History GameBreaker / SuperSmashBros

* [[VideoGame/IceClimber The Ice Climbers]] are a bit lower than the other top tiers on this list, but they qualify because they have a technique no other character boasts: Wobbling (named for tournament player Wobbles, who discovered the tactic), the game's one and only ''infinite combo''. It's a bit situational since it requires your Ice Climber partner to be close, but if you grab your opponent and let your partner keep using side tilt, you can keep grapping your opponent and ''never let them go'', racking up way more damage than is ever necessary. If your opponent gets caught, their character is helpless and they might as well set down their controller. Follow it up with a side smash and you practically have a guaranteed KO tactic. The technique grew infamous enough that many tournaments started banning it in early 2019. Even without wobbling, chain-grabs are a constant threat, as the dual nature of the character allows hand-offs that most other characters would need a teammate for.

* [[VideoGame/StarFox Fox]] is at the very top of the tier list. With his extremely fast movement and powerful attacks that combo in perfect synergy, he is considered the most efficient fighter in the game. His up smash and up aerial are very fast and especially potent killer moves (both can KO reliably under 100%), but what's even more devastating is his down special, the Reflector[[note]]or [[FanNickname shine]][[/note]]; it's considered the best attack in the game because it's extremely fast (comes out on 1 frame, and can be be cancelled immediately with a jump), has invincibility frames, is very versatile, it has high hitstun and can combo with many of his other attacks, and it's a semi-spike, never mind the fact that it can reflect projectiles (which is supposed to be the ''point'' of it, judging by its actual name of ''Reflector'').

* And then there's Steve. While his mining mechanic requiring him to set up to use his moves to full effect may make him seem bad on paper, he's been shown to be a MASSIVE powerhouse. This is especially because of his [[SignatureMove signature ability to effectively reshape the stage with his block placing ability]]. It allows him to easily gimp, extend combos, recover, and do variety of other options that the other characters could only dream of. Plus, ALL of his moves have a valid use case, further aiding in his viability. From a command grab (and ridable) projectile in mine-cart, to a hard hitting anvil, Steve is capable of demolishing players. Especially unprepared ones. While his mobility seems bad on paper due to his sup-par air speed, he more than makes up for it with his mine-cart, blocks and elytra, which allows him to easily recover from blows that don't outright kill him. Over the course of 2022, there have been discussions to ban Steve, debates of which fired up more intensely when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTnlulI6J1I Steve main Onin took out top player MKLeo 3-0 in Super Smash Con 2022]] including one game [[CurbStompBattle Onin won without losing a single stock]] and 8 other Steves in top 64.

* [[VideoGame/IceClimber The Ice Climbers]] are a bit lower than the other top tiers on this list, but they qualify because they have a technique no other character boasts: Wobbling (named for tournament player Wobbles, who discovered the tactic), the game's one and only ''infinite combo''. It's a bit situational since it requires your partner to be close, but if you grab your opponent and let your partner keep using side tilt, you can rack up way more damage than is ever necessary. Follow it up with a side smash and you practically have a guaranteed KO tactic. The technique grew infamous enough that many tournaments started banning it in early 2019. Even without wobbling, chaingrabs are a constant threat, as the dual nature of the character allows hand-offs that most other characters would need a teammate for.

** [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Tabuu]] and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Soma Cruz]], both of which are [[JackOfAllStats Neutral]] Spirits (which means they have no drawbacks against any other Spirit type), plus they have very high stats, three support slots, and the former increases the power of PSI attacks while the latter deals high damage to Giant enemies.

* Zelda is an insansely powerful choice for The Subspace Emissary thanks to much of her kit breaking it in half. She has a long-range teleport that makes platforming a breeze, and it creates an explosion on appearance that usually one-shots any enemy you teleport into. This allows you to teleport into enemies you’d otherwise have to carefully avoid. She also has a long-range, controllable explosive projectile great for sniping. And as described below, she destroys bosses thanks to her Lightning Kicks having absurd DPS with near-guaranteed sweetspots on bosses. Nayru’s Love being a reflector also has powerful benefits in specific fights. Stickers only make her even more broken. Notably, launch resistance stickers can completely compensate for her light weight, which is her only meaningful weakness in this mode, whereas other characters have weaknesses that can't be improved by stickers.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a very high damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that can deal about 50% damage in just a single second. She also has a long-range teleport that’s somewhat slow to reappear: The slowness becomes an ''advantage'' here, since it means she’s disappeared for longer, and can use it to avoid full-screen attacks that are otherwise nigh-impossible to escape.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a very high damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that can deal about 50% damage in just a single second. She also has a long-range teleport that’s somewhat slow to reappear: The slowness becomes an ‘’advantage’’ here, since it means she’s disappeared for longer, and can use it to avoid full-screen attacks that are otherwise nigh-impossible to escape.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a very high damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that can deal about 50% damage in just a single second.

* Zelda is an insansely powerful choice for The Subspace Emissary thanks to much of her kit breaking it in half. She has a long-range teleport that makes platforming a breeze, and it creates an explosion on appearance that usually one-shots any enemy you teleport into. This allows you to teleport into enemies you’d otherwise have to carefully avoid. She also has a long-range, controllable explosive projectile great for sniping. And as described below, she destroys bosses thanks to her Lightning Kicks having absurd DPS. Nayru’s Love being a reflector also has powerful benefits in specific fights. Stickers only make her even more broken. Notably, launch resistance stickers can completely compensate for her light weight, which is her only meaningful weakness in this mode, whereas other characters have weaknesses that can't be improved by stickers.

* Unsurprisingly, Meta Knight snaps the Subspace Emissary just as hard as the main game. On top of all his advantages in the main game, his divine recovery makes platforming and avoiding boss attacks a breeze, his neutral-air chops through the health bars of large enemies in seconds, and almost all of his attacks use his sword, meaning sword-boosting stickers make him even sillier. Additionally, Meta Knight's only weakness, his light weight, can be easily patched up through launch resistance boosting stickers, whereas other characters will have weaknesses that can't be improved by stickers.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a very high damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that can deal about 50% damage in just a single second.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a very high damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that can deal about 50% damage in just under a single second.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on bosses thanks to the way their hitboxes work. This turns it into a 22% damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it an easily and safely spammable option that rips through bosses.

* Zelda is easily one of the most overpowered characters in boss fights thanks to her Lightning Kicks: While landing the high damage sweetspot is difficult in standard play (and usually requires some combo setup or very precise spacing) they are almost guaranteed on adventure mod bosses thanks to the way boss hitboxes work. This turns it into a 22% damage attack with only a few frames of startup, making it easily and safely spammable, ripping through bosses.

* Charizard boasts by far the highest DPS in the game due to Rock Smash, as all of its hits will connect on bosses and deal a massive 43%, which even on Intense difficulty will allow him to kill bosses in a handful of hits. Zard does struggle at evasion and Rock Smash is quite laggy, leaving him vulnerable if spammed carelessly, but he can kill bosses so fast that you won't need to evade much anyway.

* Jigglypuff, who is fifth on the tier list, has by far the best recovery in the game (despite lacking a recovery special move), the best offstage offensive game, a talent for surviving spikes and meteor smashes, surprisingly good reach (on forward aerial, back aerial, and side special), and incredible aerial mobility. It also has Rest, a highly risky attack that can KO as low as below 25%, and can be combo'd into. However, with Jigglypuff main Hungrybox being Melee’s #1 player since 2017 and especially after establishing this fact by winning Genesis 6, many are starting to argue that she is the true best character in the game.

* A pair of Pac-Men (dual Pac-Man) can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E3i7lNHIfk inescapably stall out the match]], which pretty much means victory since not only are they avoiding you, they're avoiding the Bob-Ombs dropped once Sudden Death starts dragging. There are ways to stop this before it starts, and a few characters hard counter it, but if those aren't options, you're just waiting for death. This requires [[FriendlyFireproof Team Attack to be off]], so while it works in For Glory mode, it's a non-issue in the competitive scene where Team Attack has been on by default for ages.

* And then there's Steve. While his mining mechanic requiring him to set up to use his moves to full effect may make him seem bad on paper, he's been shown to be a MASSIVE powerhouse. This is especially because of his [[SignatureMove signature ability to effectively reshape the stage with his block placing ability]]. It allows him to easily gimp, extend combos, recover, and do variety of other options that the other characters could only dream of. Plus, ALL of his moves have a valid use case, further aiding in his viability. From a command grab (and ridable) projectile in mine-cart, to a hard hitting anvil, Steve is capable of demolishing players. Especially unprepared ones. While his mobility seems bad on paper due to his sup-par air speed, he more than makes up for it with his mine-cart, blocks and elytra, which allows him to easily recover from blows that don't outright kill him. Over the course of 2022, there have been discussions to ban Steve, debates of which fired up hesvioy when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTnlulI6J1I Steve main Onin took out top player MKLeo 3-0 in Super Smash Con 2022.]] In one of the games, [[CurbStompBattle Onin even wins]] [[FlawlessVictory without losing a single stock]]. While MK Leo did claim he played badly on twitter (albiet he still affirmed that he believed Steve carries), people tore [[TheScrappy Onin apart, with him becoming the guy people rooted against in Smash Con]]. It all culminated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwQHFOZ9QAk the grand finals of Onin vs Maister]]. Where the crowd cheered on Maister, even chanting Sora's spells as he cast them. It also didn't help that when Maister won a game in the set, confetti accidentally was fired, making it seem that the STAFF was cheering for Maister. It was of course, an error, but that didn't stop people from joking about it. Ultimately, Onin won, leading many to continue to demand Steve be banned. It doesn't help that Smash Cons top 32 contained a whopping 9 different Steves, with many claiming how many weren't noteworthy.

** And, finally, Ike's Custom Side Special 3, Unyielding Blade. ''[[UpToEleven Dear god.]]'' First, it makes you ImmuneToFlinching while lunging forwards, at the cost of range and speed. This would be a great custom on its own, but what really rockets it into true GameBreaker status is the fact that its knockback is increased substantially; it goes from being able to K.O. Mario from the middle of Final Destination at around 123%, making it a pretty bad finishing move, to being able to knock him out at just ''93%''. This means, at high percents, you can rush forwards, completely unstoppable, with an easy KO. Worse, its weakness does little; the disadvantage you'd gain from being able to be stopped by projectiles during the move is completely reversed by the fact that nothing can stop you. The only real major problem with it is the lack of horizontal distance during recovery... which can be repaired by giving Ike his Custom Up Special 2, Aether Drive, which sends you diagonally forwards instead of just up. So, with Up Special 2 and Side Special 3, you gain offensive sweeping power and defensive tanking power at the cost of only a little distance in your recovery. In fact, almost all of Ike's Customs are arguably overpowered — his Down Special 3, Smash Counter, is slower but far more powerful, meaning if you save it for slower attacks, you'll KO easily without ever feeling the downside. His Neutral Special 3, Furious Eruption, has massively increased range at the cost of slightly higher recoil damage ''only when fully charged,'' so if you use it at mid-charge, again, the downside never applies.

* If you are Rosalina, Palutena, or Falco, the "Climb!" Final Battle is pretty much a lock in your favor considering that they both have ''amazing'' jumping abilities, and as long as you avoid the danger zones and Smart Bombs, you're pretty much set. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill This is even worse if you managed to build your jump]] [[UpToEleven even further]] during the game.

** Even better, using the same setup, but replacing Item Hurler with Quick Batter, and using Fox since his blaster is a lot quicker than Mario's fast fireballs. The end result is almost guaranteed invincibility at the start of the match, and Quick Batter makes getting home runs much easier. Using this setup, the same person in the videos above [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXZtgV-DCCA managed to do a run of]] ''[[UpToEleven 100]]'' turns!

* One of the best Support Spirits in the game is undoubtedly [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Victini]]. It's a Legend-level Spirit (meaning your Power already gets a great boost) that offers Hyper Smash Attacks, the only Spirit to do so. The effects include faster charging for Smash attacks and increased power for each of them ([[UpToEleven higher than that of a fully-charged regular Smash attack]]). And the best part? '''It costs a single Support slot.''' Pair this with any Spirit that grants Slow Super Armor or [[ImmuneToFlinching Unflinching Charged Smashes]], and then watch as you sweep the floor with the opponent. By the way, [[DiscOneNuke you can find this Spirit in the Power Plant or randomly in the Spirit Board]].

** (Almost) Any Fist Attack + Primary, combined with Giant-granting support (takes up 2 slots) on Little Mac turns the little boxer into a massively powerful freight train. Now, all of Mac's attacks deal insane damage and knockback (With the Smash Attacks and Straight Lunge doing [[UpToEleven between — depending on the spirit — 30 and over 120 %!]]); thus, you'll one or twoshot about 60-70 percent of the spirits on the map and easily overpower almost anyone else. You can do this as soon as [[DiscOneNuke just after the first dungeon if you play your cards right by getting Mr. Sandman and the Great Zapfish. The path to Little Mac himself opens once you get the Great Zapfish, and Spring Man with his third slot follows not long after]]. That's not getting into the fact that this combo can break the World of Light in so many other ways: Both Spring Man and the late game Akira have three Support slots; this combined with the Skill Tree give you additional coverage if needed and effects on top of that (such as letting the Giant status last longer, Poison on top of the damage, and Crits!), the Endless Smash Attack described below helps ensure you're hitting for MAX power, the punches charging both KO Punches ''and'' Final Smashes superfast (as if 4 potential OHKO moves were enough), etc. Sure, the build is practically useless versus a few spirits like The Boss or Shine Sprite, but it's a small price to pay for the ability to finally play as Mike Tyson in a Nintendo game.

** Mach Tornado, which is a strong contender for most overpowered special move in smash history (yes, even compared to ''Super Smash Bros [=WiiU=]/3DS'''s most infamous custom moves and Witch Time). It is highly damaging and fast, has an incredibly large hitbox that blocks attacks and covers everywhere but above Meta Knight, and recovers almost instantly, which makes it difficult (if not impossible for some characters) to punish. It's not hyperbole to say that the viability of many characters and competitive players in Brawl hinged on their ability to counter this attack, and spamming it, while sure to piss people off in a venue, was [[BoringButPractical sometimes a viable competitive strategy]]. This would ensure that the move got brutally nerfed in ''Smash 4'', losing much of its movement range (especially vertical) and has much more recovery time if he lands shortly after the move ends, making it much easier to punish.

* Diddy Kong was often viewed as this in the first few months of the game's release. Already considered a high-tier character in ''Brawl'', he hits rather hard and fast, is surprisingly heavy despite his size, moves quickly, has an array of great combo options out of many of his moves, a bevy of useful projectile options, a solid ground game and good recovery to boot. In the first few months after release, however, all of the above was exacerbated to the point where he sat comfortably atop many tier lists, to say nothing of his infamously overpowered Up Aerial and the [[FanNickname 'hoo-hah']] combo, both of which were thankfully nerfed in two balance patches (among other moves) later down the line. And yet, despite all of the changes the dev team has made, Diddy is still widely considered a top tier character and a notable competitive threat; his low learning curve certainly doesn't help matters.
** Even before pre-patch Diddy, Rosalina and Luma were widely viewed as this during the 3DS days before the Wii U patch came out. Her attacks, notably up smash and neutral aerial, K.O'd earlier, Luma had more HP, and she couldn't be grabbed because Luma would simply hit you before you could even throw Rosalina. Even if you got rid of Luma, it took only 8 seconds for another Luma to respawn. After a massive nerf, and pre-patch Diddy keeping her in check, it was commonly agreed she was still a TOP TEN character in the tiers and after nerfing Diddy she is often considered one of the top 5 characters in the game despite her nerfs. Some defenders claim that Rosalina was so dominant early on because how different she was compared to say, Ice Climbers. Even Dabuz, the best Rosalina in the world, thinks that Rosalina would eventually become much worse in the tier list once everybody learns how to play against her.
* DLC guest fighter Bayonetta has come under a lot of scrutiny recently based on how versatile and dangerous her toolkit is, making her one of the most effective combatants in the game. Almost all of her specials, tilts, aerials and throws can be utilized to start ''and continue'' a string of high-damage, nearly-guaranteed 40-60 percent air combos on virtually every character on the roster, to the point where she can easily 'carry' and kill some characters off the top/to the side blast zones at as low as ''10%''. This was even worse back when she was first released, when it was damn near impossible to DI out of her up-special Witch Twist as a large majority of the cast. On top of this, Bayonetta possesses what is easily the safest and most useful recovery in the entire game in her Witch Twists and Afterburner Kicks (the former of which can be used ''twice'' if used before and after a double jump), a bevy of useful edgeguarding tools such as her neutral air, the ability to deal scratch damage with ''ALL'' of her A-button moves and some of her specials by holding down the button to fire her pistols (as noted below in 'Trophy Rush' with her up-aerial), fast and potent kill moves in ''all'' of her aerials at higher percents, the intrinsic property Bat Within that gives her more directional control over her ''extended'' airdodges than any other character in the game, and what many consider to be ''by far'' the most useful counter in the entire game, Witch Time, which slows down opponents long enough for Bayonetta to guarantee a fully-charged smash attack at higher percents, initiate a damaging aerial combo at lower percents, or outright gimp and spike opponents off the stage at ''any'' percent using down smash or down-air. It's telling that this counter is ''even more broken'' than Corrin's counter was before it was patched, as noted below. Bayonetta isn't without her faults — she is relatively light compared to a lot of the cast and her smash attacks have a lot of end lag — but most players agree that her strengths absolutely outweigh her weaknesses. Bayonetta's status as a top-tier has been a large point of contention in the ''Smash 4'' community, with some having suggested multiple times that she be banned from competitive play entirely. Similar to Meta Knight between ''Brawl'' and ''4'', Bayonetta would get slammed with [[{{Nerf}} nerfs]] in her return appearance in ''Ultimate''.

* In ''3DS/Wii U'', Zero Suit Samus [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpHDN522MDo has a nasty Robin-specific combo that is impossible to escape once they get caught in it]]. If she manages to paralyze them, using either her down smash or neutral special, she can use her down special to [[GoombaStomp footstool them]] into the ground, which is impossible to tech out of. Then she can use her neutral special to paralyze them, forcing them to stand up instead of rolling or attacking. During this state, she can paralyze them again, rinse and repeat for an infinite combo. This was patched in 3DS version 1.04.

* When he first came out, Corrin had several properties that made him this to some. He has some of the longest disjointed hitboxes in the game, with his side smash beating out ''both the Mii Gunner and Shulk'' in terms of range along with having a sweetspot at the tip, his neutral special is a paralyzing shot followed by an attack from his dragon claw, which can deal massive damage and be combo'd into a full-charge claw easily by double-tapping neutral-B and holding, making it an excellent K.O. setup, and he has a counter that, with no rage, can KO Captain Falcon from a countered Falcon Punch at around 30%. Fortunately, he has been toned down significantly thanks to the 1.1.5 patch, but it still doesn't lessen his viability.

* A Pikachu/Mr. Game & Watch team is basically unstoppable in doubles if FriendlyFire is turned on (usually the case), because Game & Watch's Oil Panic move can be filled up by a single use of Pikachu's Thunder. The filled bucket can then be used to one-shot just about anybody in the game.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60Rvt4kjXg&list=UU5WNBHwgluAwWJE5QV-5_TA Here is such a team winning in 17 seconds]]. It's so ungodly powerful that Mr. Game & Watch was the first character in the series to get banned ''on the spot'' from competitive doubles. It was patched as of ''3DS'' version 1.04, where Thunder now counts as only one projectile and thus can't fill up Oil Panic with just one use.
** However, in wake of the patch and Game & Watch's release from the Doubles ban, a new Game & Watch team surfaced in Sheik/Game & Watch, specifically the "Vanish Bucket" strategy. Just like the above team, it requires FriendlyFire, but it is arguably considered ''worse'' thanks to Sheik's ability to rack up damage and the moves used for the setup, making it near-impossible to stop. Take a move like Vanish that can fill up Bucket in one or two shots, has high knockback, makes Sheik '''invincible''', has a moderately powerful windbox at the end, and can auto-cancel (meaning they can move ''immediately'' when the move ends). Combine that with a move like Oil Panic, which also makes Mr. Game & Watch '''invincible''' while absorbing an energy-based projectile, such as Vanish's explosion, and has a power relative to the knockback of the move absorbed, and you have a force that can come out on frame 1, can't be reflected, and can '''one-shot nearly anything, even at 0%.''' It says a lot when the only strategy viable to beat the Sheik/Game & Watch team is [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame another Sheik/Game & Watch team.]]

** A later patch neutered a lot of these by halving the power of projectiles caught or absorbed from a teammate.

* Amiibos are considered quite useful, as higher-leveled amiibos do considerably more damage than regular computers and human players. This is bringing up debates on whether or not they should be banned in tournaments that are a mixture of amiibos and humans, although there are people talking about just having amiibo-only tournaments.

** Link's Power Bow. In exchange for a longer 'pull back' time and being virtually useless unless fully readied, you get Smash-level damage and launching power in a nigh-undodgeable, lightning quick projectile. The [[CompetitiveBalance trade-offs]] were so laughably minor that they eventually had to patch them to make them more significant. While harder to use now, it's still powerful enough to actually RingOut the final form of [[TrueFinalBoss Master Core]] in one hit.

* For Cruel Smash, most characters with a Counter-esque move are almost a requirement to survive due to the smarter AI. Notable ones are Marth and Palutena, whose Counters also return the knockback that the attack would've done[[note]]which is ''really damn far'' with how hard the Cruel-level Miis' smash attacks hit, and enough to KO them after three countered smashes, sometimes two[[/note]], and Little Mac, whose Counter simply hits very hard. Mac gets special mention for filling the K.O. meter by doing this ([[HoistByTheirOwnPetard since he's countering the Miis' overpowered attacks]]), letting him quickly KO a Mii that has a decent amount of damage. Shulk is another nice choice since Vision has an initially forgiving activation time and a very wide range compared to other counterattacks. Corrin is also a great pick thanks to his already strong counter.

* Lucina must be mentioned. There is a small portion of Battlefield that she can use her up special from — she'll snap to the ledge, and all enemies near enough to the ledge are thrown over it. With good timing, she can stall almost indefinitely. Mastering this tactic is almost a must for the [[ThatOneAchievement kill 8 in cruel smash as Lucina]] challenge.

* While ''Ultimate'' has the most balanced character roster in the ''Smash'' series, there's still characters that are top tier. Peach and Daisy are both characters with extremely good aerial mobility due to their float mechanic and their aerial attacks such as their normal air and forward air are very dangerous, with forward air being a kill move at around 100%. In addition, recovering against them is extremely hard due to great edgeguarding thanks to Toad and the buffed turnips while possessing a great combo ability. She does end up being a case of DifficultButAwesome similarly to ''Melee'' Fox due to being a very technical character, but that doesn't stop Peach getting third at Genesis 6. (While Daisy doesn't have as good results, their movesets are identical.) Both characters were significantly nerfed in patch 3.1.0.
* Pichu is one of the best characters in the game, which is a big contrast from his appearance in ''Melee''. Unlike in ''Melee'', he hits much harder than Pikachu; indeed, Pichu is the ultimate case of a GlassCannon in a ''Smash'' game, where he can die at 60% but kill you at 80%. This doesn't sound good in theory, but in practice is super dangerous to fight against because Pichu has some of the best recovery in the game with Agility. Pichu is also one of the smallest characters in the game, becoming super hard to hit (which means he can live far longer than he should) and can perform 0-to-death combos called [[FanNickname Lightning Loops]] where he can take down a stock very quickly, though this can be SDI'd. He also has great kill confirms, such as his throws around 80% into Thunder. [=VoiD=] and other Pichu professionals are able to deal with his GlassCannon state and use Pichu in a way where he takes a very long time to die, nearly averting his low weight. Then there's his forward tilt, which is heavily disjointed and kills at 100% and can hit opponents coming to the ledge. When the opponent is at low percent, the move also trips, which can cause more combos. Pichu ended up getting second at Genesis 6, the first supermajor tournament with over 2,000 players, and is generally considered the best character tied with Peach and Daisy from all the pro players. In patch 3.1.0, Pichu was slammed with nerfs, with its hurtbox being increased, its infamous forward tilt getting its kill power reduced, and all of its electric attacks now do even more self-damage.

* Chrom had this distinction in the initial build of the game. By design of being an [[Main/MovesetClone Echo Fighter]] of Roy, but with consistent damage across his sword, he was already strong on that alone. But what really pushed him into this was his Up-B, which has fast startup, could kill at almost any percent if used off-stage or even be a kill confirm near the edge, and almost always kills the opponent first, allowing him to easily finish matches and making the move one of the best suicide-kill moves in Smash history. Patch 2.0.0 drastically nerfed the meteor smash effect of his Up-B, making it a much less potent or consistent game-ender.

** To put the Shield Art's increased sturdiness and flexibility of use in perspective, as well as just how oppressive it feels against opponents, when [[https://twitter.com/roebruh/status/1192119697585651712 a Twitter post]] [[{{Troll}} jokingly-claimed]] that the Version 6.0.0/[[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry]] patch of the game outright ''removed'' the ability to use Monado Arts during hitstun, ''including the Shield Art'', there were as ''very'' many players [[ThisCannotBe that were in sheer disbelief, if not outright mourning about it]] as there were players [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing singing praises of what would've been a very signficant nerf to the Monado Boy]]. However, [[FailedASpotCheck such a significant nerf would've certainly been noted in the official patch notes]] as savvier players noticed, and using Monado Arts while under attack [[AllThereInTheManual being an acknowledged and suggested tactic in the game’s tips about using Shulk]] ([[OlderThanTheyThink and has applied to the previous game, as well]]) means that this is not expected to be changed or removed anytime soon.
** Eventually, the 9.0.0/[[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve]] patch attempted to make "Hitstun Arts" less of a strategy by increasing how much knockback Shulk takes during Shield Art, but many are already believing this to not be ''too'' significant of a nerf in the long run, especially since the same patch compensated for this by giving his actual counter more knockback power, bringing it more in line with its destructive ''Smash 4'' counterpart.
* Mythra's Foresight may potentially be the most broken ability in Smash Ultimate, being compared to Smash 4 Witch Time. When an enemy is about to hit Mythra as she spot-dodges, rolls or air dodges, Foresight activates and makes her take half the damage, but unlike Bats-Within, it also slows the opponent down, causing Mythra to get a potential kill or put the opponent in disadvantage state. Its punish window is longer than a parry, and it also is effective against projectiles from about half-way across the stage allowing Mythra a way to counter zoners by punishing them. What's even worse is that it also works against multi-hits, such as Pikachu's back air, Palutena's nair and even fast jabs or multi-hit out of shield options, which changes how each characters play effectively, as a lot of characters best moves are multi-hits. Moves that have high end lag such as smash attacks are so punishable that you can switch to Pyra and kill them super early with forward smash. It also works on any recovery with a hitbox, allowing Mythra to get an easier punish while they're recovering to the ledge at high percents from a down tilt into a forward smash. The ability also comes out frame 2 and is active for 7 frames, allowing her to get out of juggle scenarios very fast if you time the airdodge right, being even faster than Flip Jump's invincibility which aids Mythra's disadvantage state. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh7ZN3h98bI GIMR explains more about how good this ability is]].

* For a time, Joker and Pokemon Trainer were broken as a team due to the Unlimited Rebellion Gauge glitch. Joker's Rebellion Gauge fills up when his teammate takes damage. Due to the way the game's code treats Pokemon Change, it would award Joker with Rebellion Gauge on every Change as if the incoming Pokemon started at 0% damage and instantly received all the damage the retreating Pokemon had. At 100% damage, two Pokemon Changes would completely fill Joker's meter, effectively giving him Arsene for free. As a result, the pair was banned in Glitch 7, and the glitch was patched out alongside Terry's arrival.

* Until patch 2.0.0, Olimar was ''extremely'' overpowered with Spirits, due to how they interacted with his Pikmin (damage boosts from spirits would boost their potential damage ''twice'' instead of once). While all Spirits grant a power bonus or multiplier, Olimar's Pikmin were disproportionately empowered, having the potential to do over ''800%'' damage with the right set up and completely dominate Legend Spirits and Adventure Mode bosses. [[DiscOneNuke It's also possible to find him right near the start of World of Light if the West path is taken, as while there's an obstacle that needs clearing to reach him, one of the Spirits that can do so can be found very close by.]]

* Pikachu qualifies as well, for many of the same reasons as Pichu. While he doesn't hit as hard as Pichu, he's also much harder to effectively damage despite his larger hitbox, as most of his moves have a very small window in which to effectively punish him. And Pikachu's grab/n-air loops are capable of doing extreme amounts of damage, especially if Pikachu has already weakened the opponent with the very spammable Thunder Jolt. And at high percents, an up-toss followed by Thunder is usually fatal. His dash attack kills at 150% (and it isn't hard for Pikachu to get opponents to that point), and it's also too fast to dodge if you aren't dodging already, meaning you have to shield against it and risk getting grabbed when you try to follow up. And if you fall off the stage, you might as well take the fall, because Pikachu's excellent recovery makes edge-guarding as easy as a down-air and an up special. That's to say nothing of the half-dozen other kill-confirms Pikachu has.

* While Joker was considered a high tier at the start of his release, it wasn't until [=MKLeo=] picked hold of him and started decimating tournaments (including being number 1 at EVO) that Joker was considered this way. [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] has a very strong combo game, with good frame data, including one of the fastest up smashes, and the strong hitboxes on some of his moves, with some moves having surprisingly great kill power, such as back air. He also can edgeguard really well due to his great tether recovery. However, the real kicker is when he has Arsene, which effectively makes him [[LightningBruiser hit as hard as Ganondorf while being as fast as Sheik]] while having actual good air game and recovery unlike Little Mac or Dr. Mario. He also gets a buff to his special moves, and Eigaon is quite devastating due to its large range and being able to do damage over time. He also happens to edgeguard other characters very easily in this form due to his counter/reflector being very strong[[labelnote:Note]]This counter in particular has a very strong 1.6 multiplier which is the best in the game and has the best startup and endlag out of any counter/reflector and has a massive hitbox[[/labelnote]]. Many people argue that Joker with Arsene up is the best character in ''Ultimate'' with the best way to fight it is through camping the 20 seconds Arsene is active. He did get a slight nerf in Version 4.0, but one that didn't affect him that much and is mostly the same as in release, allowing [=MKLeo=] and Zackray to get great results with the character.
* The [[StoneWall Shield Art]] of Shulk’s [[StanceSystem Monado Arts]] special move is sometimes seen as the most terrifying and imposing of all five of his arts, even moreso than the increased launching power granted by his Smash Art. Since ''Smash 4'', Shulk has been one of the only characters in the entire franchise to have a special move that can be used during the hitstun frames of being attacked. This means he can activate the Shield Art while flinching from taking damage to not only escape from damaging combos, but to avoid kill confirm combos, as well (such as Meta Knight’s notorious Up Air strings into Shuttle Loop). ''Ultimate'' gives Shulk an immense BalanceBuff to his Monado Arts by making them faster and easier to select via a RingMenu, and also amplifying the [[MultiformBalance buffs (and debuffs)]] each art gives him, similarly to his aforementioned Hyper Monado Arts custom special in ''Smash 4''. What this means for Shulk’s Shield Art in ''Ultimate'' is that it gives him by far the highest endurance out of any other character in the roster, including super heavyweights such as Bowser and King Dedede. Even at percentages as high as 150%, or even ''200%'' will still be trouble for most to kill Shield Shulk off at from the side or the top of the stage. The Shield Art is not without its [[NecessaryDrawback many drawbacks]], however, such as [[StoneWall slowing Shulk’s speed to a snail’s pace, decreasing his damage output,]] lasting only 6 seconds, lasting even ''less'' than that if he takes damage while it’s activated, and needing a whopping 18 seconds to recharge, but the RingMenu allows Shulk to pull the art out in less than half a second (or one frame/''one-sixtieth'' of a second after optimizing his “Dial Storage” advanced technique) to survive almost any fatal attack or combo in the game at threateningly-high percentages that would’ve demolished every other character in a competitive match or otherwise (barring insta-kill moves such as the Hero’s Whack and Thwack, or the final hits of Zelda’s and Bayonetta’s Final Smashes). In many cases, even at mid-high percentages, the Shield Art now allows Shulk to survive against the likes of Ness' [[ThatOneAttack Back Throw]], Ganondorf’s [[MegatonPunch Warlock Punch]] and [[{{BFS}} Forward]] [[BattleCry Smash]], Dedede’s fully-charged [[DropTheHammer Jet Hammer]], ''and even the Hero’s [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Kamikaze and 100 MP Magic Burst]]'' (the latter of which can otherwise kill nearly everyone in the game at as little as '''''20%'''''). This isn't even getting into OHKO attacks like Flare Blade (although this is unlikely to land except for edgeguards), which still does very little knockback.

* While it's random, Sephiroth's Final Smash, Supernova, has a chance to be this by inflicting the target with random effects. While some of these, like flower sprouting or just launching aren't so bad, it can also inflict devastating ailments like slowdown (like the Timer item), Reversed Controls or even straight-up forcing a Shield Break. It's not just the dizzy state that happens- it literally forces the target to go through an entire Shield Break- this makes that particular effect, which is already devastating, spell certain doom for Jigglypuff, because, well, [[OneHitKill you know what happens when Jigglypuff's Shield gets broken.]]

** [[VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}} Metal Face]] is an Attack Spirit with one Support slot that gives you the Metal and Giant effect at the start of the battle.

* Cloud is one of the biggest example of this in the game, being considered top 2 just below Bayonetta. He has incredibly huge ranged disjointed hitboxes through his Up Air, Neutral Air, Forward Air and Forward Tilt and can combo or kill quite easily with them and has a very low learning curve as a swordsmen with no tipper mechanic. His up air is also lagless due to its autocancel window (which is bugged and autocancels exactly when the hitboxes end), can kill and has a lot of active frames, allowing it to easily punish air dodges and juggle very easily, while his down air has virtually no landing lag due to its autocancel window, allowing him to safely get back on stage. He also has Limit Break which gives him reliable kill moves such as Finishing Touch and Cross Slash, as well as boosting Climhazzard's typically very bad recovery, making him less of a GlassCannon. He's also the second heaviest swordfighter, below Ike. ButWaitTheresMore, as Cloud has some of the best mobility in the game both on the ground and in the air, with Limit Break increasing that even further, which in turn improves his combo game. Limit Break also lasts forever until you use it, or you die, and his special moves are more powerful than they are in ''Ultimate''. Due to his extreme ease of use and popularity, [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome he was one of the most common characters ever]], being picked up as either a main or secondary by multiple top players including [=MkLeo=], Tweek, Nairo, Mr. R, Komoriki, Ned, [=Mew2King=], Masashi, [=MattyG=] and [=ZeRo=], the best player in the world before he left the scene. He was also incredibly popular to use by mid and high level players too, making him rather popular in locals.

* Greninja can cheese out all of the forms of Master Core except Master Edges and Master Fortress by spamming the Down Aerial alone, as the built-in jump will automatically evade the majority of their attacks. And for Master Edges, all you need to curb-stomp is to keep jumping on a distance, spam the Forward Aerial between his attacks, and evade the one-hit-kill quick slash attack (which is easy, as Edges will only use this attack as a follow up to another of his attacks), and repeatedly counter the 5 slash attack with Substitute.

** Endless Smash Holding, allowing you to hold your Smash attack indefinitely. By itself, it's much more useful than you might think, as due to the ArtificialStupidity in a number of Spirit Battles, you can just hold your Smash attack indefinitely until one of your opponents walks right into your range. You can get the skill fairly early too.

* Spirit battles involving poison (of which [[ThatOneLevel the dreaded]] [[VideoGame/MetalGear The Boss]] is one) are normally a pain due to the constant health drain that they inflict, but [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} Madama Butterfly]] and [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Gruntilda]] {{troll}} them all. While they both ask for a whopping three support slots, their effects are well worth it since, rather than "merely" providing poison immunity, the former makes poison ''heal'' instead of hurt, effectively replacing constant damage with constant health regeneration, and the latter makes poison greatly increase attack, defense, ''and'' speed, making you a MasterOfAll. Regardless of which spirit you choose, they take a significant chunk of the difficulty out of fights with poison clouds and floors. Madama Butterfly is slightly balanced out by her non-appearance until [[EleventhHourSuperpower close to the end of World of Light]], but starting with Version 5.0.0, you can snag Gruntilda from the Vault's shop for the moderately high price of 15,000 gold, even without owning Banjo & Kazooie.

* Double Final Smash. Really, this one speaks for itself. While it also requires a lot of skill points to get, being able to use a Final Smash twice in a row can be a killer trump card for certain characters, especially in the harder Spirit fights. What's also notable is that while some Spirits are able to increase the ''chances'' of a double Final Smash, this skill gives you a second one '''guaranteed'''. Combine this with Spirits carrying the skill Fast Final Smash Meter (which is also available on the skill tree), and you can effectively gain access to a Final Smash before your opponent has any time to breathe. Plus, when paired with characters who can instantly kill opponents instead of launching them at 100% damage or above with their Final Smash (such as Bayonetta, Zelda, and Ridley), it's essentially a near-instant win against most non-Stamina fights, especially against Metal or Giant enemies, who would usually need to take considerably more damage in order to be knocked off.

** It doesn't help that Pyra/Mythra themselves are also incredibly good even without this due to Mythra possessing some of the best ground and air speed in the game, being top 5 run speed, the fastest initial dash, 11th best air speed and being a fast-faller, which gives her even more ways to punish the opponent after a Foresight. Mythra's frame data is some of the best in the game, and Pyra has huge hitboxes that cover a lot of space, making it hard for some characters to get in. Mythra also low-profiles or "pancakes" when using some of her aerials or grounded attacks or in her general dash animation, making it very hard to hit her similarly to Joker and Pikachu. Mythra's up air is her best move and one of the best aerials in the game. It autocancels very early on, 3 frames after the hitboxes end which makes it virtually impossible to punish if done by a short-hop fastfall, is her safest move on shield, has high base knockback causing it to kill surprisingly early (unlike most of Mythra's moves outside of her smash attacks and Lightning Buster) and is perfect at putting opponents in juggle scenarios due to its frame data and Mythra's fast movement options. Due to Mythra's fast air speed, their recovery is generally acceptable, unlike low tiers such as Dr Mario, Ganondorf, Incineroar and Little Mac. [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome Their easy to pick up and play nature and popularity have given them a lot of mains, co-mains, secondaries and players who use them as a pocket character]] including [=MkLeo=], [=Sparg0=], Cosmos, [=VoiD=], Cloudy, Shuton, Ned, Tsu, Kome, Jagaimo, [=Mew2King=], Komorikiri, Space and DM due to their fantastic matchup spread, making them excellent at counterpicking. This has given them a lot of comparisons to Cloud in ''Smash 4'', (see at the Smash for 3DS and Wii U section). Generally, players consider them a top 10-top 5 character, with some such as [=MkLeo=}, Tweek, Cloudy and Cosmos believing the character is top 3 alongside Joker and Pikachu.