Glide toss
Glide tossing is a technique in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that allows a character to throw an item while sliding forward. As with other techniques that cause characters to slide, the technique allows characters to move across the stage while being able to use any attack or action.
Performing the technique
To perform a glide toss, the player must grab a throwable item. They must then perform a roll and almost immediately (about 6 frames) after, throw the item in any direction. The character will then cancel the roll and throw the item, but as the player's momentum is kept from the roll, the character will slide along the ground.
The traveled distance depends on the character's traction, the direction of roll, and the direction and moment the item was thrown. In general, the later the item is thrown, the bigger the glide, as characters have more momentum further into their rolls.
Applications
Some characters can benefit greatly from the speed boost gained with a glide toss, allowing them to cover large distances in short time. Given the throwing animation's short duration, a glide toss is usually safer than other approach methods.
Uses in competitive play
Due to the fact that items are turned off by default in competitive play, glide tossing is limited in application. However, there are some characters that can produce their own items. For these characters, glide tossing serves as an excellent means of approach. Glide tossing is faster and less punishable than dash tossing an item, and it leaves the character standing at the end, ready to segue into any of their moves. It moves the character forward with the advantages of a forward roll, but without the disadvantages. It also allows the character to throw as fast as their standing item throw, but while moving forward to help advance.
A few characters have truly outstanding glide tosses that allow them to slide much further than others, particularly Pit (highest average distance), Meta Knight (second highest average) and Zero Suit Samus, who can throw her powerful items out of a glide toss during the beginning of a match, immediately attack with d-smash should the opponent be at very low percents, and can then regrab her item once the opponent has been knocked away. Peach also makes an excellent glide tosser, though not quite as powerful; she can combine her floating approach with her long range glide toss at any time to frustrate opponents. She can also glide toss immediately out of plucking a vegetable, which can reduce the lag time between plucking and throwing further, all the while approaching. R.O.B.'s glide toss covers a very large distance, and combined with his Gyro and low-lag ground game, his glide toss is one of the most dangerous.
While glide tossing is nearly limited to characters that can produce items, most characters can glide toss in competitive play if they manage to catch said items. Some characters gain no distance by glide tossing, and Yoshi, due to his unique shield physics, cannot glide toss at all. There is a difference between a character's glide toss not gaining any distance and not being able to perform this technique; a character that has a distance of 0 for their glide toss will still be able to cancel the initial roll.
Characters who can glide toss with self-generated items
The following characters have the ability to create items that they can use to perform a glide toss:
- Zero Suit Samus: Power Suit Pieces, created on start/transformation.
- Snake: Hand Grenades, created by his neutral special. They must be shield dropped first and picked back up.
- Peach: Vegetables, created by her down special.
- Diddy Kong: Banana Peels, created by his down special. An opponent or teammate can also grab peanuts from Peanut Popgun, by air dodging.
- Wario: Wheels, created by destroying the Wario Bike (the bike itself cannot be used for glide tossing as it is a heavy item).
- R.O.B.: Gyros, created by down special.
- Kirby: Can copy Snake's Hand Grenades.
Throw distances
User BurningCrusader777 from Smash Boards performed a study on the distance each character can achieve with this technique. There are 4 ways to glide toss, given that throwing up and down is normally the same as a forward throw, except it gives less distance. Forward roll with a forward throw, backward roll with forward throw, forward roll with reverse throw, and backward roll with reverse throw.
| Character | Forward | Backward | Forward reverse | Backward reverse | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowser | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Captain Falcon | 1.357 | 2.6426 | 1.357 | 2.6426 | 1.9998 |
| Charizard | 0.2856 | 0 | 0.2856 | 0 | 0.1428 |
| Diddy Kong | 1.5355 | 1.8568 | 1.7854 | 1.8568 | 1.7586 |
| Donkey Kong | 4.2142 | 0 | 4.2142 | 0 | 2.071 |
| Falco | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Fox | 0.714 | 0.7854 | 0.714 | 0.714 | 0.7319 |
| Ganondorf | 1.3927 | 1.1785 | 1.2142 | 1.2142 | 1.2499 |
| Ice Climbers | 0.6426 | 0 | 0.6426 | 0 | 0.3213 |
| Ike | 0 | 1.0714 | 0 | 1.0714 | 0.0357 |
| Ivysaur | 1.6783 | 1.2142 | 1.4641 | 1.3213 | 1.4195 |
| Jigglypuff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| King Dedede | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kirby | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Link | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lucario | 0.714 | 1.6426 | 0.714 | 1.7497 | 1.2051 |
| Lucas | 0.357 | 0.5712 | 0.357 | 0.5712 | 0.4641 |
| Luigi | 0.1785 | 0.357 | 1.4284 | 6.0714 | 2.0088 |
| Mario | 0.4284 | 1.357 | 0.4284 | 1.3213 | 0.8838 |
| Marth | 1.357 | 5.357 | 1.357 | 5.357 | 3.357 |
| Meta Knight | 4.5712 | 4.4284 | 4.5712 | 4.4284 | 4.4998 |
| Mr. Game and Watch | 4.1428 | 4.2142 | 4.1428 | 4.2142 | 4.1785 |
| Ness | 0.357 | 0.5712 | 0.357 | 0.5712 | 0.4641 |
| Olimar | 0.9282 | 0.6426 | 0.9282 | 0.6426 | 0.7854 |
| Peach | 2.1071 | 0.4641 | 2.0714 | 1 | 1.4107 |
| Pikachu | 1.0714 | 1.0714 | 0.4284 | 0.5 | 0.7678 |
| Pit | 5.0714 | 4.8925 | 5.0714 | 5 | 5.0088 |
| R.O.B. | 2.2142 | 2.5355 | 2.2142 | 2.6783 | 2.4106 |
| Samus | 0.9639 | 1.714 | 0.9639 | 1.714 | 1.339 |
| Sheik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Snake | 1.0357 | 1.4641 | 1.0357 | 1.5 | 1.2589 |
| Sonic | 4.1785 | 4.0714 | 4.1428 | 4.1071 | 4.125 |
| Squirtle | 2.1428 | 1.7854 | 2.1428 | 1.7854 | 1.9641 |
| Toon Link | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wario | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Wolf | 0.8568 | 0.9282 | 0.8568 | 0.9282 | 0.8925 |
| Yoshi | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Zelda | 1.4284 | 1.6069 | 1.5 | 1.714 | 1.5623 |
| Zero Suit Samus | 2 | 0 | 2.1428 | 0 | 1.0357 |
Dash item throw cancel item throw (DITCIT)
In Smash 4, a similar tossing technique is used to replace the glide toss that was removed from Brawl (although the technique itself could also be done in Brawl, it provided no benefit over the regular glide toss, unless the character could not glide toss at all). It is performed by initiating a dash item throw and immediately performing another item throw with an up smash. This can be done using the Attack + Special Move smash attack configuration to initiate both item throws, DACUS inputs, or pressing the Z button before inputting the item throw with either C-Stick smash attack or Attack + Special Move, which is recommended when throwing battering items. Depending on the character, it will result in the character throwing the item upward while sliding forward. If done precisely enough, throwing the item in other directions is also possible, although it can only be done with the setting for Attack + Special Move to smash attack turned on. For example, throwing the item forward simply requires the control stick to be forward and slightly upwards before the smash attack is inputted, and backwards requires the control stick to be in the other direction instead.
Characters that can gain distance with DITCIT
- Bowser Jr. (with Mechakoopas)
- Charizard
- Cloud
- Corrin
- Dr. Mario
- Falco
- Fox
- Greninja
- Ike
- Link (with Bombs)
- Lucas
- Luigi
- Mario
- Mega Man (with Metal Blades)
- Meta Knight
- Mewtwo
- Mii Brawler
- Mii Swordfighter
- Mr. Game & Watch
- Ness
- Pac-Man (with Bonus Fruits)
- Palutena
- R.O.B. (with Gyros)
- Ryu
- Shulk
- Toon Link (with Bombs)
- Villager (with Timber pieces)
- Wii Fit Trainer
- Yoshi
- Zero Suit Samus
The execution for DITCIT varies between characters; the timing is stricter with Mega Man than it is for any other character, while Link can perform any variant of DITCIT without much effort, to the point that it is called Bombsliding when used by Link. Also, depending on how quickly both item throws are done, the distance gained with DITCIT can vary drastically. For example, Mega Man can either slide across more than half the length of most stages, or barely 1/4 of the stage. Ganondorf, Link, Palutena, R.O.B., and Toon Link can additionally fake out a DITCIT forward with another item throw animation (in any direction), though they do not slide as far (and Ganondorf cannot slide at all regardless).
Glide tossing in Brawl
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Glide tossing in Melee
In Melee, only a few characters can slide while throwing an item on the ground, and the effect of the technique is not nearly as noticeable as it is in Brawl. Performing a directional air dodge and then throwing an item can be considered an "aerial glide toss". Captain Falcon, Mewtwo and Marth seem to benefit from the grounded glide toss, and Peach and Captain Falcon seem to benefit from the aerial glide toss, though out of those characters, the only one who can generate items is Peach.
Grounded glide tossing
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Aerial glide tossing
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