Part 37

Master Lucas in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a deep dive into his ground, aerial, and special moves, including the powerful PK Fire.

Lucas has several extremely powerful ground moves that form the core of his strategy. His up smash unleashes a slow but ridiculously powerful psychic explosion with a huge area of effect above him, capable of killing opponents easily, though missing leaves him vulnerable to punishment. His forward smash is also very powerful and can reflect projectiles, being less punishable than his up smash or Ness's forward smash, making it his primary KO option. Lucas's down smash is slow, one-directional, and has less KO power, so it should generally be avoided. For tilts, his up tilt offers a nice double hit that pops opponents up, ideal for follow-ups, while his forward tilt is a quick, safe move with surprising KO power at higher percentages. His down tilt is one of the fastest ground attacks, allowing for spamming until just before punishment, at which point you can shield.

In the air, Lucas has options for racking up damage but struggles with securing kills. His down aerial is a devastating barrage of psychic blasts beneath him, useful for close-range air combat. His forward aerial is his closest air kill move, a quick single hit with decent knockback, usable while approaching and for pursuing damaged opponents. His back aerial is a spike, though not very effective, it can be useful if an opponent is caught over a pit. Lucas's neutral aerial is a slow but potent damage-racking move with poor range, best used if an opponent gets too close. His up aerial is a powerful upward smack excellent for juggles, often following up his up tilt.

Lucas's grab game is hindered by a slow grab, but his down throw can set up juggles, and his back throw can attempt a kill. Using his up smash out of shield can sometimes catch opponents off guard for unexpected KOs, despite its slowness.

Lucas's special moves have notable differences from Ness's. PK Freeze is an awful, risky move with low reward and should be avoided. PK Thunder is similar to Ness's but travels slower, makes sharper turns, and hits multiple times when Lucas rams himself into an opponent. While not a kill move or effective projectile like Ness's, Lucas's version is harder to block during recovery.

Lucas's PK Magnet is a larger version of Ness's, making it superior, and it also has a damaging hit when retracted, a strict advantage.

PK Fire is Lucas's most interesting special move. It's a single hit that sends him back, effective as a projectile for controlling space, locking down opponents, and racking up damage. It can even kill near walk-off ledges. A key technique is