Lloyd (Super Smash Flash 2)

Lloyd is a newcomer starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He uses the same sprites he has in Super Smash Flash (albeit with minor tweaks and modifications), making him the only character to do so. Most of his special attacks involve him using tech artes from Tales of Symphonia.

Lloyd currently ranks 9th on the tier list; a noticeable drop from his 2nd-place position on the previous tier list. Lloyd has very strong combo potential, above average ground mobility, fast attack speed, and disjointed hitboxes in almost all of his attacks. He also possesses one of the longest grabs for its startup time, and good throws that allow for easy followups. He has the ability to immediately cancel his recovery into any aerial attack, which makes him very difficult to edgeguard due to his aerial prowess. He can also increase his horizontal distance in the air with Rising Falcon. On top of this, he has a great onstage edge guarding game, due to the very long active duration on many of his attacks, especially Beast. His down special move, Rising Falcon, is very similar to 's Falcon Kick, in which when used in air, he plunges downward, and regains his midair jump after using it. Unlike Falcon Kick, if used on the ground he will rise up into the air and then perform the move. He also possesses a projectile in Demon Fang, which can chain into itself at low percentages. He also possesses potent killing moves in his down smash, up smash, forward aerial, back aerial, forward tilt, and Sonic Thrust. All of these traits combine to give Lloyd not only an outstanding punish game, but also a great neutral game as well, allowing him to outperform virtually any opponent by utilizing different aspects of his incredibly diverse toolset to his advantage.

However, Lloyd's vertical recovery, Tiger Blade, covers a short vertical distance which makes it one of the worse recoveries in the game. This weakness is further exposed by his greater tendency to end up offstage due to his below average weight. He has some difficulty finishing off his opponents if he allows them to take too much damage. Despite having a long range, very few of Lloyd's attacks actually cover his hurtboxes, leaving him vulnerable if his opponent gets uncomfortably close to him.

Lloyd has good representation in online tournaments, as his strength as a character coupled with his low difficulty curve make him very attractive to competitive players who wanted to succeed with a minimal amount of effort, to the point where many high-level players have him as at least a pocket secondary.

Attributes
Lloyd is categorized as a lightning bruiser in this demo, possessing many strengths with few weaknesses to balance it out. He has a very strong offensive game, as the range and speed of his attacks, combined with their long active hitboxes and hitstun duration, gives him great comboability with easy followups. He has a good number of kill options which have similarly easy setups, allowing him to score KOs very quickly.

He has an amazing grab and throw game, possessing the longest non-ranged grab in the current demo that is low in start up and ending lag. He is one of the few characters in the game to have good uses for all of his throws, as his forward, down and back throws can chain grab the majority of the cast and his up throw can be followed up with his excellent juggling ability.

He has a good aerial game with the majority of his aerials having long reach and fast start up.

He also has an effective camping ability because of his ability to halt most approaches just by spamming Demon Fang. Grave Blade is similarly useful for preventing opponents from camping, though it can also be used as a free tech chase or to launch the opponent at the perfect speed and angle for an easy juggle. Tiger Blade, while not the best recovery in terms of distance covered, is very difficult to punish, since he can immediately cancel it with any other aerial attack to prevent helplessness.

His weaknesses are very few and far between, but it's enough to prevent him from being the best character in the game. His below average weight leaves him vulnerable to getting semi-spiked to death, as his vertical recovery is average at best and his small ledge sweet spot leaves him vulnerable to edge hogging.

Demon Fang has low-priority and can be easily reflected or canceled out by other attacks. Most of his attacks possess hitboxes that do not cover his hurtboxes at all, which makes it difficult for Lloyd to effectively hit his opponent if they are directly on top of him.

The end result is a character with a very strong neutral game, punish game, and adaptability, with a few minor glass cannon-esque traits that fall drastically short of keeping him balanced. This, coupled with his shallow learning curve, can make him one of the most frustrating characters to fight against.

Changes from v0.9a
Lloyd has received nerfs even though he was considered a mid tier character last demo. He mainly has received nerfs to his KO options, his grab & throw game. However, Lloyd is seen as a more effective character this demo due to advances in his metagame. Lloyd also benefits from this demo's lower hitstun which makes him less susceptible to combos while being one of the few characters who can combo like last demo.

Tier placement history
Initially, Lloyd was seen as a mid tier character, ranking 4th overall (tied with ) on the first tier list for demo v0.6. He remained in mid tier up until demo v0.7's release, in which he ranked 13th, putting him dangerously close to the dreaded Kirby Tier. Lloyd remained a low tier character until demo v0.9a, where he became a mid tier character again. Then, in v0.9b, the ability to play online gave Lloyd an outlet for showing his true colors at last, allowing him to rise up to 4th on that demo's initial tier list. He currently stands at 3rd place, where he is seen as a top tier character on the second tier list for v0.9b.

Trivia

 * Lloyd is the only character returning from Super Smash Flash to not get a sprite change for 2, instead getting a minor touch-up. Lloyd uses his Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 sprites in both games.
 * From demo v0.6 to v0.8b, Lloyd's portrait was taken on SOULCALIBUR Legends.
 * Prior to version 0.2b, Lloyd's Falcon's Crest worked very differently. When using it, Lloyd would create a series of explosions that came from the ground and radiated out to either side of him.
 * Throughout the demos, Lloyd has repeatedly had numerous changes to his side and down special moves. In the earliest versions of the game, Lloyd's side special was Sonic Thrust, and his down special was Guardian. In versions 0.5a and 0.5b, Lloyd's side special move was changed to Beast. During these versions, a weaker version of Sonic Thrust was the finishing part of Lloyd's neutral combo. In version 0.6, Sonic Thrust became his side special once again, while Beast became his forward smash. In version v0.8, his down special changed from Guardian to Grave Blade. Finally, in Version Beta, his side special became Tempest and his down special became Rising Falcon. Sonic Thrust was moved to his dash attack, and Grave Blade was removed entirely.
 * Lloyd is the only swordsman in the game so far to wield two swords in battle; Flamberge and the Vorpal Sword.
 * Lloyd, along with ,, , and are the only characters so far to wear their default costumes in team battle when they are on the red team.
 * Lloyd is currently, one of 5 characters to have his availability status changed (he was an unlockable character in the original Super Smash Flash) the other 4 characters (so far) are, , , and.
 * Lloyd, along with, , , Bandana Dee, and , are the only characters who don't applaud for the winner of a match.
 * As of SSF2 Beta, Lloyd is the only character in Super Smash Flash 2 whose weapons don't flip when he changes directions — Flamberge always being held in his left hand and the Vorpal sword in his right.
 * Lloyd is the second character, after Sora, to have gone through the most moveset changes.
 * In SSF2 Beta, several of Lloyd's new moves are based on the Mii Swordfighter from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, who has a costume of Lloyd purchasable as DLC. His down aerial is taken directly from it, Tempest is based on Airborne Assault, and Rising Falcon is based on the aerial Power Thrust.
 * When Lloyd is Screen KO'd in Beta, he drops his swords as he hits the screen and starts falling down.

External link

 * Lloyd's page at Smash Flash DOJO!!!