"Super Smash Bros 4" - Nerds Only Quiz

Answer: Dong Hah

Bowser, being the only characters whose combo actually comes out of an up throw instead of a down throw, has his combo referred to as the Koopah, a combo which kills most characters in the cast at 90% damage. Pre patch Diddy Kong is responsible for these trendy nicknames, as his infamous Hoo Hah was capable of killing as low as 60% damage before it got patched out. R.O.B's combo was the second combo of this nature, as Bowser and Donkey Kong's combos had not been added to the game at the time. As R.O.B is a robot, R.O.B's combo is referred to as the Robo Hoo Hah. Donkey Kong's combo is known as the Ding Dong, capable of killing in similar fashion to Bowser's Koopah.

Answer: It deals moderate damage and supplies the stage with an apple, that heals whoever eats it

Mr Game and Watch's Side B is the ultimate risk/reward tool; the 9 of judgment is the ultimate killer, killing virtually the entire cast at as low as 25% damage from anywhere on the stage. A 1 of judgment, however, can put him into a very tight spot, as a 1 does essentially nothing to the target, and can get him punished quite hard. Recording an 8 is a decent consolation prize, as this freezes the target in a block of ice, and allows Mr Game and Watch to easily follow up with almost any attack he would like.

He can even go for a 2nd Side B, fishing for a 9. Recording a 7 can be beneficial as well, sending the target flying and granting Mr Game and Watch easy access to minor recovery in an apple. Pick it up fast though, because your opponent can also get to it if you don't!

Answer: Lucario

Rage is a newly introduced concept, brought to "Super Smash Bros 4", that allows every character in the cast to grow slightly more powerful the more damage they take after 75%, but Lucario takes this a notch further. Lucario is pitifully weak and slow at 0%, but if you were to allow it to reach 150% damage, the damage output would be absolutely terrifying.

A fully charged Aura Sphere at 0% that deals about 10% damage and is generally not threatening, deals north of 30% and kills extremely early at 150%. Lucario's Extreme Speed is quite weak at 0%, but can carry Lucario across the entire stage at 150%. Force Palm has hardly any range at 0% and deals little damage, but at 150%, it is arguably Lucario's best kill tool. Killing Lucario early is a priority!

Answer: Cloud can charge Limit, while Little Mac cannot charge KO Punch

Cloud is much more threatening than Little Mac because of this difference. Cloud can use Limit Charge to force characters to approach, which naturally gives him a much better matchup against the likes of Rosalina and Luma, Villager, and other defensive characters that Little Mac struggles with. It is also this versatility that makes Cloud amongst the game's best characters.

Answer: Bayonetta

Bayonetta's ladder combo originally got her banned in several countries' tournaments around the world before a subsequent patch toned it down just enough to have these bans lifted. Bayonetta isn't the only character capable of pulling off a ladder combo as Zero Suit Samus and Meta Knight have ladder combos of their own, but Bayonetta's is by far the deadliest, and arguably the easiest of the three to execute.

Answer: Samus

Ike and King Dedede are considered to be spacies, as opposed to zoners, while Little Mac is a rushdown character. Samus' arsenal, consisting of the tried and true charge shot, two different variations of missiles, and the handy zair, give her all the tools she needs to be an effective zoner.

Answer: Reflector

If Falco uses his Reflector (Down B) as the target is idle, and not attempting to make a move of their own, running/walking, or another form of movement, the target will trip and be wide open to a follow up. Falco can take the opportunity to dash attack, attempt to tech chase, or if the target is close enough, launch a Forward Smash depending on the situation. If you wanted to be silly, you could also have Falco pull out his blaster, and if you properly tripped your opponent, you can pelt them with up to 3 blaster shots while they will be helpless in their tripped state, akin to being jab locked.

Answer: Charizard

Charizard unfortunately holds plenty of flaws, but you can't claim foot speed as one of those, as this fire breathing dragon is deceptively fast. Unfortunately, Charizard shares a lot of the problems it's fellow heavies share, in that it's hurtbox is massive, it can't really land and gets juggled a lot, its air speed is surprisingly bad (for something with wings), and it has the unfortunate distinction of getting mostly shut down by a lot of historically prevalent characters in the game, such as Diddy Kong, Bayonetta, and Zero Suit Samus.

Answer: Cloud

Cloud is able to utilize Limit Breaker to force an approach. Through this, there is almost never any pressure on Cloud to break through a wall from characters such as Rosalina and Luma, Villager, or Samus, meaning that Cloud will naturally be at an advantage against zoning characters.

Answer: Super armor on his Up B that makes it slightly stronger out of shield than Bowser's

DK's Up B is nearly impossible to challenge, as it will beat out small projectiles and most attacks due to the fact that DK does not expose his hurtbox in between the tornado he makes with his arms. This makes it so the only way you can punish the move is by waiting it out and punishing the end lag. That being said, the move itself does not have super armor, meaning moves that do have super armor will beat it out.

Answer: Making the input before the action occurs

An important example of a character that relies on buffering their aerials is Bowser. At early %, if you properly buffer your nair out of an up throw, you can rack up as much as 35% damage off a single throw, depending on the character!

Answer: The move will stale and your opponent will eventually be able to better predict your usage of it, removing the reward factor from the move almost completely

"Super Smash Bros 4"'s staling mechanics have it where the repeated use of a move over and over again weakens the move for a short period of time. This was implemented to discourage spamming. Against an opponent with any idea of what they're doing, your attempts of counter spam will likely be met by either getting punished after your invincibility ends, your opponent refusing to fall for it and watching you needlessly stale your move, or simply by them running up and grabbing you. Even if your opponent isn't particularly skillful, there are going to be a lot of instances in a given game where another option will be more helpful than countering. Countering is meant to be used as a mixup, to catch your opponent by surprise. You can preserve this surprise by utilizing other options until you absolutely need or have picked up a big read to counter.

Answer: Rosalina and Luma

Dabuz's confidence in his amazing Rosalina and Luma propelled him to victory, as he thoroughly dominated T. Not to discredit T, however, as a Link main making it that far in such a major tournament is definitely an accomplishment!

Answer: Priority

Ledge hogging was a mechanic removed from "Super Smash Bros Melee", replaced by ledge trumping in "Super Smash Bros Brawl", and retained in today's "Super Smash Bros 4". Teching has always, and will seemingly always be a thing, as it favors no character in particular and adds a creative landing option to every character in the game that invokes mind games at times. Meta Knight in "Super Smash Bros Brawl" was by far the best character in the game, and a large part of why was the transcending priority on the Mach Tornado. To prevent this from getting out of control in "Super Smash Bros 4", priority was heavily nerfed, and outright removed on most characters in the cast.

Answer: Six

Mewtwo, Greninja, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Lucario, and of course, Pikachu have all made their marks in this game, with Mewtwo being added to the game as a part of the first DLC pack in franchise history. Nintendo has stated that they do not want to add anymore Pokémon to "Super Smash Bros. 4", as six Pokémon are the maximum amount of Pokémon allowed in a trainer's party in the mainstream games, and this game is meant to reflect that.