Shield

A shield, also known officially as the blocking dodge, is a bubble/egg encircling the user, that blocks all attacks with the exception of grabs. One raises the shield by pressing L or R, or, in some cases, the Z Button, when standing on the ground.

Though the shield deflects most attacks without fail, it does not always cover the character's entire damageable collision bubble - thus, the user is still vulnerable to shield stabbing. Additionally, the shield can be shrunk by holding it for too long, or after being hit by enemy attacks. When the shield shrinks so much it disappears, the shield breaks and the character becomes dazed for a period of time, unable to act or attack.

The initial raising of the shield creates a small energy wave, if that wave hits a projectile, it will be reflected back.

If using the L or R button to shield, one can adjust the depression of the button to alter the density of the shield. When held very lightly, the shield is large and shrinks slowly, but if held all the way down, the shield is small and shrinks quickly. The denser the shield is, the less knockback occurs when the shield blocks an attack. If one uses the Z button to Shield, then the shield will be a maximum size, however this shield will take a bit longer to put up as the character will try to grab, first.

When holding their shield, characters do not have all the same options as they do when standing, but they are still able to use many moves. A character can roll to reposition himself while retaining invincibility. If a player predicts that the enemy will grab to penetrate his shield, he can quickly sidestep to avoid the grab. If the control stick is tilted slightly, the shield can be moved slightly to help block attacks from specific directions if the shield gets too small.

Characters can also grab and jump out of their shield. Grabbing after blocking an attack is a prevalent technique known as shield grabbing - it allows one to quickly retaliate against an enemy attacker. Jumping from the shield allows characters to immediately shffl, wavedash or jump-cancel into their up smash or up B attacks. All these offensive and defensive options make shielding the centerpiece to a player's defensive game.

Yoshi, however, has a completely different shield. Instead of a bubble, he uses an egg for protection. This egg does not shrink, preventing any attempts at shieldstabbing. To show weakness, the egg darkens from white to dark red (very similar to the colour of the percentage meters). The egg prevents Yoshi from jumping out of his shield, but when lightshielding, Yoshi's traction is reduced to less than Luigi's, and will slide a huge distance when attacked. Also, Yoshi has been known to randomly powershield (not completely understood), and is also completely invincible during his shielding animation.