Vajra

I thought this is pretty hilarious. ^-^

That would make it a really good move, maybe even broken, if it retains the meteor property. ^-^ D-tilt had a very limited use in SSBB due to it being pretty slow, and it's good to see it being utilized more now. It's probably Ike's new bread and butter, successor to his godly jab.

Considering his weight, Ike in SSB4 has surprisingly good frame data for landing lag. Many heavies, like Bowser and Charizard, have far more frames of lag on their aerials. ^-^ N-air: 16 F-air: 19 B-air: 19 U-air: 18 It's a subtle buff for Ike, when compared to SSBB's... N-air: 13 F-air: 22 B-air: 22 U-air: 19 Only N-air is nerfed, being given more frames of lag, but still very usable. Landing lag frame data for all characters can be found below. http://smashboards.com/threads/all-character-landing-lag-frame-data.371503/ No. Ike's D-tilt no longer meteors opponents; it's been transformed into a poking tool, given its newfound speed.

Yep. Awakening was, for many players, their first FE after all. Such biases are to be expected. As an Ike fan, I'd gladly welcome Chrom into Smash Bros., though Robin is a better choice as his unique characteristics help to diversify FE representation in the franchise. This decision, along with Lucina's inclusion, has done away with many of the western audience's perception that the premise of FE revolves around "blue-haired sword-wielders" as well as the franchise being forever confined to having at most two representatives. ^-^

Jak II (PS2/PS3) It was a nightmare especially to achieve platinum for the remastered port. ^-^

Very nice. I do recall those names from the Brawl era. ^-^ Those were what made Ike a competitive threat in SSBB, yes, and we will miss them. Of course, that does not mean there cannot be any new discoveries for Ike in this iteration. The Wii U version will surely open more possibilities, thanks to more optimal control options, such as the C-Stick. Ike does seem to be given some of the better customs, compared to many others in the cast, which address some of his problems, like recovery. His placement on the tier list would probably rise considerably if customs are factored into the critieria. By the way, do you have a Smashboards account? There is a forum dedicated to Ike. Topics found here include a social thread, a moveset and metagame thread, a match-up thread, and more. The many Ike mains you find in this forum, including the reputable San, are very knowledgeable of the character. This is easily the best place to seek any tips and advice to improve your Ike. Join the club! http://smashboards.com/threads/greil-mercenaries-ike-users-friend-finder-thread.369633/ (Ike Users & Friend Finder Thread) http://smashboards.com/threads/friends-being-fought-for-ike-social-thread.356166/ (Ike Social Thread) ^-^

If you want to see him farther up the list, then we Ike mains need to work together to further revolutionize his metagame, much like how San and others did in the past; better tourney results with Ike will especially help. The question is whether or not SSBB Ike has reached his peak metagame; in other words, what else he may be capable of. The fact that he had the best jab in that game along with the ability to cancel with it was a major hallmark of his metagame. Now that he has lost the ability to reliably cancel his jab, as well as dealing less damage, we will have to reinvent the way we play Ike in order to prevent him from falling farther to the bottom. ^-^

It took two years since SSBB's release for Ike's potential to be realized. Ike went down every successive tier list until his lowest position in the fourth list. Ever since San's 9th place finish at Apex 2010, the competitive community's views on Ike have changed, which allowed him to escape low tier. Ryo's efforts would then further consolidate Ike's placement in mid tier from that point on. Ike has made it out of low tier before, and, from the look of things, it is still possible for him to do it again. ^-^

Exactly. It is one thing to be put into loser's bracket; fighting one's way out of that bracket is another, especially amidst a sea of perceived top tier characters. ^-^ SSB4 is looking to be the most balanced Smash Bros. yet as there does not seem to be any character that is obnoxiously broken, like SSBB Meta Knight, nor is there a character that is atrociously bad, such as SSBB Ganondorf.

A player named Ryuga made it to the Youmacon 2014 Grand Finals as Ike. He has taken sets off of a Sheik, R.O.B., Greninja, and even Rosaluma. And this was done without the use of any customs! Although he ultimately lost to Diddy Kong and finished 2nd, the fact that a perceived bottom tier character can hold its own against those that are deemed far superior in a competitive environment is a visual spectacle. If Ike really is the worst character in this game, what does that say about this game's balance? Don't lose hope, Ike mains. With enough perseverance, anything is possible. ^-^ The following videos below are footage of Ike at the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlp4j9m9qAU&list=UU5WNBHwgluAwWJE5QV-5_TA (Ike vs. Sheik) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv9JFoPikVQ&index=5&list=UU5WNBHwgluAwWJE5QV-5_TA (Ike vs. Greninja) (Ike vs. R.O.B.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAHbsMG2_FU&index=2&list=UU5WNBHwgluAwWJE5QV-5_TA (Ike vs. Rosaluma)

I am overall satisfied with how Ike turned out in this iteration, except for his loss of jab canceling and the reverse Aether nerf. ^-^ There are two buffs I think he should have gotten, though: Down Smash should send foes flying at a more horizontal trajectory. This is somewhat disappointing as the vertical knockback is retained from SSBB. Ike already has Up Smash for that, which also inflicts more damage and has more range. Despite Down Smash's damage buff and quicker start-up, there is still little incentive of using it as it is once again overshadowed by Up Smash. Quick Draw should be able to used together with Aether to recover. Ike's recovery is actually already buffed in SSB4, just not enough. It is now possible to use Aether after Quick Draw to recover, but only if the midair slash swings. I would have liked to see his recovery to be similar to that of Fox's and Falco's, both of which can freely follow up with their specials.

Still waiting on the Wii U version. My plan is to main Ike as I did in the previous, along with Shulk as a possible secondary. There looks to be some moveset similarity with the two, such as both characters have a 3-hit attack comprising of a punch, kick, and slash, as well as a neutral aerial attack that swings in a wide arc. They even share the same damage animation. ^-^