Shield

Shielding is an action in Super Smash Flash 2 performed by pressing the shield button, causing a bubble of energy to surround the character. Shielding renders the character invincible to all attacks; except for grabs and certain unblockable moves. During its first active frame, it can reflect projectiles. During a shield, pressing sideways will cause the player to perform a rolling dodge, and pressing downwards will cause them to sidestep. Attempting to shield aerially will result in an air dodge.

The bubble shrinks the more it gets hit and the longer the player shields. If the player shields for too long, or if the opponent hits the shield enough to destroy it, the bubble will break and the character will perform a shield jump, in which they will be knocked into the air and stunned for a short period of time, or until receiving knockback.

The color of a shield depends on the player shielding. For computer players or CPUs, shields are always gray in color. For player-controlled characters, shields are normally red, blue, yellow, and green for players one, two, three and four respectively, and in Team Battle, shields are colored after the player's team-color.

's shield
's shield drastically possesses unique properties. He possesses among the largest shield (in comparison to his small size and his hands covering the shield), and entirely covers the rest of his hurtboxes (especially the ones that are exposed if the shield is slightly shrinked). It also shrinks at a slower rate than the other characters' shields; even shrinking slower than 's. Because of these properties, Mr. Game & Watch is immune to shield-stabbing.

's shield
's shield works drastically similarily to 's; shrinking at a slower rate than the other characters' shields, entirely covering the rest of his hurtboxes (especially the ones that are exposed if the shield is slightly shrinked). He possesses among the vast shield-size (in comparison to his tall size and his hands covering the shield). Because of these properties, Rayman is immune to shield-stabbing.

's shield
's shield drastically differs from the other cast's shields. While it shrinks slower than the other characters' shields, his shield's max-size is among the smallest in the game (out of the rest of the playable cast) due to a coding misinterpretation. Because of this, the shield fails to protect his feet properly. His head is also rotated rightwards (if the shield shrinks, his face and his right arm is exposed). Although he is suspectible to shield-stabs, the shield surprisingly covers the rest of his hurtboxes (even the ones that are exposed from the shield), which makes him somewhat immune to shield-stabbing. However, his relatively small max-size shield makes it extremely potential that PAC-MAN's shield will get broken just as quickly before any other character's shield does.

's shield
possesses a unique shield that works differently in comparison to the typical shield. Instead of a bubble, he entirely surrounds himself in an egg. The egg does not shrink, but instead darkens from white to dark-red. Due to this property, Yoshi is immune to shield-stabbing, as his shield will always entirely envelop him.

's shield
's shield works very similarly to 's, in that she creates a bright force field that entirely surrounds herself. The force field does not shrink, but instead darkens overtime. Like with 's shield, this makes Krystal immune to shield-stabbing.

's shield
possesses a large shield in comparison to her body, which shrinks at a slower rate than the other characters' shields. However, (due to her appearance as a Balloon Pokémon) if her shield is destroyed, the force of the knockback will launch Jigglypuff soaring into the air and, without a ceiling, cause it to be Star KO'd.

Shield-grabbing
A shield grab is the act of grabbing while shielding. It is utilized to punish attacks when they are blocked because the attacker will be caught in the lag of their attacks and the defender's grab can connect with little trouble. Shield-grabs allow a character to get around the delay of dropping the shield.

Input-wise, grabbing is the same as shielding and attacking at the same time, so shield grabs can also be done just by pushing the attack input while shielding, instead of pressing the grabbing-button. It is also a very useful out-of-shield option.

Running shield
Running shield, not to be confused with the dashing-shield, is a technique that is performed by shielding while running, which makes the shielding character slide a short distance, which varies according to each character's running speed. Sliding versions of out-of-shield techniques can come from this, such as a dashing shield grab.

Shield-dropping
Shield dropping, also known as Shield Platform Dropping, is the act of dropping through a platform while shielding. To do it, the player must use shield, hold walk button, and press down on peripheral.

Shield SDI
Shield SDI, or Shield DI, is a technique that allows you to move your shield in any *horizontal* direction during shield hitstun. Using the C-stick (direction+A) left or right will make the shield move. Keep in mind that shield SDI may not move the shield as far or even not move the shield at all, but when it works, it can be used to escape shield break combos, move out of multi-hits, and more.

Shield-poke
A shield-poke, also known as a shield-stab, is the event of finding a damageable portion of a character slightly outside of their shield and striking it bypassing their attempt to shield. This is a useful technique because it can utilized to strike an otherwise defended enemy.

Some characters are easier to shield-stab then others. and are too tall for a spherical bubble to cover properly, while characters who are too short or round such as  and  are hard to shield-stab for similar reasons. and contain among the largest shields in the game that entirely cover the rest of their hurtboxes, which makes them extremely difficult to shield-poke. Also, aside from tall characters that are easily shield-stabbed, contains among the smallest max-shield of all characters (except for short ones); which leaves his feet exposed (though is covers the rest of his hurtboxes, even the ones that are exposed when his shield is extremely shrunken), and  possesses a large hurtbox due to his massive head.

Some attacks are more suited for shield-poking than others. Multi-hit moves; like the Mach Tornado and Tropical Fish (when utilized at their maximum range) can deplete a shield with the first few hits and then hit the opponent on the next few hits. The hitbox-shape of a move also affects its shield-stabbing viability; for instance, 's down tilt hits very low to the ground, and it could hit the opponent's uncovered feet without touching their shield-center, 's back aerial possesses lingering and large hitboxes, and it can hit the opponent's exposed forehead without touching their shield-center,, and 's down aerial's landing hitboxes hit extremely low to the ground (potentially due to their landing lag).

As mentioned above, due to 's and 's unique shields and, and 's unique shield-properties, they cannot be ordinarily shield-stabbed.

Shield-hitstun
Shield hitstun, also known as simply shield stun, is the effect a character experiences when their shield is hit and they begin to slide. During this time, the shielding player will not be able to do anything. This ends up becoming a problem when the opponent consistently hits a player's shield, creating shield pressure. The shielding player will be unable to react or prevent the opponent from breaking their shield. As percent increases, when a shield is hit the shield will slide farther across the ground.

This mechanic allows for shield-SDIs.