Rise of the Plant Gang

The latest update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate went live Tuesday night. It came with a bunch of character adjustments and for the first time in the history of Smash patching, character notes for each character that was affected. That's great, especially for the competitive crowd but with this new update came our potted boy. Girl. Thing. Creature. Whatever you wanna call it. Point is, Piranha Plant has landed.

We weren't expecting Piranha Plant to show up until February with the next wave of Smash Ultimate amiibos (of which the plant is a part of) but lo and behold, he sprang out of his pipe early to sink those teeth into many a cheeks.

Prepare your cheeks for they are about to get them
hard claps.

The butthurt was strong when Piranha Plant was firs announced during the November 2018 Smash Direct. So much outcry of "What a waste of a character slot!" and "They let a words-unsuitable-for-the-ears-of-children into the game but not Waluigi?!" And of course, "No one asked for this!" That last one is one that I'm hating the more I hear it and not just in regards to the subject of one of Mario's oldest enemies getting a spot on the roster. I mean when it comes to gaming in general. It is thrown out there so dang often that simply hearing it whenever someone doesn't get their way irritates me. It wreaks of sickening entitlement.

OK, so many people didn't ask for the plant. Myself included. I also didn't ask for King K. Rool, Ring a Ding, a killer Dark Man Stage arrangement that doubles as a Mega Man 5 Medley, the sickest photo features in a Smash game to date and so much other stuff Ultimate has given us. Just because "No one asked for this!" doesn't mean it is going to turn out bad nor does it make it bad by default. It amazes me that with a game like Ultimate, a game dripping with so, so much, people can still get bent out of shape just because X character isn't part of the roster. Cry me a frickin' river. There are 75 characters in this massive game. Reaaaaallly hard for me to be upset knowing that.

For so long, Fire Flower was a weapon used against him.
Now, Piranha Plant is using the very weapon that was
the bane of his existence. 

Alright, now that the mini rant is over, let's talk about the best plant that has ever been planted.

Piranha Plant has been a reoccurring enemy in the Super Mario games since the original Super Mario Bros., moving in and out of pipes as an obstacle for Mario and Luigi to always keep in mind when making their way through a level. It wasn't until Super Mario Bros. 3 where they would see major upgrades like shooting fire and launching spiked balls into the air since that game onward, they would only get more and more diverse as more subspecies were added. The improved visuals of Super Mario Bros. 3 really did wonders for Piranha Plant too. Those big lips became a major standpoint point of the creature's design. Even as a child, the thing just gave off this coolness vibe that I felt I just had to respect. The fact that the thing doesn't have eyes actually adds to that. I always got the feeling Piranha Plant was acting so smug whenever he crept out of those pipes with that smile before shooting off a fireball. I get the feeling that a great deal of that same attitude was transferred over to him in Ultimate. Have you seen Piranha Plant's victory screens? That thing knows he is too cool for school and everything else.

Sometimes ya gotta give them chompers a rest. That's when you
start shooting fools.

Despite being a heavy character, the plant can move around the stage at a pretty adequate speed. Sptooie is a really nice projectile for hitting players towards the top of the screen and is oh so much fun to use to gimp someone's recovery with. Poison does can do a surprising amount of damage and while your opponents can jump over, the move let's you control the stage. Any move that forces your opponent to take evasive action can easily work in your favor.

Plant's recovery. Yikes, this thing's recovery SO GOOD. There have been times that I've been so far down near the blast zone that I thought I was a goner but Plant's up B brings me right back to the stage. Even better, the swirling leaves will damage any opponent they touch! It is even possible to KO someone early from the top of the stage with this move, giving player's Smash 4 Bayonetta nightmares all over again.

PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS!!!

I thought Piranha Plant would be a fun character just from his debut trailer alone but now that 've got my hands on him, I see that he's a really, really, reaaaaaahhheeeeeheeeeeeaaaally fun character. I'm not sure if I'll main him. I'm still adjusting to his move set as I am a lot of characters in Ultimate (Zelda, Daisy, the Inklings, the Belmonts) but I will say that the plant is a character I can see myself spending a lot of time with. I'm glad it turned out be an even better character than I thought he would.

Oh and have you seen Kirby when he takes Piranha Plant's power? The first time I saw my favorite pink cream puff in Plant garb, I about died from cuteness overload. Kirby's plant look alone justifies Piranaha Plant being in Ultimate.