Introduction
Hugo and Poison both joined the tournament for different reasons. Hugo joined because he really likes the sound of the words meat and also squasher, and he made a move called meat squasher, and he performs it as often as he can and turns people into wall beef.
Hugo is massive. There's just no better way to describe the guy: his damage is massive, his normals are massive, his hurtbox is massive, everything about him is massive. While the average Hugo player may be more familiar with him as a grappler, as he is in his USF4 appearance, his buffed normals and strong cancels lead him to play a much more slow and neutral oriented gameplan.
Hugo has a normal for every single situation. His lights are fast, extremely long ranged, and buffer safely into hitconfirmable specials that lead to absurd damage. He has super far reaching mediums like 5MP and 2MK, and the god button 5MK to do everything else for him. His heavies are more situational, but shine in their niches, like the completely strike invuln 2HP which acts as a brutal anti-air and reversal tool, or the extremely plus 5HK dropkick, or the armored and special cancellable 2HK. His air normals sport absurd disjoints as well, making him nearly impossible to anti-air. Even his command normals are absurd, like the do-it-all 4HP or armored overhead 6HP.
These normals would be much less powerful however if it weren't for the fact that Hugo hits like a runaway train. Even stray hits can easily convert into 600+, and with meter his confirms become longer and more damaging. EX Clap is extremely plus and leads to nearly 700 damage, EX Meat Squasher is a hitconfirmable running command grab that guarantees corner and leads to followups, and EX Back Breaker is a massive invuln anti-air that starts and extends combos. Every hit with Hugo does over half health and nearly guarantees the corner.
Once Hugo gets his hard knockdown, he gets to run extremely powerful offense. Clap RPS is the name of the game with Hugo, mixing between frametraps and tick throws with Ultra Throw. The aforementioned 6HP overhead can help to open up patient opponents, and his j.2HP Body Splash is an active till landing crossup that can be made extremely ambiguous over a knockdown.
Hugo's massiveness is also his key weakness however. His hurtbox is hilariously big. Many characters (including himself!) have instant overheads, new fuzzies, and higher damage routing. His size also hurts his mobility as well. Hugo has a hard time approaching and dealing with zoning due to these, which makes matchups like Poison or Guile a bit of a chore. Still, even in these matchups, Hugo still threatens stupid damage and great oki off any good hit.
Hugo is a big guy with big damage and even bigger normals. If you like characters who feel like playing as a giant, and deal hilarious damage off any good hit, Hugo is an extremely strong bet.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
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Normals
Standing
- 5LP: An amazing stand jab. Reaches extremely far, great frame data, doesn't whiff crouchers, and even at max range you can net a combo with light Lariat or EX Ultra Throw. Use this to poke and annoy the opponent.
- 5MP: The slap. Another great poke, best in the midrange where its speed and forward movement let it smack the opponents buttons. It's also very active, and is one of your go-to meaty options.
- 5HP: A huge winding punch. TONS of startup, but tons of hitstun to make up for it. This extended hitstun allows you to combo into heavy Clap, which leads to some of Hugo's highest damage. Important normal, if only for starting punishes.
- 5LK: A goofy kick. Very similar use cases to 5LP, which has slightly better range. Largely though these two are interchangeable.
- 5MK: SKILL AND TALENT. Massive, ungodly big kick that hits twice and demolishes basically any extended hurtbox. The first hitbox is one of Hugo's fastest normals, while the second hitbox is one of Hugo's longest range. The second hit does whiff on crouchers, but it's oddly hard to whiff punish, as Hugo can threaten it well out of the effective range of other characters and it doesn't have much endlag as it is.
- 5HK: Big dropkick. A decent bit of startup, but the hitbox is beefy and it's actually plus on block. You can meaty with this for some great plus frames. The leap also allows it to low crush, beat throws, etc. If you find yourself spaced point blank over a knockdown, you can actually corpse hop with this, and with extremely precise spacing, it can even hit as a crossup.
Crouching
- 2LP: Like the standing version, but crouching. This makes it immediately amazing, and despite having less range than 5LP, you will be mashing this frequently to get out of an opponents blockstring or challenge movement in neutral.
- 2MP: A beefier 2LP. Decent hitbox, fairly active, and pretty fast. Good all around normal, nothing special but you can't necessarily go wrong with it either. Useful in a few juggles where they're too low for 5MK.
- 2HP: Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh. This normal is fast, it's massive, it starts combos, and most importantly, it's fully strike invuln from frame 1. This is essentially a one button DP, and makes jumping on Hugo nearly impossible. As a reversal it's not bad either, since the second hitbox is actually slightly plus, though the first hit whiffs crouchers entirely, and they can still make it whiff and punish it that way.
- 2LK: A slightly unusual 2LK. Doesn't chain into itself and isn't great on block, but it's VERY long range and still special cancels. Better as a fast midrange poke than a combo starter or mixup tool.
- 2MK: One of your primary pokes. Causes a hard knockdown if you don't cancel it to start huge damage juggles off of it. Reaches far with fast startup, good on block, hits low, does pretty much everything and then some. Use and abuse.
- 2HK: Pretty strange but still very useful normal. The first hitbox is pretty active, and the landing hitbox can cancel to specials, though only light Lariat really combos. This also has some armor, so you can use it to fly through buttons or fireballs. Be careful of whiffing it though.
Jumping
- j.LP: Extremely fast hand swipe. Fast enough to hit as a fuzzy overhead (or just as an instant overhead on Hugo himself). Useful as a defensive option out of a backjump as well.
- j.MP: Shares an animation with j.LP, but it's a bit slower for more damage and a continued juggle. Not the most useful normal, but is much more rewarding than j.LP on an air to air hit.
- j.HP: A huge punch with great range. Notably, this has extended hitstun. With a good hit, this can combo into 5HP, leading to absurd meterless damage.
- j.LK: The sword. The hitbox on this is so disjointed it's not even touching Hugo's hurtbox. Nearly incontestable in the midrange, made even worse by the fact that it stays active for his full jump.
- j.MK: Like j.LK, but trades full jump active frames for the ability to continue a combo on an air to air hit. Similar to j.LP, this is largely a downgrade.
- j.HK: If j.LK is the sword, this is the claymore. Similarly entirely disjointed, but hits much harder, and wallbounces on air to air hits for great reward. Neutral jump j.HK is a great way to just wall opponents out.
Command Normals
- 6HP: Hugo's overhead. Pretty fast, and has super armor too. Cancels to lead to full combos or clap pressure. Generally great overhead, use it a lot in conjunction with throws and 2LK. Also an important combo piece, in early combos it groundbounces and nets a combo to heavy clap, and later in combos it becomes Hugo's most accessible hard knockdown.
- 4HP: The chest pump. Great normal, fast and active, huge hitbox, plus on block and forward moving, combos from any of Hugo's normals. This is an anti-air, a counterpoke, a confirm tool, a pressure tool, and then some. Also key in his juggle combos, mostly after 5MK to get in range for another clap.
- j.2HP: Body splash. Causes a knockdown on air to air hits. Really ambiguous crossup, just another good option in Hugo's vortex.
Specials
- 236P: Lariat. The light version is an extremely long range poke that knocks down and is safe if spaced. Think of it as something like Boxer's Dash Straight. The medium and heavy versions run forward and activate when in range. EX also runs like this, but with armor, and forces a sideswap if it hits. Only light is safe, and it's only safe if fairly well spaced. All versions can cancel into Backbreaker for combos or a knockdown.
- 623K: Backbreaker. Anti-air, combo ender, and situational combo extender as well. You'll really only route into this off of a lariat, since otherwise Hugo has better options for damage, though notably this is his best knockdown by a longshot. If you want the extra time to charge while also maintaining good oki, it can be worth the damage sacrifice. EX Backbreaker nets a full combo extension anywhere on screen while also having some invuln, making for a stellar anti-air. EX also has the unique ability to cancel to air normals, which can be a bit of a gimmicky approach option akin to a superjump.
- 214P: Giant Palm. The move of all time. Hugo's bread and butter special that defines his pressure and combos. Light is the fastest, and can even combo off lights, but leaves Hugo minus on hit and punishable on block. Medium is the best all around version, being able to combo from mediums and being zero on block to allow for pressure opportunities afterwards. Heavy is extremely slow, only being able to combo from 5HP, but it's also extremely plus on block and can link into any medium normal on hit. EX combines all of the best qualities, being extremely fast and also extremely plus. All versions can cancel into EX Ultra Throw, EX Meat Squasher, and any Backbreaker.
- 63214K: Ultra Throw. Hugo's primary command grab thanks to the amazing range and wallbounce for huge damage potential. The different versions are all the same move, with the exception of EX. EX has absurd range, hitting from ranges even some of Hugo's normals can't reach. This makes EX an amazing whiff punish tool on top of a mixup option, or even just something to do randomly when an opponent is too scared to move. Hugo also combos into these as his primary launchers, usually wallbouncing with a j.HK before doing a couple clap loops.
- 41236K: Meat Squasher. A high risk, high reward running bear grab. While it starts up fairly slow and has an EXTREMELY committal animation, if Hugo does end up grabbing the opponent, he runs them all the way into the corner. The endlag of this can cancel to Lariat, which cancels to Backbreaker, which can link into 5MK to start absurdly damaging combos. This makes Meat Squasher a threat, and something worth throwing out or cancelling into when an opponent is expecting to block a clap. EX Meat Squasher gains some armor, but more importantly, can be used in combos. Since it also cancels off of clap, EX Meat Squasher is a guaranteed cornered opponent and nearly 500 damage for just one bar.
- 623P: Moonsault Press. Hugo's classic 360, turned into a 623. This is Hugo's fastest grab, but otherwise doesn't see much use. It's quite small compared to the others, and doesn't lead to much reward either. The speed also hurts it a bit, as Ultra Throw almost automatically times out throw invuln to make tick throws easy, while Moonsault requires some timing. Still, it is VERY fast, and the EX version is a real reversal as well unlike his other grabs.
Specials
- 236PPP: Hammer Mountain. Confirm and anti-fireball super, you can hold MP or HP during superflash to change how far he runs, which is the only way to grant it any invuln. The final hit cancels to specials and other supers. Decent as a reaction anti-fireball, and can add a little damage at the end of combos, though the only thing that will reach is generally heavy Backbreaker, which won't work late into a combo.
- 623PPP: Gigas Breaker. Notably, not a zero frame command grab, so this can be jumped during the superflash. That's okay though, because the range on this thing is just RIDICULOUS. This can hit at roundstart even, so if the opponent committed to anything, they get grabbed. Punishing things that are normally safe, grabbing fireballs from halfscreen, even just as a reversal this thing can be extremely annoying. It doesn't lead to any sort of combos though, only netting damage and a solid hard knockdown, though this can sometimes be the defining turn for a round.
- 623KKK: Megaton Press. Backbreaker, but bigger. This doesn't lead to combos like Backbreaker will, and flies much more shallow, but it has a whole lot more invuln and a hitbox that will more easily catch a crossup. It's also quite fast, so opponents trying to jump to avoid a wakeup Gigas can eat this instead.
Unique Movement
- Run: Hugo's only unique movement option. Instead of a dash, Hugo will run forward with an animation like his running bear grab. This can be cancelled at any time with a jump, a crouch (only by holding 2, not 1 or 3), or any normal/special/super. While running, Hugo has nearly infinite armor against projectiles, allowing him to simply run through an opponents fireball and punish with any of his long range grabs or normals. Run itself is quite slow by Remix movement standards however, and since Hugo can't immediately block out of a run, it's a bit risky.
Universal
- Forward Throw: Hugo chokes the opponent before throwing them at the wall, causing a wallbounce. Leads to pretty much the exact same reward as Ultra Throw, but since the wallbounce is shallower, pick up with 5HK instead of j.HK. Like all Remix throws, this comes with a massive tech window, so stick to your command grabs usually.
- Back Throw: Hugo lifts the opponent and slams them backwards. Good screen carry, amazing knockdown, no combo potential but it's not like Hugo really needed another combo throw. Solid backthrow overall.
- Alpha Counter: A huge slap. Great range, both vertically and horizontally. It outranges even some of Hugo's normals like 5MP. Fairly standard but overall above average Alpha Counter.
- Backdash: Decent amount of invuln, but can't cancel into anything and is quite slow. You can call out command grabs with this, but most normal throws or light normals will recover before Hugo does.
