Hocus Pocus Results Tier List
Disclaimer before we begin
Hocus Pocus is arguably the worst spell in Hero’s menu. In any serious set where you are trying to win, there is no real situation where you should be going for it. By far the most acceptable use case is to potentially clutch a lead if you are high in percent, low in MP, and up by at least a stock, in which case the drawbacks are arguably outweighed by the benefits. I still would not suggest it in this case, as Hero can be very durable and low MP is survivable, but you could at least make a case for it. Any other situation is too niche to mention. There’s basically no chance it’ll give you Zoom if you’re inches from the blastzone, and cheesing a win against someone much better than you is much less practical than you hope.
Of course, Hocus Pocus (hereafter HP) is by far Hero’s strongest spell in trolling potential. If you’re stomping someone with no hope of defeating you, feel free. If you’re playing friendlies or quickplay, smash that MF. Hell, if you’re feeling a bit whimsical in a pivotal game 5 set, maybe you pick it. I’m sure the last stock Kamikazee clip’s Twitter likes will be well worth the loss.
Anyway, on to the tier list. Standard disclaimer, this is all my opinions but I try to be as objective as possible. Feel free to comment if you disagree.
You will probably die tier
Kamikazee
Casts Kamikazee. Unsuprisingly, the spell that literally kills you is by a pretty wide margin the worst HP result. Now this may be surprising as Kamikazee, despite its steep cost, is not the worst menu spell (Menu tierlist coming soon?), but it’s important to understand (as this will come up again) that as with most other spell results it is very rare you will actually get Kamikazee in a situation where it will hit. Kamikazee is by far the best as a “whiff” punish on opponents attempting to hit a menuing Hero due to its full and instant intangibility, but HP is usually used away from opponents due to having small but non-zero recovery frames on most of its results. As a consequence, Kamikazee is virtually guaranteed to miss, as even an opponent in range will probably have plenty of time to dodge. The very slim chance Kamikazee connects (somehow) is not worth it killing you at literally zero, which is something the other very-bad results will usually not do.
Mini Mushroom
Applies the effect of the Poison Mushroom item for 8 seconds. This is, in my opinion, the (non-Kamikazee) HP result most likely to result in you losing a stock. Mini Mush is an extended duration of massively increased vulnerability. Most of your moves will become extremely unsafe on hit, and pretty much any attack from an opponent will kill you at very low percentages. Hero is okay at stalling, but it only takes one mistake, and the increased evasiveness from the smaller hurtbox does not go as far as one would hope. This is probably the most interactive of the steeply negative effects, so maybe a very good player could evade well enough to wait it out, but in the general case Mini Mush is abysmal.
Timer Effect
Applies the effect of the Timer item (1/4 speed) for 8 seconds (i.e. 2 seconds Hero time). This is the second most likely to cost you a stock, assuming your opponent is halfway competent. Now that in of itself is not really a safe bet (on at least two different occasions I have had players kill themselves while I am slowed), but it’s not terribly hard to kill a slowed Hero, most characters can do it even starting from zero. Although less than the Poison Mushroom, this is still interactive enough, and thanks to Kaswoosh Hero can sometimes stall it in the air if the opponent is unprepared to interrupt the charge, although you will still be punished on landing. Timer is ranked better than Mini Mush due to the general case being better (not death), but against a practiced opponent (such as one who plays many casual matches) the theoretical ceiling for this move is much higher (i.e. death), so in some cases it may be worse.
Sleep
Puts you to sleep (duration uncertain but very long). There is not much to say about this result. If you are offstage, you will die. If you are onstage, you may die, percent dependent. The “guaranteed punish” effects are not as bad as they may seem; many characters do not have a good enough option to kill an early to mid percent Hero, meaning you are not guaranteed death until later percents.
Kaclang
Casts Kaclang. Similar in effect to Sleep in terms of its result (you get punished with pretty much anything). Like Sleep, you will guaranteed die offstage. Ranked better than Sleep due to being harder for the opponent to correctly punish (shockingly common for even experienced opponents to mess up their Kaclang punishes). The chance of falling HP Kaclang getting a kill is not really worth considering.
Pretty rough tier
Magic Burst
Casts Magic Burst (unlike other HP spells, consumes all your MP). In very close contention with Mana Drain due to having very similar effects. Compared to Mana Drain Magic Burst at least provides a hitbox which an inattentive opponent might run into. That said, as stated in the Kamikazee section, HP spells are unlikely to hit. Further, unlike Mana Drain Magic Burst has a large amount of ending lag. At high MP it is difficult to get a punish besides maybe a projectile or dash grab, but at low MP you may well get smash attacked. In any event, getting your MP drained fully and probably taking some damage is very bad, and unlike Drain it is still quite bad at low MPs (due to better opponent punishes).
Mana Drain
Reduces Hero’s MP to zero. MP is Hero’s lifeblood, this is recoverable but still very bad. I personally consider this worse than the additional damage tacked on by the next two options; even losing your last 10–20 MP is pretty debilitating and cripples Hero’s abilities. Unlike Magic Burst this is more acceptable at lower MP values, although as stated still quite bad. If you get this offstage you will probably die (this has happened to me on last stock), but the fact jump + airdodge can sometimes be enough and the fact you don’t use offstage HP much mean this isn’t exactly guaranteed death.
Poison
Inflicts the poison effect on Hero, dealing about 30% over 30 seconds. Pretty bad (30% is a lot) but the fact that it isn’t instant helps. One of the more boring results, it just kinda sucks.
Minor detriment tier
Flower
Inflicts the flower effect on Hero, dealing about 20% (less with directional inputs). Easily the least bad strictly negative effect. Usually will not actually deal 20%, though taking damage is never a good thing. Like Poison, not much to say about this one.
Hatchet Man
Casts Hatchet Man. The worst menu move to get of the ones remaining, as its total frames is long enough for even a distant opponent to usually get a punish. As with the other spells this is very unlikely to actually land, and unlike most of the spells you will probably get punished for getting it.
Zoom
Casts Zoom. The last “more bad than good” result. Obviously good offstage (Zoom is broken). However in most cases (casting it onstage) there is a decent chance you put yourself in a juggle.
Kinda don’t care tier
Every other offensive menu spell
As mentioned in Kamikazee’s section, few of these are likely to hit. Best is Sizzle (obviously) for being most likely to actually hit, then the other projectiles (roughly Kaboom > Sizz > Bang), then pretty much everything else. Getting a spell for 4 MP is nice (basically free) but the expected value is slim. It bears repeating: unless you are fishing for a really specific clip, do not use HP as a surrogate for a spell of any offensive value.
Minor benefit tier
Heal
Casts Heal. Heal is nice, probably won’t get punished, and doesn’t take a usage of Heal from this stock (may be bad for menu focused gameplay, YMMV).
Any buff
Obviously situational (Bounce can be pretty useless) and may be detrimental (particularly Oomph at zero against strong advantage characters), but in general getting a buff for free is nice, although they’re pretty cheap.
Love to see it tier
Invisibility
Turns Hero “invisible” for 8 seconds. Quotation marks are because there are sadly a decent number of tells for Hero’s location: the fireball on his hand if Kafrizz is charged, any buff effects, smoke from rage, motion trails from attacks, and the slight distortion when he moves. Still, invisibility is a legitimately good result (this isn’t a joke), as the Hero player knows (if they’re good) their location while their opponent does not. Can easily earn you a hit even against a skilled opponent, and provides strong protection at the same time. This result has very little detriment to a Hero player familiar with his movement, while at the same time being able to find you hits and even stocks.
Invincibility
Applies the effect of the Super Star item for 8 seconds. Unsurprising, invincibility is good (no downside at all). However, this isn’t exactly free hits, as many characters are evasive enough to stall out the 8 seconds while only taking a bit of damage (if any at all). Even slow characters can typically survive 8 seconds if their pilot is good enough at dodging. Many Heros prioritize using the invincibility to buff, as Acceleratle Hero is much harder to run away from and being able to come out of the invincibility with 2 or 3 (or even all) buffs with a few seconds left on them is pretty good.
Mana Refill
Restores Hero’s MP to 100. Once again, MP is Hero’s lifeblood. Unlike with the opposite direction, I don’t place as much value on the last few MP points when sitting at 80–90, but getting refill at sub-50 MP (or, by the grace of God, at 4MP) can be legitimately game-winning or at least stock-preserving. It’s difficult to explain how good this is to people who don’t play Hero. Of course, sometimes it barely gets you MP; but more importantly, even a 100MP refill pales in comparison to
I literally smile IRL (in real life) when I get this tier
Mega Mushroom
Applies the effect of the Super Mushroom item for 8 seconds. By far the most powerful effect Hocus Pocus has to offer. The opponent’s only real chance is to keep Hero’s much larger hurtbox in disadvantage for the entire duration, which is possible (has happened to me) but incredibly difficult due Hero’s increased weight. If the opponent slips up slightly, they will almost certainly die, with one hit granting Hero access to by far the best advantage state in the game. That’s not to mention his neutral, where his huge hitboxes and massive power shut down entire characters, and where his grab becomes the most rewarding in the game, true comboing into forward smash for nearly 50% (or death at zero on crit). If Hero gets this, and he isn’t offstage or in the corner, you are probably going to lose a stock. Hocus Pocus could well be classified as a recreational substance, because the high Mega Mush gives me (and every Hero main) is insane. There’s a reason I spam HP in every friendly match ever.
