The Byleth update for Smash Ultimate has polarized fans, with some saying that he’s too slow, and others appreciating his zoning strong hit attacks.

Whether or not you were looking forward to the Byleth update, you cannot deny that the Ashen Demon is once again, a very different character from any of the other swordies in the Smash Ultimate roster.

He has four weapons, a mega-powerful warlock punch, and a tether with tech exclusive to his playstyle. Slow and heavy-hitting like a heavy, but with the midweight of other Fire Emblem characters, Byleth packs a surprise punch.

Related: How to play as Byleth and all of the DLC characters in Smash Ultimate

Byleth works best in an offensive state, as his defensive capabilities for out of shield options are limited. His grab range is one of the worst in the game, but his punish game is some of the best.

From his wonky specials to all of the neat little touches that make him a unique Smash Ultimate fighter, here are the fan reactions to the Byleth 7.0.0 update.

‘Smash Ultimate’ Byleth update fan reactions

As soon as he released, fans were immediately labing Byleth’s combo game.

Byleth’s tether up b has amazing range, and can help him pull off deep recoveries. It can help him footstool an opponent, grab a wall (or under the stage), leading into a wall jump and yet another tether.

Check out this ridiculous tether work on PS2, which will give him access to unlimited stall tactics against characters like Cloud, Shulk, and Wii Fit Trainer.

A particularly nasty combo seems to 0-to-kill on Donkey Kong specifically. It involves down tilt, then tethering the opponent at 0, nairing, and then another up b followed up by another nair.

Depending on DI, his tether can confirm into a side b kill at high percents. While not true, it has the potential to trip up opponents.

Playing as Byleth takes some…adjustment.

His slowness is immediately turning off players that were expecting a more well-balanced character.

He really is that slow.

He may just be viable, says Ultimate world champion MKLeo, while also commenting on Joker’s Arsene timer and mid-air bullet nerfs.

Landing his down b is surprisingly easy to pull off, at least on day one. It breaks shields, and his fully charged neutral b arrow nearly does as well.

Always the teacher, Byleth’s “let the lesson begin” taunt matches amazingly with Pit’s star K.O. voice clip.

See, I thought his side special sounded like he was saying “bear claw,” but now I can’t unhear Airpod.

Showing off all of his weapons, Byleth’s win screen is earning praise.

Byleth officially marks the eight Fire Emblem character in Ultimate, a move that upset most fans. “Another swordie?” and “another Fire Emblem character?” is the common sentiment here.

For detailed updates on all of the other characters, refer to Nintendo’s support page for the buffs and nerfs in 7.0.0.