Probably one of the biggest surprises for new players entering the competitive Melee scene is the lack of items during tournament play. Items have been a mainstay in the Super Smash Bros franchise since the beginning. They have led to many funny endings to those 4-player free-for-alls we all used to play. But the competitive scene has banned the use of items in tournament and rightfully so. Despite that though, there is actually a use for learning about items and how they completely change a character as there are several characters who produce items mid-match.

This is not intended to be the end-all-be-all guide to items. But to give the reader an advanced knowledge of the intricacies of items and how they change the game.

When it comes to items, not all characters are created equal. Strangely enough, even the characters that can spawn items aren’t even at the top of the tier list when it comes to throwing items. Here is the list for how fast each character throws an item (Left side is fastest, though many characters on the same line will have the same speed):

There are four different types of item throws: Tilt, Smash, Dash, and Drop.

- Tilt throws are input by pressing A/Z on the ground, or just A while in the air. You can also change the direction by tilting the stick. This type of throw does the least damage and also covers the least distance.

- Smash throws are done by using the C-stick or by inputting a direction fully and then A/Z quickly. This throw does 2% more than a tilt throw, and goes the farthest.

- Dash throws are inputted like a dash attack, this causes a short dash followed by a decently far throw. Dash throws do 1% more damage.

- Drops are done in the air by pressing Z. Drops do the least amount of damage, and fall quite slowly. All turnips do 1-2%. Even Stitch Face or Dot-Eyes.

All throws, except drops, can be done in the four cardinal directions. Note: Peach/Link/Young Link can also do a Smash throw in the direction they are facing by inputting Down B.

Items are a double-edged sword. On one hand they give you a ranged attack that is very useful for zoning out your opponent, but on the other hand the restrict your options. While holding an item you cannot perform smash attacks, tilts, jabs, grabs or even aerials*. You can still input specials.

*There is an exception to this rule. Peach, while floating, can still input aerial attacks but, cannot throw items. Except for drops which can be inputted during the iasa frames of an aerial attack.

Well that seems lame right? You lose access to every attack option outside of specials. However, this is not all bad. Holding an item actually opens up a few unique options. You can throw items in all cardinal directions, tilt or smash, out of shield. This allows you punish crossups, unsafe shield pressure, and can even be used to block an up-b and follow up with a punish. You can also add what is known as a glide toss out of shield. You input a roll and then within 5 frames you input an item throw, thereby cancelling the roll, it is very similar for aerial glide tossing from and air dodge. Except you only have a 3 frame window. This will give you a slight boost in the direction you inputted thereby covering a little bit more distance.

While these don’t seem that exceptional, thrown items are also amazing for use as a combo starter as they are relatively quick, have many active frames, and cover pretty good distance all around you. Many of Peach’s, Link’s, and Young Link’s “bread and butter” combos and kill setups actually come from their items.

Bob-ombs are usually just thrown like any other turnip or Link/Young Link’s bombs, but they do have one unique attribute with regards to drops. If dropped while moving through a platform it will enter its walking animation. You can do this by jumping through a platform and then pressing Z, or shield dropping and quickly pressing Z. Though be careful to quickly run away from the platform as the bob-omb can blow up on you. When Peach pulls a bob-omb it will not explode on her like a normal bob-omb will after picking it up, unless an attack causes Peach to drop the bob-omb and it then collides with her.

*A completely useless fact about bob-ombs, if there is a bob-omb that ends its walking animation at the ledge, and then another bob-omb walks into it, the first bob-omb will drop and then explode on the ground.

Beam Sword is the most unique out of all the items that Peach has access to. Beam Sword allows you to use all of your tilts, and smash attacks. Aerial attacks can still only be used by Peach while floating. However, Beam Sword changes everyone’s Jab, F-Tilt, F-Smash, and Dash Attack. F-Smash cannot be inputted via the C-Stick. Using the C-Stick will cause a smash throw in that direction. You still cannot use grab while holding a Beam Sword. Pressing Z will cause a unique throw that goes behind the character. Pressing Z in the air will still cause a drop to occur.

Mr. Saturn is an interesting item. He is quite light meaning he will travel very far (farther than a turnip), but doesn't do that much damage. However, he does do quite a bit of shield damage. And will walk around the ground for a bit after bouncing off of an enemy.

Link and Young Link’s bombs behave similarly to the bob-omb when dropped near to the ground. They stay on the ground and will then explode normally after the timer goes off. They can be picked up during this state. This allows you to quickly throw two bombs.

A common counter to items being thrown is grabbing them. Here are some brief facts about grabbing items.

You can only grab items on the ground while standing, walking, crouching, or turning.
Every character has a 7 frame animation to grabbing an item on the ground. Except Mr. Game & Watch who has a 11 frame long animation.
You do not grab the turnip on the first frame of the animation. Most characters grab on the second frame. However, Marth, Roy, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf grab on the third frame, and Mr. Game & Watch on the fourth frame.
There is no animation for grabbing an item in the air.
You cannot grab an item in the air 40 frames after pressing A or Z. (C-stick doesn’t count)
You can buffer an item grab during an air dodge by pressing Z within the first three frames of the animation, and will grab any item for the next eight frames (assuming you didn’t lock yourself out by pressing A/Z).
Characters have different item grab hitboxes in the air and on the ground. Crouching does not affect these hitboxes.
An item's grab hitbox is separate and unique from its actual hitbox. Ranging from fairly big, like a turnip, to really small, like a bob-omb.

It is very likely if you play against these characters frequently you will notice that occasionally an item will drop after an attack happens. Why that happens is because of this funny little equation. Whenever you attack a character with an item, take that percent and divide it by 60. That is the odds of the item dropping. For example, I hit you with Fox’s nair, dealing 12%. Now 12/60 = 0.2. Meaning that there is a ⅕ chance that the item will drop.

Though not as useful, one interesting thing about item throws is that they are auto-cancelable. Meaning that if you throw an item while in the air, there will only be the normal four frame landing animation lag. You can use this to land onto platforms and quickly perform a grounded attack, perhaps onto a shield leading to severe shield deterioration.

I hope that you have learned something that you as an item user can utilize or maybe you as the person who has to fight against items can take advantage of to clutch that game. At the very least, there are some random facts that you can astound your friends with.

More information about items can be found here:

M2K's Smashboards post about SSBM Statistics.

A Reddit post going over the item grab mechanics.

More information about the item drop formula.

Quetzalcoatl's Extensive Turnip Guide.

Quetzalcoatl's Turnip Guide Revision 1.

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