MW Top 10s – Kupa Sets 2

Kupa’s sets have gone through a tremendous spike in quality in recent MYMs, making him a much more respected MYMer today than he was in the past. While there’s nothing from MYM 7 and earlier on the list (Even Stanley and his tacky entire set of sprays is gone), those sets were respectable for the times they were in, particularly MYM 5, if you have any memories of how terrible that contest was from top 13 tacky. Either way, Kupa’s won a single contest and come far, far too close to winning another in modern times, taking up the mantle of several of the other fallen big players.

10 – Kloak – MYM 11

A fairly simplistic set for a minion character, but Kloak isn’t exactly the most basic of minions, meaning it’s not just a n88 set which you just nod in passive approval of due to terrible character choice despite the terrible taste in your mouth. Kupa doesn’t disappoint with Kloak, taking advantage of his unique body type, obvious ghostly wind powers, and his projectile spamming from the game. At a very basic level, Kloak is a character with minions who pushes foes into them/lures his minions around the stage into the foe, being particularly good at keeping foes grounded and making use of his wind hitboxes to do so. While he can take  a direct approach, Kloak has many evasive maneuvers, most obviously through invisibility, to lure the foe about like a sheep without having to land so much as a single hitbox on them. Of course, this works in Kloak’s best interest to be evasive anyway, considering how frail he is, making a nice joint of interests.

9 – Ratigan – MYM 12

Chain reaction traps have been done very occasionally since their introduction in Strangelove, but have been done on very small scales and usually have been poorly executed. Here, it finally gets the focus in a set it’s been waiting for. While you can directly play Mouse Trap if you so desire by setting off a long chain with a single action, there are many other ways you can go about it. With the Record Player, Ratigan can set off three traps at a specific surprising time to the foe, and he can carry around up to three traps inside his bottle and his aircraft before potentially shattering the bottle/dumping them off said aircraft. Thanks to Ratigan’s minions, he even has what functions, gameplay wise, as one of those “psychic grabs”, and with the infinite range of said grab can then position the foe to get hit by his traps.

That’s all pretty fantastic, and the set could be higher on the list, but this character has an alter-ego that must be addressed – it’s not just constant hammy Vincent Price. The melee attacks are not as relevant as I’d like (And no, I am not bloody saying he should not have melee attacks – if anything he needs more of them.), as well as the Inner Rat mechanic specifically. Even when it turns on, it simply overwrites some of his existing melee moves, meaning if he so desires he can just stick to the trappy uber defensive Vincent Price esque playstyle even when the Inner Rat triggers –that extra movement speed is more practical for running away.

8 – Bowser – MYM 11

Bowser’s pits actually have source material to them rather than him just being a token heavyweight, and they come from one of his bigger titles in SMB3. . .And pretty much all of Bowser’s other games are represented in here too, this isn’t DFM’s SMRPG Bowser. While Bowser can simply knock foes in and damage rack them, there’s less point in that when one of Bowser’s main methods of killing is gimping them through a –bottomless- pit. Bowser can still use his moves that send projectiles down the pit, such as shockwaves, if he so desires, and he has several moves to pressure them towards said points. If Bowser gets daring, he can attempt to gimp them directly, having plenty of competent aerial candidates to do so. However, his 10 falling speed tends to disagree with him. Thankfully, Bowser can cling to and climb up walls to get back up to the stage, and can even attack foes while hanging from said wall. If Bowser’s particularly crafty, he can even bring his Klown Kar along with him and Bowser Bomb foes with it to their doom while remaining completely safe.

7 – Bowser Jr. – MYM 9

What I like about this particular goop set is the method for spreading his goop. Rather than just covering the stage with it himself, he employs the foe to help him in the endeavor. He covers them specifically in paint, or even more specifically, their feet. This causes them to spread goop wherever they walk, meaning that their main means of travel will be the air, with them preferring to land back on the same patch of goop they were on, or perhaps make a –single- other goop patch to work with. Jr’s simplistic moveset of basic spacing moves work beautifully in the context of this goop mechanic, particularly the aerials for obvious reasons. The moveset has a pretty In-Smash feel considering how well these simplistic moves work, and feels like it could be played without the main mechanic far better than any Junahu hyperbole. The foe –wanting- to land inside your existing goop introduces entirely new layers to this playstyle where the inverse is true, and if Jr. is accurate with prediction he can cause a goop Piranha or cage to come up to greet them as they land.

6 – Slinky – MYM 8

This is another set that gets by with more simplistic moves simply due to how brilliant the main mechanic is here. While significantly more obvious thanks to character-choice, nobody else is exactly rushing to make sets for Toy Story characters, and this was before David the drug dealer came along. Slinky can extend as much as he likes to create a gigantic spring that connects his two halves, then swing it about with his various moves. The grab introduces a whole new layer to the playstyle, as all of these moves can potentially even have grab hitboxes on them. Perhaps the cleverest aspect of all, though, is how Slinky surrounds foes by biting down on his tail, still having access to his gigantic movepool all the while. While this might all sound pretty scary for the foe, all they have to do is hit either of Slinky’s halves with an attack that does 10%+ to make him revert back to normal, and stretching out isn’t exactly a lagless process.

5 – King Boo – MYM 9

King Boo is a versatile character who has resources to invest into his attacks, but the resource is his shield rather than some meaningless ammo bank. The shield is far superior to a Brawl character’s if left alone, not only being twice as durable but even having an immunity to grabs! The Boos that make up this shield can be invested to attack the foe as minions, either by attempting to enter their bodies and drain their shield or circling around them with 3D circles to block their shielding alternative, dodging, to make King Boo’s attacks far, far more potent when the foe is left with no way to evade. While King Boo does not have a plethora of projectiles, the ones he does have are enough that King Boo can stay just out of the foe’s attacking range while pelting them en mass, with very little they can do about it – especially if he left a good Boo investment for his all-powerful shield. For all the crap Smady/Nick’s Mime got, King Boo in the least got the credit he deserved for his more clever manipulation of shields.

4 – Necky – MYM 9

Necky is pretty much the very best set for a painfully generic minion ever made, and it’s very possible that it will never be topped. In-game, Necky serves as a stepping stone to jump onto to make it to otherwise inaccessible/difficult to reach areas, and he serves this purpose of a makeshift platform in Brawl by being. . .A makeshift platform. Necky intends to scoop up foes before carrying them off either the side or top blast zone, with several moves to make sure that they sit tight and enjoy the flight. Essentially, it’s one of those cage scenarios from a set like Victreebel, but with far more urgency as the foe has to escape while they can still make it back to terra firma, and far more pressure on the captor to make them stay put due to how easy it is for them to walk off of Necky’s back if he doesn’t interfere. This set ranks among Kupa’s best executed despite the incredibly difficult character, even having a shockingly complete grab-game with four glorious throws thanks to Kupa being pressured after the backlash from Kaptain K. Rool, the grab-game serving as an alternative to the mobile platform on Necky’s back as he carries them with his talons instead.

3 – Mr. Potato Head – MYM 8

Much like the more known comparison of Gengar and Pennywise, Potato Head and Skeleton is another case of Rool and Kupa directly competing against each other with the same core brilliant idea. While Pennywise Vs. Gengar is far more debatable, Potato Head clearly comes out on top in this match-up, as Skeleton was intentionally toned down due to Rool trying to and failing miserably to pass as an alternate account. The actual playstyle concept is brilliant and works splendidly on Potato Head specifically – several attacks involving his hands and shoes, and then Potato Head can throw some spare shores/hands out of his body. When these spare hands/shoes are out, they will do the same attack as Potato Head when an attack involving those body parts is used. While this contributes to some interesting stage control, the highlight is one of the best on-stage gimping games you’ll ever see.

2 – Pennywise – MYM 10

Pennywise is a set that actually uses the aspect of not knowing where he’s going to pop up as something advantageous for the characterization, leaving the foe clueless and afraid, rather than just doing it solely for MYM uniqueness – which the set has by the bucketful regardless. Another common issue invisibility sets have that Pennywise actually addresses, is the aspect of controlling your character while you’re invisible. How do you know how far you’ve moved? Gengar was too busy throwing out tacky effects every move to think about such concerns, while Pennywise’s duplicate automatically approaches the foe. Pennywise on the other hand can even create things such as fake sound clips with his soundproof bubble to bait the foe into thinking he’s using a certain attack, before bringing the foe along his carnival trail to put the foe into down into one of his pits. Kupa manages to introduce so many unique aspects in this set despite making the set for a clown with very awkwardly defined powers to the point of too much potential and lots of character to be true to as opposed to the single most generic Pokemon that you can get away with literally anything on, even turning into a random thunderbolt spamming giant.

1 – Baron K. Roolenstein – MYM 10

There’s not much more I can really say about Baron that I haven’t said already, but Baron’s barriers are still holding up swell as of MYM 12, and showcase the correct way to use versatility in a moveset – despite having actual guidelines on how to play, the set is far more versatile than any garbage like Alucard which just avoids playstyle intentionally and claims the term. Baron’s electric barrier can be set up in any multitude of angles he sees fit based off his enemy, and from there he has plenty of melee moves to space foes into them. More interestingly, he can magnetize the foe then make use of his fsmash to bring the foe to his position, dragging them through said barrier. If the barrier is vertical, making the foe giant or making them float upwards via the grab-game prove to be other innovative ways to push them towards it. Baron’s aerial prowess also assists him in evading being sent into the barrier himself, and he can even use them to hover over pits he creates before sealing them in with his beloved barrier. Baron being vulnerable in general adds another delicious layer to the playstyle that makes the set feel much more at home/balanced in the context of a real game than most MYM sets – outsiders think something with just a couple of ranged attacks like Silver the Hedgehog is broken when posted elsewhere.