There’s nothing worse than grinding your way through several tough matches in Mario Tennis Aces’ online tournament only to find yourself up against someone playing as the incredibly overpowered Bowser Jr. Luckily, for those of us that don’t spam the trick shot, Nintendo has announced a new patch that will effectively nerf Bowser’s mischevious son and bring balance to the game.
Arriving on July 19th, the new patch looks to weaken Bowser Jr. by making him slower as he charges shots and “lower[ing] the angle at which he hits the ball back.” In addition to these updates, Nintendo has stated that they will continue to nerf Bowser Jr. “in time for the August tournament,” meaning, you can expect at least one more Mario Tennis Aces update before the month is over.
To fully understand this update, one must understand how trick shots in Mario Tennis Aces work. Each character in the game has a trick shot, a shot that enables them to veer in one direction and recover a ball that would normally be out of reach. If you time this shot perfectly, the game rewards you with in-game energy. However, if you don’t time it perfectly, the shot drains your energy. Energy is important in Mario Tennis Aces because it allows players to slow down time, execute powerful shots that can harm an opponents racket, and attempt more trick shots.
Bowser Jr. quickly became a fan favorite upon the release of Mario Tennis Aces. Standing on the top of tier lists alongside Waluigi and Chain Chomp, Bowser Jr.’s defensive capabilities make him particularly deadly. Through the wide range of his trick shot, Bowser Jr. is able to easily farm energy and use it to his advantage.
That being said, it’s not just Bower Jr. mains that will have to rethink their playstyle after the upcoming patch is released. In addition to tinkering with Bowser Jr., Nintendo also announced a balancing update for all characters that will increase “how much energy is used when a Trick Shot is late.” While this won’t mean much to the casual Mario Tennis Aces player, those that continually spam trick shots have to deal with the risk of losing a sizeable amount of energy.
You can read the rest of the patch notes here. If you’ve been thinking about proving your skill in the game’s online tournament, you can purchase Mario Tennis Aces on Amazon here.
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