Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's latest update introduced Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Pyra and Mythra and balanced existing roster members. Various powerful characters - like Persona 5's Joker and Metroid's Zero Suit Samus - were nerfed, while a handful of other characters were buffed. That included F-Zero's Captain Falcon, who has been a member of the Smash Bros. cast since the series released in 1999, and he could now be one of the game's best characters.
Every time a new patch is released, Smash Ultimate pros create tier lists to rank how viable they believe each character is in a competitive setting. When the title was released late in 2018, Captain Falcon was ranked fairly low by most of the game's best players. Now, after five rounds of buffs, the brawler has surged to the top of pros' Smash Ultimate tier lists.
Top-ranked Smash Ultimate competitor Eric "ESAM" Lew tweeted his ordered list of the game's massive roster. He ranked Captain Falcon as the 15th best character choice out of 80 total fighters. That's no small feat for a character that was once at the bottom of the barrel. So what exactly changed pros' minds about Captain Falcon?
Smash Ultimate: What Has Made Captain Falcon So Strong?
For starters, Captain Falcon has always had the second-fastest run speed in Smash Ultimate, behind Sonic. He also had some of the most devastating aerial attacks in the game, including his forward aerial - Knee Smash - that can K.O. opponents at shockingly low percentages. His biggest issue was setting up his finishers, which were difficult to land and could be punished heavily if they were whiffed.
Nintendo first improved the speed and K.O. power of many of Captain Falcon's movies in the 3.1.0 patch, which provided an overall improvement to his kit. It also made Knee Smash slightly easier to hit, making it notably easier to link into from another aerial. His biggest power boost came after Smash Ultimate's Patch 8.0.0.
That update drastically changed the knockback of Captain Falcon's Side Special, Raptor Boost, which allowed him to link the ability into a myriad of other moves. This gave the character a totally new approach option that could lead to serious damage or potentially a K.O. The most recent 11.0.0 Smash Ultimate patch substantially reduced Captain Falcon's vulnerability after hitting an opponent with his Up Special, his main recovery option. Before this change, skilled Smash players abused Captain Falcon's vulnerability to net easy kills on him by using a technique known as "tech checking."
All in all, one of Captain Falcon's biggest weaknesses has been patched out, and he can consistently combo into his most deadly aerials. It's no wonder he's one of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's rising stars after the game's latest patch.
Source: ESAM/Twitter