The wait for the final character of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first Fighters Pass is over, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses protagonist Byleth is way stronger than anyone expected. Some players have already been pulling off some unreal combos with Byleth within the first hours of the 7.0 update, and if these early impressions translate into competitive play, then they may even be slightly overpowered.
Up until tonight, most of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community hype for Byleth’s arrival has been effectively drowned out by groans of players fed up with creator Masahiro Sakurai’s alleged obsession with adding characters from the Fire Emblem universe, as the introduction of Byleth brings the total number of Fire Emblem characters up to eight. Vocal Western players have complained that not only is Byleth from an already over-represented franchise, but that their status as sword-wielder, of which there are already over a dozen, further makes their presence in the roster redundant. It’s fairly understandable why so many players are upset that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would play it safe like this when more exciting fighters like Banjo & Kazooie and Piranha Plant have miraculously made the cut.
Those same critics may now be eating their words, however. Playing much more like Ike than Lucina or Marth in terms of weight and speed, Byleth plays like a more agile Ganondorf with somewhat slow but insanely heavy-hitting attacks. Most dangerous about Byleth is their easy-to-master juggling combos, masterfully demonstrated in a Twitter video by Super Smash Bros. YouTuber Alpharad. Byleth’s up-special seems ripe for quasi-abuse, with their aerial attack game already having birthed numerous bread-and-butter combos that will make Byleth mains tough to counter at any level of play, as exemplified by astounded pro player Squerk on Twitter, who seems a little concerned this fighter might be genuinely game-breaking. Check out their videos below:
Several players have also already discovered that Byleth’s up-special can also be used to grab on to the bottom of stages. Using their trademark Sword of the Creator as a whip, Byleth can latch onto any horizontal or diagonal surface with considerable range, meaning that launch recovery may be easier with them than any other fighter in the game. Version 7.0’s character changes listed in Nintendo’s official patch notes may challenge Byleth’s potential eminence, but online players may have to get used to being Byleth mains’ punching bags until counters inevitably enter the meta.
Overall, it can be admitted that Byleth joining the battle isn’t particularly exciting for most non-Fire Emblem fans, but the character’s introduction clearly brings forth the most powerful character in the original Fighters Pass. Left unchecked, Byleth might go down as one of the strongest in the entire roster, but it’s anyone’s guess what kind of combo-heavy monsters might be lurking in the next batch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC.
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Source: Alpharad/Twitter, Squerk/Twitter, Nintendo
