We are over 3 months into Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and the meta is developing more and more each day. With over 70 well balanced characters this is one of the most character rich metas in any Smash game. Higher tier characters will always rise to the forefront and characters like Peach, Pichu, Lucina, Olimar and Palutena have seen great representation. However out of all of the so called “meta characters” none have become a more popular pick than Wolf. More and more players are adding Wolf to their character repertoire. The character has great results and an abundance of representation. Today we will look at what makes Wolf such a popular pick in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Simpler than you think
First off shout out to Shofu, the original day one Wolf. With the character gaining so much popularity, it’s only right to knowledge the man who was lobbying the hardest to get him back in Smash since the early Smash 4 days.
Wolf is a very strong character in Ultimate and players are beginning to catch on. It’s no secret that higher tier characters will see more representation in tournaments. Wolf quickly rose to the higher end of the tier list and has become quite the popular pick. Many have wondered where so many of these Wolf players are coming from. However, when you take a look at wolf’s kit, and see all that he’s capable of, it’s hard to justify not picking him up. Wolf has decent speed, great aerials, strong tilts, a crazy good projectile, and a plethora of options. Wolf has an answer for almost anything thrown at him.
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His blaster is such a good projectile that stops opponents dead in their tracks when trying to approach. It’s not the best for getting in on opponents, but at mid range it’s great for keeping the opponent away. At long range it’s great at forcing a reaction. All of wolfs aerials are amazing as well. His Forward air can be used to apply safe pressure, combo opponents, edgeguard, and stuff out approaches.
Neutral air is a decent combo extender that comes out fairly quickly and has decent range. Wolf’s Back air is a great kill option and is also great to camp with during the ledge trapping phase. Up air is a great combo extender that can also juggle opponents. And lastly down air is a strong kill option that spikes opponents if he can intercept a recovery or make a good read off stage.
Wolf’s recovery doesn’t travel very far, but that doesn’t necessarily make his recovery terrible. Wolf’s side special “Wolf flash” is a very scary move to mess with because it can easily spike an opponent and take a stock very early. If the Wolf player can wisely choose between using side special and up special for recovery, the short recovery distance can be overcome. However Wolf’s shorter recovery distance means he can’t go as deep as others to edgeguard. Luckily Wolf is one of the most effective ledge trappers in the game. His forward tilt is insanely strong and easily 2 frames many recoveries. It’s a great ledge trapping tool, and can kill at around 90 percent. Wolf can camp with back airs to force an option on the ledge, and utilize dash back forward smash or down smash if he can read a roll. Overall wolf’s kit gives him access to many powerful options to deal with almost any situation.
Out of the pocket
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Remember in Smash 4 where there weren’t that many players who would solo main cloud, but almost everyone played him as a backup character? This can somewhat apply to Wolf as well. Wolf is so popular in Smash Ultimate because he’s a very safe pick. He doesn’t have too many losing matchups and is one of the more rewarding top tier characters to play. He’s not very difficult, and has strong tools to deal with every situation. More importantly however is how greatly Wolf benefits from the new game engine. In a game where jumpsquat is universally faster, and dashing is the most useful it’s ever been, Wolf absolutely shines. He has strong, quick aerials, and Smash attacks that highly benefit from being canceled out of a dash. These things are necessary in this game’s meta and Wolf has them plus much more. This makes Wolf a very safe character to have in your back pocket, especially in a game with this many characters.
More and more players are realizing that having a solo main isn’t the best way to go in Smash Ultimate. Players are developing a lineup of characters to help guide them to victory. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that a character as safe, and strong as Wolf is making it onto so many players lineups. Lets just hope all of this representation doesn’t get him nerfed. At least not too hard anyway.
Are you using Wolf in Super Smash Bros Ultimate? (Who am I kidding of course you are) Let us Know down in the comments below!
Featured image courtesy of Gamerevolution.
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