Believe it or not, Luigi was a top-tier character in Super Smash Bros. 4’s amiibo metagame! It took trainers quite a while to discover his best move: his jab. That isn’t a joke, by the way — in that game, most top-tier fighters relied on their jabs. If that sounds boring, don’t worry! Things aren’t that simple in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as Luigi is required to use much more of his moveset to be able to properly contend. If you want to learn more about his metagame history, feel free to read his wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!
Special thanks to Staples for contributing Luigi’s training information!
Spirits
If you’re looking to give your amiibo a Spirit team, you’ll want to start here! It’s best to give the FP its full setup at Level 1, as feeding it Spirits will automatically adjust any training data it already has. If you’ve already trained your FP to Level 50, it’s still okay to give it Spirits — you’ll just need to play a few matches afterward to refresh its playstyle. If you want more detailed information on how Spirits work in this game, please refer to our full Spirits guide. In the meantime, here are some builds that work well on Luigi:
- Banned bonuses: The most optimal build for Luigi is Armor Knight plus Trade-Off Ability ↑. This combination provides its user with massive boosts to attack and defense (1.15x and 1.8x, respectively). Instadrop and Landing Lag ↓ is another popular setup; these two skills worth in tandem with each other to expand Luigi’s combo game and make him more fun to watch!
- Tournament-legal bonuses: Other Spirit effects that work well on Luigi include Physical Attack ↑, Trade-Off Ability ↑, and Air Defense ↑, and Toss & Meteor. You could also choose to run two Physical Attack ↑ Support skills if you like. Pick and choose between the three, depending on which effects you’re most interested in!
- Raid Boss bonuses: If you’re training a Raid Boss but don’t want to make use of any of the Spirit effects listed above, you can try a setup including Physical Attack ↑, Move Speed ↑, and Landing Lag ↓ instead.
Regarding stat distribution, keep your FP’s spread balanced as best you can (2100 / 2100) and then make sure its Spirit-type is Neutral so it avoids losing Spirit-type matchups in the future. Once you’ve finalized your FP’s Spirit team, it’s time to start training! Choose one of the guides listed below.
Competitive Training
When training your Luigi amiibo, you should be playing as Luigi for the best results possible. You’ll want to almost exclusively walk — except when using a dash attack. In addition, stay on-stage at all times, as Luigi’s recovery is easily exploited by aerial-happy opponents. Parrying comes highly recommended, as Luigi can then punish with a forward smash or Super Jump Punch and get in some free damage! Here’s everything an optimal Luigi’s moveset includes, then:
- Dash attack might not look very powerful, but make no mistake — it’s one of Luigi’s best moves. It propels him forward and strikes multiple times; Ultimate’s AI drops its guard after blocking the first hit, which makes dash attack great for getting past opponents’ shields.
- Super Jump Punch is an incredibly powerful uppercut attack that launches its victims directly upward. It’s well-suited for low-percent KOs! When using Super Jump Punch, hit the sweetspot as often as possible — this may be easier when your FP is at a low level.
- Luigi Cyclone is another strong multi-hit move, and with more potent kill power than dash attack. When attacking with Luigi Cyclone, only do so while grounded — aerial usage is risky, especially off-stage (where Luigi shouldn’t be anyway).
- Forward smash is a great kill move that can be used after a parry, up smash catches landings, and down smash hits opponents directly behind Luigi. Use all three during training.
- Forward tilt and down tilt are good close-range tools. The latter can combo into a dash attack! Neutral air and back air are your main landing moves.
Luigi’s grab can occasionally be mixed in as well, but it’s risky thanks to its sluggish nature. Once the FP is grabbed, an up throw can combo into an up air (or, more rarely, a Super Jump Punch). In addition, a down throw can lead into two forward airs or you can just use a back throw to KO. Forward throw doesn’t achieve much, so there’s no need to use it. Avoid Green Missile as well; it has massive startup and ending lag, and Luigi’s AI is hard-coded to use it to recover (so you don’t need to teach it to use Green Missile for horizontal distance). Lastly, Luigi is one of only a few FPs who is vulnerable to taunt loops, in which he will continuously taunt over and over again until he is attacked or grabbed. Kirby is also affected by this issue, particularly with his down taunt. While training Luigi, avoid taunting at all costs — yes, you’ll even want to avoid using his down taunt at the ledge.
Raid Boss Training
The best way to level up an amiibo is through mirror matches! This means you’ll have to play as Luigi as you train your Luigi amiibo. Don’t have it face CPUs or other FPs — at least, not with its learning switched on. Keep Luigi on-stage at all times, as his recovery – despite consisting of both Green Missile and Super Jump Punch – is easily intercepted by human opponents. Here’s a complete list of all the attacks you should focus on teaching:
- Neutral attack, forward tilt, and down tilt should all be rotated at close range. The latter can also combo into itself or into a dash attack. More rarely, you can move in and attack with a sweetspotted Super Jump Punch.
- Luigi’s grab is rather slow, but it’s got an above-average range to compensate. His down throw leads into two forward airs, his up throw combos into an up air, and his back throw can KO at high percentages. Forward throw is just about useless, so don’t bother with it.
- Up tilt, up smash, and up air are Luigi’s preferred anti-airs. Use all of these attacks when your FP is above you and trying to land.
- Neutral air can be used to secure a safe landing. Forward air and back air should both be used offensively.
- Forward smash is a solid grounded kill move. It’s quite fast for a smash attack, though its range is a bit short. Still, forward smash is good to mix in anyway!
- A small bit of down smash and landing down airs can be sprinkled in as well, though these moves shouldn’t be prioritized too heavily.
You’ll want to avoid using Fireball, Green Missile, and Luigi Cyclone during training; in the case of the former, the AI often uses its Fireballs at inappropriate times, such as when directly next to an opponent. And while Luigi Cyclone is strong against other FPs, the AI occasionally gets ahead of itself and uses it too often against humans — where it’s easily punished. As a side note, if you want to know more about how amiibo learn in this game, feel free to read our general training guide or just bookmark it for later.
Wrap-Up
To this very day, there’s lots of potential and tournament results left to find with Luigi. He used to be lacking in dedicated trainers, but a few popped up and racked up some impressive competitive wins! As such, the character has been well-optimized. But if you have any questions during your training, you can ask them all at our Discord server! We host online tournaments there too, and if you want to learn how to enter one, please refer to our tour entry guide. We’d also appreciate you taking a look at our Patreon or donation box if our guides have helped you out. Thanks so much for reading! Until next time — happy training!
If you would like to read more amiibo training guides, please follow this link.
