For those who don’t play Super Smash Bros., a zero to death is when one player kills the other player without getting hit at all. Byleth’s zero to death on Donkey Kong is guaranteed, which means that if a Byleth player lands the first hit, there’s nothing the Donkey Kong player can do. What’s truly absurd is that the zero to death only requires two moves: up-special and neutral-arial.
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The zero to death starts with Byleth landing an up-special on Donkey Kong. His up-special grabs DK and sends both him and DK up. He then follows up with a neutral air which places DK right in range for a second up B. He then repeats the up-special to neutral air, which sends DK off the top blast zone, killing him.
Byleth has been a controversial character since the Nintendo Direct, and this has only added fuel to the fire. Smash games, with the exception of Smash 64, don’t traditionally contain guaranteed zero to deaths. So it makes sense that some players are disappointed by the inclusion of this one, especially because it’s so easy to pull off. Other fans have reacted with glee, as some feel Donkey Kong is overpowered.
Some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans are worried that Byleth is another sign of power creep in the DLC characters. Most of the DLC characters have been very powerful upon release, with Joker even becoming a top tier character. Nintendo does have a reason to incentives players to buy the DLC characters, which cost $5.99 each.
However anytime a new character is introduced, it will seem powerful, because players haven’t learned the counter-play yet. It seems premature to judge how powerful Byleth is until the meta settles. And with the promise of new DLC characters on the horizon, most players will find something new to argue about.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out now for the Nintendo Switch.
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