Super Smash Bros. is supposed to be a celebration of gaming’s iconic characters, and in many ways, it absolutely is. That being said, the celebration can be a bit difficult to get behind when faced with certain characters in the game. These characters tend to have single attacks that define how they’re perceived in the community. One of those characters is Ness from the Earthbound series.
Ness has improved noticeably from Smash 4. With a few new moves and attack properties (along with some parameter tweaks), he’s become an even better character than before in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Winning against him can definitely be an obstacle, but Ness has his fair share of weaknesses that can be taken advantage of. Read on to learn what they are and how you can use them to your advantage.
Ness’s Strengths
One of Ness’s greatest strengths is his amazing ability to edgeguard. The most infamous example of this is his Down-Smash and Up-Smash. If he uses them at the ledge, charging them will turn his yo-yo into a constant hitbox that can easily two-frame many characters. He can also get offstage and do the job himself with his aerials, thanks to his floaty movement and high second jump; however, his specials can do the job pretty well too. If he finds himself in trouble offstage, he can save himself with his air dodge, which takes him very far compared to that of other characters. All of this, paired with his small size, also makes him a character that’s very hard to land hits on.
Another asset of Ness is his zoning tools. He has reliable means of keeping his enemies at bay, thanks to the previously mentioned special attacks. His Side-B, PK Fire, can be easily spammed and can combo into itself to rack up damage just as effortlessly due to the low endlag and multi-hit properties of the following pillar of fire. His Up-B, PK Thunder, can be freely controlled to attack opponents much farther away and can even turn himself into a super powerful projectile if he hits himself with it. He also has two decent answers for projectiles: his Down-B, which can absorb energy-based projectiles for healing, and his Forward Smash, which can reflect all projectiles for additional power.
This culminates in Ness’s ability to kill very reliably. Both versions of the PK Thunder are great at this in their own situations, with the first being good for killing off the top and the second being good for killing anywhere due to the immense power. His most notable kill option would have to be his Back-Throw, with launch power that could kill pretty much anywhere at high percents. His aerial attacks are also quite powerful. These are just a few ways Ness can take the stock against his opponents — if you’re at high percentages against him, you’ll have to play near-perfectly in any situation to survive much longer.
Ness’s Weaknesses
Ness’s biggest weakness is his exploitable recovery — this shows when he’s forced to use his Up-B, which has a number of issues. One notable issue is that the distance the second version travels can be halved just by making contact with Ness, meaning he can be gimped easily if you allow yourself to get hit by him. This version’s high power and knockback also mean that a counter with a multiplier can easily take him out if it’s successfully activated. As for the first version of the move, you can make Ness go into free-fall if you allow yourself to get hit with the projectile before he can hit himself. Alternatively, you can just attack the projectile or Ness himself since he’s helpless during the move. If Ness is without an air dodge, you won’t have much trouble taking his stock offstage.
Another weakness is his awful disadvantaged state — this is due partly to his mobility not being good. This is mostly in his ground game since his movement speed is well below average. While his floatiness helps with aerial attacks and catching opponents in edgeguards, it makes it a struggle for him to escape juggling situations, with his best bet being to get as far as possible and cover his landing with an aerial when opponents get close. But that leads to the next problem: his range. While Ness does have disjoints in his aerial attacks, they are very stubby. This means that he can end up trading with most moves and outright lose against other disjointed attacks.
Strategy & Counterplay
One of the main things you need to know how to do against Ness is DI his attacks. Against the immense knockback, which many of his strong moves have, you’ll be able to live a bit longer if you DI them properly since the wrong option can definitely ensure you die earlier than you need to. It will also help at low- and mid-percents to escape his combos. SDI will also be useful when it comes to his multi-hit moves, most notably his Side-B. Ness gets a lot of mileage off of one PK Fire, so make sure to SDI out of the fire pillar if you end up getting caught in it.
Ness, in neutral, will usually try to call out your aerial approaches with his own aerials. His aerial game is hard to contest, so it’s best not to approach him in the air if you don’t have disjoints to snuff him out. You should save aerial approaches toward him for when you suspect he’ll use his projectiles. Other than that, playing grounded and defensive will usually be your best bet, waiting for him to overextend on his pressure and making him pay for it. Once you do, try to keep juggling him in the air since he can’t really do anything about it. One thing to take note of, however, is that he’ll usually land with aerials close to the ground if you’re near him. You should either punish this with a perfect shield or a far-ranged attack.
As for edgeguarding scenarios, there’s not much that most characters can do against Ness if he charges the Down- or Up-Smash attacks at the ledge. Something most characters can do, however, is punishing him with a get-up attack if he mistimes them. Characters with far-reaching hitboxes on their recovery options may have a better time against it, though. Recovering high, so you don’t have to deal with it altogether, is also an option. As for his PK Thunder, this is very troubling to deal with. Attacking the projectile is something you can try, but maneuvering around it works better, usually for a low recovery. This way, if the projectile does hit you, you’ll be popped up and in a better position to recover.
Good/Bad Matchups
Ness performs well against characters that he can edgeguard easily. This will be characters with either poor recoveries or those that can’t contest his yo-yo. Bowser Jr., Ganondorf, Ice Climbers, Kirby, and Lucario fall into these categories. He also beats those that he can attack and combo very well. This includes big and tall characters like Bowser, Ridley, King K. Rool, and Bayonetta. There are also characters like Snake, Samus, Pikachu, and Robin, with zoning tools that are nullified by his Down-B.
Characters he does worse against are those that can outrange him with their normals. Bonus points will go to characters that do well in the air. This includes characters such as Palutena, Lucina, Shulk, Peach, and Sephiroth. Other characters that can beat him are those that have answers to his zoning and edgeguarding tools. Rosalina & Luma, Mr. Game & Watch, Corrin, Steve, and Joker would be great picks against him.
