Smash 4 Character Opinions/Villager

Aaaaaand we're back. Today we're talking about Smash 4's only representative from the Animal Crossing series, Villager, who will probably be the only representative for a while. What's that? You want (insert Animal Crossing character here) in Smash? Whelp, too bad. They can stay in the background of Town and City and Smashville for all eternity. It was hard enough for Sakurai to design a moveset for one Animal Crossing character. Heck, his up special is from a different game entirely. Anyways, let's take a look at the character, shall we?

## Moveset and playstyle

Overall, I think Villager has one of the most unique movesets in all of Smash 4. So let's begin.

Villager has a slingshot for his forward air and back air. This can be used in various ways. It can be used to gain stage control in the neutral game, for combos, and even for kills at high percentages with his back air. Overall, they're one of Villager's best tools.

For his up air and down air, Villager pulls out one to three turnips to hit his/her opponents. (I usually go with the default male skin because all of the others kinda suuuuuck.) This is completely random, and the more turnips Villager pulls, the stronger the attack. If Villager gets three turnips with a down air, the attack gains a meteor effect. Three turnips with an up air can also be good for killing. Speaking of kill moves...

Villager's forward smash, in which he pulls out a bowling ball and drops it, is one of the strongest smash attacks in the game. He can also use his down special Timber to kill. In this move, Villager plants a tree, waters it, and pulls out an ax to chop it down. The tree must be hit twice to be cut down with the ax, but it does disappear after a limited amount of time. While Timber is an amazing kill move, it is technically a projectile, and as such, can be reflected, absorbed, or pocketed. More on pockets in a bit. If reflected or pocketed, it gains more power. A pocketed tree is a one-hit KO if another Villager pockets your tree and throws it at you. Or it can be an instant shield break, which is even more embarassing, but less effective. I find that when I'm playing against my friend's Villager with my Mario, we both have to make the correct read so one of us doesn't get hit by the tree. The tree itself has a ton of hitboxes, so if Villager misses the opponent cutting down the tree at first, if they're stupid, they may run into the tree and be caught off guard by the lingering hitbox.

Oh yeah, and you can also kill with the ax. My bad.

Villager's edgeguarding game is amazing. Before an opponent can recover, he can drop a bowling ball or a tree to prevent them from making it back to the stage. He can also go offstage and use his slingshot to push them just that little bit extra away.

Villager's up special, Balloon Trip, gives him the tallest recovery in the game (not counting Kirby who can gain the Jump Monado Art after inhaling Shulk). His side special, Lloid Rocket, can also be used for horizontal recoveries, as he can either send the rocket towards the stage or ride it back.

## My opinions on Villager mains

Being an avid Villager player myself as well as being friends with a Villager main, I've learned a lot about this character, and I have a blast playing with and against good Villager players. Villager mains are hard to come by in the United States (he's more popular in Japan), so when I see a Villager in For Glory or I play my friend, I know I'm going to be in for a good time.

## Experiences with Villager

One time, I was playing Mario against my friend's Villager, and whenever he planted a tree, we found ourselves in this weird situation where I had my cape ready, and he had his ax ready, which meant that either I would get hit by the tree, or he would get hit by the tree after I reflected it, which would mean he would take even more damage than I would.

Also apparently I beat him in the ditto. I'm better with his main than he is.