useful of her throws and has very limited combo potential, as it can only potentially combo into her forward aerial at very low percentages.  

Rosalina and Luma can obtain numerous uses with their tilt attacks primarily when Luma is detethered from Rosalina with the use of Luma Shot. This makes it so that the duo's tilt attacks can be used as a measure to tactfully place Rosalina into advantage state if she uses a detethered Luma's to cover the stage, with any of Luma's tilt attacks being able to effective place an opponent out of advantage state and possibly giving Rosalina the opportunity to escape a situation where she is stuck in disadvantage, greatly strengthening her defensive capabilities. Rosalina has quick startup on both her forward tilt and down tilt as well as notable range on both moves especially when combined with Luma's. Specifically, their forward tilt allows them to use its range as a poking tool or to knock opponents forward and set up [[tech-chasing]] at lower percentages. Rosalina's down tilt can set up for tech-chasing at mid-percentages and can effectively ledgetrap certain characters. Luma's down tilt obtains noteworthy range both when attached  and detached to Rosalina's and it can act as a combo finisher, poking tool, and Rosalina can use it [[gimp]] certain recoveries if Luma's down tilt is used while it is detethered from Rosalina at the ledge or offstage. Rosalina and Luma's up tilt is not only an effective combo starting tool but even a decent combo extender, primarily into allowing a follow-up into their any of their aerials, and their up tilt can act as a useful anti-air. Luma's respective up tilt can hit opponents when they are both grounded and in the air, with Luma's up tilt even being a functional move to KO grounded opponents at high percents.

Although Rosalina's buffs are not as drastic in comparison to Luma's, they are nevertheless worthwhile. [[Launch Star]]'s safety issues were alleviated in two ways: update 2.0.0 enabled Rosalina to grab edges more reliably throughout its duration, while update 3.1.0 increased her [[fast fall]]ing speed upon using it. Neutral aerial's start-up lag was decreased slightly (a buff shared with Luma) and its hitboxes were improved, which improved its utility for approaching and starting combos. In comparison, down aerial's meteor smashing hitbox now functions consistently because of its sourspot being removed. Aside from these changes, Rosalina also received a few minor buffs in the forms of slight lag decreases for her grabs and forward aerial, shortened edge lockout times for her neutral and forward aerials, a larger shield as part of a near-universal buff, and improved hitboxes for her forward aerial.

[[File:Victory! (Rosalina).ogg|thumb|A flourished and remixed portion of ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}''{{'}}s [[mariowiki:Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack|Overture]].]]

Upon ''Ultimate''{{'}}s release, players immediately noticed nerfs to Luma's attacks and survivability that severely hampered Rosalina's ability to stop approaches, ledge trap, and zone her opponents as effectively as in the duo's previous iteration. Additionally, swordfighters were prevalent in the early metagame, which made Luma very vulnerable to being outranged. Despite Meta Knight and Cloud, her worst matchups in ''SSB4'', being significantly nerfed, some professionals claimed that Rosalina & Luma's nerfs were too harsh for the character to even be mid tier, and as a result they had little representation in the early metagame, especially since their best player, {{Sm|Dabuz}}, dropped the character.

However, Rosalina & Luma would receive significant buffs in 2.0.0 and 3.1.0 that negated some of their severe nerfs, especially to their range, power and frame data. As a result, Dabuz once again picked up Rosalina & Luma—albeit only as a co-main—while other players, such as {{Sm|Kirihara}} and {{Sm|Homika}}, started to gain better results. Although Rosalina & Luma are still agreed to be one of the most nerfed characters during the transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate'', their perception has significantly improved since the game's initial release, with most professionals now considering her to be an upper mid-tier or high tier with {{Sm|Dabuz}} putting her in top tier. Regardless, they are ranked 48th on the first and current tier list.

*{{Sm|Dabuz|United States}} - Mains Rosalina & Luma with {{SSBU|Olimar}} and {{SSBU|Min Min}} secondaries, and is considered the best Rosalina & Luma player in the world. Placed 1st at {{Trn|CEO 2023}}, and 2nd at {{Trn|Albion 4}}, {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}}, {{Trn|The Big House 9}}, {{Trn|MomoCon 2022}}, and {{Trn|Smash Factor 9}}. Ranked 7th on the [[PGRU v3 NA]].

*{{Sm|Kirihara|Japan}} - The best Rosalina & Luma player in Japan but has since switched to {{SSBU|Sheik}}. Placed 1st at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 1}}, 4th at {{Trn|Umebura SP 5}}, 9th at both {{Trn|Umebura Japan Major 2019}} and {{Trn|EGS Cup 3}}, and 13th at {{Trn|EVO Japan 2020}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|KEN}}, {{Sm|ProtoBanham}}, and {{Sm|Lea}}. Ranked 48th on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]].

*{{Sm|yuzu|Japan}} - Placed 4th at {{Trn|Kurobra 19}}, 9th at both {{Trn|Kagaribi}} and {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 2}}, 13th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 4}}, and 25th at {{Trn|EGS Cup 2}} with a win over {{Sm|Kisha}}.

Rosalina & Luma's opponents hail from franchises that occur in outer space and/or on alien planets. The exception is {{SSBU|Bowser}}, who is fought in reference to his boss battles in ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}'' and ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy 2}}''. The boss of this route, [[Marx]], fits with the cosmic theme due to how the final battle against him in ''{{iw|wikirby|Kirby Super Star}}'' occurs in outer space. In addition, Assist Trophies summon [[Starfy]] exclusively, presumably due to his resemblance to {{iw|mariowiki|Power Star}}s and his own ambiguously alien heritage.

|5||{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Yellow}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Green}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=White}} {{SSBU|Kirby}} (x6)||{{SSB|Dream Land}}||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Kirby|Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)}}''||Horde Battle.<br>The Kirbys could also be a possible reference to the Lumas themselves.