Yoshi (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * This page is about Yoshi's Melee appearance. For information about his SSB appearance, see here.

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī, sometimes spelled Yossy in Japan) is a character in both SSB and SSBM. Although it is technically unconfirmed that Yoshi will return in SSBB, a Yoshi's Island stage appeared in a trailer, essentially guaranteeing his inclusion.

Pros

 * Heavy, thus hard to KO
 * Can double jump cancel
 * Has moves for many situations, such as down tilt for edgeguarding
 * Can juggle many characters well
 * Shield/Roll has strange properties that benefit Yoshi
 * Has an infinite ledge stall.

Cons

 * Lacks a third jump, and thus is highly vulnerable to being hit out of his second jump while recovering
 * Has mediocre combo ability on non-fastfallers
 * Grabs have a lot of start-up lag
 * Extreme learning curve

Specialty Techniques
Yoshi has several specialty techniques that no other character can do. One of these is the edge-canceled eggs(ECE). You do this by releasing from the edge, by either pressing down or back, double jumping then start throwing an egg. You need to do this fast enough so that you do no over shoot the edge and land on the stage or too far above the edge, otherwise you are a sitting duck. After you throw the egg you can regrab the edge, cancelling all lag you would have had if you did it on the stage, and renewing your invincibility. If you wish to have more accuracy when aiming at an opponent off the stage, you can do a reverse edge-canceled egg(RECE). This is done the same way except you turn around with your second jump, this is much harder to do because you have to control the distance from the ledge other wise Yoshi will not be able to grab the edge backwards and will fall to his demise.

An easier technique that Yoshi has is egg rolling back onto the stage. You do this by egg rolling away from the stage and immediately smashing the direction of the stage. This is generally used for mind games more than damage.

Edgeguarding
Several of the attacks Yoshi can use to edgeguard are down tilt, down aerial, forward aerial, eggs and smash attacks.

Down Tilt
Down tilt is known as the gimp kill of Yoshi's edge-game. If it works, which is uncommon, it's usually either against a Falco or the opponent has made a mistake. What you do is you knock your opponent off the stage and await him to try and grab the edge or make it back onto the stage. At this time you use your dtilt(which has a set-knockback) to knock them back off the stage, hopefully this time without their second jump. This is where timing comes in, you must hit them after they use their up+b to recover but before they are close enough to hit you with it. At this point a cycle will begin(if you are doing it correctly) of you dtilting them off the stage them them hopelessly trying to grab the edge. After you rack-up some damage on them this way, usually you use one of the other edgeguarding techniques to finish them off.

Down Aerial
The down aerial is a mildly risky technique when used for edge guarding. This is because if you do not jump you will die, Yoshi's second jump is not enough to get back on the edge. However, all you need to do is short hop and start your down air before you reach the height of the edge. How you use it is you jump off the edge and hit down on the c-stick or down on the joystick and A. If you use the joystick method then you will want to start it before you reach the max height on your jump because you do not want to fast fall this move, else you will die. This move is a meteor, so it can be meteor-cancelled. If you hit the opponent with it when they're at a low %'s, you may drag them down, but at high %'s, you'll only be able to hit them with only one part. With most edgeguarding techniques this move becomes more effective with more damage on your opponent.

Forward Aerial
Yoshi's forward aerial is a meteor smash. It can be slightly risky when used. This is due to getting hit before, during or after you finish your attack, if your attack is dodged. Because the attack is a meteor smash and not a spike, your opponent has the chance to meteor cancel. This means that you should immediately double jump back to the stage after your attack is completed, or you may run the risk of getting hit into the stage and knocked to your death.

Eggs
Eggs are one of Yoshi's main damage dealing and edge guarding techniques. These can be used from the stage or the edge. From the edge is most commonly known as (reverse) edge-canceled eggs, which are explained in the above section, Specialty Techniques. You can also throw an egg after edge hopping, which has the effect of a standing egg throw. A standing egg throw is a risk-free way of egging an opponents recovery. However, a cost of not edge canceling your eggs is the increased time in between your eggs, which means your opponent has more of a chance to reach the ledge or stage. The plus side of this is the ability to jump off the stage, whether with a full hop or short hop, into one of the afore mentioned edge guarding techniques.