Pyra and Mythra are the Tag Team Powerhouse Smash Needed (Version 11.0)

It’s good to have another Xenoblade character in Smash, and this time we get two for the price of one. While Mythra is kind of a spoiler on Nintendo’s part, I’m just glad to have another tag team duo as one character.

Back in the old days, Sheik and Zelda used to be the same character too. Few people ever used down B to flip between the two in favor of Sheik, but I always thought it was a cool mechanic (aside from the long transformation time). Nintendo gave us Pokemon Trainer if we wanted a character that could change between different forms, but it never had the same feel to me. Pyra and Mythra, on the other hand, are a blast to play as and have the skill sets to be powerful in a diverse range of scenarios. Mythra focuses on speed, while Pyra focuses on power. Of the two, you’ll likely be spending the most time learning and using Mythra, since her ability to rack up damage and trap are amazing. What she lacks in power she makes up in every other regard and feels a bit broken, to be honest. Especially when you can just flip to Pyra to finish off a high damage stock. However, Pyra is not very good by comparison. She has the power Mythra lacks, but her end delay/lag on many of her attacks is absurdly long. It really seems like she should only be used to land killing blows then follow with an immediate shift back to Mythra, but they haven’t been out very long, so the optimal strategy for them hasn’t been discovered yet. The more I play them, the more I feel like just staying as Mythra the whole time might be the better call. Her moves are all so quick with very low end lag, but she also has some kill options without needing Pyra’s power. I’m sure they’ll get buffs and nerfs in the future, but this is how I see it on release.

If you’ve already purchased the second fighter’s pass, then you will get them automatically. However, if you buy characters individually, Pyra and Mythra are $5.99 (without tax). You get a new stage which is on the back of a flying dragon, and new soundtracks from the Xenoblade series. I definitely think Pyra and Mythra are worth purchasing for the sheer fun value, but also they could make a powerful main character if you want to be competitive.

The 11.0 update also brought some other items as well as character changes, so I’ll include some pictures and a link to those below. If you care about Miis, the Rathalos gear set is extremely cool. Check it out at the bottom.

11.0 patch notes here