Incineroar (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Incineroar draws many comparisons to some of the slowest, hardest-hitting fighters in ''Smash Bros.'' history: it is a large super heavyweight with the sixth highest [[weight]] (tied with {{SSBU|Charizard}}), the 19th fastest [[falling speed]], the eleventh highest [[gravity]], and average [[air acceleration]]. However, it is the overall slowest character in the game, with the slowest [[walk]]ing and [[dash]]ing speeds in the game, and the eighth slowest initial dash and [[air speed]].

As a character that pays homage to professional wrestling, Incineroar's moveset boasts an abundance of single-hit attacks and throws, and its attacks have respectably large hitboxes for a close-range fighter of its mobility. Contrary to its sluggish movement and high weight, Incineroar's frame data is surprisingly above average, with fast to decent startup and respectable ending lag in spite of their damage. Unlike most other hard hitters, Incineroar's weaker attacks are semi-reliable combo starters that work at a wide percent range, giving its moveset an excellent amount of utility. Meanwhile, some of its stronger moves are greatly damaging and, in some cases, capable of KOing early. As with most other heavyweights, [[rage]] helps Incineroar seal out stocks easier, and it's able to take advantage of it easily thanks to its high weight.

Unsurprisingly for a character based on wrestling, Incineroar's greatest asset comes from its excellent [[grab]] game. While Incineroar's grab range is average, its grabs are decently quick, last longer than average (though its dash grab and pivot grab are slow), and it has one if the best sets of throws in the entire cast, all of which deal high damage. Its [[forward throw|forward]], [[back throw|back]] and [[up throw]]s are all strong (with forward throw being the strongest one in the game), while [[down throw]], while being its only combo throw, is the core of its combo game. The latter can lead into various aerials (including [[down aerial]], though due to its slow speed, this makes it a mix-up), [[forward smash|forward]] and dashing [[up smash]] (at very low percentages), and [[Darkest Lariat]]; it can also potentially lead to a risky [[sacrificial KO]] with [[Cross Chop]], which will always result in the opponent being KO'd first. Forward throw has high knockback even at low percentages, making it an acceptable throw to set up an edgeguard at percentages where down throw won't combo anymore, and to KO at high percentages near the edge. Back throw, when performed at the ledge, can potentially rival {{SSBU|Ness}}' own back throw as the strongest throw in the game, and can KO light characters exceptionally early; however, due to its launch angle, lack of damage during the actual throw (as it consists of a hit before the opponent is thrown), and lackluster resistance to DI, it can be survived if done mid-stage and technically can be considered inferior to Ness'. Finally, up throw is Incineroar's most reliable KO throw due to being one the strongest of its kind (only surpassed by {{SSBU|Olimar}}'s up throw), and easily KOs earlier with the assistance of platforms and/or a low top [[blast line]]. Overall, Incineroar has KO throws for any given situation, while also having a good combo starter.

Similarly to some of its fellow super heavyweights, Incineroar also possesses a unique grab - in this case, a [[Grab#Special moves that can grab|command grab]] that makes up its [[side special]], [[Alolan Whip]]. Upon execution, the player must press the attack or special button again after the throw initiates, and depending on timing, it has three outcomes: performing it early will inflict high vertical knockback that scales slowly, performing it too late will result in the opponent harmlessly bouncing back while damaging Incineroar, and performing it cleanly (as the opponent is about to crash into Incineroar) deals very high horizontal knockback at a low angle and constitutes the move's main part, as it's one of Incineroar's strongest moves. Even the early and failure versions of the move have their uses, with the early version KOing off the top blast line earlier, and the failure version being usable to set up a reversal.

Incineroar's grounded moveset is a good example of its fast frame data for its high damage and power. [[Neutral attack]] is tied for the second fastest attack in Incineroar's moveset, and deals surprisingly high damage, outdamaging some of its fellow super heavyweights (with the sole exception being {{SSBU|King Dedede}}). [[Forward tilt]] is the strongest in the game and, when sweetspotted, is Incineroar's quickest KO option on the ground due to its high knockback and [[semi-spike]] angle. [[Up tilt]] and [[down tilt]] serve similar purposes, being combo starters that can set up into Incineroar's other moves; whereas up tilt can link into itself at low percentages and into aerials at low-mid to mid ones, and serves as an anti-air due to invincibility on Incineroar's head, down tilt has longer range, lowers its hurtbox, and has excellent combo potential throughout all percent ranges, allowing combos into up tilt or [[up smash]] at low percents or aerials at high percents, including KO confirms into [[back aerial]], [[up aerial]] or [[Darkest Lariat]]. [[Dash attack]] is one of the strongest in the game, but is mainly useful as a burst KO option when fresh, as Incineroar's slow speed can make it quite predictable. Finally, all of its [[smash attack]]s have their unique perks: [[forward smash]] comes out surprisingly quickly, kills extremely early when sweetspotted at the foot (being the fourth strongest when sweetspotted), and deals good [[shield damage]]; up smash has a wide hitbox that is useful for both anti-air tactics and damage racking; and [[down smash]] momentarily shifts Incineroar's hurtbox upwards, allowing it to dodge grabs, attacks, and even projectiles to act as a hard [[punish]].

However, Incineroar's powerful abilities come at a severe cost. Its biggest issue comes from its miserable [[neutral game]]. As mentioned before, Incineroar possesses abysmal mobility; when combined with a lack of a [[projectile]], this makes it very easy to zone out and gives it a terrible approach. While the hitboxes on its moves are large, Incineroar's overall [[range]] remains somewhat short, so any sufficiently long-ranged projectile or [[disjoint]]ed range can be enough to keep Incineroar at bay. This is especially troublesome considering the cast is also full of characters with either greater mobility (like {{SSBU|Sonic}} or {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}), superior melee range (like {{SSBU|Lucina}} or {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}), good zoning games (like {{SSBU|Villager}} or {{SSBU|Min Min}}), or in some cases, all three points (like {{SSBU|Pikachu}} or {{SSBU|Palutena}}). Further adding to this is Incineroar's poor air game. Although moves like neutral aerial offer good utility, and forward and back aerials have the range to outspace opponents, none of Incineroar's aerials can autocancel from a short hop aside from up aerial (with forward aerial not autocanceling even from a full hop). This significantly limits their use in the neutral game, as their poor autocancel windows makes them unable for approaching reliably. In bulk, this gives Incineroar one of the most lackluster neutral games of any character, being one of the characters with the most trouble at getting close to opponents to begin with, and forces it to heavily rely on bait-and-punish tactics in order to get in.

Another prominent issue is Incineroar's [[recovery]]. Cross Chop turns into an inevitable [[self-destruct]] if Incineroar is not directly below the ledge or above stage level, while Alolan Whip grants mediocre distance and has somewhat high ending lag. Incineroar's low air speed and high falling speed and gravity further add insult to injury. That said, Alolan Whip can intercept edgeguard attempts thanks to the failure version, allowing Incineroar to reverse the situation. Furthermore, neither Cross Chop's descent nor Alolan Whip leave Incineroar [[helpless]], so Incineroar does have the ability to mix its recovery up when used in tandem with a directional [[air dodge]] and its midair jump, especially if it recovers from a high altitude, which adds to its impressive endurance. However, in a similar manner to {{SSBU|Marth}}, if it doesn't have its midair jump, Incineroar is very vulnerable to being edgeguarded. To finish off, any semi-spike or meteor smash of sufficient strength is all it takes for Incineroar to be KO'd, and any combo that drags it offstage is usually fatal if its not at a high enough altitude to recover.

Although its frame data gives it less of an issue breaking out of combos and rushdown tactics, its only reliable options to break through such tactics are neutral aerial, Darkest Lariat and Revenge; the lattermost can also be easily predicted. If it's not able to break through combos, its slow movement speed can leave it very vulnerable to consistent rushdowns, in addition to being vulnerable to zoning and spacing. Its poor neutral game further contributes to this, as it can make it very difficult for Incineroar to even get back to a position where it can try to exploit the opponent's offense or defense. Despite its fast falling speed, Incineroar's mediocre air speed also leaves it vulnerable to juggling. Altogether, all these flaws collectively result in Incineroar having a poor disadvantage.

Finally, although its moveset has greatly damaging options, Incineroar has surprisingly inconsistent KO power compared to many of its fellow super heavyweights. While its throws are all strong and some of its other moves possess high knockback at low percentages as a result of their high base knockback, their knockback doesn't grow quickly due to their surprisingly low knockback scaling; notable examples of this are neutral and back aerials, back throw, Darkest Lariat and Alolan Whip's early hit. Notably, some of Incineroar's moves require landing a sweetspot in order to attain their maximum knockback, as they're otherwise not as strong as its fellow super heavyweights; notable cases include forward tilt (despite the sweetspot being the strongest in the game), forward smash and forward and back aerials. Finally, disregarding its up throw, Incineroar has among the worst vertical KO power of the super heavyweights. Up tilt, up aerial and Alolan Whip's early activation all have lackluster power, while its up smash, despite being decently strong, is relatively slow for an out of shield option. Revenge can patch this issue to a degree, but this requires Incineroar to read the opponent's attack in the first place, and the buff is lost once it has succesfully landed an attack, meaning that if Incineroar is forced to attack with one of its weaker moves, it is possible to waste the buff entirely. The buff can also be gradually lost by attacking Incineroar, by waiting a certain amount of time -which is possible due to Incineroar's susceptibility to being outspaced or camped-, or outright wasted by throwing Incineroar, either by a regular or command grab, further adding to its inconsistency.

In the end, Incineroar falls within the "grappler" playstyle archetype, which notoriously requires a very specific playstyle to be effective. Incineroar excels at taking advantage of close-range openings, where it can land powerful blows or start consistent combos that rack up damage quickly in only a few hits, all while being difficult for an opponent to punish due to its staying power, relative safety on shield and heavy punish abilities, making Incineroar very formidable once it wins the neutral game and gets in close. However, while it has incredible damage output, it suffers an inconsistent KOing ability that is mostly reliant on its throws and side special, making it predictable when it comes to closing out a stock. Additionally, Incineroar suffers from issues similar to {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}, where its very weak mobility, lack of projectile, melee range and lack of reliable aerials for approaching collectively make it just as easily kept in control by its weak mobility, and an opening on its end is costly due to its limited recovery, and despite having better options to break pressure at close quarters. Because of this, Incineroar is a high risk, high reward type of character, and benefits from a patient, largely bait-and-punish oriented playstyle in order to achieve the same momentum its other super heavyweights can. Incineroar's is widely considered a low tier character, though similarly to Ganondorf, it is also a popular choice at the low- and mid-levels of play, due to its attributes and moveset resulting in ludicrous and extravagant punishes that can easily KO an unaware player. Nevertheless, Incineroar usually performs poorly at the highest levels of play, with few notable tournament results despite having a few notable smashers to its credit, like {{Sm|brandon|p=NorCal}}, {{Sm|Kusari Katabira}}, {{Sm|Magister}}, {{Sm|Sharpy}} and {{Sm|Skyjay}}. As of recent, Skyjay in particular has made significant contributions to Incineroar's metagame, although it is uncertain how Incineroar will fare in the long run.