Smash Corner - King K. Rool, the new King in Town

Enough talking about the veterans, let’s look at one of the new faces of Smash. Say goodbye to Bowser, King of the Koopas and to King Dedede, there’s a new king of the playground, character #67 of the roster, King K. Rool. This big bad crocodile is the main antagonist of the Donkey Kong series, and is now a brand new Heavy fighter in Ultimate. His hefty mass not only gives him very powerful attacks at close range, but his unique moveset grants him a decent mid range as well as protection from enemies.

Slow as he may be, King K. Rool still packs quite a punch at close range and only needs to hit a few normal, tilt or air attacks on his enemy to get them at kill-percent for any smash attack. Although his attacks may be impressive the real highlight of his moveset is his Super Armor. K. Rool’s golden chest plate passively blocks any incoming attacks, preventing him being interrupted when using a ‘belly-attack’ (neutral-air, side-tilt, up-smash and down-smash). It can however break like a shield, leaving you very vulnerable, if hit too much or too hard. Hence a incredibly powerful tool to use often but wisely.

King K. Rool also does a decent job at medium range thanks to his neutral- and side-special attacks. Indeed, with no input from the stick, K. Rool will take out his Blunderbuss, a gun which fires a slow cannonball, dealing a lot of damage. Furthermore, if you hold down his neutral-special, the gun can suck an opponent back in and throw them away. This move can kill most light characters at 100% damage! For his side-special, K. Rool will throw his crown like a boomerang, creating additional pressure for your enemy as it comes back. In addition to these projectiles, King K. Rool has 2 more tricks up his sleeve. His down-special is his Gut Check, which will block a frontal attack with his Super Armor and counter it immediately. And finally, K. Rool has the best recovery of all Heavies, with his up-special Propellerpack, which not only brings him back on stage from anywhere but slightly damages enemies overhead preventing any spikes.

Now the problem is that your opponents are usually too fast for you, making it hard to actually hit them especially with your slow smash attack. But worry not, as some combos exist to help you secure the kill. The first one is the ‘Bury & Flop’ which simply consists of a down-throw or -tilt immediately followed up by a down-smash; it will bury your opponent and can kill them from 60% and up! An the other one is the ‘Suck & Cuck’, a cheeky combo that uses the neutral special off stage as you are falling to suck and throw your opponent under the map. You can then laugh diabolically as they fall to their death whilst you recover easily with your up-special!

Overall, King K. Rool can be considered as the best Heavy in the game, however he can still suffer against fast and/or ranging characters such as Sonic, Pichu or Marth. This brings him in low- to mid-tier in competitive play, but at low level, the players sometimes struggle to punish him properly, bringing him up to high-tier. But more importantly K. Rool is incredibly fun to play so lock him in already and get smashing!