Grab

A Grab is the action of holding an opponent for a limited amount of time. The particularity of grab attacks is that they go through shields and beat any type of armor. Every character has a regular grab while some character also have unique grabs called special grabs or command grabs.

Regular grab
Performed by pressing the grab button or by shielding and pressing the attack button, regular grab is one of the basic moves each character has. When an opponent is grabbed, the grabbing character has the option to either pummel or throw the opponent.

Grabs can easy lead to follow ups at lower percents, either through chain grabbing or some throws having low base knockback to set up for other attacks. At higher percents a grab can mean an easy KO for some characters with strong throws, such as and.

The maximum amount of time the opponent is held depends on the percentage they are, with higher percent equating to more time. The opponent can also mash out of a grab by pressing any button, effectively reducing the grab time with each press. A grab release will occur if the grab time runs out.

Variations
A slight variation of the regular grab is called dash grab, which is simply performed by cancelling a dash with a grab. The character will slide a bit along with anyone who is caught. The distance of the slide is dependent on each characters dashing speed. At the current moment Samus is the only character whose dash grab is different from her standing grab.

Jump-canceled grab is a similar technique performed by jumping out of a dash and cancelling the jump squat frames with a grab. The character will slide slightly further than with a dash grab.

By pressing the opposite direction the character is dashing just before grabbing, they will perform a pivot grab, sliding in the original direction while grabbing in the opposite one.

All these techniques are essential to perform some chain grabs.

Tether grabs
Tether grabs are functionally the same as normal grabs on the ground, but have far more reach while having a lot more endlag if missed to compensate. Additionally they can be used in, both for recovery and as an attack. These include:


 * 's Clawshot.
 * ' Grapple beam.

While being ranged grabs similar to tether grabs, these can't be used in the air:


 * 's plug.
 * 's tongue.
 * ' Plasma Whip.

Initial grab range
This list of characters grab ranges from longest to shortest. These are just estimates of a person's grab range and is subject to change.



Special grabs
Some special moves function like grabs, sharing most of the main properties such as bypassing shields. Additionally they can be also performed in the air, making them more versatile in some situations. These grabs are:


 * 's Haste.
 * 's Flying Slam.
 * 's Falcon Dive.
 * 's Instant Transmission*
 * 's Inhale.
 * Can also copy Wario's Chomp and Yoshi's Egg Lay.
 * 's neutral and backwards Flowmotion.
 * ' Airlift.
 * 's Chomp.
 * 's Egg Lay.

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Trivia

 * is the only character to have different grab animations. Her standing grab has longer reach than all her other grabs, but it's noticeably laggier.