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be punished if their attack is shielded, such as via shield grabbing or out of shield attacks. An attack that is difficult or impossible to punish is usually

vulnerability, meaning they can be punished very easily if read. Shield pressure is used to lure out one of the options to punish. An example of good shield pressure

rarely used as a result, only being useful as a risky hard punish or as a shield break punish in most situations. While not always true, characters with

allowing for harder punishes. Yet another change in Ultimate is that all characters have greatly increased traction, which makes OoS punishes easier to perform

players to be punished for going for a ledge grab, even though it is more difficult and less consistent than edge-hogging. The two frames of punish time don't

read (or, in some cases, react to) the direction of a player's tech and punish them. Characters with fast movement speed, like Captain Falcon, are very

are fast enough to punish any mistakes. However, Mewtwo can also use its great ground and air speed to mix up approaches and punish mistakes using these

make them highly committal, making them very easy for wary opponents to punish (particularly using a shield grab). Prior to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

neutral. Overall, Falcon remains a high-risk high-reward fighter with a solid punish game overall. Falcon has seen respectable tournament results from players

makes it his best hard punish option considering its immense strength. Overall, his smash attacks are all formidable for hard punishes. Both up and down smash

in the top of A tier. One of Sheik's greatest strengths is her formidable punish game. Sheik's down throw is one of the best combo starters in Melee, as

startup of their down smashes, which allow them to dodge certain attacks and punish them heavily. This leads them to sometimes be humorously labeled "spot dodges

her to easily punish opponents that are quick to approach her on the ground. Should opponents reach Samus up closer, she can quickly punish and reset neutral

traction generally require more precise movement across the ground and cannot punish attacks as effectively out of shield since they will get pushed further

start his strong punish game and when he ends up offstage, he heavily struggles to get back on stage against a strong opponent. Ness' punish game unfortunately

game, as well as being able to dash away from shield grabs without getting punished, complementing his already-impressive range extremely well. Marth also

with almost any opponent while additionally making him very difficult to punish. In terms of attack speed, almost all of Fox's moves have less than 10 frames

because slow rolls are easier to react to and short rolls are easier to punish. Most characters use a rolling, somersaulting or spinning animation for

viable option out of shield; all other options can be punished or do not have the proper range to punish well-spaced moves. Moveover, his damage-based armor

to, while Dragon Fang Shot has two separate chargeable portions which can punish careless shielding up close. Dragon Lunge serves as the centerpiece of Corrin's

stock. A single Ice Climber, known as "Sopo", loses access to its grab punishes and has one of the lowest damage outputs and worst recoveries in Melee

dodge attacks and make a retreat or capitalize on a reckless opponent and punish them. Some attacks intentionally make certain body parts intangible in order

through shielding, Shields can block attacks and leave opportunities to punish afterward, and regular attacks can outprioritize grabs due to their generally

both of these changes improve his hard punish game. The changes to shieldstun make it easier for him to punish aerial approaches out of shield and make

finishers, allowing them to quickly and effectively punish opponents close to him, while being difficult to punish themselves on shield. Forward smash can be angled

result, some fighters have up smashes that serve as excellent out of shield punishes, while others function as precise, but powerful anti-airs. From Brawl onwards

opponent's to make risky approaches, providing opportunities for Isabelle to punish. Notably, Isabelle's unique jab gives her the ability to perform the "Wobbelle"

more on reads and baits, and the punishes that come with them. However, Ganondorf is also very susceptible to punishes himself, as he is easily comboed

Its incredibly large hitbox makes it an excellent 2-frame punish tool, can be used to punish rolls or techs, and can also be used as a deadly stage spike

into his specials, while his auto-turnaround ability also allows him to punish rolls and create deadly ledgetraps. In addition, Terry's combo and KO ability

Falco's Blaster shots are very fast, hard to punish, very long-ranged, transcendent, and allow him to camp and punish approaches easily. At low percents, Falco

long ranged, fast and auto-cancels from a short hop, making it difficult to punish. In Ultimate, it is much harder to use due to having noticeably less range

opponent, as they can capitalize on the opponent still being in hitlag and punish them or bait a certain reaction by using an attack with invincibility. Invincibility

during the peak of the Golden Age. Pioneered Falco's punish game further, particularly by extending punishes using platforms and aerial Shine combos. By 2007

him apart from them. Ridley's most defining trait is his potent and varied punish game and aerial pressure. With remarkably long range, high power, and decent

might be able to bait and punish with his up special to start combos, but it can become predictable over time, and it can be punished by characters with quick

relatively low end lag. This results in Mario being fairly difficult to punish relative to most of the cast. His combo game is quite flexible, as Mario

previous game and still possesses devastating punishes, her watered down combo game makes her early punish game and advantage less oppressive than before

Sephiroth forward and significantly lowers his hurtbox, giving him a way to punish more ranged attacks. Dash attack, despite being fairly punishable due to

allow Luigi to quickly and effectively punish opponents close to him while also rendering him being difficult to punish on shield. Forward smash deals extra

hard to punish on a blocked pin-down version, even with a successful powershield. The followups from the grounded hop can also be used to punish tech options

of this move to catch landings and punish whiffed moves is essential, although overuse and misuse is easily punished as it is unsafe on shield. Her forward

very few attacks come out as equally fast, and many attacks can be easily punished after being shielded. Due to this characteristic, simply approaching an

B tier. His placing on the tier list comes from having one of the best punishes in the game, as well as a solid neutral. However, he is held back due to

out the opponent quite easily, stuff out opposing approaches and adeptly punish most careless attacks. A prime example of this trait is Cloud's aerial attacks:

impossible to punish in some situations. Shuttle Loop has high knockback (especially at low percents), quick start-up, and is difficult to punish, as he can

mainly centered on the fundamentals of platform fighting: neutral game, punish game, and finishing (including raw KO power and edgeguarding). In Brawl

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

it easy for him to heavily punish mistakes, his sluggish frame data also makes counterattacks an excellent option to punish his many KO options if they

matchups than Melee or Brawl despite the Ice Climbers' expanded neutral and punish options. In the Project+ tier list, they are ranked 13th in the A tier,

carefully when close to Dr. Mario, as a single whiff could lead into a deadly punish. However, Dr. Mario's weaknesses outshine many of his strengths. His most

characters, which, in conjunction with his quick speed makes Joker hard to punish, and hard to hit. One of Joker's biggest strengths is his frame data. Many

reliant on Warp, which has no active hitbox and can be consistently two frame punished. Overall, Palutena is a simple but effective character at all levels of

or edgehog, and if Falcon chooses to land on the stage, he can be freely punished upon landing, resulting in him repeatedly being knocked off the stage.

him the ability to vary his recovery to make it incredibly difficult to punish him offstage, let alone gimp him. Meta Knight does have several weaknesses

while shielding. Generally, it is used to punish attacks when they are blocked, and is the most basic way to punish out of shield; in most cases, the attacker

combos, his grab is among the shortest-ranged in the game and can be easily punished if a grab misses. His moveset revolving around several projectiles means

and can be jumped out of -the mechanic known as parry- giving him unique punish opportunities when an opponent hits him during that startup animation. Although

aerials. This makes a Kirby playing defensively correctly rather difficult to punish. However, Kirby's defensive ability is hindered slightly by his average

speed of all three variations allows them to only work effectively as whiff punishes. While it's not impossible to use it in other contexts, it is far less

the middle ground between Fox's focus on pressure and Falco's focus on punishes. This is reflected in his attributes: he has a slow dashing speed (though

and his finishers are generally fast for their power, giving him a solid punish ability. While his air speed is slow, his aerial moveset is generally solid:

although her down tilt and down smash are solid power shield punishes. As a result, Zelda's strong punish game is not enough to make up for her poor mobility,

in Brawl. Altogether, Ganondorf's high power allows him to deal ruthless punishes when the opportunity arises, in addition to being capable of ending stocks

relatively low end lag. This results in Mario being fairly difficult to punish relative to most of the cast. His combo game is quite flexible, as Mario

even kill confirms, while in turn allowing her to reverse disadvantage and punish her opponent. Finally, Bayonetta has an oppressive offstage game thanks

to them causing higher shieldstun, making it difficult for opponents to punish tippers on shield. In addition, his overall frame data is very good, such

Jigglypuff has one of the most potent punish games out of all characters, yet is immune to most other characters' punishes; additionally, it cannot easily be

as well. Inhale has high ending lag, allowing other characters to easily punish him after he finishes the move. Gordo Toss's Gordos can be reflected back

recovery that does not cause helplessness, and Heaven's Door allowing him to punish shielding opponents, which is further boosted under the effects of Rage

it is far more likely an attempt at causing a shield poke, or to bait and punish a roll, grab, or spot dodge. Still, since gaps in shieldstun must exist

launching them with the last blow. You can adjust the laser beam's angle, so punish a foe who thought he or she was safe by trying to duck under the beam! Mii

small character who wields a sword. These factors make him difficult to punish, and in turn allow him to pressure his opponents. His speed also gives him

moveset has some effective attacks: down tilt functions as an amazing 2 frame punish and edgeguarding option thanks to its long duration and range, up tilt is

and startup of a majority of his moves, making him prone to getting parry punished or overwhelmed by faster moves. His recovery is also fairly exploitable

opponents with low shield health play more carefully around him, as he can punish any mistake extremely hard. As such, mistiming or overusing shields against

Its large hitbox also reaches beyond the ledge and allows it to 2 frame punish opponents. His down smash is fast, has good KO power (especially with the

opponent. This potentially improves his punishes. This makes his ledgetraps more efficient and allows him to punish rolls and cross ups much more easily.

down smash, which makes them hard to land and/or leave him exposed for a punish. In conclusion, Mega Man has a lot of tools to apply a lot of pressure with

guaranteed KO setups with Witch Time, and the ability to punish the opponent for trying to punish her due to the former move. Despite her strengths being

out the opponent quite easily, snuff out opposing approaches and adeptly punish most careless attacks due to his speed and range. A prime example of this

slightly more startup and are heavier on ending lag, making them easier to punish than other grab types if they miss. Pivot grab (known as CatchTurn internally)

maneuverability also makes him a great punisher, being able to swoop in, bait an attack, back away, and move back in to punish with one of his many fast aerials

wavedashing. Players tend to get a grasp of how to bait out attacks and punish them, an important skill for succeeding all the way into high-level gameplay

reaction from the enemy. The Gunner's Grenade Launch, while being tough to punish, is able to cover a large range of angles, switch directions up to three

handful of characters can punish the move on shield (although if Zero Suit Samus spaces the move well, even they cannot punish it). One problem the move

having a short range, which makes spacing essential for him to avoid getting punished. As mentioned within his reveal trailer, Little Mac performs strongly on

Consequently, characters with superior attack speed can easily overwhelm and punish him, especially if his attacks are whiffed. Most of Ike's out-of-shield

has very little ending lag, making it very difficult for an opponent to punish her for using it. This allows Rosalina to virtually shut down projectile-reliant

combos/multi hits which would normally work and they can even potentially punish the opponent after getting hit. This does overall depend on the strength

and a slow, short ledge roll, making it very easy for enemies to extend punishes on Pichu with little that the Pichu player can do to escape. Furthermore

recovery move and is also Hero's fastest and most reliable out of shield punish. Woosh can be charged into Swoosh, granting more vertical distance and horizontal

intangible, it is difficult to hit during Quick Attack's warps, making it hard to punish if Pikachu uses it effectively. The move's intangibility combined with its

with its slower startup, this makes it much safer and more difficult to punish, even being safe on shield if spaced, and due to its low cooldown, it can

opponents thanks to its consistent hitbox, although it can also be used as to punish opponents from out of shield when it is SHFF'd. Palutena's grounded moveset

and explosion also makes it relatively easy for the opponent to tech and punish the move's ending animation, a maneuver known as the Tech Check. Main article:

aerial, which can also make him difficult to punish if the opponent stands too close to him and mistimes its punish. However, King Dedede has numerous weaknesses

has weaknesses. His subpar tech roll and bad combo weight make it easy to punish and fatally chain Lucas if he makes a mistake. He also has short range and

player to avoid damage, not be as easily punished, have more control over their actions, and be able to punish their opponent's attacks. Dash-dance pivots

combo breaker. It can also lock, which gives Greninja access to potent punishes from opponents missing techs. Its down tilt is an excellent combo starter