Egg Lay is Yoshi's Neutral Special Move. He sticks his tongue out, pulling in and swallowing any enemy touched near by, turning them into an egg for a few seconds.
Overview
The amount of time that the enemy remains in the egg is determined by how much damage they have. While trapped in an egg, one is open to attacks, although cannot be knocked back. Tilting the control stick back and forth will help the victim escape the egg more quickly. It can grab an opponent out of a shield, unless that opponent is invincible.
It is important to note that Yoshi has a few Super Armor frames in this move. From the second his tongue latches onto another character to the moment the egg is laid, Yoshi gains 120% knockback resistance. This is useful for 4-player battles, as the attack itself only affects one opponent, so Yoshi would potentially be vulnerable - the resistance negates that vulnerability. Another important aspect of this move is that it acts as an aerial grab, giving it high priority over many other aerial attacks. The only other aerial grabs are Ganondorf's Flame Choke, Bowser's Koopa Klaw, and Wario's Chomp.
Egg Lay can be used in an attempt to put the opponent off-stage, but unlike suicide techniques, such as Koopa Klaw and the Swallowcide, opponents tend to always break out long before they make it below the stage, it won't matter if they are at higher percents, unless the opponent is metal. If used in the right hands, Egg Lay can KO characters with bad recovery.
| Yoshi's Special Moves | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | Melee | Brawl | 3DS/Wii U | Ultimate | ||
| Standard Special | Egg Lay | |||||
| Side Special | — | Egg Roll | ||||
| Up Special | Egg Throw | |||||
| Down Special | Yoshi Bomb | |||||
| Final Smash | — | Super Dragon | Stampede! | |||
Custom Variations
Lick
Lick is one of Yoshi's Neutral Special Move that can be used via customizations. Yoshi uses his tongue to "lick" the opponents, but he can't trap them in eggs.
Strengths:
- Small jump during move can be used for recovery purposes
- Higher knockback
- Deals more damage
- Combo move
Weaknesses:
- Cannot trap opponents in eggs
The Lick custom variation is a direct attack rather than a command grab. Yoshi's tongue will damage opponents as he fires it from his mouth, dealing more damage and knockback than the default Egg Lay. Yoshi does a short hop forwards when the move is used, which can be useful for some horizontal movement in the air, covering the edge for Yoshi, or for being integrated into combos. The move will not trap opponents in eggs when they are hit with it, which takes away some of the move's edge-guarding uses, but Lick is excellent for use in combos.
Egg Launch
Egg Launch is one of Yoshi's Neutral Special Move that can be used via customizations. Yoshi sticks his tongue out to transform the opponent into an egg, when he turns the opponent into an egg, he will jump, while the egg will be launched away.
Strengths:
- Puts opponents in a tough spot when used near edge
- Greater launching power
Weaknesses:
- Very few follow-up options
- Deals less damage
The Egg Launch is the move for Yoshi players that like to use their Egg Lay move to secure some easy kills by using it near the edge. However, because the Egg Launch shoots opponents trapped in the egg such a great distance, it could be used in the middle of the stage and still launch them past the edge. The move deals less damage but an opponent will find themselves in a very tough spot when Yoshi launches them very far away from the stage, forcing them to recover, a situation only characters like Pit and Villager could survive through. Since it launches so far away from Yoshi, the move has little to no follow-ups from it as the opponent will be too far for Yoshi to attack them while they are trapped in egg form.
| Yoshi's Custom Special Moves | ||
|---|---|---|
| Custom 1 | Custom 2 | |
| Standard Special | Lick | Egg Launch |
| Side Special | Heavy Egg Roll | Light Egg Roll |
| Up Special | High Jump | Timed Egg Throw |
| Down Special | Star Bomb | Crushing Bomb |
Origin
Concept art of Yoshi's Egg Lay in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Since his first appearance in Super Mario World, Yoshi's trademark move has been gulping his enemies using his chameleon like tongue. However, since Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi has been able to turn his eaten enemies into eggs. Throwing these eggs at enemies would be Yoshi's primary attacking method.
Trivia
- As Egg Lay has a very similar animation to Yoshi's grab, it can often be used to play mindgames with opponents.
- If Yoshi swallows an enemy who has consumed a Super Mushroom or Poison Mushroom, the egg's size will grow/shrink proportionately.
- In Brawl, if Egg Lay is used on Jigglypuff after doing the Puff Up glitch glitch on Bridge of Eldin, Jigglypuff will grow bigger.
- In Brawl, if the very tip of Yoshi's tongue grabs the enemy, Yoshi won't swallow the enemy: just pull them in and cause small damage. This is extremely tricky to perform though.