mayhem stats + specials

Stats

Junkrat’s movement is very erratic, as a general theme. His dash speed and traction are both high, so he can turn around or stop pretty quickly out of a quick burst of speed. He’s, uh, gotten used to the pegleg by this point. Adding to this is Junkrat’s high aerial acceleration and deceleration, leading to air movement that’s basically a slightly toned-down version of Wario’s. His falling speed and fast-falling speed are both similar to Link’s, meaning he shares the property where his fast-falling speed is a higher-than-usual increase over his normal falling speed. So basically, he can switch between being a normal-faller and a fast-faller at will, reaping the benefits of both as well as mixing up aerial timings unpredictably.

As for jump height, you can actually leap pretty high, perhaps due to the suspension on that pegleg. He can also wall-jump, gaining a good bit of height from it. Junkrat’s main stats-related weakness is his tall frame, giving him a large, tall hurtbox for opponents to hit. He’s also pretty dang light, being launched about as far as Fox. So while Junkrat’s stats allow him to stay just outside an opponent’s range with quick, erratic movement, he also suffers pretty hard if the opponent does manage to catch him.



Neutral B: Frag Launcher

Readying his cobbled-together, cannon-looking weapon, Junkrat fires an explosive round at a bit of an upward angle that bounces once off of the ground before exploding (and can also bounce off of walls or ceilings). It deals 7% within a blast radius a bit lower than that of Toon Link’s bombs, with similar knockback to a Tink bomb’s direct hit except with slightly higher base knockback. Up to three grenades can be onscreen at a time.

Grenades don't explode upon hitting an opponent; instead, they explode the second time they start moving downward. What this typically means is that they bounce once off the ground, then explode at the peak of the bounce’s arc. Until then, they’re harmless; and even when they do explode, they won’t hurt Junkrat himself. To signify that unusual explosion trigger, by the way, a grenade will begin to flash red after bouncing off of the ground.

On flat ground, a grenade travels just over halfway across FD before exploding, and the peak of its arc is 1.25 SBB above the ground. A bouncing grenade retains all of its momentum from a bounce, meaning that the bounce’s arc reaches the same height that the grenade fell from; so used from the air or a higher platform, it can bounce super-high. Either way, grenades travel pretty dang fast across the screen, so they might be able to punish a whiffed move at a distance.

The animation for firing a grenade has rather quick startup, but it's obviously not unpunishable or anything at close range. It's not like you'd want to really fire them at close range, though, since they explode far away. Really, the main use of grenades is to pressure an opponent from a distance. You can pressure the opponent to stay up close by firing a grenade behind them to cover an escape option, or to keep their distance by lining it up so that it explodes in between you and the foe.



One thing that helps with this is Junkrat’s ability to angle Frag Launcher either up or down by holding up or down on the control stick. By holding down, Junkrat can angle the launch at a pretty steep angle toward the ground, causing the arc to cover less distance and height. So the grenade ends up exploding much closer to the ground, and only travels 1.5 platforms’ distance. This is good for putting the grenade between yourself and the opponent, but the opponent can still avoid it by getting up in Junkrat’s face. It’s also a bit easier to jump over with something like a short-hop.

By angling it up, you can fire it at a 45* upward angle. The height of the arc now almost reaches the height of Battlefield’s top platform (it goes just a smidge under), while the grenade explodes after traveling the width of Battlefield horizontally. This is basically your main anti-air version of Frag Launcher, since it hits very high up in the air. Another more situational use is to set up a preemptive follow-up off of other moves; for example, you can combo a normal-aimed grenaded into an upward-aimed one by firing the upward one first (since it explodes later). Junkrat has more moves that can be used for this purpose too, but more on that in a bit.

By getting good with your aim and stage positioning, you can land some really tricky shots! For example, if you want to get an explosion hitbox onto Battlefield’s top platform, just short-hop and time an upward-angled shot from near the ledge. The grenade will land on the top platform, and then bounce up; but since it’s that soon after the peak of the arc, it won’t get much height. So it’ll start falling again almost immediately, thus exploding while still on the top platform! Since Frag Launcher is rather low-commitment for Junkrat, this is pretty safe to go for if your positioning is lined up. However, you’ve gotta be careful as far as spamming it goes, since it has no way of hitting opponents who get right up in Junkrat’s face. As such, a rather simple counter is just dashing toward Junkrat; but Junkrat also has ways to punish that kind of approach.

Frag Launcher, then, is probably best used by kind of spamming it and using it to cover options when at a distance, baiting an opponent into a hasty approach which you can then counter. As far as “spamming” it, you can either just shoot a ton of them all over the place, OR you can take your time to line up more precise shots which cover specific options that you predict the opponent making. Another angle to this “precise shots” playstyle is using Frag Launcher in combination with other moves, covering multiple options. For example, by shooting a low-angle Frag Launcher, you can make the opponent jump and punish that jump with an aerial.



Let’s shift gears a bit. In Overwatch, Junkrat’s passive ability is called Total Mayhem. Whenever he’s KO’d, he drops a handful of live grenades, which can damage or even one-shot certain heroes if they stick around for too long after dispatching him. In Smash, this ability is tied to Frag Launcher. Basically, if Junkrat is interrupted during any point in Frag Launcher’s startup lag – beginning on frame one, – he’ll still take the attack’s damage, but he’ll also drop a live grenade which instantly explodes. Unlike the normal grenades from Frag Launcher, this grenade will damage Junkrat himself (as well as the opponent, of course), usually sending him and the foe in opposite directions.

Total Mayhem acts like a less powerful version of Duck Hunt’s can, since it can be used to escape some combos and setups. It requires good timing due to the rather short activation window, but the fact that it comes out on frame one is very handy! In terms of Junkrat’s playstyle, it gives him a bit of an extra “safety net,” allowing him to play more recklessly – since if you do get caught, you might still be able to escape. This makes Junkrat more unpredictable not only during a combo string, but also in the neutral in that he might not have to play as “safely” as other characters. The counter to Total Mayhem is to slightly delay an attack, outlasting the activation window and hitting Junkrat during Frag Launcher’s ending lag. It’s not like he’s really gonna be able to aim the grenade toward you most of the time… but watch out if you’re trying to hit him directly from the side!



Side B: RIP-Tire

Junkrat hoists that giant tire off of his back, revs it up, and sends it rolling forward along the ground at Charizard’s dash speed. It can also climb up walls, and falls if it goes off a ledge, with middling gravity but a pretty high maximum falling speed. Unlike in Overwatch, Junkrat has no control over the RIP-Tire after releasing it; it always explodes after the time it’d take it to travel the width of Smashville, dealing 14% of damage and KOing vertically starting at 100% or so. It won’t explode on impact, though. Instead, it’ll simply ram into opponents and then keep going, dealing 9% of damage and moderate upward knockback. Neither of these hitboxes can damage Junkrat.

RIP-Tire has a considerable bit of startup lag to it, though the animation isn’t as long as in the video clip. Also, only one can be onscreen at once; when the current one leaves the screen / explodes, a new tire appears on Junkrat’s back half a second later, indicating that ”MY ULTIMATE IS READY” he can use the move again. If there’s no tire on Junkrat’s back, it isn’t available to use. Simple!

The main purpose of RIP-Tire is to control the ground, which is kinda obvious from looking at it.  Once it gets going, the opponent is pretty much forced to either dodge, shield, or jump, or perhaps to reflect the RIP-Tire. Then you can punish the option the opponent chooses; for example, that upward-launched Frag Grenade is perfect for covering a jump! And then you can grab in case they shield, or you can punish a dodge. Basically, a lot of Junkrat’s game revolves around using combinations of projectiles and melee moves to cover multiple options at once, getting lots of hitboxes out all over the screen in a somewhat erratic-seeming manner. A good Junkrat player is often defined by his ability to appear unpredictable while actually remaining calculated – place every Frag Grenade, RIP-Tire, or melee attack in a seemingly random spot while actually having some sort of insane master plan behind it all.



But we’re getting a bit off-topic here. Another use of RIP-Tire is more stage-dependent, but very handy. Similarly to something like Pikachu’s Thunder Jolt, RIP-Tire’s ability to climb walls makes it pretty handy for recovery, since it can hit an opponent who might be waiting for you at the ledge. You do kinda need a walled stage though. Conversely, RIP-Tire is also an amazing edgeguard, able to cover low recoveries with ease. If you space it right, you can even use that explosion to your advantage!

If it actually hits an opponent on the main stage – typically because either they reacted really badly or you confirmed into it with another attack or setup – RIP-Tire’s ramming hitbox creates an awesome follow-up opportunity for Junkrat. And of course, the explosion at the end is pretty dang scary too. In neutral, this mainly serves as a threat to make the opponent want to avoid it; it’s your job to punish their reaction. If Junkrat already has the advantage, you can actually use it as a situational trapping tool. After launching the opponent, for example, throwing out a RIP-Tire can sometimes force the opponent to jump, acting similarly to something like Tink’s boomerang. By dashing after the RIP-Tire, you can cover the airdodge directly by covering the ground with a melee attack, forcing the foe to jump – and then you can punish the foe’s landing.



Down B / Up B: Steel Trap / Concussion Mine

Your other two special moves are both dedicated to Junkrat’s stationary trap. The first time you use Down B or Up B, Junkrat pulls out his Steel Trap, in a pretty laggy animation, and then deploys it.

If you use Down B to deploy the Steel Trap, Junkrat will either place it directly below him (on the ground), or drop it like a z-drop (in midair). By smashing the control stick downward in midair, you can instead give it more initial downward momentum, acting more like an actual downward item throw.

Up B, meanwhile, always acts like an upward item throw. Like the midair Down B deploy, smashing the control stick gives it more height. Normally, it reaches just under Battlefield’s top platform, but if smashed, the Steel Trap goes about 1.5x the distance to the top platform.

Steel Trap lasts for five seconds before despawning, and the opponent can also destroy it with any move that deals 10% damage or more, OR by dealing a total of 15% across multiple smaller hits. Junkrat can’t place another Steel Trap if one is already onscreen. By using Down B or Up B again, Junkrat will activate the trap via a small handheld detonator, with each of the two inputs having a different result. Both of these also destroy the Steel Trap in the process. Before we get to that, though, I wanna note that if the foe is trying to destroy a Steel Trap on the other side of the stage, they might be too preoccupied to notice you setting up your grenade placements.



Anyway, Down B activates the Steel Trap in the most obvious way: by slamming its jaws shut to trap any opponents within. This deals 8% to anyone who’s currently standing on top of the Steel Trap, and also traps them in a grab-like state. It lasts roughly as long as a normal grab, complete with the ability to mash out of it, but it’s more “evened out.” That is, the duration isn’t boosted as much at high percents, nor is it diminished as much at low percents. Steel Trap can also be blocked by simply shielding, or by using super-armor – so like Corrin’s pin, it’s not actually a grab despite how it may seem.

Steel Trap (i.e. the Down B version of the trap’s activation) is an awesome tool to open the foe up for follow-ups. You can grab or attack the foe out of Steel Trap in order to start a combo, and you may have time to do something like charging a smash attack. The main ways to lead into Steel Trap include tech-chases, hasty approaches from the opponent, and activating the Steel Trap as it falls downward (after a midair activation) to catch an opponent off-guard or gimp a recovering foe. If the foe is caught in midair, they’ll be “dragged down” with the Steel Trap, undergoing a normal grab-release after it ends, which pops them up and away a bit to slightly lessen its gimping power. Junkrat can definitely take advantage of this low position, however.

The main thing to look out for is the animation that Junkrat undergoes whenever he reactivates the trap (with either Down B or Up B). If the foe, for example, jumps over the Steel Trap right as you activate it, you can eat a pretty hefty punish!



Meanwhile, Up B’s reactivation takes the form of Concussion Mine, Junkrat’s other ability from Overwatch. Instead of snapping shut, the trap instead explodes with a decently-sized radius, dealing a lot of base knockback but with rather low scaling. It also deals 9% to opponents in the process. This puts the opponent into a serious disadvantage state, launching them straight upward and forcing a landing. If his positioning works out, Junkrat can sometimes even get a direct follow-up with an aerial attack! Or he could set up a grenade ahead of time to combo into.

Concussion Mine can also hit Junkrat himself, which deals no damage but the normal amount of knockback. Junkrat actually takes significantly reduced hitstun compared to the normal amount when he does this, meaning that he can get follow-ups by hitting both himself and the foe with Concussion Mine – since he has the frame advantage. This is also Junkrat’s main form of recovery, usually having him deploy the trap below himself with Down B and then use Up B immediately after to launch himself into the sky.

The explosion’s knockback is always directly vertical, which usually just means upward. However, if a fighter is directly below the Concussion Mine in midair, it’ll actually send them downward! This acts as a deadly spike option offstage if your timing is just right, but it’s very tricky to nail – and they could also avoid the trap altogether. But you could throw it downward at the foe, read their airdodge, and then punish it with a melee attack instead! You’re basically forcing that reaction from them by using the threat of the spike.

Anyway, this is also a pretty handy landing option for Junkrat himself, since two rapid inputs of Up B essentially send him rocketing downward toward the stage at high speeds to potentially get past a foe’s juggling setups. You will have to tech on the ground, but if you get that timing down, it’s a piece of cake! By the way, this teching aspect can also sometimes apply for recovering upward with the blast, depending on how close you are to the ledge. Try going for a tech-wall-jump! (by holding up on the control stick as you tech)

To prevent blatant stalling, after propelling himself upward with the Concussion Mine while airborne, Junkrat can’t do it again until he lands / gets hit / gets grabbed / grabs the ledge; he can detonate the Concussion Mine again, but it won’t actually affect Junkrat. If he propels himself upward after standing on the ground, however, that doesn’t count; he can launch himself a second time after that before being locked out of it (because only the second one was actually used in midair).



Concussion Mine has some interactions with things other than characters. Earlier I said that its knockback is always vertical, but things such as items can also be propelled by Concussion Mine, and for those, the “knockback’ is always sideways, at a slight upward angle. Other characters’ items such as Diddy’s bananas or Link’s bombs follow this rule, and have active hitboxes which belong to Junkrat as if he threw them. The same thing applies, of course, to Junkrat’s own grenades from Frag Launcher, which now explode upon hitting an opponent or surface (unlike their normal behavior). This basically allows you to repurpose grenades from a way to control one very specific area to a traditional projectile, potentially catching the foe off-guard!

Shields are also affected, having a massive amount of pushback. Shield pushback is character-dependent due to traction, but someone with average traction slides about halfway across FD. It also has the shieldstun to keep the foe locked in their shield for a sizable amount of time during the slide, meaning that Junkrat can easily land a grab on the opponent’s shield after this! If he plays his cards right, of course. Also, he basically has to choose between either landing a grab on the foe’s shield OR connecting a follow-up if the Concussion Mine hits; he can’t cover the slide and the upward launch at the same time. So it’s almost a bit of a mixup for the opponent, between shielding the Concussion Mine or getting hit by it.

One final note: you can actually use Concussion Mine while the foe is already in Steel Trap’s grasp for a guaranteed follow-up. If you do this, you won’t be able to follow up with a grounded attack like you can if the foe is still trapped in Steel Trap’s jaws, but it does allow Junkrat slightly more time to rush in and take advantage of it. Also, it gets him a little bit of guaranteed damage if there’s no chance at all for him to get there in time for any sort of capitalization.