Ivysaur (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Ivysaur was previously considered the worst Pokémon in the {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}}'s party and one of the worst characters in ''Brawl'' (especially if judged as a standalone fighter), due to its large amount of significant weaknesses, namely poor damage outputs on its attacks, notable KO problems due to laggy finishers, poor aerial game, terrible recovery, and one of the worst special movesets in the game. In the transition to ''Ultimate'', Ivysaur has been heavily buffed, and is by far the most buffed Pokémon in the Pokémon Trainer's party.

Ivysaur's biggest buffs come from the adjustments to the Pokémon Trainer's mechanics alongside universal gameplay changes. The [[type effectiveness]] mechanic, which previously gave Ivysaur a disproportionate weakness to the common [[flame]]-type attacks throughout the cast, has been removed, while the elimination of [[Pokémon Change#Stamina|stamina]] allows Ivysaur to stay in the fight without weakening its moves. Ivysaur's [[air speed]] is also much higher, which alongside the universally decreased [[landing lag]] on aerials, and the removal of [[edgehogging]] in favor of ledge trumping, considerably improves two of its most glaring weaknesses: its poor aerial approach and its exploitable recovery. This is further helped by the ability to use [[Pokémon Change]] in the air, allowing Ivysaur to gain access to {{SSBU|Charizard}}'s better recovery.

A large part of Ivysaur's moveset has been modified and is significantly more useful overall. The addition of a finisher and the changes to neutral infinites makes its [[neutral attack]] more reliable for racking up damage, while [[down tilt]] consists of a single hit that [[semi-spike]]s. Some of Ivysaur's notoriously weak attacks, such as [[down smash]] and [[back aerial]], have had their damage and knockback considerably increased, with down smash gaining a sweetspot that can KO at realistic percents. Ivysaur's entire aerial game has received several enhancements: it has a new, disjointed [[neutral aerial]] that performs much better than its old one, due to its [[autolink angle]] and the weakening of [[SDI]] from ''Brawl'' enabling it to connect much more reliably, and the changes to [[hitstun canceling]] allow Ivysaur to start and extend combos much more effectively with all its aerials. [[Up aerial|Up]] and [[down aerial]]s' momentum changes are less extreme, and down aerial has been heavily buffed, as its small meteor smash sweetspot deals more damage and is slightly larger, and its large sourspot now meteor smashes as well, turning the move into a powerful edgeguarding tool. In addition, Ivysaur's throw game is vastly more useful; it now has a KO throw in the form of [[back throw]], alongside reliable combos from [[up throw]] and [[down throw]] due to the changes to hitstun canceling, while it is also one of the characters to be the least affected by the universal nerfs to [[grab]]s, as only its pivot grab's lag was increased, and all grabs except its dash grab have more range. Lastly, its entire special moveset has been improved in several ways: [[Bullet Seed]] has gained a finisher, [[Razor Leaf]] is noticeably more useful as a [[camp]]able [[projectile]] due to its previously unreliable trajectory being more consistent, and [[Vine Whip]] has faster startup, can be angled, and no longer causes helplessness, which grants Ivysaur a powerful combo finisher and more opportunities to recover. Altogether, these changes immensely improve Ivysaur's neutral game, damage racking, and zoning abilities, putting them more in line with the rest of the cast.

However, Ivysaur did receive a few notable nerfs from ''Brawl''. Ivysaur's [[weight]] has been decreased, which combined with the removal of [[momentum canceling]] hinders its survivability. Although [[forward tilt]] connects much more reliably due to the weakening of SDI, it has noticeably more startup, while it retains high ending lag and a lack of KO power. Some of Ivysaur's KO options were toned down as well, such as [[dash attack]], [[forward smash]], [[forward aerial]], and its notorious up aerial and [[up smash]], with the latter no longer being the strongest in the game. Most importantly, however, Bullet Seed has slower startup with no intangibility, and racks up a significantly lower amount of damage due to its shortened duration, greatly reducing its utility despite the new finisher. As a result, Ivysaur is more reliant on racking up damage with its various buffed moves to KO effectively, which is exacerbated by all its aerials except neutral and down aerial launching at upward angles that are ineffective for edgeguarding, often compelling the player to switch to Charizard and utilize its greater KO potential once opponents are at high percents.

Overall, Ivysaur has become a drastically better character since its introduction in ''Brawl'', especially relative to the rest of the cast. It now performs more effectively as a well-rounded middleweight character in the Pokémon Trainer's party, fulfilling the role of the "zoning" fighter with disjointed range on its attacks, a conventional projectile, and setups into its powerful bud-based moves, but lacking Squirtle's speedy attacks and Charizard's sheer power.