- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Notice: Anyone with input, just comment and I will add it to the guide (as long as it is within reason).
Welcome to my guide to all things Wario! This is a work in progress, and I hope I can make a complete guide for a character who has received no real support on SB. My To Do list is:
Pros
Wario has a diverse and interesting movement, to say the least. Huge shout out to the Kurrogane Hammer crew and their amazing frame guides. Check them out here.
Welcome to my guide to all things Wario! This is a work in progress, and I hope I can make a complete guide for a character who has received no real support on SB. My To Do list is:
- Pro/Con
- Moveset
- Techs and useful Tips
- Matchups
Pros
- Air Mobility: Wario must be packing some lightweight gasses in his fuel tank, because this guy can DANCE through the air. Wario actually has the fifth fastest air speed, behind Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo and Roy. Wario's surprising control allows him to create some aerial mix ups and attacks.
- Approach: Wario has plenty of approach options due to his bike and air mobility. In the case of the former, I will go into further detail later. The latter, on the other hand, enables you to use retreating fairs, fast fall nairs, and gliding dairs.
- Unpredictability: Wario is great at mix ups! He has so many options that your opponent will be hard pressed to get a good read (As long as you keep your play diverse).
- Power: Wario has pretty good power on his moves. Forward smash hits hard, and up smash packs a pretty big punch. Hair can kill at around 120% depending on your stage, position, and Waft needs no introduction.
- Defense: In my opinion, Wario is best when defensive. An aggressive Wario is a dead Wario. But, if you play conservatively and deal any hits you can, you can rack up your opponent and get out of the dangerous neutral. Wario excels at this because of his anti-attack kit greatly exceeds his combo ability. Fair comes out fast and has little to no lag, forward tilt has good knockback and lower lag than F-Smash, and Jab whips out with an average/fast speed.
- Combos: Wario has trouble creating surefire combos. Smaller combos seem to work generally well, but he has no large strings like ZSS, Falcon, or Luigi, for example. Some of his "Combos" can be defeated by DI and teching, so that's why a patient strategy is best; wait for a mistake.
- Kill Setups: Wario is extremely handicapped by his kill ability, and he has no (reliable) kill throw. Smashes, Waft, bair, uair, and bike smash (end of wheelie) are your tools to kill, and while they seem plenty in number, they are all painfully slow. This makes pegging a target difficult, but there are ways, which we will go over.
- LAG: WARIO'S KIT IS HEAVY ON END LAG. Bair, turning the bike, F-Smash, D-Smash, Uair, and D-Throw are very laggy at their end. So, very much like Gannon, you must be sure a move with this sort of lag will hit before using it or prepare for punishment. Again, I stress the importance of poking in Wario's gameplay as well of the defensive aspect. Don't go all out and Bair in the neutral! YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!
- Recovery? I don't know about others, but recovery with Wario for me is difficult. Again, it seems that no one else has problems, but since my most SDs are with Wario, it's still a con in my book
Wario has a diverse and interesting movement, to say the least. Huge shout out to the Kurrogane Hammer crew and their amazing frame guides. Check them out here.
Jab is a useful tool for any Wario. Very much like DK's jab (although a little weaker but faster), it has two hits, doing 4 then 5 damage. Does not Jab Lock. Close range poking, and a basic "Stay Back" move.
F-Tilt is similar to F-Smash in it's appearance, as Wario thrusts an enlarged fist at his opponent. Good knockback and damage, tiltable. Tilted up it does 14, middle does 13, and down does 12.
Wario sticks his hand in a downward wedge. Virtually has no endlag combos into itself at low percents, dash grab after a string may be an option. Use in combination with moves out of a foxtrot for chancy combos.
Almost as laggy as F-Tilt, Wario stick his hand in the air like he just don't care! About as much as I care about this move. In a real match, I would never use this move for anything else other than an anti-air Out of shield: This tech is very useful when used with an up smash. When someone attacks your shield (or you bait shield pressure, get an attack read, etc.), simply input shield, up, then jump and attack at the same time to ignore shield drop lag and go directly into up smash.
Quite a bit of power, comparable to Donkey Kong's sweetspotted F-Smash and Shulk's F-Smash when in smash mode. But, it has significant lag compared to other F-Smashes, which makes it more of a risk-reward move. Use with caution.
Wario spins on the ground in a loose circle. Compared to other D-Smashes, the hit box comes out pretty fast on the rear hit box, so it is good for covering rolls. But, D-Smash has the most frames of lag out of all of Wario's moves, with 68 frames before he can move out of it. This means that whiffs are very punishable from areas in a medium-sized to large distance from Wario. I seriously wish this move was better, because without a good down smash, it brings down his versatility.
U-Smash is probably one of your greatest kill moves. Wario enlarges his head and head-butts upward, driving the opponent to the upper blast line. This move is overall Wario's fastest smash, coming out 7 frames before either of his other Smashes. Also, his head gains invincibility starting on the 8th frame,(right before the hit box becomes active) and retains it throughout the end of the move. The start of the move has the most launch power, while the hit box that appears in front of Wario is a sourspot. Setting this move up is pretty essential to Wario gameplay, but be sure not to overuse it and stale it. To better utilize it´s larger rear hitbox, try running in and performing a turn-around jump caced Up-Smash. Basically, you perform the same tech as Up-Smashing OoS, only you input a pivot before pressing jump. This allows the rear hitbox to be in the front of the attack, improving it´s
consistency.
Chomp is a very versatile move and a key part of any good Wario's gameplay. Chomp is a fast command grab (meaning that it goes through shields) that deals a good amount of damage. When your opponent has a higher percentage, Chomp's damage potential increases. All in all, a great move
The bike is a great utility to further the mind games and mix ups of an already tricky character. Refer to the chart:
- Use Bike, then
- Jump off
- Follow with a Dair
- Low Percents: perhaps a down tilt?
- Follow with Fair
- Another Fair, a Nair, or, at low percents, a Dair.
- Chomp
- If the opponent is bad at teching landings, both fair and sour spot dash attack (The tips of his fingers) can jab lock the opponent. This means that they cannot Get up attack, roll forward or backward, or stay on the ground. They automatically get up in front of you, which leads to easy punishes.
- Follow with Bair (If they run behind you)
- Set yourself up for an attack, at higher percents, or when they leave the stage, (obviously) prep for an edgeguard.
- Follow with Nair (If opponent jumps to punish you)
- If you have your second jump, go for
- Fair
- Another Nair
- Chomp
- If you have your second jump, go for
- Follow with Fart
- Follow with Chomp (Usually if your opponent hard shields/you predict a shield. Doesn't have to be when your opponent shields.)
- Low Percents: Keep up pressure with well-spaced fairs and nairs depending on your distance from your foe.
- Follow with nothing! Just falling to the ground can be a useful bait.
- Shield
- Shield Grab
- Out-of-shield U-Smash
- Not the best, but roll.
- Spot Dodge
- Down Smash
- Up Smash
- Jump
- Jumping after hitting the ground just serves to get the opponent in a closer range.
- Bike
- Chomp
- Retreating Fair
- Gliding Dair
- Shield
- Follow with a Dair
- Keep riding
- Running into the person while on the bike is risky, but you can create some good opportunities. Just remember when to flip that wheely!
- Jump off
