Luigi

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH—Luigi takes a step forward and delivers a swift strike with his fingers, but the range on this is quite limited. You can aim this slightly up or down.

DOWN SMASH—Luigi performs a double-legged sweep attack that pops your opponent up off the ground.

UP SMASH—Luigi swings his body forward as he delivers a massive headbutt.

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack—Luigi’s standing jab leads into a three-hit string that does a total of 10 damage and pops your opponent up into the air and away.

Forward Tilt—Luigi kicks forward. This can be aimed slightly upward or downward, but all variations deliver the same damage.

Up Tilt—Luigi clubs his opponent with an overhead downward strike. Not much damage but fast recovery.

Down Tilt—Luigi crouches and kicks out a low attack directly in front of him, popping your opponent up into the air.

Dash Attack—Luigi delivers a flurry of punches while running forward!

Edge Attack—Luigi pulls himself up from the edge while simultaneously performing a double-legged sweep.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack—Luigi’s standard jump kick attack lasts for a long while, making it fairly useful. Use it early in your jump arc.

Up Air Attack—This flipkick is best used against opponents above Luigi and deals solid damage.

Down Air Attack—A drillkick attack best used when approaching opponents from above.

Forward Air Attack—Another overhead punch attack, this time from the air. Use this with fast fall against grounded opponents.

Back Air Attack—This reverse dropkick is great, as it has great range and keeps the rest of Luigi’s body away from your opponent.

Special Attacks

Fireball (Neutral Special)—Luigi hurls his Fireball straight ahead. The fireball rotates through the air and bounces off walls. It differs from Mario’s fireball in that it’s not affected by gravity.

Green Missile (Side Special)—Luigi charges up before blasting himself headfirst toward your opponent. The longer his Green Missile is charged, the farther Luigi is launched. If Green Missile is charged for too long, however, Luigi gets tired and needs some time before he is able to use this attack again. Additionally, there is a 1 in 8 chance this move will blast extra far (and deliver extra damage). But if Luigi uses it with a wall nearby, he might get his head stuck in that wall, so use with caution!

Super Jump Punch (Up Special)—Luigi’s Super Jump Punch is similar to Mario’s except when it comes to damage—it does the most damage at the very beginning, so he needs to be extremely close to your opponent for Super Jump Punch to deal a lot of damage. If he’s farther away, it will deal only 1 point of damage!

Luigi Cyclone (Down Special)—With both arms outstretched, Luigi spins around. You can control Luigi horizontally during his animation. Tapping the Special button repeatedly causes Luigi to rise vertically during this attack.

Final Smash

Poltergust 5000—Luigi whips out his Poltgergust 5000 vaccuum and begins sucking up nearby opponents. Anyone sucked into the vaccuum takes damage the entire time they are trapped within, so the earlier you get someone in, the better! After Luigi is done sucking opponents in, he blows them out for additional damage.

Strategy

Luigi has good mobility, good Air attacks, good Tilt attacks, and great recovery options. Because Luigi is an average weight character, all of this definitely comes in handy. Use his mobility to avoid larger, stronger characters while simultaneously using his Fireballs to tack on damage whenever possible. Also note about that Luigi slides after walking—you can use this slide to quickly turn around and jab in the opposite direction to keep your opponents at bay. You can also slide and charge up his FORWARD and DOWN SMASH attacks. Luigi’s Air attacks are each named to fit their actions appropriately. So, although it may seem obvious, when you are airborne, it’s important to use his Back Air attack against opponents behind you, his Down Air attack against opponents below you, and his Up Air attack for opponents in front of you. If he’s surrounded, go for the Luigi Cyclone instead.

When playing Luigi, you always have to weigh the risks and rewards of using Green Missile and Super Jump Punch. While Green Missile is an effective long-range attack, if you catch it on a bad charge, Luigi may overshoot his target and fly off the stage or collide with a wall. If you try to use his Super Jump Punch to KO an opponent, you have to be sure you’re close enough for the attack to deal its full damage or you will only deal 1 point of damage before leaving yourself completely vulnerable. So, set up your opponent with one or two jab attacks to get in range, letting you deal the full damage of Super Jump Punch! Out of shield, your best bet is to go with an UP SMASH attack.

Luigi is one of the only characters in the game who has taunts that do damage. For style, use Luigi’s down taunt on an opponent holding onto the edge to send that opponent meteoring to his or her doom!

Recovery

The three main choices Luigi has for recovery are Green Missile, Super Jump Punch, and Luigi Cyclone. Green Missile is best for a horizontal recovery, as the longer you charge it, the more Luigi can recover. If spaced and timed correctly, when Luigi glides over a small platform with Green Missile, he can actually land normally and avoid his recovery. So, on stages like Battlefield, try recovering to one of the upper platforms. Super Jump Punch is great for a vertical recovery, especially if you are concerned about an opponent attacking you on your way up. And finally, because Luigi Cyclone can lift Luigi vertically and allows you to control him horizontally, it’s one of his best tools to recover without being predictable. You can even use Luigi Cyclone multiple times in a row to bait your opponent into attacking prematurely.