SSBU/Mii Brawler/Strategy

Gameplan Summary

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Neutral

Mii Brawler spends most of his time in neutral wavering between close and medium-range. NAir, either from a short hop or falling from a full hop, is an excellent way to open up the opponent while giving access to strong conversions, and its low landing lag makes it extremely difficult to whiff punish directly. It can still be victim to parries or dashing back opponents who will observe Mii Brawler’s immediate option after a whiff and punish appropriately in the future, so it is important to notice when trying to land this move is doing more harm than good.

Mii Brawler can build off the pressure of nAir by opening up the opponent in other ways, most notably through the use of empty hop grabs and Suplexes, both of which can lead to a minimum of 20% and stage control with potential for juggle situations. Dash Attack and BDK lack the same reward as the other options but still give stage control by threatening a large area, making it useful against opponents who are looking for Brawler’s jump as a cue to stuff out his approach. In extremely close-quarters combat, fTilt is an effective way to push the opponent back, but offers little reward and many situations where it is useful can be taken better advantage of with a grab. nAir, Upsmash, and any Up Special are also good ways to punish opponents for rushing in themselves, moreso at higher percents where many of these options can directly kill.

Close Range

Mid Range

Long Range

Mii Brawler does not have reliable long range tools making dealing damage from this range difficult. In neutral situations, this is where Mii Brawler looks to close space so he can re-establish his unreactable burst range. Luckily, the same tools that allow Brawler to jump around a nearby opponent are the same tools that he can use to navigate long-ranged attacks from zoners like Duck Hunt or Villager. Namely, Mii Brawler’s full hop can easily move around attacks that possess space on the ground, and his high fallspeed can quickly bring him back down. If an opponent recognizes this pattern and begins to stuff out jumps directly, rolling through projectiles where applicable can turn a long-range situation into a close-range situation in a matter of seconds.

While these tools should be used sparingly, long-ranged Shot Puts can also help close the distance by attacking other projectiles or pressuring the opponent directly. Hard-calling a laggy attack like Clay Pigeon or Link’s Boomerang with a buffered dive from Feint Jump can also open up the opponent at a very awkward angle, but both are reactable to opponents who are not committing at this range, making them inconsistent tools.

Burning Dropkick, while not a consistent move at this range, can often force respect due to its absurd area coverage, conditioning shields and allowing Mii Brawler to close the distance with only a few threatening jumps.

Platforms

Stages with platforms are a boon for Brawler, especially one equipped with Thrust Uppercut. Grabbing an opponent on a platform on virtually any stage can be a free stock at mid-to-high percents, depending on how close the platform is to the top blastzone. Outside of this confirm, sitting below or around platforms and anti-airing with uTilt gives access to Mii Brawler’s strongest ladder combos and kill confirms. Depending on who has the advantage, this can be worth sitting at otherwise unfavorable ranges to abuse. Different platforms grant different benefits - Longer platforms can give access to ladder combos across more of the stage, while shorter platforms are easier to tech chase on with Suplex. Higher platforms grant potentially earlier kills but are harder and rarer to reach, while lower platforms can rack up damage at mid-percents but run the risk of interrupting low percent combos that utilize uTilt.

KOing

Mii Brawler has access to kill options beginning at mid-percents with assistance from platforms, with the options for confirms expanding and simplifying at higher percents, and transitioning to direct kill moves past 100%.

One of Mii Brawler’s main methods to kill is off of grab, with confirms such as dThrow TU or dThrow uAir TU. These confirms generally begin working at mid percents (40%+) on platforms and higher percents (80%-100%) on the ground. Mii Brawler can often react to DI during these confirms.

As an opponent approaches higher percents (80%+), falling up air is capable of leading into multiple potential kill moves including HK, TU, and bAir. Fishing for this or other kill confirms can become predictable, so abusing Up-air’s extremely generous window by continuing to stack on damage is valuable.

Above 100%, bAir starts to kill near ledge, meaning using it for a ledgetrap or short edgeguarding stints becomes valuable. uSmash also begins killing past this range, giving a threat to opponents who land unsafely or cross up Mii Brawler’s shield.

Near 150%, Thrust Uppercut at ground-level and nAir become kill moves, heavily discouraging opponents at these percentages from even jumping over Mii Brawler. SAK also begins to kill off the side, granting him a long-ranged tool at the ledge.

Advantage

Cornered Opponents

Due to Mii Brawler’s short range, he often must put himself in danger to push his advantage against cornered opponents. Threatening bAir by repeatedly short hopping in place outside the opponent's burst range, then capitalizing on their option (most frequently a dash attack, shield or full hop) accordingly is among one of Brawler's safest and most effective strategies. Spamming NAir can also work, as a trade will typically force the opponent offstage and Brawler only into the middle of the stage.

Juggling

Mii Brawler has a lot of tools to keep opponents airborne, though they lack disjoint and can trade or lose to characters with large landing tools like Wolf or Incineroar. Dash Attack can keep the opponent airborne, but lacks combo potential. uTilt and uAir can convert, but requires Mii Brawler to commit to catching the opponent earlier. It’s important for him to know what he can use in these situations, and if any positions have the opportunity to lead into a kill using uSmash or Thrust Uppercut.

Disadvantage

Juggling

Mii Brawler’s fast falling speed makes getting juggled a double-edged sword. In situations where he is even moderately far away or can quickly gain space from the opponent, his fall speed makes it very difficult for them to capitalize on his position. This also boosts his fastfall airdodge, giving him invincibility for a large chunk of his descent. In situations where the opponent stays directly below Mii Brawler, his fallspeed becomes a detriment as he has less time between the opponent’s swings to find his footing. Nevertheless, Mii Brawler has some tools to deal with this. For one, nAir does an excellent job of covering Mii Brawler’s lower body, hitting any opponents that are waiting for his landing rather than going up and swinging at him. However, just about any attack can trade at worst with this move, with larger disjoints outright invalidating it. Using Feint Jump’s footdive when launched exceptionally high to cross the stage or go to ledge can also be a good idea, but being hit out of this attack before landing can lead to an even worse position, so using it when the opponent is extremely unlikely to be able to deal with it is important. Double Jump is naturally a risky option as being juggled with no jump typically is, but using it to bait out a landing punish is more effective compared to other fighters thanks to Mii Brawler’s fall speed.

In Shield

Mii Brawler is rarely in a bad spot when sitting in shield, always guaranteed to have at least three excellent out of shield options (nAir, uSmash, and UpB), all of which cover different ranges with varying levels of power. SAK is useful for opponents who have extremely long-range tools, but is his slowest up-special, making it less effective against fast pressure. Helicopter Kick is as fast as Upsmash, kills off the side, and covers a unique area of space, but grants the opponent potentially the most time to punish relative to any out of shield option. Thrust Uppercut comes out at frame 3, tying it for the fastest OOS option in the game and allowing it to escape pressure from fighters like Ken and Terry, but has no horizontal reach. Your opponent is a large determinant in how effective your up special will be in these scenarios. Additionally, Suplex also counters cross-ups and landings from far away, further improving Brawler’s shield game. Because of this, the biggest problem Mii Brawler can face in shield is grab, so it’s important to keep an eye out for this option.

Offstage/At Ledge/Cornered

Mii Brawler has multiple options to escape corner and ledge pressure extremely quickly, but being caught out of them can be extremely dangerous, as many of his escape tools are also his recovery tools. This includes Feint Jumping at the peak of his full hop or straight up double jumping out of the corner. Using a b-reversed BDK can also work, and does not run the risk of losing a recovery tool as it can be used multiple times in the air. Brawler’s close range tools and fast frame data can also break out of these situations, provided the opponent doesn’t shield or dodge them.

At the ledge, Mii Brawler has all the typical ledge options at his disposal, with the vulnerability on all of them ranging from average to below-average. Jumping from the ledge and using Suplex can reverse an opponent holding shield near the ledge, or potentially kill both players. Dropping off the ledge and using fAir can also mix up an opponent's shield as it hits twice.

Offstage, Mii Brawler has multiple means to recover as long as he has Feint Jump or BDK. Going extremely high with either move and double jump is a good way to transition an edgeguard scenario into a juggle scenario, a situation which Brawler may find more favorable against certain opponents. If Mii Brawler wants to grab the ledge, spending as few resources to do so as necessary is ideal. If forced between using Feint Jump or double jump, Feint Jump should be used first due to its predictable arc and long duration. Additionally, Feint Jumping and kicking onto the stage with the expectation to take a hit and be launched offstage again can be a worthwhile way to recover a double jump at the expense of some damage.

Stages

Stage preference will vary wildly depending on Mii Brawler’s moveset, but the primary factor that goes into Brawler’s decision will be how he plans to get his kills.

If Mii Brawler is running Thrust Uppercut and/or FMP, Yoshi’s Story, PS2, Small Battlefield, Hollow Bastion, and Northern Cave are preferable because of their low ceilings and platforms to support ladders.
- Battlefield can be extremely deadly at times due to its top platform, but the higher ceiling blastzone makes it more volatile. FD has the same ceiling height as PS2 and SBF, but the lack of platforms can make it more difficult to utilize Thrust Uppercut. Smashville can be used similarly to Hollow Bastion, but also sports a higher blastzone. Town occasionally sports high platforms, but is overall inconsistent due to its high blastzone as well.

If Mii Brawler is running Helicopter Kick, Town and City is his best stage. There are no explicitly bad stages using this upB, but the effectiveness of HK as a kill move scales with blastzone width and stage-to-side blastzone distance.

If Mii Brawler is running Soaring Axe Kick and not using FMP, Battlefield is his best stage as SAK can snap to the top platform. There are no explicitly bad stages using this upB, but a shallow bottom blastzone can increase the effectiveness of KOs using SAK.