Game Mechanics
Block Differences
Blocking in Nick Brawl is unique in that there are 3 different variations of it, operating on a points system:
Grey Block - Blocking by simply holding the button. You will still take damage but not be vulnerable.
Yellow Block - Holding the direction the opponent is coming at you with while blocking. Reduces pushback from the block and reduces damage taken by 20%.
Parry/Blue Block - Holding the direction the opponent is coming at you with and blocking just as the opponent touches your “shield”. Yellow block on steroids, also makes a cool sound effect.
Double Dair
Chaining two Light Down Aerials in succession, resulting in an offstage KO. This combo was everywhere in the earliest days of the game, but in the current meta only a select few characters can utilize it frequently due to frequent changes to the game’s mechanics.
Hitstun Scaling
Longer hitstun the higher % the opponent is.
Level 1/2/3
Projectiles in Nick Brawl have various levels based on if they are reflected or grabbed and thrown back by the opponent or the player. Most projectiles start at level 1, save for a few character-specific cases.
RPS
The Rock Paper Scissors mechanic. This mechanic is integral to Nick Brawl’s gameplay. If you hit an opponent’s strong attack with a certain strong attack of your own, it will send them into a stun or dizzy state where they will be left vulnerable. The hierarchy of RPS is Neutral beats Up, Up beats Down, Down Beats Neutral.
Sdair
Strong Down Aerial.
Snair
Strong Neutral Aerial.
Strafing
Strafing is one of the game’s main methods of control. By holding the strafe button, your character will stay facing the direction they were facing when you started to hold the button. For example, if SpongeBob was facing right when you held the button, he will not turn around and stay facing right until you release it. This mechanic is extremely important to most characters and even required for some (Hugh).
Supair/Suair
Strong Up Aerial.
Carryovers from other Platform Fighters
Active Frames
Duration of time measured in frames that the attack has a hitbox.
Angle
The angle measured in clockwise degrees which the defending character will travel along when the attack connects.
Damage
Base amount of damage done by the attack on hit. Measured in percentage.
DI
Directional influence, used to escape combos and survive for longer. DI is digital in Nick Brawl rather than analog like in most platform fighters.
DI Angle
The angle measured in degrees at which the defending character can manipulate their trajectory after being hit with an attack.
Double KO
When the attacker causes both the defender and themselves to KO at the same time, either intentionally or accidentally.
Down B/Neutral B/Up B
Specials. This is a carryover from other platform fighters, notably Super Smash Bros., where special moves are usually attributed to the B button. In Nick Brawl, the special button is mapped to X by default on most control schemes.
Frame advantage
Time difference measured in frames that the attacker must wait before being able to act relative to the opponent. If the number is positive the attacker can act first, if negative the defender can act first. Frame advantage will generally be provided for when the attack hits or is blocked.
Gimp
The action of KOing a recovering opponent by interrupting their recovery.
Jab
A character’s grounded neutral light attack.
Knockback
The distance the defending character will move when the attack connects on hit or block.
Mid
A neutral or forward move.
Punish
Attacking the opponent when they are vulnerable. Attacking the opponent when they leave themselves vulnerable after an attack is called a whiff punish.
Recovery
Attempting to get back to the stage by jumping, using a special move (most commonly up-special) or other means to avoid getting KO'd.
Recovery Frames
Duration of time measured in frames that the character must wait before performing another action, after the active frames have ended in the duration of the move.
Shield
Carryover name for blocking. This name may be confusing as blocking is wildly different from shielding in other platform fighters, but it is still used in some places by the competitive community.
Smashes/Smash Attacks
Strong attacks. Carryover from the Smash Bros. series.
Startup Frames
Duration of time measured in frames from when the attack begins until the first hitbox appears. In this context Startup is defined as the duration of the startup plus one active frame.
Tilts
Grounded light attacks.
Zero-to-death/ZTD/0TD
A combo that starts on an opponent at 0% damage, and ends with the eventual KO of the character being comboed.
Character Specific
SpongeBob
Chomp - Down Special.
Sponge/SB - Common nicknames for SpongeBob within the competitive community.
Spobbling/Spobble - Chaining a series of Light Neutral Aerials as SpongeBob. Was more notorious during the early meta due to the low amount of DI the player could do.
Patrick
Hugdriver - Patrick’s Down Special. EX Hugdriver is a special 360 motion input that will turn Patrick blue and give him super armor, as well as giving the throw itself way more range, usually resulting in a suicide kill.
Sandy
Lasso - Sandy’s neutral special, which is notorious for being a very strong and controversial move in competitive play, especially when paired with her jab.
Toph
Boulder/Rock - Toph’s neutral special. It can be charged and is a very deadly move, one of the best in the game if utilized to its fullest potential.
Korra
Divekick - Korra's down special. Korra players will frequently use this move to control movement and space in neutral.
Lucy Loud
Coffin - Lucy’s down special.
Leonardo
Kickflip - Leonardo’s down special.
Michelangelo
The Infinite/Loops - Dair loops with Michelangelo. Mikey’s main game plan revolves around setting up into these.
Shredder
Juice - Shredder’s Down Special.
Ren & Stimpy
Rimpy/RnS - Shortened name for Ren & Stimpy
STEEEEEEEEEEEMPY - Ren & Stimpy’s Down Strong. Coined by streamer/commentator CONEY, which came around full circle when voice acting was added to the game, now being what Ren says during the move.
Powdered Toast Man
Devious Lick - Powdered Toast Man’s up aerial strong. Was notorious in previous patches for it’s absurdly high knockback, which would often lead to 0 to deaths in seconds.
Hold on Buddy - Something Powdered Toast Man says during his down special. He will say it every single time without fail, which made it an ironic meme.
Lariat - Strong Neutral Aerial. Nicknamed this because it is a lariat.
CatDog
Catzuya Mishima - Meme name for CatDog post-Rocko patch, due to their up light having very good hitstun. Sometimes up light is called Electric Wind Dog Fist as an extension of the meme.
UpDog/When the Dog Gets Big - CatDog’s Strong Up Aerial when Dog is in the front. Dog becomes extremely muscular and creates a massive strong hitbox that can catch a lot of players off-guard. Cat’s version is called Upcat or Shoryucat.
Reptar
Reptar’s Broken Down B Combo - Spamming Reptar’s Down Special. Often used as a skill check by players and used as a meme ironically for how broken it is against new players or players not expecting it.
Nigel Thornberry
Flick/Snap - Nigel’s Down Special.
Danny Phantom
Crash Cancel - Canceling the impact of Strong Down Aerial to improve ground movement. Seasoned Danny mains will often use this frequently in competitive play.
Oblina
Goop - Oblina’s neutral special.
Wheelout - Oblina’s down special. Became notorious for its extremely good utility post-Rocko patch.
Garfield
Garf - Common nickname for Garfield within the competitive community.
Jenny
Morbin combo - A common Jenny combo, sdash → snair.
Hugh Neutron
Bair - Hugh’s back aerial. Normally, NASB characters do not have back aerials: Hugh is the only one to break this rule. It is done by jumping while holding strafe, holding back and pressing the light attack button. It is an incredibly strong combo and edgeguarding tool for Hugh.
Kicks/Kick out the Jam/Hughkosu - Hugh’s secret special attack, triggered by doing 360 motion + taunt. It was indirectly nerfed in the Rocko patch due to buffer differences.
Hughlevator - Hugh grabbing you, using his double jump to gain momentum vertically, re-grabbing you, and then throwing you into a blast zone. Will often be used as a skill check by Hugh players.
Rocko
Joe Biden - Rocko’s Strong Neutral attack. Got it’s name for the voice clip associated with the attack, where Rocko yells “You’re fired!”. Due to the fast pace of the game, players often misheard Rocko as yelling “Joe Biden!”
Tournaments
Frycook
Frycook Fridays, a weekly PR tournament hosted by Dothefig and Musky.
Metro
A former weekly hosted by HeyVictor where there were no stakes. It was often used as a practice session for PR brackets. It has since been succeeded by Chum & Go.
NASB Jr.
A tournament hosted by Cherry for new/non-PR players. Winners of the tournament will be banned from the following ones.
PTT
Powdered Toast Tuesday, a Tuesday weekly for the game. It is hosted by dilly and TheBeanary.
Other Community Terminology
Ban Aang
Jokingly calling to ban Aang from competitive play.
Dude, I could be gaming
Entrance quote from Michelangelo and also a community in-joke. Originated from Injustice 2.
Elevating a bad character
An excuse used by Aang player Kudo when other players would tease him for playing Aang, a character known for being top tier.
Go White Boy Go
Being in support of the noticeably caucasian Lincoln Loud.
Midternal
Missing a post-RPS punish. Coined for the player Eternal, who would frequently do this. Bonus points if it’s a Zim up air strong.
Nick Brawl Grinders/Grinderscord/Grinders
The competitive community hub. Often where you will hear the latest news on the competitive community and the game in general.
Patch Todau
A common meme used when rumors of a new patch are around.
Potential
A Hugh meme about the viability of the character. Was often used in mid-2022 when the character was relatively new and his viability was vague and undecided, usually being targeted at player TheBeanary. Nowadays it is often used as a callback or just as a general meme to make fun of Hugh.
Squib Games/Squible Scam
An April 0-to-death initiated by strong dash, wavedash, ldash sdair ldair. The name comes from top player squible, who would frequently utilize this combo in tournaments. In the current day, the original Squible Scam has been nerfed and is no longer as useful, which has led to the name becoming used for different contexts.
Zim Up
Hyping up or being in strong support of a Zim player, or just the character himself. Still sees frequent use today whenever Zim is discussed or on screen.
