gallax
Smash Hero
Meta Knight
General Discussion
Meta Knight is at the moment one of the best characters in the game. This is dues to some wicked killing moves coupled with extremely fast startup times. It does not matter that he is light since he is very hard to hit. Unless you have grenades or another great projectile, you are gonna be taking a lot of damage. This is a very hard matchup if the MK user knows what he/she is doing.
Pika's Advantages:
1.) tjolt/dair from above cancel the tornado
2.) QA into the bottom of the tornado can cancel it
3.) has a projectile
4.) has a faster means of escape(QA!)
Pika's Disdvantages:
1.) mk's moves are a lot faster
2.) pka has way less priorty
3.) mk can spam a few moves but yet still win the match
4.) outranged
5.) worse airiel range/game
6.) cannot CG MK
Strategy for Winning:
General
What most people seem to have a problem with when fightin MK is that he uses faster moves that have a ton of priority. This means that in close range, MK will usally hit you first and has an easier time killing, even though MK has only 4 good killing moves. These are the fsmash/dsmash/nair/upB(shuttle loop). Any good MK will try and bait you into getting in range of these attacks. But, more to come later in this section about what to do.
The tornado
The first thing that needs to be addressed when fighting MK is his tornado. If you find yourself with a Tornado spammer, to know how to combat it, you must first know how the Tornado move works. Spend a couple of minutes figuring out how the Tornado can be controlled by playing as MK. As you'll notice, they need to tap the button in order to stay afloat. Any smart player would notice "There is no way for MK to increase his fall speed!" Meaning, if you use some mind games to make him whiff the attack AND bait him to follow you into the air a bit, you can easily fast fall down into any attack you want, excluding Thunder of course! However, any GOOD MK will try to stay as close to the ground as possible to prevent this. So be wary. The moves that will take MK out of a Tornado are Pika's Down Aerial as long as it connects at the top of the tornado, if you do a short hop back you can create a nice Thunder Wall to protect you, and a fsmash will always do the trick but again a good MK player will hover over it. One thing you could try is to stutter step and into a fsmash which could potentially land you a hit. Also, if you let the tornado sit out for a little over a second, you can QA into the base and cancel it (nado) w/o worrying about getting sucked into it. Last but not least, if already caught in a tornado, try to time an aerial dodge so that Pikachu can fall through one of the attacks, giving you a nice opportunity for a Smash.
The Shuttle Loop
The next thing up for discussion is the shuttle loop(sl). MK users love to spam this move to no end also. This is used as a recovery, and as for a great killing move. A sl can be directed back towards the ground (gliding), canceled by a nuetral A, then immediately combo into a dsmash/fsmash. Very hard to get around. But not to hard to shield and wait till it ends to try and grab MK and punish him. Normally an effective mind game would be to charge at the opponent, and do a shield roll to his back side leading to a down smash, but again his down smash is just too quick even though it attacks only one side at a time! But, we could also go on the offensive. Throw in some airiels that can mindgame him. These are the uair/nair/bair. The uair needs to be timed really well, so I would not try and do that. As for the nair, try and throw out a nair early and cancel the glide attack out. The bair will also cancel the glide attack. The bair will then continue through the glide and hit with the remaining hits.
The Cape
A new discovery has been made with MK. MK can now disappear infinately and then attack you. This move is banned as a stalling move but thats the limit now. The only way to get around this move is to either get to higher ground(on a platform) or be lucky enough to spotdodge it. As for now shielding/spotdodgin are the only effective things since you cannot hit MK while he is invisible. If you are playing on a stage with no platforms then get close to the edge and pray they mess up and fall to their death.
Edgeguarding
As for edgeguarding, Mk's will most likely try and use their sl to kill you off the stage. Now, you can do a few things to beat this strategy. First of all, always watch Mk to see if he is anywhere near you to use it. If he is and he uses it, spotdodge it and get back to the ground asap to punish him for it. If off the stage, then you prob have it made since they will be traveling the opposite way and you can grab onto the ledge and let them fall to their death. If they do come back towards the stage then you can edgeguard(next paragraph). You can also try and bait them to use the sl. Try it out. Great for mindgames. Another thing that they will do on the edge is use their downB to grab onto the ledge. Not so much a problem since we can QA around it. Another very common thing they will do is use the tornado when you are on the edge to get more damage on you and stop you from hagning on. Wait for it then drop down, use your thunder; or you can use your invincibility frames and hit A to get them out.
Now when you are edgeguarding, MK has 3 ways of getting back to the stage. They can use their jumps>glide. They can sl. Or they can use their >B. Edgeguarding can be difficult since a sl can spike you and MK can sl and glide to the other side of the stage if its possible.The most recommended method for edgeguarding, is using the thunder. Use the wavebounce method if MK is below you. Use the autograb thunder is above you. If he gonna use his >b, get out of there. You cant stop it by yourself. Go ahead and wavebounce thunder is you can. Can't hurt to try. When MK is hanging onto the ledge, stand back and spam tjolt. He can and will use the tornado or sl if you are close enough. We do not want that happening.
Mindgames
Next, the mindgame aspect. First of all, spam the tjolt. Get damage any way you can. Most mk's are gonna try to pressure you into not using jolts by running up to you and power shielding them as they get closer. Don't let this stop you. Once mk closes in just wait for moments to throw one more in. As long as you're putting damage on safely you're okay. Next is using the QA(C). QAC's dont tend to work on this character unless you're doing a QAC directly into a Down Aerial since Pikachu doesn't need to be right on top of MK to connect. The impact of the dair is enough to send him back some damage and getting powned by another tjolt. QAC can be an effective in that it can get you out of harms way too.
Now a lot of metaknights use empty fsmashes to bait opponents into running into dsmashes. If you're not close enough to punish a whiffed fsmash don't try to be a hero. If you know the charge time for smashes, you can time a QA into something just as metaknight's fsmash is finishing, but otherwise, stay away. His smashes are different than any other character. They have extremely fast startup AND end times. Remember, you have a projectile at your disposal. Use it if you can't punish the smashes.
Approachiing MK
Nw as for approaching MK... you will more than likeley be approached by him since they are confident in their abilities to beat pikacu. Once they are afraid, or you feel like attacking, then here are some things you may want to do. Use the bair more than useual. It can surprise any good MK players, can rack up damage, and knock them back. Grab>dthrow>w/e combo you want. I suggest the usmash. Although, the video below shows anther doing a dthrow>utlt>uair>biar. They are both good thing to do. ALso, try and trick him into thinking you are attacking with your airiels and then use your tilts to surprise him. But, remember that his tilits are much better than yours so if it become a tilt war, he will win. His ftilt can kill. It is one of his best(and only) kill moves.
Airiels
As for his airiels, the best are his niar/uair/diar. He can give a significant amount of damage with the nair. Its comparable to pika's nair. Good knockback+damage=good move. The uair can be used for juggling. Skullbash/DI/airdodge out. The dsmash is used mainly to get opponents out of recovery range or to surprise you when you are below him. Also, he can use his tornado when below you and it will send you flying up if you dont get out. So if he is below you, watch out for the tornado since they can also use that to hit you above the cieling.
Killing
As for killing Mk, the usmash/fsmash/thunder will be your best chances. The nair/usmash won't be used that much, since MK can easily dodge or attack first. The thunder is gonna be your best friend. Try and let it connect to you though since it gives out more damage and a bigger probablilty to kill. Fsmash whenever you get the chance too. this is mostly timing and luck.
All in all though, this is a very tough match that will come down to knowledge and luck. Expect a few intense battle here.
Helpful Video's:
In this video (anther vs rofa)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3pakhMiAStw
[SIZE=""]Overall Matchup:[/SIZE]
Meta Knight> Pikachu
General Discussion
Meta Knight is at the moment one of the best characters in the game. This is dues to some wicked killing moves coupled with extremely fast startup times. It does not matter that he is light since he is very hard to hit. Unless you have grenades or another great projectile, you are gonna be taking a lot of damage. This is a very hard matchup if the MK user knows what he/she is doing.
Pika's Advantages:
1.) tjolt/dair from above cancel the tornado
2.) QA into the bottom of the tornado can cancel it
3.) has a projectile
4.) has a faster means of escape(QA!)
Pika's Disdvantages:
1.) mk's moves are a lot faster
2.) pka has way less priorty
3.) mk can spam a few moves but yet still win the match
4.) outranged
5.) worse airiel range/game
6.) cannot CG MK
Strategy for Winning:
General
What most people seem to have a problem with when fightin MK is that he uses faster moves that have a ton of priority. This means that in close range, MK will usally hit you first and has an easier time killing, even though MK has only 4 good killing moves. These are the fsmash/dsmash/nair/upB(shuttle loop). Any good MK will try and bait you into getting in range of these attacks. But, more to come later in this section about what to do.
The tornado
The first thing that needs to be addressed when fighting MK is his tornado. If you find yourself with a Tornado spammer, to know how to combat it, you must first know how the Tornado move works. Spend a couple of minutes figuring out how the Tornado can be controlled by playing as MK. As you'll notice, they need to tap the button in order to stay afloat. Any smart player would notice "There is no way for MK to increase his fall speed!" Meaning, if you use some mind games to make him whiff the attack AND bait him to follow you into the air a bit, you can easily fast fall down into any attack you want, excluding Thunder of course! However, any GOOD MK will try to stay as close to the ground as possible to prevent this. So be wary. The moves that will take MK out of a Tornado are Pika's Down Aerial as long as it connects at the top of the tornado, if you do a short hop back you can create a nice Thunder Wall to protect you, and a fsmash will always do the trick but again a good MK player will hover over it. One thing you could try is to stutter step and into a fsmash which could potentially land you a hit. Also, if you let the tornado sit out for a little over a second, you can QA into the base and cancel it (nado) w/o worrying about getting sucked into it. Last but not least, if already caught in a tornado, try to time an aerial dodge so that Pikachu can fall through one of the attacks, giving you a nice opportunity for a Smash.
The Shuttle Loop
The next thing up for discussion is the shuttle loop(sl). MK users love to spam this move to no end also. This is used as a recovery, and as for a great killing move. A sl can be directed back towards the ground (gliding), canceled by a nuetral A, then immediately combo into a dsmash/fsmash. Very hard to get around. But not to hard to shield and wait till it ends to try and grab MK and punish him. Normally an effective mind game would be to charge at the opponent, and do a shield roll to his back side leading to a down smash, but again his down smash is just too quick even though it attacks only one side at a time! But, we could also go on the offensive. Throw in some airiels that can mindgame him. These are the uair/nair/bair. The uair needs to be timed really well, so I would not try and do that. As for the nair, try and throw out a nair early and cancel the glide attack out. The bair will also cancel the glide attack. The bair will then continue through the glide and hit with the remaining hits.
The Cape
A new discovery has been made with MK. MK can now disappear infinately and then attack you. This move is banned as a stalling move but thats the limit now. The only way to get around this move is to either get to higher ground(on a platform) or be lucky enough to spotdodge it. As for now shielding/spotdodgin are the only effective things since you cannot hit MK while he is invisible. If you are playing on a stage with no platforms then get close to the edge and pray they mess up and fall to their death.
Edgeguarding
As for edgeguarding, Mk's will most likely try and use their sl to kill you off the stage. Now, you can do a few things to beat this strategy. First of all, always watch Mk to see if he is anywhere near you to use it. If he is and he uses it, spotdodge it and get back to the ground asap to punish him for it. If off the stage, then you prob have it made since they will be traveling the opposite way and you can grab onto the ledge and let them fall to their death. If they do come back towards the stage then you can edgeguard(next paragraph). You can also try and bait them to use the sl. Try it out. Great for mindgames. Another thing that they will do on the edge is use their downB to grab onto the ledge. Not so much a problem since we can QA around it. Another very common thing they will do is use the tornado when you are on the edge to get more damage on you and stop you from hagning on. Wait for it then drop down, use your thunder; or you can use your invincibility frames and hit A to get them out.
Now when you are edgeguarding, MK has 3 ways of getting back to the stage. They can use their jumps>glide. They can sl. Or they can use their >B. Edgeguarding can be difficult since a sl can spike you and MK can sl and glide to the other side of the stage if its possible.The most recommended method for edgeguarding, is using the thunder. Use the wavebounce method if MK is below you. Use the autograb thunder is above you. If he gonna use his >b, get out of there. You cant stop it by yourself. Go ahead and wavebounce thunder is you can. Can't hurt to try. When MK is hanging onto the ledge, stand back and spam tjolt. He can and will use the tornado or sl if you are close enough. We do not want that happening.
Mindgames
Next, the mindgame aspect. First of all, spam the tjolt. Get damage any way you can. Most mk's are gonna try to pressure you into not using jolts by running up to you and power shielding them as they get closer. Don't let this stop you. Once mk closes in just wait for moments to throw one more in. As long as you're putting damage on safely you're okay. Next is using the QA(C). QAC's dont tend to work on this character unless you're doing a QAC directly into a Down Aerial since Pikachu doesn't need to be right on top of MK to connect. The impact of the dair is enough to send him back some damage and getting powned by another tjolt. QAC can be an effective in that it can get you out of harms way too.
Now a lot of metaknights use empty fsmashes to bait opponents into running into dsmashes. If you're not close enough to punish a whiffed fsmash don't try to be a hero. If you know the charge time for smashes, you can time a QA into something just as metaknight's fsmash is finishing, but otherwise, stay away. His smashes are different than any other character. They have extremely fast startup AND end times. Remember, you have a projectile at your disposal. Use it if you can't punish the smashes.
Approachiing MK
Nw as for approaching MK... you will more than likeley be approached by him since they are confident in their abilities to beat pikacu. Once they are afraid, or you feel like attacking, then here are some things you may want to do. Use the bair more than useual. It can surprise any good MK players, can rack up damage, and knock them back. Grab>dthrow>w/e combo you want. I suggest the usmash. Although, the video below shows anther doing a dthrow>utlt>uair>biar. They are both good thing to do. ALso, try and trick him into thinking you are attacking with your airiels and then use your tilts to surprise him. But, remember that his tilits are much better than yours so if it become a tilt war, he will win. His ftilt can kill. It is one of his best(and only) kill moves.
Airiels
As for his airiels, the best are his niar/uair/diar. He can give a significant amount of damage with the nair. Its comparable to pika's nair. Good knockback+damage=good move. The uair can be used for juggling. Skullbash/DI/airdodge out. The dsmash is used mainly to get opponents out of recovery range or to surprise you when you are below him. Also, he can use his tornado when below you and it will send you flying up if you dont get out. So if he is below you, watch out for the tornado since they can also use that to hit you above the cieling.
Killing
As for killing Mk, the usmash/fsmash/thunder will be your best chances. The nair/usmash won't be used that much, since MK can easily dodge or attack first. The thunder is gonna be your best friend. Try and let it connect to you though since it gives out more damage and a bigger probablilty to kill. Fsmash whenever you get the chance too. this is mostly timing and luck.
All in all though, this is a very tough match that will come down to knowledge and luck. Expect a few intense battle here.
Helpful Video's:
In this video (anther vs rofa)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3pakhMiAStw
[SIZE=""]Overall Matchup:[/SIZE]
Meta Knight> Pikachu