Soon after the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Mii Gunner established itself as a brand-new top-tier fighter. How surprising! It had been tragically underrepresented in Super Smash Bros. 4, so seeing a previously underutilized character perform so well was a great change of pace! If you want to learn more about Mii Gunner’s metagame history – and there sure is a lot of it – then head over to its corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!

Special thanks to penguhr for contributing Mii Gunner’s training information!

Spirits

If you’d like to equip your Figure Player with a set of Spirits, we recommend doing so sooner rather than later. Each Spirit actually changes an FP’s personality and move priorities, which waters down any training already stored on the figure. You can still give your FP a Spirit team at Level 50, but you’ll have to play a few brush-up matches afterward to refresh its skills. At any rate, here are some viable bonuses to use on Mii Gunner:

• Banned bonuses: The Mii Gunner’s best Spirit effect is Great Autoheal. It takes up all three bonus slots, and can only be found on the Celebi Support Spirit — which, in turn, can only be found randomly via the Spirit Board. The amount of health Great Autoheal recovers is crazy, which makes it well worth its weight.
• Tournament-legal bonuses: If you’d like to enter a competitive tournament that follows our ban list, then you should consider using Energy-Shot Attack ↑, Fire & Explosion Attack ↑, Air Defense ↑, Trade-Off Ability ↑, or Critical-Health Stats ↑. Pick any three! You could also use Critical Healing & Metal plus Critical Immunity, or a blank slot to nab some extra stats.
• Raid Boss bonuses: For a Raid Boss, Great Autoheal is undeniably the strongest Spirit effect — that being said, it’s so strong that some players may flat-out refuse to take on a Mii Gunner with Great Autoheal. Only use this bonus if you’re okay with enraging anybody who dares challenge your super-charged Raid Boss.

Your FP’s stats can either be balanced (2100 / 2100) or leaning into attack power (2500 / 1700). If you’re using the Great Autoheal Spirit effect and really want people to hate you, you can load up on defense (0 / 4200). Regardless of the kind of Spirits and stats you use, make sure your FP’s Spirit-type remains Neutral so that it doesn’t lose any Spirit-type matchups later on.

Competitive Training

The Mii Gunner’s optimal custom moves are Grenade Launch, Stealth Burst, Arm Rocket, and Bomb Drop. Unfortunately, we won’t actually be using any of them during training — except for Arm Rocket when recovering, of course! While raising your FP, be sure to walk instead of run. This will help it to “think” more clearly in tournament matches. Here’s a full list of the moves you should teach your FP as it levels up:

• Forward smash is largely responsible for Mii Gunner’s top-tier placement. Opposing FPs often can’t find a way to deal with its incredible range! Use it whenever your FP is within the attack’s line of fire.
• Forward tilt is best used at point-blank range. For this move, the Mii Gunner lets loose a green burst of energy that deals respectable damage and knockback.
• Up smash and up air should be used to catch your FP’s landing. Up air, in particular, boasts a ridiculously large range. Up throw to up air juggling also KOs lightweight opponents surprisingly early.
• Down smash and down tilt should be used at the ledge. They’re both effective at reading the opponent’s get-up options. Down smash can also occasionally be used as a neutral tool.
• Neutral air is your primary landing option. It should also be used off-stage to edgeguard your FP as it tries to recover. Off-stage neutral airs help Mii Gunner in matchups against fighters with poor recoveries (such as Little Mac and Bowser).

Try your best to stick to using only the attacks listed above. You’ll want to avoid any neutral or side specials during training, as the AI likes using them out of full or short hops (which leaves it vulnerable). Mii Gunner’s down, forward, and back aerials are slow and rather outclassed by neutral aerial — plus, the AI occasionally spams its down air to little benefit. It tends to use its up tilt facing the wrong direction, too. And finally, dash attack is too slow to be worth using and jab is outclassed by most of Mii Gunner’s other moves.

Raid Boss Training

The Mii Gunner’s optimal Raid Boss custom moves are Grenade Launch, Gunner Missile, Arm Rocket, and Bomb Drop. In contrast to the previous section, we actually are going to be using some of these special moves, so you’ll have to create a Mii to play as that has the same custom moves as your FP. The Mii Gunner’s aerials are rather awkward off-stage (at least when fighting human players), so keep yours on-stage at all times. Here are all the moves to focus on during your training sessions:

• Neutral attack and forward tilt are your go-to close-range moves. The Mii Gunner’s jab is rather fast, while its forward tilt is a bit slower but has additional range and power.
• Grabs and dash grabs are important here. In terms of throws, either use an up throw to up air combo or toss the FP toward the nearest ledge.
• Neutral air should be used both out of a short hop and to secure a safe landing. Forward air and back air are both solid aerials that should see occasional use as well.
• Gunner Missile can be spammed from afar to great effect. The Mii Gunner’s AI can learn to camp with Gunner Missile, and this strategy works incredibly well when paired with the Great Autoheal Spirit effect.
• Bomb Drop can occasionally be used far above the stage to deal damage to your FP if it’s still on the ground. Grenade Launch can be charged and fired while standing at the ledge (with the intent of hitting your FP as it recovers).
• Up smash, up air, and up tilt can all be used to juggle your FP whenever it’s above you. As mentioned before, up air can be used after an up throw for great damage!

Stick to the moves listed above and you’ll be all set. If you haven’t actually trained your FP yet and are reading this guide in advance, here’s a word of caution — once you assign a Mii character to your FP, you can’t change it unless you delete its training data. It’s a frustrating quirk that can’t be avoided without hacking, so make sure you’re giving your amiibo the Mii you want it to use forever!

Wrap-Up

Thanks so much for reading! The Mii Gunner’s optimal training strategy is incredibly simple, but it works all too well. That’s the beauty of amiibo training, right? If you have any questions you’d like to have answered, you’re welcome to join our Discord server and ask away. If you want to learn how to join one of our online tournaments, check out our tour entry guide. As always, if you like what you read today, we’ve also got a Patreon and a donation box to help keep the site up and running. Until next time — happy training!

If you would like to read more amiibo training guides, please follow this link.

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