Kirby’s amiibo figure was first released on November 21, 2014, and is compatible with both Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Kirby is considered mid-to-high tier in Super Smash Bros. 4 and high-tier in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Exion has several resources regarding Kirby’s amiibo. Its Super Smash Bros. 4 training guide can be found here, its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competitive guide here, and its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Raid Boss guide here.
Super Smash Bros. 4
Kirby was ranked in the B+ tier in Exion’s final Super Smash Bros. 4 tier list. In contrast to his low placement on the competitive Smash 4 tier list (human-versus-human), Kirby is actually a rather viable Figure Player. He boasts a fast and powerful set of physical attacks; his tilts are great at building up damage and his smash attacks are among the most useful in the game. His forward smash, in particular, allows Kirby to safely attack opponents with Explosive perfect shield. It also deals high damage and its clean hit inflicts respectable knockback. Kirby also benefits from an excellent recovery; he can use several double jumps, and if for some reason they aren’t enough, he can utilize his custom up special Upper Cutter for even greater distance.
Unfortunately, Kirby is not without his flaws. He is one of the lightest characters in Smash 4; in a metagame where Bowser and Ganondorf run rampant, this trait is a liability. Kirby’s range is also quite lacking; his forward smash is an exception, though, as it pushes him forward a bit. His greatest flaw, however, is his appetite. Kirby’s AI has a severe issue with spamming Inhale, which it uses as often as it would a regular grab. If left unchecked, a Kirby FP will eventually use nothing but Inhale. Furthermore, the AI uses almost all of its copy abilities incorrectly and at inappropriate times. For example, it cannot learn to charge moves like Donkey Kong’s Giant Punch or Ness’s PK Flash, and will instead attempt to use these moves uncharged and right next to the opponent.
Despite his flaws, Kirby remained a solid contender throughout the history of the Smash 4 metagame. Cloud, Glenn, DONkLE, Supernova, and FarmingSim all found moderate success with the character; that being said, most of Kirby’s tournament wins came from roster-restricted competitions. If you would like to learn how to train a Kirby amiibo in Super Smash Bros. 4, you can access our full training guide here.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Kirby is – in theory, at least – one of the main beneficiaries of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s revamped AI routines. It can now be trained to aggressively attack opponents off-stage, meaning that – once again, in theory – Kirby can use his aerials off-stage. Unfortunately, this is not quite the case; though Kirby is capable of leaving the stage to gimp, he often loses off-stage battles against fighters like Ridley and Zelda, which makes aerial play a risk often not worth taking. Fortunately, Kirby’s ground game is solid. His forward smash is even stronger than it was in Smash 4, and serves as both his most reliable damage-racker and best kill move. Optimal Kirby amiibo also mix in dash attack and down tilt, which can KO and combo into a forward smash, respectively. He can also use Final Cutter at the edge to potentially meteor smash enemies with its descending hit. Though Kirby’s optimal playstyle seems restrictive, it has earned him impressive tournament results.
As mentioned previously, Kirby’s AI was hard-coded to spam Inhale in Smash 4. Thankfully, this is no longer the case, and it is now possible to train a Kirby amiibo that never uses its neutral special. That being said, Kirby still cannot use most of his copy abilities correctly, which means Inhale remains a non-viable move for seriously-trained FPs. Moving on to more general problems, Kirby is light and easy to KO, which worsens his matchups against the heavyweight fighters that rule the metagame. Speaking of matchups, Kirby can usually defeat characters ranked lower on the tier list, but he does suffer from a few particularly problematic ones. Bowser, Incineroar, Ness, King K. Rool, and Piranha Plant – in other words, the best fighters in the game – all give Kirby trouble.
Despite his flaws, Kirby is seen as high-tier. Blank, Clockwerk66, Obsessed, and ZeNo have all won tournaments with Kirby, and thus have contributed to his viability. If you would like to learn how to train a competitive-focused Kirby amiibo, feel free to refer to our training guide. If you’d rather train a Raid Boss Kirby amiibo – which is aimed to defeat humans, not AI opponents – you can read the corresponding guide here.
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