Joker (SSBU): Difference between revisions

|image = {{tabber|title1=Phantom Thief|content1=[[File:Joker SSBU.png|250px]]|title2=Student|content2=[[File:Joker Shujin Uniform.png|250px]]|title3=With Arsène (Phantom Thief)|content3=[[File:Joker and Arsene SSBU.png|250px]]|title4=With Arsène (Student)|content4=[[File:Joker Student Alternate.png|250px]]}}

|tier = S-

|ranking = 10

{{iw|wikipedia|Xander Mobus}}, who voiced Joker in ''Persona 5'' in English as well as the [[announcer]], [[Master Hand]], and [[Crazy Hand]] in ''Ultimate'', reprises his role as the character in the English version of the game, while {{iw|wikipedia|Jun Fukuyama}}, who previously voiced the character in Japanese and also voices {{SSBU|Roy}}, reprises his role in Japanese. Despite [[Arsène]] being voiced by the same respective voice actors in Joker's initial reveal trailer, he remains completely silent during gameplay.

Joker is ranked 10th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him at the end of the S- tier and making him the highest ranking character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Joker boasts a plethora of amazing strengths, such as his mobility, frame data, safe moves, [[pressure]], and a solid [[combo]] game. Joker has many fast attacks that are core to his archetype as a rushdown fighter. He also has a variety of ways to [[Edgeguarding|edgeguard]] his opponent, with [[back aerial]], down [[Gun / Gun Special|Gun]], [[forward aerial]], [[neutral aerial]], and more. His strengths can be further enhanced after his [[Rebellion Gauge]] has been filled up, as he'll unleash his Persona [[Arsène]]. Arsène buffs nearly all his moves, giving him many [[KO]] options for a short time. His [[Special move|specials]] also get upgraded, improving their ability to rack up [[damage]] and replacing [[Rebel's Guard / Tetrakarn / Makarakarn|Rebel's Guard]] with Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, which serve as a simultaneous [[counter]] and [[Reflection|reflector]].

 

 

Overall, Joker's strengths outweigh his weaknesses, and he has since become one of the most popular characters in competitive play, having amassed impressive results from players such as {{Sm|MkLeo}} and {{Sm|Zackray}}. Even after MkLeo dropped the character for a few years and Zackray's activity decreased, Joker's representation remained high thanks to the rise of many new players, most notably {{Sm|Tsubaki|p=Shizuoka}}.

Joker's aerial game is comparably effective as his grounded game, with a variety of different options at his disposal. Back aerial serves as Joker's most versatile aerial, functioning as his best defensive aerial due to its effectiveness out of shield, as a spacing tool due to its good range, and as his best aerial pressuring and KOing move thanks to its very low lag. Both forward and up aerials are among his best combo moves, the former's first hit leading into other moves due to its high base knockback, most notably granting him a kill confirm, whereas the latter's looping hits can set up for another grab at medium percentages or an up or down smash at high ones. Both moves' finishing hits also serve as good combo finishers outside of these ranges, with forward aerial also leading into [[Reverse aerial rush|RAR]] back aerial, and up aerial putting the opponent in the perfect position to be hit by Grappling Hook if they do not react in time. Up aerial can also serve as a useful anti-air move and is Joker's fastest [[out of shield]] option, making him surprisingly harder to cross-up. Neutral and down aerials have the slowest startup of his aerial moves, although they have decently low landing lag and can lead to other moves when used appropriately. Neutral aerial, in particular, has the best range and combo ability of the two, both covering a wide area around Joker and sending at a high enough angle for followups. It's also Joker's best crossup tool, allowing him to pressure shields and be safe against most opponents if he manages to land behind them.

Overall, Joker is a character whose playstyle is incredibly dynamic, but as with characters with many playstyles applicable, players should be expected to be able to smartly switch playstyles on the go. Without Arsène, Joker specializes in a hit-and-run, combo-oriented playstyle. Joker is particularly adept at conditioning the opponent to shield and has excellent grab frame data to take advantage of that, so players should be looking for opportunities to go for punishing grab combos whenever possible. He has notably short-range and low power overall on his standard attacks without Arsène available, and can struggle if he's a stock behind the opponent and unable to effectively make use of Arsène. His primary goal in each match is to rack up as much damage as possible through combos and gain an early stock in order to massively widen the gap between him and his opponent. Arsène greatly helps Joker in dealing damage or securing a stock whenever he is out, as he gains several powerful traits that allow him to play more rushdown-oriented when he gains the advantage, without forgoing his excellent mobility. Arsène is also notable for giving Joker an absurdly effective comeback factor, as Joker can quickly close the gap by dealing out extreme damage with Arsène out and can KO early when given the opportunity, such as with an Arsène boosted back air. By actively filling up the Rebellion Gauge by using Rebel's Guard to capitalize on reading an opponent's attack, this can be devastating for the opponent, as it gives Arsène more opportunity to be seen in-game. At the same time, Joker's vulnerability to combos means he will have to make use of his excellent mobility more often than not to avoid being put at a disadvantage. Ultimately, Joker is a character who encourages proactive play, and particularly shines when players are able to make the most of edgeguarding opportunities, maximize their damage through combos and effectively make use of Arsène.  

Aside from glitch fixes, Joker received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates, but he was slightly nerfed overall. The first nerf was in update 4.0.0 to Makarakarn, which could now be broken by reflected projectiles inflicting more than 50% damage; however this nerf was compensated by a buff to its searchbox, which became more rounded, allowing Joker to reflect projectiles that would fly right over him. Update 6.0.0 fixed an issue with Joker's forward smash pushing opponents too far during its charging animation, now making so Joker can't blatantly avoid damage by exploiting the move's previously wonky detection. The most significant nerfs came with update 7.0.0; downward Gun's horizontal range was significantly reduced, while the Rebellion Gauge would now lose more time when Joker is hit by attacks. These nerfs noticeably affected his best landing and edgeguarding tool, and punishing him more for losing interactions while Arsene is active, which rewards opponents with good damage racking capabilities. Version 11.0.0 would further affect the safety of his moves by making Eiha and his counters more punishable if they are used recklessly.

Version 13.0.0 buffed Joker by removing ten frames of ending lag from All-Out Attack.

Despite these nerfs, however, Joker is still considered to be a top tier character.

[[File:Joker bullet comparison.png|thumb|250px|A comparison of the range of downward aerial bullets pre and post 7.0.0]]

Moves Joker slightly forward while attacking. Without Arsène, the move KOs at around 76% from the edge of the stage, making it Joker's strongest finisher. However, despite Joker moving forward, its range is rather poor due to the length of his knife. Oddly, despite the knife leaving a trail that extends behind Joker, the attack can only hit in front of him. With Arsène, the move gains slightly more range and even higher KO power, KOing at around 55% from the edge of the stage. It can be an extremely potent punish or trapping tool, but its lag makes it highly punishable itself so it should be used with caution. Resembles the third hit of Joker's standard three-hit attack in ''Persona 5''.

|fsdesc= Joker announces "Ravage them!", then rushes forward, trapping opponents. Should he miss, Joker can also rush back if the control stick is pushed backwards. If any fighter is hit during either of these swipes (up to a maximum of 3), they are attacked by Joker and three other Phantom Thieves, either Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana, or Makoto, Haru, and Yusuke, while either Futaba or Morgana comments on the attack. After the barrage is complete, Joker lands in front of the opponent and tugs at his glove while the screen changes into a splash screen and the opponent's silhouette spews sparkles in the background. Causes an [[instant KO]] if the opponent was at 100% damage or higher at the end of the cinematic. If the Final Smash results in the final KO needed to win, the splash screen will remain throughout the [[victory screen]]. Arsène will not affect All-Out Attack.

 

*Drops from the top of the screen, similar to how the party begins battles in ''Persona 5'' that start with Bullet Hail, then adjusts his glove just like in his up taunt''.

SSBUJokerIdle1.gif|Joker's first idle pose.

SSBUJokerIdle2.gif|Joker's second idle pose.

|Jok - er! *claps 3 times* || It's the Jo - ker! It's the Jo - ker! Eh! Eh! || Jok - er! *claps 3 times* || Jok - er! *claps 3 times*

In all three of his victory poses, the transition to the victory screen will showcase a puff of cartoony smoke with star decals, and the ending screen will always result in Joker moving continuously to the left with the results background being dimmed down, replicating the victory screen from ''Persona 5''. Upon accessing the [[results screen]], Joker will say "Begone," "Nice," or "Hah!". If there are three or more human players, the color scheme will match the player's port (CPUs and amiibo are always red). In Team Battles, the color will match the player's team color. If Joker wins on [[Mementos]], the color of the victory screen will match the color of the stage (overriding port or team settings) and the victory music will be replaced with the corresponding victory fanfare from the game Mementos' design is currently derived from.

During the online metagame as a result of the [[COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash|COVID-19 pandemic]], MkLeo chose not to play Joker due to the nature of the game's netcode necessitating a different playstyle, leading to a perception that Joker is a weaker character online due to his more technical combos and reactionary playstyle becoming too hard to perform or unrewarding, which has reflected in his middling online tournament representation. However, Joker still possesses traits that are effective online, such as quick movements, a difficult to react to projectile, and powerful attacks when Arsène is active. Most recently, the success of players such as naitosharp in online tournaments, such as their 13th placing at {{Trn|Frame Perfect Series 6: ONLINE}}, has challenged the perception that Joker is not well suited for the online metagame.

On the other hand, some argue that Joker's success largely relies on MkLeo's skill as a player, which allows him to push the character extremely far, as no players outside of Zackray have even come close to his achievements. This argument was tested following the online metagame, as MkLeo relegated the character to a rare counterpick while Zackray went on a hiatus at the start of 2022. Although there was a notable decline in Joker's representation at a top level, this decline was ultimately negligent as other players such as {{Sm|naitosharp}} and {{Sm|eMass}} continued to see strong placements with the character, which kept Joker's representation in or around the top 10. Due to this, as well as Zackray's return and MkLeo slowly bringing Joker back into his main line-up, opinions on the character remained strong, and Joker was ranked 3rd on the first tier list, where he ranks in the S+ tier alongside {{SSBU|Steve}} and [[Pyra (SSBU)|the]] [[Mythra (SSBU)|Aegis]].

Unfortunately, Joker's precise playstyle meant that the character was harder to maintain compared to many other top tier characters. As such 2023 marked a noticeable downturn for Joker at the top level: MkLeo's Joker performed worse than it did due to MkLeo's lower motivation and character crisis, while Zackray chose to play [[Pit (SSBU)|the]] [[Dark Pit (SSBU)|Pits]] over Joker. Although other Joker players such as {{Sm|omega}} and {{Sm|Tsubaki|p=Shizuoka}} were able to perform well during this time, their performances were unable to match MkLeo and Zackray's best results with the character. As such, opinions on Joker have since mellowed out, and he dropped on the following tier list to 10th, now ranking in the S- tier.

JokerBestBuyLeak.png|The ad that [[leak]]ed Joker's artwork.

Joker amiibo.png|Joker's [[amiibo]].

Joker unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Joker's unlock notice after downloading him from the [[Nintendo eShop]].

Jokercutin.png|Joker's Cut-in when [[Arsène]] is summoned.

SSBUWebsiteJoker3.jpg|Joker attacking with Arsène on [[Mementos]].

All Fighters from Fighters Pass Vol 1.jpg|Joker alongside all of the other DLC fighters of {{h2|Downloadable content (SSBU)|Fighters Pass Vol. 1}}.

**Out of all the characters reveals in both ''Smash 4'' and ''Ultimate'', Joker is the first character to be revealed at/in a non-Nintendo event/video. The second would be {{SSBU|Sephiroth}}. Coincidentally, both were revealed during The Game Awards.

**whose name is not announced on the [[results screen]], whether by the normal announcer or a custom one. Instead, there is a comment from one of the Phantom Thieves.

***Because of this, it is not possible to hear Joker's announcer call in-game without having purchased him oneself.

**Additionally, Arsène starts writhing in pain if Joker is KO'd in [[Stamina Mode]]. However, there is only animation and no audio.