ItsRainingGravy
Smash Ace
Mewtwo has a disadvantage against most characters in the game. Especially against aggro characters. Against an aggro character, he mostly loses outright. But against a normal character, he is usually going to have a slight disadvantage.
Sure, his incredibly low weight and large size are contributing factors, but they are not his biggest problems in concerns with competitive viability. Mewtwo's largest weaknesses are the longish startup lag on most of his attacks, how he can't use his tail as safely as sword-wielders, and how his hitboxes either have the "Meta Knight effect" (don't hit when they look like they should) or you have to be super-precise with them in order to send opponents where you want them to go.
Range is supposed to be one of Mewtwo's key strengths, but honestly, it's not nearly as good as it could be. Because of his tipper tail hits, and how his tail extends his hurtbox. Hitting with the tip of the tail usually always sends the opponent at unfavorable trajectories and does less damage. So not only does this make Mewtwo's damage output suffer, but it also severely cripples his rewards unless you are right in the opponent's face. And this is completely counter-intuitive to his playstyle. Because that is exactly where you don't want to be with him either. Due to his slower frame data, light weight but large body size (combos/juggles against you), and how Mewtwo doesn't really have any amazing OoS options to help save in in that situation.
All of the above problems combined creates Mewtwo's biggest flaw: He has to be exceptionally precise and take huge risks to get any significant rewards against opponents. And this amount of technicality rivals other characters such as Peach. The only difference is that Mewtwo doesn't come with the same strengths that those other characters possess. Peach has OoS options, her floating mechanic, faster frame data, and is even heavier than Mewtwo while STILL possessing a good amount of strenght and having a great recovery. She only lacks out a couple of things in comparison to Mewtwo, such as range. But Mewtwo's range hardly matters when the tip of his tail barely does anything good for him as opposed to the base of his tail.
But just like Ganondorf, Mewtwo's advantaged state is pretty good...though you have to really struggle to end up in those kind of situations. More-so than Ganondorf, probably. Mewtwo's biggest strength is being able to put the opponent in a bad position and his ability to create reset-situations (with proper spacing/timing/reads anyways). When he hurts, he can potentially hurt pretty hard. Thanks to Jab 1 -> Grab, Disable, his godly Fair/Dtilt, and other tools.
But if you stop and think about it...even his greatest strength, as a character, is making huge reads. And this is something a good portion of characters don't have to worry about. Mewtwo is one of the few characters that has to worry even when he is in the ADVANTAGED state. Because just one slip up, and the whole plan could fall apart. And despite him having clear advantages and disadvantages, it doesn't bode well for his competitive viability (at least how things look right now), because he can't capitalize on his strengths nowhere near as well as some other characters can. But plenty of characters can easily capitalize on his weaknesses, especially if they have good frame data and mobility specs.
Ganondorf's and Mewtwo's matchups are similar in that they struggle for their wins, but they can really hurt should their opponents mess up. So, to me, I read their general matchups as "60:40x". Where "x" basically says "if you **** up this number can raise exponentially because they hit like a truck".
But unfortunately for Mewtwo, Ganondorf works much better with this style of play, because he can get away with it much more often. He has the weight to take a beating (and accumulate rage), his long legs are strong throughout the entire hitbox so he doesn't have to worry about range/weaker damage, he has a command grab, OoS options (while not the best they are still better than Mewtwo's), and his rewards are greater because he deals more knockback and damage than Mewtwo. And he gets all of this while having to make far less reads/predictions than Mewtwo does. And the risks he has to take don't hurt him nearly as bad as it hurts Mewtwo. All Mewtwo has is better mobility and a better recovery, but it is simply not enough to help his extremely abysmal defensive options.
So...just as an example (not meant to be a specific number since I am just pulling numbers out of my ***): If Ganondorf's competitive matchups are generally 55:45x/60:40x, Mewtwo's competitive matchups are probably 60:40x/65:35x. They are similar, but Mewtwo definitely feels like a rung below Ganondorf.
So, not sure if he is the absolute worst character in the game. But he does feel on the lower side of the spectrum. And yes, while you always have to take in account the "x" he possesses (just like Ganondorf), he simply isn't as threatening as Ganondorf is otherwise. And that's all there is to it, unfortunately. And I say this as someone who likes playing as Mewtwo.
...all things considered though, he is still LEAGUES above his Melee incarnation. Everyone can potentially be viable in Smash 4, imo. Just some less than others. And Mewtwo is one such character.
Sure, his incredibly low weight and large size are contributing factors, but they are not his biggest problems in concerns with competitive viability. Mewtwo's largest weaknesses are the longish startup lag on most of his attacks, how he can't use his tail as safely as sword-wielders, and how his hitboxes either have the "Meta Knight effect" (don't hit when they look like they should) or you have to be super-precise with them in order to send opponents where you want them to go.
Range is supposed to be one of Mewtwo's key strengths, but honestly, it's not nearly as good as it could be. Because of his tipper tail hits, and how his tail extends his hurtbox. Hitting with the tip of the tail usually always sends the opponent at unfavorable trajectories and does less damage. So not only does this make Mewtwo's damage output suffer, but it also severely cripples his rewards unless you are right in the opponent's face. And this is completely counter-intuitive to his playstyle. Because that is exactly where you don't want to be with him either. Due to his slower frame data, light weight but large body size (combos/juggles against you), and how Mewtwo doesn't really have any amazing OoS options to help save in in that situation.
All of the above problems combined creates Mewtwo's biggest flaw: He has to be exceptionally precise and take huge risks to get any significant rewards against opponents. And this amount of technicality rivals other characters such as Peach. The only difference is that Mewtwo doesn't come with the same strengths that those other characters possess. Peach has OoS options, her floating mechanic, faster frame data, and is even heavier than Mewtwo while STILL possessing a good amount of strenght and having a great recovery. She only lacks out a couple of things in comparison to Mewtwo, such as range. But Mewtwo's range hardly matters when the tip of his tail barely does anything good for him as opposed to the base of his tail.
But just like Ganondorf, Mewtwo's advantaged state is pretty good...though you have to really struggle to end up in those kind of situations. More-so than Ganondorf, probably. Mewtwo's biggest strength is being able to put the opponent in a bad position and his ability to create reset-situations (with proper spacing/timing/reads anyways). When he hurts, he can potentially hurt pretty hard. Thanks to Jab 1 -> Grab, Disable, his godly Fair/Dtilt, and other tools.
But if you stop and think about it...even his greatest strength, as a character, is making huge reads. And this is something a good portion of characters don't have to worry about. Mewtwo is one of the few characters that has to worry even when he is in the ADVANTAGED state. Because just one slip up, and the whole plan could fall apart. And despite him having clear advantages and disadvantages, it doesn't bode well for his competitive viability (at least how things look right now), because he can't capitalize on his strengths nowhere near as well as some other characters can. But plenty of characters can easily capitalize on his weaknesses, especially if they have good frame data and mobility specs.
Ganondorf's and Mewtwo's matchups are similar in that they struggle for their wins, but they can really hurt should their opponents mess up. So, to me, I read their general matchups as "60:40x". Where "x" basically says "if you **** up this number can raise exponentially because they hit like a truck".
But unfortunately for Mewtwo, Ganondorf works much better with this style of play, because he can get away with it much more often. He has the weight to take a beating (and accumulate rage), his long legs are strong throughout the entire hitbox so he doesn't have to worry about range/weaker damage, he has a command grab, OoS options (while not the best they are still better than Mewtwo's), and his rewards are greater because he deals more knockback and damage than Mewtwo. And he gets all of this while having to make far less reads/predictions than Mewtwo does. And the risks he has to take don't hurt him nearly as bad as it hurts Mewtwo. All Mewtwo has is better mobility and a better recovery, but it is simply not enough to help his extremely abysmal defensive options.
So...just as an example (not meant to be a specific number since I am just pulling numbers out of my ***): If Ganondorf's competitive matchups are generally 55:45x/60:40x, Mewtwo's competitive matchups are probably 60:40x/65:35x. They are similar, but Mewtwo definitely feels like a rung below Ganondorf.
So, not sure if he is the absolute worst character in the game. But he does feel on the lower side of the spectrum. And yes, while you always have to take in account the "x" he possesses (just like Ganondorf), he simply isn't as threatening as Ganondorf is otherwise. And that's all there is to it, unfortunately. And I say this as someone who likes playing as Mewtwo.
...all things considered though, he is still LEAGUES above his Melee incarnation. Everyone can potentially be viable in Smash 4, imo. Just some less than others. And Mewtwo is one such character.
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