Samus (SSBW)

Samus is a starter character and returning veteran in Super Smash Bros. Warfare. She is one of the "Original 12" characters that have appeared in every Smash Bros. installment. While her moveset has been kept pretty much the same, a notable difference is that she no longer can transform into Zero Suit Samus, who is now a separate character after Smash 4.

Strengths

 * Quite heavy, among the top 10 heaviest characters, slightly below Ganondorf.
 * Overall quite mobile, with good speed on both ground and air.
 * Great combo potential, with many multi-hit attacks and reliable follow ups.
 * Considerable floaty, which aids in her combos as well in her recovery.
 * Great vertical recovery with Screw Attack and horizontal with Grab Aerial (Grapple Beam).
 * Has the longest ranged grab in the game, which can also be used in the air as an attack.
 * Has a Meteor Smash: Down Aerial.
 * Can wall jump.
 * Second fastest pummel in the game, after Lucario's.
 * Great spacing and zoning game with her various Special Attacks.
 * Charge Shot is fast and inflicts a good amount of hitstun and knockback, being one of the strongest chargeable projectiles in the game after Lucario's Aura Sphere with maximum aura and Mewtwo's Shadow Ball.
 * Missiles can be used as a diversion to the opponent, allowing Samus to charge in and score extra damage. They also inflict a good amount of hitstun that allow follow ups.
 * Bombs can aid in her recovery and also serve as further diversion and create openings for follow ups, as the explosion causes minor knockback and considerable hitstun.

Weaknesses

 * A bit too floaty, being an easy target to characters that can combo easily, as well decreasing her landing options.
 * Lacks variety of reliable KO moves.

Summary
Samus is a relatively balanced character in terms of gameplay. While neither her melee combat and ranged arsenal gives her much advantage over opponents, she has solid moves that allows her to play both defensively and offensively.

Boasting from having the highest ranged grab in the game and the second fastest pummel, Samus can approach and punish enemies from considerable distance. Her Down Throw is a great combo starter, which can connect into many of her aerials, such as Forward Aerial and Up Aerial. Depending on the opponents actions and DI, it is even possible to hit with her Up Smash should the opponent fast fall after the Down Throw.

Samus recovery is also very good. Screw Attack has very high priority, thus preventing opponents from trying to intercept her recovery, and has great ledge sweetspot range. She also has the longest tether recovery in the game, as well being able to wall jump, which further increases her recovery. Because of this, Samus is capable of gimping opponents and following them offstage to land Meteor Smashes and other attacks, and the safely returning to the platform.

Her flaws, however, lies in her lack of good finishing moves, as many of them require sweetspotting and/or lack enough knockback to reliably KO even at percentages above 150%. Her Down Smash has one of the worst knockbacks in the game, although it sends opponents horizontally, while her Down Tilt can only KO at percentages above 180%. This combined with considerable low range and poor hitboxes for some moves makes KO'ing very hard for Samus, specially against characters that can react faster to her attacks.

On the other hand, Samus can control her space very well with various tools at her disposal, which not necessarily allows her to win the game, but give her considerable higher chances of landing her few KO moves. Her Missiles and Bombs can both serve as obstacles in the battlefield, while her Grab Aerial is a move with transcending priority that is fast enough to be a surprise attack, allowing her to to inflict considerable hitstun from safe distance to string combos and even score some gimp kills. This allied with her Missiles and Bombs makes her combo potential very versatile.

A good Samus player must know when to charge in and when to retreat, zoning the opponent until a window of opportunity appears to land combos and powerful attacks. Since in Smash Bros. the knockback of projectiles is higher the closer the character is to the opponent, using Super Missiles and Charge Shots at close range can even score early KOs.

Differences from Smash 4 Wii U/3DS
Samus received a balance of buffs and nerfs to both ranged and melee attacks. Her KO power has increased significantly for some moves, as well improved hitboxes for her moves that allows for better combos. However, the KO power for other moves has been reduced to compensate.

Appearance-wise, Samus' Power Suit is now based on her design from Metroid: The Other M, with a more round silhouette, smaller shoulderpads and a slightly feminine build. Some of her animations have been tweaked or completely changed to reflect her animations in The Other M. Her missiles and bombs also have different designs. Her sound effects are based on her sounds in Super Metroid, which is mostly noticeable in her walking, dashing and jumping.

Attributes

 * Base and double jumps are higher.
 * Walk and dash speed are slightly faster. Also, her dash has less ending lag, and has a different animation similar to the one Samus has in The Other M.
 * Slightly slower air speed.
 * Her Arm Cannon is slightly longer, increasing her reach with all related attacks.
 * Can no longer transform into Zero Suit Samus through her Final Smash and Taunt Input.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack combo has slightly less lag between attacks, and the second hit has higher vertical range and deals more damage and knockback. However, the first hit deals less hitstun and has increased knockback scaling. This means the opponent may shield between the first and second hits, or the first hit knocking the opponent too far away, failing to link to the second hit. It appears that this move is intentionally designed this way, as mentioned by an in-game tip.
 * Forward Tilt is faster, has higher range and less ending lag. However, it deals slightly less damage.
 * Up Tilt now has a Meteor Smash effect that only works against ground opponents, causing them to bounce off the ground, with pure horizontal knockback, which allows for better combo setups. Additionally, it has increased knockback scaling against airborne opponents.
 * Down Tilt has slightly more range, with a larger explosion radius by the end of the cannon. However, it deals less damage and has much lower knockback scaling, no longer able to KO at high percentages.
 * Forward Smash has a slightly different animation, with Samus extending her entire torso in order to increase the move's range. The move is faster, and now has a sweetspot that causes a small explosion by the end of the cannon, similar to Mario's Forward Smash. The sweetspot deals very knockback, enough to KO opponents above 70% . However, it has more ending lag, and deals lower knockback if it hits with the cannon (now the sourspot) rather than the explosion.
 * Up Smash is much faster and deals much more knockback, now being able to reliable KO opponents above 100%. The hits now connect better, trapping opponents to lead them to the knockback hitbox.
 * Down Smash is faster, but deals much less damage and knockback, now being considered the weakest Down Smash in the game, only able to KO opponents around 180%. However, it deals horizontal knockback, which can be useful against characters with poor recovery if used near the ledge.
 * Dash Attack's sweetspot (the initial frames) deals slightly more damage and knockback. It is also faster, covers slightly more distance and has less ending lag, however has slightly higher startup.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial has a different animation, now with Samus kicking twice in the air, in front and behind her. It is no longer a Sex Kick, deals less damage, has more startup and ending lag, and smaller hitboxes. However, it deals much more knockback, enough to KO reliably.
 * Forward Aerial has slightly lower ending lag and locks opponents more easily between hits, with the last one dealing more knockback. However, it has more landing lag.
 * Back Aerial's sweetspot deals more damage and knockback. However, its sourspot causes slightly less damage and has higher ending and landing lag, no longer being able to be used twice in one short hop. It also has more range and less startup lag.
 * Up Aerial is less effective to lock opponents, much like it was in Melee, meaning opponents can now DI more easily. However, it has a larger hitbox at Samus upper half, near her torso, and the last hit can KO opponents at higher percentages near the upper blast line.
 * Down Aerial has faster startup lag and has a higher range, as well a larger hitbox that covers more of Samus' arm and body. However, it deals slightly less damage and now has a sourspot at the tip of the cannon if it hits by the end of the move, that causes horizontal knockback, meaning no longer Meteor Smashes regardless of where it hits.
 * Grab Aerial now causes two hits instead of one, and deals slightly more damage when sweetspotted (at the tip). However, it has higher landing lag.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grapple Beam is longer for grab, tether recovery and Grab Aerial.
 * Grab is faster and has much less less ending lag.
 * Pummel is much faster, now being the second fastest in the game (after Lucario's).

Special Attacks

 * Charge Shot travels faster when fully charged and has much higher knockback scaling. It also charges slightly faster.
 * Missile (normal) travels faster, but covers less distance, while the Super Missile travels farther and has a larger blast radius. However, it has higher ending and landing lag, meaning Samus can no longer perform the Missile Cancel technique. Also, Samus can now only have two normal Missiles and one Super Missile on screen at the same time. If she attempts to shoot a Super Missile while one is already onscreen, she will still perform the firing pose, but no Missiles will be fired.
 * Screw Attack travels more vertical distance, and its final hit causes much higher knockback. Now a reliable KO at about 145% normally, and below 100% near the upper blast line.
 * Bomb, when used in midair, don't stop Samus' falling speed as much as in Brawl.
 * Zero Laser is wider, with additional hitboxes at the core of the blast that suck opponents more easily, as well a vacuum attribute at the start of the charging. Also, has less startup and ending lag, but deals less much less damage. Additionally, it no longer breaks the Power Suit to transforms Samus into Zero Suit Samus.

Ground Attacks

 * Standard Combo: Throws a punch, then swings her arm cannon. 3%, then 8%. Total 11%.
 * Side Tilt: Performs a roundhouse kick. Can be tilted. Gains power with range. 6% closest, 8% farthest.
 * Up Tilt: Lifts her leg greatly, then slams it to the ground in front of her. 13% also has Meteor effect, if enemy is hit in the air 12%.
 * Down Tilt: Causes an explosion on the ground in front of her using her arm cannon. 12%.
 * Dash Attack: As she runs her booster goes off and she rams into the enemy. 10% if hit at the beginning if not 6%.

Smash Attacks
Down Tilt Side Smash: Regular: Up Tilt Side Smash:
 * Side Smash: Thrusts her arm cannon forward. In this version of Smash, there is an explosion at the end of the attack. Does more damage at the tip, where the explosion happens. Can be tilted.
 * Uncharged: 11% - 13%
 * Fully Charged: 15% - 18%
 * Uncharged: 12% - 14%.
 * Fully Charged: 16% - 19%.
 * Uncharged: 13% - 15%
 * Fully Charged: 18% - 21%
 * Up Smash: Causes five explosions above her in an arch.
 * Uncharged: Each explosion deals 3% and the final one, 6%. Max 18%.
 * Fully charged: Each explosion deals 4% and the final one, 8%. Hit all of them for 25%.
 * Down Smash: Spins around, leg outstretched.
 * Uncharged: 10% in front of her, 12% at her back.
 * Fully charged: 14% in front of her, 16% at her back.

Other attacks

 * Edge Attack: Climbs the edge and does a sweeping kick. 7%.
 * Rise Attack: She gets up, shooting on both sides of her. 7%.
 * Tether(as attack in the air): Shoots Grapple Beam forward: 1% then 3%, total 4% if sweet spotted, if not 1%.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: She spins horizontally once while kicking with one leg. Hitting opponents at her back in not easy, as it requires the opponent to be really close to her. 8% in front of her, 6% - 7% at her back.
 * Frontal Air: Causes five explosions in font of her. Similar to her up smash. Damage of each is respectively: 3%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 5%. Total 11%.
 * Up Air: Spins in a drill-like fashion with her legs pointed upwards. Similar to Sheik's and Greninja's Up-Air. Capable of KOing at around 120%. 3%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 4%. Total 11% if all hits land.
 * Back Air: Kicks backwards. 14% if sweet spotted, 12% if not.
 * Down Air: Swings her arm cannon in a downwards arc. Is a meteor smash. 14% if sweet spotted, 10% - 11% if not.

Grabs and Throws

 * Pummel: Smacks the opponent in the face. 1%.
 * Forward Throw: Hurls opponent forward. 9%.
 * Back Throw: Hurls opponent backwards. 8%.
 * Down Throw: Slams opponent on the ground. 6%.
 * Up Throw: Throws opponent upwards and shocks them with the grapple beam. 9%.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt: Puts her hand close to her head, then abruptly salutes as her booster goes off.
 * Side Taunt: Opens a compartment in her arm cannon, which spins and emits electricity, then goes back to normal. The way the cannon looks when she does this taunt also likes like the Zero Laser configuration
 * Down Taunt: Points her arm cannon at her back, then in front of her, as if scouting an area.

Trophy Description
''Samus Aran is known for her numerous battle across alien planets in the Metroid series. She wears a Power Suit designed by the Chozo, giving her incredible versatility in a fight. She can wade in with kicks and punches, but she favors beams and missiles. A fully charged Charge Shot packs a serious punch!''

Trivia

 * Credit to Smashpedia for almost all of this information.
 * I obviously don't own Samus nor Metroid, as Nintendo owns them.
 * Previously made amiibos work with this character.