Make Your Move 8: -TOP 50 POSTED-

Stats​

Specials​

Empoleon starts off his set with a move that any penguin with super powers should be able to use. This is basically the same Ice Beam that you’d see in any other Pokeset. Empoleon tilts his head slightly back, opens his mouth and fires a thin beam forwards. It has about the range as a low-charge laser from ROB, but it travels much slower. It takes about three quarters of a second for the beam to completely disappear. (1)

The Ice Beam deals about 10% damage, with very high hitstun. It’ll hold the foe in place while the beam passes through, and leave a lingering stun even after that. That said, Empoleon is so slow that you’ll be very hard-pressed to follow this move up with anything. Its starting lag makes it somewhat predictable, might I add.

Ooh, something I forgot to mention. If you use Ice Beam midair, Empoleon will aim the beam diagonally down, instead of firing directly forward. In this manner, you’ll be able to freeze foes on the ground… or even the ground itself.​

When you use Empoleon’s Side Special, he’ll begin a… unique dance. Jumping forward, clapping his flippers together, and even throwing a few butt-shakes in there, he looks like a complete goof. (2) Perhaps it would be best not to tell him that. Anyway, as you dance, you move forward erratically at about your walking speed, while a sound of thunder begins to brew. Each clap that Empoleon makes summons a particularly loud burst, a sign of the storm to come.

After you stop dancing (stop holding B,) Empoleon does one final pose to summon the rain. Use your imagination for what it looks like. The air above where Empoleon had danced through begins to congeal into the shape of rainclouds, which do what they do best… rain. From their lofty position three Ganondorf heights above the battlefield, they’ll continue to rain for a long time: about ten, fifteen seconds. While this doesn’t do much of anything on its own besides increase falling speed, it has interactions with several other moves later on in the set.

…such as Ice Beam, come to think of it! If you manage to get yourself high enough to fire an Ice Beam into the clouds, they’ll begin to hail instead of rain. Hail is a constant-damage, 2pps (%per second) version of the rain, that still has the downwards-pushing effect. It’ll harm you as well as your opponents, so watch out.

…realistically, though, Empoleon is going to be hard-pressed to get up high enough to hit the clouds with an ice beam, especially considering that he fires diagonally down when midair. That being the case, he has another trick up his sleeve. If Empoleon fires an Ice Beam at a puddle of water that he’s created, (via either Rain Dance or his FAir,) the puddle will freeze, creating a low-friction environment. In fact, the ice is so pure, that it doubles as a mirror! And we all know what happens when pure energy hits a mirror… you can bounce an Ice Beam off of frozen ground to hit a cloud far above your head! Clever, no? (3)

Note: The dancing before the rain does have a hitbox… a small, low-priority one. There’s a constant 4% threat as he dances, but the claps can deal 12% with moderate knockback, if the foe happens to be stupid enough to let you hit them with one. Also, this attack doubles as a fourth taunt. Just thought I’d say that. Oh yeah, and puddles formed by the splattering rain will evaporate about 8 seconds after the rainfall halts. The same goes for puddles formed by the upcoming FAir.​

Empoleon really feels out of place in the air, and this meager recovery exemplifies that fact. Much like Wario’s Corkscrew, Empoleon twirls around in midair for this attack. Flippers extended, eyes closed, with a watery aura surrounding him, you can see that he’s making a serious effort to recover as he moves upward.You can angle this move to an extent… holding left will cause him to angle himself in a more counterclockwise fashion; right, clockwise. You’ll be able to recover about the same distance as Lucario’s Up Special by the end, but it takes twice the time. Even so, Empoleon’s body is a very high-priority multi-hit hitbox that can deal 15% at maximum, so it’s probably safe from interruption.

If you use this move on the ground, its low starting lag makes it one of Empoleon’s better offensive options.​

Empoleon plays off of his other type for his Down Special, giving him the chance to actually be useable in an competitive environment. Unfortunately, like many of his other moves, this attack is somewhat laggy to start out with. Empoleon raises both arms above his head, and then presses them both down with hand on top of the other, in front of him. After this motion, he flashes white momentarily, as a change comes over his body. Everything which was blue has now taken on a silver sheen, as if they were affected by a Metal Box. (4) This can be used twice; the second time will affect the golden colors of his body. (5)

You can probably guess what has happened. Empoleon’s already high weight has slightly increased, and he has gained knockback resistance. Anything which deals less than 10% won’t even make him budge. Unfortunately, this also halves his speed, making it that much more difficult for him to launch a counteroffensive. A second use of this move will add another 5% flinch resistance, anti-grab armor, and increase his weight one more stage. In addition, it doubles Empoleon’s damage-dealing potential. Yes, this means that your Up Special can deal 30%.

Of course, the shielding can only take so much abuse before it will break away. The first layer can take up to 40% and the second, 25%. After being broken off, you’ll have to wait a stock before using this move again, meaning that it’s critical to think about what point during the match you use this move. Oh, and the Iron Defense itself counts as a status effect. This may seem obvious, but it still needed to be clarified.

Continued notes: Iron Defense can actually take far more than 65% before breaking. Confused? Rightfully so. You see, a move will actuall have to cause Empoleon to flinch before it passes through his defenses. For example, if Falco continually blasts Empoleon with this laser, his trigger finger will die far before Iron Defense does. However, if Falco gets smart and runs up with an USmash, your metallic armor will take 17% worth of unrepairable damage. Any true combos adding up to greater than Empoleon's total flinch resistance will also break through the initial barrier. Throws and pummels skip the barrier entirely, but since they can't actually be used on Empoleon after the second layer of Iron Defense...

Still confused? Leave a comment to that extent and I'll do my best to explain.​

Standards​

To the untrained eye, this move looks exactly like Empoleon’s Neutral Special. He opens his mouth and moves his head in a similar manner, and even releases a cool substance. This time, however, it’s a (shock) mist. The mist will continually be let out as long as you hold A, potentially covering an area twice the size of Bowser if you hold it out for a few seconds. (6) This serves as a unique shield. Any attack used will be entirely ineffective while inside the mist. Energy attacks will be absorbed, physical attacks will cause a convenient wind current to carry the would-be attacker away, and physical projectiles such as Link’s arrows… well, they’ll still work, but that’s about it.

So how can a foe counter this? By grabbing. Grabs and throws are still entirely useable within, although secondary effects (such as the lasers of Fox’s and Falco’s DThrows) will be absorbed into the mist as usual. In fact, if 20% worth of pain is dealt inside of the mist, it’ll dissipate. Please take note: If you’ve buffed up Empoleon’s weight with an Iron Defense or two, he’ll be too heavy to be picked up by the aforementioned gust of wind, and can still use physical attacks. His Down Smash, Forward Special, and Up Special are unaffected by the presence of mist, nor are most recovery specials.

Of course, there's a bit more you can do with this move. Remember how energy projectiles are absorbed by the mist? Well, once the mist disippates, they'll all be released at once, continuing on their trajectory as if nothing happened. 'twould be best to fire an Ice Beam or two into the mist as a backup plan.​

The move begins with a little bit of starting lag as Empoleon crosses his hands… er, flippers over his chest, closes his eyes, and lowers his head slightly. After a while, small orbs of energy begin to appear from the background and gather inside Empoleon. Empoleon then begins to glow as he looks up to the sky and throws out his arms, unleashing all the stored energy directly in front of him in one big shockwave. Seems simple enough, right? Ha, ha! Wrong. You see, the power and properties of this attack are all based on the surrounding terrain. Nifty.

If Empoleon is surrounded by natural terrain, such as grass or dirt, the move takes on the properties of the ground type. Orbs will be colored brown and green, and the final strike smacks into the opponent to deal 10%, with average knockback. Perhaps Empoleon is surrounded by water terrain, such as puddles, a beach, or a Rain Dance. In this case, the move becomes water type. Orbs are colored various shades of blue, and the final strike splashes against the foe to deal 5% with strong knockback, comparable to Ike’s FTilt.

If Empoleon is surrounded by artificial terrain, such as a ship or any metallic structure, steel will be the form the move takes. It will also become steel type if Empoleon has an Iron defense. The orbs are randomly colored black or silver and the end shockwave deals 18%. However, it only causes the foe to flinch. Finally, if Empoleon is surrounded by Ice, such as a hailstorm, frozen ground, or even the Summit stage, the move takes on an icy form. The orbs are either colored white or a metallic blue and the end shockwave deals 11%. While this attack only deals the same amount of knockback as the ground form, it should be noted for its excellent hitstun.​

As Empoleon’s Up Smash doesn’t actually damage, you’ll rely on this move a lot to defend from aerial assaults. That said, it’s incredibly simple. Empoleon simply waves his flipper over his head in a similar method to Donkey Kong’s UTilt, with a much larger hitbox. This is easily Empoleon’s quickest attack, and it deals 12% to boot. Sadly, it cannot juggle… it’ll actually knock opponents to either side depending on where they were hit by the flipper.​

While defog may be an odd choice to give your starter Pokemon, it becomes a great move in the transition to Smash Bros. Well, it may not appear to be all that impressive… Empoleon snaps each flipper to either side and faces the screen. Sure, this does 8% and hits opponents on all sides, but with the move’s slim yet punishable ending lag, there are plenty of better options all over the moveset.

No, what you want to do is use this move for its HM purpose… clearing fog. Use the move while in a cloud of mist and it reveals its true potential. No change is made in the animation, but a large gust of wind emanates from Empoleon, pushing opponents (and the mist) away in all directions. (7) At the epicenter of this attack, the power is equivalent to Mario’s FLUDD, but it quickly drains in effectiveness to not having any push at a Battlefield away.​

Although I’m sure you’re questioning the moves we choose to teach Empoleon by this point, just trust us that it all makes sense in the end. So, tackle. This is closer to the football version of Tackle than the Pokemon version… a full-bodied leap forward without regard to safety or brain cells. As such, there’s a bit of a “tell” when Empoleon starts this move up: he takes three quick steps forward right before he jumps. When he lands, he’ll fall on his belly and slide! Like a penguin! (8) The jumping motion deals 7% with weak horizontal knockback, and the slide afterwards is a version of the Piplup Pokeball that's easier to DI out of and has less priority. Empoleon slides a varying distance: two battlefield platforms on regular ground, 3/4 Final Destination's length on water-doused ground, and potentially infinite length on icy ground. This is also one of Empoleon's very few approach options, so you'll probably use it if you decide you want to approach for some reason.

Note: Empoleon won't end up sliding to his slippery death if you use this on a walk-off stage... you can move the control stick in the opposite direction to make him turn around and frantically scape his claws against the ground to stop his movement.​

Smashes​

Ah yes, Steel Wing. Not as strong as Iron Tail, not as accurate as Metal Claw, it’s a nice middle ground. Plus, Empoleon is a steel bird. Who else are you going to teach it to, Skarmory?
…anyway, let’s move on. Steel Wing, like most Side Smashes I have the opportunity to write, is a simple, powerful attack. Empoleon reaches out to either side with both arms (is he going to give you a hug? I think he is! =D) and then smacks them both together in front of him when the charge is released. (oh… I guess he wasn’t.) This does exactly what it sounds like, dealing between 18-26% and powerful diagonal knockback. Moderate starting and ending lag hamper this move to an extent, but the hitbox extends a bit farther than it appears at first.

This attack has another, small effect: a wind hitbox. It’s far too weak to effectively gimp anything but the lightest character that has also been shrunk by a Poison Mushroom, but it’s useful for relocating any Mist you have made. Each use will push it about two battlefield platforms forward. Be careful about moving it, though. After the third attempt to do so, it’ll give up the ghost, and vanish into the air.​

It’s been a while since a move in this ‘set has blown you away, hasn’t it? Don’t worry, we’re about to start anew. As Empoleon charges this move, the ground around him begins to bubble and churn. While ordinarily this would be the sign of an attack brewing, this time it’s not the case. When the charge is released, Empoleon points upward with a flipper as a translucent ring of water raises up into the air, stopping about an SB block above his head. On its way up, it heals 2%, and gives you a hint as for what to do next. Any time you (or an opponent) makes their way through the Aqua Ring, they’ll heal another 2%. Considering the ring stays out for all of ten seconds, that’s some sizeable health increase. (Good thing you can only have one onstage at a time, or this move would be completely broken!) Unfortunately, Empoleon is pretty poor at jumping, and has a hard time fending off enemies. That’s where move interactions come in.

I forgot to mention it, but more charge will make the ring bigger, from the size of an SB block to 2x that size. This becomes fairly important with this interaction, take my word for it. Anyway, use an Aqua Ring while underneath a Rain Dance, and you’ll be glad you did. Suddenly, anyone simply standing underneath the ring will be in an area where they recover 3% every second, and even have their status effects healed! Once again, I need to remind you that Empoleon is not the greatest at quickly getting his opponents out of his face, so you have a few options up your sleeve. You could set up Mist in the same area, limiting your opponents to their throws, which will have a much lower success at getting you out of the healing rain. Double up with an Iron Defense, and they’ll lose even that ability! Then again, you’ll be far too slow to ever hunt them down, so they’ll be able to heal just as well as you are.

But hey, maybe that’s what you want! Turns out, there’s another interaction… one which makes Ice Beam useful! Yay! If you use an Ice Beam to hit the outer edge of the healing area, whether you’re inside or outside, the Aqua Ring will freeze in midair, and an icy wall will form around the edge from the drops of water dripping off of the ring, forming a jail cell of sorts. (9) This halts the healing effect as well as making an impassable barrier. Trapping the opponent inside is nice, you’ll be able to set up a larger area of Rain Dance! Trapping yourself inside is nice, you’ll be able to buff yourself with Iron Defense or what have you! Trapping yourself –and- the opponent inside after adding Iron Defense and Mist is extremely nice. You’ll be able to beat them up to your heart’s content! The icy barrier is somewhat weak, however… it’ll shatter after taking 20% or being hit by a flying body thrice.​

Note: The only paragraph you actually need to read is the first one; every one after that is a way that it connects to other moves.

…whirlpool? That’s the kind of move you teach an HM Slave, not your starter! Ah, well. The animation for this move is somewhat odd. Empoleon touches one flipper to the ground and holds the other behind his back, as he looks at the camera sternly. (10) Maybe he’s feeling angry because you made fun of the animation for his Rain Dance. He’ll hold this position as long as you hold the charge, and when you release… he’ll do an even more ridiculous dance, spinning on one foot like a ballerina. Yikes. Just like Aqua Jet, a watery aura forms around Empoleon as he spins. This attack lasts as long as an unlengthened Mach Tornado without charge and almost as long with. It does about the same amount of damage as well, but it has much higher ending lag than its parent version.

(10)


Of course, that doesn’t account for the paragraphs of text to follow. No, this is the longest move in the set for a reason… there’s so much you can do with it! Let’s start with a simple interaction: Rain Dance. Using Whirlpool in the middle of a rainstorm will have the exact opposite effect on the rain as it does the opponents. Instead of sucking it in, it’ll fling the rain out in all directions, turning the move into a weak gimp! If you’re inside a hailstorm, not only will you deflect the hail from Empoleon’s body (protecting him from damage,) but you will also send it flying just like the water droplets, creating streams of pain.

But those two were only the icing on the cake. Heck, not even the icing, more like the candles. The real fun begins when you use Whirlpool inside a cloud of Mist. Yes, there’s a reason that it specifically was unaffected. After you finish using Whirlpool, the Mist will continually spin around, a tornado of condensed water just floating there above the stage. It sucks in enemies at the rate of Ganondorf’s dash, but doesn’t have any sort of aftereffect beyond that. The tornado sits there for about five seconds, just waiting for the next step. There are two branching paths from here: one which dead-ends and one which continues on. The dead-end step is fairly simple, just shoot the tornado with an Ice Beam. This will cause the beam to be defracted (SCIENCE!), and fire weaker ice beams in all directions in about half a battlefield platform’s radius. This instantly freezes any foe for the same time as a Freezie item.

That’s not what we’re here for though. No, try Empoleon’s Down Air instead. (I know we haven’t got there yet. Quick preview: He drops feathers.) His steel down will get sucked into the vortex, spinning and spinning ever faster. Almost like… a drill! Interestingly enough, this also has the same properties as a drill, a hollow one at that. It’ll grind its way into the stage, creating a small hole that opponents can fall into to take weak, constant damage. (The drill is still in there, continuing to spin.) This can easily be DIed out of, and only lasts for 5 seconds. The absolute maximum that a foe could take from this is 12%.

Of course, if there’s a Rain Dance directly overhead, the increased fall speed will prevent the foe from DIing out! Not only are they forced to take the damage, but they’re a sitting duck for the next phase. You see, when rain falls into the drill, it remains in there until the weather clears up. And when it does… oh boy, this is the part you’ve been waiting for… all the collected water is fired up to the top of the screen in a fountain, which remains onstage for the same amount of time that it took to collect the water. This potentially can be a vertical KO tool on its own merit, but it pushes foes (and Empoleon himself) up rather slowly.

Sooo now what? Well, ideally you were able to trap the opponent inside the drill during a Rain Dance, and can simply follow them up with an Aqua Jet for a near-guaranteed KO. (Aqua Jet’s speed is greatly enhanced when riding the fountain, and can reach the top of the stage with room to spare.) Unfortunately, trapping them will often prove to be more difficult than it would appear at first glance, so you’ll probably need to continue the interactions.

Steel Wing gets another use here. Stand right up against the fountain and slap your wings together over the jet of water, and Empoleon creates a giant splash that covers a great area... between 45 and 70 degrees in front of himself on the protractor. Needless to say, this is a great tool to blast away opponents who are in the process of recovering above the stage.



If you’re completely dissatisfied with what you’ve done with the fountain, fire an Ice Beam at it. This will freeze it completely, making a giant wall which spans the screen from the floor to the ceiling. It’s basically a miniature version of the Ice Climbers’ Final Smash, dealing damage to foes that walk close to it. It can be taken down in the same manner.

But once again, that’s the easy finisher. To use this move to its fullest extent, bulk Empoleon up with an Iron Defense or two and walk into the fountain. He’ll be too heavy for it to fling him up into the air, and he in fact halts the flow of water! From here, you have another set of options. A particularly iconic one is an Aqua Ring. By using it, and subsequently walk off the fountain to allow the water to flow again, you’ll create a virtual Fountain of Youth from the water passing through the ring! Of course, it doesn’t actually make Empoleon or his enemies younger, but it does provide a ridiculously easy way to restore health. Each ride up to the top of the screen (if you can avoid the top blast zone) heals 20% and any status effects! This is a particularly useful way to bait enemies, as a quick Aqua Jet will easily pick off opponents looking to restore health. Even if they seek you out on the ground, a few of your throws interact with the upwards pressure in excellent ways, which won’t be covered here. Look to the Up and Down throws if you don’t want to lose your train of thought on this move.

Defog gets another chance to shine when used on top of the fountain. You remember how it worked with Mist, right? Well, imagine what happens when you replace air with water. When Empoleon uses Defog while on top of the fountain, it’s basically a shorter-range, no-damage version of Tabuu’s red rings. Okay, so maybe it’s not that powerful, but gosh darnit it’s close enough for the metaphor. Imagine a watery Falcon Punch that goes half of Battlefield’s length in all directions with less starting lag. Unfortunately, this will overwhelm the fountain and instantly deplete it of water.

Fortunately for your eyes, there’s only one more interaction. While plugging up the fountain with your massive girth, it may not occur to you to reuse Whirlpool, the move which started all this madness. Try it. All of a sudden, Instead of simply causing a whirling motion, Empoleon’s outstretched flippers will channel two giant streams of water to either side, almost like one of those tractor sprinklers. (11) (You city boys probably have no idea what I’m talking about.) These steams have incredible reach, and are twice as powerful as Mario’s FLUDD. The only thing keeping this from being a guaranteed KO (it can even push shielded opponents. Geez.) is that it cannot be aimed, only fired to the direct left and the direct right. Then again, that’s probably a good thing, or I’d go on for another paragraph explaining how you can do that and how it interacts when fired at other rainclouds and other blah that will make this move even longer.

Note: Good God that move was 1272 words long, not counting the notes. That’s half the length of the whole set at the time I’m writing this.​

Aerials​

Empoleon’s Neutral Aerial, while not mind-boggling, is a vital move for him to use if a foe is trying to gimp him offstage, so listen up. When used, A ring of churning water forms around Empoleon, and splashes once, twice, three times, at his head, feet, and midsection. This deals 3, 4, 3% respectively, holding the foe in for all three hits. The last attack knocks foes away in a random horizontal direction, potentially offstage themselves. A shame you don’t have any tools to pursue them. While the attack’s starting lag is nonexistent, there’s juuuust enough ending lag to prevent you from endlessly juggling the foe.​

Empoleon’s FAir, despite having little offensive purpose, is particularly useful for setting up puddles of water. When this move is used, Empoleon’s feet generate copious amounts of water, and he continues to move forward. However, his falling speed has decreased dramatically, so he now has aerial DI envying a gliding Charizard! There’s also a large gimping hitbox beneath Empoleon, to allow him to get back to the stage largely unthreatened. If he is hit out of this move, however, he enters his helpless state and begins his rapid descent.

Now, the gimping hitbox I mentioned earlier. This is formed in large part by his watery feet, which will bounce foes away. However, the water will also drip, drip, drip off of Empoleon’s body, and find its way down to the ground. Every square inch of platform that Empoleon passed over will be soaking wet by the move’s end. It’s a convenient thing for the player that this move has such incredibly low ending lag upon landing, because just like in Super Mario Sunshine, you can instantly cancel this into a Tackle and maintain your watery distance bonus. This is one of Empoleon’s few approaching options that can be used without much planning, in case you wanted to play him that way.​

For his UAir, Empoleon utilizes an attack he saw during “How to Train Your Dragon.” …what? Pokemon can keep up with popular culture too! Anyway, Empoleon turns upside down for this attack, but manages to look straight up, between his legs. From this position, he fires an incredibly powerful burst of water directly upward, which travels a fair distance (say, 1.5x the length of Fox’s recovery) before dissipating into the air around it. As it sounds, this move deals incredibly powerful knockback, equal to Dedede’s UTilt, and unlike most of his water-based attacks, it actually deals damage… 6% worth. However, it has a very obvious starting animation, absolutely no hitstun, and ending lag equal to Link’s DAir if you whiff the attack entirely, so be careful when you use it.

Did someone ask for move interactions? No? Well, you’re getting them anyway. The only things that’re actually in the air for Empoleon to hit are his rain clouds, so logic dictates that you should probably try shooting them. If you manage to, you’ll restore about five seconds worth of rain or hail to the clouds, even beyond their regular capacities. Nifty! Oh, and did I mention? If you do fire this through a hail cloud, the hail will be carried along with the Hydro Pump into the air, and land a few seconds later. It’s completely impractical to hit a foe with this in most situations, but hey, it may save your bacon once or twice.​

Here’s another move in a similar vein to Mist. When you use this attack, Empoleon shakes himself all over, like a dog just after falling into a stream. This causes dozens of feathers all over his body to be flung off, and drift down slightly faster than Empoleon’s fall speed. While this move has no hitbox whatsoever, it serves as an aerial shield of sorts. You see, opponents will be able to jump up through the feathers with no problem whatsover. However, if they try to attack through them, their metallic properties come into play. (Hey, he’s a steel penguin, so he can have metal feathers.)

When attacked, the feathers are quickly compressed together into a lattice, essentially replacing the thin air the opponent was trying to attack through with an iron plate. Great for you, not so great for the opponent, who enters their helpless state if they had been attacking you from below as opposed to above. You can even turn this plate-forming property to your own advantage! After releasing a Featherdance, use your Neutral Aerial and fastfall towards the drifting feathers. They’ll compress, form a midair platform, and you can abuse the NAir’s low ending lag to jump off the platform before it falls! A shame, though, that you can’t use this move more than twice before having to land and restore your feathery supply.

Try using this move when above (or even inside) a cloud of mist. Okay, since you can’t actually use it, I’ll just tell you what happens. Mist, being far denser than air, will actually be able to hold the feathers in place, much like the move Stealth Rock. As such, it has a detrimental effect to foes who try to run through it. Any foe moving through a cloud of metallic mist will take 5% per second, damage which stops as soon as they stand still. You know what I’m thinking? Bait them into the mist with an Aqua Ring and then use Steel Wing to send them and the mist flying for some excellent damage-dealing potential.

Note: As a little easter egg, Empoleon will grow small bald patches with the first and second use of this move, which will quickly grow back when you land.​

Grr! Yes, that’s exactly the sound effect your opponent will make if you use this move on them. You see, this attack’s animation is very simple: Empoleon turns his head around and makes a guttural growl at the foe, with a hitbox about the size of Kirby. While the move does no knockback or damage of any sort, it will actually prevent enemies from attacking! Yes, until they land, they will be unable to use aerials. Specials will still be useable, though. Why…? Well, Growl only lowers their Attack, not their Special Attack!​

Throws​

In an attempt to grab the opponent, Empoleon lunges his head forward, and bites down hard with his beak. This has range slightly shorter than a regular grab, but executes rather quickly.​

Empoleon swaps his grip to hold the foes with his flippers, and then pecks them repeatedly for his pummel. Peckpeckpeck. Sadly, Empoleon's endurance ain't what it used to be, so this is a rather slow pummel. Thankfully, it deals 3% per hit.​

For his FThrow, Empoleon lets the foe escape the grab momentarily, and they instantly begin to run away from him. We can’t have that happen, now… or can we? Realizing that a distant foe is exactly what he needs, Empoleon fires a stream of bubbles at the escaping foe, which pop on contact. He fires between 15-20 bubbles, most of which are small, with a few large ones scattered around. Small bubbles deal 1%, and larger ones deal 2%. Chances are, the foe will be running too quickly to be hit by all of the bubbles, and will only take a few points of damage. Thus, the damage taken varies by their running speed; Sonic would only be hit by the very first bubble, and Bowser would take the full force. Considering that it forces them to run for a second, though, you could easily herd them into a prepared or semi-prepared Whirlpool or Mist.

Note: This move’s strength is unaffected by Iron Defense.​

Here’s another fun throw. Empoleon flings the opponent directly above his head, and then jumps after them. No, he’s not using a Shoryuken, he’s using Waterfall! We all know the animation for the in-game move: a series of watery explosions (four of them dealing 3% each) culminating in a final strike. That’s exactly what happens in this move, as Empoleon brutally batters the beaten… [something that starts with B] ever higher. The move culminates in height at about twice Empoleon’s usual jump, at which point Empoleon does an uncharacteristically acrobatic midair flip, kicking the foe for 4% and strong vertical knockback.

Unfortunately, Iron Defense really weighs this move down. Literally, in fact. Empoleon can only jump half as high (and hit half as many times) with one layer, and fails to perform the final kick for the actual knockback. With a second layer, Empoleon can only hit -one- time, making this move entirely worthless.

Now, it’s time for the aforementioned interaction with Whirlpoool! Well, perhaps not so much an interaction as… a buff, of sorts. If standing in a fountain, Empoleon’s jumping ability is drastically increased (as we remember from Aqua Jet,) and he becomes able to barrage the opponent all the way to the top of the screen! It’s a bit of a shame, but this isn’t the easy guaranteed KO it sounds like. Granted, it -could- be one, but Empoleon moves a bit too slow to reach the top under most circumstances, especially factoring in the limited time you have to bait the opponent close to you. So really, it’s more of a cool thing you could show off to your friends in training mode.​

Finishing up Empoleon’s hefty list of HMs, Dive is similar to Waterfall in that it’s directly affected by how high Empoleon can get himself in the air. I’m sure that simple description coupled with the move’s title has given you a good idea of the move’s appearance already, eh?

Regrasping the foe in his beak, Empoleon leaps straight up into the air to twice the height of his regular jump, performing an extra flourish with his neck to maneuver his quarry even higher. After reaching the apex of his jump, he begins his dive toward the ground, and holds the foe via his trident. Oh yeah, that’s going to hurt when they land. In fact, this is Empoleon’s most powerful throw, dealing 12% and vertical knockback which KOs at about 90%.

Of course, Iron Defense lowers the height that Empoleon can jump. The animation is exactly the same for the first layer of Iron Defense, (with a shorter execution time, of course,) and the move still deals 12%. However, knockback power is drastically decreased, to only KOing at 200%. A second layer of Iron Defense changes the move again, preventing Empoleon from performing any sort of jump. Instead, he just bites the foe with his beak, lifts them up, and smacks them into the ground, leaving them prone.

But supposing Empoleon can jump higher, instead of being weighed down? What if you use this move on a fountain? Well, you’ve seen Kirby and Meta Knight’s UThrows, right? Now, imagine that instead of a ten pound puffball, you have Empoleon’s one hundred eighty-six pounds crushing down on top of you with a trident being shoved through your midsection to boot. 27%. Yes, you read that correctly, 27% and knockback that KOs at percentages as low as 60% will be granted to you if you manage to pull this off. Well done.

But wait, there’s more! Remember the puddles of water you could make with Rain Dance and Surf? If you use this move while standing in one of those puddles, (and while not doubled up with Iron Defense,) Empoleon will actually dive into the water with the foe and disappear! Empoleon emerges from the watery depths in little time, but the foe is trapped underneath the surface of the water. Quickly, before they find their way out, freeze the surface layer and trap them underneath. Ah yes, now they’re out of commission for a long while. Set up set up set up before the ice melts. Or hey, have some fun and use Tackle to land on the ice over and over again. While this serves no purpose whatsoever, it knocks the opponent down farther underwater. It’s fun to watch.

Note: Wait, I thought those were puddles. How did he dive so far underwater?​

That's one chill wind. Brr. Yes, Empoleon’s BThrow is another simple move… Empoleon tosses the foe overhead and then blows a cold, cold breeze at them as they slide helplessly away. They’ll be pushed about half Battlefield’s distance away by this attack, taking hits of 1 and 2% until 11% in all has been suffered. What’s the point of this move? Why, the same point as the FThrow, to space your foe exactly where you want them! In fact, since this is “Icy” wind, this doubles as a grab input for Ice Beam. Send your opponent sliding into an active Aqua Ring, and watch as they get trapped inside of the forming prison. Good fun.​

Final Smash

Hydro Cannon​

No fancy mechanic boosting attack for Empoleon. Nope, it’s time for brute force. When Empoleon uses his Final Smash, he inhales deeply, and a sound almost like gargling can be heard. He’s not maintaining his oral hygiene, however… this is just the precursor to the devastating blast of water which Empoleon fires soon after. In fact, to both of them. You see, Empoleon fires not one, but TWO jets of water straight ahead of himself, each twisting and churning around the other to create a powerful force which holds the foe in for the duration of the attack. Empoleon continues to fire for five seconds, as the streams and their victims continue to be helplessly carried offscreen. The ONLY way they’ll survive if they get hit is if they can somehow stay midair long enough to avoid the full force of the attack. Foes caught inside will also take 10pps (percent per second, remember?) as long as they’re trapped inside. This is a powerful attack by any standards, although it lacks a final hit beyond the flow of the water.​

Playstyle

Antarctic Emperor​

The nice thing about Empoleon is that there’s really no one set way to play as him. He has plenty of options when it comes to dealing damage, KOing, staying alive… the only thing he can’t do is gimp. Every move he has interacts with another in some way, shape, or form, (except the UTilt, but that’s used to keep foes away,) giving you nearly unlimited options on how to use him. Heck, if you wanted to, you could just use Whirlpool and its set of interactions and call it a day. But nope… that would make my life too easy.

Alright, let’s just dive in. Empoleon, as you may have noticed, is something of a set-up character. Suppose you want to use his ability to create his own environment to your advantage. If that’s the case, I’d start with a Rain Dance. Cover the greatest area you possibly can with your tribal foot-flapping, and you’ll have a good start on controlling the playing field. What? The foe doesn’t want to just let you have your way? How rude of them. Now is when you’ll want to take your enemy’s abilities into account. Are they a quick little bugger, dancing around and hitting you with all sorts of low-damage aerials and dash attacks? Iron Defense would be your best bet in this case, enabling Empoleon to absorb the damage without even budging, and continue to set up all the same. But what if you’re battling, say, Ike? A powerhouse who can just barrel through even your doubled-up defenses? Well, I’d start up a Mist in that case. By limiting him to his wimpy throws (is it just me, or do a lot of powerhouses have weak throws?) you’ll have a far better chance of keeping him away. Even if he does come up to grab you, a quick UTilt will knock him out of your misty veil. But maybe he’s becoming just a bit too persistent for an UTilt to deter him. Maybe he’s mastered the art of spot dodging. Sounds like a good opportunity to use Whirlpool to me! The tornado will hold him in place as you merrily skip off to your next location, even more so if you quickly turn around and fire an Ice Beam before he manages to escape.

When it comes to dealing damage, steel-type Secret Power is a safe bet. A ranged attack which deals 18% is far too tempting to pass up. Of course, as mentioned earlier, Aqua Jet will work in a pinch, much like Bowser’s Whirling Fortress. It may be highly tempting to bulk up early with an Iron Defense to buff the damage you can do, but just remember: once the defense breaks, it’s gone. You can’t use it until your next stock, and trust me, you’ll wish you had it once you get to those higher damage percentages. Dealing damage is one of Empoleon’s harder tasks, so it’s likely that you’ll have to bounce a couple of techniques together to get through this part of the battle. First, let your opponent hit you up after you’ve set up even the smallest amount of Rain Dance. Set up an Aqua Ring directly in the middle of the flow, and let some Mist loose so they don’t hound you with projectiles. Once you’ve managed to bait the foe inside the healing area (really, everyone reacts differently, so there’s no clear-cut way to do this) freeze yourself and them inside. Use the frame advantage you got from the Ice Beam to bulk up with Iron Defense, and proceed to beat the snot out of them. Incredibly crude, but oh-so effective. If you happen to trap yourself inside, alone, I’d begin setting up Empoleon’s trump card… Whirlpool. You should be able to get to the part where you add in Featherdance before your foe breaks into your icy fortress, and after that the Rain Dance will begin to fall into the gaping hole in the stage. Exactly as planned.

When you find yourself offstage, and trust me, eventually you will, Empoleon has plenty of ways to get back onstage. While he has little gimping potential himself, almost every aerial he has is an anti-gimping tool, with the exception of Surf, his FAir, which itself serves as the best way to extend his recovery. Hydro Pump guards against meteor smashes, Growl almost completely disarms foes, Brine offers a way to actually attack, and Featherdance provides a shield against foes as well as as even giving you a platform to jump off of. As you can probably tell, he wants to get back onto solid ground as quickly as possible. If you have excellent timing, you can use Featherdance, Brine, and then stand on the platform you created to use Iron Defense, increasing your fall speed… once you’re over solid ground, that is.

As for landing the KO… by now, we all know that Empoleon's KOing tools take a fair amount of time to set up, or have starting lag which prevents them from being 100% reliable. If you can manage to use Whirlpool in a fountain, or batter them with Steel Wing, be my guest. In many cases, though, you'll want to hold them in place with a semi-prepared whirlpool, during the tornado or drill phase. This will enable you to casually walk up to them with a partially-charged FSmash. A jump towards the opponent with a well-aimed Ice Beam also has the potential to hold them in place long enough to follow up with a finishing blow.

All in all, Empoleon is an incredibly versatile character, with an answer to almost every situation. While he specializes in pure survival, with his ability to heal in Aqua Ring, to bulk up his weight and defense via Iron Defense, to halt a foe's attacks with Mist and to prevent any form of gimping with his incredibly disarming airgame, Empoleon will be on the battlefield for quite a long time, and will have plenty of opportunities to use even the most time-consuming interactions in his arsenal.​