Little Mac (SSBU): Difference between revisions

|tier = D-

Little Mac is ranked 81st out of 82 on the ''Ultimate'' [[tier list]], placing him in the D- tier, and also being ranked as the second-worst character in the game, below him being [[Ganondorf (SSBU)]]. This is a noticeable drop from his ''Smash 4'' iteration, where he was ranked 43rd out of 54 at the lower end of mid-tier. Little Mac possesses a strong ground game thanks to his excellent ground mobility and numerous grounded kill moves. His smash attacks are especially strong as they have [[armor|super armor]] on startup and very respectable speed for their power, making them decently unchallengeable. His tilt attacks are also very respectable, as forward tilt serves as a quick and capable kill move, while down and up tilts can be used to set up combos. Finally, his special moves have also seen improvements from the previous game, most notably to Jolt Haymaker, which no longer sends Little Mac into freefall.  

To compensate for his strong ground game, however, Little Mac packs glaring weaknesses, the most notable one being his virtually non-existent air game. Although his recovery is improved from the previous game, it remains one of the worst among the roster due to his low double-jump height, being allowed only one Jolt Haymaker per airtime, and Rising Uppercut's pitiful travel distance in the air. His aerial game is also poor due to his aerial's poor damage and knockback as well as his special moves being weaker in the air. Finally, his average stature compared to the rest of the cast and lack of disjoints give him a notable range problem, which, when combined with his low overall shieldstun outside of down-angled forward smash and sweetspotted up smash, force him to play a linear, risky neutral game, while his high fall speed contributes to his vulnerability to combos, despite granting him decent survivability for a lightweight fighter.

During the early metagame, players had high hopes for Little Mac due to improvements to his notoriously awful recovery and ability to cancel grounded moves. However, Little Mac's changes and the game’s mechanics proved to be detrimental to some of his best tools, especially his ground game, while his weak aerial game, notoriously the worst in ''Smash 4'', was made even worse. Because of this, opinions on Little Mac dropped significantly, with the consensus believing that he is not only a bottom tier, but possibly the worst character in the game.  

Throughout the game's lifespan, even in spite of useful buffs and representation from top Little Mac mains such as {{Sm|Kwaz}}, {{Sm|Peanut}}, and {{Sm|Tarakotori}}, his cons have largely prevented him from achieving consistent success in top-level play. Even in the online metagame, Peanut’s strong presence in weekly tournaments has failed to offset his lack of aerial utility and vulnerability to edgeguards, represented by Little Mac proceeding to see low representation in both national level tournaments and [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank]]ed tournaments.

 

As of current competitive play, Little Mac has begun to gain a slightly better reception due to more representation and Little Mac players adapting to the recent meta. While he is still considered one of the worst characters in the game, some players have begun to skeptically see him as a low tier rather than a definitive bottom tier. Overall, professional players still see him in the competitive setting as an unviable character due to the amount of work necessary to perform as him effectively at the highest level of play, with him ranking 81st on the first and current tier list.