Smash 4, Character Discussion Thread. #21 Metaknight

[Zera]

Meta Knight's many jumps and godly recovery make him the closest thing to a playable NiGHTS/Rodea, which is why I main him. He has above-average frame data and some nice ground-to-air combos. I think the devs did a much better job of balancing his moveset than in Brawl -

1. Side-smash and Dimensional Cape buffs make them as useful as his other moves.

2. Down-smash has much less damage and knockback, but is still the fastest down-smash in the game.

3. Shuttle Loop is still a great recovery and kill-move, but infinitely more punishable on missing.

In fact, the only move I never really use is up-tilt (partially because I use tap-jump). In this regard, Meta Knight is extremely well balanced.

With that being said, Meta Knight got nerfed while all the other veterans got buffed, so the only reason he's considered high-tier is the infamous Uair, Uair, Uair, Shuttle Loop combo seen in tournaments. I have never landed more than a single up-air in a combo before the opponent air dodges, so there's clearly something I'm doing wrong. Suffice it to say, without that combo Meta Knight has to work a lot harder to get kills, but at least he has a few options.

Since Meta Knight is a bait-and-punish character with poor range and low damage outside combos, he often has disadvantages against zoners/projectiles and characters with even better frame data than him. As for counterpicks, I would say Mewtwo because of his vertical kill-throw that can KO Meta Knight very early, but anyone with a kill throw, great zoning, or frame data can have an advantage. Even King Dedede can work since most of MK's attacks don't reflect Gordo.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Zera

[Great Geargia Gateway]

I find it hard to punish Dimensional Cape on For Glory.

And Batter the Beast is right about being a bait character. When I think I think I can get one hit in and punish a random Side Smash... nope

[Ema Skye]

Sheik, Bayo, Rosa and MK is my Top 4

MK is still really good in this game. He has the same kind of uair -> upb chains as ZSS and they come from a much better grab. He's legitimately terrifying to fight.

[Falaflame]

Metaknight is BALANCED.

That is a statement I never thought I'd hear myself say after seeing the gongshow that was Super Smash Bros brawl.

Other than that, he's pretty good, if not, top-10 material. He's strong, very fast, can rack up damage pretty quickly, and at times, can KO at very early %s if caught off guard. His offstage and juggling game is also very top notch. However his neutral game and lack of forcing approaches with projectiles means MK Mains will have to micromanage very early on. But MK is still a very strong character, and honestly, I like the step they took on how to deal with balancing him going from Brawl to Sm4sh.

[Jedi]

I like the step they took on how to deal with balancing him going from Brawl to Sm4sh.

I also enjoy how they did it, I was kind of afraid they'd completely rip out his soul in terms of how he worked after the controversies.

[Zera]

I need help in the Meta Knight vs. Link matchup. Link's sword range combined with low endlag on some attacks and huge grab range make him hard to approach, but his projectiles force an approach, and his attacks deal more damage and knockback. Any tips?

[Knife]

Link gets raped if you know how to edgeguard and powershield projectiles. Oh and the uair strings.

[Jedi]

Yeah Metaknight pretty much dominates Link unless the Link player is really skilled and can take advantage that Metaknight has a semi awkward approach.