Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2/SpongeBob

Moveset

Combos

Matchups

Strategy

About

Everyone's favorite sea sponge is ready for the BEST. DAY. EVER!

Playstyle

Similar to the first game, SpongeBob sticks with his gameplan of being an all-rounder. He has several tools for any scenario, from his great ground normals and aerials to his special attacks. SpongeBob has all-around good tools and is a very good character to learn the game with.

If you like keeping it simple, or are new to the game, SpongeBob might be for you!

Metagame

SpongeBob is ranked 21st out of 29 on the current tier list, in the B tier. This is a slight drop from his 13th out of 25 placement in the first Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.

SpongeBob possesses a very all-rounded moveset, with most of his best attacks being his fast and combo-chaining light attacks. SpongeBob also possesses a very strong ground game, in particular thanks to his Down Light and Forward Light. Lastly, SpongeBob possesses good burst options, with Fishbowl and its Slime enhanced counterpart aiding him in approaching.

However, while his moves are very solid, SpongeBob does not excel in any particular area of his toolkit, which makes him more limited than stronger characters in the game. He is also a rather stubby character, which means he is much less threatening at far or mid-range. This means he has to get up-close to make the most of his toolkit.

Despite this, SpongeBob has received solid tournament representation, and is generally a very solid pick for beginner players.

SpongeBob


Franchise	SpongeBob SquarePants
Home Stage	Jellyfish Fields
Weight	1
Fall Speed	0.95
Gravity	1.075
Run Speed	1.05
Air Speed	1.3

Strengths

Weaknesses

Tools for any scenario: While they may not be the best tools in the game, SpongeBob definitely is not lacking in the resources department. He has normals and specials to deal with any scenario.
Great normals and aerials: SpongeBob has extremely good normals and aerials, with all of them aiding in different aspects of his gameplay.
Easy combos: SpongeBob's combo routes are very easy to learn. Most of his combos revolve around simple aerial chains.
Fishbowl: Great horizontal recovery tool. The EX version is also good as a burst option and can catch opponents off-guard due to it's speed.
Beginner-friendly: SpongeBob's gameplay is easy and simple to understand, which makes him a fantastic beginner character.
Above average stats: SpongeBob has surprisingly good stats for his archetype, especially his weight which allows him to live longer than expected.

Stubby: SpongeBob's biggest weakness is that he can get outranged fairly easily. While he's powerful up-close, he doesn't have a lot of amazing answers to zoners.
Average Recovery: SpongeBob's recovery is fairly linear. He can mix it up a bit with his fishbowl Side Special, but otherwise it's mostly just Up Special or your stock is gone.
Doesn't excel in any particular area: While SpongeBob has many great tools, they're far from the best. As such, he can struggle a bit against characters stronger than him.

Moveset

Ground Light Attacks

Congratulations!
Light

"At least he's cheering you on"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	3	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob applauds in front of him. Can be turned into a rapid jab after 2 button presses. SpongeBob's fastest grounded attack at frame 3. Can be used as a combo starter up close. Extremely safe, pressing it over and over on an opponents block is not a bad idea.

Horizontal Punch
Forward+Light

"You're going down, TUBBY!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
10%	5	5-9	28	-15
SpongeBob punches in front of him. Fast grounded attack, coming out on frame 5. SpongeBob moves slightly forward, making it have good reach. Solid poking tool on the ground and can even kill at late percents.

Woohoo!
Up+Light

"VICTORY SCREECH!!!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
6%	5	5-13	26	-15
SpongeBob cheers with both hands raised in the air. Can be used as a juggle tool and combo starter. Fast grounded attack, coming out on frame 5. SpongeBob's arms have invincibility during the attack, making this a great anti-air tool. SpongeBob starts the animation from the front of his body, making it so that it can hit anyone in front of him.

Anchor Arm Slam
Down+Light

"I'm no wimp! I'm a JERK!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
8%	5	5-9	27	-15
SpongeBob slams the ground with a pair of Anchor Arms. Fast grounded attack, coming out on frame 5. His anchor arms are disjointed, making it a solid poking tool, and can even anti-air. Great move to start and continue combos. Hitbox can go below the ledge, allowing him to set-up for edgeguards.

Running Slip
Light (Running)

"I slipped on an ice cube and got covered in boo boos"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
10%	5	5-12	35	-21
SpongeBob slips and hits opponents in the way. Not a very remarkable attack. Fast grounded attack, coming out on frame 5. Could kill opponents at higher percentages.

Air Light Attacks

Goofy Goober
Light (Airborne)

"ROCK!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
10% / 8%	5	5-13	34	-3
SpongeBob embraces the kid inside of him and strikes a pose. Fast aerial that starts at frame 5, and is active for 8 frames. Hitbox covers SpongeBob in a wide area around him. Great aerial to start and extend combos. Can be used defensively via shield dropping.

Kah-Rah-Tay Chop
Forward+Light (Airborne)

"Have you ever heard the one about the squirrel and the tin cans?"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
16% / 1%	15	15-21	50	+2
SpongeBob does a big chop with his karate glove. Solid approach option due to it's safety on shield and big size. A powerful spike towards the palm of his karate glove. Often used in conjunction with Up Throw to set-up regrabs or start tech-chases.

Back Kick
Back+Light (Airborne)

"First, go like this..."

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
10% / 7%	6	6-15	30	+0
SpongeBob does the first step of the bubble blowing technique behind him. Fast aerial that starts at frame 6. Combos into itself at low percentages and kill at higher percentages. Solid aerial for edge guarding. Good poking tool in the air to stuff both aerial and grounded approaches.

Up Kick
Up+Light (Airborne)

"I'm HYDRODYNAMICALLY DESIGNED!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
8%	5	5-9	29	-2
SpongeBob does a flip kick above himself. Fast aerial that starts at frame 5. Great tool for starting and extending combos into his other aerials or itself. Compliments well with his up special to set-up into slime cancel confirms.

Loop-De-Loop
Down+Light (Airborne)

"Loop-de-loop and you pull 'em tight!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
8% / 4%	11	11-16	42	(+1) / (+0)
SpongeBob remembers Gary's lessons and pulls his shoelaces tight. Despite the animation, the move is a powerful spike that can be used to end combos. Late hit is a niche combo extender. Compliments well with his side special to confirm into a spike.

Ground Strong Attacks

Jellyfish Swing
Strong

"Nothing can beat Ol' Reliable"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
18%	12	12-14	42	-22
SpongeBob swings his trusty jellyfish net in front of him. Disjointed attack that could kill surprisingly early. Excellent combo finisher off of moves such as neutral air. Does a great amount of shield pushback, commonly causes teeters near the ledge. When slime cancelled, the knockback angle sets up perfectly into one of SpongeBob's devastating spikes.

Imaginaaation Clap
Up+Strong

"With imagination, I can blast you off screen!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
16%	11	11-25	55	-30
SpongeBob raises his hand in the air to show off his imaaagination. Covers a wide area above SpongeBob, making it a great anti-air. Reliable kill move and finishing tool. Starts combos at low percent. SpongeBob arcs his hands while doing the move, covering both in front and behind him.

Bring It Around Town
Down+Strong

"Then you do this!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
12%	7	7-28	45	-25
SpongeBob uses his bubble blowing technique, bringing him around town. SpongeBob's fastest charge attack, coming out at frame 7, and is active for 21 frames. SpongeBob covers a wide area around and above him while the move is active. Great tool covering multiple options on the ground. Strong kill move on its own and is a great finisher due to it's fast speed.

Air Strong Attacks

Horizontal Kah-Rah-Tay Chop
Strong (Airborne)

"Oh, wait, I forgot the punch line"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
14%	13	13-14	40	-1
SpongeBob swings his arm with his karate glove. SpongeBob's fastest charge aerial at frame 13. Excellent finisher for most of SpongeBob's kill combos. Commonly used after upthrow for kills near ledge. Decent approaching tool for it's size, safety, and ability to redirect projectiles.

Sponge Absorption
Up+Strong (Airborne)

"The Amazing Mr. Absorbency!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
13%	15	15-21	-15	-15
SpongeBob absorbs the water around him, increasing his size. Not particularly strong in killpower. Decent combo finisher. Compliments well with SpongeBob's up special for slime cancel kill confirms off the top. Can be used as a niche combo extender into itself and other aerials.

Reef Landing
Down+Strong (Airborne)

"He's just very protective of his lawn"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
15% / 12%	15	15-52	52	-15
SpongeBob uses his reef blower to bring him down to the ground. During the beginning of the move, it is an extremely powerful spike. Serves as a landing tool for SpongeBob. Often used in conjunction with Up Throw to set-up regrabs or start tech-chases. The late hit can potentially combo into other moves at lower percentages.

Special Attacks

Bubble Blow
Special

"It's all in the technique!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
7%	10	10-189	43	-27
SpongeBob blows a bubble that damages opponents. An average projectile that SpongeBob could run behind or zone with in neutral. Can be B-Reversed to approach directly behind bubble or used for landing mix-ups. Bubble can easily trade with most moves in the game. When hit, leaves opponent open for a short window to follow up on. At higher percentages, will pop up opponents at a short height. Can interact with charge attacks to change the trajectory of the bubble. Shortly stalls SpongeBob once in the air. EX: Blows three bigger more powerful bubbles.

Fishbowl Strike
Forward+Special

"A super sneaky karate move"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
8%	10	10-35	60	-45
SpongeBob gets inside a fish bowl and moves forward horizontally, dealing damage. SpongeBob has armor versus weak attacks on the move during frames 10-31. Aids SpongeBob's horizontal recovery offstage. Can be shortened by holding the control stick backwards, giving SpongeBob a recovery mix-up. Commonly used as a tech chase tool or a combo extension tool offensively. EX: Goes further and faster, along with having increased armor strength, damage and knockback.

Chef Flip
Down+Special

"They don't let just anybody be a fry cook"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
5%	10	10-12	44	(+3) -19
SpongeBob uses a spatula to flip opponents in front of him, making them vulnerable to follow-up attack. Jump Cancellable starting from frame 23. Allows SpongeBob to safely pressure a shield with it or potentially to follow up with it. Has two hitboxes directly in-front of SpongeBob that allows easier follow-ups and another where the metal part of the spatula starts. Chef Flip has a low amount of hit-stun, following up after the move is not very easy. Most often it is linked into Light Neutral Air or Light Up Air. Allows SpongeBob the ability to reflect projectiles, sending the projectile in a 45° angle. Can be B-Reversed in the air to give SpongeBob the opportunity to back air. Disjointed, allowing SpongeBob to safely hit opponents in the air from a further distance than his other aerials. EX: Applies a burn effect that in total deals 19%.

Order Up
Up+Special

"To the kitchen! Who's hungry?"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
2% / 1% / 5%	5	5-32	62	-103
SpongeBob lunges himself upwards, hitting multiple times with his hydrodynamic spatula with port and starboard attachments. SpongeBob's main tool for vertical recovery. The spatula has hitboxes covering above SpongeBob, preventing enemies from attacking from above. Sets-up for a slime-cancel combo follows up, including off-stage reversals with light down air and kills off the top with charged up air and charged neutral air. Opponents tend to fall out if later parts of the move hits. EX: Goes higher along with brief invincibility from frames 1 to 11.

Grab/Throws

Grab
Grab

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob reaches slightly forward to grab his opponent. Pretty average for the most part, but is an important part of his kit due to what you get off of it.

Dash Grab
Grab (Running)

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob tries to grab his opponent while running forward. Nothing very notable about it, just a very solid dash grab.

Grab Pummel
Light (Grabbing)

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob slaps his opponent with one hand. Just an average pummel, nothing really special.

Up Throw
Up (Grabbing)

"And let's not forget the Turbo Drive!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob throws his opponent on top of his hydrodynamic spatula as it spins. Easily SpongeBob's best throw and a central part of his punish. Can lead into chain grabs with either forward air or strong down air at earlier percents, or even kill confirms at later percents. Opponents can either DI out which sends them up and forward, or DI in which sends them straight up.

Forward Throw
Forward (Grabbing)

"Bowl O' Rama!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob throws his opponent like a bowling ball. It is used most often to get opponents off stage and set up for an edge guard.

Down Throw
Down (Grabbing)

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob slams his opponent with both arms The most niche throw in SpongeBob's kit Can possibly chain grab heavier characters, but it is very escapable.

Back Throw
Back (Grabbing)

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob tosses his opponent behind him. Has a similar utility to Forward Throw, just this time if you're facing backwards. Can link into EX Fishbowl at low percents for possible early spike kills, but is heavily dependant on the character and DI.

Super

Super
Slime+Light

"I can pass the test, Mrs. Puff! I can pass the test!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob hops into a boat with Mrs. Puff in the passenger seat. He then drives recklessly, damaging anyone caught.

Taunts

Taunt
Taunt

"tHiS sHoUlD nOt bE a TaUnT!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob performs his chicken impression from the episode "Little Yellow Book", often used as a meme to mock people.

Down Taunt
Down+Taunt

"Good one, Patrick"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob does his signature laugh.

Up Taunt
Up+Taunt

"Gotta be in top physical condition for today, Gary!"

Damage	Startup	Active Frames	Total Frames	Safety
00%	0	0-0	0	-0
SpongeBob lifts a dumbbell with two stuffed animals attached to it, taken from the first ever episode "Help Wanted".

Strategy

In neutral, throwing out Bubble is good for more far off distances, as SpongeBob can chase it and force opponents to either retreat or run into one of his own attacks. As for SpongeBob himself all of his best moves to throw out all depend on the distance. Up close, the best moves are either Jab when on the ground or Light Neutral Air in the air due to them being his fastest options in both scenarios. From a slightly further distance while this is where SpongeBob more often struggles in neutral, he still has tools for these scenarios. On the ground Down Light and Light Forward are the best, Light Forward is slightly safer than Down Light however does not work as good as a combo starter unless you slime cancel. In the air, Light Back Air and Chef Flip are your best bets, Light Back Air has more hitstun and lends it itself to be easier to start combos, but Chef Flip's disjoint makes it a safer option to throw out. In these scenarios as well EX Side Special can be used as a surprise burst option to catch opponents off guard, be careful not to be too predictable due to the move's massive unsafety on block In situations where SpongeBob must hold shield, Light Neutral Air is your go to option if an opponent decides to hit. This is especially effective on platforms where shield dropping is an option.
In advantage, SpongeBob has good ways to both rack up damage and take stocks. If you get a grab, Up Throw is your best friend forever. It can lead into either your chain grabs, a combo, or whatever else you need. SpongeBob's combo game is relatively simple to get the grasp of, he is generally using his assortment of fast normals and aerials to string them into themselves, using Slime Dash can assist in extending combos if your opponent DIs further away from you. Along with this, SpongeBob also has a chaingrab that consists of using Up Throw into either Light Forward Air or Strong Down Air then regrabbing your opponent. Due to it being easier to land the spike hitbox, Strong Down Air is usually favored for these chaingrabs. For kill confirms, there are a couple important ones. The most common one is Up Special and then Slime Cancelling it into Strong Up Air near the top of the stage, this can be assisted by using an extra bar to enhance your Up Special making it more likely to kill. If you only use one bar for the Slime Cancel, try to either drift slightly or turn around before using Strong Up Air in order to mix up your opponent's DI. Another common kill confirm is going for Strong Neutral Air after any of other attacks such as your lights, EX Side Special, and Slime Bowl.
In disadvantage, SpongeBob generally needs to be careful about what resources he uses as without them he can be left extremely vulnerable. When above the opponent, SpongeBob can either use his double jump, air dodge, or Side Special to possibly move to safer location. Sometimes however it is better to wait before using any of them right away and instead react to what your opponent does next. Off stage, while both Up Special and Side Special refresh when hit, some characters can still mercilessly bully SpongeBob off stage if he is out of resources. The most important thing to do is save and mix up your resources. EX Up Special, EX Side Special, and Slime Bowl are all good ways to quickly back on stage, although all of these cost a bar of meter. You can also Slime Cancel your Up and Side specials into an aerial as a mix up option.

Techniques

Slime Dash Bowl

If you use Side Special right after doing a Slime Dash in any direction, the momentum from the Slime Dash will carry over into the Side Special. This can be used either as an alternative recovery option, or even help with combos and kill confirms.

An example of using Slime Dash Bowl as a recovery option.	An example of using Slime Dash Bowl as a tool for kill confirms. (DI set to random, Damage set to 105%)

Matchups

+2
+1
0
-1
-2

Costumes

SpongeBob's Default Outfit.
SpongeBob's cosplay of his favorite superhero, Mermaid Man. From the episode "Mermaid Pants".
SpongeBob with Smitty's Soda Drink hat from the episode "One Krabs Trash".
SpongeBob with his Krusty Krab Employee Hat (Unlocked by having the Ultimate edition of NASB 2).
SpongeBob with his Quickster outfit from the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" (Unlocked by purchasing the season pass).
Mind controlled SpongeBob (unlocked by defeating SpongeBob twice in campaign mode).
SpongeBob's Ghost Clone (unlocked by defeating SpongeBob thrice in campaign mode).