Created by Masahiro Sakurai, Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. is a fighting game series known by many fans as fun and competitive. Throughout the years, there have been 5 main versions added to the series, each including some of fans’ favorite Nintendo or non-Nintendo characters. In this series, players, who have participated in tournaments, have made rankings (“tiers”) based off how easy characters are to win tournaments with, how many good matchups they have, and their overall gameplay.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the newest version added to the series, Little Mac is known as one of the worst characters you can play, as you can often find him near the bottom of nearly every tier list created. Along with his very limited offstage recovery options, Little Mac has abysmal aerial attacks, basically no moves that are safe to use on an opponent’s shield, and an extremely hard time dealing with projectiles.
Thus, you might ask yourself, why would anyone play a character like this? Well, you’d have to ask one of the best Little Mac players in the world: Peanut. Even with the character’s many flaws, Peanut is able to make use of the strengths that Little Mac does have to punish cocky opponents and come out victorious in many matches. Peanut, with his high levels of patience, baits out approaches and wins neutral situations. By using platforms to his advantage, Peanut can catch opponents in tricky tech chase situations. And despite Little Mac’s terrible aerial attacks, Peanut somehow makes use of them, giving his Little Mac the nickname “Air Mac.”
Well, you might ask, what advantages does Little Mac have that allows him to fight well in the first place? Unlike his aerial attacks, Little Mac’s ground game is strong and is the main focus of the character. His frame data allows him, even in risky situations, to dip and dodge out of the way of opponent’s attacks and unleash devastating smash attacks of his own that deal large percents of damage. With his forward smash, he’s able take stocks at percents that opponents wouldn’t expect to die at. With his down smash, he can catch opponents that choose to roll and deny recoveries at ledge. With his up smash, he is able to punish opponents’ roll from ledge and hit them on platforms. And did I forget to mention that every single one of Little Mac’s blocks have super armor? Super armor is a state in which a character will not take any knock-back when attacked. In other words, Little Mac can power through his opponent’s moves and punish them severely for daring to attack him.
Along with his smash attacks, Little Mac has some great tilt attacks that can start combos, and thus lead to big damage. Up tilt is great for throwing out whenever an opponent is too close, as it is able to deal low knock-back that is good for racking up damage. It is also amazing for tech chases on platforms and then killing with up special. Down tilt is not only a great option at ledge (just like down smash), but it is also great at starting combos that lead into dash attack, side-special, or forward tilt. Forward tilt is a great follow up from down tilt and the only tilt that kills at reasonable percents. Just like his smash attacks, Little Mac’s tilts also have a special trait to them. When coming in contact with other moves that have similar power to any one of his tilts, Little Mac is able to trample past the collision and attack while his opponent is vulnerable.
Now onto Little Mac’s special attacks. His neutral special, though seeming like a slow charge up move like Falcon Punch or Warlock Punch, can be very useful in many situations, as it has access to super armor just like his smash attacks. This super armor can be used to escape from opponents’ combos and, unlike Falcon Punch or Warlock Punch, can be immediately canceled. Little Mac’s down special is a very basic counter attack, which can be helpful to use if an opponent is trying to edge guard him, or vice versa. A counter is also just very nice to have whenever you are in a disadvantage. His side special is one of his most important moves of them all, as it can be used to kill at ledge, is one of his most important recovery moves, and comboes off of down tilt. Though his up special is not a good recovery move, it is great for killing off the top blast zone. Following an up tilt on a platform, Little Mac’s up special is able to kill at percents ranging around 80% to 90% for average weighted characters.
Little Mac’s aerial attacks are barely worth describing in detail, but the main thing that Peanut is able to use them for is jab locks. But something that is worth describing is Little Mac’s neutral special . . . again. Sorry, did I say neutral special? I meant KO Uppercut! When Little Mac’s Power Meter is at its peak, his neutral special gets replaced with KO Uppercut. This move, when unleashed, kills at insanely low percents. Because of this, opponents have to be extremely careful when it’s active. But it isn’t all smiles and rainbows for Little Mac, as this move, if missed, makes it so Little Mac’s Power Meter gets set back to zero. His Power Meter can be filled up if he receives damage from or deals damage to an opponent.
Even though I am making Little Mac seem all high and mighty, he really isn’t all that great. To use him and succeed, you really have to know the character and his matchups. You need to have to have some insane in-game intuition and patience to make use of what he has. But that’s what makes him so fun—the fact that he’s so difficult to succeed with. He’s the underdog. He’s the one everyone expects to lose, so when he wins, people get excited. So, in a way, there is no losing as a Little Mac main. If you lose, it’s just because the matchup was terrible. People will understand why you lost because they know how bad Little Mac is. If you win, it’s because of your pure skill alone.