Introduction
Everyone's favorite egg-laying dinosaur, Yoshi is one of, if not the most unique and difficult characters in all of Melee. Yoshi's uniqueness stems from boasting a vast amount of mechanics only held by the green dino itself. Additionally, Yoshi is known for having fast & flashy movement, which when combined with a very strong punish game, makes for a character bound to get a crowd on their feet. While it may seem like Yoshi would be an explosive, rush-down character, a lack of safe ranged attacks makes reaching the opponent difficult. Yoshi must instead rely on movement as well as assuming a "bait & punish" style of play. Additionally, Yoshi's high skill floor makes for an unforgiving character; one where even the slightest of mistakes can result in a lost stock.
By principle, Yoshi is a "reversal-based" character, meaning that the toolkit is mostly designed not to create your own openings, but rather punish your opponent for theirs. Yoshi's trademark parry allows for reversals on the ground, while double jump armor allows for reversals in the air. Additionally, Yoshi's unique shield cannot be shield poked and lacks shield stun, which allows for quick and easy reversals out of shield on platforms. These unique mechanics, however, are also the sources of Yoshi's weaknesses. For one, Yoshi cannot jump out of shield, causing for poor options out of shield if not on a platform, making shielding on the ground risky. Furthermore, Yoshi's double jump armor is more likely to break at higher percentages, which means that a highly valuable reversal option is worsened as you take damage. Yoshi also lacks recovery outside of double jump, which can lead to early stock losses if the double jump is lost.
While the weaknesses may seem daunting, Yoshi is a character with a rich history in beating expectations. It's no wonder this character has had the greatest rise on the tier list amongst the entire cast.
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