Pokemon: Close Combat/Breloom

Archetype:	Zoner, Set-Up
Health:	37
Endurance:	12
Endurance Refresh:	3
Walk Speed:	2.5/-2.15
Prejump Frames:	6
Fastest Attack:	8F (6A/4A)

He's a fun guy.

Introduction

Mushrooms whisper tales
Health Bars bloom psychedelic haze
-loom journeys, spores sway.

And it's no contest! Breloom sweeps the vote competition and becomes the 14th fighter added by a grandslide. Breloom is a tricky character who is a surprisingly mobile zoner who inflicts nasty Effect Spores on the opponent and excels in aerial denial with long reaching normals, Seed Bombs galore, and several Spore-infested attacks such as full screen projectiles and Shroom Blast landmines that demand respect. The Seed Bombs specifically lead to creative application, many of the Breloom tail swipes can dribble the ticking gamete bomb to practically anywhere on screen. Simple combos lead to high damaging outputs and the more complemented by the nasty Mega Drain: an ability that sucks the HP of the opponent and in turn restores your own. Many of Breloom's defensive mentions such as the long ranged anti air 4a Jabs and Parry can lead to a devastating health disparity once they common into this hitgrab. Breloom is a master of the war of attrition and will easily take over the battlefield if left unattended. A strong Breloom Master will use their abilities in tandem to ensure all their corners are covered and can effectively use Hyper meter to close out rounds in a surprisingly effective manner. Breloom prefers a slower place with their subpar meter gameplan; without proper setup Breloom cannot reliable gain meter off their sweep attack. But once they get 2 bars they can unleash a devastating fungal concoction: Spore Cannon! A move that travels the entire screen that can lead to devastating damage with a little bit of practice. Overall though Breloom is quite content with their high meterless damage output off simple yet effective string of attacks including 5A, 6A and the previously mentioned Seed Bomb. The Breloom hivemind is certainly a force to be reckoned with!

Breloom however is a very selfish character-- they very much prefer their own pace of play and lose much of their strong functionality in disadvantage. Despite long ranged normals, Breloom can struggle at certain distances due to these moves being slower and slightly unsafe on block. A lack of metered and meterless defensive option certainly do not help Breloom in this factor. A Breloom can be quickly taken care of if trapped in a corner or on the back foot. A Breloom player will attempt to use a caveat of projectiles and land mines to avoid pushback, but a skillful player will easily be able to parry the slow and telegraph attacks. Rushdown characters who can make their way in are rewarded with a cut-throat victory over the stumped shroom. That is, of course, if Breloom allows them to. Breloom can just as easily use their quick and safe movement options to weave and punish poor unsuspecting aggressors with deadly spores! Never doubt this mycelium might!

Playstyle

Breloom description

Pick if you like

Avoid if you dislike

Bullet Barrage: Breloom's 4B/5B projectiles control a ton of space with low recovery, even allowing you to redirect them with certain normals. Morely Bankrupt: Breloom's 6B and 623B allow them to regain health, extending the efforts you must make to defeat them. Tricky Toadstools: Breloom's 2B followup opens up many options for them, allowing for unique pressure & combo strings. Puffball Parry: Breloom's unique parry attack leads to additional reward, if you can capitalize on the random follow-up accordingly. Mobile Mycelium: Breloom's dash speed is blisteringly fast, and j.B allows Breloom to jump around while threatening to beat attempts to anti-air them.

Risky Resistance: Breloom's kit features no reversals and slow buttons, making fighting out of bad scenarios difficult. Scanty Cancels: The amount of special cancels Breloom has from their normals is quite limited compared to other characters, requiring untraditional routing. Defensive Deadzone: Breloom's anti-airs are fantastic from long range but suffer close-up, forcing you to rely on parry or positioning. Agaric Arc: Breloom's zoning predominantly affects the sky due to it's trajectory, opening up a weakness to characters that can cover the ground quickly.

Normals

5A File:PKMNCC Breloom 5AHitbox.png	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 4 1 Mid 5B, 2B, Super, C-Cancel - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 9 9 20 +1 [-4] - Total: 36 Breloom smacks the enemy with their tail. Key normal for Breloom, strong neutral check and pressure starter Often used for punishes due to its comparatively lenient cancel options Links into 6A, 3A, or itself on counterhit
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4A File:PKMNCC Breloom 4A1Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom 4A2Hitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 0 Mid 4AA, 6AA - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 8 7 9 +0 [+2] - Total: 23 Breloom extends a jab upwards. Breloom's anti-air normal. Very reliable from range, but has a deadzone close to their head Plus on block, but can whiff on crouching hurtboxes and leaves too far to threaten frametraps. Even then, due to 8f at fastest normals, the most Breloom can do is threaten a trade

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4AA File:PKMNCC Breloom 4A1Hitbox.png	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 - Mid 6B, 623B - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 5 5 15 +3 [-2] - Total: 24 Breloom follows up with an additional upwards jab. Whiffs on grounded opponents, making this exclusively a juggle tool Easily cancels & juggles into 6B, making Breloom's antiair substantially more rewarding Will whiff after antiair 4A at certain ranges
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6A File:PKMNCC Breloom 6AHitbox.png	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 0 Mid 6AA, 4AA - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 8 5 9 +0 [+2] - Total: 21 Breloom extends a horizontal jab towards the opponent. Slightly further range than 5A, with higher reward from range 6A with none of its follow-ups is low risk low reward, ideal for baiting out jump-ins
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6AA File:PKMNCC Breloom 6AAHitbox.png	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 0 Mid 6AAA, 6B - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 6 4 14 -2 [0] - Total: 23 Breloom follows their horizontal jab with another. Can be whiff cancelled from 6A, allowing you to control horizontal space for longer Can frame-trap with 6B, punishing those looking to take initiative after blocking your pokes
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6AAA File:PKMNCC Breloom 6AAAHitbox.png Shroomu Shroomu no Gatling Shroomu Shroomu no Gatling

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 1+1+1 1+1+1 Mid 623B, C-Cancel - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 6; 6; 6 5; 5; 5 29 +3 [-16] - Total: 0 Breloom unleashes a flurry of jabs. Can be whiff-cancelled from 6AA, allowing you to control space even longer at risk of being very committal Unsafe, but difficult to punish when spaced correctly Combos into 623B on hit, can be C-Cancelled forward for pressure on block or combos on hit (including 3a, to refund the price of C-Cancel)

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2A File:PKMNCC Breloom 2AHitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 0 Mid - - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 11 17 14 -1 [-13] - Total: 41 Breloom charges forward with a headbutt A grounded poke intended to be spaced, as its active frames mean its more plus the further out it's used from Ideal to use with 2B or 4B active on screen +15 on hit and +2 on block at ideal spacing, integral part of Breloom's grounded keepaway

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3A File:PKMNCC Breloom 3A1Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom 3A2Hitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 1 Low 426B - Knockdown, Meter Gain Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 11 7 36 +45 (KD) [-25] - Total: 53 Breloom sweeps the opponent's leg with their tail. Standard sweep. Builds meter on hit, can be linked into with proper meter usage and 2B followup Cancel into 426B immediately combos into Spore Cannon, delayed cancel allows you to run knockdown pressure while regaining a bar

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j5A File:PKMNCC Breloom j5A1Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom j5A2Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom j5A3Hitbox.png	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 6 0 High j44B - Cross-Up Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 10 12 6 +20 [+11] - Total: 27 Breloom kicks at the opponent in mid-air Advantage assumes done at lowest possible height Breloom's most standard jump-in, can cross-up and lead into pressure/combos Cancel into 44B does not combo outside of the corner
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j8A File:PKMNCC Breloom j8A1Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom j8A2Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom j8A3Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom j8A4Hitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 6 1 High - - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 13 12 6 +27 [+18] - Total: 30 Breloom swings with their tail in mid-air Advantage assumes done at lowest possible height Ideal horizontal air-to-air due to its fantastic disjoint at the tail Can hit a grounded opponent from further out compared to j5A and creates more blockstun, at the cost of slower startup

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Specials

Seed Bomb 5B File:PKMNCC monanme 5BHitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 5/4 1/2 Mid C-Cancel - Projectile, Knockdown Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 27 4 47 +68 (KD) [-12] - Total: 77 Breloom swings their tail, lobbing an explosive seed bomb. Key zoning tool for Breloom, enabling their neutral control Can be input with 4B or 5B, changing the trajectory and travel time of the seed bomb If the tail makes direct contact with the opponent, the seed will not come out and instead will do 5 damage (compared to the 4 of the projectile) The seed projectile can be "juggled" by 5A, 3A & j8A, predominantly when used with 4B. This hit severely alters the speed and trajectory of seeds If the tail counterhits or trades, it can be easily followed up with 6B

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Drain Clutch 6B File:PKMNCC Breloom 6B1Hitbox.png Sutōmu Buringā! Sutōmu Buringā!

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2+1+1+1+1 1 Mid B - Life Drain, Knockdown Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 25 15 42 +98 (KD) {-39} - Total: 81 Breloom cries out and extends their arms, latching onto the opponent. Can be extended by pressing 5B multiple times during hit animation, spending bar an additional 3 damage to the opponent and 3 healing for Breloom Difficult to land due to a lack of cancel-options, but high reward as it heals Breloom for 3 health When landed early in a combo, and close to the opponent, the knockdown allows for juggle combos afterwards

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Shroom Blast 2B File:PKMNCC Breloom 2B1Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom 2B2Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom 2B3Hitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 5 2 Mid - - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 30 6 30 +1 [-4] - Total: 65 Breloom hops up and slams down their tail, planting a Shroomish. Very safe cancel option, but only available off 5A. Allows Breloom to set up for pressure with the Shroomish followup. Pressing 2B again causes the Shroomish to shoot spores, hitting 3 times and doing 1 damage. This activation can be done any time Breloom is not in hitstun, blockstun or knockdown, including during the recovery of 2B itself.

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Seed Raid jB File:PKMNCC Breloom jB1Hitbox.png ST Akuma wishes ST Akuma wishes File:PKMNCC Breloom jB2Hitbox.png File:PKMNCC Breloom jB3Hitbox.png

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 6 2 Mid - - Projectile, Knockdown Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 19 6 22 +36 (KD) [+9] - Breloom somersaults forward in mid-air, swinging down with their tail while releasing a seed bomb towards the ground. Advantage assumes done at lowest possible height Another key element of Breloom's kit. Allows them to control a unique area of space while remaining off the ground, checking approaches Projectile is only released if the tail does not directly hit the opponent. There is one "sweet spot" where both the tail and the projectile will connect on the opponent, leading to devastating advantage and damage Generally plus on block if done at the mid-point of their jump-arc or later Able to punish certain antiair attempts, forcing the opponent to respect your air presence

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Hyper Moves

Drain Dart 623B File:PKMNCC Breloom 623BHitbox.png I, Capture and Devour I, Capture and Devour

Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 1x6 1+1+1 Mid B - Knockdown, Health Drain Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 9 10 42 +98 (KD) [-39] 1 Total: 60 Breloom shoots their arms out faster & further, draining the life from their opponent. Can be extended by pressing 5B multiple times during hit animation, spending bar an additional 3 damage to the opponent and 3 healing for Breloom Easier to land than 6B with quicker startup and more cancel options, at the cost of a bar When landed early in a combo, and close to the opponent, the knockdown allows for juggle combos afterwards

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J.44B File:PKMNCC Breloom J44BHitbox.png Banished to the shadow realm Banished to the shadow realm	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 1x - - - - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 13 84 6 + - Total: 102 placeholder [Redacted]
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Super

Spore Cannon 426B Shiitake chanterelle, you are now in hell Shiitake chanterelle, you are now in hell	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 1x∞ 0 Mid - - - Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 9 ∞ 60 +49 [+33] - Total: 0 Breloom unleashes a slow-moving cloud of spores towards the opponent. Hits an infinite amount of times until offscreen Can be used to take command of neutral, or set up tricky offense Comes out instantly, allowing you to trade with the opponent

Throws

Forward Throw 6C And here's the kicker And here's the kicker	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 - - - - Knockdown, Meter Gain Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 8 2 61 - - Total: 70 Breloom rapidly kicks the opponent, sending them fullscreen. Can combo into 2B's followup or 426B if they are already on screen when the throw is initiated.

Back Throw 4C	Damage Endurance Damage Guard Cancel Invul Property 2 - - - - Knockdown, Meter Gain Startup Active Recovery Advantage Cost 8 2 61 - - Total: 70 Breloom tosses the opponent behind them. Can combo into 2B's followup or 426B if they are already on screen when the throw is initiated.

Combos

Meterless:

Blockstring/Fast Punish
5A x 5B

 >>

9 Damage

Shroom Blast Extension
2B (2B) 3A

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10 Damage (+1 Hyper Bar)

Metered:

One Bar Healing
6A x 6A x 6a x 623B

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12 Damage

Colors

A

B