Zero Suit Samus Sux. Marss is Right.

This week I mained Zero Suit Samus to learn for myself if ZSS actually sucks. 

This is a series on this blog and my YouTube channel so sign up for my email list if you’d like to join me as I go through my Character Crisis.

Preconceptions on Zero Suit Samus

Ask anyone who doesn’t play Zero Suit Samus what they think of this character and they will tell you that she might be one of the best characters in the game. She is fast, hard to hit, has devastating combos, and is honestly just really annoying to fight against. In the hands of the content creator Marss, Zero Suit Samus was even able to win Genesis, one of the largest tournaments of the year. But if you were to ask Marss what he thinks of Zero Suit Samus he’d tell you that she sucks.

Marss may have been the one to popularize the saying but he’s not the only one. Other Zero Suit Samus mains such as Shoe have put their main on blast. It’s not uncommon for people who solo main to lament their character’s weaknesses even if they are undeniably a top tier. But Marss’ catchphrase of ZSS SUX has become synonymous with the character and those who main her. 

I always thought that Marss was joking and was just saying it for the content. Zero Suit Samus is an incredible character and Marss is responsible for Zero Suit Samus’ biggest tournament win ever. And when I first started playing as her she felt incredible! She is easily the most mobile character I have played in this series so far and her speed allowed me to do things with her that weren’t possible with other characters. As far as I was concerned she was top tier and Marss was wrong. But it didn’t take me very long to realize that Marss may actually be right. 

Zero Suit Samus Training Mode

Let’s start with the good things about Zero Suit because she is exceptional in many different ways. She might be the most mobile character in the game with the third highest jump and top ten ground and air stats. Flip jump is the best down-special in the game offering invincibility, a third jump, and a powerful spike that Zero Suit Samus can combo into. Her zair is also one of the most frustrating moves to get hit by since there is very little you can do to punish it.

Traits like these led me to believe that there was no way Zero Suit Samus could possibly suck. As far as I could tell her risk reward ratio was the best of any character in the roster. You can play super annoying and make it impossible for your opponent to hit you and all you have to do is land one move and you can kill your opponent at 40. But little by little I began to notice things about Zero Suit that made her more difficult than she seemed at first.

On paper Zero Suit’s risk reward is incredible but in practice that is rarely the case.

While Zero Suit may be blessed with some of the best movement in the game she is cursed by her moves not working half of the time. Even if you hit someone with your attack there is a good chance that they’ll fall out of the move before the final hit giving them a chance to punish you. On paper Zero Suit’s risk reward is incredible but in practice that is rarely the case. Zero Suit can play really evasive and make it hard for the opponent to hit her but the weird thing about her risk reward is that if you want to take your opponent’s stock it’s actually really dangerous for Zero Suit. Her best kill move is boost kick but it’s really easy to miss the first hit or for your opponent to fall out of it. Her grab is so slow that if your opponent is expecting it they can dodge on reaction. And being one of the lightest characters in the game means that if you mess up once you can lose your stock for it.

Zero Suit Samus is a character of unbelievable highs and dreadful lows. To showcase this I made a combo video showing Zero Suit Samus at her best and also her worst. 

Zero Suit Samus Combo Video

Zero Suit Samus Tournament Report

By the time I was getting ready to play in the tournament I had fully accepted the fact that ZSS SUX. This acceptance actually helped in a roundabout way by taking the pressure off of competing. If someone were to fall out of a move and it prevented me from winning the game it’s not my fault she sucks. In fact, I can show you just how many times that happened during my tournament run.

Round 1 Winners MugiCool

Falco is a character I personally struggle with and Mugi happens to be really good with him as well. I didn’t have time to warm up before the set and my movement was pretty poor at first. It starts off bad in game 2 but I take the first stock. Mugi’s advantage state proves to be too much for me and because ZSS SUX I only take one stock that game. 

Round 2 Losers Clabsauce

Immediately after losing I then got paired into a Diddy Kong one of Zero Suit’s worst matchups. I’m pretty far behind and when my boost kick doesn’t connect I’m sure that this game is over. I keep my cool and slowly start to mount a comeback until I’m able to drop a banana on Diddy’s head to steal the game. I hold that momentum and am able to maintain the lead for the rest of the match until I win the set. 

Round 3 Losers Lowbutter

I start off trying to play patiently and don’t take the first stock until after a minute passes. This pays off and I get a clean edgeguard to secure the game. Lowbutter adapts though and starts calling out my flip jumps onto the stage. However, I manage to land a deep back air taking the set 2-0.

Round 4 Losers Death Arcana

I started off really hot and get a huge lead pretty early in the game. If Zero Suit worked I would have had a 3 to 1 stock lead. However, Death Arcana played really well and took back the lead and eventually the game. In our second game I had the lead again but Death started to catch onto my flip jump habits and ended up killing me for it. Ultimately I ended up placing 17th out of 46.

Final Results

I thought that ZSS SUX was just a meme at first. Propaganda from Zero Suit Samus mains to convince the world that their top tier was actually terrible. But after experiencing her for myself I hate to say it but they are right. So why do they keep on maining Zero Suit even though she sucks? Well, when ZSS works she is one of the sauciest characters in the game. 

Sometimes things would just click for me when I was playing as ZSS and it felt like I could do anything I wanted. Her mobility let me be anywhere I needed to be and if I had the read on my opponent the only thing stopping me was my imagination. But none of that matters if they would just fall out of my moves after I hit them. 

I think Zero Suit Samus is still a very strong character. Nobody else in the cast has her strengths and when she works she is a top 5 character. But if you’re playing as ZSS you just have to accept that sometimes she really sucks and it’s not your fault. However, for all the times she does suck you sometimes get to be the coolest player in the world. 

But even though Zero Suit gave me some of my highest highs while playing this game my Character Crisis isn’t over yet. My patrons have chosen my next main and if you want to be a part of the process check out my Patreon page in the description to get access to my discord and more. It’s time for me to go through my Hungrybox era and finally play as the tired terror herself Jigglypuff. See you on Tuesday!