Samus (Super Smash Flash 2)

Samus is a veteran starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. Her sprites are custom-made and based on her appearance in and . Her moveset and sound clips are taken directly from the former.
Samus currently ranks 14th place in the A+ tier on the current tier list. Samus has a great projectile game, fast startup on her attacks, great air speed and finishers in her down smash, down tilt, fully charged Charge Shots, and Super Missiles. She can rack up damage quickly with her up smash, forward aerial, and up aerial. She has one of the best recoveries in the game due to her low falling speed, ability to use s to gain extra height, great air speed, and hard-to-gimp recovery in her . She has a vast arsenal of projectiles with her charge shot, bombs, and missiles. Samus has great horizontal endurance thanks to her weight.
However, Samus is a large, floaty character with one of the slowest accelerated falling speeds in the game, which makes her easy to KO vertically despite her weight. She has a high gravity and is heavy, which means that the combos that do work on her will continue to do so even at higher percents. Her projectile game is easily gimped, as most of her projectiles can be destroyed by even the slightest of disjointed hitboxes, and all of them can be reflected or otherwise nullified by perfect shields, reflectors, and thrown items. Her close-range game is not much better as she possesses, on average, fewer disjoints and more endlag on her attacks than the other fighters. Her high jump height and low aerial acceleration also greatly hinders her air game, despite her high air speed. Together, these attributes significantly limit her approach options. Most of Samus's finishers are easily telegraphed and relatively weak, requiring approximately 120-160% damage to KO, even on lighter characters like .
For these reasons, Samus has some very difficult matchups against the higher-tiered characters.
Samus has a somewhat small player base and has average representation in online tournaments.
== Attributes ==
Samus has a unique blend of attributes that makes her feel largely different from the rest of the cast. She is a tall heavyweight, but is also very floaty due to having one of the slowest falling speeds in the game. Her gravity is above average, yet she also has very high jumps. She has a fast aerial speed, yet she has a very slow aerial acceleration. These attributes help her out by giving her a strong recovery, high survivability, good range, and strong resistance to being juggled. However, she also has trouble maneuvering in the air, a vulnerability to vertical KOs, and is susceptible to juggles that specifically work only on herself.
She is largely considered to be a zoning character with a large arsenal of projectiles, including her Charge Shot, Missiles (Homing and Super), and bombs. Her Charge Shot has transcendent priority when uncharged, allowing her to pierce most attempts at walling her out. Her fully charged Charge Shot is her strongest KO move, and she has a guaranteed setup involving her down throw on most characters. Her Super Missiles move very fast and have decent knockback, making them her primary means of edgeguarding offstage opponents. She can also cancel her aerial missile animation immediately by landing, allowing her to fire off two missiles in quick succession. Her homing missile moves slower, yet lasts longer and does not reverse direction when reflected, making it a safe option for creating stage control and extending combos. Her Morph Ball Bombs also provide a good stage controlling tool, which can also be used to break out of combos or edgeguard her opponents if they try to go for the edge. With these tools, she can projectile camp her opponents and control their approach, giving her one of the best zoning games in the current demo. However, due to the way that powershielding and priority function in the current demo, her zoning game is restricted somewhat. Most of her projectiles can be destroyed without actually setting them off, which prevents them from trading with their target's attacks even at close range. All of her projectiles can be reflected by powershielding, which would not be too big of a problem if the timing for the technique was not so lenient. This in turn makes her projectiles very risky to use at mid to close range, where she does not have enough time to properly react to avoid them if they get reflected.
Samus has a relatively weak grab game overall, but it is not without its strengths. Her standing grab and dashing grab both have the longest range of their respective types. She can combo into her dashing grab by hitting the opponent with a fast-fall zair. Her dashing grab has a relatively fast startup and endlag, making it superior to most other tether grabs despite the reduced range. Her down throw can be used to start combos, and is capable of effectively chain grabbing . However, her other throws are only average at best. Samus's standing grab is almost completely useless, as its long startup and endlag guarantees her opponent a free punish on a whiff. Even with her dashing grab, Samus must commit herself more than most characters, making it difficult for her to successfully pull off a grab in neutral.
Due to a combination of low gravity and good air speed, this helps her recover with her bombs giving her height when they explode near her, Screw Attack being a hard to gimp recovery and her tether recovery which has little start up lag and long range, which can also be used immediately out of an air dodge. She has a strong meteor smash in her down aerial which can be used to get rid of her opponents faster and when combined with her bombs makes it easy to set up KOs. Her floaty nature and low accelerated falling speed makes her less susceptible to combos and chain grabs then other heavyweights.
However, Samus floaty nature makes her vulnerable to vertical KO's. Due to Samus being tall and her shield not covering her body properly, she is susceptible to shield poking. Also due to her height and weight; it makes her easy to hit while also making her susceptible to horizontal combos and chain grabs.
Samus's only problem when it comes to recovery is her tether recovery. The move has a very small grab box that only lasts for a brief moment before vanishing, even though the tether appears stays out for much longer. This means that Samus can only reliably grab the edge from a very specific location offstage. If she is too high, the grab box will disappear before grabbing the edge; if she is too far or too low, the grab box will not reach; and if she is too close, the grab box will appear behind the edge's hitboxes and miss completely. If she misses the edge, the move's long end lag guarantees that Samus will SD unless she still has her second jump. The move is not very good for recovering in competitive play; it becomes very predictable due to the highly restrictive spacing required, leaving Samus vulnerable to edgeguards.
Her best KO moves are projectiles, which makes her more reliant on them, because of this them being reflected can be trouble for Samus. Her non-projectile KO moves have short range, such as down smash. Her offensive game is below average which requires her to play defensively. With this in mind she has trouble being rushed down, this makes small stages horrible for her due to having little space to camp and being rushed down by her opponent more easily. Even though she is a good camper; she has trouble breaking through opposing camping abilities her self especially opponents who can counter her own camping abilities such as characters with reflectors like and .
== Moveset ==
=== Ground attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral attack	Punches and then swings her arm cannon down. 	
Neutral attack	Punches and then swings her arm cannon down. 	
Forward tilt 	Kicks in front of her while spinning. Good speed and range makes it ideal for many close-range situations, such as spacing and ending combos. 	8%
Up tilt 	Performs an axe kick. It meteor smashes grounded opponents and launches airborne opponents, allowing for strong followups and KOs at higher percents. 	13%
Down tilt 	Fires a small explosion from her arm cannon on the ground. Has high ending lag but low startup lag and deals high hitstun and knockback, making it a risky combo starter and KO move. 	14%
Dash attack 	Lunges forward and tackles with her shoulder. This move will eat non-transcendent projectiles and gives Samus a quick boost of speed. One of Samus' best options in the neutral game. The move is very unsafe on shields unless spaced properly. Based on the Shinespark ability in the Metroid series.	
Dash attack 	Lunges forward and tackles with her shoulder. This move will eat non-transcendent projectiles and gives Samus a quick boost of speed. One of Samus' best options in the neutral game. The move is very unsafe on shields unless spaced properly. Based on the Shinespark ability in the Metroid series.	
Forward smash 	Thrusts her arm cannon outwards in a punching motion with a small explosion at the end. Hits two times, with the cannon hit linking into the explosion, which possesses much higher knockback and damage. 	
Forward smash 	Thrusts her arm cannon outwards in a punching motion with a small explosion at the end. Hits two times, with the cannon hit linking into the explosion, which possesses much higher knockback and damage. 	
Forward smash 	Thrusts her arm cannon outwards in a punching motion with a small explosion at the end. Hits two times, with the cannon hit linking into the explosion, which possesses much higher knockback and damage. 	
Up smash 	Swings her arm cannon over her head in a wide arc, creating a series of small explosions. Hits up to six times. Has low startup and ending lag but deals low knockback for a smash attack, being useful as an anti-air and combo tool. 	
Up smash 	Swings her arm cannon over her head in a wide arc, creating a series of small explosions. Hits up to six times. Has low startup and ending lag but deals low knockback for a smash attack, being useful as an anti-air and combo tool. 	
Up smash 	Swings her arm cannon over her head in a wide arc, creating a series of small explosions. Hits up to six times. Has low startup and ending lag but deals low knockback for a smash attack, being useful as an anti-air and combo tool. 	
Down smash 	Performs a quick 360° sweep kick. The front hitbox sends opponents behind Samus, and vice versa. A fast and potent KO option when timed properly. 	
Down smash 	Performs a quick 360° sweep kick. The front hitbox sends opponents behind Samus, and vice versa. A fast and potent KO option when timed properly. 	
=== Aerial attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral aerial	Performs a sex kick. Has little startup lag and a long duration, and deals strong horizontal knockback. 	
Neutral aerial	Performs a sex kick. Has little startup lag and a long duration, and deals strong horizontal knockback. 	
Forward aerial	Holds her arm cannon forwards, creating a series of small explosions. Hits up to five times. Can be used as a combo tool, though its multiple hits are can be escaped from. 	
Forward aerial	Holds her arm cannon forwards, creating a series of small explosions. Hits up to five times. Can be used as a combo tool, though its multiple hits are can be escaped from. 	
Back aerial 	Kicks behind her. The tip of her foot is a sweet spot that deals extra knockback, making this a strong KO option. 	
Back aerial 	Kicks behind her. The tip of her foot is a sweet spot that deals extra knockback, making this a strong KO option. 	
Up aerial 	Performs an upwards drill kick, hitting up to six times. The hits are stronger at the base of her legs. A good anti-air attack that can be used to juggle and extend combos.	
Up aerial 	Performs an upwards drill kick, hitting up to six times. The hits are stronger at the base of her legs. A good anti-air attack that can be used to juggle and extend combos.	
Up aerial 	Performs an upwards drill kick, hitting up to six times. The hits are stronger at the base of her legs. A good anti-air attack that can be used to juggle and extend combos.	
Up aerial 	Performs an upwards drill kick, hitting up to six times. The hits are stronger at the base of her legs. A good anti-air attack that can be used to juggle and extend combos.	
Down aerial 	Swings her arm cannon below her in an arc. A strong meteor smash, though it suffers from long startup and ending lag. 	15%
=== Grab and throws ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Grab 	Extends her Grappling Beam forward. It is the slowest grab in the game, suffering from high starting and ending lag, with the grab lasting as long as it extends. Her dash grab is shorter and faster.	
Pummel 	Smacks the opponent with her hand. 	1%
Forward throw	Throws the opponent forward with the Grappling Beam. 	9%
Back throw 	Throws the opponent behind her with the Grappling Beam. 	12%
Up throw 	Throws the opponent above her with the Grappling Beam, hitting multiple times. Can be used as a combo throw. 	
Up throw 	Throws the opponent above her with the Grappling Beam, hitting multiple times. Can be used as a combo throw. 	
Down throw 	Slams the opponent into the ground with the Grappling Beam. Her most effective combo starter, and it can chain grab large characters and fast-fallers. 	10%
=== Other attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Floor attack	Performs a 360° sweep kick. 	
Floor attack	Performs a 360° sweep kick. 	
Ledge attack	Rolls onto the stage and strikes downwards with her arm cannon. 	7%
Tether grab 	Fires her Grappling Beam straight forwards. A very strong option in close range, due to its frame 1 hitbox, long range, and low ending lag. Can also grab ledges from a moderate distance away.	
Tether grab 	Fires her Grappling Beam straight forwards. A very strong option in close range, due to its frame 1 hitbox, long range, and low ending lag. Can also grab ledges from a moderate distance away.	
=== Special moves ===
Attack 	Name 	Description 	Damage
Neutral special move	Charge Shot	Charges up a ball of energy and fires it. She can release the shot at any time, or cancel the charge animation by shielding or rolling. The size and power of the shot increase the longer it is charged, with the fully charged attack being a massive KO move. She cannot charge the shot in the air. 	
Side special move 	Missile 	Fires a missile from her arm cannon. Tapping the direction fires a Super Missile, which moves very quickly, travels far, and deals high damage and knockback. Holding the direction before the button fires a Homing Missile, which slowly pursues the nearest opponent, weakly knocks them upward, and can be used to set onstage traps for stage control or combo setups. 	
Side special move 	Missile 	Fires a missile from her arm cannon. Tapping the direction fires a Super Missile, which moves very quickly, travels far, and deals high damage and knockback. Holding the direction before the button fires a Homing Missile, which slowly pursues the nearest opponent, weakly knocks them upward, and can be used to set onstage traps for stage control or combo setups. 	
Up special move 	 	Shoots up into the air with a spinning somersault, hitting multiple times. Very powerful out-of-shield option, due to its high priority and initial intangibility frames. Also her main recovery tool, traveling a moderate distance upward. 	
Up special move 	 	Shoots up into the air with a spinning somersault, hitting multiple times. Very powerful out-of-shield option, due to its high priority and initial intangibility frames. Also her main recovery tool, traveling a moderate distance upward. 	
Up special move 	 	Shoots up into the air with a spinning somersault, hitting multiple times. Very powerful out-of-shield option, due to its high priority and initial intangibility frames. Also her main recovery tool, traveling a moderate distance upward. 	
Down special move 	 	Enters her Morph Ball and drops a bomb, which explodes after a short period of time or when hitting an opponent. Exploding near Samus causes her to hop upward in her Morph Ball, which can be used for stalling off-stage. She can also Bomb slide by dropping a bomb just above the ground to effectively roll along the ground at a fast speed, providing a decent movement option.	7%
Final Smash 	Zero Laser 	Fires a giant laser beam from her arm cannon. Can de steered slightly upwards and downwards. 	
Final Smash 	Zero Laser 	Fires a giant laser beam from her arm cannon. Can de steered slightly upwards and downwards. 	
=== Misc. ===
Misc. 	Description 	Description 	Description
On-screen appearance	Exits from a save point. 	Exits from a save point. 	Exits from a save point.
Taunts 	Neutral 	Salutes vigorously with her left arm. 	
Taunts 	Side 	Faces the screen and demonstrates the Arm Cannon mechanics. 	
Taunts 	Down/Up 	Holding her arm cannon with her left hand, she aims behind her, then kneels and aims lower in front of her.	
Idle poses 	colspan="3" 	 	
Victory theme 	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Samus acquires a new power-up or defeats Ridley and Kraid in .	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Samus acquires a new power-up or defeats Ridley and Kraid in . 	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Samus acquires a new power-up or defeats Ridley and Kraid in .
Victory pose 	Raises her leg and poses her arm cannon pointing towards the screen. 	Raises her leg and poses her arm cannon pointing towards the screen. 	Raises her leg and poses her arm cannon pointing towards the screen.
== Changes from v0.9a ==
Samus was buffed in the earlier patches for demo v0.9b, but she ended up losing KO power in the most recent patch which made her nerfed overall from last demo.
=== Aesthetics ===
*
*
=== Attributes ===
*
=== Ground attacks ===
*
*
*
=== Aerial attacks ===
*
*
*
**
=== Grab and throws ===
*
*
*
=== Special moves ===
*
*
*
== In competitive play ==
=== Match ups ===
=== Notable players===
==== Active ====
*QuackersAnonymous
==== Inactive players ====
* Strat2G
=== Tier placement history ===
== Gallery ==
=== Costumes ===
=== Artworks ===
Samusbig.gif|Samus's line art in the DOJO!!!.
Samus Main.png|Samus's first artwork in the DOJO!!!.
Samus Beta 1.0.png|Samus's second artwork, used from Beta 1.0.0 to Beta 1.2.0.2.
=== Screenshots ===
Samus faerial.png|Samus using her forward aerial on on Bowser's Castle.
Samus 1.png|Samus uses Missile at while he is using the uncharged Mega Buster at her on Crateria.
Samus 2.png|Samus and dashing on Skull Fortress.
Samus 3.png|Samus about to use her up smash at while he is about using his down aerial on .
Samus 4.png|Samus using while using Homing Attack on Twilight Town.
Samus 5.png|Samus taunting next to on Phase 8.
Ball - Samus.png|Ball version.
=== Early designs ===
Samus stance.gif|Samus's first considered design for SSF2http://web.archive.org/web/20110912094735/http://smashflashdojo.110mb.com/backups/samus.html.
Samus standing.gif|Samus's second considered design for SSF2http://web.archive.org/web/20100525194606/http://www.mcleodgaming.com/SSF2sprites/index.php?char=Samus.
Samus1.png|Samus's on-screen appearance.
Samus2.png|Samus using Bomb at on Hueco Mundo.
Samus3.png|Samus right next to while he uses his down smash on Jungle Hijinx.
Samus4.png|Samus landing on Sector Z.
Samus Dojo Screen1.png|Samus using her up smash on Hylian Skies.
Samus Dojo Screen2.png|Samus dashing on Mushroom Kingdom III.
Samus Dojo Screen3.png|Samus using her neutral aerial on Mushroom Kingdom III.
Samus Dojo Screen4.png|Samus attacking with her forward tilt on Hylian Skies.
=== Misc. ===
SSF2 - Classic mode - Samus.png|Samus's congratulations screen on Classic mode.
SSF2 - All-Star mode - Samus.png|Samus's congratulations screen on All-Star mode.
== Trivia ==
*With authorization from McLeodGaming, Samus's sprites were used on a video for Screw Attack's One Minute Melee.
*Samus's early artwork was based on a victory pose that she makes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
== References ==
== External link ==
*Samus's page at Smash Flash DOJO!!!
Category:First-party characters
Category:Starter characters
Category:Veteran characters
Category:Super Smash Flash 2
Category:Super Smash Flash series