Smash Corner-Rosalina & Luna, Fighting Stars
This powerful duo first appeared in 2010 as a mysterious character of Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. They are relatively new to the series, having only appeared once before in the Wii U version of the game. While not being as powerful as her previous iteration, there is still plenty of room to show off with this complex 2-in-1 package.
The unique aspect of Rosalina and Luma comes from Luma copying all of Rosalina’s attacks. Whether Luma is close (by default) or far (after using Luma shot, the neutral special) she will function as a second character you can control. This allows for amazing mix-ups and should be practiced a lot in order to maximise potential. A common way of utilising this is sending out Luma, and then grabbing the opponent. Rather than throwing the opponent, instead, pummel them and once they are released, they will float towards Luma, if you use an up smash at high percent this will result in a kill.
Their up B ‘Launch Star’ is a useful yet exploitable recovery. Although it has a very large range, the trajectory it takes is not very manipulatable and thus easy to predict and punish. Be careful when using this as once Rosalina is off-stage without a jump, she is at a massive disadvantage due to her slow fall speed and lightweight, meaning she is very easy to kill.
The other two special moves are quite situational. Star Bits is their side B which shoots out a small cluster of stars from Luma. This has quite low damage and no knockback so is only useful when trying to stop the enemy going back to the ledge or if you want to jab lock the opponent. Gravitational Pull is their down B which has two uses: It pulls Luma back to Rosalina after being fired out by a Luma shot and it also absorbs projectiles. This is very useful as it allows easier control of Luma, as well as giving Rosalina a good tool to deal with projectile users.
The main strength of Rosalina comes in her powerful aerial attacks, especially up air. You can hit most of her aerials out of a throw, so a common play is to up throw the opponent into a string of up airs. Hitting the opponent with Luma’s up air (rather than Rosalina’s) will cause far more knockback and damage and often leads to a K.O.
The key with Rosalina and Luma is to be patient. You have enough tools to help get you out of pressure (gravitational pull is great against projectiles and all of Luma’s attacks have a huge amount of priority) meaning that if you wait until the right moment to strike you will be able to massively punish the opponent.
Overall, I would rank Peach’s Daughter (we think) solidly in mid-tier. Although this duo has powerful kill potential and punish game, the fact that they are so light means they can be knocked out far too easily. Not only this but if Luma sustains enough damage she can be knocked out herself leaving Rosalina screwed as she loses most of what makes her strong.
If you want to find out more about how to play Rosalina and Luma at a high level I recommend you check out ‘Falln’ a professional player with decent results. Happy Smashing!
