StarKo

[Maguspk]

What the fuck is it?

Everybody just loves throwing that term around but I swear everytime I read it it sounds like the person is just trying to say the opponent is instant KOd or has a very likely chance of being KOd. Why the hell is it star KO though?

[Kenai]

I always thought it just meant when you flew off the screen into the background (the little gleam at the end being the "star").

[Nirokun!]

killed off the top~ either due to a low ceiling or strong attack that launches the player upward

[Metah]

killed off the top~ either due to a low ceiling or strong attack that launches the player upward

Yep. In Melee you would get a bonus for every Star KO you dished out, the bonus itself was called "Star KO". You don't get it though if the opponent goes off the top but hits the front of the screen.

[Maguspk]

I call it the pokemon KO.

Stupid that people actually make it seem relevant that something can "Star KO" something. It isn't like it's something different than dieing left or right, it's simply a different animation because you are going into the distance. Unless the level has a high ceiling or something, even still though you shouldn't make the Star KO a big deal, it should be that the level has a low ceiling, a big deal.

[Metah]

Being launched upwards is more difficult to recover from than being launched sideways generally. That's why Star KO is important.

[Maguspk]

Being launched upwards is more difficult to recover from than being launched sideways generally. That's why Star KO is important.

Touche, good sir. But in most cases a strong offense is not easily gotten out of when off the side of the stage (in the air horizontally) either. I think for some people Star KO might seem relevant because they can juggle inexperienced opponents and think that somehow the vertical direction is less protected than the horizontal direction?

Actually, it's alot easier to DI out of a star KO than a horizontal KO because you only have to account for the up direction. Horizontally you need to worry about Up down and the direction of the stages wall. Any of those directions could result in a KO given a certain move. Just because you can't jump down doesn't mean recovery is necessarily more difficult. You also have the option of FFing to screw with your opponents timing or simply you know, going left or right or dodging.

[Rex]

It's relevent only because it sets a certain standard for judging how strong an attack may be; you can smash someone from the right side of a stage towards the left and they may live because they stop right before the edge of the screen, or alternatively smash them to the right and get the KO using the same force. Other than saying "guaranteed KO" there isn't all that much to gauge an attack by due to the varying stage sizes, but if you hit someone upwards, with the exception of a few "tall" stages, star KO makes its point fairly clearly as to how powerful an attack is.

[Maguspk]

I like that answer, thanks :D

[Zetah]

Star KO Attack: Fox's U-Smash in Melee.

Pikachu nailing a thunder while somebody's being juggled.

etc.

[Nirokun!]

star ko's are "important" because its basically a "kill you anywhere on the stage" deal. you're not messing with fucking someone's recovery up to take them down a stock, you just outright give them no chance to recover at all.