After the initial dust has settled from latest patch notes from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s 7.0 patch, the consensus is coming in regarding who got better and who got worse. Here are the first impressions on who thee biggest winner and loser are of the SSBU 7.0 Patch update.
BIGGEST LOSER: Joker
Even before Joker came out, many players were calling for his head thinking the character was over-tuned. The idea of having a better version of Cloud’s limit break was enough to shake heads. Add in an amazing projectile in the form of his gun and that was enough to shake fists in anger. Joker’s gun, as well as Arsene, have received significant nerfs.
Arsene’s time active is now very short. As seen in this video from @kirbykid_ on twitter, Joker is now truly a glass cannon with Arsene active. The damage is not nerfed but if Joker gets hit, the duration of Arsene being active is depleted much quicker than before. It will be interesting going forward to see if Joker mains play more aggressively or play patiently even though they know the clock is ticking.
The other significant nerf comes in Joker’s gun ability. An absolute menace to deal when Joker is above you. When fired downward, Joker’s gun spreads in a cone making it very difficult to punish. With the 7.0 patch nerf, his gun ability no longer fires down in a cone. Instead, it fires straight down making it easier to punish.
Honorable mention: Palutena (Neutral Air and Down Throw nerfs make it harder to combo but received buffs in other places to ease the pain)
BIGGEST WINNER: Ryu/Ken
Even before the 7.0 patch, players did not like Ryu and Ken in SSBU. Now with both characters being buffed, there is even more resentment towards the street fighter duo.
In this patch, Ryu and Ken both gained the ability to cancel their Down Smash attack once it strikes. This leads to increased combo potential for the already deadly duo and gives them another tool in their massive arsenal.
However, perhaps an even bigger buff was something not included in the patch notes. As outlined on twitter and on a Beefy Smash Dood’s youtube video. Ken and Ryu can now cancel a charged Sown Smash into one of their signature true input special attacks. The speculation is that this was not supposed to be in the game hence why it wasn’t in the patch notes. Until its taken out, its fair game.
yeh your not reacting to this :]#ssbu_ryu pic.twitter.com/evhqalBeqt
— Danny Aguilar (@dannydannypanda) January 29, 2020
Even if it is for a little while, Ken and Ryu seemed to have come out of this patch as the biggest winners.
Honorable mentions: Dr. Mario (down tilt is easier to combo out of, other moves got more damage and knockback), Young Link (Z-Air got buffed and is a good combo tool now, other moves have more knock back), Cloud (Limit charge takes less time, recovery slightly buffed when it comes to grabbing the ledge, and Up Smash comes out faster) Sheik (Down Smash comes out faster, Side B cant be negated by other characters anymore, Neutral B has less landing lag, grab range buffed)
Not even a week into the new patch, only time will tell if these changes make a significant impact on the metagame as well as the new DLC character, Byleth.