Kill confirm

A kill confirm, also known as a KO setup, is used to refer to a fast and safe attack that can reliably lead into a KO at high percentages. Kill confirms are considered a type of combo, but are different in that kill confirms are used primarily to finish off opponents' stocks, while combos are used to rack up damage. In addition, most true combos only work at low to mid percents, while kill confirms can connect at high percents.

There are several different types of kill confirms in the Super Smash Bros. series:

• A weak attack (such as a jab or a dash attack) that sends the opponent with weak enough knockback to lead to a guaranteed strong hit (such as a smash attack or aerial) that KOs at high percents.
• A strong throw that can KO on its own (such as Ness's back throw in all games); this includes command grabs (such as Bowser's Flying Slam).
• A weak throw that leads into a guaranteed strong hit (An example includes R.O.B.'s down throw into up aerial in Smash 4.
• A tech chase setup (such as Snake's down throw), which forces the opponent into a vulnerable position.
• Most characters can kill confirm by performing a jab reset (in Melee) or jab lock (Brawl onwards) on an opponent who is lying down (commonly after a missed tech), leading in a strong smash attack.

Kill confirms generally work differently based on the opponent's character; they will work at different percentages against each character, depending on their weight, falling speed, and acceleration. They can be significantly harder to connect, or not work at all, on certain characters, and as such, many kill confirms work only on one or a few characters. Their exact timings and percentages can be altered by rage in Smash 4 and Ultimate.

Kill confirms are considered one of the most reliable ways of finishing off opponents in advanced play. Most high-knockback attacks in the Super Smash Bros. games, such as smash attacks, are risky to throw out on their own, since they usually have high startup lag or ending lag, or a small sweetspot that is difficult to land, making them easily punishable if missed. A fast kill confirm circumvents these problems by being much harder to predict and react to. Grab-based kill confirms are especially powerful, because many players will opt to stay in shield more when at high percents, to protect themselves from getting killed by smash attacks and other strong moves; grabbing will ignore an opponent's shield completely and is a natural counter to this playstyle. A character with a reliable kill confirm can see their KOing ability improve significantly, even if the knockback of their finishers is weaker overall, and vice versa. In Melee, Captain Falcon is known for having one of the strongest KOing abilities in the game, as he has multiple different combo starters that can all lead to a kill off the side with his Knee Smash. Conversely, Marth is known for having a particularly difficult time KOing his opponents at high percentages without edgeguarding or gimping, as he has no reliable kill confirms, since his throws and aerials all do not link into each other well. As a result, is not uncommon to see opponents, especially floaty characters, survive to 200% and beyond vs. Marth.

However, some kill confirms are not always guaranteed, depending on the combo DI or smash DI of the opponent. In addition, some popular kill confirms, such as tech chases, require the player to read the action of their opponent, giving them an opportunity to escape. Although some kill confirms are difficult to react to, skilled players will often start their DI inputs before they get hit, which will allow them to escape the combo.

List of kill confirms

In Super Smash Bros. 64

In the original Super Smash Bros., most characters have several different kill confirms, which can often connect at extremely low percents, due to the game's large amounts of hitstun. Kill confirms are generally less prominent in Smash 64, as a result of the game's more significant punish game, which means characters do not live at high percents in neutral very frequently.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Character	Description
Captain Falcon	*The first hit of autocanceled neutral aerial can confirm into a knee, or a series of up aerials, ending in a knee. If not properly DI'ed, this can lead to a kill at as low as 50 percent. *His up throw and down throw can lead to a knee on characters with moderate falling speed at high percents, and lead to a tech chase on fastfallers. However, good DI can make the throw to knee combo more difficult to land. *Autocancelled Down aerial on a grounded opponent can lead into a guaranteed knee on most characters at moderate to high percents.
Donkey Kong	*Donkey Kong's cargo forward throw true combos into jump followed by Giant Punch on characters with medium falling speed, such as Marth and Sheik, at mid percents.
Falco	*A point blank autocancelled aerial laser can combo into almost any fast move, most commonly forward smash or down tilt. *Falco can combo a shine into back aerial at high percents, but the technique must be done extremely quickly to combo successfully. The opponent can also escape the combo by DI'ing to the side when hit by the shine. *An L-canceled down aerial (clean or late hit) pops a grounded opponent slightly upward, which can lead to a forward smash. *Falco can shoot a opponent lying down (after a missed tech) with a laser to force a jab reset, which can lead into a charged forward smash.
Fox	*Up throw to up aerial is guaranteed on floaty characters, such as Jigglypuff, at moderate to high percents; however, the first hit of Fox's up aerial can be SDI'ed out of. *Dash attack true combos into up smash at high percents on most characters. *Up throw to up smash is a true combo on fastfallers, such as another Fox or Falco, at high percents. *Fox can perform a waveshine into up smash on any character with a weight of 87 or heavier, allowing him to KO these characters at 100 percent or less. However the combo requires high technical proficiency to perform consistently.
Ice Climbers	*The Ice Climbers can land a guaranteed kill off of a grab at any percent using a wobble or handoffs. If wobbling/handoffs are not used or banned, they can land a guaranteed kill off at high percents through desyncing, by grabbing the opponent with Popo and charging a smash attack with Nana.
Jigglypuff	*At mid percents, Jigglypuff can hit an opponent with a series of back aerials and carry them off the stage (known as the Wall of Pain, which will send opponents too far from the stage to recover. *Up throw to Rest combos on Fox and Falco at low percents if the opponent doesn't DI. Although the throw is quick, making it difficult to react to, the opponent can escape if they DI the up throw to the left or right. This technique is known as the space animal slayer or hunger strike.
Peach	*Up throw combos into any aerial, most commonly neutral aerial, on fastfallers at moderate to high percents. *Dash attack and forward tilt can also combo into any aerial at moderate to high percents.
Pikachu	*Up throw true combos into up smash on fastfallers at moderate to high percents, allowing him to KO Fox and Falco off of a grab below 100 percent. On stages without platforms, such as Final Destination, Pikachu can start an up throw chain throw into up smash to land a KO off of a grab at as low as 40 percent.
Sheik	*Forward tilt to forward aerial is a true combo at moderate to high percents. The semi-spike angle of forward aerial sends many characters too far from the stage to recover, as low as 100 percent. *Down throw true combos into forward aerial on non-fastfallers at moderate to high percents, and combos into forward tilt followed by forward aerial on fastfallers (NTSC only).

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Overall, Brawl has the fewest amount of kill confirms, due to the game's significantly decreased levels of hitstun.

Character	Description
Bowser	*Bowser's Flying Slam is a relatively fast command grab that KOs opponents at high percents.
Diddy Kong	*Tripping an opponent in melee range with a Banana Peel can lead to a free followup at any percent. A Banana Peel to forward smash KOs most characters at around 130 percent (though the first hit can be smash DI'ed), and a Banana Peel to down smash KOs most characters at around 150 percent.
Falco	*Falco can combo an autocanceled aerial laser on melee-range opponents into any grounded move; an autocanceled laser into up smash KOs most characters at around 140 percent.
Ice Climbers	*The Ice Climbers can get a guaranteed kill off of a grab at any percent, by using their handoff techniques to build percentage, and then finishing with a charged smash attack.
King Dedede	*King Dedede's down throw can lead to a guaranteed down tilt on several heavy characters; this can KO near 180 percent at the edge of the stage. This kill confirm can be easily set up using his down throw chain grab. It can also lead to a guaranteed down smash on Bowser, which KOs at an earlier percentage than down tilt.
Meta Knight	*Meta Knight can cancel the first or second hit of his back aerial into a guaranteed down smash, which KOs opponents at high percents.
Ness	*Ness's back throw KOs most opponents at around 130 percent; this setup is especially powerful because Ness has one of the best dash grabs in the game.
Olimar	*Olimar's up throw with a Purple Pikmin KOs most opponents at around 130 percent. However, this KO setup is unreliable, due to the random nature of Olimar Pikmin pulls, in addition to requiring a Purple Pikmin at the front of his lineup. *Olimar's back throw with a Blue Pikmin KOs near the edge of the stage at 150 percent and above.
Pikachu	*Up smash to Thunder is a common KO setup off the top of the stage at moderate to high percents; Thunder is particularly difficult to air dodge completely due to its long-lasting hitbox. However, the Thunder can be avoided if the opponent DIs diagonally, and even if the opponent doesn't DI, the Thunder hit is not guaranteed, and can be beaten with a well-timed air dodge.
Snake	*Snake's down throw sets up a guaranteed tech chase, and if predicted successfully, can lead to an up tilt, which KOs most characters at around 105 percent.
Wario	*Wario's tire throw can true combo into many moves on a melee-range opponent at almost any percent. At high percents, the most common KO combos are tire throw to up aerial and tire throw to fart.
Zero Suit Samus	*Zero Suit Samus's down smash stuns the opponent for around 1.5 seconds, giving her a large amount of time to follow up with a finisher. The most common combo at KO percents is two down smashes followed by a back aerial, which KOs starting at around 120 percent. When used on an opponent just off the edge of the stage, a down smash to Flip Jump meteor smash can KO at around 50 percent, and even earlier on characters with poor vertical recoveries.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

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Character	Description
Diddy Kong	*Tripping an opponent in melee range with a Banana Peel can lead to a free KO move at high percents. *Diddy Kong's down throw to up aerial (known as the "Hoo-hah," was a true combo that could KO at high percents, but was removed from the game in version 1.0.6.
R.O.B.	*Down throw to up aerial is a kill confirm on most characters at around 160 percent.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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Character	Description
Fox	*Late hit Neutral aerial to Up smash
Dr. Mario	*Down throw to Dr. Tornado is a combo that can KO as early as 45% at the ledge.
Zero Suit Samus	*Neutral aerial to Flip Jump is a combo that can KO as early as 60% if done at the ledge.
Ryu	*Jab to Shoryuken is a guaranteed combo that KOs at mid-high percents.
Ken	*Jab to Shoryuken is a guaranteed combo that KOs at mid-high percents.
Terry	*Up tilt to Power Geyser can KO as early as 50%
Byleth	*Sword of the Creator leads into several kill moves at high percents, such as Areadbhar, Back aerial, or Down aerial. *Down throw to Forward aerial or Back aerial KOs at mid-to-high percents.
Pyra	*Down aerial to Up smash