Yoshi (SSBB)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in SSB4
Final Smash	Super Dragon
Tier	D (27)

Confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on July 24, 2007, Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is relatively unchanged from the previous games except for one thing - he can now use his Egg Toss as a recovery move (though it only gives him a small upwards boost). His smashes are less powerful, but his aerials and tilts are slightly more powerful. He has also taken on his upright posture and his appearance is like the younger Yoshi in Yoshi's Story. He appears to be slightly larger now in relation to the human-sized characters as well.

Yoshi currently ranks 27th on the tier list at the last spot of mid tier, which is slightly better than his low tier placement in Melee. Yoshi is a unique character; he is a heavyweight with the fastest air speed in Brawl, possesses a recovery that revolves around the best midair jump in Brawl, and possesses a unique shield that does not shrink, making him completely immune to shield stabbing. Yoshi in general has great all around movement speed (possessing a fast walking and dashing speed to compliment his air speed), and fast attacks throughout his moveset. Additionally, Yoshi possesses grab release options on several characters (which include chain grabs on nearly half the cast and a forward aerial meteor smash follow up), which is complimented by one of the best pivot grabs. Yoshi also has among the best horizontal survivability, good reach all around, a great get off move in his jab, and a great anti-air projectile in Egg Throw. Yoshi has some strong flaws however, the most major of which being his abysmal out of shield options, as he is unable to jump out of shield (the only character with this hindrance), which combines with his slow standing grab and poor roll dodge for one of the worst close up games (resulting in Yoshi being easy to pressure). Yoshi also has an over-reliance on his double jump to recover, making footstool jumps, meteor smashes, or certain special grabs very dangerous to him (although he can air dodge during his second jump to gain invincibility). Other flaws include his slow and laggy standing and dashing grabs and an awkwardly large hurtbox on his nose that makes it easier to hit and space Yoshi. Overall, this has resulted in average matchups and average tournament results for Yoshi.

Attributes

Yoshi is a rather heavy character, tied with Wario in weight, but rather small for his weight. He is very maneuverable in the air with a slow falling speed and the fastest air speed in the game, which are not usually attributes found in heavyweights. His moves generally have decent speed (although not as quick as several characters), and his range is good for non-disjointed moves. His Flutter Kick (down aerial) can hit for 35% if used correctly, making it among the most damaging attacks in the game (although this can be escaped with SDI). Arguably the most notable aspect of Yoshi's moveset is his midair jump, which is the farthest-reaching in the game, and gives him limited knockback resistance during the ascent. As long as Yoshi has his double jump, he can also be an effective edge guarder, either finishing enemies off with his meteor smashes, or using his neutral aerial at the right time to knock them back even further. This also allows Yoshi to perform a pseudo-wavedash, known as the Dragonic Reverse, which allows him to move and attack somewhat spontaneously. However, it is very difficult to execute, so its actual usage is limited.

One significant flaw with Yoshi is that, because of his minuscule third jump, Footstool Jumps, grabs (such as special grabs that can catch in the air), and attacks with enough knockback to cancel his midair jump's resistance can be devastating to Yoshi should they be performed while he is in his second jump. He is quite speedy on the ground, but he has few effective ways to advance on the opponent. Yoshi's standing grab range has lots of start up lag, and his dash grab is very punishable, with both being relatively short for tether grabs. However, Yoshi arguably has the best pivot grab in the game. His specials are largely situational due to a mix of poor range and speed. Egg Throw, for example, is an effective projectile attack that can help change directions in midair and can help recovery, but it can be hard to use because it travels in an arc, which can make it hard to hit with. Although his shield gives him immunity to shield stabbing and lasts slightly longer than others, it has a long exiting animation (taking 17 frames to shield drop instead of 7 frames for anyone else) and it cannot be jumped out of, giving him arguably the worst out of shield options in the game when considering his very slow standing grab, making him have a near impossible time punishing the opponent for hitting Yoshi's shield. His roll is also poor, though he has one of the best spot dodges in the game.

Yoshi's major advantage is in his grab-release on a large number of cast members. He has a grab-release on at least nineteen cast members, and he can grab-release-spike seven of those.

Yoshi is a character with very clear advantages and disadvantages. Many of his advantageous match-ups stem from his grab-release or other tricks he can pull off, but his relatively short and laggy grab can be an impediment (though he can pivot grab to remedy this). Yoshi's extremely high learning curve and difficulty in using his chain grabs on some characters means that only dedicated Yoshi players can do very well with him.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Yoshi received some major buffs (most notably to his recovery) along with many more minor buffs, though he received some noteworthy nerfs as well (such as losing his previous best finisher in his down smash). However, while Yoshi has been objectively buffed overall, his inability to jump out of his shield is an exacerbated problem in Brawl, where a character's out of shield game is much more important. As such, it is debatable whether he is a better character in Brawl than he is in Melee.

• Most of his aerials and tilts are stronger.
• Yoshi now has grab release followups on a significant portion of the cast, such as a chain grab on 17 characters and a guaranteed followup into his forward aerial meteor smash offstage.
• Introduction of a great pivot grab significantly improved Yoshi's grabbing game, and help boost his defensive game.
• Yoshi's throws are slightly better, with forward, back, and up throws dealing 1% more damage, while down throw is a bit better at setting up followups.
• Yoshi Bomb now causes Yoshi to plummet at a faster speed. Additionally, when Yoshi Bomb is used from the ground, it produces a weak hitbox during the rise that takes an enemy standing directly in front of Yoshi up with him, comparable to Final Cutter.
• Yoshi has an overall drastically improved recovery, due to his increased air speed and his Egg Throw now giving him a slight hop, as well as the fact that since he can not double jump cancel; he can now use his aerials during his midair jump to fend off edge-guarders without killing the momentum from his midair jump. Additionally, Brawl's new air dodge mechanics allows Yoshi to air dodge while keeping the momentum of his midair jump, essentially giving him an invincible recovery move.
• The hits of Yoshi's down aerial and back aerial flow into each other much more easily, strengthening their combo ability.
• Yoshi's strange inability to jump out of his shield has been exacerbated in the transition to Brawl, especially considering Brawl's pre-dominant defensive game.
• Down smash was weakened drastically, to where it can no longer reliably KO.
• His forward aerial's meteor smash is much weaker, going from the third strongest meteor smash in Melee to a meteor smash of average power in Brawl and harder to land, since it now has another hitbox that hits horizontally, even though it deals 1% more damage than the meteor-smashing hitbox.
• His down aerial has drastically lower overall damage output, with its maximum damage output now being 35% instead of 53%. However, it's still the most damaging aerial attack in the game by a considerable margin.
• Egg Roll now gives virtually no horizontal distance when used in the air while still sending him into a helpless state if the move has been canceled, making it completely ineffective as a recovery move. (Even though it also almost completely negates momentum, this is negligible, as Yoshi will be guaranteed to fail to make it back to the stage if he uses it this way under normal circumstances.)
• His eggs do less damage and knockback, and they can no longer be tossed backwards, (while this nerf is nullified because he can now reverse this move), they additionally have a finite number of throwing angles.
• When used in the air, Yoshi Bomb deals significantly less knockback and is no longer a KO move under 150%. Yoshi Bomb remains a powerful reliable KO move when used from the ground, however.
• If Yoshi attacks during his double jump he does not stop momentum, unless he uses his special moves, like Egg Throw. This means that Yoshi can no longer double jump cancel with his aerials, hindering his combo ability.
• New forward tilt; a tail swat instead of a strong kick.
• Down tilt no longer has set knockback, instead having very small knockback growth.
• Yoshi no longer vocalises when grabbing; the relevant vocalisations are moved to Egg Lay.
• Neutral aerial as a new animation.

In terms of cosmetic changes, Yoshi's appearance is that of his upright, bubblier appearance used since Yoshi's Story. While Yoshi's tail is smaller in Brawl, his tail grows bigger for attacks where it is used than it did in Melee. The spikes on his back are curved rather than spiky, like they are in his appearances recent prior to Brawl's release. His tongue also makes a different sound.

Brawl manual description

A denizen of Yoshi's Island whose huge jumps lend superior air mobility.

Moveset

For a visual representation of Yoshi's attack hitboxes, see this page.

	Move	Description	Segment		Damage	Angle	Hit Frames		BKB	KBG	WBKB	Type
Neutral attack		Left kick, then right kick. Quick speed and decent damage (the second kick will clank with 14%-damage attacks, such as most tilts) make it a solid "panic" move.	Hit 1	Leg	3%		3	5	8	50	0
				Knee
				Foot
			Hit 2		6%		10	11	25	100
Forward tilt		Yoshi spins and tags people in front of him with his tail. Insanely fast. Does just enough damage (when not angled down) to clank with 17%-damage moves (or even 18% ones that aren't completely fresh), which covers quite a lot of tilts, smashes, air attacks, and projectiles. Can be used to juggle many characters across the stage at certain percentages. Ideal against characters like Sonic.	Angled up	Body	10%		6	8	40	80	0
				Tail
				Tip
			Angled side	Body	9%
				Tail
				Tip
			Angled down	Body	8%
				Tail
				Tip
Up tilt		Yoshi crouches and flicks his tail upwards.	Tail		11%		7	11	72	40	0
			Tip		10%
Down tilt		Low tail whip. Its forward range is actually greater than Yoshi's down smash, although hitting with the tip does half damage. It does, however, have a 40% chance of tripping (the main attack has a 30% chance).	Tail		10%		8	10	65	30	0
			Tip		5%
Dash attack		Running headbutt. Quick and powerful, with horizontal knockback useful at the edge, where Yoshi can start edge guarding. Yoshi's head cannot be injured during the clean hit and a decent amount of time beforehand.	Clean		9%		10	13	15	100	0
			Late		7%		14	23
Up smash		Yoshi headbutts upwards. The attack can hit behind Yoshi. Yoshi's head is intangible while the hitboxes are out.	Head		16%		11	16	23	83	0
			Neck
Down smash		Yoshi strikes on both sides with his tail. Very quick, but surprisingly low knockback for a smash attack. Assuming the move is fresh and uncharged, it cannot KO until at least 150%. Mostly used for edge-guarding. Useful against opponents recovering from a ledge.	Hit 1	Body	14%		6	7	30	63	0
				Tail						53
			Hit 2	Body	13%		22	23		63
				Tail						53
Forward smash		Yoshi flings his head forwards. Can form a good combo when following Yoshi's back aerial (if Yoshi's back aerial tips them). When angled down, fully charged, and sweetspotted, it can KO at 85%.			16%		14	16	20	92	0
Neutral aerial		Sex kick. Yoshi's foot grows large while kicking. Can be performed immediately after the ending of a down aerial to try and break through shields. Good knockback if it connects with an opponent as it's executed, and can be used for off-stage KOs. A useful aerial approach option.	Clean		12%		3	5	15	100	0
			Mid		9%		6	15	0
			Late		6%		16	31
Forward aerial		Yoshi winds up and slams his head downwards. The head meteor smashes, while the body does not and does a bit more damage, while sending opponents horizontally instead. A useful way to finish a combo, or it can just be used as a basic edgeguarder. Can also be used as a grab release followup on characters such as Meta Knight.	Body		16%		19	21	0	90	0
			Head		15%
Back aerial		Quadruple tail whip. Very good attack for reverse-back aerial'ing, but extra SDI potential makes it easier to escape than other multi-hit attacks.	Hit 1		4%		10	12	10	100	0
			Hit 2		3%		16	18	20
			Hit 3		3%		23	25
			Hit 4		4%		28	30	50
Up aerial		Does a flip and hits hard upward with his tail, good range, great knockback and low starting lag too. Yoshi's best KO move, easy to set up with eggs and double jump.			13%		5	6	25	100	0
Down aerial		Yoshi's famous multi-kick. Most damaging aerial attack. Can Meteor Smash, but is rather weak. Good for wearing down shields, neutral aerials or footstool set-ups; however it has extra SDI capacity.	Hits 1-7	Center	3%		16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28		5	80	0
				Front end	2%
				Back end
			Hits 8-14	Center	2%		30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42			100
				Front end
				Back end	1%
Pummel		Chews on the opponent.			2%		6		0	100	30
Forward throw		Spits the opponent out.			7%		20		55	66	0
Back throw		Spits the opponent backwards; for all intents and purposes identical to Yoshi's forward throw.			7%		20		55	66	0
Up throw		Spits the opponent upwards.			5%		13		65	43	0
Down throw		Spits the opponent into the ground, which knocks them upwards. Has good hitstun, combos well into a up aerial for a KO.			4%		15		100	25	0
Floor (back)		Two tail whips to either side.	Hit 1		6%		13	14	80	50	0
			Hit 2				19	20
Floor (front)		Two headbutts to either side.	Hit 1		6%		14	15	80	50	0
			Hit 2				25	26
Floor (trip)		Similar to the floor (back) attack.	Hit 1		5%		19	20	60	50	0
			Hit 2				26	27
Edge (<100%)		Gets up and whips his tail.			6%		20	24	0	100	110
Edge (100%+)		Slowly gets up and slams his head forward with short range. The third most damaging ledge attack in the game, right behind Ganondorf's when sweetspotted and Lucario's at max damage.			12%		34	38	0	100	110
Neutral Special	Egg Lay	Traps opponents temporarily, but has them take half damage. Sometimes throws the opponent instead of grabbing (this is not fully understood). Deals a solid blow to enemies in the Subspace Emissary.	Grab				17	22
			Escape (early)/glancing blow?		1%				70	50	0
			Escape (late)?		4%				0	100	0
			Lay		7%				0	100	0
			SSE		13%		17	22	60	80	0
Side Special	Egg Roll	Yoshi eggs himself and starts rolling around. The damage done is based on how fast he's moving (unknown formula), up to about 12%.			4%				50	70	0
Up Special	Egg Throw	Chucks an egg with a pseudo-controllable impact site.	Impact		1%				20	40	0
			Explosion		8%		1	4	40
Down Special	Yoshi Bomb	Smacks the ground hard.	Hop		4%		7		0	100	80
			Drop (from ground)		15%		27		60	70	0
			Drop (from air)		12%		20		55
			Stars		4%		1	17	50	40	0
Final Smash	Super Dragon	Yoshi grows wings and starts breathing fire everywhere.	Ram		8%				50	50	0
			Fire breath		6%				50	30	0
			Fireball		17%				50	87	0

Chain grab list

The following characters can be chain grabbed through an air release by Yoshi, though some are harder to chain grab than others:

• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Diddy Kong
• Wario
• Link
• Ganondorf
• Zero Suit Samus
• Pit
• Meta Knight
• King Dedede
• Falco
• Captain Falcon
• Pikachu
• Squirtle
• Charizard
• Ike
• Lucas
• Snake
• Sonic

Taunts

Up: Dances around in a circle and says "Yoshi!".

Side: Spins around, chasing his tail, then looks at it.

Down: Waves to the screen, saying "Yoshi! Yoshi!" This is an update of the taunt he had in SSB and Melee.

On-screen appearance

Hops out of a Yoshi Egg.

Cheer

Yoshi's NTSC and PAL cheer

Yo-shi!

Victory Theme

An orchestrated flourish combining two small musical excerpts from Yoshi's Story.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Yoshi professionals (SSBB)

•  Deltacod
•  Karamity
•  HadesBlade
•  Poltergust
•  Raptor
•  Zudenka

Tier placement and history

Yoshi was ranked 32nd in the first tier list shortly after Brawl's release. Yoshi then fell to 33rd on the second tier list (January 2009), the lowest spot above the bottom tier. Yoshi hovered in low tier while rising slightly over the next few tier lists. Players such as Poltergust gained good tournament results with a low tier character, such as in WHOBO 3, where he placed 17th, as well as 2nd in Brawl low tier singles using only Yoshi. Yoshi then rose into mid tier on the sixth tier list (July 2011), where he ranked 28th place. Yoshi also jumped up two places in the seventh tier list (April 2012), his highest placement so far. He is currently ranked 27th in mid tier in the eighth and current tier list, as of April 2013.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

After removing the Master Sword from a pedestal in a forest, Link encounters Yoshi, who is sleeping on a tree stump. However, the passing Halberd drops Shadow Bugs, which in turn form Primids. Peaceful sleep is now impossible, so Yoshi teams up with Link to fight them off.

Yoshi in the SSE

Yoshi's next role in the story depends on which princess Kirby saved at the stadium. If Peach was rescued, Yoshi and Link battle against a Shadow bug clone of Peach (who was recently trophied by Bowser), who was trying to trophify an unsuspecting Mario and Pit until Link sliced the cannon in half. After the battle, the trophy disintegrates. Thinking that they killed the real princess, Mario and Pit attack Link and Yoshi. If Zelda was saved, then Mario and Pit would fight a Shadowbug clone of her instead, and Link and Yoshi would attack Mario and Pit. Either way, both teams fight each other. After Link and Yoshi/Mario and Pit defeat the opposing characters, King Dedede passes by in the cargo and snags the trophies with a metal arm, while Link/Mario notices the real trophy of Zelda/Peach in the back. After King Dedede raises his fist in triumph, Kirby jumps onto the cargo and performs a Final Cutter, severing the arm and reviving the trophies. Pit/Link quickly hits the cargo with an arrow as it passes by, damaging it. Kirby, Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit then team up to find Dedede's castle.

Later on, they find the Ancient Minister setting off a Subspace bomb, and see the real regret that he feels in this deed. As the bomb goes off, Yoshi carries Mario to safety by running really fast, while Pit, Kirby and Link fly overhead on a warp star. Yoshi carrying Mario in this SSE cutscene reflects on how Yoshi was used for transportation for Mario (most notably in Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World).

Yoshi joins his companions when they reinforce Marth's team in the Canyon. Later, he joins the heroes in the battle against the Subspace Gunship and again against Tabuu. After being trophied by Tabuu's Off Waves, Yoshi is revived by Dedede and Kirby, and afterward, joins Sonic and the others against Tabuu.

Playable appearances

• The Forest
• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Wilds (Part II)
• The Canyon
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part II))

In event matches

• Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars- The player must choose a character and take on the "original eight" fighters, two at a time.
• Event 11: Yoshi's Rainbow- As the Ice Climbers on Rainbow Cruise, the player must KO the Yoshis in the following order: Red, pink, yellow, green, light blue, and blue. Not KOing them in order is instant failure.
• Event 12: Sleeping in the Eggs- Using Yoshi’s Egg Lay standard special move, the player must put Kirby and Pikachu in eggs simultaneously. [1]
• Event 37: The Pirate Airship- The Pirate Ship will continuously be caught in a hurricane and be sent to the sky. KO both Yoshis as Toon Link when the ship is in the air.

In co-op event matches

• Co-Op Event 3: Fastest, Shortest, Sudden Death- All Players start with 300%. Survive as Yoshi and King Dedede against Lucas and Pit for 10 seconds on WarioWare.
• Co-Op Event 5: The Yoshi Team of 50- As Meta Knight and Pit, KO all 50 Yoshis on Rainbow Cruise before completing one lap of the stage.
• Co-Op Event 9: Those Who Wait in Onett- KO Luigi and Yoshi, playing as Lucas and Ness on Onett.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle- Select any character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Alternate costumes

Yoshi's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trophy

Yoshi's trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode with Yoshi.

Yoshi's trophy in Brawl

Description

A creature that hails from Yoshi's Island. Yoshi's come in a variety of colors, and all possess gentle personalities. No matter what problems they face, they always look like they're having fun. Yoshi's use their long tongues to grab and swallow fruit and enemies. They can convert what they swallow into eggs, which they then lay. They also give Mario rides.

: Yoshi's Safari

: Yoshi's Story

It should be noted that Yoshi's first appearance wasn't actually in Yoshi's Safari, but in Super Mario World.

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only character with a ranged grab but no tether recovery.
• Yoshi is the only character who can eat opponents but not items.
• Yoshi is one of only two characters who never uses their hands for any attack (including grabs), the other being Ivysaur.
• Yoshi holds the world record for Co-op Target Smash!! Level 4 with Pikachu (completed in 4.81 seconds).^{[citation needed]}
• With a Bunny Hood, Yoshi can use Egg Throw to stall in certain places, such as under the lip of the original Pokémon Stadium.
• Because Yoshi's down taunt involves leaning forwards out of the plane of gameplay, certain fast and thin hitboxes including Palutena's Arrows and R.O.B. Blaster shots can be dodged with it.
• Yoshi's grab puts the opponent in a unique state and uses a different "drag the opponent towards me" technique than all other extended grabs. Due to how these interact, the opponent is considered grabbed before Yoshi is considered fully grabbing. As a result, it is possible to begin mashing out of Yoshi's grab before actually entering Yoshi's mouth. Should the opponent be grabbed at near the maximum distance the grab can reach, it is possible to break out of the grab before they even reach Yoshi's mouth, in which case the game will crash. While this may result in a forfeit under tournament rules, it can only happen at extremely low damages, and only with exceptional mashing skills.
• Yoshi and Mr. Game & Watch are the only characters in Brawl who have a better average matchup than a character above them in the tier list.

External links

• Confirmation of Event Match
• Yoshi's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Yoshi Character Guide at SWF