Min Min from Nintendo’s ARMS series was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Fighter Pass 2on Monday. The lanky-armed boxer is the first character from the boxing franchise to make it into the Nintendo Switch’s definitive fighting game, and even though Min Min won't join the fray until June 29, her inclusion breaks one of the Smash Bros. series’ unofficial cardinal rules: If the character exists in the game as an Assist Trophy or Spirit, they won’t become a playable character. Now, all bets are off.
Min Min, a character from Nintendo’s other fighting game, Arms, brings the Smash Ultimate roster to a number so staggering you really don’t even need to keep count anymore. Min Min is a downloadable character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the first fighter in Fighters Pass Volume 2. The announcement of an inclusion of a character from ARMS was made on March 26, 2020 during the Nintendo Direct Mini before her proper reveal on June 22, 2020 during a presentation from Masahiro Sakurai.
While Nintendo has never confirmed this rule to be true, Smash Bros. fans have long considered it to be a law that will never be broken. But Min Min has been a Spirit in Smash Ultimate since the game’s release in December 2018. Does that mean long-requested characters that are currently Assist Trophies or Spirits could one day make it to the game’s roster?
Technically, yes.
Many leaks and rumors about what fighter could be added to Smash Ultimate Ssh key agent. next have been shunned by the game’s fans because Nintendo added the character in question as a Spirit or Assist Trophy, but those days might be over.
While Nintendo still has never added a fighter that is already an Assist Trophy into a Smash Bros. title, the addition of Min Min made it clear that the company is willing to create fighters for characters that have already been somewhat included in the game. That means these any of these three long-rumored fighters could be included as part of Fighter Pass 2.
3. Geno
Geno is one of the two original characters from the SNES title Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) and has been in the running as a potential addition to Smash Bros. since Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Nintendo Wii. The possessed doll was only ever featured in the SNES game, which is considered to be one of the best games on the system.
Geno is already Spirit in Smash Ultimate, but so was Min Min until recently. In fact, Smash Bros. Game Director Masahiro Sakurai even attempted to put Geno in Smash Bros. Brawl, but that never came to fruition for unknown reasons.
“Geno was actually a character I wanted to include as a fighter,” Sakurai told Nintendo Dream in 2016. “He has a gun for an arm, and just seems like he’d fit absolutely perfectly into Smash. I was hoping I’d be able to put him in as far back as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but unfortunately, that never ended up materializing.”
Could Smash Ultimate be Geno’s moment in the spotlight?
2. Leon from Resident Evil
There have been rumors Leon would join Smash Bros. since 2015 when Sakurai stated that Nintendo planned to add “one or two” more third-party characters to Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. That never came to pass, but rumors about a Resident Evil DLC fighter resurfaced in October.
Fans of the survival-horror who had long hoped for Leon to be added to Smash Bros. lost that hope when Nintendo added him as a Spirit in November 2019. Min Min’s announcement has reignited the Leon in Smash dream.
Resident Evil 4 (2005) was a GameCube exclusive that garnered rave reviews and is considered one of the best ever games for the platform. Plus, the original Resident Evilwas ported to the Switch, making the addition of Leon at least feasible.
1. Waluigi
Finally, there is a glimmer of hope left for the maniacal, mustachioed Waluigi to be added as a part of Fighter Pass 2. While Nintendo still has not released a playable fighter that is also an Assist Trophy, Min Min’s addition is proof that the company is willing to throw anyone in the roster as long as they’re fun to play.
Sakurai mentioned during Terry Bogard’s Smash Ultimate announcement that as long as the character is enjoyable and unique, Nintendo will look past how well-known they are and potentially even company traditions.
'Whether or not the character is fun to play as is more important than whether the character is new or old, or whether the character is recognizable to everyone,” he said during the presentation.
Smash Ultimate Min Min Back Air
In other words: Now, more than ever, there’s still hope for Waluigi fans!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimatereceived its eighth major update on June 29, which buffed some of the game’s weakest fighters and added Min Min from Nintendo’s ARMS franchise to the roster as part of the Fighters Pass 2. Despite some mixed initial reactions, several pros have revealed their update tier lists after the 8.0 update, and some of them rate Min Min rather high.
Any time Nintendo tweaks the Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, it creates a ripple effect on what characters the world’s greatest Smash contenders consider to be the best. Patch 8.0 didn’t touch some fighters — like Pikachu and Joker — which have long been considered some of the most powerful characters in the game, but it also buffed some characters that traditional fall rather low on most tier lists.
It’s still early for Smash Ultimate’s patch 8.0, plus with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there haven’t been any in-person tournaments that many pro players rely on to test the limits of the game’s characters. Many online tournaments have been held during this period, but Smash Ultimate’s notoriouslyspotty netplay can make characters that wouldn’t be good offline better in laggy situations and vice versa.
The Smash Ultimate community might still need a few more weeks to figure out exactly how Min Min and these newly buffed fighters stack up side-by-side, but here are a few early tier lists after the 8.0 update:
Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby 8.0 tier list
Dabuz is currently among the top 10Smash Ultimate players in the world. Prog for mac. He posted an updated tier list to Twitter on July 5 with some notable shake-ups. Dabuz clarified that his rankings were solely based on how patch 8.0 would affect offline play.
“This was for offline btw, you guys and myself aren't ready to theorycraft a netplay tier list for 8.0 patch,” he tweeted.
Dabuz ranks Min Min as a 'High Tier Fighter,' which is probably his most polarizing choice. He didn’t explain his reasoning, but Dabuz is known for playing characters with specialized mechanics, like Olimar and Rosalina & Luma. It’s possible that he sees some potential in Min Min’s ability to throw out a flurry of long-ranged attacks.
Aside from that, Dabuz put Captain Falcon and Falco in high tier after they both received significant buffs in patch 8.0. Both of those fighters were typically ranked as mid tier before the latest patch.
Shockingly, Dabuz put Pichu and Lucas among some of the worst characters in the game. Both characters have more powerful echo fighters — Pikachu in Pichu’s case and Ness in Lucas’ case — which has typically made them a second thought for many top players. But both Pichu and Lucas were ranked much higher by other pros previously.
Smash Ultimate tier list by the numbers
While Dabuz’s tier list was based on his experiences and opinions as a top-player, Redditor FunBuns_Unicrons put together a ranking of the characters that perform the best in tournaments on average.
This tier list does not include Min Min since she hasn’t been used in a major tournament just yet, but by using some preliminary impressions of her strengths and weaknesses, we can ballpark a spot for her.
Smash Ultimate Min Min Trailer
Many players consider Min Min to be a counter-pick character, or a fighter that is only extremely effective against specific members of the cast. Min Min has the ability to destroy big-bodied characters like King K. Rool and fighters with weak recoveries because of her incredible range.
However, Min Min needs to stay within a certain range of her opponents to be effective. That means characters that have the tools to rush in on her, like Pikachu and Zero Suit Samus, will win over her most of the time.
Min Min will have a tough time against many of the established top-tier characters. And her hit-or-miss matchup spread makes her a solid mid-tier combatant in our estimation. But it’s too early to make a definitive claim. Players will need to continue testing out her unique abilities to get a full understanding of exactly where she ranks among the Smash Ultimate cast.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available for the Nintendo Switch.