Yoshi (SSBM)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Tier	B (18)

“	A dinosaur that boasts surprising jumping prowess.	”
—Melee's instruction manual

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was announced as a playable character at the E3 2001. He possesses a more realistic dinosaur crouching posture and mottled skin in Melee.

He is currently ranked 18th on the current tier list, in the B tier. Yoshi has outstanding combo ability with his double jump cancelling (especially against fast-fallers like Fox), a great aerial game (coupled with the third most powerful meteor smash in the game), and some decent approach options. He can also play mindgames and extend combos with his unpredictable Egg Throw, and has a very reliable finisher in his down smash, which has almost no start-up lag, outstanding reach and knockback, and a very favorable launch angle that is hard to DI against or recover from. However, Yoshi has a number of significant flaws. One is his lack of a "true" third jump, which creates a reliance on his large double jump; although it gives Yoshi super armor, he has almost no chance of recovering if he is hit out of it. His high falling speed, while aiding in his SHFFL, also makes him a target for combos. Additionally, his shield acts as a double-edged sword; while it protects Yoshi from shield stabs, it cannot be jumped out of, limiting Yoshi's defensive options. Yoshi has poor matchups all around, with five matchups considered nearly unwinnable, and only one being considered favorable against Kirby; he also has the dubious distinction of being one of only three characters that have an even matchup against Pichu. However, due to large innovations in Yoshi's metagame by aMSa, as well as strong tournament placements by him, Yoshi's placement on the tier list and matchups have been debated in the Melee community. When aMSa's results are not counted, however, Yoshi has had one of the worst representations in top-level play.

Attributes

Yoshi's unique shield allows him to escape pressuring situations.

Yoshi's edgeguarding game is complimented by his unique double jump, which allows him to turnaround, so he can quickly edgehog by simply running offstage and using his double jump in the opposite direction. Yoshi can also grab the edge facing either direction whilst using Egg Throw.

Yoshi does not fall into an specific character archetype, due to a large amount of strongly varying characteristics. Yoshi has among the highest jumping prowess in the game, as well as a very high air speed, fast falling speed, low traction, and fast dashing speed. As a result of these properties, Yoshi has a rather long wavedash.

Among Yoshi's greater strengths is his air game. His high air speed and a highly maneuverable midair jump, as well as fast, low-lag, sometimes multi-hitting aerials, aid his comboing game; the addition of a meteor smash via his forward air also gives him a viable combo finisher. Adding to this, Yoshi's small short hop, above average falling speed and low-lag aerials make his SHFFL useful for approaching. Additionally, Yoshi's aerial attacks can be of significant power; his neutral and up aerial have KO potential, as does his forward aerial due to its meteor smash potential. Yoshi's down aerial is also one of the most damaging attacks in all the game; if all hits connect, it can deal 53% on the outset, aided by a variety of weak meteor smash hitboxes. Adding to this rather strong aerial game, Yoshi can also double jump cancel, leading to a variety of interesting possibilities and mind games in his combos.

Yoshi's ground approach is also good, due to a variety of ground-based tactics. In addition to a down tilt with semi-spike and fixed knockback properties, Yoshi has among the most flexible projectiles in all the game; Egg Throw is a powerful spacing tool as the eggs can be aimed in nearly limitless trajectories, allowing them to aid in camping on the ledge, playing mindgames against opponents, disrupting enemy recoveries, and extending combos. Yoshi's grab game is also good; in addition to a ranged grab, Yoshi's up and down throws can lead to a variety of combos, and his forward and back throws can force edgeguarding situations.

One of Yoshi's biggest flaws, however, is his lack of a true third jump, which makes his recovery game rather polarizing. His midair jump does certainly have its advantages; it is the longest-traveling jump in the game, goes a considerable distance due to his good air speed, and comes with armor frames, which makes edgeguarding Yoshi a surprisingly difficult ordeal unless the edgeguarder has extremely powerful attacks or Yoshi is at a very high percentage. However, if Yoshi does end up interrupted during his recovery, he will often be knocked back far enough to where he cannot recover with a directional air dodge, sending him to his doom. A lack of damaging hitboxes in his limited recovery options makes Yoshi easy to edgehog, and gives Yoshi almost no mix-up choices in his recovery. However, he can protect himself to some degree by using a well-timed forward aerial during the jump, threatening incoming foes with a quick meteor smash down into the abyss should they improperly space their attacks.

Yoshi's shield game is also decidedly poor. Yoshi's shield is unique in that it completely protects his body, leading to an impossibility of shield stabbing, and it also has the unusual property of sometimes perfectly shielding some attacks. Additionally, when Yoshi is light shielding and is hit by an enemy, he will slide an abnormally far distance away, especially if the attack has a great deal of knockback; this property of Yoshi's shield allows him to keep himself safe. However, such a shield also takes away options from Yoshi that all other characters in the game have. His completely invincible rolls are among the slowest in the game, and, perhaps most importantly, he is unable to jump out of his shield. This leads to a lack of options, especially in the punish game, when put onto the defense. Yoshi's grab is slow, short, and easily telegraphed, making it difficult to punish an attack on his shield with a shield grab, and he is unable to wavedash or do a short hopped aerial out of shield to capitalize on an enemy's mistakes. Additionally, while Yoshi's light shield is able to keep him safe, it may also move him into less desirable positions on the stage, especially if the enemy is looking for stage control. It is difficult for Yoshi to regain momentum near the edge after an enemy in the middle hits his light shield away.

Changes from Smash 64 to Melee

When making the transition from Super Smash Bros. to Melee, Yoshi received both buffs and nerfs, but was nerfed overall.

• The addition of directional air dodges improves his recovery.
• Forward tilt is easier to combo from at higher percentages on most characters.
• Forward and up smashes are slightly quicker.
• Up smash now only hits opponents vertically, making it much easier to combo from.
• Down smash now has negligible startup lag, considerably more power, and a more favorable semi-spike launch angle, making it Yoshi's best KOing option.
• Neutral, forward, and up aerials are stronger.
• Egg Throw now has greater versatility. Although they can no longer be used to gimp opponents far from the stage due to changed knockback values, they can extend aerial combos and set up for various aerial KOing options or a smash attack.
• Has more trouble with combos against floaty characters.
• Air speed is slightly slower, though it remains one of the best air speeds in the game.
• Although they are still extremely useful, his DJC combos are slower and somewhat harder to perform.
• Can no longer jump out of his shield, significantly hindering his OoS options and exacerbating his already-poor ability to deal with shield pressure.
• New up tilt is less useful for combos at lower percentages.
• Down tilt is less useful for gimping at very low percentages, but it still remains a solid gimping tool overall.
• Forward smash is significantly weaker.
• Forward tilt and up smash are slightly weaker. The latter can also no longer be used as a horizontal finisher.
• Forward aerial has much more startup lag, (although most of the meteor smashes have this problem).
• Down aerial has a lower possible damage output, from a maximum of 56% in Smash 64 to 53% in Melee.
• New back aerial is a much weaker multi-hit attack that is no longer able to KO but is now a very potent damage racking attack, (although it is not as potent as his down aerial).

In terms of cosmetic changes, Yoshi received a slightly more realistic appearance, with mottled skin and a more dinosaur-like posture, and he has a new special move, Egg Roll.

PAL differences

Like other characters, Yoshi received some changes in the PAL version of Melee.

• Yoshi is heavier (111 instead of 108).
• Forward and up smashes deal 1% more damage.
• Down aerial deals considerably less damage (38% instead of 53%).

Moveset

For a gallery of Yoshi's hitboxes, see here.

Yoshi's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Kick	2-3%	Yoshi will do very fast short-ranged kick followed by a more powerful kick
			2-6%
Forward tilt		Strong kick	9-10%	A similar attack to the first hit of his neutral attack, only with more range and knockback. Can combo into a forward aerial (especially when angled up), can lock and if DI'd back onto the stage, Yoshi can fastfall and then followup with a down smash.
Up tilt		Tail swipe	10%	A fast but very short ranged tail swipe to the air.
Down tilt		Tail whip	9%	Swipes his tail. Has rather high base knockback, but zero knockback scaling, thus it's set knockback. It can be used as a gimping move, particularly at base to low percentages.
Dash attack		Headbutt	8%	Headbutts in front mid-dash.
Forward smash		Strong headbutt	16% uncharged, 20% fully charged.	Reels his head back, charging in place, and headbutts forwards. Somewhat predictable, but has good KO potential.
Up smash		High headbutt	13% uncharged, 19% fully charged.	Headbutts upwards in an arch.
Down smash		Tail wag	Uncharged, 10% front 8% back, fully charged, 14% front, 11% back.	Swipes his tail in front and then back. A very useful edgeguarding move that powerfully sends opponents on a low semi-spike trajectory. Considered Yoshi's best KO move.
Neutral aerial		Sex kick	14% (first time, weaker after)	A sex kick.
Forward aerial		Aerial headbutt	17%	Brings his head back and brings it down. It is the third most powerful meteor smash in the game, and is not particularly slow (though its speed was significantly lowered from Smash 64), being a good edgeguarding move. and when used onstage, it can lead into a down smash.
Back aerial				Several fast tail swipes behind him. Great for racking up damage, although not as great as his down aerial. 20% if all hits connect.
Up aerial				Thrusts his tail upwards very fast. Can be used to juggle, working especially well when DJC'd. 12% damage.
Down aerial		Flutter Kick		Kicks his feet down very fast and continuously, weakly meteor smashes enemies. Most damaging aerial in Melee. 53% damage if all hits connect.
Grab			—
Pummel		Chew	2-3%	Chews on foe.
Forward throw		Spit	6%	Spits foe out.
Back throw		Back spit	6%	Turns around and spits foe out. 6% damage.
Up throw		Throw up	4%	Chunks the opponent upwards.
Down throw		Slam	4%	Forcefully slams foe into the ground.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)		Tail roll	6%	Swirls around, tail extended.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)		Tail roll	6%	Swirls around, tail extended.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)		Tail counter	6%	Picks himself up and whips his tail in front.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)		Head counter	12%	Slowly gets up and forces his head out.
Neutral special		Egg Lay		Uses his tongue to swallow the opponent and lay an egg containing him/her.
Side special		Egg Roll		Forms an egg around him and rolls.
Up special		Egg Throw		Throws an egg at an upward arch.
Down special		Yoshi Bomb		Jumps and pounds the enemy.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Yoshi has very poor matchups all around. According to the most recent matchup chart, he only has an advantageous matchup against one character, Kirby, while he is hard countered by five characters (four of which are in the top tier), countered by ten characters, and soft countered by three characters. He has even matchups with six characters, although most are in the bottom tier. A majority of these poor matchups are currently due to Yoshi's poor range and recovery; top tiered characters, especially against (Fox, Falco, Sheik, Peach, and Samus), are especially powerful in both of these departments, and are considered his primary hard counters.

With new innovations in Yoshi's metagame, however, many of these matchups are being reevaluated as disputable or outright inaccurate altogether. Appropriate applications of Yoshi's combo ability, punish game, double jump armor, and parrying are able to force a greatly limited room for both error and fighting options alike in a wide range of situations. Yoshi's most controversial matchups that are currently being disputed in the metagame are those against Marth and Ice Climbers, where even top professional smashers of those characters claim that Yoshi has the appropriate tools to hold an even or advantageous matchup against them.

Notable players

See also: Category:Yoshi professionals (SSBM)

Active

•  aMSa
•  Mind Trick
•  V3ctorman

Inactive

•  Bringer of Death
•  Fumi
•  Leffen

Tier placement and history

Yoshi has almost always been viewed as a nearly nonviable character for high-level play. He was often accused of having a terrible shield game, slow attacks, and an inflexible recovery, all of which many top- and high-tiered characters could easily exploit. Yoshi's advantageous properties, such as his deadly double jump cancel combos, ability to parry, and flexible projectile, were not fully developed and written off as gimmicks. Initially starting as a mid-tiered character in the first tier list, Yoshi's standing consistently fell, with only Fumi and Bringer of Death making any significant impacts with him. By the ninth tier list, Yoshi had dropped to 22nd place on the tier list, firmly within the bottom tiers; by this point, Fumi and other Yoshi professionals had begun to retire from Melee, leaving Yoshi's metagame relatively abandoned in the competitive scene.

Several years later, Leffen and V3ctorman both began to use Yoshi in tournaments, revitalizing and innovating Yoshi's previously stagnant metagame. They found that Yoshi's combo and punish game could easily capitalize against characters who were once thought to outperform him in every situation, especially against fastfallers, who were found to be vulnerable to Yoshi's deadly double jump cancelling combos. They also showed the many uses of Egg Throw, developing it as a zoning and edgeguarding tool. Despite these developments, Yoshi failed to rise out of the bottom tiers, and eventually, their standings with Yoshi started to falter as well. Leffen lost the drive to develop Yoshi and switched to Fox, while V3ctorman suffered from declining tournament placings as more people in his region learned the Yoshi matchup.

In late 2012 to early 2013, however, aMSa made his professional debut in Japan, taking top 8 in a Japanese tournament with only Yoshi, with his performance quickly piquing the interest of the American and European scenes. He later finished 25th place in EVO 2013, sweeping his pools and taking a game off of Mew2King, a placement that convinced the Melee Back Room to move Yoshi up 3 places on the tier list following said tournament. aMSa later reappeared with Yoshi in several future tournaments, including Apex 2014 and Republic of Fighters 3, defeating several renowned players of top-tiered characters in them and exceeding expectations of Yoshi's viability by placing consistently high. aMSa's use of Yoshi was considered completely unique from those of Fumi, Leffen, and other previous Yoshi mains; he showed the use of parrying and spacing that was previously never seen before and demonstrated that Yoshi's ability to punish errors made by opponents was far greater than expected. While the Melee community has not yet updated the tier list or matchup charts in response to these developments, it has continued debating and discussing Yoshi's potential at top-level play; Yoshi has been expected by the community to rise several places in the next tier list.

In Single Player Modes

In Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Yoshi can appear in one-on-one battles, as an ally in the team and giant battles, as a giant opponent, as part of a team with either Ness or Luigi, or as a metal opponent. In all of his appearances except for the metal battle, Yoshi appears on Yoshi's Island or Yoshi's Story.

In Adventure Mode

Yoshi is the only character of a starting universe that does not have his own stage in Adventure Mode. His universe (the Yoshi's Island franchise) however is incorporated in the Mario universe (and Mario section) in Stage 1.

Yoshi's appearance in the Adventure Mode occurs halfway through the first stage of the Adventure Mode. In the Mushroom Kingdom, the player comes across a team of 10 Yoshis; defeating all ten allows the player continue to the end of the stage.

In All-Star Mode

Yoshi and his allies are fought on Yoshi's Story in All-Star Mode.

In Event Matches

Yoshi appears in the following Event Matches:

• Event 4: Dino-wrangling: The player, with three stocks, has to take on a Yoshi considerably larger than normal size, moreso than from a Super Mushroom; Yoshi, however, has only one stock.
• Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Yoshi is the third of five opponents the player must fight in this series of staged battles. The player's character battles him on the Yoshi's Story stage, and their character has 2 stock while Yoshi has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and life the player has: Mario, Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Peach.
• Event 13: Yoshi's Egg: In the event match, the player takes control of Yoshi in a free for all against Donkey Kong, Fox, and Pikachu. As a twist, there is an extra item on the stage, Yoshi's Egg, which Yoshi must prevent others from breaking for 55 seconds.
• Event 24: The Yoshi Herd: In this event, the player has to defeat 30 Yoshis, who appear on the stage in groups of three. After defeating 29, a giant Yoshi takes the place of the 30th, and the player has to defeat it as well. The player, however, has a strict time limit of 2 minutes to complete the event.

Ending images

• 

  Classic mode

• 

  Adventure mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

Yoshis are gentle, fleet-of-foot dinosaurs that make their home on idyllic Yoshi's Island. They come in a variety of colors and have evolved an interesting trait to help increase their numbers: they can transform anything they swallow into an egg. With adhesive tongues and bottomless bellies, Yoshis have been known to eat anything.

• Super Mario World [08/91]

Smash Red

Trophy #284: To make up for his lack of powerful airborne attacks, Yoshi has a miraculous jumping ability and is resistant to damage while in the air. Yoshi can also swallow a foe and transform him or her into an egg: try doing this close to an edge! The speed and power of the Egg Roll increases if you hold down the B Button, but it'll be tougher to control.

• B: Egg Lay
• Smash B: Egg Roll

Smash Blue

Trophy #285: Yoshi has no third jump, so the timing of his second jump is of vital importance. The angle and distance of his Egg Throw can be altered by how you tilt the Control Stick and how long you press the B Button. When Yoshi lands after doing his Yoshi Bomb, stars appear on either side of him, making it hard for enemies to deliver counterattacks.

• Up & B: Egg Throw
• Down & B: Yoshi Bomb

• 

  Character trophy

• 

  Smash red

• 

  Smash blue

Cheer

• Yo...shi....

Taunt

• Jumps up and down, and waves his hands in the air.

Alternate costumes

Yoshi's changeable palette swaps in Melee

External links

• The Red Essence - A Yoshi tech skill video by aMSa