Why NO ONE Plays: Sheik | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 

Shiek: *does non-stop combo for 40 seconds straight* Enemy *lands a single jab combo* The damage %'s: Now we're even

Trying to be good with Sheik in this game is like trying to eat soup with chopsticks.

Basically: Sheik's problem is that she isn't actually a glass cannon. Sheik is a glass-paintball gun.

The big reason I don’t use her much is because none of her attacks feel all that good to hit. I do like using these weak little hit to overwhelm the opponent but I’d rather use characters like Joker, Fox, or Pikachu.

Glad you mentioned Gimr's Slingshot, because Void have already shown how much Sheik benefits from it, with an absurd pressure while spacing

The reason is simple. Sheik has zero phat buttons. No matter the character type the popular characters have an amazingly phat hit that feels cool to land. Even the Sheik equivalent in rivals of aether has a meaty back air in comparison. Sheik only feels cool if you land some reallllly flashy combos which online is less likely making her less fun most of the time.

You perfectly explained how I feel about her. Being good with Sheik is pretty much equal to how much work you put into the character; I don't think any other character is that close. She doesn't feel like you are being carried by her. She has her obvious flaws, but she's still a satisfying character to play as; it just takes a lot of work.

Sheik is an example of a well balanced lightweight character - fast movement, fast frame data, combo focused, low damage output, difficult to secure kills. This is the design that all lightweights should have. But the amount of light characters in this game that hit like a truck is ridiculous, and that's what makes Sheik a bit redundant.

Honestly I think if she had even slightly better killing power it would make a world of difference bc not being able to kill someone till they past 150 as light as she is ...is kinda ridiculous

Damn, this channel's quality of analysis was way above my expectations, instant sub.

Shiek's gameplay reminds me of Genji's gameplay from Overwatch. Very technically demanding, fast, and surgical. Punishing for players with a slower reaction time like me. At the same time, incredibly fun to watch in the hands of a pro.

Sheik’s up throw just needs to kill at like 160. If that were to case, she could still kill after all of her bread and butter combos in the 0 to 120 range.

If she could actually play like Melee Sheik, I would absolutely use her. Hard hitting with more knockback. Because as of now, its like working overtime at a factory for less than minimum wage. Not many people would want take up that offer, especially with other options available.

As a Sheik player, all of these points make sense. Playing the perfect Sheik is realistically extremely draining and close to impossible. Instead, you can play her based around fundamentals to take advantage of her frame data and slowly incorporate Sheik specific tech (usually her kill setups for efficiency). As for a reason to play her, it's mainly to enjoy the freedom and flashiness of her combo strings. But also when you do pull off those highs of kill setups and dominating neutral, it's a rush.

Sheik is like playing a glass cannon except you shoot feathers while also moving at hyperspeed

Can I just say I think it’s amazing how much high quality content you’re consistently putting out across 3 different channels keep up the good work

Yeah, I think you've hit every nail on the head here. I've grown more attached to fast, rushdown characters lately, but Sheik has been the one character I've struggled to get a grip on. The sheer amount of effort it takes to play Sheik well is utterly draining, knowing that I can't afford many mistakes at all. Plus, there are other characters who take noticeably less effort to play well, but still revolve around being a rushdown character, like Fox and Joker, and Joker is considered Top 5 in the game at the moment. There was also the time right after release when Sheik was near-unanimously considered mid or even low tier, but got significant buffs in the updates to later become potentially top tier. I think Sheik is fine where she is. The reward she gives off can potentially produce Best Player in the World results, yet she can easily crumble from careless mistakes. However, a high-effort, high-reward character is always incredibly fun to watch and play as, since all the hard work you put towards the character is finally paying off. That is, if you can handle dying earlier than Kirby would.

Your content is incredibly detailed and more accurate to detail compared to most other Smash RU-vidrs! I love it, please make more videos!

As a Sheik main, I honestly think the only thing Sheik needs is increased weight. I think Sheik being significantly lighter than Zelda while ironically being the same person is unfair. Even if there’s an argument to be made justifying Sheik being lighter than Zelda, in my opinion Sheik doesn’t deserve to be lighter than Kirby. Everything else about Sheik truly gives an honest reflection of the players themselves, so you just need to get good if you want to close out stocks or get combos on opponents

That's why I dropped her, her speed is amazing and her kit is very satisfying to use, but there is too much work to put in to be even just decent, when there's characters like palutena who you can just pick and play with your basic understanding and no knowledge of how to play her and still be decent without much effort Hope you talk about Megaman someday, cause despite him being super strong nobody plays him because his kit is way to different from the rest of the cast

Sheik main here, style, sauce, passion, and utter destruction are why I play Sheik. I feel like Spiderman as Sheik.

I'm a Lucina main and I enjoy playing Shiek, although it feels so unrewarding to do such a long combo where you rack up damage just for your opponent to land like 4 moves and then boom % is tied but wait there's more, they're actually in advantage just because you're so light and have very little kill power. If Shiek had solid moves to kill at around 100% I personally would enjoy playing her a lot more.

I remember when Sheik used to be one of the most played and feared characters in the early days of Sm4sh

Sheik is to smash, what Taokaka is to blazblue.

The thing I think is missing from the video is sheer focus on high percent to get a kill, to me the 3 biggest advantages of playing Sheik is: 1) When done right, you can easily take out a stock at ~100% if you either take them off stage or time a smash attack, it doesn't have to be high percent if done right 2) The other big component is mind games and psychological advantage. When you get combo'd many times and it's hard to avoid Sheik's attacks - it does tilt you a bit and it makes it harder to play and predict the next move, and I think that on it's own is a viable strategy 3) If you play more re-actively and less aggressive - it's very rewarding, because while the opponent recovers from the attack, you have the time to approach and punish them I started playing Sheik as main for a few weeks now, and I really love playing with her, she's tons of fun. She does require high concentration and flow, but when it works it feels very artful, watching pros play her is really addicting to me

I know this series from your main channel and I really like it. Thats why Im even happier to see it for smash. Keep it up!

Thank you for explain my main literally perfectly. What a great analysis. If you put in the time she’s worth it guys! It does feel like a 9-5 from time to time but getting a win with sheik is an unbelievable feeling

Sheik Main since Melee. Missed out on Sm4sh because I didn’t have WiiU but proud to say I’m in Elite Smash at 11.4 Million GSP with her. Her movement is key but the struggle is REAL!

Thanks for starting this series! Very educational

Her high risk high reward play style is risky but super satisfying to play with. Zelda/Sheik was the first character I remember playing with when I played smash melee for the first time at a friend’s house. She may not be meta but she’s meta in my heart.

thx for the video man, i love sheik for how creative you can be with her

Sheik doesn't deal damage👽

Did not expect to feel better about being a Shiek player from a video about why no one plays her. Really cool video, man!

Loving this series so far! as a Lucario main I'd love to see a why no one plays Lucario video, he's got some really interesting strengths and weaknesses that could be fun to cover

Sheik is just like a glass cannon except she isn’t a cannon she’s just glass

Sheik is just too much work. Joker feels like a way better version of Sheik

My man you handled your analysis of my best girl with great care and for that I have to give you respect. I'm legit a little choked up because I've been unable to put into clear and concise words (or thoughts for that matter) for, well.. multiple decades, why I've always loved playing Sheik, as well as why I recently haven't loved playing Smash for the last few years and why I've been so mad at my favorite mysterious ninja. Granted I'm a more casual player, but for a very long time Smash has been in my top 3 franchises ever. My main was always Sheik, and within my local playgroup of twenty kids or so. I've always loved playing with both friends and family, but spent a lot of time pulling punches or playing my off characters or the same character of someone struggling to find their groove. Now I'm in my thirties though, and for the last several years I've been finding nothing but frustration in something I used to take such joy in. My reactions are terrible, and my ability to convince people to play Melee or Project M these days is almost nil so I'm not playing in the gravity that I'm used to with different movesets than I remember. I still loved playing with my nieces and nephews, but constantly get dominated as Sheik. It's not that they screwed her in the design, it's that I'm old, raggedy and held to together with mostly spit, bailing wire and good luck these days XD I'll rely on Ness and Ganon when I'm nostalgic, but I think I need to learn a new main, or else put in quite a lot of work on finding a way to compromise my playstyle with Her in a way that I can compensate for my bad reactions in casual settings. Thank you so much for this video. You've given me back my love of the game, and simultaneous given me a ready-made response for why I find Sheik such a joy to pilot when I'm on form and before the rum.

Though sheik indeed has needes, she can still struggle with range when trying to approach since most of her hitboxes are juste outside of her hurtboxe making her having some of the least disjointed attacks in the game.

Yo i didn't realize you made a new Chanel for smash

Increase her grab range slightly even with conditioning it’s way harder to get grabs without combining into it because grab range is so small. Just a tad bigger

Very informitive, gonna give Sheik the old collage try after watching this! Thanks for all the info

Sheik is so fun to play but its so frustrating too.

This video is very accurate. As a sheik main she is extremely frustrating at times but very rewarding at thr same time

Where did THIS channel come from??? Wish I found it sooner. This a very well put together discussion, hope to see more! Also, for Sheik, I think she turned out to be quite a bit better than I initially thought but I still think she's too unforgiving to be considered top tier. And I personally am still more negative on her than most, I struggle even considering her high tier because of how prone she is to getting blown up and how she can't just blow people up in return. If she weighed just a bit more, my opinion of her would be so much higher. I think that would've been the safest way to make her still very strong but not mess up her playstyle. As is, though, she ended up in a decent spot, and I'll never take it easy when I face one.

Love these video's, keep it going

VARS!!! I JUST DISCOVERED THIS SPLINTER CHANNEL OF YOURS AND YOU’RE REALLY MAKING ME FALL BACK INTO ONE OF MY OLD HYPERFIXATIONS 😫

Sheik is the type of character that's only fun when you're winning because she's frustrating as Hell to lose with. Also, surprised to hear no mention of her weird hitbox placement and her weakness against shielding opponents at high percent. On the topic of buffing her damage, that could feasible without breaking her combos because damage and knockback values exist independently of each other even though they are related, but then you run into the issue of her aerials becoming plus on shield

Great video! 🔥

This game feels much like a participation award at times.

Doing a 50 hit combo, just for 15% damage

Reason why I love Joker is the speed and the attack speed he has and I love the attack power he has plus his recovery is really safe especially when Arsien on. Sheik's problem for me is the low reward she gives for all your effort, she has speed but low attack and easy to kill, thoses are the reason I don't play her. The video definitely did say why I don't play her.

Can’t wait for the ganon one, be sure to mention the “fear factor” passive buff he gets 🤣

love the mockrock mention!

i cant explain it but i tend to do really well with sheik, the low damage potential and lack of kill moves is annoying but it makes so rewarding to play when you do pull off the win

Pretty good analysis. I'd like to see one on Robin.

Sheik could definitely benefit (in a balanced way) from at least one 0 IQ kill confirm. If you look at a lot of the roster, Kirby and Pyra have down tilt to up smash, Inkling, DK, and many others have the ability to bury their opponents before hitting them hard, the list goes on. But Sheik? Her easiest kill confirm combo is arial attack into down smash, and it's actually kinda difficult to land since it only works if you hit your opponent offstage with the arial attack.

Remebered that you also did smash videos ! loved the league ones and im sure ill love the smash ones (as a smash and league player myself)

The is a big missconception on sheik that you need to win neutral 20 times to close a stock. The thing you don't realise is that while sheik does need to land more moves to do the same damage, her moves combo into each other or advantage state, and while one single strick doesn't do much, all the hit she can land for just one neutral win compensates her low damage per hit. So the actual difficult thing with sheik is not winning neutral over and over, but knowing how to make you advantage state last as long as possible, which if you ask me, is way easier as sheik.

5:25 Geez, I didn't expect to see the gremlins, I mean Michael and Lily, here on your channel

I loved playing shiek in smash 4 shame she's so hard to play now.

Like Chipp in Guilty Gear the best way to describe playing Shiek is doing 100 question speed arithmetic test needing to score 100% while everyone else is doing a one question long division test with a margin of error.

I like how these videos are less about why the characters are bad and more about why people don't like playing them

My personal reasoning for not touching her: too much effort and not enough kill power.

Cant wait for a bayonetta video discussing her fall from Grace

Awhile ago you were asking about possible merch. I think a great shirt would be one that says "Oh no, they most certainly can". You say that in a lot if your WNOP and to me at least it's funny everytime.

im a sheik main, its hard work, frustrating sometimes even but whenbyou pop off, its disgustingly satisfying

"High risk high reward character" as you show a 5 hit combo that doesn't even do 30% lol

Are you gonna do Why No One Plays: Kirby, Meta Knight or Lucario sometime soon? Those are some of the characters I like to main.

The average smash player lacks the skill to even use sheik. I mean we're talking about a group of people that need Samurai to explain to them how to do a half circle. What else do you expect?

now i legit wanna see some kind of robot that can react in less than 1 frame play her just to see what it would look like

It’s like a phrase, “the character sucks because the player suck” to the most fitting degree.

great video, would love to see meta knight

i would say to give sheik a little more knockback on her smash attacks and up and down airials to balance her out and make her viable. it keeps the fast combo heavy aspect of her intact and allows her to have better killpower to take stocks. you could also add minor buffs to her specials if you wanted

Sheik mains be needing that Cowboy Bebop red-eye shiz. Keep those eyes open!

In this game more than any other I think sheik would have appreciated being able to transform into Zelda because her KO options are just so lacking.

She's cool and has a high skill ceiling but you need to play perfect to win. She's a just a for fun character because your results would instantly increase if you put your time in Steve instead Also unlike most characters you need to work for a kill with a set up and can't throw out a move

What a great video, very accurate info. Could you please do a Why no one play Lucas?

So she's a lot like A. Sol in League. Astronomical skill celling, but also astronomical skill floor as well

I love playing Sheik since Brawl.

This is a very entertaining video series, can you do MK soon?

I really like this videos, you can do one with ice climbers?

I love playing sheik, but a big part of playing sheik well if you aren't a god is taking spacing breaks. This being time you move out of danger from quick attacks to recover your mental focus, than maneuvering in a neutral to start up a hit sequence again. Most other players/viewers don't like seeing so much down time so it's frowned or even punished to play in a way that can increase performance with a very difficult to control character.

Can't wait for people to start Mass maining steve and start the Steve instrumentality project

Playing sheik is like well, finding a needle in a haystack

Everything Sheik could be in theory is just Joker in practice, sharing the same up air and everything. with the addition of some stellar tools, such as Grappling Hook, Gun, and of course Arsene

One thing people forget when suggesting that increases to damage would break her flow is that damage and knockback (bkb and kbg), while related, are still independently adjustable. If you wanted to give more damage but keep knockback curves basically the same, you could do some experimentation with adjusting bkb and kbg with increased damage (try to produce a similar knockback curve to the existing one in desmos for example, holding all variables constant aside from those two) and fine tune it to allow for that to work. In addition, you can adjust moves specifically meant to launch to have higher knockback values to allow for somewhat earlier kills, mitigating the opponent survival issue. Essentially, if you wanted to patch Sheik to be more forgiving in terms of human ability, it would be possible without affecting her playstyle that much, so long as you’re careful with adjustment and counter-adjustment.

Why No One Plays Pit would be a cool vid

And then there’s staling! Like rage, it’s another mechanic that disproportionately affects Sheik’s kill power since most of her moves are pretty week by the time her opponent reaches death percent.

" All that for a single drop of blood "

To use Fire Emblem logic (the good ones anyway since the series was effectively dead/transformed after New Mystery of the Emblem), Myrmidons are the fastest fighters on the map, yet dish out damage so low that they ideally cannot scratch Knights (Tanks) unless they have an Armorslayer. They have high Avoid and low HP/Armor/Resistance, so you have to be mindful of where to position them to ensure they don't have too many opportunities to get hit.

There's a new shiek in town now. Called joker

You should do my main toon link in a future episode! he's quite unpopular compared to the other links and even less popular offline and I'd like to hear your thoughts on him😁

Me sweating when a, “Why Do None Play Isabelle video,” comes out. 😨

From the vid, I can see Sheik is kinda similar to Azir from league, yes u can do anything, but u must go through lots of effort no matter what just to match others with less effort due to how low numbers they had

If you wanna have a future resistant game you gotta have a hard to master character or 2.

5:27 Michael's just not human..

Sheik is far and away my favorite character. While I haven't played Ultimate yet I've been playing her since she was a playable character. Her speed and ability to edge guard so effectively make her stand out in my mind.

i mained sheik in smash 4 and obliterated. when i stopped using her in ultimate, i thought i was just bad with her and got bad. this definitely reassured me that i dont suck.

The whole “Sheik” can’t kill thing is just that she plays so differently. But the focus on percent always confused me. Yes, she doesn’t do much damage, but it compliments her toolkit, she has extremely precise kill confirms, so you can trade out finishing combos for dropping them on purpose to catch escape options, read and react, or edge guard, ledgetrap, etc. to convert into kills. So while she may take a while to kill at times, the same can be said for every character.

idea for ya first why everyone plays if you gonna do that series as well you could maybe start with either aieges or steve seeing as you see the both of them literally at any tourny and are practically in the top 5-10 characters imo