Why NO ONE Plays: Greninja | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Greninja's a character whom you think has everything necessary to be very popular: high damage, fast frame data, amazing mobility, good recovery, tons of flashy combos and a solid neutral game. Yet inexplicably, people don't seem to want to use him all too much. Today we're gonna investigate Why NO ONE Plays: Greninja.

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#SSBU #WhyNoOnePlays #Greninja

[DHS]

Greninja main here. His main problem is his lack of out of shield options, followed by how different he feels to other characters.

[dinner]

as a Greninja player, my friends usually tell me things like ''I dont understand how u make him work, he feels weird when I play him'' or '' when I fight your greninja, I dont feel like im fighting a weird character''. I thinks this sums-up greninja pretty well: very awkward character to pilot, but expresses basic smash neutral concepts like footsies or landing aerials which is why hes underplayed. When I was a beginner, it was legitmitaly hard for me to try other characters because no other character feels like him in terms of movement/moves used for certain situations.

[PureGamersCo]

As someone who's mained Greninja since Smash 4, it's a mix between his terrible out-of-shield game and the fact that he has such a big learning curve to properly use him. It takes a lot of work to be even somewhat DECENT with this character. You have to really sit down in the lab and grind out so much with him. But once you get the feel for him, you feel damn near unbeatable!!

[diogosalgado]

I remember when Leo trained with him for like 2-3 months, and came up with an absurd, untouchable ninja. I feel like once you get muscle memory on the setups, and know how to flow the combo game, you can focus on the ninja, evasive part. I never actually sat down to test it, but I feel pretty tempted

[AngelsandWolves]

Greninja main here. I've mained this character since the release of Smash for Wii U. Greninja is mixed bag, because he has the highest short hop in the game, and since he jumps so high, he wasn't intended to have rising aerials. Movement is Greninja's biggest attribute, because he's top 10 in every category, jump height, air speed, air acceleration, fall speed, fast fall speed, et cetera. Since he focuses on speed, movement and positioning more than other top tiers, as opposed to having an out of shield game, people don't use him, because everyone is so focused on shielding and retaliation out of shield. That's what makes him "weird" or harder to play than other top tiers, that and he's not a pick-up and play character. You need to actually commit to playing and mastering Gren in order to be solid.

[jakeswierdfriend]

He's one of those characters where if you stuck someone in a hyperbolic time chamber for like 3 years they'd come back and be top 5 in the world.

[wildmonkeycar]

A couple of things to note:
Oos options are definitely a big weakness, but it’s not his only weakness, and it can be made less of an issue by playing with more focus on movement, in general (Venia is a great example)

Arguably a larger weakness, and one of the reasons I have such a love-hate relationship with my main, is how inconsistent a lot of his moves and especially his kill options are. USmash will often whiff or send in a random direction and can be teched out of on a platform. DTilt into USmash is VERY precise, and only works for a small percent window, not to mention the already stated inconsistency with USmash. He can’t do a lot at ledge without running off, and his options off-stage are just as likely to get him killed, due to being in a bad position. We quite literally use the inconsistency in his UAir to get drag down combos, and that’s when we’re controlling it. NAir is difficult to place properly, FAir is also difficult, the list just goes on and on

Love the character, but the precision he requires makes me feel like I’m fighting with a scalpel while everyone else is using a sledgehammer

[freakincheezits]

i main him too. eventually ppl start predicting you moves because his good ariels come out too slow

[ThatBeePerson]

In order to effectively play Greninja, you HAVE to onetrick him, getting comfortable with the smash concept of defense puts you at a major disadvantage, you HAVE to play by Greninja's concept of defense.

As somebody else in these comments stated, he's a strange character to use, but not a strange one to fight, just an intimidating one.
Greninja forces you to play a very different game than your opponent, but your opponent is in no way forced to play any differently than fighting high tiers with similar kits.

[derpderp]

Pretty much hit the nail on the head, his unconventional pressure and lack of defense really clicked. I like how you dive into how the mix of attributes influences how people feel while playing the game, it’s something tier lists can’t do justice to

[fraser]

when I started playing with my friends with 1 sideways Joy-con, the shield & grab buttons barely worked due to how the shoulder buttons work. This pretty much ingrained in me the habit of not shielding and using movement to avoid hits, which made Greninja perfect for me. I believe that if a really good player is able to use Greninja's defensive movement properly, the character can easily get consistent top placements

[mondobe]

I’d like to see one of these about Lucas. He is a fairly workable mid-to-high tier with a very versatile kit, but he gets almost no representation. He even gets forgotten when people make “forgotten characters” lists.

[playermade]

I’ve played a lot of incredible Greninja players over the years, and I can confidently say this character is highly underrated.

[quasark]

i didn't think this was an unpopular character

[casheverett]

As a beginner, Greninja feels really powerful

I main Banjo and I feel strong with him but Greninja feel like he can get SO much more value out of his entire kit.

And at lower ranks you can hard abuse his side special on unaware players and abuse his water shurikens as a disruption

[VinceLovesToast]

Shoutouts to you for using Pokemon Conquest Music for the vid 🙏

Greninjas lack of oos also hurts him in other situations where it can be awkward to anti air at short hop height.

I also think his high jumps can be a huge weakness as it makes all his shield pressure is super reactable. Why try and oos a safe option when I can just preemptively up smash oos before the aerial comes out and catch him landing on me

[frankjoz]

There's a local greninja in my city that kicks everyone's ass

[gaidencastro]

Ninjas tend to avoid confrontation entirely. The typ eof ninja Greninja is named after is meant to be a pre-scout, causing chaos in the backline so the army can move in.

[GenophefeElisabeth]

Thank you for this video! I never quite could put my finger on why, but I was always so exhausted playing him in a tournament setting just after a few rounds. I always thought it was me, so glad to hear I am not the only one

[Greatdragon]

Greninja imo is underrated but your video sums it up perfectly, poor oos and learning curve make him where he is. But this character has one of the best advantage states and one of the best match up charts and is unflinching toward fighter pass 2, that’s a lot more than most of the top 5 can say.