Tips for fighting against Sora in Super Smash Bros Ultimate

The very last Super Smash Bros Ultimate DLC has been out for a few months now, but players seem to still be having some difficulties against the master of the Kingdom Key.

Kingdom Hearts' Sora is the 82nd fighter in the game and his kit has already proven to be unique. He has one of the longest potential airtimes in the game making his ability to follow up on attacks, edge guard, and generally be a nuisance in the air one of the most difficult fighters in the game. 

While his gameplay may be strong, we're not looking at the second coming of Bayonetta from Smash 4. He has a number of weaknesses that can be glaring. For one, he's the lightest fighter in the game, even more so than Sephiroth, as well as the smaller fighters in the cast. Some of his gameplay can also be rather momentum-based and almost flow-chart-like. If you learn to read Sora's actions, it's possible to counter them. 

So, not to worry. Esports.gg is here to give you some strategies to counter the Chosen One of the Kingdom Key. 

The first thing that an inexperienced Sora player will do is look to use Sonic Blade (Sora's Side B) quite a lot. This is because the move has a lock-on feature that makes it one of the easiest moves to land in the game. However, it does have a number of key weaknesses that make this generally a bad idea. Sonic Blade has a significant amount of end lag on it as Sora winds up for the next volley of it. Much like many of his combos, there are three parts to the move where it can be linked together. 

If Sora misses or you've shielded one of the hits he becomes rather punishable, either with a grab or a fast move like a jab. If the Sora player is using it to approach, a projectile will stop him dead in his tracks, such as Wolf's blaster, Link's arrows, or any other move that causes hitstun. 

Additionally, Sora's Lock-On is a bit of a misnomer. It will lock on and home in on you, but it aims where you were when the move was initiated. This means that if it's being used horizontally, you can run backward out of range of the move and punish accordingly. However, don't think spot dodging or air dodging is going to work - the move is just a bit too fast for that, and a good Sora player might stop using the move mid-volley with only one or two to catch a dodging player. 

This lock-on can also be abused if the Sora player is trying to chase off stage. Other floaty fighters can just avoid the angular Sonic Blade causing Sora to fall to his doom as Sonic Blade doesn't allow for actions afterward.

Just be careful when Sora uses his Up+B to chain into Side+B, which gives him a ton of aerial coverage. Recovery, in general, can seem impossible, so just carefully jump and try to predict where Sora will float, as it can be hard for him to change directions suddenly without the use of Sonic Blade. 

Sora is one of the most momentum-based fighters in the cast. This means that he's going to look to approach more often than not. So, this means that if you are playing a character with either a long reach (like Sephiroth, Min-Min, Mewtwo, Mii Gunner, and others), or characters that primarily use projectiles, such as Samus.

The Keyblade may be strong but it's also pretty stubby for a sword user in Smash. What gives Sora his effective range is how floaty he is and how easily he can jump in. So, in order to take advantage of that, you have to apply the age-old philosophy of zoning and anti-airing. Well-grounded fighters have perhaps the biggest advantage against Sora. Fighters that traditionally would try to approach in the air will have a disadvantage, especially seeing as Sora is the best air fighter in the game. Ironically, other sword fighters and brawlers like Kazuya would have the best chance of doing things like this, as long as they play defensively. 

Gimping, or the act of interrupting recovery, is very hard to do against Sora. This largely owes to the best recovery in the game. His double jump alone is enough to lift Sora back to the stage from the bottom blast zone, not to mention his Rising Slash/Sonic Blade combo. While it's possible to slam Sora against the stage with a well-placed back air if he's not expecting it, it's a risky proposition.

No, the better thing to do is predict where he's going to recover from the side or above the stage. Because Sora is so light, he goes flying at much earlier percentages than other fighters. Sora's particularly vulnerable to off-stage counters, mainly because a lot of his recovery options include a hitbox on his end. 

And, even though we just said it was risky, Sora's hitboxes don't tend to protect directly above him. So he can be vulnerable to spikes, like Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, or Incineroar's Down-Air attack. 

With Sora being the lightest character in the game and some of his moves having extreme end-lag, don't hesitate to launch a Smash attack to launch him off stage. While it might not always work out and a good Sora player might punish you, if you look to use Smash attacks a bit more often than usual, you should get lucky eventually.

Sora is great at countering, but his counter also is pretty precise, as taken from the Kingdom Hearts series. If you hold down the Smash button a split second longer, and mix it up, the Sora player might find it difficult to predict what you're going to do. This could lead to a stock advantage, and that's something that any character (Sora included) will have trouble coming back from.

What are some ways you've had success against Sora? Let us know on Twitter @esports. For all the latest on competitive Smash Bros, keep it locked here to Esports.gg.